The Danger of Apostasy

This morning I want to cut right to the chase…I usually give an illustration or ask questions…but this morning I am going to make a statement that may shock some of you...so here it goes...

In the lifespan of every church, many will come and go and even stay who can articulate right things about the gospel without truly being followers of Christ.

That was true in the 1st century church as well as the 21st century church…

with that understanding please turn to Hebrews 6.

Our text this morning is a warning text.

Warning labels are all around us...

Written on a hair dryer... Do not use while sleeping.

Several manufacturers of hair dryers thought it necessary to warn users of the dangers of sleep-drying because someone did it…

Some of you have those cardboard sun shields you put up in your car…yep, there is a warning label…Do Not Drive With Sun Shield in Place.

If you’ve done that please surrender your DL to the nearest DMV.

What’s the purpose of a warning?

It gets your attention..it prompts you to think twice about a danger or a problem to avoid.

The writer of Hebrews wants to get the attention of his audience...

But to whom does this warning belong?

Is he speaking to Christians? To non-Christians? To both?

The text before us this morning, has been labeled as one of the most, if not the most difficult passages in Scripture to interpret.

So this morning we are going to go to the “biblical gym”… we are going exercise some hermeneutical muscles (explain hermeneutics)

One of the critical rules of bible interpretation is to consider the CONTEXT… the contextual questions come from three critical arenas...

the historical arena, the grammatical/literary arena, and the literal arena

In the historical arena: They were facing intense opposition and pressure from their Jewish family members and neighbors to turn from Christ and return to the old ways of Judaism.

They were struggling with “Is faith in Christ alone really worth it?”

So the historical arena provides insight into why the book was written...

The immediate purpose of Hebrews is to teach the truth about Christ.

All along he is providing great theological truths about Jesus.

He has talked about His deity, his humanity, his superiority over everything...

But teaching the truth about Christ is a means to something, not an end.

The ultimate purpose is to show that following Christ is worth the cost.

They were getting weary, and it seems that some were looking for the exit sign.

Consequently, the writer gave them, not just a reminder that following Christ is worth it, but also a series of five warnings throughout the book that address what happens when a professing believer chooses not to follow Christ to the end

In the grammatical/literary arena…we look at the words and style of writing…Hebrews is a letter that is also a sermon...

When we look at how the writer structured his work, we must understand a passage working from the inside to the outside....

We must move from the smaller context (explain) to the larger context (explain).

How does my interpretation of this text fit what the writer just said…how does it fit with the purpose of the book…how does it fit within the context of the entire Bible?

The immediate smaller context is that the writer was exhorting his audience to grow up…to mature beyond a simple, child-like understanding of the truth about Jesus.

Expanding out a little further in Hebrews we find a larger argument: we should not neglect so great a salvation.

Instead of maturing in their understanding of the greater truths of God, many in this church were neglecting the great salvation offered in Christ. As a result, they were stalling out in their spiritual growth and abandoning the faith.

Going out from there in Hebrews we see Jesus as the fulfillment of all the OT promises, types, shadows…God’s plan of redemption of sinful man is accomplished in the provision of Jesus Christ alone!

In the literal arena: we are going to seek to understand the text at face value…not seeking to discover some newer and deeper theological understanding that no one else has ever found…

What does an ordinary reading of the text communicate? … how would the original readers have understood this text?

There is one other rule of interpretation that MUST be applied to EVERY text…especially those that are difficult.

The unity principle of Scripture teaches us that one passage of Scripture must bear the weight of the whole of Scripture.

Scripture is the best interpreter of Scripture…what that means is my interpretation of any text cannot contradict any other passage of Scripture.

I wanted you to understand all that because this text has been viewed by many varied approaches and equally varied interpretations have been offered for this text that have left many believers confused, discouraged and even defeated thinking that once they sin after salvation, they are lost for eternity!

So to gain a right understanding of this text, we have to apply ourselves to the hard work of Bible Study…are you willing to do that with me this morning?

Let’s walk through it, make some observations about the text, and conclude with some take home thoughts.

With an ordinary, plain reading of the text we should see clearly what the writer is saying in the first three verses...

Hebrews 6:1–3 “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits.”

Growing Believers Must Press On To Maturity by Leaving the Elementary Foundations (1–3)

The writer makes an appeal for them to leave the elementary teachings about Christ.

to move beyond the initial understanding of Christianity with some similarities to Judaism.

He appeals to them to go on to maturity.

Looking back at the context before…he says stop being spiritual babies and grow up…change your diet from spiritual milk to spiritual meat…and exercise your abilities to determine what is right and wrong…

It is interesting to note that “pressing on” is in the passive voice…someone is moving us along the path of maturity…in verse 3, the writer acknowledges it is God…but then in writing “leaving the elementary...” he uses the middle voice meaning the subject (us) is acting upon himself…

Putting all that together we understand that our sanctification (growth) is in fact in cooperation with God...

As God moves us along the path of maturity, we must lay aside the elementary truths and make progress.

The author exhorts his congregation to stop laying the same foundation repeatedly.

These truths need to be settled in your life with no need to relearn them…you accept them by faith as the foundation of your faith and then build on them.

He organizes the elementary truths into three couplets…connected by the word and...

First Couplet: A Foundation of Repentance from Dead Works and Faith in God

The first couplet emphasizes repentance.

Repentance is a turning away from...

Scripture teaches that there is no authentic faith without turning away from sin.

In this text, repenting from dead works is in view.

All throughout his book the author exhorts Christians that Jesus Christ is the source of all they need…

that means they must abandon all attempts at self-righteousness.

Believers trust in Christ’s righteousness, not our own.

Jesus alone is the author and finisher of our salvation.

The writer is concerned that many in the church were returning to Judaism and its emphasis on works.

Justification by faith alone is essential to the gospel.

Implied in this elementary truth is the necessity of leaving behind dead works and repenting of the fruitless attempt to establish our own righteousness before God.

It is only through the atonement of Jesus Christ, the great high priest, that our righteousness is established.

We must settle forever the fact that we come to God by relying on the provision of Jesus.

Second Couplet: Washing and the Laying on of Hands

Ceremonial washings and the laying on of hands were both integral to Judaism…they were part of the spiritual routine.

This is a focus on external rituals…his Jewish audience were familiar with all the ceremonial washings in the OT.

The washings were viewed as ways for the Israelite to get and remain pure.

In order to move on to maturity, these Jewish believers needed to leave behind their confidence in ritualistic practices.

Just as they were doing with dead works, some members of this church were placing their faith in ceremonial washings, not in the work of Christ.

There is a lot of diversity regarding how laying on of hands was used and understood.

In the Old Testament, hands were laid on people during blessing, on animals about to be sacrificed, on someone being devoted to a service, or on criminals in cases requiring the death penalty.

In the New Testament, hands were laid on people for blessing, healing, commissioning, receiving the Holy Spirit, and receiving spiritual gifts.

Genuine salvation is a heart issue…there are no external rituals that will ever bring the righteousness of Christ into your life…we need to get that settled and move on.

Third Couplet: Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment

The two truly belong together: the resurrection of the dead is for the final judgment.

Unless Jesus Christ stands as our advocate and our substitute, we cannot stand before God in the judgment that is coming.

The resurrection of the dead should not be ignored; it should never be far from the horizon of our thinking.

Our eternity is secure in Christ…the judgment we deserved was placed upon Jesus...

We need to settle the matter of our eternity that there is only one way to God...

“If God Permits”

This teaches us not to presume upon spiritual opportunities but to pray to God for our maturation in the faith.

God wanted the maturity of his people.

They needed God’s help because this maturity would not come automatically.

This is a call for dependence on God and drives prayerful expectation of perseverance.

We cannot assume the future. Anything is done only if God permits.

Nevertheless, this verse reveals that the author believes that his recipients will rise to the occasion. They will build on the elementary foundation if the Lord permits. The author is confident of this.

Then he provides a warning...

Beware the Danger of Irreversible Apostasy (4–8)

Let’s break this down into smaller segments and I think you’ll get a clear picture of the text.

Let’ look at the people and then the problem.

Who are these people (4-5)?

The writer identifies five characteristics of the people he has in mind.

They were once enlightened.

The Greek word used here means “to give light” and “to bring to light.”

The writer states in Hebrews 10:32 “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings,”

That’s the same word…he says it’s what happened to his readers (they “received the light” and “were enlightened”).

They had some revelation of Jesus Christ.

The idea of enlightenment appears in 2 Corinthians 4:4, where unbelievers fail to see in Jesus “the light of the gospel.

They tasted the heavenly gift.

Tasting implies consciously experiencing something (see 2:9).

The experience might be momentary or continuing.

Christ’s “tasting” of death (2:9) was obviously momentary and not continuing or permanent.

All men experience (taste) the goodness of God, but that does not mean they are all saved (see Matt. 5:45).

Whether the gift refers to Christ (see John 6:51; 2 Corinthians 9:15) or to the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:38; 1 Pet. 1:12), experiencing either one was not the equivalent of salvation

I think what we have here are people who claimed to have experienced a vital relationship with Jesus Christ (Ps. 34:8).

They claimed to have faith in Christ.

They have joined the church and participate regularly in its worship services.

They have shared in the Holy Spirit.

We’ve seen this word before in Hebrews. In 3:1 we read, “Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling.”

In 3:14, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end.”

Our text indicates the writer has in mind folks who share in the Holy Spirit.

They tasted the goodness of God’s Word.

It’s the same word for tasted we saw in the previous verse. Here,in addition to tasting the heavenly gift, the writer describes folks who have tasted the goodness of the word of God.

God’s Word is good. It does so many good things for us. It brings joy to our families, meaning to our friendships, peace to our anxious hearts, and more!

And these readers had tasted that…they were hearing the Word being taught and seeing it work in the life of others...

What’s more…

They tasted the powers of the coming age.

In the coming age there will be no sickness, no pain, no death, no sin, no hindrances to joy.

Yet those who are in Christ experience a sampling of that now.

As Christians we’ve tasted something our non-Christian friends haven’t. We’ve had a foretaste of the sweetness of the age to come

The readers of Hebrews were looking, sounding, and seeming to be like believers; but they were urged to show the reality of their faith by enduring in their commitment to Jesus.

What was the problem (6)?

Hebrews 6:6 “and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

Let’s be clear…this verse is not teaching that believers can lose their salvation, because if that is true, it also teaches you cannot get it back!

What is the meaning of “fall away”...

This Greek term occurs only here in the New Testament.

In the LXX, it was used to translate terms for severe unfaithfulness and apostasy (see Ezek. 14:13; 18:24; 20:27).

It is “to abandon a former relationship or association, or to dissociate (a type of reversal of beginning to associate)—‘to fall away, to forsake, to turn away.”

The writer already mentioned this in Hebrews 3:12 “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”

This is not referring to the believer who falls into sin and struggles to repent and return to a right relationship with God.

This is a full rejection of Christ after one has confessed Him.

it is a rejection with full knowledge of the truth, and conscious experience (as described in the features of vv. 5, 6)...

The writer sees this rejection of Christ as an act of relentless hostility.

He condemned it as a condition from which a participant could not return to fellowship with God.

With full revelation they rejected the truth, concluding the opposite of the truth about Christ…it is a very specific state of sin…it is a complete renunciation of God.

Jesus himself had spoken of the day when some of his professing followers would say to him, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” (Matt. 7:22).

Jesus would reply to these startled disciples, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers” (Matt. 7:23).

These were people who enjoyed a sample of the Christian experience, with knowledge of the Christian message, and were witnesses to some powerful experiences which seemed to be linked to the Holy Spirit and then walk away...

The Scriptures offer encouragement to the weakest believer, but they declare alarming warnings to those who carelessly presume that they are on God’s side.

It is possible for an individual to approach the Word of God without any regard for its message.

It is possible for a person to have something resembling Christian experience without genuinely knowing Christ.

Keep in mind that the first readers of this book were facing significant persecution.

Many are being forced to renounce their faith in Jesus…to say “my life and my comfort and my safety are more important than my faith…following Christ is not worth it!

He wants them to recognize the seriousness of this because he says for those who do that, “it is impossible to renew them”

God will pardon all who truly repent.

It is not impossible because God would not be willing to bring them to repentance, but it is impossible because the person is so hardened he will not repent.

This condition is described in Romans 1:28. People become so completely sinful that God gives them up to a reprobate heart.

The reason this is so serious is of this unfaithfulness is seen in the severe description of rejection within this verse: they re-crucify Christ and treat Him contemptuously.

They have concluded that Jesus should have been crucified, and they stand with his enemies.

Those who claim to have known God, but who finally turn away from him, demonstrate that they never knew him.

True believers would never renounce Christ in such a way.

The Bible promises that God will keep those who truly know him (John 10:28–29)…true believers will persevere to the end.

Hebrews 6:6 presents a strong warning to willful sinners that they cannot expect restoration to God after their adamant rejection of his mercy.

No person with an attitude as contemptuous as the descriptions of these verses (vv. 4–6) need expect repentance

Has that ever happened?

Simon Magus…Acts 8.

He was a powerful sorcerer in Samaria until Philip came and preached the gospel, and people turned to Christ.

In Acts 8 13 we see he believed and was baptized, followed Phillip everywhere and was amazed by what he witnessed.

Over time, he showed his true colors by offering money to the apostles if they would give him the Holy Spirit power they demonstrated.

Peter rebuked him sharply and denounced him as a true believer…if you read Acts 8:20-23 you’ll discover what Peter really says to him...

Here’s a man who professed Christ, was baptized, who experienced the wonderful benefits of belonging to the Christian community, but that wasn’t good enough for him.

Judas Iscariot

He spent three years with Jesus and experienced spiritual blessings and privileges we can hardly imagine.

He talked with Jesus, ate with Jesus, laughed with Jesus, listened to Jesus’ sermons, carried Jesus’ money (he was the treasurer for the group (John 13:29), received power from Jesus to do miracles, heard gospel invitations and gave them, but in the end he sold his heart to Satan and betrayed the Savior he pretended to love.[8]

It’s a tragic reality that some even hearing me this morning be far from the One you profess to serve.

The longer you go without truly turning to God in faith, the harder your heart grows...

If you desire God’s forgiveness today, you can receive it through Christ.

But that is something this person being described in Hebrews 6 will not do.

He’s already “tried Jesus.” and concludes nope, didn’ work for me…

these are people just like the Hebrew spies who went into the land, experienced the blessings of God, saw all that God did to bring them out of Egypt, and still did not enter the land, the rest, because of unbelief!

God’s goodness to them perished in the wilderness because of their sin of unbelief.

An Illustration of Apostasy(7-8)

Hebrews 6:7–8 “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

A Hebrew audience would understand this agricultural illustration...

A farmer naturally expects that, given the right conditions of moisture and fertility, the land he cultivates will produce a crop.

The fruitful ground responds to the conditions which God provides and produces useful results.

The “thorny” ground shows that it is unworthy of God’s blessings and produces thickets and briers.

A harvest of weeds, thorns, and thistles is fit only for burning.

This is a picture of final destruction.

This agricultural analogy also applies to the spiritual realm.

Those people or groups who produce no “good fruit” demonstrate their barrenness.

The image of “burning” suggests that divine judgment lay ahead for them.

Those who produce fruit give evidence that they are receiving God’s blessings.

God will increase their productivity.

Believers who persevere in faith are like fertile land and can expect further blessing from God.

Matthew 13 also informs our reading of this passage.

There Jesus told a parable about a sower who scattered seed on four types of soil.

These soil types represent four different patterns of response.

The first represents hard-heartedness.

The second represents the shallow heart...It produces immediate signs of life, but there is no root...When the afternoon sun comes, the plant withers and dies.

The third soil represents the one who hears the word “but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Matt 13:22).

The second and third soil types are the people warned about in Hebrews 6.

They receive the word of God but ultimately produce thorns and thistles.‌

This illustration reinforces the sobering warning Jesus gives in the parable of the Weeds.‌

Under pressure, under persecution, or just when distracted by the allure of the world, many who once claimed Christ will go back to the world.‌

Jesus is very clear that these people never actually received salvation.

Hebrews 6 is a warning to false professors of Christ and a checkpoint for true believers to continue to press on towards maturity.

Lesson for Life: Look to Your Own Life for Fruit of Regeneration

Jesus appeals to many for a time, but they reveal the true condition of their hearts when they go back into the world.

As a pastor, the author of Hebrews is addressing this problem in his church.

Sadly, it continues to be a common problem in the church today.

What are some implications of this text to us today?

People who truly know Christ won’t fall away and lose their salvation.

People who truly know Christ will take inventory of their spiritual condition.

People who truly know Christ must take steps to grow.

People who truly know Christ will follow Christ because He is worth it.