Can a Believer Fall Away?

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have
become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to
come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the
Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. (Heb. 6:4-6)

Who are the Recipients of this Epistle?

This epistle addresses believers in Christ (3:1, 12; 4:14-16; 5:13; 6:1, 9-12, 19; 10:10, 14, 19-25, 32-39;
12:1-15; 13:20-21) who had experienced persecution in the past from their Jewish community (10:32-
34). They could also expect more in the future if they continued to follow Jesus Christ (13:12-13). This
epistle urges them on to persevering faith (10:35-39) by recognizing that Jesus Christ is superior
(“better”) in His person (1:1‒4:13) and work (4:14‒10:18) than the angels, Moses, the Levitical
priesthood, and its sacrifices. Therefore, the writer encourages theses believers to “hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (10:23).

What was their Condition and Problem?

In explaining the superiority of Christ’s priesthood (4:14‒7:28), the writer temporarily stops his teaching
on this subject to exhort some of these believers about their present spiritual retrogression. He states
that they were “dull of hearing” (5:11); they needed basic remedial teaching “again” (v. 12); they had
slipped backwards in their growth into babyhood (“babe”) and could only handle the “milk” of the Word
(v. 13) because of their failure to actively hear and “use” the Word of God by faith (v. 14). He challenges
them to face this retrogression seriously and to “go on to perfection” or spiritual maturity (6:1). This is a
clarion call and plea to renewed spiritual growth in maturity.

What is the Historical Context of this Epistle?

This exhortation would be appropriate only for a believer, since an unbeliever lacks spiritual birth and is
thus incapable of spiritual growth. But for this growth to occur in the lives of these believers,1 they
needed to realize that it was “impossible” (v. 4) “to renew them to repentance”2 (v. 6) “if they fall away”
(v. 6) from following the Lord by going back to Judaism and its bankrupt but still functioning sacrificial
system. One must keep in mind that this epistle was written before the destruction of the temple by the
Roman general Titus in A.D. 70, while the temple was still in full operation. This places the time of
writing around A.D. 68. Thus, if they succumbed to the pressure and persecution they faced, it would
result in these believers participating in animal sacrifices which served in the past as a picture of Christ’s
final sacrifice (10:1-4). In doing so, they would then “crucify the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an
open shame” (6:6), contradicting their past confession of faith and the reality of Christ’s once-for-all
sacrifice on the cross (10:12). No wonder the writer of Hebrews devotes chapters 9 and 10 to defend the
truth that the final and finished sacrifice of Christ is “better” than any Old Testament sacrifice. The
preceding context of Hebrews 5, along with the content of Hebrews 6:4-5, provides overwhelming
evidence that genuine believers in Christ are in view in Hebrews 6.
Is it Possible for a Genuine Believer to Fall Away?

What do the Scriptures say? “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor.
10:12). “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of
disobedience” (Heb. 4:11). However, while a believer may fall, he does not fall away from his eternal
salvation. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall,
he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand” (Ps. 37:23-24).

What might cause a Christian to fall? Though various reasons exist, Jesus’ parable of the soils and the
seed highlights one particular reason: the problem of persecution (which is parallel to the dilemma in
the book of Hebrews). Luke 8:12-13 states, “Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil
comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones
on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who
believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.”

In light of this possibility, these Hebrew believers, who originally heard this epistle read, had two
options. Being the very word of God to them, the epistle of Hebrews was likened to “the rain that comes
often upon the earth” (6:7; cf. Isa. 55:8-11). These believers could either respond by faith to this epistle,
bear fruit, and receive blessing from God (v. 7); or they could disregard this teaching and “bear thorns
and briers” that would be “rejected”3 and become “near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned” (v.
8). However, the ground (i.e., the believer) is not burned; instead, the thorns and briers (i.e., what is
produced in the believer’s life who is disobedient and falling away) are burned.

Was It Impossible Now to Ever Renew Them Again to Repentance in Order to Grow Spiritually?

To answer this pertinent question it is helpful to closely observe the participial phrase: “Since they
crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” The phrase “since they
crucify again” is just one word in the Greek text anastauroō. It is a present active temporal participle
which is contemporaneous in time to the action of the main verb and that carries the idea of while
doing, especially when it is related to the main verb.4 This could then be translated, “If they fall away, [it
is impossible] to renew them again to repentance, while they crucify again for themselves the Son of
God, and put Him to an open shame. The writer of Hebrews is not shutting the door forever upon these
believers experiencing spiritual growth again. But he is making it clear that this spiritual renewal will not
occur while at the same time they persist in going back to the defunct Temple and its needless sacrifices.

Is Hebrews 6:6 Describing a Falling Away from Eternal Salvation?

Such an erroneous conclusion would completely violate the context and be contrary to many other
verses in Scripture that clearly teach eternal security. Such an interpretation would amount to sheer
eisegesis. So what is Hebrews 6:6 actually teaching?

This passage is a serious warning to some slothful believers about the danger of falling away from
following the Lord by faith. To do so would involve ongoing spiritual retrogression that would only lead
to worse and worse practical results in their lives. Thus, if believers in Christ capitulated to the pressure
to return to Judaism, they would certainly become involved in the inappropriate sacrificing of lambs that
were intended before the cross to picture or illustrate the Lamb of God (Jesus Christ) who came to take
away the sins of the world (John 1:29). To turn back to these pictures and shadows when the reality had
already come would be putting their Savior to an open shame. However, the writer of Hebrews has a
gracious optimism and confidence in God’s amazing power, so he closes this section with words of
encouragement to these struggling Christians.

But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation,
though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you
have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire
that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do
not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Heb. 6:9-
12)

Does Hebrews 6 teach that a believer can lose his eternal salvation? No! But it does teach the propensity
for believers to become dull of hearing, spiritually retrogress, need to be taught again biblical basics, and
the possibility of returning to religious systems that teach and practice what is contrary to the Word of
God because of pressure and persecution. We also learn that believers need not cave in to the pressure
to compromise their faithfulness to God and His Word because God still grants them the possibility of
spiritually growing and becoming fruitful for Christ. Believer, will you be faithful or popular? Take your
pick!

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.
—Horatio G. Spafford, It Is Well with My Soul. ■

1. Hebrews 6:4-5 contains a series of participles that can only describe genuine possessors of salvation.

2. The phrase in verse 6, “to renew them again to repentance,” refers not to salvation but to an ongoing
change of mind associated with spiritual growth as in Romans 12:2, which also refers to being
“transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

3. The word “rejected” (adokimos) is elsewhere translated “disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27), as in a race, with
the result being a failure to receive a crown (i.e., reward).