Hebrews 6:4–6 is one of the most misunderstood and probably one of the most troubling and confusing passages in the entire New Testament…without a clear grasp of the context these verses seem to counter the doctrine of eternal security.
6:4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and 5have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame. [Hebrews 6:4-6]
As Baptists…we are convinced that the Bible teaches that once a person is saved, they are always saved…far too many verses confirm that…once a person has believed in Jesus for eternal life, they are safe and secure in the arms of Jesus forever…nothing can take them out of God’s hand…Scripture confirms this in more than one place.
In fact…as we progress through our study of the book of Hebrews…we are going to discover that the book of Hebrews teaches the doctrine of eternal security more than many other books in the New Testament.
But when we encounter verses such as the ones we’re looking at today it’s easy to get confused because it does seem to teach that a person can lose their salvation as [6] suggests…it is impossible to renew them again to repentance…sounds pretty definite.
References to falling away, and a lack of restoration, are easily misconstrued to imply a loss of salvation…but when you understand what the author is saying… this passage is actually teaching the opposite.
Again, the importance of interpreting Scripture…any verse when taken out of context and viewed alone and apart from the rest of God’s word may seem to be saying something that it is not truly saying.
When reading and understanding Scripture it is not subject to our own personal opinions…each word…each verse…and every phrase needs to be considered as part of a whole…when looking at these words, from that perspective it greatly changes how they are interpreted.
Problem is at times certain biased beliefs are read into verses in an attempt to support an incorrect…errant…or preconceived belief rather than allowing scriptures to tell us what it truly means in light of the whole word of God.
When taken to extremes this practice can lead, for example, to what we see in the snake-handling denominations of Appalachia…through a literalistic interpretation of Mark 16:17-18, these churches took two verses out of context and built an entire system of faith around an ill-advised practice that seems crazy even to Christians.
There are rules for correctly interpreting scripture:
FIRST…keep the verse in question in the context of where it is found…any verse when taken out of context and viewed alone and apart from the rest of God’s Word may seem to say something it is not truly saying.
SECOND…it may be necessary to read the verses before and after the verse in question to get a proper understanding of what that verse truly means.
THIRD…in order to correctly interpret Scriptures it may be necessary to compare scripture with scripture…to read what other similar verses say that are clearer in their meaning…this is what is known as allowing scripture to speak for itself or let scripture interpret scripture.
FINALLY, …compare your interpretation with what others may be saying about that same verse…and against the whole word of God…if the interpretation or the conclusion that you draw contradicts any other portions of Scripture then you’re the one that doesn’t have the correct interpretation of what that verse means in light of the whole word of God.
Taking all this into consideration is imperative if we are to come away with an accurate interpretation of what this verse is saying to us…which is actually a warning that encompasses two areas:
These verses are confirming our security in Christ…we’re going to see that… but at the same time it is also a warning about what some mistakenly believe is an errant conformation of their security.
It’s possible to go from one extreme to the other…from knowing our salvation is secure to not being saved but assuming we are saved because:
ONE…you had some religious experience or had a feeling that evidenced you’re saved:
A religious experience can be the result of the participation in the rituals of religion…healing services…or Christian concerts…where people get caught up in a spiritual high…they enter into some type of hypnotic state that’s really
an emotional manipulation resembling more of a pep rally atmosphere.
This forced emotionalism results in a deeply felt acceptance of salvation… because faith is based on feeling rather than on your fellowship with God.
Here’s the added danger…there’s the desire to recreate or reproduce those emotions…to regain that “mountain top experience” …it’s like an addiction… feeling of faith must continue to increase in order to produce the same effects.
There’s a significant risk of becoming so absorbed by experiences that one’s life revolves around replicating the initial spiritual passion than focusing on God.
Experiences or feelings should never be the basis of our faith…they can be outward expressions of our faith and of what we believe…but the key is not to pursue experiences or feelings…it is faith that gives birth to feeling… (John Bradford), “Faith must first go before, and then feeling will follow.”
Additional false assumptions people use to feel secure in their salvation:
…because you were baptized; …because you’re basically a good person;
…because you go to church …because of a perversion of grace
What is a perversion of grace…teachers and preachers who are saying that “God loves you unconditionally” and “God loves you just as you are” in an attempt to convince you that God is accepting of how you’re living your life…two things I want to mention:
Two misunderstood statements:
God so loved the world means God loves every individual in the world.
God loves you just as you are.
FIRST
In John 3:16 the word ‘world’ translated from the Greek “kosmos” can mean the universe, the earth as well as the entire human family…goes back to Genesis 1 when God described the creation of the universe including man. He described it as ‘good’…which is repeated six times…that all things God created were good.
God is referring to our orderly, harmonious, systematic universe, including man that was good at creation but is now fractured by sin.
With respect to salvation…it does not mean that God loves all men without exception …the world in John 3:16 does not mean the whole human race…the word ‘world’ is used in a general way…God does have a purpose of grace toward Gentiles as well as Jews…His love is international in its scope.
SECOND
The idea that ‘God loves you just as you are’ is a lie…NO He doesn’t…God does not love you just the way you are.
That is why, since the second chapter of Hebrews, the author has been encouraging his readers to grow in their knowledge of Jesus as both Lord and Savior…to press on to spiritual maturity because God does not love you just the way you are.
He wants you to mature…to grow in your knowledge of who He is and His purpose for your life…which is what’s known as bearing fruit.
The Bible has some really cruel things to say about Christians who bear no fruit. [Matt. 3:10 / John 15:1-2].
BACK to the warning against assuming we are secure in our salvation.
Let’s examine the flow of thought in this verse by looking at the verses immediately preceding…goes back to last week’s message where we are encouraged to “press on to maturity” [6:1] that’s the true test of salvation… goes back to God doesn’t love you the way you are.
There’s a condition… “This we will do, if God permits” [3]
Strange thing to say…this we will do, if God permits…surely God wants us all to grow in our Christianity maturity…right?
But because the word ‘if’ is introducing a conditional clause…is it implying
that God will not allow us to grow spiritually even if we make an honest effort to do so?…OR…only under certain circumstances is it liable to happen?
NO that’s not what it’s saying…and YES that is what that is saying…it’s not because God doesn’t want us to… Here’s the KEY…it’s dependent on us…the ‘if’ is a reflection back on us…in other words:
…if we neglect to pursue the process of sanctification
…if we neglect the confession of sin
…if we fail to overcome our pride…rebellion…and unbelief…then there is no guarantee that the Lord will continue to direct us in our Christian walk.
This is KEY…there are conditional requirements that we are expected to meet… God does not permit every church member to grow and develop in the faith…it depends on us.
Overcoming pride…rebellion…sin…and unbelief is something we must strive to do…but it cannot be fully accomplished on our own…and since it is impossible for us to achieve that we should see how utterly dependent we are on God.
SO, it does require some effort on our part and when we are joined by God in that effort He then ‘permits’ us to grow spiritually.
There is a situation where repentance and pressing on to maturity is impossible without us being dependent on God…that will happen only if we are willing to submit to Him.
Now the question regarding the person who having once been enlightened…having experienced the heavenly gift…having been made partakers of the Holy Spirit…5having tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, then falls away…were they ever truly saved…or did they lose their salvation?
Stay with me…this verse has far too many people having fears that are unwarranted because this text is far too often misunderstood.
Can you lose your standing as a true saved person and be lost again?…NO…in fact…this verse actually validates that Christians cannot lose their salvation.
Here’s where the confusion comes in…you have to break this down into two separate sections:
FIRST…English translations somewhat define this…notice in your Bible… the wording: ‘having been’ or ‘having once been’ all describe what has occurred in the past…implying past action.
In the Greek all the phrases in [3,4] …having been enlightened…having tasted…having become…are all also indicating past tense…BUT…in the Greek it is more defined…the wording is evidence that you cannot lose your salvation.
The aorist tense indicates completed action just like in the English…BUT… here’s where things become truly meaningful …in the Greek it means… something that happened in the past with continuing results in the present…it doesn’t stop.
Further proof of eternal security…Hebrews 3:14 and 3:6 ‘for we have become partakers of Christ’ …the key point here is the tense of the verb, “we have become partakers of Christ.” …not we will become…not we are now partakers…but we have become partakers of Christ…the verbiage is clear…you cannot be in Christ and then be out again.
SECOND…we’re reading something written 2000 years ago to people we can’t possible identify with in their suffering…the author of Hebrews knew that under the threat of extreme suffering some of the Jewish Christians would leave Jesus and return to Judaism.
This is what verse six is referring to…to those who fell away from the faith… and (who) have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance…
TWO INTERPRETATIONS…First of all these people were never Christians.
It’s a condition that is the result of a less than accurate translation that is found in the KJV and a few others, in which Hebrews 6:6 begins with the phrase ‘if’ they fall away, with the key word being ‘if.’
The insertion of the word ‘if’ sets up a hypothetical statement: “IF a Christian were to fall away” …the point being made is that it would be impossible to fall away and then come back because Christ died once for sin (Hebrews 9:28), and if His sacrifice is insufficient, then there’s no hope at all.
This argument is based on a false premise that a true Christian can fall away… and follows it to its senseless conclusion that Jesus would have to be sacrificed again…which is not going to happen…so for them there is…No repentance and No forgiveness.
The absurdity of the conclusion points to the impossibility of the original assumption that a true Christian can fall away.
There are numerous Bible passages that affirm the preservation of the saints… there are numerous Bible passages that teach true believers cannot lose their salvation (Jn 6:39; Rom 8:28; Eph 4:30; Phil 1:6; 1 Pet 1:3).
BUT hold it…isn’t what we’re talking about exactly what Peter did on the night Jesus was crucified?
Both he and Judas denied Jesus…need to consider and contrast between Peter and Judas…both men sinned and publicly denied Jesus…looks the same. So how can we tell the difference?
Peter repented…he pledged his love and chose to follow Christ…he found restoration…Judas simply felt remorseful and hung himself.
In Greek there are two words meaning repent… μεταμέλομαι, μετανοέω: but they don’t mean the same thing.
In Judas’s case the word used in Matthew 27:3 describes Judas as being remorseful (μεταμέλομαι) indicating sorrow.
Of the twenty or so translations I looked at almost everyone described Judas as being regretful…or remorseful…those are the Greek words to describe him.
In Peter’s case his willingness to seek out Jesus and his response of …Lord you know I love you…signifies a heartfelt repentance that is more in line with (μετανοέω) meaning a change of mind or purpose…that’s the difference between Peter’s repentance and Judas’ remorse.
Christianity is full of Judas’s …that’s who this verse is speaking to…there’s a theological word for these people… ‘apostasy’ …what is apostasy? It’s the sin of having a conscious, unrepentant denial of Christ…when apostasy happens there is no repentance…and there can be no repentance.
Judas was apostate…here’s how to recognize apostasy…look for flagrant and unrepentant sin…for a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God (Heb 3:12) a failure to see the “things that accompany salvation” (Heb 6:9) like the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-24).
Judas’s remorse was not repentance as the KJV suggests…his remorse was not prompted by God to lead to repentance…the difference between Peter and Judas.
Peter experienced conviction as a result of backsliding…backsliding is different than apostasy…backsliding is moving away from Jesus after being near Him… to use the words of [v 12] it’s becoming lazy…not holding firmly to the faith (Heb 4:14).
It’s not a determined decision to abandon Jesus…instead it’s the separation of fellowship with God…usually the result of making unrighteous choices.
As a result, we fall out of fellowship with God…we do not lose our relationship with God as sons and daughters…backsliding is not making the conscious decision to separate ourselves from God.
Some counseling…for Christians who think they have committed the sin of apostasy and are concerned that they have lost their salvation…you haven’t… someone who is apostate doesn’t care about falling away…they’re not concerned …the very fact that you worry about it shows that the Spirit is working in your hearts to bring you to repentance and faith.
Something to consider…is it possible for these people to experience God’s blessing if they aren’t Christians?
Everybody…the answer is YES…it is possible for people who have no remote thought of being or becoming a Christian to experience God’s blessing.
Scripture speaks of God’s care for believers and unbelievers alike…the way God loves and shows his care towards each is different.
To the believer, all of God’s promises, all of God’s grace, all of his mercy and love is given to us in Christ Jesus so that all of his promises are “yes and amen.” …we have his Spirit…we have the gift of adoption…we are justified… all of the working of salvation…all of that is God’s love towards us as his people.
BUT for the unbeliever they also experience something of God’s benevolence and care only they’re not experiencing it in the way of salvation…they are experiencing what we call His ‘common grace’, His grace that sustains the universe.
Goes all the way back to the covenant with Noah where God promised that the giving of food…the giving of rain…the giving of care to them is displayed abundantly in preserving God’s creation…all this shows God’s care towards both believer and unbeliever alike.
For the unbeliever they causally go through life not realizing they are benefiting from the care and love God has for His children…one day that will all come to an end…and the realizing that there is a God will come too late.
So I’ve said all that so I can say this…here’s the question…it’s two-fold…is this verse teaching:
You can lose your salvation as a true saved person and be lost again?…I hope I have answered that…the answer is NO…these words are intended for saved believers—those who have “shared the Holy Spirit” (Heb.6:4; Gal.3:2), you don’t share the Holy Spirit if you’re not saved…signifying you can never lose your salvation (John 10:28–30).
And at the same time these verses are a warning for those who regard them without much seriousness…apostasy is a real sin and it’s something to fear.
Because someone appears to be apostate does not mean they are…not even horrible, terrible sins are proof of apostasy…remember, it often looks the same as backsliding…why we need to be vigilant and avoid the pit falls of not falling out of fellowship with God by not pressing on to maturity.