Hebrews 6 | Can You Fall Away from Faith?

Hebrews 6 presents one of the New Testament's most intense and controversial warning passages, urging believers to pursue spiritual maturity and avoid stagnation. This chapter emphasizes leaving behind "elementary teachings" to grow deeper in faith and understanding. The hosts explore the context, discussing how these words challenge Jewish believers to abandon old traditions and fully embrace the transformative power of Christ. 

The crux of Hebrews 6 lies in verses 4-6, where the impossibility of restoring those who fall away to repentance is debated among scholars. The hosts break down four primary interpretations, from outright loss of salvation to the idea that such individuals were never truly part of the faith. The takeaway for listeners is a challenge to examine the authenticity of their own walk with Christ. 

Hebrews 6 also connects the audience's understanding to the story of Abraham, who waited patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled. This section transitions from warning to encouragement, reminding listeners that God’s promises are unchangeable and reliable. By tying the chapter's lessons to Abraham's enduring faith, the podcast underscores the necessity of hope and patience in the Christian journey. This steadfast hope is likened to an anchor for the soul, grounded in Jesus, our eternal high priest.

The hosts delve into practical application, urging listeners to reject spiritual complacency. Drawing parallels between faith and relationships, they illustrate the dangers of stagnation and the rewards of intentional growth. Living a faith marked by intentionality and gratitude not only honors God but also leads to a life of deeper purpose and joy. The call to strive toward maturity resonates strongly as a “your part” takeaway for listeners.

This episode provides a balanced exploration of Hebrews 6, grappling with its tensions while emphasizing God's grace and faithfulness. Listeners are encouraged to pursue spiritual maturity by making even small, daily decisions to honor God. Whether wrestling with the chapter's warnings or resting in its assurances, the overarching message is one of perseverance, trust, and the transformative power of a growing relationship with Christ.

#ChristianFaith #BibleStudyJourney #GodsPlan #SpiritualGrowth #FaithInChrist
#NewTestamentChallenge #DailyScripture #Hebrews6 #AnchorForTheSoul #WalkingInFaith

Transcript

 Hebrews 6

Hebrews 6

[00:00:00] Hey everyone, welcome to God's plan, your part year two, where this year we're reading through and studying the entire new Testament one chapter at a time. Thanks again for joining us in discovering God's plan and your part in it. Today, we are diving into Hebrews chapter six, which I think is probably one of the more controversial chapters of this book have been, uh, referencing some of these controversies as we've read through it, but I think Hebrews six probably has the most pointed of the warning passages.

It can be interpreted a bunch of different ways, uh, but it is important to read this chapter and, and strive for understanding in what is being laid out because the, the warning is pretty severe, uh, and we certainly want to take it seriously and try to understand it. I think this chapter is basically pointing out the waste of time that it is for these believers who have turned to the Christian faith.

Which we're more than [00:01:00] likely from a Jewish background. Like, to stop wasting their time by going back to the things they used to know or used to do. And, essentially, like, waste the time that you could be drawing closer to Christ and growing your relationship and moving away from what this chapter calls, like, elementary, like, elementary principles.

Um, In order to like, I don't know, quit finding yourself in this rut. That's what it seems like to me. Well, remember that chapter five leaves off with kind of this, like, it felt like the author was taking like a weird sidetrack to correct people on the amount of immaturity that he was seeing. And so we're building on that.

We're building on that case, I think. Um, about like, hey, you really should be teachers by now and you're not and now we're building on that case saying and and don't you dare fall away from the faith. Let me let me read [00:02:00] what I think is probably the most pointed and most. Controversial, worth digging into, uh, verses, it's hard to decide where to pick up from.

Let's look, we'll start in chapter six, verse four, for it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away.

To restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again, the son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. So the big question here is, is what is the audience and it seems like just. just following just the verses, not digging into this very deep, it seems pretty clear that the audience is at least people who have come to know Christ, who have committed their lives to Christ, who have experienced the Holy Spirit, and then have purposely turned away from the Holy Spirit and rejected the Holy Spirit.

It seems like the author is [00:03:00] saying it is impossible for them to come back repentance because they will be publicly shaming Christ, which is Obviously not a good thing. Um, well, I also think that this specifically, as we're coming off of that chapter that you were talking about with the milk and solid food nonsense, um, it is really highlighting those immature, I would say immature believers, but I also think it's, it's like kind of kicking them in their butt a little bit.

Like, come on guys. Like every time you do this, like get rid of the vices that are holding you back because these certain things, if you just continue to give into them. Like, I don't know that it's necessarily saying like you lose your salvation. I don't know. It feels to me like it's not, uh, because where's grace, where's grace in that?

Well, that's what makes it, that's what makes it a controversial passage because it does seem like there isn't grace for that. Just, just based on the words themselves and what's being taught in [00:04:00] Hebrews, and that's why many people have studied this passage many, many times to try to get to the heart of it.

I think, um, by nature, Hebrews is like a, like a warning book. Uh, we talked about how this, this is written to Jewish believers that are following Jesus and. Part of the purpose of this book is to get them to stay committed to Christ instead of falling away back into their Jewish beliefs and traditions.

So I think it makes sense that there's some pretty harsh warnings in here. Um, it is, I guess I'll just be like really personal here. Like it is hard for me to read this passage, uh, and just think that it's not that big of a deal. Like there's a pretty harsh warning here. Um, I think from what I've seen in my own life, there is something to be said about what's being taught here, um, but it is like, I'm, I, I won't make a definitive statement on, you know, what camp I'm in on it.

Well, I think verse 12 is kind of, I would say, probably I'm wrong. The gray side. I don't know. It says so that you [00:05:00] may not be sluggish. Okay. This is talking about in verse 11, the desire for them to show earnestness in the hope that they have until the end so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit promises.

So to me, that's saying like they are definitely being sluggish. They're definitely, um, not showing what the fruits of living in Christ should look like. So, I don't know. It just feels like there's room for like, don't be this. Get yourself out of this rut and keep moving forward. So, I don't know. To me, it just feels like there's no, there isn't a loss there.

There's an opportunity to get out of that and keep moving forward. So, you're kind of pivoting to the end of the chapter where, the end of the chapter clearly does pivot to like, hey, Press on and persevere because God has made this promise and God will see this promise through like there is a perseverance piece to the second part of this chapter that's like the first half is like [00:06:00] serious warning the second half is This Christian faith is worth, uh, following through to honor God with your life.

Um, so just, just to wrap up like the, the warning piece, there are four basically main views on this thing. Um, the, the first one is that a. Christian, um, a Christian who knows Christ and follows Christ and willingly rejects Christ cannot come back to Christ. That's, that's one of the views. Uh, the second view is that a, a Christian who knows Christ and follows Christ, um, Really cannot ever fall away from that.

So the second view is that, uh, somebody who is in Christian community that ends up rejecting Christ was really never authentically part of that Christian community in the first place, which is probably where I would fall. Um, these, these warnings would apply to people that are just kind of like living it out on the surface, [00:07:00] but not really believing it.

I think that is, Remains a serious problem today. Um, I don't believe that every person who sits in a church is a Christian. I don't believe every person that attends a Bible study is a true believer. I think Jesus taught that I think the author of Hebrews is teaching that. Um, there's, there's another view that is kind of about like heavenly rewards.

I don't understand that one the best. Um, but they would say that these warning passages have to do with like. Those who, uh, persist in their faith end up receiving the most treasures in heaven. Um, you know, I've heard some compelling stuff on treasures in heaven. I've heard some pretty convincing people talk about rewards in heaven.

I don't get super tied up in the arguments and I don't, I don't really I don't know one way or the other. Um, what's the third one? I forget the third one. Um, address to true believers. Yeah. Okay. So it never completely fall away. Yeah. Well, it's kind of like a, it's, it's a little [00:08:00] bit of a different take in that these warnings serve to keep people persistent in their faith and it's not really about if they're fall away or not.

It's about warning them in an extreme sense. Um, I don't, that feels like a halfway thing, whatever. Um, Those are the four views. You can dig deeper into them as much as you want. There are, there is a book literally just titled, uh, the four warning passages in Hebrews. It's pretty good book and check it out.

If this is an interesting topic to you, you will get far more than what Jenny and I are going to give you in the podcast. Uh, yeah. Well, anyway, I think it's, it's definitely worth thinking about because I think it says a lot about how you view yourself and how you view God and His grace and I don't know, I think there's like some foundational stuff in here, too.

You just can't ignore. Like such, uh, firm and extreme statements in the Bible. Like, I just feel like it's, you have to dig into them and try to figure out what they mean. Uh, because these statements are intense. Like, like it literally is saying on the surface that if you follow Christ and then reject [00:09:00] Christ, there's no turning back.

And if that's true. Um, it's certainly worth our attention. Mm hmm. So then we move into, like, the end of the chapter where it's basically saying about what God has promised through Abraham and how, what God promises, He will fulfill. Like he's not gonna come up, you know, what's the word I want? He's not gonna come up short He's gonna do what he says, right?

Exactly. So I guess there's There's a little bit of reassurance at the end. Yeah in case you're like feeling. Oh, shoot. Am I gonna make it? Am I gonna am I gonna make it to the end? Am I gonna be there? So, I don't know. I feel like that that last part is I don't know. It was helpful for my ears. I think the book of Hebrews is a great exercise in context.

Uh, don't lift any one passage out and build your whole life on it. Like read the whole book. It's very interesting that Hebrews six has this very harsh warning that is worth digging into. Uh, but then it also has like a very comforting. Promise that [00:10:00] God will do what God has said he will do, uh, and it uses Abraham again.

We're talking to a primarily Jewish audience. They would have known Abraham's story quite well, and the author is talking about how God made a promise to Abraham, and Abraham did not see that promise fulfilled for quite a long time. He had to persist in faith you that God would do what God said, and much like Abraham had to persist in faith, we today, even, even us today, not just the Hebrew audience, but us today, we have to persist in faith.

We have to press on towards maturity. I think if you blend the, the lesson of Hebrews five with the lesson of Hebrews six, Certainly, we don't want to stagnate and become immature because we're not growing in our faith. If there's anything to take away from this, you are in the best possible scenario when you are consistently being stretched and grown in your faith.

I feel like I've said it many times as we've been reading through Hebrews, um, Yes, we want you to go to church. Yes. [00:11:00] We want you to do Bible studies. Yes. We want you to pray and have devotionals, but even more than that, we want you to strive to walk with God. That means making every decision you possibly can to honor God.

That means strengthening your relationship with God. It's not just a checkbox thing. Um, do what you can to know God better, to worship him more fully, to be more committed to him with the way that you live your life and walk with Christ to honor him and grow towards maturity. I guess I kind of think of it in this way too, like, what is better?

Would you like to live a life that's like completely like not knowing God at all and just living a life of total sin or living a life where you proclaim one thing and you are totally not even up to that anyway? You're just like, I keep thinking of just vices, like certain vices in your life that you're just holding onto that's keeping you from that relationship.

And even like our spousal relationship, if our, If our relationship would have just stopped at knowing each other, you know, the first week of [00:12:00] marriage, and that's all we ever knew. There's just so much to each other that's like, this is, that's ridiculous. Nobody wants to just stay in that amount of knowing.

Someone or growing in relationship with someone forever because you just get stuck in these same little silly things Like you want that relationship to grow So being stagnant, oh, it just makes me I don't know makes me uncomfortable I hate it and then like for our faith life it shows you feel it You know it so many times we can I don't know intentionally or unintentionally fall into this Way of faith.

It is like, what's the bare minimum I can do. What, what's the least I can commit or how close to the line can I get? Like, I remember that being a really popular discussion in youth groups. Like how close to the line is too close to the line. Like if you're living that way, it's just, that's no way, that's no way to live.

It just, it just isn't, you should not be asking what's the bare minimum. You should be asking like, what is the most I can possibly do to be committed to [00:13:00] growing God's kingdom and honoring Christ with my life. Not because we earn. Love from God. God already freely gives us love. We've done nothing to earn it.

He's, he's blessed us with a gift that is a salvation and right relationship with him. I think we, we then, um, live in gratitude of what he's done for us. And I think we should be living in a way that's like, what's the most I can possibly do to honor God today? And sometimes God's going to call us to do, um, Seemingly silly things or like wild things or stuff that we're like, okay, I guess I trust you.

Yeah. And I think, I think it's A good thing that Hebrews six calls out Abraham. Cause I think Abraham was called to do some, some pretty crazy things. Uh, and God rewarded him for that. So, uh, if you're in a place of, of thinking about what's the bare minimum, uh, just, just literally just today, think about like, how can you flip that on its head just today?

Don't, don't worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about the next day. Just today. Uh, how can you give more, uh, to honor God in your [00:14:00] life? Not because you're earning anything from him, but because you're honoring him. Um, he's already given you right relationship with him as a free gift. You don't have to earn it, but what would it look like for you to use your finances in a way today that honor God more than you usually do, or use your time in a way that honors God more than you usually do just today?

Only think about today. What's one small step you can take, um, to move. Towards greater maturity. That's my, that's the, your part for today. I was going to say, I hope you're wrapping that into a year. Anyway. Uh, so that is chapter six and hopefully that is a good start to your week. It gives you a little encouragement.

If you are dealing with those things, we'll be back again tomorrow for chapter seven of Hebrews. Thanks for listening to today's episode. Before we get to the reading, I want to recommend another podcast that I'm a part of called God's whole story. This year, we're releasing one episode a week on Monday mornings, overviewing one book of the Bible each week.

So God's plan. Your part is a deep dive chapter by chapter where God's whole story is taking it one book at a time. [00:15:00] If you enjoy this podcast, you'll enjoy that one. Go check it out. Now here's the reading Hebrews chapter six. Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and the eternal judgment.

And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm, and holding Him up to contempt.

For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those who take it as cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and [00:16:00] thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things, things that belong to salvation.

For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each of you to show the same earnestness, to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who have through faith and patience inherited his promises.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, Surely I will bless you and multiply you. And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His [00:17:00] purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of God's Plan, Your Part.

Don't forget, you can find us on just about every social media platform and YouTube. Let us know what you thought of today's episode, and if you have any questions, go ahead and post them there. You can also reach out to us directly at godsplanyourpartatgmail. com. As always, if you don't have a Bible, or if you'd like to use the one that we use, reach out to us via email and we'll be happy to send one to you.

Thanks again for listening. We'll see you again [00:18:00] tomorrow.