If We Hold Fast (Hebrews 3:6)

The Security of the Believer and the Warning Passages in Hebrews

Father it is our desire that we may understand your word and that you by your grace would give us the illumination that can only Come through the ministry of the Holy Spirit Left to our own devices and in ourselves.

We have no ability to understand spiritual things but because we are in Christ and you've given us the Holy Spirit who dwells within us and Quickens our hearts and our minds we by your grace are able to understand all things.

We pray that you would give to us that understanding. Today as we Begin to study and think about some things that are difficult to comprehend and difficult to assess we pray that you would give us a wisdom and guidance from your Holy Spirit that he would be our teacher and that we would Be students as we learn together in your word.

May you be glorified through our understanding of the truth. We ask in Christ's name.

Amen.

Last week we stopped right in the middle of a verse. In fact, it was in the middle of a sentence in the scriptures as we came to chapter 3 verse 6. Where we read halfway through verse 6 that we are his house whose house We are if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end and we stopped right there at that word if and I said to you that that word and this verse is one of those verses that is seized upon by those who believe that you can lose your salvation and They use this verse and a statement like this a conditional statement and one like it down in chapter 3 verse 14.

We have a similar statement there to prove that is possible for those who have been saved to Lose their salvation and to be lost and I indicated to you that verse 7 and following all the way through the end of chapter 4 Is one long warning passage?

It is the second of the five warning passages in the book of Hebrew and these warning passages are as I said Typically a turn to an appeal to by those who believe it is possible for us to lose our salvation they appeal to those warning passages because they want to show that if we don't hold fast to our faith our confidence our assurance all the way to the end that then we will finally be lost and so we want to assess these warning passages and.

So here's what we're going to do today. We're going to jump right into it. I Want to lay some groundwork for assessing understanding and interpreting the warning passages as they are presented in the book of Hebrews.

Scripture Is Clear and Not Contradictory on the Security of the Believer

So this is going to take a little bit of time to do that second. We're going to look at verse 6 this conditional statement and the statement that is like it in verse 14. We're going to deal with just those two statements and how do we understand conditional statements?

And then I'm going to give you an overview of the warning passage which goes from chapter 3 verse 7 all the way through the end of chapter 4 so that is a large chunk of material and You can probably guess that we're not going to get through it all in one Sunday or two Sundays or three Sundays.

But we will get through it. I promise you that we're gonna take and we're gonna we're gonna just slowly and methodically Deal with the issues that are in the passage and today We're just going to begin by just laying some groundwork for how we understand the warning passages and what we need to keep in mind.

So let's begin with this. These are not easy passages to interpret and that is true. Whether you are on in the camp that believes this possible to lose your salvation or whether you are in the camp that believes it Is not possible to lose your salvation.

There are issues in all of these warning passages that are conundrums for people on both sides of this issue. It's not like these are Arminian verses that are a slam-dunk a go-to verse for those who believe you can lose your salvation and though those of us who don't Believe that stand around the outside and wonder how is it that we need to twist this and form this to fit my theology?

That's not the case at all. There are interpretive issues in all of these passages for for anybody of any theological stripe there are issues that need to be dealt with so these are very difficult passages and Consequently, that's one of the reasons why the book of Hebrews is often neglected in the preaching and life of the modern church.

How often is you hear people go through the book of Hebrews? How many times have you had an in-depth study of the book of Hebrews not often? I think that 25 or 30 years ago or whenever it was a Dave Kinney senior went through the book of Hebrews and I was a teenager and I wasn't paying attention to anything in Scripture only the girls around me at the time so I wasn't paying attention to that, but it's just you don't you don't you don't get a Thorough study of the book of Hebrews very often because we shy away from it.

It is it's it's a challenging book there's a lot of challenging things and Not the least of which are these five warning passages. Second, I think we should point out that we all know people who are on the other side of the aisle.

The theological aisle from us if you're sitting here today and you believe that it's possible for you to lose your salvation. You know somebody who doesn't believe that you you obviously do. How do I know that you know somebody because you are surrounded by people most of which would probably say you cannot lose your salvation.

Right here in this congregation now if you believe that it is impossible for one who is truly saved to lose your salvation you most certainly know somebody who believes. That you can lose your salvation.

Right.

If you don't that means you swim in some pretty small circles and you really need to get out more because there's a. That is the bulk of evangelicalism today that kind of an Arminian approach. So, you know somebody who's on the other side of this issue from you and this is an emotionally charged issue.

People do not want to hear that. Little Johnny who prayed a prayer when he was four and was baptized when he was five. But is today living in hard-hearted Unrepentant unbelief with no interest in the things of God is actually an unbeliever.

They don't want to hear that. They want to believe that little Johnny prayed the prayer. We believe it was sincere and after all once saved always saved right? That's the hope. That's the confidence. Once saved always saved.

He prayed the prayer he got in and they don't want to be told that no. He fits the group of people described in Hebrews chapter 2 and chapter 4 and chapter 6 and chapter 10. That's speaking to him on the other side of the aisle people who believe that you Cannot lose your salvation or sorry that you can lose your salvation.

They don't want to hear preaching. That suggests it is impossible for a true believer to lose their salvation because. They think that such preaching would lead to licentiousness. If you tell somebody look once you pray the prayer you're in like Flynn and there's no way you can ever lose that once you.

Tell them that they're going to they're gonna go off and sin in all kinds of ways. Such preaching can only lead to apathetic.

Cool-hearted.

Christian profession and people sinning and living however. They want after all we need to every once in a while sort of warm the feet of the people who are professing faith in Christ and remind them at any moment you can slip and fall into the perishment of eternal damnation.

And if you don't keep people people fearing that damnation then they will might lose their grip on Christ. You want you want to make sure that they're scared enough to hold on to him for all they've got so that they can get Through and you got to warn them of the hell to come.

There are people on both sides of this that feel passionately about it and. So no matter what I preach I'm going to offend somebody right. So I'm just gonna I'm just gonna go into what we're gonna talk.

About.

Let's give some principles of interpretation. How is it that we deal with the warning passages? Let me lay out some a bit of parameters and this is intended to sort of set the table for Understanding all of the warning passages.

Here's number one. We affirm. First of all, the scripture is clear on the subject. It's clear on the subject. I don't think the scripture is confusing on this. It's not. And this is where people get off the rails right at the very beginning.

They'll say something like well, you know. There are all these verses that say that you cannot lose your salvation and then there are all these verses that seem to suggest That you can lose your salvation.

So maybe God sort of thrown all of those into the mix just to keep us wondering about it. Lest we go off into any extreme and all that is is another way of saying God himself is really confused on it and he is unable to communicate the truth without recklessly contradicting himself.

That's what that means. We don't believe that scripture is clear. The problem is not with the clarity of scripture on the subject. The problem is with the ability of the reader and the hearer to understand it and to and to interpret it in light of The surrounding context and not in light of their traditions or previously held beliefs.

Second we would affirm the scripture is not contradictory in any way. There's ultimately one author to this book and he is able to communicate without contradicting himself. So we don't have to sort of walk a middle road and say well God it is possible and it is not possible.

And we just don't know when which is which these things are mutually exclusive. Either it is possible for you to lose your salvation or it is not possible for a truly saved person to lose their salvation.

But it cannot be both of those things. So we affirm that scripture is not contradictory and so we want to systematize our theology and there's nothing wrong with having a systematic theology. We want to have a coherent Systematic approach to understanding what is true and to understanding truth.

Now systematic theology is often disparaged in our own day because people say that. Look you guys like you couldn't community church. You want to have your your theology all in a in a little line? You want to know that this is what I believe and and keep it nice and tidy and then there's no love in your hearts.

I believe that that is a false dichotomy. I don't think that having good and sound and systematic and and precise theology is a is the opposite of having a love for Christ if you're Knowing more truth causes your love to diminish.

Might I suggest that there's the problem is not with the truth the problem might be with you and Who it is and what it is that you're loving? We can have passionate affection, but there's no virtue in being passionately affectionate about error.

So we want to have systematic theology. We want to make sure that as we're interpreting these passages of scripture that we're doing so in the context of the book of Hebrews in their own immediate context and in a way that is consistent with other passages of scripture so that We bring other doctrines and other passages to bear upon this as a secondary light upon the interpretation of this passage of the passage itself.

So belief about the security of the believer and this is where it fits into our systematic approach to our theology. Belief about the security of the believer in his salvation is not what we would call a first-order belief.

In other words, we don't begin with that and then reason backwards to other doctrines. In a sense our belief in the security of the believer is a Conclusion or an inference that we could draw even if scripture was unclear about about that issue at all.

It is an inference or a conclusion that we could draw just from what we understand about other doctrines. So I can reason to my belief in the security of the believer. I don't begin with that as a first-order doctrine.

I can conclude that and let me show you what I mean. Now this is not to say that scripture has not revealed the case regarding whether a believer is secure. It has with statements where Jesus said things like my sheep hear my voice and they come to me.

I give them eternal life and they shall never perish and no one shall snatch them out of my hand or my father's hand. The Father who gave them to me is greater than all and no one shall snatch them out of my hand or the father's hands.

John chapter 10. Jesus said in John 6 all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me. Well, I will not cast out. They will come to me. I will give them eternal life and I will raise them up on the last day.

Every last single one who has been given by the father to the son will be raised up on the last day. That is the promise. So that's what scripture reveals about that but this conclusion that we are secure in our salvation is something that we can we can be drawn to where we can come to As a matter of conclusion when we systematize the rest of our doctrine.

So let me lay out that case for you in a quick fashion. I Believe in the sovereignty of God. Believe that God is absolutely sovereign. I believe in the precise perfect and infallible for knowledge of God in all things.

I Believe in the perfection of the work of Christ on the cross. I believe that justification my righteous standing before God is on the basis of faith and faith alone.

Alone.

Now my works. Now my adhering to anything but by faith alone.

I.

Believe in the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit who gives new life new affections and new desires and a new nature to those who believe. I Believe in divine election and predestination. I believe in the vicarious that is Substitutionary nature of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross.

I believe that he perfectly fully and always Intercedes perfectly and fully and always for those who are his for whom he died. I believe that Christ is the builder of God's building and he is building a perfect building and he cannot fail.

I believe that believers are sealed by the Holy Spirit. I believe that man is dead in his trespasses and sins and he is unable to respond to the message of the gospel because he Is corrupt and he is an enemy of God and he is dead and because he is dead salvation.

Faith and repentance must be gifts that God grants through the regenerating work of his Holy Spirit. I believe that Christ is able to keep those whom the Father gives to him. That he will keep his word and that he will raise all of them up on the last day as he has promised in John Chapter 6.

I believe that eternal life is eternal. I believe that adoption is permanent and I believe that the propitiation the satisfaction of the wrath of God that Christ provided through his death on the cross is a Full it is final and it is a perfect propitiation.

From all of that I can conclude that the one who is saved by Jesus Christ is Kept by Jesus Christ Perfectly and finally all the way to the end. That is a doctrine that I can conclude from everything. I just listed here for you I believe that one is safe who is safely.

One who is fully saved and truly saved is safely saved. Said again, I want to want believe that one who is truly saved is safely saved. And that is what that kind of an approach is what we are dealing with here in the book of Hebrews.

From the book of Hebrews we find out that the death of Christ was a perfect death that it fully Satisfied all the wrath of God on behalf of those for whom he died and that having died for them He now sits at the father's right hand and intercedes for them constantly Perfectly before the father's throne and that he is able to save to the uttermost all those who come to him.

That his death is perfect. His work is perfect and that my salvation your salvation Rests not in the least bit upon what we do or who we are or how we respond but upon him and him alone. Because his work is perfect now because I believe all of that.

I believe that the believer is Secure the eternal life is eternal and yet we have here in the book of Hebrews These warning passages, so how do we deal with them? Let me lay all of my cards on the table.

You haven't guessed yet if I've been in any way unclear. I believe in the security of the believer. The perfect and absolute security of those who have believed. So I would affirm that those who have been saved and redeemed by Jesus Christ are kept by him and preserved by him and glorified by him every last one of.

They must and they will be saved because Christ cannot fail to save even one for whom he shed his blood. He cannot fail to save even one whom the father has given to him and committed to his care. He cannot fail to save even one who has believed upon him whom he has welcomed and given eternal life to.

There is not one individual who has been graciously given by the father to the son as an act of divine election and predestination. Whom the son will lose somewhere along the line who will perish everlastingly.

So I believe in the full security of the believer. I would deny that those who have fallen away from the faith and apostatized were ever believers to begin with. Right, so I affirm the full security believer.

I deny that apostates were ever believers to begin with. Those who do not persevere to the end are not Saints. They may go forward at a meeting. They may raise their hand. They may come forward at them to the altar.

They may check a box. They may you'll give emotion like this and the preacher says if you just pray this prayer pray this prayer raise your hand. They may even be baptized. None of those are the evidence of salvation.

None of those are you know what the evidence of salvation is they persevere to the end? That's the evidence of salvation. Who is it that is saved the one who endures all the way to the end and does not walk away from Christ?

That is the one who is saved. There's the evidence of salvation is not checking a box and raising a hand or walking an aisle or even being baptized. None of those things is the fruit of salvation in the least.

The fruit of salvation is godliness holiness and Perseverance all the way to the end. So I though I affirm the security believer. I do not affirm any kind of easy Believism that says that you can pray like an angel one day and live like a devil the next and have assurance of your salvation.

I reject that and I reject the the notion that one can check a box and pray a prayer and walk forward at a meeting and even reform outwardly their character and conduct for a short period of time and then totally walk away from the faith and have no interest in the things of God and apostasize and live in hard-hearted rebellious unbelief and still be considered a believer just because at some previous time they checked a box or walked an aisle or Raised their hand or even were baptized.

I reject that notion. The evidence of genuine and true salvation is perseverance all the way to the end. So the promises of Scripture settle the weary heart of the true believer. The warning passages of Scripture.

Unsettle the apathetic heart of the make-believer. Did you catch that as important? The promises of Scripture intended to settle the weary heart of the believer. The warning passages like in Hebrews are intended to Unsettle the apathetic heart of a make-believer and that's what these passages are for.

So.

Having gone through that let's look now at this all of that was sort of an introduction and you can see why I was a little Upset that we started late because here we are at the time. I should be wrapping up with a conclusion and Well, I'm just getting into it.

You're just sitting there, but I'm just getting into it. Okay verse 6. Let's understand this conditional sentence. I told you that we needed to lay a bit of groundwork and then look at the conditional sentence in verse 6 and verse 14.

And then we would kind of get an overview of the passage. So let's look at this conditional sentence. You'll read in verse 6 but Christ was faithful as a son over his house whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our Hope firm until the end.

Notice the presence of the word if We are his house if you'll notice a similar statement down in verse 14 for we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our Assurance firm until the end the presence of if in both of those conditional sentences seems to suggest That this is a condition that we must do in order to receive What is promised that is being partakers of Christ or being part of God's house?

Now I would want you to notice two things about both of those passages. Notice that the author is intending to communicate that the people to whom he is writing are genuine and true Christians. I don't doubt that in the least I'm not gonna make the argument that he's writing to a bunch of pagans in the congregation In this passage and that that who is who the target is.

I don't think that that is the case. I think he is writing to genuine and true believers. And if you're paying attention and thinking through this then you realize that I just made Making my case even more difficult by affirming that he is writing to genuine and true Christians.

But I think it is he's writing to those who are partakers of the heavenly calling. To those who are called holy brethren to those who are the children of God. He is telling us in verse 6 that and he speaks of those who are part of the house of God.

Remember, that's the spiritual people of God through all time. Those are the spiritual household of God that Christ is the builder of that. We are part of that and he affirms that we are his house. He says in verse 6 we have become partakers of Christ a past tense event.

We became partakers of Christ. So he's writing to true people not people on the fringes not professing Christians not fake believers not wolves-in-chiefs clothing. He is writing to true and genuine Christians in this passage.

Okay. So what about the if what do we do with this if statement because it seems to suggest That our being part of the household of God is contingent upon our ability to hold fast to the end. Doesn't it read that way?

Whose house we are if if we hold fast our confidence that most of our hope firm until the end. We have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast our assurance it is as if it is as if he is throwing in this if in the middle of that sentence in order to raise the Possibility that those who have once Latched on to Christ and have believed and been saved might finally perish if they don't maintain their salvation.

And this is exactly what an Arminian or somebody who who rejects the security of the believer. This is exactly what they would say that the passage is teaching that it is all contingent upon us. They would say that God himself has given us all the grace that is necessary for us to persevere to the end.

He's provided everything that we need sort of out there. Second God has given us sufficient motivation to persevere to the end. He's encouraged us all the way along. He's he's and then third he has warned us about the danger of not persevering.

He's provided everything we need has given us adequate encouragement. And he has warned us of the danger of not doing it and now the Arminian would step back and say but God has not Anything to guarantee or to secure the outcome for any individual whatsoever all of that rests upon us.

If I hold fast I remain part of his house if I don't I fall away and I'm no longer part of his house as if it is possible to be in a household of God and enjoy the blessings and the benefits of salvation and then to finally fall away and perish because I failed to Maintain my belief or I failed to maintain my perseverance or I failed to maintain my love and affection for Christ.

That is what that is the argument. So how then do we deal with this? Conditional statement. There are two ways the conditional statements are used in Scripture. One of them is a cause-effect relationship.

One of them is to indicate a cause-effect relationship and that is how the Arminian takes this. You'll notice that the inverse six we have the main sentence or the main part of the the main clause. That's what I mean, that's what I'm looking for.

Whose house we are. That's the main part of the sentence the clause whose house we are we could just rephrase them to say we are his house. If and this is the subordinate clause of the sentence if we hold fast.

We are his house if we hold fast the main part of the sentence. We are his house the subordinate or the conditional part of the sentence if we hold fast. Now the Arminian would argue and those who believe you can lose your salvation.

They argue this is a cause-effect relationship. The effect is we are his house. The cause of that is us holding fast. So if I hold fast that causes me to be part of his house. If I stop holding fast that causes me to be not part of his house.

My holding fast causes me to be part of the house. Do you see the relationship? That's a cause-effect relationship. Now are our conditional sentences used in Scripture to describe a cause and effect relationship?

The answer to that is yes. So here I'm going to give you proof for the Arminian position. Now, you know how this rolls. I'm gonna give you proof and I'm gonna very quickly Pull it back, but I'm gonna argue their case for just a second.

Are there conditional phrases in Scripture used to describe this cause-and-effect relationship? Yes, there are. I'll give you four of them. Leviticus 19 7. Leviticus that's some good reading. Isn't it Leviticus 19 7?

So and I'm sure you've I'm sure you've read this you're reading through Leviticus 19 and you come across this phrase and you think to Yourself man, that's that's great. I remember just. Yeah, I remember Jim because I read this last week Leviticus 19 7.

So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it's an offense. It will not be accepted. Now Leviticus 19 is dealing with peace offerings and here was the law for the peace offering you offer the peace offerings.

You could eat it that day. You could eat it the next day. But if you ate it on the third day, it was an offense and it would be rejected. So notice the conditional phrase. If it is eaten at all on the third day.

It is an offense or to put it in the order of our sentence in verse 6. It is an offense if it is eaten on the third day eating it on the third day causes the condition. The effect of it being an offense.

Romans chapter 7 verse 2 for if a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living. But if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. There's a conditional sentence, right?

The married woman is bound by her husband if he lives. If he dies, she's released but one thing the Conditional phrase is the cause of the effect that she is released from the law concerning her husband.

Romans 14 23. Speaking of one who eats meat, but his conscience bothers him. Paul writes, but he who doubts is condemned if he eats. He's condemned if he eats. If he doesn't eat he's not condemned. You see the conditional sentence if he does this it causes this it's a cause-effect relationship one more first Corinthians 7 verse 39.

A wife is bound as long as her husband lives if her husband is dead. She's free to marry whomever she wishes only in the Lord. So the causing of the one the effect is that she's free to remarry that is caused when her husband dies in First Corinthians chapter 7.

So there is a cause-effect relationship that is sometimes described in this use of the conditional sentence. Those are examples of the cause-and-effect nature of some conditional sentences in Scripture and there are a few others.

But I'm gonna cut those out for the sake of time. But the question is is that the only way the conditional phrases conditional sentences are used in Scripture and the answer to that is no. There's a second way the conditional sentences like verse 6 and like verse 14 are used in Scripture.

And that is to describe not a cause-and-effect relationship. But an evidence to inference relationship. Oh there goes Jim with all the big words again. Evidence to inference and inference being a conclusion.

In other words one part of the sentence points to the conclusion that in another part of the sentence is describing an evidence to inference. Relationship. So in verse 6 the if we hold fast our confidence to the end is the evidence.

That points back to the inference or the conclusion. We are his house. We are his house the conclusion if the evidence we hold fast to the end. It is an evidence to inference relationship instead of a cause-to-effect relationship.

So now the question is does Scripture use conditional phrases and conditional sentences to describe an evidence to inference? Relationship. And the answer to that is yes lots. Let me give you a few of them back to your favorite book of the Bible the book of Leviticus chapter 1351.

And I only bring this up because I gave you one from Leviticus for the as a counterexample Leviticus 1351 says he shall then look at the mark on the seventh day this to give you some context. This is in the passages that describe the laws regarding leprosy those are the most fascinating of all right.

Scraping off the plaster and cleaning out the house and all that good stuff and the priests in seven days. So this is regarding the law this is regarding the laws concerning leprosy. Leviticus 1351 he shall then look at the mark on the seventh day if the mark has spread in the garment.

Whether in the warp or the woof or in the leather whatever the purpose for which the leather is used the mark is a leopard. Leprous malignancy it is unclean. Okay. They bring it down if the mark has spread in the garment.

The mark is a leprous malignant. Malignancy now if is the condition the evidence. If it is spread. Then the conclusion is it is malignant. Is that the spreading of the mark in the garment that Makes it a leprously malignant.

Or is the spreading of the mark in the garment the evidence that it is malignant leprosy. It is an evidence to inference. Conditional phrase. Conditional sentence. Now a bunch of them from the New Testament.

John 8 31 Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed him if you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples. That's an evidence to inference. It's not continuing in his word that makes us as disciples.

Us continuing in his word is the evidence that we are truly his. That's what he's saying to John chapter 8. John 15 verse 14 you are my friends if you do what I command you now. Do we become Jesus's friends by doing what he commands?

That's a con. That's a that's a cause-and-effect relationship. No, we do what he commands. That is the evidence that we are his friends. The evidence that I belong to him is my obedience. That's what Jesus is saying.