Introduction to the Theological Debate
For 500
years, much of evangelical Christianity has been split on the issue of whether
a person could ever forfeit his salvation.
While 20 some proof texts can be cited on either side of the issue, the
book of Hebrews is central to the debate since it is one of the very, very few
places in scripture which has a sustained discussion on the issue.
Two
passages in Hebrews are of particular importance to the doctrine of continuance
(6:4-6; 10:26-31), and much has been written on them. Yet, there is much more about continuance in
Hebrews than these two passages. In
fact, the whole book provides a definitive context which weighs heavily and
imposes an interpretation on these two passages and should ultimately determine
one’s view of eternal security
On Reading Hebrews
The last
thing people need is for some scholar to tell them what Hebrews says. So, I recommend that you take 30-45 minutes
of your time and read the book of Hebrews aloud, cover to cover, in a single
reading. Anyone who reads it with
passion and with an open mind will find it extremely difficult to maintain
eternal security.
As you read through Hebrews, you will find a
consistent rhetorical sequence in its structure. Again and again, the apostle lays out an
argument for the superiority of Christ.
After he develops this argument, he launches into exhortation. These are often marked with the words,
“therefore” or some other such consequential modifier. The pattern is
formulaic: “Jesus is superior to ______________. Therefore, persist in the
faith. Here is the outline:
Prologue (1:1-3)
Jesus is superior to the angels
(1:4-14)
·
Therefore, we must pay more careful attention so
that we do not drift away (2:1-4)
Jesus had to be made like his
brothers in order to be a faithful high priest (2:5-18)
·
Therefore, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the
apostle and high priest whom we confess (3:1)
Jesus is greater than Moses
·
See to it that none of you has a sinful
unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God (3:12-19)
Jesus’ rest is greater than
Joshua’s rest (ch. 4)
·
Therefore, let us make every effort to enter
that rest, so that no one will fall (4:11)
·
Therefore, let us hold firmly to the faith we
profess (4:14)
·
It is impossible for [them]…, if they fall away,
to be brought back to repentance (511-6:12)
Jesus is greater than Aaron’s
priestly descendants (chs. 5, 7)
Jesus’ covenant is greater than the
old covenant (chs. 8-10)
·
Therefore…let us draw near to God (10:19-25)
·
Severe warning and encouragement of 10:26-39
Heroes of the faith
·
Therefore, since we have such a great cloud of
witnesses, let us throw off hindering sin, run the race with perseverance, and
fix our eyes upon Jesus (12:1-3)
·
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak
knees (12:12)
Final warning and exhortation: Zion & Sinai
·
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks
Miscellaneous and concluding exhortations
The structure is helpful in understanding the
author’s purpose. He provides
theological arguments to convince them of the superiority of the faith, and
then urges them to continue in the faith, sometimes with severe warnings. Thus, the book is primarily written to keep
people from turning away from their faith.
The Recipients
One of the
issues arising from the Continuance debate in Hebrews is whether the recipients
were indeed true believers, or perhaps they might have only appeared to be
believers. If they were true believers,
and if the apostle warns them of losing their salvation, then a necessary
conclusion would be that Continuance in Salvation is not guaranteed.
- The
Hebrews were Christians
- The
apostle addresses them as brethren and as sons
i.
“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the
heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom
we confess” (3:1)
ii.
“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a
sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage
one another daily…” (3:12)
iii.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence
to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus…, let us draw near to God
with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” (10:19-20)
iv.
“And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that
addresses you as sons:
‘My son, do
not make light of the Lord's discipline,
and do not lose
heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord
disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes
everyone he accepts as a son.’
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.
For what son is not disciplined by his father?
If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you
are illegitimate children and not true sons.
Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we
respected them for it. How much more
should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined
us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our
good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the
time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
and peace for those who have been trained by it” (12:5-13).
v.
“Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of
exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter” (13:22).
- The
apostle was urging them to continue in faith. He was not urging them to get saved,
but to continue in their salvation.
i.
“We must pay more careful attention, therefore,
to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message
spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its
just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?”
(2:1-3).
ii.
“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly
calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we
confess” (3:1).
iii.
“We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly
till the end the confidence we had at first” (3:14).
iv.
“Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that
rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience
(4:11).
v.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has
gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the
faith we profess” (4:14).
vi.
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to
enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus…, let us draw near to God with
a sincere heart in full assurance of faith….
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” (10:19-23).
vii.
“You need to persevere so that when you have
done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” (10:36).
viii.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great
cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that
so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked
out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our
faith…, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (12:1-3).
- They
were being persecuted for their faith (10:32-34; 12:4; 13:11-14; cf.
13:2), and the apostle urges them to stay true despite the
persecution. Obviously, if he
believed that their faith was disingenuous, the argument would have been
for them to get saved despite the persecution, rather than to remain in
the faith despite the persecution.
i.
Persecution began soon after “receiving the light”
ii.
They stood their ground in the face of suffering
iii.
They were publicly insulted and persecuted
iv.
Sometimes they stood side by side with those being
persecuted
v.
Some were imprisoned
vi.
They had not yet been persecuted to the point of blood
shed
vii.
They appeared to have been cast outside of their social
group, for the apostle compares their situation to that of Christ who “suffered
outside the city gate,” urging them to “go to him outside the camp, bearing the
disgrace he bore.”
- They
experienced the benefits of salvation
i.
They share in the heavenly calling (3:1).
ii.
They had come (perfect tense) to share in Christ
(3:14).
iii.
They had free and bold access to the throne of grace
(4:16; 10:19)
iv.
They were being disciplined as sons (12:5-13)
v.
They had been sanctified (“How much more severely do
you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under
foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that
sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” [10:29]).
vi.
They had received purification of their sins (“…having
our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our
bodies washed with pure water” [10:22]; cf. 1:3).
vii.
Heb 6:4-6
This is a controversial and
difficult passage which Calvinists must re-interpret to be descriptive of a
non-Christian, against overwhelming data.
1. They
had been enlightened
2. They
had tasted the heavenly gift
3. They
shared in the Holy spirit
4. They
had tasted the goodness of the Word of God
5. They
had tasted the powers of the coming age
6. They
had repented
- They
were already part of the Church
i.
They were admonished to act like Christian brethren
1. To
encourage one another (3:13)
2. To
spur one another toward love and good deeds (10:24)
3. To
meet regularly for worship (10:25)
4. To
keep on loving each other as brothers (13:1)
ii.
They had come not to Sinai, but to Zion (12:22-24)
1. To
the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God
2. To
the joint worship around the throne, with the saints and celestial beings
3. To
the Church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven
4. To
the abode of God, Jesus, and the holy people of God
iii.
They had church leaders, whom they must imitate and to
whom they must submit (13:7,17)
iv.
Greetings and prayer requests are exchanged between the
Hebrews and the other churches (13:18,23,24)
Having analyzed much of the book, only one
conclusion can prevail regarding the spiritual condition of the
recipients: they were genuine
believers. They were referred to as
brothers and sons. They were being
persecuted precisely because their faith was genuine. They experienced the benefits of salvation
unique to true believers, such as the sharing in Christ, the Spirit, and the
heavenly calling; the privilege to approach the throne of grace boldly and
freely; the privilege of being disciplined as sons; the experience of being
sanctified; having their sins sprinkled and atoned for; being enlightened;
tasting the heavenly gift and the goodness of the word of God; and having
tasted the powers of the coming age.
They were already a part of the Church.
We should add that if Hebrews were written to non-believers, it would be
the only book of the Bible so written.
By now, it should be clear that the Hebrews were
genuine believers. This creates a
tremendous difficulty for those who believe in eternal security. They must explain how the apostle can give
such dire warnings to genuine believers if losing one’s salvation is
impossible.
The Apostle’s Urgency and
Warnings
Those who believe in guaranteed Continuance must take the
apostle’s urgings and warnings more seriously than they typically do. So long as the apostle was thought to be
issuing the warnings to unbelievers, eternal securitists were prone to dismiss
the warnings as not applying to them.
However, as we have seen in the previous section, the apostle was indeed
issuing the warnings to true believers, and thus, the warnings have direct
applicability to all believers.
The apostle’s great concern is that the Hebrews would
slip into spiritual despondency and end up rejecting their faith. Here is a survey of those passages which deal
with the apostle’s concerns over the Hebrews’ spiritual well-being, along with
a survey of the warnings given in his book.
1.
Their waning commitment and the apostle’s urging to
diligence
a.
“We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what
we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by
angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just
punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?” (2:1-3).
b.
“It is impossible for [them]…, if they fall away, to be
brought back to repentance” (6:4-6)
c.
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in
the habit of doing” (10:25).
d.
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be
richly rewarded. You need to persevere
so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised”
(10:35-36).
e.
“See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him
who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who
warns us from heaven?” (12:25).
2.
Judgment against those who fail to continue in faith
The apostle
warns that believers shall not escape judgment if they neglect or ignore so
great a salvation (2:1-3). The following
passages provide some help in determining the nature of such judgment.
a.
Judgment is likened to that which visited the
Israelites in their desert wanderings (ch. 3)
b.
Judgment is depicted as a double-edged sword,
penetrating so deeply as to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow, judging
all thoughts and attitudes of the heart (4:12)
c.
A fearful expectation, of raging fire consuming the
enemies of God (10:26-31)
i.
More severe than the death penalty required of those
who broke the Law
ii.
“‘The Lord will judge his people’”
iii.
“It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God”
d.
Divine punishment is more certain for those who refuse
him who warned from heaven than the punishment of those who refused him who
spoke on earth (12:25)
e.
No more sacrifice--In three passages, the apostle
speaks ominously of situations that have no more means of salvation
i.
It is impossible for people who have experienced such
great salvific benefits and have fallen 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” (6:4-6)
ii.
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have
received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a
fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the
enemies of God” (10:26-27)
iii.
“…When [Esau] wanted to inherit this blessing, he was
rejected. He could bring about no change
of mind [“repentance”—NASB], though he sought the blessing with tears
All these passages tell us one vitally important
thing: if you ignore your salvation, if
you drift away, if you fall away, if you throw away your confidence, if you
refuse him who speaks, then the severest of judgments will come upon you. You will have no means of salvation, but only
“a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire” (10:27).
The Apostle’s Hopes for
the Hebrews
In the process of urging the Hebrews to continue, and
warning them of dire consequences for not doing so, the author speaks words of
comfort to them.
1.
Jesus would help them
a.
As high priest, he offered atonement and purification
of sin (1:3; 2:17; 9:11-14)
b.
As a human high priest, he sympathizes with our
weaknesses and temptations (2:18; 4:14-16)
2.
He is “confident of better things in your case”
(6:9-12)
3.
He includes them among those who do not shrink back,
but believe and are saved (10:39)
4.
He prays that 1) God will equip them with everything
good for doing his will; and 2) God will work in them all that is pleasing to
him
5.
His anticipated trip to visit them assumes their
continued allegiance to Christ.
So, we have the apostle desperately urging the
believers not to give up their faith. We
have him issuing them some of the most severe warnings found in biblical
literature. Yet, afterwards, he gives
encouraging words. This is part of the
apostle’s rhetorical strategy, one which we often use in regard to our own children. The words of encouragement do not negate the
dire warnings; the warnings are, in fact, real, as are the possibilities of
throwing away one’s faith.
Conclusion
Only a few passages in the NT contain sustained arguments
regarding the doctrine of Continuance.
Hebrews is one of them. We all
know the dangers of attempting the formulation of a particular doctrine on the
basis of proof texts. In the case of the
doctrine of Continuance, we do not really need any proof texts, for the whole
book of Hebrews addresses it very thoroughly, almost exhaustively.
In Hebrews, the apostle warns genuine believers of the
possibility that they may end up rejecting their faith if they neglect their
salvation, if they drift away, if they do not draw near, if they deliberately
keep on sinning. Consequences for doing
so are spelled out in ominous yet definite terms.
People who insist on believing in eternal security will
have to figure out some other way to read the book of Hebrews. Unfortunately for their argument, the text
will not permit them to mute the apostle’s warnings by claiming that they were
issued to non-believers.
Eternal securitists end up doing all kinds of silly
things to Hebrews in support of eternal security. Not only do they try to claim that Hebrews
was written to unbelievers, but they also try to claim things like the apostle
was only writing hypothetically, or that the judgment spoken of in Hebrews only
deals with the extent of our heavenly rewards.
Such silliness simply doesn’t fit in with the sweeping, intensive
seriousness of the apostle’s warnings and urgings. If the believers were not really in danger of
“a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the
enemies of God” (10:27), then he wouldn’t have bothered writing this book.
Surely,
this is the right way to read the book of Hebrews. Let anyone who remains skeptical pick up the
book at this instant and read it cover to cover, in one setting.
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