False teachers are hypocrites. They blaspheme the faith by their depravity and their lies. Peter calls their false teachings "fabricated stories". He assures his readers that these false teachers will be destroyed as payment for the harm they caused.

Peter says that both the false teacher and the person led astray are fallen from the faith.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews constantly warns his readers against falling away. The plain reading of the text is clear.

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The author of the letter to the Hebrews warns against having a sinful and unbeliving heart. He says that our sin is deceitful. We need to encourage one another not to be deceived by it. Such deception leads to a hardened heart and ultimately to turning away from God.

The author of Hebrews says we have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the confidence we had at first. Conversely,we will not have come to share in Christ (ie. be saved) if we fall away from the confidence we first had. He isn't guaranteeing that the believer is in no danger of falling away. The plain reading of this text does not allow us to say that anyone who falls away was not truly a Christian. Moreover, he warns us constantly throughout the letter that we should guard against falling away.

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Who were they who heard the gospel and rebelled? They were Israel, whom God brought out of slavery in Egypt through Moses. They were saved from bondage, yet they rejected the gift God gave them by their unbelief. They fell away and forfeited the Sabbath-rest. They did not enter the promised land. God, however, preserved a remnant in Joshua and Caleb, and the subsequent generation which did cross over.

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In Hebrews 6, according to the plain reading of the text, the author describes apostasy. The author is writing about a person who believed and then rejected God's promise. The author explains that this person has no hope of being restored because he is unrepentant; He makes a practice of sinning. This is similar to what John describes in his first epistle.

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Hebrews 10 is sort of a recap of the doctrinal portion of the letter. The author's main point is that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the old testament types and shadows. All of those things, the priesthood and the sacrificial system particularly, pointed to Jesus and were fulfilled in Him. To leave the Christian faith because of persecution and to return to Judaism would be to return to something inferior and obsolete. It would be to reject the gracious gift of God and choose eternal death instead of life.

The author of Hebrews spends a lot of time encouraging his audience not to fall away, and to persevere in the faith. he says that if we who have heard and believed the gospel continue to practice sin as our way of life (ie. that we refuse to confess our sin and turn away from it) there is no more sacrifice for it. This is what John talks about in his letter. It is the difference between sinning because we have a sinful nature vs. sinning willingly in pursuit of gratifying the desires of our sinful flesh. There is forgivness in Christ for the former, but condemnation for the latter.

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The language of losing one's salvation is somewhat misleading, according to Dr. Jordan Cooper. We don't lose our slavation, he says, as one misplaces one's belongings. No one can pluck us out of Christ's hands. We can, Dr. Cooper explains, reject Christ and wilfully become apostate. (Cooper, 2018)

Dr. Cooper clarifies that the Christian does not live an existence where he is constantly in and out of a state of grace. The Christian can, however, forfeit his faith by living in unrepentant sin. Sin, says Dr. Cooper, destroys faith. (Cooper, 2018)

Holy Scripture, asserts Cooper, teaches two truths. The first is that a believer can forfeit his faith and fall away. The second is that God perseveres Christians in the faith. (Cooper, 2018) These two teachings are in tension; they are in paradox. Cooper rightly says that we can neither ignore one of these teachings, nor use one to negate the other. We must speak where scripture speaks, and not impose our reason over it.

We must take the Bible for what it says, particularly when dealing with an issue such as faith and apostasy. In this case, as Cooper points out, scripture teaches that men can fall away, and that God "perseveres" His people in the faith. How does God cause us to persevere? By the means of His word preached, read, meditated upon, applied through the waters of baptism, and eaten and drunk with the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. (Cooper, 2018) This is why we don't have to be worried constantly about falling away. No one can pluck us from Jesus' hand.

The reason people fall away from Christ is not because God does not want to work in them. That would be contrary to God's revealed will. People fall away because they turn away from Christ wilfully. (McCain, 2005) We cannot be plucked from Christ's hand; that is His sure promise. We can, however, turn from Him and wilfully jump out of His hand.

Making friends with the world will not win over the world. It will lead to our own falling away. (Naumann, 2024)

Thoughts On Apostasy and Falling Away

March 15, 2024

by Joseph D. Klotz

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