Warning Passages of Hebrews are Self-Tests!

It has been three months since we examined the warning passage in Hebrews 6:4-8. The passage at hand is Hebrews 10:26-31. Both passages are similar in how they address apostasy, falling away from the faith. They both speak of professing Christians. They warn of the seriousness of apostasy. They declare the impossibility of repentance. They speak of God’s judgment. They are convicting - a specialty of the Word of God.

I believe the Epistle to Hebrews is not just a series of warning passages but messages of hope. The warnings are tools for self-examination. Consider 2 Corinthians 13:5, Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! Let’s take a few moments to understand how these terrifying warnings were designed by God to address one’s spiritual condition. The Word of God is an instrument which can destroy and heal.

After much prayer, I propose that the warning passages are addressed to the reader. There are many readers and God meets them where they are spiritually. Consider the warning passages as self-tests for the following types of people faced with apostasy: a regenerate (born again) Christian who could lose salvation; a professing Christian who is unregenerate; a regenerate Christian who is a candidate for discipline and/or future loss of reward; and a regenerate Christian being warned of the dangers of apostasy.

First, consider a regenerate Christian who could lose salvation. This is an untenable position based on Scripture passages which declare salvation as a gift of grace not a reward for good works. Proper interpretation demands an understanding which is compatible with clear passages. Scripture never contradicts itself. This warning passage is serious and should not be taken lightly. Yet, it must not be made to say more than what is intended by the Holy Spirit. A key to the warning passages in Hebrews is the distinction between salvation which is a gift and rewards which are based on faithful service. There are many verses listed on the website which refute the possibility of losing salvation. Let me list two passages declared by Jesus, John 6:40, For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. John 10:27-28, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. These warning passages should not make a wayward believer comfortable but seriously uncomfortable as will be noted shortly.

Second, there is the possibility that a professing Christian is unregenerate. Zane Hodges, . . . the warning is against mere profession of faith short of salvation, or tasting but not really partaking of salvation. Judas was identified by Jesus as such a person, John 6:70, Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” There is a difference between knowing the truth and experiencing the truth but not submitting to the truth. The warning passages of Hebrews should be a warning to those who have attached themselves to Christianity but have not been grafted in by Christ. There is a sacrifice for sin and He is our Savior and Lord.

Third, the reader may be a regenerate Christian suffering discipline and/or future loss of reward. Warren Wiersbe, What should a believer do who has drifted away into spiritual doubt and dullness and is deliberately despising God’s Word? He should turn to God for mercy and forgiveness. There is no other sacrifice for sin, but the sacrifice Christ made is sufficient for all our sins. Thomas Kem Oberholtzer, Even a casual reading of the passage reveals that a judgment is in view . . . that the judgment is of true believers, in which disobedience may result in divine discipline in this life and in loss of future rewards in the millennium. The passage motivates Christians to live according to Scripture and to experience life to the fullest in the present and in the coming kingdom.

Fourth, the self-test is good fit for a regenerate Christian being warned of the dangers of apostasy. It is a hypothetical warning designed to turn the wayward Christian back to faith and trust in Christ. The construction of the sentence in Hebrews 10:26 is equivalent to a third class condition. It is a hypothetical argument concerning Christians which would result in condemnation if one did apostasize. This is a call to repentance not a proclamation of condemnation since there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). Take time to read 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 which clearly states the need to do a self-test.

One of the most powerful sermons ever preached was entitled Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. R Kent Hughes made an appropriate comment, Jonathan Edwards gave his people a whiff of the sulphurs of Hell that they might deeply inhale the fragrances of grace. That is what a self-test is all about. The grace of heaven must take priority over the stench of hell. The Bible is a super Swiss Army knife with multiple blades. One can convict an apostate. Another can draw the unregenerate to faith in Christ alone. Also, there is one that can turn a professor into a possessor. And of course, one can remind the believer to take faith in Christ seriously.

Warren Wiersbe rightly declares, It is a fearful thing to fall into the Lord’s hands for chastening, but it is a wonderful thing to fall into His hands for cleansing and restoration. Join me in the study of God’s Word under the Books of the Bible tab. It is better to self-test now than to get a damning diagnosis later.