Am I Truly Saved?

                                                        Am I Truly Saved?
 
Hebrews 6:4-8
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
 
Let me begin by saying that this is an important text because we can all think of those we have known, who were once radiant witnesses for Christ who were sidetracked and are now no longer a part of the church or any church.
 
First, it is important because we can all think of someone who made a profession of faith in Christ and seemed to go on energetically for a while, but then something happened in their life. Perhaps they experienced some difficulty or tragedy. Yet with a knowledge of the truth, they deliberately turn away from it. They completely turn their back on Christ and seem set on trampling on everything they once held sacred.
 
Let’s be honest here church. We have all witnessed those who came to Christ. Prayed a prayer, were baptized, joined ministries and so on. Then all of sudden their gone, as if that prayer that they prayed meant nothing.
 
I have shared the Gospel, because that is what we are supposed to do. And I am sure many of you have as well. We lead them into the sinners prayer and hopefully that prayer was from the heart and they meant what they prayed. Their faithful for awhile…then they are gone. What happened? Did we fail in telling them the truth about Jesus? Did they not understand that they are sinners and in need of a Savior? Or did the word, or promise of God failed? Of course we all know that Gods words and promises never fail. So…where did we go wrong?
 
Church…we have to come to the reality that salvation is all the work of God. You can be the greatest evangelist in the world and still you will not know who is truly saved. Until you see the actual work of the Holy Spirit in ones life. Is it bearing fruit? Or is it bearing weeds?
 
We have all struggled with the pain and confusion of seeing those who have come into the church suddenly turn and walk away as if their profession of faith in Christ were meaningless. What happened? Were they ever really saved?
 
Secondly, today’s text is important because it has caused untold agony to many sensitive Christians. It’s as if Satan uses scriptures such as these to create hopelessness and despair. So, what do these passages teach? This afternoon we are going to examine this passage in a little different manner, by asking and seeking to answer four important questions.
 
The First Important Question Is, Can A Christian Really Know They Are Saved Forever?
 
There are strong differences of opinion that swirl around about how to interpret verses four through six. In fact this passage is one of the great theological battlefields of Scripture. The difficulty lies in determining whether the “enlightened” ones (v. 4) who “fell away” (v. 6) were believers or unbelievers?
 
The first interpretation of this passage is that it is used to support those who believe that you can lose your salvation. The four verbal actions of verses four and five - “enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good word of God” - do seem to express authentic Christian conversion experience (Heb. 6:4,5). Yet those who are described within these verses have received profound spiritual blessings whether saved or not?
 
Interestingly enough those who teach that we can lose our salvation also teach that such a person can be “saved again.” You know the word, they were “backsliding”. But this passage teaches just the opposite, that in fact it is “impossible.” (v.4) So if this passage teaches that a person can lose his or her salvation, it also must teach that he can never be saved a second or third time. In other words, if this refers to apostasy, once a saved person turns their back on Christ, they cannot be restored to salvation. He or she is lost forever. They were never saved to begin with. They were just going through the motion.
 
I want to make it crystal clear that I believe we have a secure salvation because Scripture is very emphatic on this point. Once you truly believe…you were drawn to Christ and in Christ alone your salvation lies on power of God and not on your own. Then you are truly saved. There are many Scriptures that assure the believer that once he or she is saved he can never be lost again.
 
The Lord Jesus Christ … makes some tremendous statements about our absolute security. Jesus said…
 
John 10:27-28
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
 
That sounds like a positive promise to me right! “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand”. This is Jesus taking ownership!!!
What kind of life? Eternal life. If you can lose it, it is not eternal! “And they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand”
 
It is not a question of your ability to hold on to Him, it is His ability to hold on to you. Are you His? Are you His sheep? Do you hear His voice? Does He (Jesus) know you? Are you following Him? If your answer to these questions are “YES”, then you have nothing to worry about. Be honest with yourself. Examine yourself even. Yes!!! We can go through some struggles and trials from time to time, but it through those struggles and trials that we can prove God promises are real. “and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand”.
 
There is a second interpretation…which contends that this is a hypothetical case. In this view, “If they fall away” is only the presentation of a hypothetical situation, it is the classic “what if” they fall away? The writer does not say that it does happen, or even can happen, only what if it was possible?
 
The third interpretation… points out that in “V6” there really is no “if” in the Greek. It is a participle and should be translated “having fallen away.” According to this interpretation, what this passage is speaking of is mere professors, and they are not genuine believers. They only profess to be Christians. They really did not hear Jesus voice…Jesus never really knew them…because they never really followed Him!
 
Can A Christian really know they are saved forever? And answer is… Yes!!!
 
The Second important question is, How Is It Possible For Anyone To Come So Close And Still Not Be Saved?
 
Verses four through six tells us that those…
 
Hebrews 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
 
John MacArthur points out to have just enough exposure to Christianity to become immune. “A vaccination immunizes by giving a very mild case of the disease. A person who is exposed to the gospel can get just enough of it to immunize him against the real thing. The longer he continues to resist it, whether graciously or violently, the more he becomes immune to it.
His spiritual system becomes more and more unresponsive and insensitive. His only hope is to reject what he is holding onto and receive Christ without delay – lest he become so hard, often without knowing it, that his opportunity is lost forever.”
 
How is it possible for anyone to experience all that described in verse 4 and 5 and still not be saved, we ask? Scripture provides with a couple of examples.
 
Simon the Sorcerer (Acts 8:9-24) is an illustration of those who experience such convincing proofs who nevertheless stop short of salvation and rather turn to apostasy. Simon professed to believe Jesus, was baptized and yet was severely rebuked by Peter because “his heart was not right before God” (Acts 8:21).
 
Acts 8:19-21
19 saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God.
 
But perhaps the best example is Judas. Judas as one of the Lord’s disciple, walked and talked daily with the Lord, heard His preaching, witnessed His miracles and was one those sent out to preach the “good news.” Yet Jesus called him the “son of perdition” and a “devil”.
 
John 6:70
70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”
 
Judas did not lose his salvation, he never had it. In spite of all the advantages he possessed and his enormous exposure to the truth, it is plain that he resisted and ultimately rejected Christ and turned away to a sad death and eternal judgment.
 
When verse six states, “if they fall away” we must remember there is a great difference between “falling” and “falling away.” The word translated “fall away” (parapito) means simply to stumble or to fall down. Falling away isn’t just falling into some sin, it is actually departing from Jesus Himself.
 
When someone falls into sin, and leaves church for awhile, does not necessarily means that they have fallen away. They just stumbled and fell into sin, and by Gods power, will restore that person back to the right path. Or if someone leaves a church and ends up in another, does not mean that…that person has fallen away, it just means that God wants that person there and has a purpose to be there. God will use that person there.
 
 
Falling away as mentioned in our text is someone who has believed in God for awhile, then all of sudden his or her belief was never real to begin with. Proverbs 24:16, reminds us…
 
Proverbs 24:16
16 For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.
 
The difference is between a Peter and a Judas. If you depart from Jesus, there is no hope! Jesus held on to Peter, because his heart was right with God. Judas was just in it for another reason. Judas was born to be the betrayer.
 
We need to make something very clear. Does God ever reject anyone who comes in genuine repentance? The answer of course is, No! He is always ready to save the sinner who turns to Him for grace. God has pledged Himself to pardon all who truly repent, but Scripture and experience alike suggest that it is possible for human beings to arrive at a state of heart and life where they can no longer repent. They just love sin more than they love God.
 
A good example of this would be the Biblical character Esau in Hebrews 12:16-17 we read…
 
Hebrews 12:16-17
16 lest there be any fornicator or [a]profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.
 
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Esau genuinely repented and was rejected by God. God does not reject genuine repentance, the text plainly says, “he found no place for repentance.” In other word he could not repent. He was so hardened, that he cried out for things to go better in his life, but inside he would not submit to God’s terms.
 
You see church…God wants to save sinners. God wants to give the gift of forgiveness through His grace. God wants to reconcile sinners to Himself. If it were not true, then God would not have sent His only Begotten Son to die on the cross to SAVE sinners. But He did! He sacrificed His only Son for you.
 
The Third important question is, How Can Anyone Crucify Christ Again? (v. 6b)
 
Hebrews 6:6
6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.
 
 
What Hebrews 6 reveals is that one who has come this close to the gospel and turned away is actually worse off than someone who never heard in the first place. We see it in the world around us. Many of the harshest critics of Christianity, like Ted Turner, are those who were once professing Christians! Many of the worlds famous atheist were once professing Christians.
 
When anyone has heard the gospel and then turns away, he or she has done exactly as those Jews who condemned Jesus to the Cross. Though they never literally took a hammer and nails and physically nail Jesus to the cross, they nevertheless agree to the justice of His crucifixion.
 
The Fourth important question is, Is It Possible To Truly Be A Christian And Have No Fruit?
 
Hebrews 6:7-8
7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
 
Now the writer turns to the world of nature to find a counterpart to the true believer (v. 7) and to the unbeliever (v. 8). In both cases the person is likened to the land. The privileges listed in verses four and five are compared to the invigorating “rain.” The crop of vegetation speaks of the ultimate response of the person to the privileges received. This in turn determines whether the land is blessed or cursed.
 
The true believer is like the land “which drinks in the rain,” brings forth useful vegetation, and is blessed by God. In verse eight the one who refuses to believe is like land that also is well watered, the same rain, the same water, but “bears” nothing but “thorns and briers,” the fruit of sin. It receives but never produces useful plants. Such land is worthless. It is condemned already. Its destiny “is to be burned.” There was an ancient practice of burning the ground to destroy the weeds and make the field useful again. Land that produced nothing but weeds faced nothing but fire!
 
In Conclusion:
 
Failure to heed a warning can have disastrous effects.
 
Illustration: A tragic illustration of this occurred on January 16, 2005 on the ski slopes of Park City, Utah. Officials carefully monitor the mountain for danger of avalanches. Signs are erected clearly marking certain dangerous areas “out of bounds.” The signs read, “You Are Leaving The Ski Resort, YOU COULD DIE!” Yet in spite of the warning, one skier, Shane Maxiner skied out of bounds and was crushed to death by a massive avalanche.
 
True Christians pay attention to spiritual warnings. Don’t leave God’s clearly marked path, to do so is to invite disaster.
 
John 10:27-28
27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
 
You see… when it comes to your salvation, remember that its all the work of God. You and I, we had no part in it. Don’t hold on to the fact that you have made a profession of your faith. Many make that profession and fails in the end. Hold on to the fact that only Jesus can save you.
MY sheep hear My voice and I (Jesus) know them and they follow ME (Jesus)
 
If these are all true in your life…in your walk, then you have nothing to worry about. Because, Jesus said… “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand”.
 
If not, and you’re not sure…it’s not too late. Cry out to Jesus. Cry out to be saved. Cry out for forgiveness. Just cry out to the only One that can save!!! That is JESUS!!!