“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”
–Hebrews 6:4-6
This is one of the biggest verses people use when they’re having theological debates about whether or not you can lose your salvation. There’s a lot of mystery in it. But before I dig into Hebrews, I want to look at another passage.
There’s a story in Acts 8 about a sorcerer named Simon who believes, is baptized, and sees miracles, but Peter says to him, “You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God…For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” The Bible doesn’t lie – Simon believed and was baptized, and as Mark 16:16 says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”
So will we see Simon in heaven? I have to say yes! But did he get to take part in any more of God’s ministry while he was on earth? It doesn’t sound like it. Jeremiah 15:19 says, “IF you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me; if you utter worthy, not worthless, words, you will be my spokesman.” Proverbs 1:23 says something similar: “Repent at my rebuke! THEN I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings.”
Back in Hebrews 6, verses 7-8 talk about two types of land: one that produces a useful crop, and one that produces thorns and thistles. Interestingly, both are described as drinking in rain that falls on it. So this mini-parable teaches that the same “rain” can fall on two types of “land,” but only one will be found useful and receive a blessing. What is the difference between the two lands? Matthew 3:8 is very clear: “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”
If this is a parable, and the land describes our lives, then what is the rain? It’s described in verses 4-5: enlightenment, tasting the heavenly gift, sharing in the Holy Spirit, and tasting the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age. But is all that synonymous with salvation? Surprisingly, I don’t think so. In Matthew 7, Jesus talks about people who have called him “Lord,” and prophesied and cast out demons and performed miracles in his name, but never were known to him. 1 John 2 addresses this idea as well: “Even now many antichrists have come…they went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” So Hebrews isn’t talking about salvation at all. It’s talking about what you do with the goodness of God that’s given unconditionally.
Both passages (from Matthew and 1 John) have another thing in common: in both cases, the next verses address persistence in putting God’s word into daily practice. In Matthew, Jesus says, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” In 1 John, John writes, “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father…as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in him.” This is the exact same idea the author of Hebrews has been writing about! 5:11-6:2 is all about the danger the Hebrews are in because they haven’t matured in Christ as they ought to. Why not? There’s only one reason given, in 5:14: “Solid food is for the mature, who by CONSTANT USE have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” It’s in KEEPING with repentance that we produce fruit.
So, after all that…what does this passage mean? It means that seeing miracles – and even performing miracles – don’t validate your Christianity at all. You can taste, and you can see, and you can still fall away by not putting God’s Word into practice. And once you’ve fallen, it seems that you’re out of the game! If you really believed and were baptized, salvation’s still yours…but either way, ministry is blocked off for you. You can only be born two times. And the only way to protect yourself from not falling away is by persevering to make God’s ways your ways.
So don’t give up. Keep pressing on. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” And don’t lose heart – because, as the author of Hebrews writes in 6:9-12, “Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case – things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
