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Falling away after Sanctification
Hebrews 10:28-30 “He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.” Some Calvinists will say that scriptures such as this do speak of judgment, but they do not say anything about hell being the consequence of falling. So they hold to the belief that this means that it is only speaking of losing rewards, not salvation. This could appear to be a possibility, as some scriptures are talking about rewards, while others are not. But in light of the many scriptures already covered in the Book of Hebrews, and others as well, which all clearly speak of losing salvation, we must assume that the writer does refer to salvation, since he has not changed his point of discussion from what he had previously discussed. And there is also no indication that he is speaking of the afterlife, but of the present life. Calvinists may also assume that the writer is speaking about those who where considered sanctified under the law, before coming to Christ. But this is not possible. The Greek word in this scripture for “sanctified” is hagiazo (hag-ee-ad'-zo), which means, “to make holy”. The blood of Jesus had not sanctified the sinner or religious people of that day unless they had been saved through faith in Christ. The law could not make a person holy. It could not wash away sin, but only cover it. Sanctification of a person indicates an ongoing effort of the believer to be holy; therefore Christ will cleanse him, lead him, and show him thing to grow further in the perfect will of God. Sanctification is a work of God in the believer, but not outside of the will of that person. He will “make us holy” only as we will seek Him with the desire to “be” holy. His making us holy is never automatic; but it is only possible as we continue in Christ. He will lead us into all righteousness, only because we want to be led by Him. This is the sanctification that every believer will experience, and what the writer was referring to in this scripture. So therefore, this scripture is not talking about the law, but about the present relationship between God and these born again believers, giving instruction to them by using the law as an example. This is talking about Christians that may backslide and forfeit their salvation by rejecting God’s ways, after having once been sanctified or “made holy”. It is evident that they were definitely saved in these scriptures by the use of the word “sanctified”. Only a born again Christian can be “made holy”. The Holy Spirit who dwells within us sanctifies us. A person who goes to Church and acts like a Christian, but never really has a changed heart and is not born again, and is not sanctified. But those mentioned here were sanctified, “Made holy” through Christ. It is clear that throughout this chapter the writer is talking to the Hebrews about their relationship with God and living holy lives. He is talking to “sanctified” Christians about brothers in Christ who have fallen away, after having been sanctified. A simple outward change without a change in the heart of a man cannot bring him to the place of sanctification. Only true salvation through the blood of Jesus, by the Spirit of grace can sanctify a man. Some may assume that this scripture speaks of the old covenant and animal sacrifices. But he clearly stated that those who do such as in this scripture have “trodden under foot the Son of God” and “done despite unto the Spirit of Grace”. This is clearly speaking of the new covenant of grace through the blood of Christ, in which these people were sanctified by. In this scripture he says that God will judge those who have trodden under foot the Son of God. God will have His vengeance through judgment. This is not of losing a few rewards! It is upon the unrighteous that God will have vengeance, and these backsliders fall into the same judgment as all other sinners. If a Christian will be sanctified, then he must also not cast away his confidence, else he will not receive the promise.
Hebrews 10:35-39 “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul”.
The first thing that is said here is to “Cast not away” your confidence. So without a doubt, it must be possible for a Christian to do so, or else he would not have warned against it. The Greek work for ‘Confidence” is parrhesia (par-rhay-see'-ah); all out-spokenness, i.e. frankness, bluntness, publicity; by implication, assurance: He is telling the Hebrews to keep a hold of their assurance, their boldness to speak out what they believe in. With such a strong confidence in Christ we cannot help to speak boldly of His goodness to others. The reward that comes with this confidence and boldness is the presence of the Holy Spirit built up in our lives. Just like when Peter jumped up and preached boldly in the book of Acts. When we boldly speak to others of the confidence we have in Christ, the anointing of the Holy Spirit will give us great strength, and we will have no occasion to fall into temptation. He then says that it is after we have done the will of God that we might receive the promise; but we must have patience and not allow ourselves to lose the confidence that we had when we first believed. And if any man does draw back, which is to go back into sin, then he says that he will not be pleased with him. After this, the Apostle shares his confidence in the Hebrews, because he knows of their faith, believing that they are not of those who will draw back. He certainly is not saying that they cannot draw back unto perdition or else he would be contradicting his own warning. But this warning was given to them because of the definite possibility that through trials, temptations, lust, pride, and various lies of the enemy to sin, that some might fall, if they lose patience, listen to one of those lies, then cast away their confidence. He is confident that they won’t fall, because of the good fruits that they produce in their lives, but still warns of the possibility of falling. When men draw back, the scripture says that they draw back unto “perdition”, which in Greek is: apoleia (ap-o'-li-a); ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal): This means to go “back” to the place of “sin and destruction”, the same condition they were in before coming to Christ. Those who draw back will suffer “ruin and loss”, because they went back to the same old sinful condition, with the same wages of that sin, which is death. The concern in these scriptures, as in most of the scriptures we have read, is of the eternal souls of man. The gospel is hinged on the fact that Jesus died to save the lost souls of mankind. This is the good news, that man can have salvation through Jesus Christ. With this message in mind, these scriptures speak of the eternal souls of men, not the gain or loss of rewards. If the writer were referring to rewards, then he would have been clearer to that fact. But the context of this scripture does not indicate that he is talking about rewards at all, but rather that of the eternal soul. For to draw “back”, is to not only to go back to a previous place or condition according to lifestyle only, but also in faith, spiritual state and eternal standing. It is to return to an unsaved state through rejecting salvation. This is true whether it be by vocally rejecting Christ, or by rejecting Him through lifestyle only, even though one may vocally claim to know Christ. Calvinists say that this is not possible, because we cannot undo what Christ has done. It is true that no man, no demon, angel, any other being, any circumstance, trial, or anything else that might come against us can take away our salvation. Not even God Himself will take it away from us. But we are still free moral agents, with the God given ability to make a choice. The only thing that can separate us from salvation is our own choice. In all the scriptures that prove our security, the only thing that is not mentioned as an impossibility of such a separation is our own choice to sin, forsake Christ, and to live apart from things that bring salvation. As long as we make the simple choice to abide in Christ, then there is nothing that can come between us and our relationship with Him. The gospel message throughout scripture is hinged to this choice of whether or not we will accept or reject Christ. God has called every man to act with a response of repentance: to call upon His name, to seek Him, ask of Him, come unto Him, draw nigh to Him, forsake sin, receive, confess, etc., etc. We have the responsibility to act continually upon His call. Calvinists teach a belief in a security that is not scriptural. For those who seem so certain of there position in Christ even while they sin, the Bible warns against such a false sense of security in 1 Corinthians 10:12 “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” If a Christian returns to a lifestyle of sin, he or she will suffer ruin or loss of what they once had, which is salvation and all its benefits; unless they repent. Our salvation and relationship with Christ can be kept from separation, as we are given the opportunity to repent, through His grace. If we make that choice, then salvation will not be lost, and nothing can separate us from it. But if we choose not to repent, then we also reject Him, forfeiting all. Calvinists will say that if we lose our salvation by returning to sin then Christ would have to die again every time we fall. But this is an absurd accusation, as we know that Christ died once for all. No sacrifice has to be made again when we sin, because it was done once for all. But repentance is still necessary if there is to be provision for that sin. Otherwise our faith is dead having only false security. Scripture does not ever say that sins are automatically forgiven without confession, but says the very opposite. But yet this is the teaching of Calvinists. So in their doctrine they believe that they stand, when in reality many have fallen. If we will walk in holiness with a heart of repentance, the chances are that we will never fall away. But because many have bought the lie that they are okay without repentance, they walk in deception, “fallen” while thinking they stand. We must take heed!
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