Hebrews

Are you ever discouraged? Do day-to-day struggles overwhelm you? Do you ever wonder, “Why is life so difficult? Why does my Christian commitment create stress? Why can’t my discipleship simply consist of an easy ‘to-do’ list?” If you have experienced any of these attitudes, then you need to read the book of Hebrews. Its message will remind you that Jesus is God’s superior answer to all of life’s dilemmas. He gave Himself as a sacrifice for you and lives to intercede on your behalf. Hebrews will encourage you to persevere in faith. Above all else—don’t let go of Jesus!

No. As you study Hebrews 6:4-8 within the context of the whole of Scripture, you will find that salvation in Christ is eternally secure. These verses represent the most difficult passage in Hebrews, and at least four interpretations have been offered:

• Believers can lose their salvation. This view contradicts other Scriptures that clearly affirm the believer’s eternal security in Jesus (see Jn 5:24; 6:39,40; 10:27-29; Rm 8:28-39; Eph 4:30; 2Tm 1:12; Heb 6:19; 10:14; 1Jn 2:1; Jd 24). Salvation is God’s work, not man’s.

• The writer is not addressing true believers but people who either professed to be saved or have merely tasted salvation but have not actually partaken of it. However, the additional description—having become companions [Gk metochoi, “those who partake or share in”] with the Holy Spirit—suggests otherwise
(cp. Heb 3:1,14; 12:8).

• Believers who have fallen away into willful sin are in danger of losing future rewards and becoming ineffective in their service to God.

• The writer is describing a hypothetical situation. In other words, if believers could lose their salvation, then it would be impossible for them to be restored to the community of faith later. Salvation is secured by Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection—an unrepeatable set of historical events (cp. Heb 6:6 and 10:12,14), and there is no salvation apart from Christ. The imagery in Heb 6:7-8, like other biblical passages that employ similar imagery (see Mt 7:15-23; 12:33-35; 13:1-29; Jn 15:1-10; Eph 5:8-13; cp. 1Jn 1:5-10), underscores that from God’s perspective, there are only two categories of people—those who have genuinely received His gift of salvation in Jesus Christ and those who have not. When you trust Christ for your salvation, you receive God’s forgiveness (Eph 1:7; Col 1:14), eternal life (Jn 5:24), and His presence
(the Holy Spirit; Ac 2:38; Eph 1:13); these cannot be lost for they are promised by God, who is faithful to keep all His promises (2 Co 1:18-20).

If a woman’s life produces nothing but thorns and thistles, genuine believers should help her honestly examine her spiritual status to determine whether she is an authentic Christian struggling with sin or one who has been “riding the fence”—pretending to receive the gospel but actually resisting the character transforming power that comes with dying to self and receiving new life.