00:00 A Moment of Failure or a Coward?
00:20 Follow-Up: False Conversion
01:29 Reading Hebrews 6:1-8
03:05 A Warning That Moves Believers Forward
04:38 Hebrews 6 and the Parable of the Soils
06:17 What Does "Impossible" Mean?
08:51 Blasphemy Against the Spirit Today?
10:12 Can a Church Tell Who Truly Knows Christ?
12:28 Peter's Denial and Restoration
14:27 Examine Yourself: Moment or Pattern?
16:06 Peter Wept: Evidence of Genuine Faith
17:44 Demonstrate Your Faith Today
18:04 2 Peter 2: The Dog and the Washed Pig
20:38 Why the Last State Is Worse
21:41 Judas: Worldly Sorrow vs Godly Sorrow
22:24 Turn to Christ Today
Subscribe to the Straight Truth Podcast channel for more biblical exposition. We encourage you to listen to the linked sermons below that reflect solid reformed theology and clear expository preaching that expand on today’s podcast discussion.
Moving to Maturity: https://youtu.be/hEPOwVTpQgY
The Tragedy of Apostasy: https://youtu.be/h00B62O0mfs
Who Needs Warning?: https://youtu.be/qmzenQFOevk
Four Kinds of Hearers - Part 1: https://youtu.be/9pe7joNf3CY
Four Kinds of Hearers - Part 2: https://youtu.be/QiPxx9J7IWQ
Fear Unbelief: https://youtu.be/Zbv01e3FjWY
Beware of a Hardened Heart: https://youtu.be/xL_dVXwp12Q
Encountering God's Word: https://youtu.be/H76sOBNRpl0
Failure & Hope: https://youtu.be/a9CiTNNhE7c
Evidences of Godliness that Encourage the Heart: https://youtu.be/CBYw4ontxE8
The Deception & Destiny of False Teachers: https://youtu.be/OE5GfAhlcpQ
Can you fall away from Christ and still be saved, or does Hebrews 6:1-8 mean a Christian can lose salvation? Many believers fear this warning points to a false conversion. Host Josh Philpot asks Pastor Richard Caldwell if a true Christian can fall away or are they eternally secure. Does the Bible teach “once saved, always saved”?
To answer if a Christian can fall away, Pastor Caldwell says Hebrews 6 begins as a call for those professing Christ to press on to maturity. It does not picture a regenerate believer losing salvation, but rather, someone with a superficial relationship with the gospel, a superficial, nonconverted relationship with Jesus, a superficial relationship to the work of the Spirit of God, and all the rest, who eventually fall away from it all. As in the parable of the soils, where good ground bears fruit and thorny ground is worthless, falling away shows they were never saved. So, the warning in Hebrews 6 is for believers, who hear it, heed it, and continue in the faith, walking with Christ.
This view of false conversion explains why Hebrews 6 calls it impossible to restore those who fall away. Someone enlightened by the gospel can refuse Christ with open eyes, like those who attributed His supernatural works to Satan and then crucified the Son of God. While those exact conditions of blasphemy against the Spirit may not occur today, a person who calls that Light darkness has nothing more that could lead them to repentance. Only God knows who reaches that state, so for our part, we keep praying and sharing the gospel.
This question also raises how a church may be able to discern someone’s final departure apart from that of a believer's failure under testing. Even the Apostle Paul could not know this perfectly, as Demas deserted him in 2 Timothy for love of this world. Peter was tested and denied Jesus three times, yet he was restored to shepherd His sheep. In Peter’s case, his going out weeping immediately after his failures reflect the evidence of his genuine faith. A true believer will grieve over their failures and will also demonstrate their faith by continuing to follow Christ day after day, for the pattern of a life tells the truth about the genuineness of faith.
By contrast, 2 Peter 2:20-22 shows why some who profess Christ fall away after what appears outwardly as a real change in their life. The word of God, even where there is not saving faith, can have an external cleansing effect in a person's life. However, it’s like giving a pig a bath and putting a bow on it; it remains a pig, and if you take it outside, it returns to the mud pit. That state, though, is worse. Sinning after knowing the gospel brings greater accountability both in the end, and now in the temporal realm, where it brings a misery of conscience. Judas’s worldly sorrow over betraying an innocent man facilitated and brought about his own death, whereas godly sorrow leads us to Christ.
So, can you fall away from Christ and still be saved? A genuine believer who is a new creation in Christ does not lose salvation. Failures that break the believer’s heart is good fruit. The warnings are given so that true believers heed them and press on, growing and maturing in their Christian living. The Scriptures say whoever hears the gospel should not harden their heart but turn to Christ today for forgiveness and new life. Today's the day to respond to the gospel and be saved.
