The General Epistles And The Apocalypse
The remainder of the New Testament is also clear about the fact a believer can voluntarily forfeit his salvation. The Book of Hebrews contains some of the clearest warnings against apostasy and also urgent exhortations to remain firm to the end — all directed toward Christians.
Because of the greater revelation that came with the incarnation of Christ, the author of Hebrews told Christians, “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it” (2:1). In this text, the writer included himself in a warning against leaving the way of salvation. In the same context, he raised the rhetorical question, “How will we escape [judgment, compare verse 2] if we neglect so great a salvation?” (verse 3). Again, the author included himself along with his Christian audience.
We should note that the verb is neglect, not reject. His readers were neglectful Christians, not rejecting unbelievers. In 3:6, he echoed the same challenge heard from Jesus and Paul: And we are His “house … if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” He reiterated later, “We have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end” (verse 14). He warned fellow believers, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away [apostaenai, “apostasize”]from the living God” (3:12, emphasis added). Believers need to “fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, anyone of you may seem to have come short of it” (4:1), because even believers can “fall, through following the same example of disobedience [that covenant Israel exhibited]” (4:11).
In 6:4–6, the author declared: “Those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 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” (emphasis added).
Reminiscent of Numbers 15:30,31, Hebrews states: “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment” (10:26,27, emphasis added). He continues, “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (10:28,29, emphasis added). The italicized portion of these verses provides incontrovertible evidence that the audience is Christian. These believers are warned not to “throw away” (as opposed to “accidentally lose”) their salvation (10:35).
The writer of Hebrews left his Christian audience with this exhortation, “See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness [compare Deuteronomy 29:18–21] springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears” (Hebrews 12:15–17).
James tells us: “If any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death” (James 5:19,20).
Peter writes, “There will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.” (2 Peter 2:1). In the same context he continued, “For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, ‘A dog returns to its own vomit,’ and, ‘A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire’ ” (2 Peter 2:20–22, emphases added to demonstrate the fact the author is describing people who had previously been numbered among the redeemed).
John described a sin that is “leading to death” that cannot be forgiven (1 John 5:16). The context in the first half of the verse as well as the use of the same terminology elsewhere in this letter (1 John 3:13,14) make it clear that this is spiritual death, not physical death. This message is no different from his message in the Apocalypse. There, he promised eternal life only to those who overcome and remain faithful until the end (Revelation 2:10,25,26). On the other hand, he guaranteed rejection and loss of life to those who do not (Revelation 2:5; 3:11,16). To the end of the book (and thus, the New Testament), he continued to warn about the possibility of forfeiture of one’s salvation (Revelation 22:19).
