In many Church environments, some people truly believe that invoking “the Bible says” carries additional alethic weight. The apparent logic seems to derive from a common view of the bible as being purely divine and infallible. In this piece, I shall not be concerned much about the meaning of infallibility or the numerous nuanced articulations of the doctrine. Instead, I will only focus on some related practical matters influencing interpersonal relations.

We have considered three views along the spectrum of differing Christian positions on this subject. We saw how the typical Calvinist might argue her case. But since the Calvinist’s case rests on hotly debated presuppositions, I am not convinced that Calvinism handles the data well. John Lennox’s view represents a non-Calvinist approach to defending the eternal security of believers. Relying on the high priesthood of Jesus and his will to keep everyone who comes to him, Lennox reasons that the people of Hebrews 6:4-6 cannot be Christians. It is important to stress that both positions recognize that the issue at stake is not just any sin; everyone agrees believers will continue to have issues with sins—even if they get better day by day. The issue at stake is apostasy—the sin of willfully and finally rejecting Jesus and his salvific work.  

The two views that we have considered so far have some things in common. They both affirm that the people described in the Hebrews passage are not believers, and true believers will persevere to the end. The biggest challenge to this view is the problem of the other “warning passages” of Hebrews. It is difficult to read the book of Hebrews by itself and not wrestle with questions that would point away from the conclusions of the views already explored. Hence, in this installment, we will focus on understanding Hebrews 6:4-6 purely within the narrative world of the book.