Question on Hebrews 6

Posted on August 18, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments

Question

Recently, a friend emailed a question that came up in a small group Bible study regarding Hebrews 6. There was question about whether Hebrews 6 teaches that a person can lose his/her salvation.

Answer

One of the first principles of Biblical interpretation is that when there is a passage that is difficult to understand, interpretation of that passage must be informed by passages that are not difficult. In other words, the interpretation of an unclear passage must not disagree with the interpretation of a clear passage.

Specifically you asked if Hebrews 6 teaches that someone can lose their salvation. Here are the reasons why I do not think that Hebrews 6 teaches that you can lose your salvation:

It goes against logic. If there is nothing that I can do to earn salvation, how could there be anything that I could do to cause me to lose it?
It goes against Jesus’ teaching.
- “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (John 10:27–29, NASB) Never and no one are the function words in this statement. Never perish. No one can snatch them. By inference, the no one would include the person himself.
- John 3:16, 36 teach that whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life. To think that one could believe and then not believe is problematic. Once one knows something to be true, it is difficult for him to no longer know it.
- John 6:37 – “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” (NASB) There is no out clause here but there is a beautiful in-clause.
It goes against Paul’s teaching.
- Romans 8:1 – No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus
- Romans 8:35-39 – “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NASB) NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.
- “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:13–14, NASB) We are sealed when we come to faith as a promise of the inheritance we will receive.

I could keep adding verses to these, but you get the point. These verses clearly present the truth that if we truly come to faith in Jesus, we do not have to worry that we can lose our salvation.

So then, what is Hebrews 6 saying?

If you look at the language in Hebrews 6:4-6, it does not openly declare that the author is speaking about someone who has experience new birth. Most commentators understand these verses to describe someone who has been part of the church and has experienced some of the blessings of being in the group without coming to saving faith. If you can see the work of God in others’ lives and experience the goodness of God and still walk away, it is unlikely that such a one will ever return. We should not be surprised to find unbelievers in the church. Jesus gave us the parable of the wheat and the tares to illustrate this. Also in Matthew 7:26-27 Jesus tells us, “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand . . . “

On dealing with toxic people

Posted on August 15, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 6 Comments

My guess is that everyone has someone in their life that is difficult to tolerate. It could be the relative who feels free to offer criticism and judgment. It could be the boss who never is satisfied with your work. It could be a member of the church who wants to be involved (and in charge) of just about everything. We cannot help but have toxic people in our lives.

While it is important to put up healthy boundaries, and limit your exposure to these toxic people, it is unlikely that you can avoid them entirely. What then are we to do? Jesus gives us some advice on this when he said:

“”But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27–28, ESV)

We are to love them.

Notice that there are no qualifiers. No statement to love them if . . .

We are to love them and pray for them.

In the parallel passage in Matthew 5, we are told to pray for those who persecute us. The King James Version uses the words “despitefully use” instead of abuse. These are people who cannot be trusted to do well for us. These are people who cause harm.

The idea is that we are to pray for them and love them even though they are toxic and difficult.

The human response is to avoid or confront depending on your personality. Either response may be legitimate.

Jesus’ tells us that we should be “shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.” From this I conclude that we need to be wise in how much we are exposed to these people. Also, since we are called to speak the truth in love, there may be times where it appropriate to confront the toxic person on his/her toxicity.

But our love and prayer must be overarching any response we have that confronts or avoids. We mus seek God in prayer for an appropriate response while interceding in prayer on behalf of the toxic person.

I’ve struggled to do this well. How about you?

Thy kingdom come . . .

Posted on August 14, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments

I doubt that I have ever done a truly selfless act in my life. My actions fall into the range of slightly selfless to fully selfish. I don’t want it to be that way, I pray that it wouldn’t be that way, but it is what it is.

When I recite prayers from Scripture and sing songs in church, what I’m saying is often more an expression of desire than reality. One example is when I pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth . . . ”

When John the Baptist was confronted with Jesus’ rising popularity, his response was, “a man can receive only what is given him from heaven” (John 3:27). The point is that John understood his need to be content with the ministry that he was given and not seek something bigger.

How many times have we seen leaders fall into the trap of allowing their ministry to become their god and displace the true God as their object of devotion? Over time the ministry becomes bigger than the God they seek to worship. Some have had meteoric rises followed by spectacular crashes. I’m sure that several names of fallen leaders readily come to your mind as you read this.

Like the Pharisee in the Temple, it is easy for me to look at these leaders in judgment and derision. But when I stop and reflect, the only difference between me and those leaders is the daring it takes to step out to do something big in the first place.

The point of this is that if I truly want Jesus’ kingdom to come, I must seek the king for the role he wants me to play, play it to the best of my ability and be content with that role.

In America we are brought up with the idea that to be in any place other than first place is to be a loser. This is the idea behind the phrase, “second place is first loser.” This, unfortunately, carries over into the church and causes men and women to seek ever greater positions to bolster their sense of advancement. The problem is that this advancement does more to advance selfish desires than the kingdom of God.

As Tim Keller reminds me, I am more deeply flawed than I could ever know, but I am more deeply loved than I could ever imagine. By God’s grace, the flaws diminish as I respond in obedience and the selfishness, while still there holds less sway than it did. As I look to Christ for my identity, I am increasingly content with whatever role I am given and have less drive to be something greater in the eyes of the people around me.

I also take comfort in the fact that there is nothing I can do to derail God’s plan. He knows my selfish tendencies and can use me despite my flaws. This is not an excuse to give sway to the flaws, but it is a means of putting them in perspective.

Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done . . . anyone else have a similar struggle?

Some links to consider – 8/13/2014

Posted on August 13, 2014 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

Most of the stuff I read on the internet I get through RSS subscriptions and I use Feedly to scan through the list of posts and determine which I will read.

In the past, when I found an article or post that I like, I would post links to that article on social media. I’m rethinking that strategy and am planning to occasionally post a list of articles that speak to the issues that the church is facing, theological discussion or other topics that could be helpful to the readers of Attempts at Honesty. This is the first such post.

The idea behind doing this is to give readers a chance to see articles that they might miss in their social media streams.

Some Links to Consider

Marc Cortez writes on the need to write something new.

Thomas Rauchenstein gives us three pitfalls for the Christian apologist to avoid.

J. Warner Wallace tells us what Criminal Trials Teach Us About Objective Moral Truth.

Kenn Mann writes about Christianity in the public square.

Greg Koukl provides a video post answering the question, Would It Be Ethical for a Christian to Work in a Casino?