Joel Tay: Hebrews 6:1-9 and Apostasy – A Strong Text For Eternal Security

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6 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 of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and shave shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 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. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. 9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. 2001 (Heb 6:1-9). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

This passage has to be the single most quoted passage used against the Calvinistic teaching of Eternal Security. Eternal Security is the teaching that a true believer, will persevere in the faith until the end of his life and will not apostatize from the faith. Those who apostatize are false converts, who may have a superficial belief externally and even profess to be believers, but are actually false converts – thorns and thistles.

Contrary to popular belief, this verse is actually very problematic for the Arminian.

Context:

First of all, let us look at the context. Who is it addressing? Look at the last 3 verses of Chapter 5, before Chapter 6.

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for        everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Heb 5:12–14). 

The author of Hebrews is writing to a group of professing believers who ought to be teachers by then, but have not grown in spiritual maturity. They are still ignorant of the word of God. For this reason (their lack of knowledge of the word after a long period of time), the writer questions their salvation.

In Hebrews 6, He goes on to bring up a hypothetical situation.

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 of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and shave shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 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. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. (Heb 6:1-8). 

Here, he speaks of a group that has professed the faith outwardly, even experience God’s fellowship and who knows the means by which a person is saved — if such a person apostatize from the faith, cannot be brought to repentance. For if after having experienced the rain that often falls on it, if it still reveals its real nature is that of thorns and thistles, it is to be burned.

Note what it says in verse 4-7:

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, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 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.

This immediately refutes the Arminian view which teaches that a believer can fall away, and return back to the faith in repentance again. If the Arminian is correct that this speaks of a true believer who has truly been saved and then apostatize, then he has to consistently conclude from this passage that such a believer can no longer be saved or can he repent later on. Yet very few Arminians would accept this. This verse refutes the teaching that a person can fall away and repent repeatedly. In any case, as it will be shown, once the proper context of Heb 6 is understood, it can be shown that this is not speaking of true believers.

This verse in the context of the passage, speaks of a false convert (whose nature is explained as thorns and thistles; v.8), who after having experience the way of salvation, still reveals that his nature is one of thorns and thistle. Having rejected the truth after experiencing and knowing the means of salvation, and having fallen away from his earlier professed faith, there remains no other means by which he can be saved. Since the Calvinist understand this as the context of the passage in contrast to the Arminian who sees it as a true believer losing his salvation and left unable to repent, the Calvinist does not have the same problem as the Arminian.

How can we know for sure that this does not contradict the Calvinist worldview? How can we know for sure that the Apostates here are speaking of false converts rather than true believers who fall away?

Look what the passage continues to say. Don’t just stop at verse 8. Look at verse 9:

9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.(Heb 6:9). 

So the context here is clear, the writer casts doubts on the salvation of these people who have not grown in their knowledge of the Word. He then brings in this hypothetical situation of apostates saying that if these experience God’s fellowship and know the means of salvation, yet fall away, they cannot be saved anymore.

THEN, IN CONTRAST TO THIS GROUP of apostates… the writer continues (v.9) that “yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things – things that belong to salvation. 

In other words, the group of apostates is CONTRASTED with the group that has THINGS THAT BELONG TO SALVATION. Or as literally translated from the Greek:

Πεπείσμεθα δὲ περὶ ὑμῶν, ἀγαπητοί, τὰ κρείσσονα καὶ ἐχόμενα σωτηρίας, εἰ καὶ οὕτως λαλοῦμεν.

And we are convinced concerning you (plural), beloved, of better (things), and belonging/possessing/having/accompanying salvation, even though we are speaking this way.

Those that have salvation (v.9), will not be like the group of apostates (v.1-8). The contrast between the 2 groups listed in verse 9, contrary to the Arminian’s belief, actually teaches eternal security. For this reason, you will often see in Arminian discussions, that discussion ends in verse 8. The moment you take into consideration verse 9 and read about the contrast between the apostates and the group that possess salvation, one has to argue in favor for the Calvinist worldview. In contrast to those who possess salvation (v.9), we have the group in (v.1-8) who will eventually fall away.

A similar passage can be read in Heb 10, where the writer again speaks of a group that appears to be saved, but then apostatize. Similarly, he explains that these people cannot be brought back to repentance. All the way in Heb 10, until verse 38. Then in verse 39,  the writer once again makes the contrast between these apostates and those who are truly saved.

Heb 10:39 – But we are not among those who shrink back to destruction, but among those who have faith to the preservation of our souls.