razeontherock
Well-Known Member
This is beautiful! "Until we stand before the Lord." Doesn't this happen before we receive His indwelling Spirit? (Yes, of course I realize this isn't the same as the great white throne of Judgment)
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Can you loose your Salvation? Heb 6:6
- Thread starter mikesayen
- Start date
Romans 8:16Actually my signature says otherwise
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.
1 John 5:6
This is the one who came by water and bloodJesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
1 John 3:24
And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
It sounds like we know Christ is within by the way we feel. I want something more solid than "feelings" to base my assurance on. It is possible, but I have known very few who could say they could identify their spirit within them. Most live by the soul: the mind, will, and emotions (you know, feelings!).
Don't get me wrong; these are good things. But God's acceptance of me is based on what God is to me, not what I am for Him.
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Well have you ever read the verse "Did you receive the spirit when you believed?" It is life changing and is different from feelings alone. Being born again is having your heart circumcised. Proof from the Old Testaments is circumcision of the penis. Proof of the New Testaments is circumcision of the heart and this is from God alone. Circumcision means to 'cut off' basically. When your heart is circumcised he 'cuts off' sin. Since we sin with our hearts constantly.
Romans 2:29
No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
John 3:5 says you must be born again of water and the spirit. What people don't realize is that he is talking about being spiritually reborn. Only faith saves. There are examples of people being saved without being water baptized yet. So you will have to understand what water really is before you can be saved. Mark 1:8 shows an example of this.
Acts 10:43-47 is a great example of what I am saying about being saved by faith alone, these people weren't even water baptized yet. Though they were born again of water and the spirit.
Acts 19:1-5 is another good example. These people only believed in Johns baptism. They were corrected to believe in what Christ has done too. This is why when you read 1 john 5:6 it says 'not water only' because many back then only believed in the water baptism.
I am sorry if what I say to you is foreign but please look into it all. Some say being born of water means to be born in the flesh. So you can say then Christ commanded us to be spiritually reborn again of flesh and the spirit? That contradicts previous verses.
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Actually it doesn't sound foreign at all, but very familiar. My question had nothing to do with baptism, but whether the assurance we have of salvation stems from what amounts to feeling, or something more sure: the fact that we have entered into Christ's death by faith to everything in us that is not like Holy God, and His Word saying "He who comes to me I will certainly not cast out" John 6:37. If receiving the Spirit is different from feelings alone, which it indeed is, then what we feel should not be the basis of our assurance. Mormons have a "burning bosom" experience whereby they conclude they have received the Holy Spirit, baptism of H.S. , filling, etc. Based on this feeling, they conclude they are right in their belief and in being filled with the Spirit, instead of reading God's Word for their doctrinal beliefs. If a person has fulfilled the conditions for being filled with the Spirit, to not believe in His indwelling and filling is to doubt God's Word. That makes the real issue one of faith, not feelings or what we "sense." We live by faith, not by sight (appearance, temporal feelings, evidence).
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razeontherock
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I can't tell if you're asking a question or making a point:
Either way I would say the mind is separate from feelings, and we do have more than feelings to go by.
Either way I would say the mind is separate from feelings, and we do have more than feelings to go by.
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Being "baptised into Jesus" we do not have a feeling associated with it. When you are truely "baptised by the Holy Spirit" a feeling with change is associated with it so you "will" know you were indeed baptised with the Holy Spirit's power.
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Being "baptised into Jesus" we do not have a feeling associated with it. When you are truely "baptised by the Holy Spirit" a feeling with change is associated with it so you "will" know you were indeed baptised with the Holy Spirit's power.
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A feeling is not a requirement, an expectation, nor a promise anywhere in scripture connected with the baptism of the Holy Spirit, being baptized into Christ. Since it is primarily a positional change, not an experiential change (which for many people takes time, not seconds) it may or may not be accompanied by an experience.Being "baptised into Jesus" we do not have a feeling associated with it. When you are truely "baptised by the Holy Spirit" a feeling with change is associated with it so you "will" know you were indeed baptised with the Holy Spirit's power.
So, again, I would say that any focus on feelings as a way a person "will" know, is not in accord with the overall message of the New Testament scriptures, which direct us to live by faith rather than by sight (appearances), and is likely to lead people to look the wrong direction.
Fact - Faith - Experience. Another way of saying that is
Fact - Faith - Feeling. Feelings that are a result of faith in God's facts are fine and should be encouraged. When feeling is looked to as an evidence, do I need to say this? feeling has become the focus, rather than Christ.
H.
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Do not forget "baptism into Jesus" and "baptism of the Holy Spirit" were never done at the SAME time.. they were always one after the other.
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There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. If we split it into two, I believe we can only split it into physical baptism and Spirit baptism. If you aren't baptized by the Holy Spirit, you are not "in Christ" and aren't saved. If you are in Christ, you got there by no other way than being "placed into" Christ (the meaning of baptizo) by the Holy Spirit. Jesus doesn't do it, God the Father doesn't do it; Michael the archangel doesn't do it (except for the mormons and JW'sDo not forget "baptism into Jesus" and "baptism of the Holy Spirit" were never done at the SAME time.. they were always one after the other.
); God does it by means of the Holy Spirit.If you weren't baptized by the Holy Spirit, you ain't in.
Rom 6:3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
Gal 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Eph 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
Col 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. (your baptism happened first, then your being risen in Christ as a new creature.)
Rom 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
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razeontherock
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Being "baptised into Jesus" we do not have a feeling associated with it. When you are truely "baptised by the Holy Spirit" a feeling with change is associated with it so you "will" know you were indeed baptised with the Holy Spirit's power.
"You will receive power from on high." That is different from what you wrote, and a key point, I think. Whether we feel it or not, or what it might feel like, is not the focus of Scripture. I'll also toss out that this realm is subject to Satan's deceptions. Scripture focuses on our fruit; i.e., the results of a changed life.
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well, according to hebrews, if we can lose our salvation, then we can never regain it, and are permanately doomed for hell
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I agree whole heartedly, you must understand the entire context of Hebrews to understand what the writer is conveying in these versus. This is why the majority of Hebrews addresses Jesus' supremecy over the Sacrificial system, Angels and the High Priesthood. I have a very difficult time believing that someone can loose their salvation inthe sense of if they are just backsliden, however I think if you persist in sin, even if you where once born again, and refuse to repent, eventually i believe that you maybe brought to a place of rejecting Christ through the hardness of your heart, although I believe this to be a very difficult place to reach, and I certainly would not lump someone who is struggling with areas of sin, no matter how big those areas where, and who where genuinly wanting to be set free from those sins, as being castaways from the faith
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Jennifer Rothnie
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The problem with the basic question of 'can you lose your salvation or not' is that the question itself is not specific enough.
Is it asking:
"Can any sin or anything on earth make us lose the seal of the holy spirit which is our guarantee of salvation?"
or "Once a believer has come to the saving knowledge of Christ, is there anything that can happen to make Jesus declare "I never knew you" on the last day?"
or, "Can we, after coming to Christ in faith, later reject faith and so return to condemnation?
Etc.
Can a Christian lose salvation?
Can a Christian 'give back' salvation?
However, I am assuming you are speaking of the second or third options; is it possible for someone have faith but then later reject it, returning to the world, and thereby standing under condemnation unable to claim Christ's blood or the promises at the judgement; as opposed to the Calvinist teachings of 'Once saved, always saved,' 'Eternal security,' and 'perseverance of the saints.'
If that is the case, then scripture points to a sobering 'yes.' It has happened to some, it will happen to others, and we should take care that we hold fast to our faith.
You listed a lot of verses, so it might take some time to get through them all:
In Heb 6:1-6, Paul is speaking to Christians seeking to grow into maturity (Heb 6:1-3).
They have seen the light (II Cor 4:6), ate of the heavenly gift (John 6:33), shared in the Holy Spirit (I Cor 12:13, II Peter 1:4, Eph 3:6, Heb 3:14, Col 1:12, Phil 1:7, Eph 4:4, etc), tasted the goodness of the word of God (Psalm 38:4) shared in spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:4), and have repented (Acts 2:38).
These are not traits of fakers, mere professors, or those with mere head knowledge of the way of salvation. For example, unbelievers have no share in the Holy Spirit.
These believers *should* have had a good handle on their Christian faith by now (yet are still struggling with the basics). As such, Paul gives them a dire warning: that there is no "do over" if one repents and is baptized in Christ, but then later rejects Christ, effectively returning to slavery to sin and rejecting all the promises of God.
In Heb 4:6, the verb for 'having fallen away' is 'parapesontas.' It is the second aorist active participle for the verb 'parapipto'. Parapipto literally means 'to fall from close beside,' that is, to desert something you were once a part of, or to apostatize. 'Close beside' is a stronger term in the Greek than in English - it denotes intimate participation or extremely close proximity.
Strong's Greek: 3844. παρά (para) -- from beside, by the side of, by, beside
Strong's Greek: 3895. παραπίπτω (parapiptó) -- to fall in, into or away, to fail
Unbelievers cannot 'fall away from close-beside' Christ - since they never walked with Him to begin with.
It is also important to note the exact sequence of the verses here in Heb 6:4-6. The warning Paul gives to the believers is about others who were, like them, believers - but fell away. Specifically, "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit....and then having fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to a state of repentence."
There is nothing hypothetical in this warning - Paul describes that for those who had received the Holy Spirit and were repentant believers but then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.
[Side note: Beware of translations adding the word 'if' to Heb 6:6, such as 'if they should fall away' - as there is no 'if' or other conditional in the Greek manuscripts.]
To defect from Christ, falling away from a position of relationship with Him, is nothing short of the willful rejection of faith in the covering blood of Christ. It's not merely struggling with sin, addiction, selfishness, rebelliousness, stagnating, backsliding, doubting God, being angry with God, or other pitfalls Christians often fall into, but rather deliberately rejecting salvation by faith and in so doing reverting to our former state before Christ - without the spirit, slave to sin, under condemnation.
Jude 1:22, I Tim 1:18-20, Luke 15:11-31, Luke 8:13, Heb 10:26-31, and other passages give examples of these 'temporary' believers. II Peter 2:20-22 goes so far as to say that it would have been better for these people to have never had true knowledge (relationship - not mere head knowledge) with Christ then it is for them to have escaped the world by knowing Christ only to turn their backs on the gospel and return to the world. To receive Christ, but then later reject Him and trample underfoot Christ's blood (Heb 10:26-9), is to fall away from faith, relationship with Christ, and all the promises of God through the Holy Spirit.
These former believers, once begotten again in Christ as new creations (1 Peter 1:3, Gal 6:15) deliberately died to Christ, uprooting themselves from the source of life - uprooted and twice dead. (Jd 1:12)
There are several reasons a believer might defect from Christ back to the world, such as love of sin or fear of persecution, but the one Paul was most concerned about in Heb 6 was that some converts were seeking to return to being under the law, rather than under grace. However, for a Christian to reject the idea that faith in Christ is what saves and instead seek the fulfillment of God's promises through the law can only bring condemnation, for the law has no power to save. (Heb 7:18-22.) Under the law, we all stand condemned.
If someone enters, but then rejects, the new covenant, then they also reject the seal of the Holy Spirit and Jesus as their guarantor. They cannot claim any of the promises of God, such as eternal life, for they no longer have faith, and God only wills that those who believe (continuously, not in the past) in Christ receive eternal life (John 3:13-18.)
Is it asking:
"Can any sin or anything on earth make us lose the seal of the holy spirit which is our guarantee of salvation?"
or "Once a believer has come to the saving knowledge of Christ, is there anything that can happen to make Jesus declare "I never knew you" on the last day?"
or, "Can we, after coming to Christ in faith, later reject faith and so return to condemnation?
Etc.
Can a Christian lose salvation?
Can a Christian 'give back' salvation?
However, I am assuming you are speaking of the second or third options; is it possible for someone have faith but then later reject it, returning to the world, and thereby standing under condemnation unable to claim Christ's blood or the promises at the judgement; as opposed to the Calvinist teachings of 'Once saved, always saved,' 'Eternal security,' and 'perseverance of the saints.'
If that is the case, then scripture points to a sobering 'yes.' It has happened to some, it will happen to others, and we should take care that we hold fast to our faith.
You listed a lot of verses, so it might take some time to get through them all:
In Heb 6:1-6, Paul is speaking to Christians seeking to grow into maturity (Heb 6:1-3).
They have seen the light (II Cor 4:6), ate of the heavenly gift (John 6:33), shared in the Holy Spirit (I Cor 12:13, II Peter 1:4, Eph 3:6, Heb 3:14, Col 1:12, Phil 1:7, Eph 4:4, etc), tasted the goodness of the word of God (Psalm 38:4) shared in spiritual gifts (1 Cor 12:4), and have repented (Acts 2:38).
These are not traits of fakers, mere professors, or those with mere head knowledge of the way of salvation. For example, unbelievers have no share in the Holy Spirit.
These believers *should* have had a good handle on their Christian faith by now (yet are still struggling with the basics). As such, Paul gives them a dire warning: that there is no "do over" if one repents and is baptized in Christ, but then later rejects Christ, effectively returning to slavery to sin and rejecting all the promises of God.
In Heb 4:6, the verb for 'having fallen away' is 'parapesontas.' It is the second aorist active participle for the verb 'parapipto'. Parapipto literally means 'to fall from close beside,' that is, to desert something you were once a part of, or to apostatize. 'Close beside' is a stronger term in the Greek than in English - it denotes intimate participation or extremely close proximity.
Strong's Greek: 3844. παρά (para) -- from beside, by the side of, by, beside
Strong's Greek: 3895. παραπίπτω (parapiptó) -- to fall in, into or away, to fail
Unbelievers cannot 'fall away from close-beside' Christ - since they never walked with Him to begin with.
It is also important to note the exact sequence of the verses here in Heb 6:4-6. The warning Paul gives to the believers is about others who were, like them, believers - but fell away. Specifically, "For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit....and then having fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to a state of repentence."
There is nothing hypothetical in this warning - Paul describes that for those who had received the Holy Spirit and were repentant believers but then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.
[Side note: Beware of translations adding the word 'if' to Heb 6:6, such as 'if they should fall away' - as there is no 'if' or other conditional in the Greek manuscripts.]
To defect from Christ, falling away from a position of relationship with Him, is nothing short of the willful rejection of faith in the covering blood of Christ. It's not merely struggling with sin, addiction, selfishness, rebelliousness, stagnating, backsliding, doubting God, being angry with God, or other pitfalls Christians often fall into, but rather deliberately rejecting salvation by faith and in so doing reverting to our former state before Christ - without the spirit, slave to sin, under condemnation.
Jude 1:22, I Tim 1:18-20, Luke 15:11-31, Luke 8:13, Heb 10:26-31, and other passages give examples of these 'temporary' believers. II Peter 2:20-22 goes so far as to say that it would have been better for these people to have never had true knowledge (relationship - not mere head knowledge) with Christ then it is for them to have escaped the world by knowing Christ only to turn their backs on the gospel and return to the world. To receive Christ, but then later reject Him and trample underfoot Christ's blood (Heb 10:26-9), is to fall away from faith, relationship with Christ, and all the promises of God through the Holy Spirit.
These former believers, once begotten again in Christ as new creations (1 Peter 1:3, Gal 6:15) deliberately died to Christ, uprooting themselves from the source of life - uprooted and twice dead. (Jd 1:12)
There are several reasons a believer might defect from Christ back to the world, such as love of sin or fear of persecution, but the one Paul was most concerned about in Heb 6 was that some converts were seeking to return to being under the law, rather than under grace. However, for a Christian to reject the idea that faith in Christ is what saves and instead seek the fulfillment of God's promises through the law can only bring condemnation, for the law has no power to save. (Heb 7:18-22.) Under the law, we all stand condemned.
If someone enters, but then rejects, the new covenant, then they also reject the seal of the Holy Spirit and Jesus as their guarantor. They cannot claim any of the promises of God, such as eternal life, for they no longer have faith, and God only wills that those who believe (continuously, not in the past) in Christ receive eternal life (John 3:13-18.)
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Jennifer Rothnie
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In Heb 2, the author is again speaking to believers.
"We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away."
Strong's Greek: 3901. παραῤῥυέω (pararreó) -- to flow by, hence slip away
Unbelievers cannot drift away, since they were never anchored in Christ.
To "drift away" is, in scripture, like a boat drifting from its mooring and floating away down a river. In Acts 27:32 it is used in a literal sense, with the soldiers cutting away a lifeboat and letting it drift away on the ocean.
In other places it is used metaphorically (Col 1:23, Heb 2:1, Psalm 119:10).
Drifting away is not outright rebellion or defection from God, but is the accidental slipping away which occurs when someone neglects to keep Christ as their anchor. While this is not a hopeless scenario, as Christ seeks after us when we wander or drift (Matt 18:12), it is a dangerous place to be in. The longer we ignore or don't notice the drifting, the farther we are getting from our foundation in Christ. If we are drifting away, then we are ignoring the salvation promised by Christ (Heb 2:2-3) and our lives will not be bearing good fruit (II Pet 1:3-11). The final consequence of unchecked drifting is a complete shipwreck (I Tim 1:18-20), but this only occurs if someone rejects faith entirely and refuses to repent (Jer 8:3-6, II Pet 2:22).
What are some things that may cause us to drift away from faith?
It is this last eventuality that the author is warning of in Heb 2:3. "How shall we escape if we have no regard for so great a salvation...?" The warning has parallels with the later warning of Heb10:29 "How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace?"
The author then reminds them of the confirmation of the gospel which they had received in faith - testimonies, signs, wonders, gifts of the Holy Spirit. He ends chapter 2 on notes of encouragement - Jesus shared in our humanity and suffered when He was tempted as well.
In chapter three, the author continues his exhortations to his fellow brothers and sisters who share in the heavenly calling. He warns them to continue in faith to the end, to not harden our hearts, and to encourage our fellow believers.
"But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast to our boldness and the hope in which we glory." Heb 3:6
'Hold fast' here is katechó, a term for holding the heading of a ship/holding course. It works well with the other nautical analogy of 'drifting away' from chapt 2.
"So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did....So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end."
Here, the warnings to Christians are clear. We should not willfully harden our hearts - such as deliberately ignoring the conviction of the Spirit or the word of God. Hardening our hearts can lead to an even worse state - an unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. We can avoid both hardening and unbelief by holding fast (again, the nautical reference of holding the ship to keep its heading) to our conviction (faith).
The term for falling away in Heb 3:13 is 'aphistémi,' to take up a position away from. Strong's Greek: 868. ἀφίστημι (aphistémi) -- to lead away, to depart from
It is the same term used in Luke 8:13, where Jesus says that some believe for a time, but then fall away.
There are many other verses as well that describe, or mention the possibility of, faith that does not hold fast until the end:
II Pet 2:20-22: These people had true knowledge of Christ (epignosis - relational knowledge, as opposed to mere head knowledge). They had escaped the world (apopheugó) - a feat only Christ's deliverance can achieve. Then, they went back again and were once more entangled with the world and overcome (héttaomai).
Luke 8:13, Matt 13:20-21: These received (welcomed) the word with joy like the believers of 1 Thess 2:13. They had no root, so could not endure through trials, and died like the foolish man of Luke 6:46-49.
Lk 8:14, Matt 13:22: These heard the word (Rom 10:14-17, Matt 11:15, ) but what they heard in the beginning did not remain in them (I John 2:24). They were 'choked/cut off because joined with' the world (sumpnigó). Unproductive faith that returns to the world is talked about it James 1:19-27, John 15:1-4, II Pet 1:3-11, Luke 9:62, etc.
Luke 12:42-46: The servant of Christ who does not wait for His coming will be 'assigned a place with the unbelievers'. This is like the foolish virgins (Matt 25:1-13) who had burning torches at the start (the Spirit) but did not bring extra oil (faith).
1 Tim 1:18-20: Timothy is exhorted to hold fast (echó) to faith, the same faith others have 'thrust away from themselves' (apótheó) and suffered shipwreck (nauageó - to break, to come to ruin, to suffer shipwreck concerning their faith. (Another nautical analogy)
Rom 11:17-24: Another branch and vine analogy, ref. Is 18:1-7. The Israelites did not remain, and were broken off. The Gentile believers were grafted in - but Rom 11:20-22 makes it quite clear we should not be smug in this newfound position, for God will not spare us if we do not continue with Him!
And others:
John 15:1-8, 1 Tim 4:1-15, II Tim 2:12, Heb 3:12-19, Heb 6:4-6, Heb 10:23-39, James 1:2-12, James 1:22-25, James 5:19-20, II Pet 1:8-11, I Peter 5:8, Matt 10:22, Matt 18:21-35, Matt 24:13, Gal 5:2-12, I John 2:24, Rom 11:17-24, Rev 2:5-11, Rev 3:5, Rev 3:11, Rev 22:19, etc.)
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yeshuaslavejeff
simple truth, martyr, disciple of Yahshua
Except when God's Word says so. (It is written who knows, who can know, who does know) and it is definitely NOT none of us- it is definitely not "no one".
See how many times it is written that they knew, they did know.
Since this is not regularly "taught", it is not in most "lesson plans",
it is required to read through the GOSPELS, the Epistles, and REVELATION
to see how many times someone DID KNOW. (AND WONDERFULLY SO! BY HIS WORD)
COOL ! No prob.
YHWH is the ONE Who Provides "something more", as He Pleases. (or "if" He does).
Absolutely - more than feelings, and not at all limited to the mind either.
Some (maybe many ) DO. Not wierd eeirie spooky nor emotional feelings either.
More like
PERFECT PEACE , REJOICING SPIRIT, OVERFLOWING JOY (ALL GIFTS with SALVATION)(ALL THROUGH THE NT)
Very TRUE. Very sobering warnings.
Okay.
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Jennifer Rothnie
Well-Known Member
There isn't much I can add to that!
"Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned." Heb 6:7-8
There is so much packed into these two verses. The 'land that drinks in the rain' shows a receptive soil - not a hardened one. The wording recalls the words of Jesus in Matt 13:20-23:
"The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and synthesizes it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
It also recalls the warning of Jn 15:4-6: "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned."
Thorns, unfruitful, apart from Christ - if we do not remain (stay/abide) in Christ through faith, we will not only bear no fruit, we will be cut off, wither, and be burned in the end.
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Jennifer Rothnie
Well-Known Member
Heb 10 is one of the clearest chapters about how we need to persevere in the faith to the end.
The author here is speaking to believers, to 'brothers and sisters' who have confidence to enter the Holy of Holies through the blood of Christ (Heb 10:19), who have had their hearts cleansed from guilt and been baptized (Heb 10:22), who have been sanctified by the covenant (Heb 10:29), who received the light (Heb 10:32), and who have the assurance of lasting possessions due to the promises of God (Heb 10:34-36)
In Heb 10:26, he specifically warns these Christians of the dangers of returning to a willful state of sin after having received personal/exact knowledge of the truth. The word used in Heb 10:26 for knowledge is 'epignosis' - relational or true knowledge, first-hand experience of Christ. (John 16:13, II Pet 1:3, II Pet 1:8, Col 3:10, Col 1:10, Col 2:2, etc.) Scripture treats the true knowledge (epignosis) that only Christians have of Christ as very distinct from mere 'head knowledge' (gnosis) about the way of salvation.
But what, exactly, does the author mean by 'willful sin?' Is he referring to a Christian deliberately ignoring God to engage in a sin, or to something we could accidentally do? No on both counts.
'Hamartano' (go on sinning) here is a present active participle in the Greek, denoting an ongoing action or continuous state. Hekousios is an adverb, meaning willingly, voluntarily, or of one's own accord.
This warning, then, does not apply to the general struggle Christians have with sin involuntarily, such as Paul describes in Rom 7:23-25, or to one-off sins that we commit knowingly (James 4:17).
Rather, this would apply to those people who once received Christ and had a personal relationship with Him (true knowledge), but then either immediately or at a later date returned to a state of slavery to sin, rather than walking by the Spirit. Going back to the beginning of Heb 10; the author is specifically warning these Christians not to give in to persecution and try to return to being under the law, rather than trusting the promises of God in faith.
The law of grace is opposed to the regulations of the old covenant (Gal 2:15-21, Gal 3:1-14, James 2:8-12). If we return again to dead works rather than diligently abiding with Christ with faith, long-suffering until the end (Heb 6:1-12), then we are rejecting the sovereign Lord who bought us (II Peter 2:1-3, II Tim 2:18-13).
This warning to hold fast to the faith and not turn back to our previous, pre-Christ state is found many places in scripture. (John 15:1-8, II Pet 1:3-11, II Pet 2:21-22, Heb 3:14, I Tim 1:18-19, Jn 8:30-32, I Cor 15:1-2, etc.)
Yet this warning is not without encouragement. God has given us everything we need to get through trials (II Peter 1:3, Phil 4:13), including each other, and we have the assured hope that at the Ressurection God will make good on the earnest payment he has given us (the Holy Spirit) and grant us eternal life (Eph 1:11-14).
For more on Heb 10:26, see Does Hebrews 10:26 mean that a believer can lose salvation?
In Heb 10:32-35, the author asks Christians to recall the early days after they received the light, and due to their confidence (faith and hope in the promises of God) they endured a great struggle with sufferings. He encourages them to continue in this manner and to not cast away that confidence, as that confidence leads to great reward and receiving the promise.
"You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised." Heb 10:36
Persevere/patiently endure in what? Faith!
"But my righteous one will live by faith, And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back (retreats).” Heb 10:38
But we are not of those who draw back (retreat) to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul Heb 10:39.
Interestingly enough, the only verb in Heb 10:39 is 'esmen' - 'we are'. It is a present indicative, which shows that it is a currently ongoing, linear action (vs. a repeated action with gaps). There is nothing in the verb to guarantee continuation.
Hupostole (shrinkage) and pistis (faith) are both nouns here.
The author is telling the believers that, currently, they are not among the retreaters but are rather of the faithful. In light of the other warnings of the chapter, he is encouraging them to remain in that state of faith until the end and not join the retreaters.
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