Excerpt from Hebrews: Partners with Christ

by Kenneth W. Yates

[Kenneth Yates and the Grace Evangelical Society permittedTTVF Journal to reprint this introduction to Yate’s commentary, Hebrews: Partners with Christ (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2019).]

Introduction

I have been involved in Christian ministry for thirty years. During that time I have preached that salvation is by faith apart from works and that believers are eternally secure at the moment of faith. Believers cannot lose eternal life and go to hell. Consequently, the question that I have been asked more than any other is: “How do you explain the warning passages in the Book of Hebrews?”

There are several warnings in Hebrews, but two in particular come
to mind: Hebrews 6 and 10.

Even a quick glance at these verses raises critical issues.

In Heb 6:4-8 the author says that it is impossible “to renew again to
repentance” those who fall away. And in 10:26-29, he says that if we sin
willfully after knowing the truth, there does not remain a sacrifice for sins for us. In both cases, the results of such actions involve some type of fiery judgment—a punishment worse than death.

What do these warnings mean?

Is the author of Hebrews warning believers or unbelievers?

What does it mean to “fall away”?

What does it mean to “sin willfully”? After all, don’t we all willfully
sin on occasion?

If a Christian or unbeliever falls away, what does it mean that he or
she cannot be renewed to “repentance”?

Does the judgment that is worse than death refer to going to hell?

You will not be surprised to find out there have been different ways
to understand these warnings. Allow me to summarize three.

View #1: Christians Who Lose Salvation

According to the first view, the author is speaking to Christians. Hebrews 6 is warning that a Christian “falls away” when he commits and continues in serious sin. Such a Christian winds up being “burned” in hell.

Usually, this view does not address what it means to say that the
Christian cannot “repent” again. Does that mean once a person “loses” his salvation, he can never be saved again? That would seem to be the case if we interpret the verses this way.

Likewise, Hebrews 10 is also taken as addressing Christians. To “sin willfully” means to commit serious sins over a long period of time. There is no sacrifice for that, because they have insulted God’s grace. As Christians, they know that such sin is wrong, but they rebel against God anyway. Such a Christian loses his salvation and is cast into hell which is worse than death.

View #2: False Professors

According to the second view, these warnings are addressed to people who claim to be Christians but, in fact, are not. A person who only claims to be a Christian eventually “falls away” into sin. In the end, he winds up being “burned” in hell, but he doesn’t lose salvation because he never had it in the first place.

Such a person “sins willfully” when he falls away. He has insulted God’s grace by claiming to be a Christian. He has been exposed to Christian teaching but rejects it. The sin here may be rejecting the faith that he claimed to believe, and thus he becomes an apostate from Christianity. Others say the sin is not living according to the holy demands of God’s commands. In any case, hell is a punishment worse than death for such an individual.

This view often explains that these people cannot repent again or that there is no sacrifice for such sin, in the sense that such a person does not want to repent. A false professor is one that is not convicted by the Holy Spirit and does not look at the sacrifice of Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

View #3: Christians in Danger of Missing Christ’s Approval

The third view agrees with the first that “true” Christians are being addressed. However, it denies that these Christians are being warned about going to hell. That is not the punishment. True Christians can willfully sin and fall away. If they do, they can experience a punishment worse than death and still be in the Kingdom of God.

Which View is Correct?

Clearly, these issues are very important. Every student of the Bible must deal with them. Moreover, since the warning passages in Hebrews play such a vital role in the book, we cannot hope to understand it if we don’t answer them.

Fortunately, even though these passages are hotly debated, their meaning is clear. Some details may be uncertain, but the overall thrust of the warnings is easy to determine.

Refuting View #1

We can reject the first view immediately. Why? The Bible never contradicts itself, and in many NT passages teach us that a believer in Jesus Christ cannot lose his eternal salvation.

First, Jesus told the woman at the well that whoever received eternal
life from Him would never thirst for it again (John 4:14). He said the
same thing in John 6:35. If believers could lose eternal life, they could
thirst for it.

Second, Jesus told Martha that if someone believes in Him, that person will never die (John 11:26). Never means never. If a believer could lose their salvation, they would experience the second death. Jesus told Martha that is impossible.

Third, the NT is crystal clear that salvation is all by God’s grace, and works have nothing to do with it (Rom 3:28; Eph 2:8-9). If we could lose our salvation by sinning, then salvation would depend upon our works.

Fourth, the very fact that the life God gives us is eternal (John 3:16) means we can’t lose it. If we lost eternal life then it was not eternal! Related to this is the fact that the believer in Jesus Christ already has eternal life (John 5:24). Eternal life is not something a believer gets when he goes to heaven. It is a present possession.

One of the greatest tragedies in Christendom is the teaching that one can lose his eternal salvation. Unfortunately, countless millions of people have been exposed to this destructive teaching that denies the gospel of grace. It is both sad and ironic that the Book of Hebrews is used to promote this false view of the gospel. In Heb 10:10, just a few verses before the most severe warning in the book, the author tells us that the believer cannot lose his salvation: “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (emphasis added). According to the will of God, which was accomplished in the sacrifice of Christ, the believer has been sanctified once for all. The word sanctified means “made holy.” Just a few verses later, the author says that those who are sanctified have been made perfect forever (Heb 10:14). The blood of Christ has taken care of the sins of the believer forever—all of them. Before God, every believer is holy forever. There is no sin the believer can commit that the death of Christ did not cover, not even a willful one.

Also, it needs to be said that those who teach that these warning passages refer to the loss of salvation almost never deal with the issue of such people not being able to repent (Heb 6:6). Almost all such teaching says that if a person loses his salvation, he can get it back if he only returns to the Lord. However, if the author is indeed talking about the loss of salvation, then a person cannot be saved from hell again.

Refuting View #2

The second view, namely, that the warning passages are addressed to
false Christians is clearly wrong. There is abundant evidence to prove the warning passages are addressed to genuine believers.

There are five warning passages in the Book of Hebrews. All five are addressed to Christians. We should not conclude that the three “minor” warnings are addressed to Christians, while the other two harsh ones are not. They are all addressed to the same people: true Christians.

For example, in Heb 3:1 they are called holy brethren. Are unbelievers holy brethren? Of course not.

In Heb 10:29 they are described as those who have been made holy by the blood of Christ. Is that true of false professors, of people who have never believed in Christ? Again, no.

In Heb 10:30 they are referred to as the people of God. Is that a description of believers or unbelievers?

Not only does the author call his readers brethren and describe them as Christians, the examples he gives in his warning passages involve the people of God in the OT. For example, he refers to the Jews whom God had redeemed out of Egypt but who later fell away and died in the wilderness. He does not want the readers to do the same thing. That assumes they, too, are the people of God with a relationship of faith in God from which they could fall away.

In the chapters that follow, it will be shown that the whole book is addressed to believers, not to false professors, proving that view #2 is false.

The reason many have concluded the warning passages must be directed to non-Christians is because they think God would never say such harsh things to His children. They believe these warnings describe the punishment of hell. Since believers will not go to hell, they conclude the warnings must be directed to non-believers.

Another important issue is that, according to many who hold to view #2, true Christians simply cannot do the things the author of Hebrews warns against. They say a true Christian cannot “willfully sin,” at least not for a long period of time, especially if that means to reject the Christian faith (i.e., apostatize).

The problem is, those are examples of letting one’s theology determine what a passage of Scripture says.

As Biblicists, the teaching of Scripture should always come before your theological traditions. If a passage is clearly speaking about true Christians, and the passage says that such people can indeed willfully sin, then true Christians can willfully sin (whatever that means)! If Scripture contradicts your theology, go with Scripture.

It also needs to be said that the author of Hebrews admits that he himself could “sin willfully.” Practically everyone would say that the author is a believer. He includes himself in the possibility of experiencing the things warned about when he says if “we” sin willfully, that is exactly what will happen.

If we are honest with the text, we simply must conclude that the author is warning believers about something. If we recognize that a believer cannot go to hell, and we cannot understand what a punishment worse than death is, or what it means to experience some kind of fiery punishment from the Lord, then we must simply admit that we do not know.

Fortunately, that is not the only option.

Defending View #3

The third view—that the warnings are addressed to Christians, but
involve punishment short of hell—is true to the text and makes perfect sense. Believers can experience severe discipline from God. In the Bible, God’s punishment of His people is often described as a fire. One can experience the “fire” of God’s wrath without going to hell.

Probably the most important thing to realize is that there are certainly some punishments worse than death which do not involve going to hell. How many of us have said, “I would rather die than go through that”? We can think, for example, of contracting certain diseases. How many people have willingly died in an attempt to escape certain conditions? For example, they have lived under tyranny or a dictator but risked their lives, and in many cases lost their lives, in order to escape from such a life because it was “better to die” than continue to live like that.

But one of the keys to understanding a punishment worse than death is that Hebrews deals with heavenly and eternal rewards. These rewards include more than simply “going to heaven.” In the kingdom of God, believers will be rewarded for their faithfulness to God during this life. If such rewards do indeed exist, wouldn’t the loss of such rewards be worse than death? After all, for the believer, death is temporary, but rewards in the kingdom will be forever. A major part of the Book of Hebrews deals with exactly that issue.

A Preview of the Book

As the following pages will argue, the Book of Hebrews describes Jesus Christ in regard to two of the great offices in the OT: King and High Priest. The emphasis in the first four chapters is on Jesus as the King. The emphasis in chapters 5–10 is on Jesus as our High Priest.

As King, Jesus will rule the world to come. His kingdom will be eternal. He also has supreme authority. Since He is our all-powerful and eternal King, when He speaks it is in our best interest to listen to Him.

As Christians, the readers of Hebrews are called to be faithful to this coming King. However, they are facing difficult times and persecution as the result of their faith. There was a strong temptation to abandon their faith in the midst of this persecution. This is the meaning of the “willful sin” and “falling away.”

If they did that, and some already had, they could expect the discipline of God. In light of their dishonoring the all-powerful King, they could expect a punishment worse than death. This punishment would also include the loss of eternal rewards. This is the point of all the warning passages in the book.

But they need not go down that path. The other office that Jesus holds is that of High Priest. As their High Priest He is always ready and able to help His children faithfully serve Him. If they would avail themselves of the ministries of their High Priest, they would be victorious in the midst of their difficulties, avoid the discipline of God, and obtain eternal riches in His coming kingdom.

The King is coming! His kingdom is coming! While all of His children will be in that kingdom, He has called them to be great in that kingdom. Through the strength that He provides, all believers can obtain that calling. But failure is possible if we do not draw near to Him as our High Priest. This is what the Book of Hebrews is about.