Saturday, July 4, 2009

A refute for those who believe that you can lose your salvation according to Hebrews 6: 4-6.

A refute for those who believe that you can lose your salvation according to Hebrews 6: 4-6.

By T.J. Kerttula

Hebrews 6:4-6

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.

Verse 4. This word enlightened means to shed light on. In this case to shed light on the knowledge of Salvation. This is talking about these people that have the knowledge of salvation. They know how to get saved. That does not mean they are saved, it just means they know how to get saved.

Notice the word tasted. This word is not to drink but to taste which means that they have tried the flavor of the heavenly gift. The heavenly gift is Jesus Christ. (John 3:16) If we look at the account of Jesus in Matthew 27:34 we see that Jesus was given wine mixed with gall and it says that Jesus tasted it, but would not drink it. It is not enough to taste Christ. If we look at John 6:53 we see that if we do not eat of his flesh or drink of His blood we have no life in us. This is not literal but figurative. It is saying that unless we truly receive Christ as Lord and Savior, we have no life in us, so we see the difference between these two passages. If we are just “tasting” then we truly have not received Christ as our Savior.

The next phrase says, “have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit”. Many think that this is talking about the Holy Spirit Indwelling believers, but if we think about it and look at scripture, we see that the Holy Spirit works in unbelievers lives as well. (1 Cor. 7:14; John 16:8) The Holy Spirit points these people to Christ as their only hope. Therefore, these people partake of the Holy Spirits benefits without being indwelt by Him.

Verse 5. Notice the word tasted once again. It means that they have taken a sip of God’s word and the powers of the age to come.

Verse 6. They have fallen away they do not want to have anything to do with God. They do not want to follow Him. If we look in John 8:30-32 it says, “ 30As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him. 31So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Notice the first underlined part says many came to believe IN Him. The second one just says believed Him. It is talking about the first group were saved because they Believed in him the second did not believe him they just believed Him. Notice the argument that happens right after it. They say that they are important because they are Abraham’s descendents and then n verse 48 they say that Jesus is a Samaritan and has a demon. Therefore, these Jews that believed him could not be saved because they did not believe in Him. They tasted what Jesus had to say but decided that they did not want to follow Him. These people who have fallen away are like these Jews. If we look at the parable of the sower in Matthew 13, we can see that these people who have fallen away are the same people who the writer of Hebrews is talking about. They have seen the benefits of Christianity and so they profess to be Christians, but they do not have a heart change and when the going gets tough, they fall away from Christianity and do not stand with the church but they openly deny believing in Jesus Christ. They cannot be renewed to repentance. It is impossible! The next phrase gives us the reason why they cannot be renewed to repentance. Because they again crucified the Son of Man for themselves and put Him to open shame. This shows that they turn totally against God and joined forces against Him. It is not just carelessness but it is malicious and deliberate spurning of Christ.

If we think about “tasting” the different promises God has given us, such as Eternal Life, forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, and especially the New Covenant. We can see that in the same way as we sometimes taste the benefits of the promises (Abrahamic, Mosaic, Palestinian, and Davidic covenants) to Israel, unbelievers also taste the benefits of the promises to believers. We cannot claim the promises given to Israel as Christians. In the same way, the unbeliever cannot claim the promises given to believers. They are specifically for those who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior.

If we think about this passage, the only logical explanation is that this person suggested in this passage has not believed in Jesus Christ but is playing Christian. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ can lose their salvation. On the contrary, it says in Romans 10:8-10, v9 “If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your Hearts that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved”. It does not say, you might be saved, but it says that you will be saved. That is a promise. If we look at Acts 16:31 it says, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…” There is no place in Scripture that says that we can lose our Salvation. The Bible never contradicts itself ever so if there was a place you would have a contradiction or you would be saying that God could go back on His promises, that God is a liar, but God cannot and did not do that. So therefore the only logical answer for Hebrews 6:4-6 is that this person never believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but was just there to look good and when the going got tough he left and put Christ to open shame.