Eternal Security: Solemn Warnings
Hebrews 6:1-6
If we believe that we can lose our salvation, then this passage of Scripture should frighten us. We have been enlightened, tasted the good Word, and become partakers of the Holy Spirit. Suppose we start to drift away from the Lord – we stop reading our Bible, cease praying, and refuse to go to church. If this verse means we lose our salvation, then we are never getting it back because the Hebrew writer says “it is impossible to renew” us to repentance.
Luke 15:11-32 gives us an example of the relationship we share with God. The prodigal son wastes his life, squanders his inheritance, and ends up – literally – in a pig sty. Does his father decide he is beyond redemption and pronounce him impossible to restore? Absolutely not. He runs to his disobedient, rebellious son and rejoices over him. So when believers drift away from God, we know that He does not consider them entirely lost.
Instead of indicating that we are beyond hope of rescue if we fall into sin, this passage says that no outside influence can force a believer back into an active walk with Christ. Believers who have lived a fruit-producing life know the joy and freedom of Christianity. If one chooses to turn away from God once he possess that knowledge, it is impossible to say anything more persuasive to him than what he already knows. He himself must choose to return to a right relationship, just as we make a daily choice to remain faithful to a God we can trust with our eternal security.
Daily Devotions with Dr. Charles Stanlley, InTouch Ministries