Spiritually, butterflies are an awesome object lesson in nature to teach us about our salvation through faith in Jesus Christ!
Q: Can a Christian walk away from his salvation?
A: No! A believer cannot walk away (or give away) their salvation.
Can a butterfly transform itself back into a caterpillar? No, of course not. The process of metamorphosis is strictly one-way, non-reversible.
The illustration of a butterfly is more appropriate than some of us might guess. Why do I say that? Because the original Greek from which we get the word metamorphosis is also found in the NT referencing the change salvation brings about in the believer:
18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor 3:18)
The Greek word for “changed” is μεταμορφόω metamorphoō, the very word from which we get the butterfly word metamorphosis. So, even as a butterfly cannot go back to being a caterpillar, a believer CANNOT go back to being who he was before Christ. It is strictly a one-way, non-reversible transformation, from a lost soul in spiritual darkness to a saved soul in spiritual light.
12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Col 1:12-14)
I think God created butterflies to give us a teachable object lesson in nature for us to understand the spiritual reality that salvation brings about in a person’s life. And, doing all things well as He does, He made an incredible abundance of so many beautiful different butterflies! He loves beauty, and it shows in His creation of butterflies!