Lesson 22: God's Love is Eternal, part 2

We continue our study of verses that some people use to say a Christian can lose their salvation. The second passage taken out of context is in Hebrews 6 and 10.

Hebrews 6:4-6 "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, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 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."

Hebrews 10:26-27 "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries."

Here we have it. A Christian can fall away and lose their salvation, right?

Wrong! On the surface it may seem to say that, but take a closer look at the context. First of all, according to the context, we know these people are not Christians either because they only "shared in" or literally in the Greek, "partnered with" the Holy Spirit.

The Bible is clear. A true Christian is not just an external partner with the Holy Spirit, they are an internal possessor of the Spirit. The point He is trying to make here is that even though these people have been "enlightened" to "taste" the goodness of the gospel externally, they still have not receive it internally.

The context of both passages is dealing with apostates. They will never repent because even though they know the truth, they still refuse to act on it! No amount of information is going to be good enough for them!

In case you still do not see two groups of people here, saved and unsaved, the context clearly says over and over again "those who" speaking of the behavior of the apostates, but then clarifies at the end in verse Hebrews 6:9, “Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.” Not apostasy! Therefore, these passages are not talking about Christians losing their salvation. It is talking about people who never had salvation in the first place! Context is the important key!

The third passage taken out of context is 1 Corinthians 9.

1 Corinthians 9:26-27 “So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

Can a Christian be disqualified and lose their salvation? No! On the surface it may seem to say that, but the context is again important. Nowhere in this passage does it even talk about salvation, let alone mention it.

It is talking about prizes or rewards. Paul's beating his body into submission is not out of fear of being disqualified for salvation, but for his reward in heaven! He does not want to waste his life on the fleeting things of this world instead of investing it for the glory of God. Therefore, this passage is talking about Christians losing out on rewards in heaven!

Thought Question: Commitment: If God has made this commitment to us, why should we not seriously commit our lives unreservedly to Him?