"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Hebrews 6:4-6

I have seen and heard so many wonderful preachers tap dance around the above passage. It is what it is. Just read it, take it at what it says, and accept it. The above is talking about apostasy. A Christian can never lose their salvation, that's impossible:

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 8:35-39

"And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him" -Hebrews 5:9

There are many Scriptures like the above, which make it abundantly clear that a true Christian can never lose their salvation. Since Christians (especially Baptists) know the multitudinous Scriptures that teach us that our salvation can't be lost, they freeze up on the above quoted Hebrews 6:4-6. This is where the dance begins. In general, Baptists (especially independent Baptists) and many other Christians, take the Bible literally, and believe it to be true, and this is rightfully so. Yet, that rule seems to fly out the window when confronted with the Hebrews 6 passage. I wish to throw another option out there: Both Romans 8:35-39 (and the other Scriptures like it) do NOT contradict Hebrews 6:4-6, nor the other way around. They are both true.

Here's where a distinction is made. You could take the time and look up and deeply study every instance in the Bible, where we are clearly taught that we can't lose our salvation, and you'd come away, knowing we can't lose our salvation, and that is true. However, we can choose to give it up. Now, don't tell me this is impossible, because the Word of God says otherwise; just take an honest, simple look again at the above Hebrews passage. It's all right there.

Distinction - A Christian cannot lose their salvation, but they can decide to do the dumbest thing ever, and leave it.

Another very important distinction, is to know the difference between backsliding and apostasy.

Backsliding

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." -1 John 1:7-9

"Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the Lord our God." -Jeremiah 3:22

"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." -Psalm 51:12

"Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent." -Revelation 2:1-5

Backsliding does not cause you to lose your salvation, but it does cause loss of rewards, yet you will still be saved, even if by fire:

"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." -1 Corinthians 3:13-15

Apostasy

While backsliding is a temporary condition, because the person will (hopefully) restore their relationship with the Lord, Apostasy is different. It is final, and the person cannot restore their fellowship with the Lord, but they will go to hell. This is the unforgivable sin. It is blaspheming the Holy Spirit, it is falling away from God, and it is committing Willful Sin. I'll show Scriptures for all of these in a few moments, so hang on.

The Hebrews passage I opened this article with, is certainly referring to apostasy, and not to backsliding. Let us take another look at Hebrews 6:4-6, but more slowly, and a bit more in-depth, this time.

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,"

How can it be made more clear, that the above is referring to real, saved, Spirit-filled, born again Christians? Let's look at this, in list form. These people were once:

-Enlightened

-Tasted the heavenly gift

-Were made partakers of the Holy Ghost

and

-Have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come

Stop right there, if you are trying to find alternate explanations, or explain this away. Just look at it. It is clearly referring to genuine Christians leaving the faith - not losing their salvation, mind you, but willingly giving it up, knowing that they will go to hell.

Enlightened - In this context, a person, when they are born again, is enlightened - they receive knowledge of the spiritual, which the carnal cannot understand.

Tasted the heavenly gift - How can one taste the heavenly gift, unless they have received the gift? What's the heavenly gift, you ask? It is this:

"Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." -Romans 5:14-18

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." -Ephesians 2:8-9

You cannot taste the free gift of eternal life through Christ the Lord, without first receiving it. It isn't a free sample at the grocery store.

Were made partakers of the Holy Ghost - This is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which happens at salvation:

"For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." -1 Corinthians 12:12-13

"In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise" -Ephesians 1:13

"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption." -Ephesians 4:30

Have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come - These Christians knew the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of Salvation, and they knew what the Bible tells us about the future day of redemption.

It is clear that these people were true, saved, born again Christians. The tap dance called "they weren't really Christians" falls flat on its face.

Moving on to the next part of the Hebrews 6 passage:

"If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;"

If you feel so inclined, go ahead and look up "fall away" in a Greek concordance, such as on the TheBlueLetterBible.com. You'll see that that is exactly accurate - fall away means fall away. Another word that we can use, under this context of fall away, is apostatize, which means "to leave, or renounce one's religion." In this passage, contextually, we can see that "fall away," and apostatize are synonymous.

The above says if they (born again Christians) fall away (truly leave the faith, not just backslide) then it is impossible (see the beginning of verse 4) to "renew them again unto repentance."

If a person has backslidden, then they can repent, and restore fellowship with the Lord. However, should one choose to willfully, and knowingly leave the Christian faith, then it is impossible for fellowship with the Lord to be renewed by repentance. Why? The rest of our study passage tells us:

"seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

Christ was crucified once, and that's it:

"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" -Hebrews 10:10-12

Apostasy: Falling Away, Blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and the Willful Sin

Falling Away

"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Hebrews 6:4-6

When we take this passage at face value, instead of trying to read things that aren't there, then a whole plethora of other Scriptures fall into place. Here's an example:

"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils" -1 Timothy 4:1

Perhaps you are wondering if these people who truly apostatize, will ever want to return to Christ, and then be in a constant torment, knowing that they can't. I don't think that's possible, because 1 Timothy 4:2b says of the apostates "having their conscience seared with a hot iron." They will have no Holy Spirit, for they will have blasphemed it (I'm coming up to that, don't worry), and they will have broken their own consciences.

Romans one talks of those who knew God and his ways, yet went after the lusts of their flesh, and sinned. It says in verses 24 and 26 of Romans one, that "God also gave them up" to these sins. Apostates willfully, and knowingly leave God, and therefore they lose the grace, mercy, and protection of God, and he gives them up, to let them destroy themselves through their sin. God will not force anyone to go to heaven, and that's why salvation is a free gift, which must be accepted and received to obtain eternal life. Should a Christian apostatize, God isn't going to force them to heaven. They chose to apostatize, with their eyes wide open.

I believe that a true apostate will never want to turn back to God. They have broken their seek drive, permanently. There is no more "seek and ye shall find" for them, just as there is no more sacrifice of sins left for them.

A person who is saved, but is afraid they apostatized need only ask themself one question: Do they have the desire to return to God, and repent? Yes? Then you didn't apostatize. You either weren't really saved in the first place, and you need to be, or you were backslidden.

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit - The Unforgivable Sin

The only way to know what this means, is to look this up in the Scriptures, so let's do that:

"But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." -Mark 3:29

"And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven." -Luke 12:10

The two above Scriptures are clear that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is unforgivable. Now let's look at the context:

"And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." -Mark 3:22-35

"Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say." -Luke 12:8-12

We see parables given in the Mark passage, and one says "No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house." The world, the flesh, and the devil cannot spoil the Christian (house - tabernacle of the Holy Spirit), unless Holy Spirit (strong man) is bound (blasphemed - turned from).

In the Luke passage, we see one cannot be forgiven for blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Right before that, it also says that if you do not confess Christ, then Christ will not confess you - which means no salvation. If a Christian were to deny Christ, and turn away from Him, then he has blasphemed the Holy Spirit, which is a witness with his spirit that Christ is God.

I don't know that it can be possible for an unbeliever to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, because they would be doing it ignorantly, having never tasted of the heavenly gift. It looks to me that a Christian blasphemes the Holy Spirit via apostasy, via turning to devils and false doctrines, and giving those the glory, instead of the Holy Spirit, etc.

The Willful Sin

It looks to me that a true apostate does it willingly, knowing what they were doing. I believe this is why, in another apostasy passage, it is referred to as "sinning wilfully:"

"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 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?" -Hebrews 10:26-29

If you don't read this passage carefully, you could misunderstand, and think it is stating that if a Christian sins after they've been saved, then they go to hell, because Christ was sacrificed once and for all, and He is not going to do it again. Relax, that is not what this is saying. Notice "if we sin wilfully after that we have receive the knowledge of the truth." Verse 29 above, defines this willful sin. It says "who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing." The willful sin is the sin of apostasy. This passage in Hebrews 10 is stating the same thing as our passage in Hebrews 6:

Now, let's look back at the "blaspheming the Holy Spirit" issue a bit. Did something catch your eye in the Hebrews 10 passage? Take a look at this - "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?" Done, DESPITE the SPIRIT of grace.

The Holy Spirit is God within us, and He comes to dwell within us, literally, the moment we become born again Christians. To apostatize, you will have to blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and do this sin willfully. As the end approaches, true apostasy is happening more and more, although we still see it as a rare thing, and may it be ever so rare, I hope.

Let's just take the Bible at what it says. There is no reason to try to tap dance around the apostasy passages in the Bible, such as the passages in Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10, 1 Timothy 4, and the myriads of others. It's there, it's real, it happens, and will happen.

Before closing, I'd like to add one more apostasy Scripture... 2 Thessalonians 2 tells us a list of things that will happen, before the mid-trib rapture. One of things on that list is apostasy:

"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" -2 Thessalonians 2:3

A falling away. If that isn't enough, then look at it in the Greek - "a falling away" is translated from the Greek word - apostasia.

In ending this article, remember the distinction - you can't lose your salvation, but you can willfully give it up, forever. Why anyone would do such a dumb thing is beyond me.