Falling Away: Salvation and the Unpardonable Sin

When I Fall Away


I pray you are all having a great week. After your daily scrips, PLEASE take time to read this PHENOMENAL bible study on Salvation and the unpardonable sin. It is hands down the best study I have ever seen and deserves a good look. Don't let others dictate your faith- work out your own salvation in fear and trembling:

" Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."
Philippians 2:12, KJV

"And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God's condemnation."
Romans 5:9, NLT

"Stay away from fools, for you won't find knowledge on their lips. "
~ Proverbs 14:7, NLT

"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven." Matthew 18:21-22 KJV

Falling Away: Salvation and the Unpardonable Sin

by Pastor Ric Recla

Main Passage: Hebrews 6:1-6

The Book of Hebrews is a book written by a Jew with an obvious purpose of persuading the Jewish people to consider Christ as the promised Jewish Messiah who took the place of the sacrificial lamb in the Jewish religious cult.
It was also written to provide a theological framework to make it easy for Jewish believers in transitioning into a new way of worshipping God, wherein Christ is now at the center in the place of Jewish sacrificial system.
When you read the book of Hebrews you will notice that the writer is an insider who is well-educated in the Jewish religion, and yet is confidently able to show that Christianity is just a natural direction which Jews could transition into after considering carefully God’s revelation through Jesus Christ.
The Book of Hebrews has many very interesting teachings. One of these is the great danger of APOSTASY which is introduced in chapter 6 and followed up in chapter 10 which shows its key elements:

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? (Hebrews 10:29)

This verse articulates a situation wherein a person could trample underfoot the Son of God, treat the blood of the covenant as unholy, and insult the Holy Spirit after experiencing all their benefits.

Apostasy is commonly defined as abandonment or rejection of one’s faith; it is volitional denouncement and desertion of one’s faith or religion. It is also translated as the falling away.

It may be helpful to understand apostasy if we can differentiate:
Fall into Sin – Sinning due to human weakness. Forgiveness can be availed through the sacrifice of Christ
Fall away – Volitional rejection of the whole belief system. No forgiveness is possible not because God cannot forgive, but that forgiveness is never asked.

The immediate context of chapter 6 shows us that the writer is urging the believers to grow up to maturity, which could be taken as a clear indication that the author is presuming his addressees as already born again. Otherwise, it would not be meaningful to urge growing if he thought they were still spiritually dead.

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity…(Hebrews 6:1)

Verse 4 says that it is impossible for them to be renewed or restored unto repentance.
This statement is the hub of the age old debate between the Calvinists and the Arminians.
The Calvinists would say that the individuals referred to here in verses 4-6 are fake believers.

4For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away…

Let’s try to appreciate what the Calvinists are saying. They are saying that today there are people inside the church that are not true believers, and some of them don’t even know they are fake Christians as could be supported by Matt. 7: 20-23:

20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

This is very scary, isn’t it? If your personal belief that you are saved is rejected by Christ due to your wrong fruits or no fruit, how else do we understand salvation by grace through faith?
Listen to how Peter responded to this issue: (2 Peter 1:5-11)

5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

How many of you believe Peter? Peter is not saying that you must work to be saved. What he is saying is that true salvation will naturally bear the above-mentioned fruits. Otherwise, the claimed salvation would be fake.

I truly believe that God’s children must have an inner confidence that they are saved. And that’s good! But if that’s all we do and nothing else to build the Body of Christ, then we are simply saved for nothing, and therefore, good for nothing.

One great problem for saying that the people referred to here are fake believers is found in verse 6.

4For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6and then have fallen away…

On this, we can ask the question: “Where did these people fall away from?”
If apostasy is denouncing, or abandoning or deserting your faith or your status as a Christian, this is only meaningful if one has attained the status of a genuine Christian.
This is the reason why the Arminians consider this passage an evidence that a Genuine believer can lose his salvation.
Now let’s also appreciate the Arminians for fairness’ sake since we also appreciated the Calvinists’ points. Honestly, it is more natural to take the persons referred here as Christians. If people in the church that we know are enlightened, have tasted the heavenly gifts, partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good word of God and powers of the age to come are questionable believers, how else do I know that you are my genuine brothers and sisters in Christ? How can we ever enjoy our fellowship if we all suspect each other as possibly fake brothers and sisters.
The main problem with Arminianism, according to the Calvinists, is the assertion that you can lose your salvation. How many of you believe that you can lose your salvation?
How many of you here believe you have already lost it for one reason or another?

Personally, I believe that I am saved not because that’s how I feel, but because God’s word says that I am, after satisfying the condition articulated in His word (Jn 1:12-13; Jn 3:16,36, 6:37, 47; 1 Jn 5:11-13; Rom 8:1).

I also believe that I cannot just lose my salvation simply because my Savior assured me that no one can just snatch me out of His hands. (Jn 10: 28)

28And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

And that as Paul puts it “Nothing can separate us from the love of God.” (Rom 8:38-39)

The problem we have this morning is the fact that Hebrews 6 asserts that there is a case wherein we can apostatize: abandon our faith, dessert Christ. And that if this happens, it becomes impossible for us to be restored or renewed to the Faith in Christ.
Hebrews 10:29 articulates to us how this could happen:

29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

The problem can be easily resolved if we can distinguish between falling into sin and falling away from our faith.

We fall into sin because of our human weakness. This sin can be taken care of by the blood of Christ on the Cross if we confess it. But falling away from your faith is to reject, abandon, denounce, and dessert your savior. It would be nonsense to claim salvation after denouncing and abandoning a savior.

Therefore, it would be fair to say: You cannot lose your salvation, but you can sure throw it away in apostasy. And if you will not pick it up again before you breathe your last, if you continue to harden your heart when you can still hear His voice, you may go to eternity without it.

A man who hardens his neck after much reproof will suddenly be broken beyond remedy. (Proverbs 29:1)

The last problem we will address is whether or not an apostate can be restored back to faith.
The answer is very clear. From from our passage, we hear an emphatic “NO!” or “Impossible!”

6and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

Having said that, we have to be very careful in determining what is impossible because most commentators missed this point I think. Either they don’t take the emphatic assertion as serious, or they explain away the verse.

The statement is in the infinitive passive form which could be correctly rendered this way “impossible (for them) to be restored.” The apostate is the receiver of the action and not the doer — meaning that it is impossible for any agency to effect that restoration, and probably even by God Himself, since He did not provide an exception. Jesus illustrates this in the case of the prodigal son. The reason the father did not pursue the son when he left is because He could not restore relationship with the one who rejects him. No one can coerce true repentance. The father did not look for the Son. Why? Because he is not lost. He know s the way back home. He is running away and is hiding. It’s no use to look for someone who is hiding because when you find him, he will still run away and continue to hide.

While verse 6 says it is impossible for them to be restored, it did not say it is impossible for them to return on their own — that is, without any agency.

Jesus’ emphatic assertion of absolute acceptance for anyone who comes to Him in Jn 6:37 could well indicate what He will do to a returning apostate.

All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. (Jn. 6:37)

Did not Jesus say we are to forgive seventy times seven if that same brother would still come to ask of it? He taught us that because that’s what He would do to anyone who sincerely comes to Him to ask for forgiveness.

Brothers and sisters, two things I will tell you in closing:
If you believe you are saved but know in your heart that your fruits are sour to God, you better re-examine your heart, you might be connected to the wrong vine. Repent and seriously get connected with Jesus, the true vine, and secure your election by bearing the right fruits.

If you believe you have committed the unpardonable sin, or you believe you have already abandoned God, Jesus, or your Christian Faith. But you still hear God calling you today. I tell you no one and nothing else can restore you back to God. God has given you the key to your restoration. Like the prodigal son, you can decide to come to your senses and return and expect the father to be waiting for you right at the door ready to welcome you into His arms. You may have a hard time believing that but that’s what Jesus said. He who comes to me, I will never cast him out.
____________________________________