Can Christians Lose Salvation?

Hebrews 6:4-6 is a highly scrutinized passage of Scripture, because it has been interpreted as one that affirms "loss of salvation" for back-sliders (Christians who have fallen away from the faith). This is in direct conflict with many other passages of Scripture that assure believers that "nothing can separate us from the love of God" (Romans 8:38-39) and "nothing can snatch us out of the Father's hands"(John 10:28-30). This is an enormous doctrine as it relates to our eternal security and bears heavily on the doctrine of salvation by grace as opposed to works. If we can lose of salvation, then the obvious implication is that our salvation must be merit-based and continually reassessed. There are a few denominations within the Christian church that hold to this belief, but most do not. So if we reject the teaching that salvation can be lost, how do we interpret the phrase "it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who have once been enlightened..."?

Some Christians would argue that this passage does not refer to believers but to those who appeared to be Christians but were never truly Spirit-filled believers. They were 'enlightened" (heard the gospel message), "experienced the good things of heaven" (enjoy the Christian life and fellowship), "tasted the goodness of the Word and power of the Spirit" (sampled the Bible and witnessed the Spirit within the church). Some maintain that these descriptions do not necessarily reveal salvation, but instead allude to someone who is 'trying" Christianity for a while, much like the seed that fell among the rocks, that sprung up quickly but had no root and died. In this interpretation then, the back-sliders are really people who looked like Christians but never were, and therefore no "loss of salvation" is at stake. Rather, the implication is that anyone who comes this close to knowing God and still chooses to walk away, has no hope for repentance. What else can be done for a person of free will who has already seen, heard, tasted, and experienced the goodness of God and yet still rejects Him?

True Christians persevere in their faith to the end, so those who do not, are not true Christians. But whichever way this verse is interpreted, those who "fall away" are not those who merely stumble in their walks, of which all Christians will be guilty. Rather, the people referred to are those who persist in unrepentant rebellion against God. The author seems to be genuinely concerned about this possibility for the Hebrews. The warning is meant for those who make professions of faith and later reveal no fruit of salvation and to the contrary, display fruits of a "bad" tree. Is therefore a profession of faith, though initially genuine, (or seemingly so), sufficient against later apostasy? The Bible says no, with the only debatable aspect being whether or not the apostate was ever saved in the first place.

How can we know we are really saved? We need to "examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith", as Paul recommended in 2 Corinthians 13:5. The gigantic handbook of Biblical doctrine "Systematic Theolgy", lists three areas to question...

1) "Do I today trust in Christ for my salvation?"
2) "Is there evidence of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in my heart?"
3) "Do I see a long-term pattern of growth in my life?"

Tomorrow's reading: Heb. 8:1-10;39