Four Views Of Hebrews 6:1-9

First View: The False Teaching

·       Many who believe you may loose or give up your salvation will turn to these verses as proof. They say enlightened, tasted, partakers in Vs4&5 apply to someone who is saved.

·       V6 if they, saved individuals, fall away they can not be saved again because Christ would have to crucified again.

·       They believe Heb 10:29&39 teaches they draw back to perdition because despise the shed blood of Jesus Christ and they blasphemed against the Holy Ghost  (Mat 12:31)

·       We know those who are saved have received eternal life in Christ. [1John 2:25; 1John 5:11; John 10:8-29]. So you can not loose your salvation or walk away from it, fall away from it, or decide to give it up.

Second View: The What If View

·       Some believe “Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ” in Vs1&3 shows that the writer is taking license to prove that if a saved person could loose their salvation it would impossible for them to be saved again. The only hope to be saved would rest in the hope that Christ would be crucified again.

·       They teach if one could loose their salvation they also come under Heb10:29&39 as those who fall into perdition because they despise the shed blood of Jesus Christ and they blasphemed against the Holy Ghost Mat 12:31-32

·       This teaching does not agree with 1John 1:9         

·       In the last lesson saw therefore is tied to teaching deeper things to these Hebrew Christians.

Third View: Gone Too Far

·       Some teach these verses apply to Christians who have moved so far away from the doctrines of Christ and are actually damaging the witness of the church that God has removed any chance for them to repent and be renewed in the joy of their salvation. They do not loose their salvation but they are saved as if by fire (1Cor 3:15). They are saved but live as if they were never saved. James 1:23-24

·       They often liken this to the sin unto death spoken of in 1John 5:16 and church discipline in 1Cor 5:5.

·       In Vs9-11 the writer states he expects the Christians he was writing to not to do this but remain in things that accompany salvation that will not be burned. Good advise for today!

·       I believe this view has merit. But we still must not forget 1John 1:9

The Fourth View: Believed In Vain And Walked Away

Paul wrote in 1Co 15:1-2 “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

·       Romans 1:19-22, 24, 26, 28

·       Heb 10:29 & 39 with Mat 12:31

·       Those who have believed in vain: Individuals who have been around the church for years. They heard the gospel many times. The Holy Spirit has called them to Christ. They have witnessed the goodness of the Holy Spirit. They may have even been blessed by God because of prayers of Christians. They believe they were saved but for the wrong reasons. BUT! They have never really believed the gospel in the heart and someday they come to the belief that it is all worthless and they say, “I don’t want any part of it anymore” and walk away before they really accept Christ according to the Gospel. The Holy Ghost determines that they went too far and never offers them the opportunity to be saved again.

·       Examples: Judas Iscariot was the prime example this type of person.,

·       Mark 4:16-19; Luke 8:13-14; 2Peter 2:

·       Jude 1:4,10,16,18,19.

·       V7-8 Their past works that seemed to be genuine were actually thorns and briers fit to be burned.

These last two views can be very dangerous if we do the judging in place of the Holy Ghost. We must believe whosoever will, may come and as long as a person is alive on this earth they can be saved and Christians may be forgiven. We can only see the outside; the Holy Ghost knows the heart of man.

A side bar to these views: Since the book of Hebrews written was to Christian Hebrews, some tie these verses to fact that the gospel went to the Jews first and was rejected. It may apply to those Jews who witnesses the ministry of Christ and followed after His miracles but rejected him at the cross. Others saw the Holy Spirit come down at Pentecost, heard to preaching of Peter, witnessed the miracles the apostles preformed through the power of the Holy Ghost but chose to remain under the law.