Falling Away

Introduction

• The Bible is full of sweet and precious promises - from cover to cover. We are filled with such joy as a result! It is a joy to be a Christian.
  • Co-workers who don't know Christ, slogging through the days, longing for the weekend or retirement, trying to scrap together some semblance of meaning or purpose in their life...
• But the Bible also contains serious warnings. We are not playing games here. This is life and death. Or rather, eternal life, and everlasting judgement.

[The Puritans lived on] the precipice of eternity where the fragrance of heaven and the stench of hell are both in the air.
John Piper

This is the place where the book of Hebrews lives, perhaps more than any other book of the Bible. Here in chapter 6 we have arguably one of the strongest and scariest warnings in all of Scripture. And yet, just a few verses later, we are given one of the sweetest promises of all - "This hope we have as an anchor for the soul".

There is no contradiction here, just serious reality. As a church, may we also live "on the precipice of eternity". Let us grow in maturity to be able to rightly receive both the comforts and the warnings.

Context

• The author is writing to a church (or churches), presumably of Jewish background
• These Jewish believers' great need is to press on in the faith, to not be sluggish, to persevere.
• The author encourages his audience in two ways:
  • Direct exhortation
  • Rich teaching on the worth, sufficiency, power, life, priesthood, work, and glory of Jesus Christ.
• Recent flow of thought:
  • Introduction of the priesthood of Melchizidek (Chapter 5)
  • "Many things to say", but you have become "dull of hearing" (5:11)
  • Exhortation to grow and not get stale. Beau preached from 6:1-3 yesterday. We ought not to re-lay the foundation of conversion over and over again.
    • This is where we are now

Outline

1. It is possible to be around the things of God, and yet to still fall away
2. It is possible to be in a state such that repentance is impossible
3. Exhortation and comfort

1. It is possible to be around the things of God - and yet to still fall away

What does "Fall Away" mean?

Not stumbling

• The only time that this exact Greek word is used in the Bible
• There is distinction between "falling" or "stumbling" and "falling away".

Proverbs 24:16
For a righteous [man] may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Thus, by "falling away", the author does not mean sins that Christians stumble into and fight against. The Christian life is one of growing holiness and fruit (we call this sanctification), but it is not one of perfection this side of eternity.

Not even necessarily grievous sins

Some sins are grievous. They are so deep, wicked, scandalous, and contrary to the nature of God that you would rightly wonder if they have the life of God in them operating at all.

1 Corinthians 5:1-5
(1) It is actually reported [that there is] sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles--that a man has his father's wife! (2) And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you. (3) For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. (4) In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, (5) deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

• This man was operating in the church as a brother.
• Sinned greatly and openly
• Discipline was in order
• But Paul does not say that this person cannot be renewed to repentance. Indeed, the whole point of Church discipline is so that he would be renewed to repentance.
• And we know the end of the story. In 2 Cor 2, we see one (presumably the same man) received back into fellowship.

Thus, grievous sin, even unto church discipline, does not always equal "falling away".

Ultimate Rejection

Falling away then is nothing less than persistent rejection of Jesus Christ and his Gospel. It is to have your eyes opened to see truth, only to purposefully reject it. It is to become so hardened to sin that you don't care anymore. It is to harden your heart and resist the Holy Spirit so doggedly and so persistently that you can no longer hear his voice of conviction.

So close, yet so far away

Our passage emphasizes the apostate's closeness to and even participation in Christian things.

"Once enlightened"

• Some have thought that points to this being related to baptism
• Probably more likely that this is someone who has seen the truth and engaged with it at some level.

Ephesians 1:18
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

"Tasted the heavenly gift", and "Partakers of the Holy Spirit"

• "Heavenly gift" most likely refers to the Holy Spirit
• They have been so near so as to even feel the effects of the Holy Spirit. They have had deep religious experiences.
• Word choice is important. They have tasted, but not feasted. They have partaken, but not been indwelt.

"Tasted the good word of God"

1 Peter 2:2-3
(2) as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, (3) if indeed you have tasted that the Lord [is] gracious.

• They have known the good word of the Gospel, and tasted of its sweetness. They know something of its comforts and blessings, and even found rest and peace in it for a time.
• Once again, they have "tasted". The implication is that they have not dived in.

"[Tasted] the powers of the age to come"

• They have seen the miraculous. They have seen lives being changed, they have seen the supernatural. They have seen God answer prayer. They have experienced God's will being done on earth even as it is in heaven.

Other Scriptures

It is possible to be around the things of God - and yet to still fall away. This ought to fill us with seriousness and godly fear.

It is also a doctrine that is consistent throughout Scripture. Hebrews is not the only place in the Bible that speaks of this. Let's look at Jesus' own words.

Matthew 24:12-13
"And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. "But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

John 15:6
"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw [them] into the fire, and they are burned.

Matthew 7:22-23
(22) "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' (23) "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

Mark 4:16-19
(16) "These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; (17) "and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. (18) "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; [they are] the ones who hear the word, (19) "and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Scriptural Examples

These are examples that Hebrews itself draws to our attention.

• Corporate: Children of Israel (Heb 3)
  • Experienced, in a sense, the deliverance of God. Red sea, wilderness, manna, etc. But yet still fell away.
  • "They could not enter in [His rest] because of unbelief" (Heb 3:19)
• Personal: Esau (Heb 12)
  • One of the children of the promised seed. Had access, by birth, to the unique promises of God. And yet he despised that birthright and all the blessings of God that came with it. He traded the eternal mercies of God... for a temporary snack.

2. It is possible to be in a state such that repentance is impossible

How does that work? (That repentance is impossible)

I can't say that I understand exactly how, but here are my reasoning points:

• God is perfectly Just in all his ways. He is not unrighteous or unbalanced.

Deuteronomy 32:4
[He is] the Rock, His work [is] perfect; For all His ways [are] justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright [is] He.

• Man is 100% accountable for his actions.

2 Corinthians 5:10
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things [done] in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

• Salvation is granted by God alone.

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God,

2 Timothy 2:24-25
And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

• When God abandons you, you are abandoned indeed.

Romans 1:24-25
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Thus, when one rejects Jesus, they are rejecting their only means of salvation. Hebrews 10 calls it "trampling the Son of God underfoot". There is no other sacrifice for sins. Having once tasted of Christ, they now despise his beauty and glory, making a mockery of Him who is altogether lovely, and subjecting Him to open shame. They harden their hearts to the influence of the Holy Spirit, until God gives them up. He allows them to follow hard after their own lusts, and He does not stop them. They shook their fists at God and said "My will be done!" And then God in His justice says, "Thy will be done".

Jesus said that the branch that would not abide and bear fruit is cut off. The seeds that grew well at first are choked out and do not endure. The vine that did did not bear fruit is cut down and destroyed. Or, as our passage states, the ground that refused to bear herbs but instead bears thorns and thistles is rejected and burned.

Or as it has been said another way:

They could not because they would not;
And now they would not because they could not.

Truly, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

A Note

• We are not taught that we know when someone is in such a state where it is impossible to renew them.
  • At minimum, death is a final point. There is no chance after death to repent.
• With our limited perspective we don't know an apostate's eternal state.... Thus we continue to employ the means of God - Church discipline, prayer, preaching of the Word, etc, in hopes that God would awaken the soul.
• Remember Mannasseh

3. Exhortation and Comfort

1. It is possible to be around the things of God, and yet to still fall away
2. It is possible to be in a state such that repentance is impossible

Exhortation

Make your calling and election sure

2 Peter 1:10a
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure

This is no game. There is no time in the Christian life where you are stop growing, to be slothful, to stop abiding in Christ, to stop fighting sin, to stop growing in faith. Onward and upward!

In some ways, those brought up in a Christian home like myself can be like these Hebrews. I know the right answers. I've been taught the Scriptures. I've been to church. I've seen God work. I've been a recipient of God's mercies. But all that in and of itself is not enough. There must be true, saving faith, and I must endure to the end.

Remember Beau's message last week. Endurance and growth is not gritting your teeth and trying to make something happen by sheer force of will. It is yielding to the work of the Holy Spirit and participating with Him by faith and obedience.

• If you are convicted right now, that is a gift! Rejoice! Do not harden your heart, repent.
  • Leprosy removes feeling so that we no longer feel pain when we're in danger. Thus those who have that disease are destroyed.
• Do not trifle with sin, no matter how small. Sin blinds and hardens.
• If you have never given your life to Christ, today is the day! Do not harden your heart. Repent and believe the gospel.

Comfort

I recognize that many have seen this passage as a source of terror in a way that is not profitable. If you are clinging to Christ in faith, however imperfectly, (and I trust that's most of you), I want to observe the following for your comfort:

• The passage says "it's impossible to renew them to repentance", not that they will repent and still be rejected. There is a big difference. This means if you are repentant, then God is at work and you are not cast away!
• The warnings of the Bible are part of God's means as He keeps us. (Jude 1:24)
• God (especially in the book of Hebrews) wants us to live in confidence and assurance. This is not only possible, but it is God's will for our lives.

Hebrews 6:9
But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.

Hebrews 10:22
let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.