Can I walk away from my salvation? • Hebrews 6:1-12
By Becky Brown
In these two lessons on the truth of our eternal security in Christ, we have been presented with two questions. Last week, our question was, “Can I lose my salvation?” This week, our question is, “Can I walk away from my salvation?”
In the first word of last week’s article, I answered both week’s questions with a two letter word: “No.” I am so confident in that answer that I don’t even feel the need to explain things further. However, people DO struggle with these questions so we must provide a clear explanation from scripture.
Salvation comes from God. Before the cross of Christ, God spared Noah. God enabled Joshua to be strong and courageous. God accepted Rahab the harlot and spared her family. God gave David victory over Goliath, the giant warrior from Gath. After Calvary, God provided John the Baptizer as the fore-runner of the Messiah. Stephen was received immediately into the presence of God after being stoned to death for his faith. The lives of these Bible heroes deliver proof that God is working His deliverance plan.
We are brought into relationship with God the Father by the drawing of God the Holy Spirit. As we confess our sins, repent and believe in the power of the shed blood of God the Son, we are saved. Through the resurrection of Jesus, we find the power to live and move and have our being. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. We are enclosed inside the nail-scarred hand of Jesus, surrounded by the hands of the Father and sealed with the Holy Spirit. Why would anyone ever desire to walk away from that?
Our study passage is from the Book of Hebrews. The human author of this book is unknown to man, but known certainly to God. To determine the original audience for this book, therefore, requires us to make some conclusions directly from the text. The True Author of Hebrews is God Himself at work through His Holy Spirit to inspire the human writer. We can rest on that.
Pastor Skip Heitzig has said, “…most commentators say this or that about certain biblical issues and some tators are more common than others.” Searching the scriptures first is always the best study practice. After we settle our hearts on what we understand from The Word, it is always helpful to learn from trustworthy, time-proven “common-tators.”
Hebrews 6:1-12 and Hebrews 10:26 contain some scriptures that can be troubling until they are studied in their context. The original recipients of Hebrews show scriptural evidence of being believers in Jesus. Chapter six follows a major theme of the importance of continued growth toward spiritual maturity.
“Failure to thrive” is a phrase no patient wants to hear from the doctor. A less than stellar diagnosis for a believer would be “failure to mature.” God’s desire is that His spiritual children grow into mature believers who are then equipped to live out their faith, serve God and transfer their joy to others who need to know God.
I would re-word our question this way: “What does it look like when a believer fails to or even drastically refuses to mature?” The Holy Spirit is grieving. Lost people nearby are deprived of a healthy witness. Blessings that God has in store for believers are forfeited.
Know this: Loss of salvation is not the result.
Lack of spiritual growth is falling short of God’s design for the believer. Therefore, we must call it what it is: disobedience. Disobedience is sin. God gave us His promised Son. The Son gave His promised Holy Spirit to live INSIDE us to help us grow on toward maturity. In addition to “God with us,” we have the holy scriptures to guide us and teach us how to live. God has given us everything we need to grow.
In Hebrews 10, we find that the people had begun once again to offer animal sacrifices in worship. They were in danger of returning to Judaism and blatantly ignoring the gospel. Jesus, the Lamb of God had already given His once-for-all life sacrifice on Calvary. What they were doing made the cross of Christ unnecessary. The author of Hebrews exposed them.
Someone who could desert a relationship with Christ very possibly never walked into one in the first place. Rest totally assured…God will never let go of you.
Brown leads LittleBrownLight Ministries.
