Hebrews 6:4-6

For more than a week now, I've been thinking about Sara's questions about Hebrews 6:4-6 and how these verses relate to her situation. I get the impression that her understanding of these verses has caused her to conclude that she has been excluded from the Kingdom and life eternal because she had a period of "rebellion" or "falling away" in her teenage years. Though the Holy Spirit has since drawn her back to faith, she fears that her salvation has been forfeited. These verses seem to imply that very thing, don't they? Doctor Luther himself referred to these passages as "hard knots".

Sara is very dear to me and I want to offer comfort to her. I do not want to simply offer warm fuzzies and wishful thinking – that’s false comfort. I believe that there is comfort for her from God's Word – comfort that is based on objective fact and not just my own sentimentality. I went back to read the passages that Sara indicated were troubling her and decided I better read through the entire book of Hebrews again.

Going through the letter (which, as the name implies was written to Jewish Christians) I noticed the number of times that the writer warns them against falling away, returning to Judaism and apostasy. (See 3:7-4:13; 5:11-6:20; 10:26-31). There is an urgency to these appeals since we are in "these last days" (1:2). It would probably take me days to detail my thoughts and impressions here and so I am going to cop out and provide a quote from Franzmann which summarizes them nicely.

The message is, thirdly, marked by the consciousness that the days since God spoke in His Son are "these last days". Christ has appeared "at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself" (9:26). It is the beginning of the end; the new world of God has become a reality in the midst of the old, and men "have tasted...the powers of the age to come" (6:5) even now. What former ages had possessed in an imperfect form, a form which itself pointed to a fuller realization, is now a present blessing - a better covenant (7:22), better sacrifices (9:23), a better possession (10:34), and a better hope (7:19). Men still hope, and the full realization of all that Christ has wrought is still to come. But the Day is drawing near (10:25) when all that is now a sure hope shall be fully realized. This "last days" character of Jesus' work, its eschatological character, gives it a final, once-for-all character and makes the decision of faith one of terrible urgency; eternal issues are being decided now, in faith or unbelief. Man is confronted by an eternal and inescapable either-or. Seen in this eschatological light, the sternness of the warnings in 6:4-8 and 10:26-31, warnings which at first glance seem to preclude the possibility of a second repentance, is not strange. God has spoken His last word, and the time is short; men must not be left under the delusion that they can coolly and deliberately sin and then repent in order to sin again. Such sinning is the last step on the way toward apostasy; it is the expression of an "evil,unbelieving heart" (3:12) which cannot find the way to repentance because it has deliberately cut itself off from God, the Giver of repentance.

I don't know if this will be helpful for you Sara. I see a difference between what Franzmann is describing here and your situation. You aren't fooling around here, playing fast and loose with sin and grace. In fact, you admit having struck a bargain: I'll be Yours in this life, Lord, even if you have excluded me from the next life. That in itself indicates to me that you live accordinging to the Spirit. You couldn't have made that bargain apart from the Holy
Spirit - because apart from the Spirit, you simply wouldn't have cared whether you lived according to His will or not.

I want to leave you with this final thought Sara, something that you and other readers may find controversial. No matter. Please just hear me out and meditate on it.

I kind of fell away too for a while, but since returning to faith, I have never doubted my salvation, even in light of the troubling passages in Hebrews, and there is one single reason for this. I, as do all Lutherans, understand faith to be GOD'S WORK and not our own. We believe that Scripture clearly teaches that it takes God to create the faith through the Gospel (Rom. 10:17), which faith accepts Jesus as our personal Saviour. Faith is not a work of ours; it is the gift of God (Eph.2:8, 9). We can't choose to become Christ's. Since God Himself created the faith that allows me to believe His promises, I do not ever doubt His promises or my salvation. God did it all, including creating saving faith in me, and drawing me back to Him. Having this proper understanding of the nature of faith changes everything! It gives me purpose and peace. Purpose to serve God and my neighbour in everything I do, and peace that I receive forgiveness when I fail. If you would like me to share the Scriptures that illuminate this truth I would be happy to do so.