Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. -Hebrews 10:22-23

Let's take a look at some of the different views on the possibility of losing salvation. Before looking at each view it helpful to note how we answer the following two questions:

1) How is Salvation "gained"? By works, by faith, or by decree?
2) How is Salvation "kept"?, By works, by faith, or by decree?

I'm going to propose 5 common views, that come about through the way we answer these two questions.

It is a popular teaching today that once someone becomes a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, he or she will never cease to be God’s child regardless of behavior and continuance in saving faith.

In order to express this teaching, it is reasoned from human experience to that which is spiritual and a strong distinction is made between “fellowship” and “relationship”. It is said that a believer can harm and even sever one’s fellowship with God while somehow maintaining a saving relationship. The only way to express this concept is through human analogy.

Neil T. Anderson gives us the basis of this argumentation in Stomping Out the Darkness, co-authored by Dave Park. Under the heading: There’s A Difference Between Relationship and Fellowship, Anderson writes…

For the rest of the series, see 5/6/2008-5/9/288, 5/12/2008-5/16/2008, 6/16/2008

Is Restoration Really Impossible?

After studying the warning passages in Hebrews the question naturally arises: can an apostate ever be restored again to salvation? Is the repudiation of saving faith irrevocable and the condition of the apostate permanent?

Please click on the attachment to view Marshall, I. Howard. "The Problem of Apostasy in New Tesament Theology", published as an epilogue to Marshall, I. Howard. Kept by the Power of God: A Study of Perseverance and falling Away (Carlisle: Paternoster, 1995). The article itself originally appeared in a Festschrift for Dale Moody, edited by R.L. Perkins and published by Mercer Press in 1987. It appeared again in a book of a collection of essays by Marshall entitled Jesus the Saviour (IVP/SPCK, 1990). Finally, it was added as an epilogue to the 1995 version of Kept by the Power of God, a book that was originally published by Epworth in 1969, and then by Bethany in 1975, and is now avaialble from Paternoster.

This article is used by permission of the copyright owner.

Some Calvinists have argued that the frequent references to the wandering Israelites in the desert suggest that the writer of Hebrews is not addressing apostasy from true faith. It is assumed that the wandering generation who failed to enter the Promised Land never had a saving faith relationship with the Lord. Since the writer of Hebrews uses the wandering generation as an example or object lesson for the situation being addressed among his readers, it is argued that this indicates that he does not consider those he warns of apostasy to be truly regenerated believers. In other words, if we have good reason to doubt that the wilderness generation of Israelites who failed to enter the Promised Land was saved, then we have reason to doubt that those the writer of Hebrews warns, while holding up those Israelites as an example, were really saved either. I believe this approach fails for the following reasons:

Whose Hearts Were in Danger of Being Hardened?

Perseverance

Picirilli, Robert. "The Possibility of Apostasy"

Picirilli, Robert. "The Possibility of Apostasy"

Calvinism; General; Perseverance

Please click on the attachment to view McKnight, Scot. "Blog Posts on Post-Calvinism"

This file is a collection of blog posts made by distnguished New Testament scholar Scot McKnight at his blog, Jesus Creed

We finish our exegetical examination of the warning passage in Hebrews 10 with verses 32-39:

We now examine another interpretation that looks to make this sanctification merely outward with no internal reality. It looks to compare the sanctification described in 10:29 with the outward ceremonial cleansing referred to under the old covenant in 9:9 and 9:13.
Peterson and Williams see it as “a covenantal sanctification in which persons are set apart as part of God’s covenant community, the church, but are not necessarily saved.” They conclude that “covenantal but not saving ‘sanctification’ appears in Heb. 9:13 and 1 Corinthians 7:14. In view of the contrast here between the Old and New Covenant, we interpret “sanctified” to mean set apart by virtue of the covenant as belonging to God.” (Why I Am Not An Arminian pg. 86)

Grudem follows this basic understanding by citing numerous passages, most of which occur outside of Hebrews, that do not necessarily have reference to inward sanctification. He then concludes:

The content of this post was authored by Ben Henshaw and is posted on his behalf.

We will now examine one of the alternative interpretations offered by the proponents of unconditional security concerning the apostate of Hebrews 10:29 being “sanctified by the blood of the covenant”. Calvinists are well aware that if the text is stating that the apostate had truly been sanctified by Christ’s blood, then their doctrine cannot stand. It is for this reason that these alternative interpretations are offered despite the clear language of the warning.The first attempt is to assert that the one sanctified by the blood of the covenant is not the apostate at all, but Christ Himself. Grudem does not hold to this view but believes it is worthy of careful consideration (Still Sovereign, pg. 178, footnote #91), while Calvinists Peterson and Williams find it unacceptable (Why I Am Not An Arminian, pg. 86, footnote #24).

Perseverance

Please click on the attachment to view McKnight, Scot. "The Warning Passages in Hebrews: A Formal Analysis and Theological Conclusions" (published in Trinity Journal 13NS [1992] 21-59).

The content of this post was authored by Ben Henshaw and is posted on his behalf.

We now examine what I consider to be the most significant warning against apostasy in the entire Bible: Hebrews 10:26-30, 35-39. I will quote the entirety of the text I wish to examine below but this post will deal only with verses 26-30. Verses 35-39 will be examined in a future post.

The content of this post was authored by Ben Henshaw and is posted on his behalf.

Audience:

The content of this post was authored by Ben Henshaw and is posted on his behalf.

We will now examine 2 Pet. 2:20-22:

[20] “For if after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. [21] For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy command delivered to them. [22] It has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.’” [NASB]

The content of this post was authored by Ben Henshaw and is posted on his behalf.

This passage is very similar in meaning and application as the passage previously discussed from Christ’s discourse in John 15. It may well be that Paul was familiar with Christ’s teaching on the Vine and the branches, and had His discourse in mind while writing about the olive tree in Rom. 11:15-24: