My RSS Feeds
Does this passage teach, "Loss of Salvation"?
The following is written by my good friend and brother in Christ, Buck Hoskins from Birmingham, Alabama. You can click on the link to the left to go to his site for more information on Buck and his ministry.
DOES THIS PASSAGE TEACH LOSS OF SALVATION?
Hebrews 6:4-6 "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, (5) and have 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."
Here we have one of the most debated, controversial, and misinterpreted verses in the Bible. What exactly does this verse teach? Can we lose our salvation? What happens to Christians who "fall away?" Does this verse contradict passages like John 10:28-29 and Romans 8:38-39?
Most people would rather keep on believing what they believe rather than take a stand on such a controversial passage, because with controversy comes confrontation, and Christians don't like either one. So today, I will take this opportunity to delve into this passage of Scripture which has, for a long time, been a battleground in Christianity between the proponents of eternal security and the proponents of a loss of salvation, or in other words, between the camps of grace salvation and works salvation.
Let me start out by saying this - If you try to form a doctrine from "proof texting" this passage then you will misinterpret, mishandle, and misappropriate GRACE. In order to properly understand this passage of Scripture, it is paramount that we study these verses in light of the complete context and not the "proof text" of Hebrews 6:4-6. The complete context of this passage begins with Hebrews 5:11 and ends with Hebrews 6:20. These passages deal with the 3rd of 5 warnings in the book of Hebrews regarding the danger of retrogression in the Spiritual life. (Probably more widely known as "backsliding")
Heb 5:11-14 "(11) Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. (12) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (13) For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. (14) But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil."
Heb 6:1-6 "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, (2) of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. (3) And this we will do, if God permits. (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, (5) and have 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."
The main idea of the 3rd warning is to inform the reader of the dangers of failing to "hear" (study) the Word of God. Hebrews 5:11b-5: 12a "...since you have become dull of hearing. (12) For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God..." Some Jewish believers had become "dull of hearing" which resulted in a lack of Spiritual maturity. Instead of pressing on to maturity and becoming teachers, they had regressed in their Spiritual growth and needed to be taught the "elementary principles" again. (Meaning they had been taught the elementary principles of the Word of God before, but were drifting back to the traditional Jewish teachings because of their lack of "hearing". This is a falling away, backsliding, or retrogressing. (In other words, GOING BACKWARDS!)
In Hebrews 6:1-2 the writer tells us which "elementary principles" they had "fallen away" from. Hebrews 6:1-2 (1) "not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, (2) of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment." The writer lists 6 elementary teachings in which they had become "dull of hearing" and warns the reader not to fall into the same trap but to "press on to maturity". The six were as follows: (1) repentance from dead works; (2) faith towards God; (3) instructions about washings; (4) the laying on of hands; (5) the resurrection of the dead; and (6) eternal judgment. It becomes blatantly obvious that some of the Jewish believers had returned to Old Covenant teachings because of their lack of "hearing" New Covenant teachings. Studying the passage in context allows us to understand that the warning is not about the dangers of losing one's salvation, but the difficulty in recovering enthusiasm for the Word of God once the believer has become "dull of hearing" and reverted back to his old ways.
(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, (5) and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, (6) and then have fallen away,
The writer describes the "dull hearers" as "ones who have been enlightened", "tasted the heavenly gift", "have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit", "have tasted the Word of God and the powers to come" but "have fallen away". Only believers can be enlightened, indwelt with the Holy Spirit, understand the Word of God, and access the power of God. John 3:16 tells us that "whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have ETERNAL life". John 10:28-29 says "and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand." Romans 8:38-39 says " For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." And Romans 8:1 says "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." We must deduce from the text and from comparing Scripture with Scripture that they have "fallen away" from teaching through a lack of "hearing" and have not "fallen away" from salvation.
Where people fall apart on their understanding and interpretation of this verse is Hebrews 6:6b. "...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." The key word in this verse that everyone gets hung up on is the word repentance. In order to not make the same mistakes as those who misinterpret, we must strictly adhere to the laws of interpretation set forth in hermeneutics, (The theory and methodology of interpretation, especially of Scriptural text.) which says that the use of a word in context is determined by its first use in the context.
Remember that the word repentance, which is metanoia in the Greek and means to change ones mind, was the first of the 6 "elementary teachings" in which they had become "dull of hearing". Hebrews 6:1 "not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God," We can associate "repentance from dead works and of faith towards God" with "hearing" by comparing this verse with Romans 10:17 which says "FAITH comes by hearing and hearing by the words of Christ."
The term "dead works" refers to the Old Covenant teachings of "washings", and "laying on of hands" which were based on the "works" system of the Law and were considered "dead" in the new age of Grace. Comparing this with Titus 3:5-6, "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, (6) whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, (7) so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.", and Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.", makes it clear that they had "fallen away" from the foundational (elementary) teachings and reverted back to their former manner of life. But in no way does this imply that they had lost their salvation. The writer makes it clear that they need to be re-taught and not re-saved. The issue is with "hearing" and not with salvation.
Paul writes to believers with similar problems in the epistle to the Ephesians. Paul addresses the problem in the same manner telling the Ephesians to lay aside the old, be renewed in the spirit of their minds (an understanding that comes from hearing), and put on the new (Ephesians 4:22-24). If the issue of reverting back to a former manner of life were a loss of salvation, then Paul would have stated it here, but he did not. The issue once again is a re-learning not re-saving.
So from comparing Scripture with Scripture and looking at the context as a whole instead of "proof texting" the passage, we can come to the following conclusion about Hebrews 6:4-6; "It is impossible to renew those who have fallen away from Spiritual growth through a lack of hearing until they are re-taught the elementary principles again, because by reverting back to Old Covenant Judaism they again crucify to themselves the Son of God, for which that is also impossible to do".
Do these verses teach that we can lose our salvation? Absolutely not!! They, in fact, reassure us that we are secure in Christ, but warn us of the dangers of "falling away" do to a "lack of hearing". It also explains that the path of renewal that leads to Spiritual Growth is impossible as long as the believer is negative toward the Word of God. The issue is negative volition towards the Word of God and not a loss of salvation.
Buck Hoskin
http://www.crosswordbible.org/
_________________
"For the WORD of the CROSS is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18