What about Hebrews 6?

As we have seen, believers’ assurance of their eternal security is sometimes shaken by faulty interpretations of the New Testament’s exhortations to persevere and its warnings against falling away. Hebrews 6:4–6 is a particularly difficult example of the latter.

Part of what makes this passage difficult is our uncertainty about the problem or threat that provokes this warning. The author may be writing to Christians who are facing radical persecution and are in danger of denying Christ. We know that there was great controversy in the early church over those who recanted in the face of persecution and later returned to the church, only to face some who believed recanters should not be received back. Or it may be that the Hebrew Christians are being attacked by the Judaizer heresy, which held that Christians must observe all the requirements of the Jewish law.

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of this passage is that the author’s descriptions of those who fall away seem to refer to Christians. He speaks of those who have been “enlightened,” who have “tasted the heavenly gift,” who have become “partakers of the Holy Spirit,” and who have “tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.” He could be speaking of someone who is deeply involved in the life of the church but has never been converted, but there is one major problem with this view: the word “again” in verse 6. When such people fall away, the author says, it is impossible to renew them to repentance again. Thus, it appears there has been repentance once before and that these are true believers. The author, then, may be warning the believers against falling away. But if he is dealing with the Judaizer heresy, he may be engaging in an argument from absurdity. The message in this case is that going back to Judaism leads to a repudiation of Christ. Therefore, the Judaizers are not practicing Christianity but destroying it.

This passage does end on a comforting note. The author says “we are confident of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation.” He is admitting he has been speaking in an unusual manner and he may well be saying that the truly saved do not do what he has suggested. If so, this passage actually strengthens believers’ assurance of security, along with the teaching of Scripture in other passages.