[Bible Questions]…I have been raised, and am currently in a church, that preaches eternal salvation. But, I must confess that certain passages in the Bible would always trouble me. Passages such as Hebrews 6:4-6; 10:26-29; and Revelation 3:5 seem to indicate that you can lose your salvation. Hebrews 6:4-6 indicates to me that once you lose your salvation it’s always gone. But, as you’ve pointed out on your website, God welcoming back backsliders into the fold is demonstrated throughout the Bible (e.g. David, Prodigal Son, James 5:19-20, etc.). On your website you indicated that the sin referenced in Hebrews 6:4-6 is eternal sin. What makes you think that? …To me this passage indicates once you fall away, you can’t come back because to do so would be to again crucify Jesus. But, that seems to contradict many other passages of Scripture. I believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God and that there ARE no contradictions in the Bible. So, please help me to understand this passage.
Also, if you CAN lose your salvation, where is the line that you must cross to lose it? Every time I sin must I again get saved AND ask forgiveness for my sin?…I’m sorry if I sound like I’m being sarcastic; it is not my intent to be so. But I am trying to find out the truth on this subject because, as you know, it is an extremely important one! I am a sinner. I sin daily, sometimes even on purpose (though usually it’s accidental). But my over all walk is with God: I distribute tracts, tithe regularly, go to church most every Sunday, read my Bible twice a day, pray regularly (not just when I’m in troubleJ), try to help people whenever I can, and try to sin as infrequently as possible. So, every time I sin – given my list of works above – have I then lost my salvation? I know my works are not much compared to many people, but I’m not exactly a flaming sinner either. Please help me to understand this. Thank you for your assistance with this very important matter,
[Bible Answer] Greetings in Jesus’ name. We are very glad you found us. Please know that eternal salvation has nothing to do with the HERESY of eternal security. Eternal salvation is a Biblical term and found only in Hebrews 5:9. It is only given to those who OBEY Jesus. Eternal security is a lie from hell.
You asked about Hebrews 6:4-6, which is referring to eternal sin. We know that because the people referred to there couldn’t be renewed again by repentance (Heb. 6:6), unlike the others who got saved again (Luke 15:24; James 5:19,20; Rom. 11:19-23). Peter also got saved again after he disowned Jesus (Mt. 10:33 cf. Lk. 22:32). Furthermore, we know Heb. 6:4-6 refers to eternal sin because of what we read in Hebrews 10:29 as it refers to the same people. It says:
How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
That is the essence of eternal sin (Mark 3:22-30), which one can’t get forgiven from. Hence, the people of Heb. 6:4-6 could NOT get forgiven of their sins, unlike the Prodigal, Peter, etc. So there is NO contradiction between Heb. 6:4-6 and the verses which state one can come back to salvation after backsliding.
A Christian loses his salvation when he commits sin like the Prodigal, Peter (when he disowned Jesus), those in James 5:19,20 and Rom. 11:19-23! All sin is NOT the same (1 John 5:16,17; etc.). When one commits sin unto death (such as listed in 1 Cor. 6:9,10; Rev. 21:8; Eph. 5:5-7; etc.) he dies spiritually.
You stated you are a sinner. If you are a sinner you need to repent and get eternal life. Like all Christians, I’m a righteous person (who is not a sinner). They are opposite terms in Scripture. It appears you have been thoroughly misled by the grace changers, whom you have supported! To teach once saved always saved, the eternal security teachers also mislead you over all sins being the same (when they are NOT), that a Christian is a sinner (and Paul was the worst of sinners as a Christian when he wasn’t), that a Christian sins all the time (which implies he isn’t and can’t be obeying)! Obedience to God is NOT WORKS, LEGALISM or CULTIC! Your pastor is a DANGEROUS person who has deceived you. You have helped support his wicked work as he taught his lies. That is NOT good (2 John 9-11)! STOP supporting such demonic teaching and don’t return to such a congregation. It is to your harm that you do! (Have you joined our internet church?)
BE VERY CAREFUL what you teach through the literature you hand out! If it teaches or even implies eternal security, don’t hand it out. Destroy the tracts. They are demonic and misleading. NOTE: You can GO TO HELL just for preaching a false gospel (Gal. 1:8,9) and the real gospel has a CONDITIONAL SECURITY attached to it (1 Cor. 15:2)! Paul knew he could yet go to hell for preaching a false gospel! You need our book, The Believer’s Conditional Security, which is the most complete refutation to the heresy of eternal security ever written. Your questions will be answered there. As you said this is a very important matter! It is a salvation-related issue and nothing less. Get the book! We provide quick shipment plus FREE related materials.
