I recently heard a story related to Hebrews 6:4-6 where an unbeliever, described as someone who "spent a lot of time studying the Bible" and who "knew a lot about the Lord," concluded that he was "not going to be saved until just before he dies." He believed that the passage from Hebrews is describing an individual who can lose his salvation. Therefore, if he delays his decision for Jesus Christ until just before his death, he will then have less time in which to "fall away" from the Lord and lose his salvation. This is wrong on so many levels. First, when is he going to die? Nobody knows the moment they are going to die, nor do they know how they will die in most cases. Even the terminally ill are often given a window of time in which they are "expected" to die, but not an exact date. This doesn't even take into consideration those who were given terminal diagnoses, beat their illness, and are still alive today. What about Lazarus. He is one of the few people in all of human history that died twice. Those others being anybody else brought back from the dead by Jesus or His disciples. Secondly, if this man doesn't know the day and the hour of his inevitable demise, will he have the opportunity to repent and accept Jesus before he passes away? How often do you hear the term "died instantly" to describe how a person met death? Brain aneurysms, heart attacks, car accidents, lightning strikes, stray bullets, and a host of other instant deaths are a possibility. This idea that he is going to have time to contemplate his life and eternity before he dies is foolish and misguided. Besides all the variables that could render this man's ability to accept Jesus Christ upon his deathbed void, can we truly believe it would be genuine? This is a man that is said to have known a lot about what God had done, knew a lot about the different people groups, and how they interacted and knew the history of the Bible really well. Yet, with all this supposed knowledge, he didn't feel compelled to accept the salvation offered by Jesus Christ. There are many things a person misses out on when they don't receive the salvation provided by Jesus Christ. One of the primary areas they miss out on is in the field of scriptural discernment. In all of this, there is the assumption that he is appropriately discerning all of his knowledge. Well, I submit that he doesn't know as much as he is given credit for knowing. We know that he is not a Christian. Therefore, he does not have the Holy Spirit of God living inside of him. If he doesn't have the Holy Spirit, then it is safe to say he doesn't understand what he is reading and is not discerning the meaning of what has been written.
Hebrews 6:4-6 says, "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss, they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." This passage has been interpreted in numerous ways, but to those who believe a person can lose their salvation, this is one of their foundational scripture passages. When they read that it is "impossible" for someone to "be brought back to repentance," they see this as saying, "it is impossible for those who were once saved and lost their salvation to be saved again." Although the gentleman mentioned earlier is not a Christian, it is safe to say that he believes the same things about this passage as Christians who say you can lose your salvation think about it. However, this passage is actually telling the exact opposite regarding salvation. Can a baby go back in its mother's womb? Nicodemus asked Jesus this question. The answer is no. If a person jumps off a cliff, are they able to go back to the cliff's edge and start again? No. These are one-time acts that cannot be reversed. So it is with salvation. When the passage says that it is impossible for those who have fallen away to be brought back to repentance, it is saying that once a person has repented, that is it. They have already accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. They cannot go back and repent again because it has already taken place. To fall away doesn't mean to lose salvation. It means you have fallen from grace back to the works of the law. Paul told the Galatians, "You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace (Galatians 5:4)." And, most importantly, you cannot crucify the Son of God all over again and subject Him to public disgrace. Jesus Christ died for sins once for all. His dying words on the cross were, "It is finished (John 19:30)." The sin issue is over between man and God. God is not counting our sins against us any longer (2 Corinthians 5:19). When Jesus Christ returns, it is "not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him (Hebrews 9:28)." Only the Holy Spirit of God can reveal these things to a person. Without the Spirit of God to tell His truth to you, you only have your own understanding to rely on. And we know that natural man cannot understand spiritual things because they are spiritually discerned. Do not be like the gentleman mentioned earlier and let your natural discernment lead you to the brink of a Christless eternity in hell because you misinterpreted a passage. Nobody is promised tomorrow, much less time to make a deathbed conversion to faith in Christ. That is why the scriptures say, "Today is the day of salvation (2 Corinthians 6:2)."
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