For
Hebrews 10:26-29 shows that Christians, who have been sanctified by Jesus Christ's sacrificial blood (
Hebrews 10:29), which sanctification requires faith (Acts 26:18b, cf.
Romans 3:25-26), can, after they get saved, wrongly employ their free will to commit sin without repentance (
Hebrews 10:26). By doing this, these Christians are unwittingly trampling on Jesus and His sacrificial blood, and doing despite unto the Spirit of grace (
Hebrews 10:29), turning the grace of God into lasciviousness (
Jude 1:4), so that their ultimate fate will be worse than if they had never been saved at all (
2 Peter 2:20-22).
Interesting. Well, for starters, I don't think
Hebrews 10:26-29 is speaking of a believer losing their salvation. Why?
Hebrews 10:26-29
26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
What does it mean to live such that there is no more sacrifice for sins? Well, it is important to note that the word translated "sin" in this verse is actually in Greek a present participle, better translated "sinning." It describes, not a single willful sin, but a persistent, ongoing, manner of wicked living plainly inconsistent with the behaviour of a truly born-again believer (
1 John 3:10). In light of this,
the verse is speaking of a lost person, not a saved one, and so it makes perfect sense for such a person, who has known the truth of the Gospel but rejected it for a life of sin, to be described as one for whom the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary "no longer remains." Truly, to know the Way of Salvation and to spurn it is to cut oneself off from the sole sacrifice for sin God will accept and to become guilty of the disrespect and insult toward God described in verse 29.
Isn't the writer of Hebrews speaking to "brethren"? Yes, but among the brethren there were "tares," false converts who thought of themselves as members of the Church, participating in the community of believers as such, but who were not actually born-again. It is such a "brother" to whom the writer of Hebrews is writing and referring in verses 26-29, I believe.
Some Christians say that
Hebrews 10:26-29 is not for Christians. But the immediate context of
Hebrews 10:26-29 is
Hebrews 10:25, which is addressing "we" Christians.
But we know that there were false converts among the genuine believers of the Early Church (
Matthew 7:22-23; Matthew 13:24-30; 2 Corinthians 13:5; James 5:19-20; Titus 1:16, etc.), "tares," who thought of themselves as brethren in the faith, participating in the life and work of the Church, and whose close involvement with the Church would make it possible for the writer of Hebrews to refer to under the umbrella of the title "brethren."
None of the verses/passages you cite here teach that one can lose one's salvation. For every one of them it perfectly possible to argue, not for a saved-and-lost construction, but a never-was-saved one.
One way that a Christian could come to desire to commit a sin without repentance would be if he finds a particular sin to be very pleasurable, so pleasurable and so fulfilling (in the short term) that he continues in it over time until his heart becomes hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (
Hebrews 3:13), to where his love for God grows cold because of the abundance of iniquity (
Matthew 24:12), to where he quenches the Spirit (
1 Thessalonians 5:19), to where he sears his conscience as with a hot iron (
1 Timothy 4:2), to where he becomes so infatuated with his sin that he can no longer endure the sound doctrine of the Bible (such as the doctrine of
Hebrews 10:26-29), but instead latches onto a mistaken, man-made teaching which contradicts the Bible (
2 Timothy 4:3-4), such as the mistaken teaching which assures Christians that there is no way that they can ever lose their salvation, even if they commit a sin without repentance.
Or such a course into sin could simply indicate that the "Christian" was never really saved to being with. As far as I'm concerned, this view is far more consistent with the whole counsel of Scripture than to assert a SAL teaching.
Initial salvation is indeed by grace through faith in Jesus Christ without any works at all on our part (
Romans 4:1-5,
Ephesians 2:8-9,
Titus 3:5;
2 Timothy 1:9).
There is no such thing as "initial salvation." Not once does this phrase appear in the New Testament, nor is such a thing implied. Just like a physical birth, one's spiritual birth is a one-time event, not a protracted process taking place over the span of years. And this is why again and again the writers of the New Testament spoke of the salvation/conversion/redemption/second birth of their readers as a fully-accomplished fact. (
Romans 6:1-6; Corinthians 1:2; 30-31; Ephesians 1:3-7; 2:8-9; Colossians 1:14-15; 1 John 5:11-13, etc.)
But note that other passages show that Christians must have both faith and continued works of faith (
1 Thessalonians 1:3,
Galatians 5:6b,
Titus 3:8) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law), if they are to obtain ultimate salvation (
Romans 2:6-8,
James 2:24,
Matthew 7:21,
Matthew 25:26,30,
Philippians 2:12b,
Philippians 3:11-14;
2 Corinthians 5:9,
Hebrews 5:9,
Hebrews 6:10-12;
2 Peter 1:10-11,
John 15:2a;
1 John 2:17b).
These verses cannot indicate a works-salvation as you propose because such a thing is flatly denied in Scripture.
Works do not have any salvific power. (
Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5-6) Works
manifest true salvation, but they don't
obtain or maintain it.
For Christians must continue to do righteous deeds if they are to continue to be righteous (
1 John 3:7,
James 2:24,26).
Nope. Every genuine believer is made righteous - justified - by faith in Christ (
Acts 13:39; Romans 3:22; Romans 5:17; 1 Corinthians 1:30-31; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Philippians 3:9, etc.). No other righteousness but Christ's
perfect righteousness will God accept. Our works, however righteous, will never be perfect as Christ's righteousness is and so we must have his righteousness imputed to us so that we may be justified by God. We are, then, made righteous - perfectly righteous -
in Christ and cannot add to this righteousness by way of our own imperfect human righteousness. Though we are righteous
in our daily living by being righteous, our righteous standing before God
spiritually is anchored
in Christ, not our behaviour.
And there is no assurance that Christians will choose to do that, instead of wrongly employing their free will to become utterly lazy without repentance, to the ultimate loss of their salvation (
Matthew 25:26,30,
John 15:2a).
Perhaps in more than any respect soteriologically, this is the place where I disagree most strongly with the SAL proponent. I don't believe that when a person is indwelt by the Almighty God of the Universe in the Person of the Holy Spirit, that they can ever be the same again, that they can simply slide back into an entirely wicked life. Thinking that a genuine believer can do so is to maintain a very low view of God and His transforming power. It is a very weak God who cannot transform sufficiently the sinner to overcome sin; it is a very impotent God whose presence within a person leaves them fundamentally unchanged in their desires and behaviour. Paul, though, describes a very life-changing experience of God:
2 Corinthians 5:17
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Philippians 1:21-23
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.
23 For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.
Colossians 2:9-10
9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
What has happened, at least in part, I believe, is that the modern Church is increasingly occupied by false converts. And these false converts look at one another and see an absence of the transforming, empowering work of the Spirit and think to themselves that such "Christian" living, such a weak effect of God upon their lives, is normal. As a consequence, much of the Church has come to expect very little of spiritual regeneration, of being born-again. Some even think it is possible to be truly saved and return to a life of sin. Real conversion, true spiritual birth is much different, however. It is fundamentally, powerfully and permanently transforming and there is no mistaking it. Sadly, such conversions are becoming more and more rare.
Initial salvation, being born again (
John 3:3,7;
1 Peter 1:23-25;
1 Peter 2:2), is instant, in the sense of it being a one-time event, just as the birth of an infant is instant, in the sense of it being a one-time event.
As I have already pointed out, no such phrase ("initial salvation") is used by any of the writers of the New Testament, nor is such an idea implied.
Also, God grants initial salvation by faith without works (
Ephesians 2:8-9), just as infants are born without their works. But just as an infant after he is born needs to begin to breath, and then to continue to breathe, if he is to remain alive, so a new Christian after he is born again needs to begin to perform works of faith (
1 Thessalonians 1:3,
Galatians 5:6b) (not works of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law), and to continue to perform them (
Titus 3:8), if his faith is to remain alive (
James 2:26).
No such an extension of the birth analogy is ever made in Scripture. None. And this is so because to do so would be to advocate for works-salvation which Scripture flatly denies. Paul and John both write instead that Christ is the very life of the believer (
Philippians 1:21; Colossians 3:4; John 15:5; 1 John 5:11-12) the source of all they are and do as born-again children of God. He is their "breath," their spiritual "heartbeat," the life-giving Vine from whom all branches sprout, and grow, and bear fruit. At no point in the believer's walk with God is it their responsibility to create life within themselves, to manufacture from their own good deeds the life of Christ. Like begets like. Cats beget cats; dogs beget dogs; and we can only beget more of ourselves.
Only Christ can beget himself in us, which he does by the Holy Spirit. A new spiritual babe in Christ, then, will "breathe" inevitably and naturally
as a consequence of the life of Christ within, not by a fearful working to maintain membership in God's family. To offer a better analogy: An apple tree begets apples
because it is an apple tree, not
in order to be an apple tree. This is the crucial difference between biblical Christian living and the works-salvation stuff you're espousing.
For faith is like a body, and works of faith are like the breathing (spirit) of that body (
James 2:26).
The "spirit" or "pneuma" of the body does not refer to the act of breathing but to the human soul or spirit that inhabits and animates the body. The body works, it functions, because the human spirit exists within it. Take away the spirit or soul of the person, as happens at death, and the body is a lifeless lump of tissue. So, too, the faith of a believer that does not manifest itself in corresponding works. If the believer's faith is of a saving sort, rather than merely intellectual or emotional, it will inevitably give rise to works. But if the believer's faith is not of this sort and does not produce corresponding works, it is "dead." A lack of works, though, does not
make such a faith dead; it merely
reveals that it is dead.
Faith without works of faith will die, just as a body without breathing will die (
James 2:26).
Works don't
sustain faith anymore than apples fruiting from an apple tree sustain the tree. Works merely manifest the nature of one's faith, they express that faith; they don't bring that faith into existence, or give it life. The spiritual life of a believer is
in Christ, not their works. (
John 15:5; Colossians 3:4)