Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

Text:

I pray that this sermon does not apply to any of you this morning. I’m going to be talking not about salvation, but about falling away from Christ. We’re going to be looking not at those who have a strong faith in Christ, but at those who forsake their faith whether by word or by deed. So I pray that as we talk about these things, that you do not see yourself in these descriptions. But I also pray that if you do see yourself in this sermon, that you would repent and find salvation in Christ.

Read Hebrews 6:4-8

There are so many questions we could ask of this text. J. Vernon McGee says of this passage that it is the most difficult passage for any preacher to interpret, regardless of his theological perspective. Is it talking about true Christians, or merely those who profess to be Christians but have never truly given their lives to Christ? What does it mean to fall away? Is this a complete renouncement of Christ or a backsliden condition of unfruitfulness? It this whole situation a real possibility or merely a hypothetical situation that will never actually occur in reality? Is it talking about salvation or about extra blessings God may give or take away either in this life or the life to come? It seems as though when we attempt to answer some of these questions, we end up going back and forth and round and round trying to figure out what the writer is talking about.

If it’s talking about true Christians, we have a problem. The New Testament is abundantly clear that Christians cannot lose their salvation. Jesus said in John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jude verses 24-25 says, “To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!” Salvation depends not on us, but on God, so we cannot lose that which is a free gift of God.

So if Hebrews 6 is talking about Christians, I think we must also say that it is a purely hypothetical situation. It could be saying, “If it were possible that a Christian could fall, it would be impossible for them to be restored.” But the text doesn’t give any indication of being a hypothetical at all. The word “if” isn’t in the original language. The text literally says, “having fallen away.” The text seems to be describing a real scenario that we need to be warned about. So maybe it’s talking about non-Christians.

If it’s talking about those who only professed to be Christians but who were not in reality Christians, then it is surely possible that they may fall away, since they were never Christians to begin with. But a simple reading of the text doesn’t seem to speak about them as being such (v. 4-5). It describes those who have once been enlightened. Their eyes have been opened by the gospel. They have seen the truth about their sin, God’s holiness, and about God’s grace. It says they have tasted the heavenly gift, that is, they have gotten a sense of how good and sweet heaven will be. And they’ve felt God’s gifts from heaven, of grace, and faith, and forgiveness, and love, and joy, and peace from God. It says they have shared in the Holy Spirit, talking about the relationship that a person has with the Spirit once they know Christ as Savior. They have felt the Spirit guide them and comfort them and convict them. They have tasted of the goodness of the word of God, talking about how they have not only understood God’s Word, but have embraced it, and have felt God speaking to them through it. And they have been inspired by the powers of the age to come. They have felt hope through the promise that Christ would return, that Christ would powerfully annihilate all wickedness in the coming age, and that we would receive imperishable bodies.

The text doesn’t seem to be talking about unbelievers. How can these things be said of a person who has not truly trusted in Jesus Christ? No, this text seems to be talking about genuine Christians. It’s talking about me and you, if you know Christ as your Savior. So once again, if it’s talking about Christians, is it saying that a Christian can fall away from Christ and lose his salvation?

But maybe it’s not referring to salvation, but only to blessings that depend on our continued faithfulness. The text doesn’t mention condemnation to Hell, but about how a fruitless person’s works will burn up in the end (v. 7-8). It describes rain, presumably the gospel, which ought to lead to a useful crop. But for some who soak in the gospel, only thorns and thistles appear.

The Bible is clear that there are varying degrees of rewards and punishments after this life. The apostle John heard Jesus say in a vision, in Revelation 22:12, “I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” And Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, “For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” If this is the case, that the things being burned at the end of verse 8 are simply unfruitful works, then the text seems to state that a person can be saved even if they show no fruit of salvation in their lives.

But this is not the message of the New Testament! Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians were specifically about what we teach. He wasn’t saying that a genuine believer could have no fruit at all, but rather than in the midst of working as a result of believing, that if you make a few mistakes along the way, you’re not going to lose your salvation, even though your reward may not be as great. Jesus said in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” James 2:17 say, “Faith without works is dead.” And immediately following some of the most clear verses in the Bible regarding grace through faith alone, we are told that we were saved to work (Ephesians 2:10). Genuine believers will produce fruit!

So who is this text referring to? And is it a real possibility or merely a hypothetical situation? And what’s at stake: one’s salvation or their heavenly rewards?

I’m not going to pretend that I know the all of the answers to all of the questions I have of this text. But frankly, I don’t think we need to answer all of these questions. Because answering these questions is not the goal of the passage. The goal of the passage is that we be sure we are not those being described in this text. The text describes a hardness of heart that may occur in a person’s life that may have such a stronghold on them that they never repent and turn back to God. The scary thing for us is that this hardness of heart is said to occur with people who seem to have genuinely trusted in Christ. They are best illustrated by the third soil in the parable of the sower. The seed was thrown on the rocky ground, where it sprang up, but then withered away because it had no root. Jesus explained that this signified that they heard the word and received it with joy, but fell away when a time of testing came.

So the goal of the message this morning is for you to ask yourself, “Have I fallen away from Christ?” On one level, it’s not a question that we need to struggle with for very long. We know we haven’t fallen away because we still believe in Christ. We know we haven’t fallen away because we haven’t renounced our faith. But on another level, it’s not just dealing with our surface beliefs, but our actual beliefs. The reality is, we live out what we truly believe. We’re not always consistent. In fact, we can’t be completely consistent because of sin. But if you have a belief and never act on it, it’s probably true that you don’t actually hold that belief. So how can we know if we’ve fallen away on this level? Ask yourself, “Do I still have joy in Christ?” Ask yourself, “Do I produce fruit in keeping with repentance?” Ask yourself, “When my faith is tested, do I stand firm, or do I fail?”

But the good news is that anyone can be forgiven of their sin. Don’t assume you are unable to repent. There’s a surefire way to know that you are not being talked about here. Simply repent, and be restored! The text doesn’t say that the invitation to repent is shut to such persons. It says it’s impossible to restore them to repentance, meaning that no matter what you do, you can’t convince them that they can repent and be forgiven. In their minds, they have gone to far. In their minds, it would be as if Christ had to die for them all over again.

But the invitation is always open. If you repent, you will be forgiven. Christ died once for sins. And we’re going to fail Him, but as long as we return to Him, He will always forgive us.