A few months ago, I preached a sermon about The Most Difficult verse in the Bible. Hebrews 6:4-6 You can find the entire audio under www.eriefirst.org/sermons/
Does Hebrews 6:4-6 mean a person can lose his or her salvation? This passage speaks to the issue of eternal security.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
The author of Hebrews is painting a very clear picture that this warning is for those who have had all of these experiences or encounters with Jesus and still fall away. This passage was not written for those who have never heard of Jesus, and it wasn’t written to lost people who needed redeemed.
Falling away is not the same as falling into sin. As a believer in Jesus, we are going to struggle at times. Being a human will guarantee an ongoing conflict with temptation. These are the realities of life in a fallen world. 1 John 1:8 reminds us, if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Falling into sin, backsliding into sin, for any length of time is very different than what this scripture is describing. Peter in the New Testament backslid into sin. He lied, he had a temper problem, and a trust problem. Yet, when he encountered Jesus again, Peter repented, and Jesus restored him fully.
“Falling away” describes a heart plagued with unbelief. It is describing a person’s heart that is so hard there is an inability to repent. To fall away means deliberately to reject and refuse the truth about Christ and the gospel.
Salvation is a free gift from God, but it can be forfeited and abandoned by rejecting Christ. The condition of your heart matters. God, as a loving Heavenly Father, does not desire that any person fall away from the salvation He has graciously provided in Christ. But, in Luke 8:13 Jesus makes a point in the Parable of the Sower, speaking of some who have become believers and says, “They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.”
Hebrews 6 is teaching us that if someone forfeits salvation and rejects Christ then repentance becomes impossible, morally impossible because by this deliberate rejection of the truth, they harden their hearts and place themselves beyond repentance.
Matthew 12:31 tells us of the only unpardonable sin.
31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
A calculated refusal of the Holy Spirit’s witness is the only sin that cannot be forgiven.
If you love someone that once knew the Lord, and has fallen away, this verse can shake you. Here are some things to keep in mind as you pray for and share your faith with your friends/family that have seemed to fall away from their faith.
Ultimately Jesus is the final judgement for each of our souls, and He only knows the inner workings and position of our hearts. Therefore, we should never stop praying for those we love to come back into relationship with Him. We never know how God can be working behind the scenes in their hearts. Hebrews 6 is meant to be a loving warning for our own hearts and others. It is not a scripture we should use as judgement to bestow upon another.
With that in mind, we should be proactive in preventing falling away as much as possible. Encourage your friends and family to stay close to God and to chase after Him. There is a reason the Bible reminds us of these things:
1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Hebrews 10: 23- 25 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
If you do love someone who once served God but now is far from Him, use these scriptures below to shape your prayers for him or her.