“For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened – those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come – and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing Him to the cross once again and holding Him up to public shame.” (Hebrews 6:4-6 NLT)
In yesterday’s post we sought to shed light on this passage by explaining it isn’t referring to someone who commits their life to the Lord, but one who has learned what salvation means; they’ve been “enlightened”, but have chosen to walk away. If any part of our salvation is dependent upon us, we have no security and will always wonder if we’re truly saved. By God’s grace I know with certainty that when I close my eyes in death, I will open them in the presence of my Savior. How do I know that? Because Jesus promised it was true.
Is that because I’m such a spiritual person? No, it’s because Jesus is perfect and took upon Himself my guilt and shame and gave me His Holy Spirt as a seal, as an ever-present confidence that what He says is finished, is truly finished. “Does that mean I just set back and relax; live anyway I want and wait to die?” Only if you want to end up in hell. No one who loves Jesus is ever going to do that.
There’s still another consideration. Where does free will factor into the equation. If I come to Christ by my will, can I not choose to walk away exercising that same free will? That has always been confusing to me, but the Lord explained it to me this way. When I came to Christ I traded my life for His, my heart, mind, soul, will and body became His by faith.
When we’re saved and filled with God’s Spirit, there is a very real sense in which we no longer have or desire a will of our own. Often I will say to the Lord, “Whatever You want, that’s what I want. I don’t want a will of my own, I only want your will to be my will.” Yes, of course that may take time to realize, but salvation involves surrender and someone not willing to surrender isn’t yet ready to be saved.
There is no spiritual growth without the ministry of the Holy Spirit and there is no Holy Spirit without genuine confession, repentance, and subsequent work of the Spirit in and through us. It may be just me, but early on in my walk with the Lord, it upset me to think I was working like mad to keep my salvation while others just got to coast. NEWS FLASH! The work was done on Calvary! The only work we do is to give expression to the salvation we already have, bought and paid for by Jesus our only Savior.
When Jesus died, He said from the Cross: “It is finished!” It’s the Greek word “Tetelestai” which means “The debt is paid in full!” Our good works aren’t payment for our sin; they are expressions of our obedience that reflect we ARE saved. Lost people aren’t seeking to glorify and honor Jesus, only saved people are. “Yeh, but what about all those who are just faking it?”
“Are you one of them?” Otherwise, what concern is that of yours? Don’t you think the Lord knows who are His? We need to stop worrying about who’s in and who isn’t and focus on being the best example of Jesus we can possibly be. “But what if someone I know who professes to know Jesus is living in open sin?” Lovingly direct them to the Cross, speak frankly of their need to repent and help them confess their need to the Lord and move forward in their faith, then walk with them closely. Ask them to be accountable to you and tell them you will be accountable to them.
Am I assuming everyone who is living in open sin is lost? Not necessarily. A new believer will sometimes struggle with some nagging sin for years. I did, but over time the Lord delivered me. What if I’d died before the Lord delivered me? I’d still have gone to heaven because my debt was paid in full on the Cross and my salvation isn’t dependent upon me but upon Jesus. That may sound like a contradiction, but honestly, the Lord alone knows our heart and it’s His decision to make. But if our heart is to do God’s will and we keep failing, yes, of course, we need to get help figuring out how to get it right, but that doesn’t mean God will abandon us. Sanctification, like salvation, is a process on many levels.
It’s like birth, it takes the baby time to learn how to crawl, walk, run, eat, and a thousand other things that just take time to learn, some of which we never master. I can train to be a mile runner for a lifetime and never run a four-minute mile, but that doesn’t lessen the fact that I’m a quality, dedicated runner.
However, if I’m a slacker, just doing the least I can do to get by, that’s another story. The price we pay when we’re walking in disobedience to the Lord is intimacy with Him. The closer we walk with Jesus the more we’ll grow to hate our sin, the more we’ll want to be rid of anything that separates us from Him or prevents us from sharing His love with others with authenticity. We’ll strive to grow in His likeness.
If you love your sin more than you love Jesus, you likely haven’t committed your life to Him. But here’s the truth. Until Jesus comes, we will do battle with the enemy of our soul – our sinful nature, our bent to sin, but, ideally, the longer we serve the Lord and spend quality and consistent time with Him, the less appeal our sin has and its grip loosens.
Our security must always and only be in Jesus’ ability to keep His promises and to never lie, not our own. The Holy Spirit is our strength, not our will or ability to perform.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 