The Epistle to the Hebrews poses particular difficulties for many. The advocates of the doctrine of the apostasy of believers rely especially on various passages of this letter. They neither consider the character of the letter nor read and interpret the biblical text carefully. We must therefore pay special attention to the passages in question. For this purpose a brief presentation of the background of the letter is essential.
The Hebrews, as the name implies, were Jews in Palestine who had initially converted to Christianity by the thousands (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 5:14; 21:20). However, they had not yet completely broken with the law and the temple in Jerusalem, as we can see from the Acts of the Apostles in particular. Among them were apparently many followers who, although deeply impressed by the new doctrine, were not really converted. Soon persecutions began on the part of their unbelieving countrymen (Acts 8:1–3; 11:19; 12:1–3; 1 Thess. 2:14; Heb. 10:32–34; 12:4–11). These persecutions were arguably one of the main reasons why the Hebrews had become discouraged and weak (Heb. 5:11; 6:12). Several of them were apparently considering returning to Judaism because they were worse off than before!
This is why we find so many exhortations in this letter to persevere and hold fast to the faith (Heb. 2:1; 3:6, 14; 6:11; 10:23, 35, 36; 13:7). The writer also presents to them on various occasions what it means when someone who, as a Jew, has professed faith in the gospel of Christ and then renounces this faith and returns to Judaism.
On the other hand, the believers are addressed several times with very encouraging words (Heb. 6:9; 10:32–39). The fact that these exhortations are pronounced precisely after the admonitions shows that the writer is not thinking of believers being lost, but is appealing to the responsibility of believers with appropriate admonitions and warnings.
Hebrews 2:1 Slipping away
“For this reason we should give heed more abundantly to the things we have heard, lest in any way we should slip away” (Hebr. 2:1).
First of all, it is important to see that here (as in most such passages) not an individual, but a whole group of people is addressed (“we” or “you”). The condition of the individual’s heart is not at issue, only that everyone has “heard” something that they must ‘pay attention to’ so that they do not “slip away”. Let us remember that among the Jews who were truly converted there were also unsaved followers. But here no distinction is made between them. All are addressed together because all of them have, by their profession, placed themselves under the same responsibility before God. Whoever pays attention to what is heard will be saved from slipping away. But those who have no life from God can slip away in the face of pressure or persecution. This verse warns us against this: that true believers are meant here is a mere assumption with no basis in the text.
Hebrews 3:12; 6:4–8 Apostasy
“See, brethren, lest there be in any one of you a wicked heart of unbelief, in turning away from the living God” (Heb. 3:12).
The two passages in Hebrews 3:12 and 6:4–8, which have been a cause of distress to many believers, do not refer to true children of God, but to the already mentioned Jewish followers.
The professors living among true Christians are here compared with the unbelieving and disobedient portion of the Israelites in the wilderness. When, under the pressure of persecution, they abandoned their profession of Jesus and returned to Judaism, they also turned away from God, since no one can be justified before Him through works of law (cf. Rom. 3:20). Only such people can be described as having a “wicked heart of unbelief”. The heart of a born-again person, on the other hand, has been purified by God through faith (ch. 3:12; see Acts 15:9). “Turning away from the living God” is a complete turning away from the only true God.
It is the same in Chapter 6. To avoid difficulties by returning to the Jewish religion is an aberration. The law as a “tutor up to Christ” (Gal 3:24), and the parts of the teachings of the Lord Jesus which made reference to it during His earthly life – before the work of redemption – are here called “the word of the beginning of Christ”. As a basis of faith, both belong to the past and must therefore be ‘left’, that is, left behind. Things known to the Jews, such as the repentance from dead works, faith in God, the doctrine of washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment, have their place in the Word of God but they do not form the basis of the Christian faith, which presents Christ and His perfect work of redemption to us (v. 1–2). To accept this in faith is “full growth”, and it was the desire of the writer to continue in it (v.3).
Verses 4 to 6 describe people who had experienced all the blessings of Christianity but were not born again and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
“For it is impossible to renew again to repentance those once enlightened, and who have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the works of power of the age to come, and have fallen away, crucifying for themselves as they do the Son of God, and making a show of him” (Heb. 6:4–6).
These people were “enlightened”, but they had not become “light in the Lord” and “children of light” by faith (cf. John 1:9; Eph. 5:8). They had tasted the glorified Christ as “the heavenly gift”, i.e., they had tasted Him, but they had not believed in Him and His work of redemption, eating, as it were, His flesh and drinking His blood to receive eternal life (see John 6:53). They were “partakers of the Holy Spirit”, that is, they had experienced His activity, but without having been personally “born of the Spirit” or having received Him as a seal and pledge (see John 3:6–8; Eph. 1:13). Finally, they had “tasted the good word of God and the works of power of the age to come” – but we read nothing about them taking it seriously and believing the gospel (see Matt. 7:22; Mark 4:14–20)!
If, in spite of these quite far-reaching experiences – which are by no means to be equated with the new birth and its fruits – they gave up their profession of Christ in order to return to Judaism, then this was apostasy from God. For those who had come to Christianity from the Jewish religion of the law and had come to know its blessings, but without true conversion, and had then fallen away, there was no more repentance, no more grace. Along with Christianity, they also rejected Christ and crucified Him, so to speak, for the second time. We are therefore occupied here with a historically unique situation. For these people, who had rightly given up Judaism and now had wrongly given up Christianity, there was no other course left to them that would bring them salvation.
These apostate Jews must not be put on the same level as Christians who have fallen into sin or even live in sin, however serious this may be. When a child of God makes a hasty misstep or strays from the truth, God’s Word speaks quite differently:
“Brethren, if even a man be taken in some fault, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1),
and:
“My brethren, if any one among you err from the truth, and one bring him back, let him know that he that brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (Jas. 5:19–20).
Hebrews 10:26–31 To sin wilfully
The verses from Hebrews 10:26–31, which are often quoted as proof of the possibility of believers being lost, have the same background. Again and again in this Epistle the writer points out the same danger and its eternal consequences.
Chapter 10 deals first of all with being absent from the meetings of believers, often the first step towards the complete abandonment of the Christian profession (v. 25). Then the author continues:
“For where we sin wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and heat of fire about to devour the adversaries. Any one that has disregarded Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses: of how much worse punishment, think you, will he be judged worthy who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and esteemed the blood of the covenant, by which he has been sanctified, common, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebr 10:26–29).
As is evident from the mention of the law of Sinai, Jews who professed the Christian faith are again addressed here. A Jew who had professed to know the value of the sacrifice of Christ, and then gave it up, could not resort to any other sacrifice, nor could the sacrifice of Christ be repeated. For such a person there was no other sacrifice, only the terrible expectation of eternal judgment. Such a professor, who had recognized the truth and left it again, took on the character of an adversary of God.
If everyone who despised the Law of Moses had to die without mercy, what could a Jew expect who had trampled the Son of God underfoot, who had considered the blood of the covenant by which he was outwardly sanctified, that is, separated from God, to be common, and had insulted the Spirit of grace? This was not only disobedience, as bad as it is, but contempt for the grace of God that was revealed in Christ to save the lost. The rejection of Christ’s sacrifice was apostasy from Christianity and is called sinning “wilfully” here. It is on a par with sinning “with a high hand” in the law of Sinai. For such sins, in contrast to sins of “inadvertence”, there was no sacrifice and no forgiveness (cf. Lev. 5:15; Num. 4:15, 30).
The words, “the blood of the covenant by which he has been sanctified”, cause some Bible readers particular difficulty. It is argued that this could only be applicable to believers. But does “sanctified” really always include belief? In Scripture, “sanctify” generally means “to separate for God”. There are indeed passages in which “sanctify” refers to true believers, as in 1 Corinthians 6:11: “but you have been washed, but you have been sanctified, but you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God”, or in 1 Peter 1:2: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by sanctification of the Spirit …”.
But often “sanctification” also means that someone is only separated for God in an external way. The best example of this is 1 Corinthians 7:14, where an unbelieving man is “sanctified” by a wife who is converted. He is by no means saved by this, but he has been brought into a relationship and into a sphere where he is outwardly separated from the world and can experience the influence of the life-giving Word of God. Children born into such a marriage are even sanctified from birth, although they too need to be personally converted.
Such external sanctification by the blood of the covenant is spoken of here. Anyone who has taken refuge by faith in the blood of Christ will be eternally sanctified for God, but that is not the point here. It is about the blood as the seal and foundation of the new covenant with the Jewish people. Anyone who considers this to be common – completely despises it – and tramples upon the Son of God and reviles the Holy Spirit (the “Spirit of grace”), can only be an unbeliever.
Hebrews 12:14 Pursuing holiness
“Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebr. 12:14).
Some Christians read from this verse the demand for a certain degree or level of holiness that must be attained in order to reach the goal of being saved. Through every sin holiness is lost, and one must start again from the beginning. In the original Greek text there is a contrast between this verse and v. 10, which refers to a state of holiness where the nature of God is the subject. Here the subject is ‘being sanctified’, in the sense of practical surrender to God. Even the weakest and most fearful child of God need not be frightened by this admonition but rather be encouraged to continue in practical devotion to God. We also find calls for practical holiness in the life of faith in other places (1 Thess. 4:3; 1 Pet. 1:15). Whoever professes to belong to the Lord Jesus, however, and does not strive for separation from evil and devotion to God, lives in contradiction to his profession. Hence the warning: “without which no one will see the Lord.”
The Epistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews
The Epistle to the Hebrews poses particular difficulties for many. The advocates of the doctrine of the apostasy of believers rely especially on various passages of this letter. They neither consider the character of the letter nor read and interpret the biblical text carefully. We must therefore pay special attention to the passages in question. For this purpose a brief presentation of the background of the letter is essential.
The Hebrews, as the name implies, were Jews in Palestine who had initially converted to Christianity by the thousands (Acts 2:41; 4:4; 5:14; 21:20). However, they had not yet completely broken with the law and the temple in Jerusalem, as we can see from the Acts of the Apostles in particular. Among them were apparently many followers who, although deeply impressed by the new doctrine, were not really converted. Soon persecutions began on the part of their unbelieving countrymen (Acts 8:1–3; 11:19; 12:1–3; 1 Thess. 2:14; Heb. 10:32–34; 12:4–11). These persecutions were arguably one of the main reasons why the Hebrews had become discouraged and weak (Heb. 5:11; 6:12). Several of them were apparently considering returning to Judaism because they were worse off than before!
This is why we find so many exhortations in this letter to persevere and hold fast to the faith (Heb. 2:1; 3:6, 14; 6:11; 10:23, 35, 36; 13:7). The writer also presents to them on various occasions what it means when someone who, as a Jew, has professed faith in the gospel of Christ and then renounces this faith and returns to Judaism.
On the other hand, the believers are addressed several times with very encouraging words (Heb. 6:9; 10:32–39). The fact that these exhortations are pronounced precisely after the admonitions shows that the writer is not thinking of believers being lost, but is appealing to the responsibility of believers with appropriate admonitions and warnings.
Hebrews 2:1 Slipping away
“For this reason we should give heed more abundantly to the things we have heard, lest in any way we should slip away” (Hebr. 2:1).
First of all, it is important to see that here (as in most such passages) not an individual, but a whole group of people is addressed (“we” or “you”). The condition of the individual’s heart is not at issue, only that everyone has “heard” something that they must ‘pay attention to’ so that they do not “slip away”. Let us remember that among the Jews who were truly converted there were also unsaved followers. But here no distinction is made between them. All are addressed together because all of them have, by their profession, placed themselves under the same responsibility before God. Whoever pays attention to what is heard will be saved from slipping away. But those who have no life from God can slip away in the face of pressure or persecution. This verse warns us against this: that true believers are meant here is a mere assumption with no basis in the text.
Hebrews 3:12; 6:4–8 Apostasy
“See, brethren, lest there be in any one of you a wicked heart of unbelief, in turning away from the living God” (Heb. 3:12).
The two passages in Hebrews 3:12 and 6:4–8, which have been a cause of distress to many believers, do not refer to true children of God, but to the already mentioned Jewish followers.
The professors living among true Christians are here compared with the unbelieving and disobedient portion of the Israelites in the wilderness. When, under the pressure of persecution, they abandoned their profession of Jesus and returned to Judaism, they also turned away from God, since no one can be justified before Him through works of law (cf. Rom. 3:20). Only such people can be described as having a “wicked heart of unbelief”. The heart of a born-again person, on the other hand, has been purified by God through faith (ch. 3:12; see Acts 15:9). “Turning away from the living God” is a complete turning away from the only true God.
It is the same in Chapter 6. To avoid difficulties by returning to the Jewish religion is an aberration. The law as a “tutor up to Christ” (Gal 3:24), and the parts of the teachings of the Lord Jesus which made reference to it during His earthly life – before the work of redemption – are here called “the word of the beginning of Christ”. As a basis of faith, both belong to the past and must therefore be ‘left’, that is, left behind. Things known to the Jews, such as the repentance from dead works, faith in God, the doctrine of washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgment, have their place in the Word of God but they do not form the basis of the Christian faith, which presents Christ and His perfect work of redemption to us (v. 1–2). To accept this in faith is “full growth”, and it was the desire of the writer to continue in it (v.3).
Verses 4 to 6 describe people who had experienced all the blessings of Christianity but were not born again and sealed with the Holy Spirit.
“For it is impossible to renew again to repentance those once enlightened, and who have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the works of power of the age to come, and have fallen away, crucifying for themselves as they do the Son of God, and making a show of him” (Heb. 6:4–6).
These people were “enlightened”, but they had not become “light in the Lord” and “children of light” by faith (cf. John 1:9; Eph. 5:8). They had tasted the glorified Christ as “the heavenly gift”, i.e., they had tasted Him, but they had not believed in Him and His work of redemption, eating, as it were, His flesh and drinking His blood to receive eternal life (see John 6:53). They were “partakers of the Holy Spirit”, that is, they had experienced His activity, but without having been personally “born of the Spirit” or having received Him as a seal and pledge (see John 3:6–8; Eph. 1:13). Finally, they had “tasted the good word of God and the works of power of the age to come” – but we read nothing about them taking it seriously and believing the gospel (see Matt. 7:22; Mark 4:14–20)!
If, in spite of these quite far-reaching experiences – which are by no means to be equated with the new birth and its fruits – they gave up their profession of Christ in order to return to Judaism, then this was apostasy from God. For those who had come to Christianity from the Jewish religion of the law and had come to know its blessings, but without true conversion, and had then fallen away, there was no more repentance, no more grace. Along with Christianity, they also rejected Christ and crucified Him, so to speak, for the second time. We are therefore occupied here with a historically unique situation. For these people, who had rightly given up Judaism and now had wrongly given up Christianity, there was no other course left to them that would bring them salvation.
These apostate Jews must not be put on the same level as Christians who have fallen into sin or even live in sin, however serious this may be. When a child of God makes a hasty misstep or strays from the truth, God’s Word speaks quite differently:
“Brethren, if even a man be taken in some fault, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Gal. 6:1),
and:
“My brethren, if any one among you err from the truth, and one bring him back, let him know that he that brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (Jas. 5:19–20).
Hebrews 10:26–31 To sin wilfully
The verses from Hebrews 10:26–31, which are often quoted as proof of the possibility of believers being lost, have the same background. Again and again in this Epistle the writer points out the same danger and its eternal consequences.
Chapter 10 deals first of all with being absent from the meetings of believers, often the first step towards the complete abandonment of the Christian profession (v. 25). Then the author continues:
“For where we sin wilfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and heat of fire about to devour the adversaries. Any one that has disregarded Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses: of how much worse punishment, think you, will he be judged worthy who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and esteemed the blood of the covenant, by which he has been sanctified, common, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebr 10:26–29).
As is evident from the mention of the law of Sinai, Jews who professed the Christian faith are again addressed here. A Jew who had professed to know the value of the sacrifice of Christ, and then gave it up, could not resort to any other sacrifice, nor could the sacrifice of Christ be repeated. For such a person there was no other sacrifice, only the terrible expectation of eternal judgment. Such a professor, who had recognized the truth and left it again, took on the character of an adversary of God.
If everyone who despised the Law of Moses had to die without mercy, what could a Jew expect who had trampled the Son of God underfoot, who had considered the blood of the covenant by which he was outwardly sanctified, that is, separated from God, to be common, and had insulted the Spirit of grace? This was not only disobedience, as bad as it is, but contempt for the grace of God that was revealed in Christ to save the lost. The rejection of Christ’s sacrifice was apostasy from Christianity and is called sinning “wilfully” here. It is on a par with sinning “with a high hand” in the law of Sinai. For such sins, in contrast to sins of “inadvertence”, there was no sacrifice and no forgiveness (cf. Lev. 5:15; Num. 4:15, 30).
The words, “the blood of the covenant by which he has been sanctified”, cause some Bible readers particular difficulty. It is argued that this could only be applicable to believers. But does “sanctified” really always include belief? In Scripture, “sanctify” generally means “to separate for God”. There are indeed passages in which “sanctify” refers to true believers, as in 1 Corinthians 6:11: “but you have been washed, but you have been sanctified, but you have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God”, or in 1 Peter 1:2: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by sanctification of the Spirit …”.
But often “sanctification” also means that someone is only separated for God in an external way. The best example of this is 1 Corinthians 7:14, where an unbelieving man is “sanctified” by a wife who is converted. He is by no means saved by this, but he has been brought into a relationship and into a sphere where he is outwardly separated from the world and can experience the influence of the life-giving Word of God. Children born into such a marriage are even sanctified from birth, although they too need to be personally converted.
Such external sanctification by the blood of the covenant is spoken of here. Anyone who has taken refuge by faith in the blood of Christ will be eternally sanctified for God, but that is not the point here. It is about the blood as the seal and foundation of the new covenant with the Jewish people. Anyone who considers this to be common – completely despises it – and tramples upon the Son of God and reviles the Holy Spirit (the “Spirit of grace”), can only be an unbeliever.
Hebrews 12:14 Pursuing holiness
“Pursue peace with all, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebr. 12:14).
Some Christians read from this verse the demand for a certain degree or level of holiness that must be attained in order to reach the goal of being saved. Through every sin holiness is lost, and one must start again from the beginning. In the original Greek text there is a contrast between this verse and v. 10, which refers to a state of holiness where the nature of God is the subject. Here the subject is ‘being sanctified’, in the sense of practical surrender to God. Even the weakest and most fearful child of God need not be frightened by this admonition but rather be encouraged to continue in practical devotion to God. We also find calls for practical holiness in the life of faith in other places (1 Thess. 4:3; 1 Pet. 1:15). Whoever professes to belong to the Lord Jesus, however, and does not strive for separation from evil and devotion to God, lives in contradiction to his profession. Hence the warning: “without which no one will see the Lord.”
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