Day 676: Once saved, always saved? - Hebrews 6 vs 4 - 12

vs 3 Let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity . . . 4-6 for it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7-8 For  land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.

9-10 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things - things that belong to salvation.  For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11-12 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Hebrews 6:4-12 English Standard Version

This must be one of the most frightening parts of the Bible for Christians. Verse 3 had said “Let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.” Why was the writer so insistent that these Christians should do that? (vs 4-6)

He says that to turn their backs on Christ and reject the light He had brought into their lives, and the blessings He had poured upon them, would be tantamount to crucifying Him afresh. They would be treating Jesus and the gospel with contempt. Worst of all, he says it would be impossible to bring such people to repentance for such back stabbing. In vs 7-8 he draws a comparison from nature of the uselessness of land that receives good rains and is well cultivated, but which fails to yield a harvest. What a solemn situation these verses describe! Do they mean that someone can be truly born again and saved – but eventually lost?

Through the centuries some Christians have believed and taught that a truly saved person can end up going to hell. Other Christians have taken words such as Jesus spoke in John 10:27-29 as teaching that truly saved people will never be lost. In those verses Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, 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.” Which of these views do you think the writer of Hebrews held according to his words in vs 9-10?

It seems that, despite his concerns that some of them were wavering in their faith, he still believed God's mercy was upon them. God doesn’t simply forget how they had turned to Jesus and how they had expressed love for fellow believers. So having warned them of the danger of turning their backs on Jesus, what is he encouraging them to do? (vs 11-12)

He urges them to press on determinedly in the faith despite hardships they were facing. He says that heaven is reached through faith and patience. Patience implies keeping on with something when it's difficult. Even the famous musicians of the past were those who never gave up!

I suggest todays section is a strong warning to not take salvation for granted. People sometimes glibly say 'once saved, always saved'. But in 2 Corinthians 13:5 the apostle Paul said to some Christians: “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” There've been quite a few professing Christian leaders in recent years (especially in the USA) who've turned their backs on the gospel. That's discouraging to other Christians. But we don't know what was in their heart to start with. Perhaps they didn't have the 'better things' the writer spoke of concerning the Hebrew believers. Take Jesus' promise in John 10:27-29 to your own heart, and keep showing the same earnestness to have full assurance of hope until the end.