Question:  Dear Greg,

            I have been perplexed by Hebrews 6:1-8.  Does it say that we can lose our salvation?  “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good work of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance…”

            I’ve always believed in “once saved, always saved.”  I’ve read these verses many times before and have never picked up that we can lose our salvation.  Am I reading this wrong or am I missing something when I read this?  Thank you in advance for your answer.

            Char

Answer:  Dear Char,

            Your question is easier to answer if we had time for a 30-minute Bible study.  Given time limitations, here’s a summary.

1. The passage can be viewed two ways.  One is that it refers to believers and the other that it refers to non-believers.

2. If it is addressed to non-believers then the characteristics are part of the lives of those who only profess Christianity, those who think that they are Christians but are not.  But there are problems with such a view, for in the main the passage speaks of those who “fall away.”  The passage speaks of those who have experienced repentance.

3. If it is speaking of believers, then, as you ask, how can someone lose eternal salvation?  Can we lose something that God gives us eternally?  Many passages in the Bible speak to this fact.

            Several comments: the Greek for “fall away” indicates something less severe than we often think of when we use “fall away”—the meaning is more like “drift” or “slide.”  The eternal status of the individuals is not in question, they are not hopeless.

            The impossibility of repenting again is simply referring to the fact that repentance is an act, that is, the repentance that leads to salvation.  Either one has repented and has been saved, one has accepted Jesus Christ, or not.  The kind of repentance that is here talked about is the kind that leads to salvation—salvific repentance.

            The text also states that there is no more a need for a repetition of salvific repentance than there is need of Jesus giving himself on the cross again.

            And finally, the text refers to those who are being warned as “beloved”—not a term used for those who are not saved.

            There is a huge debate on the larger issues here—between the Calvinist and Arminian camps of theology.  With that hint in mind you can study further if you like.

            In Christ,

            Greg Albrecht