The Consequences Of Immaturity

In the case of those who . . . have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.
–Hebrews 6:4, 6

The writer of Hebrews told us the consequences of spiritual immaturity in 6:4-6. “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 have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.” To understand this passage, we have to understand to whom this warning was addressed.

Some people say it was non-Christians who were close to being saved–that he was saying, “If you are under conviction but do not decide to trust Christ, you can never come back to that point of repentance again. You only get one chance.” But that is not what the Bible teaches. A bigger problem is the vocabulary of these verses. The writer said his audience had tasted the heavenly gift and were partakers of the Holy Spirit. Elsewhere, these phrases refer to Christians.

Others say he was talking to Christians in danger of losing their salvation. But there are problems with that interpretation, too. If he was saying that you can lose your salvation, he was also saying you can never regain it. You mess up one time, and you’ll never be renewed again to repentance. But the idea that a Christian can lose his salvation contradicts the rest of the Word of God.

Some of you struggle with the issue of losing your salvation, so let me give you three arguments for the security of the believer. How do we know that somebody who is genuinely saved can never be lost? First of all, the Bible teaches that Christ’s payment for our sin was final and complete. In Hebrews 10:14, the writer said, “For by one offering [Christ] has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Christ’s payment for our sin was final and complete.

Secondly, the Bible teaches us that salvation is what God has done for us, not what we do for God. In 1 John 4:10, John said, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” When God grabs hold of us, He never lets us go. Jesus said in John 10:28, “I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” God alone is responsible for saving us, and God alone is responsible for keeping us saved.

Third, to lose our salvation would be to reverse an act of God. In John 3:3, Jesus said becoming a Christian is a spiritual rebirth. Do you know anybody who is able to go back into the womb and be unborn? That is a physical impossibility. It is a spiritual impossibility as well. Romans 11:29 says, “The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Once God gives us something, He never takes it away. That is why I am confident that Christians can never lose their salvation.

***

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Falling Away From God” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2018.

Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.