Where is the power: the man, the methods, or the message?
God is moving in our church right now. In the past few months I’ve seen God save rebel-sinners and give them hearts that wanted to leave lifestyle sin en masse; I’ve seen God reduce men and women to tears at hearing his Word preached in our WG’s; and I’ve seen him resurrect marriages that were dead on the table. I’ve heard people confess years of secret sin and I’ve listened as people brought the pain of sexual assault in their past into the light for redemption.
God is moving… but we want to see so, so much more.
Every great move of God in church history – starting in Acts (here, here, and here for starters) – has been marked by one unmistakable thing: power. In the words of Oliver Goldsmith, “Fools who came to scoff, stayed to pray” because the power of God fell in his time and place.
In my experience, people tend to look in one of three places for the power of God:
- The man
- The methods
- The message
When people think the power is in the man you hear a lot of “You should come see our pastor! He is so [insert awesome attribute here]!” What usually goes in the blank is cool / funny / insightful / gifted. People orient themselves around a leader or speaker and think wherever he is present, THERE God will work… but probably only there. Even if The Man is fighting against it, it’s easy for groups who look to The Man for power to devolve into personality cults that will die when The Man dies (or leaves).
When people think the power is in the method you hear a lot of “Our church is so [insert awesome attribute here]!” What usually goes in the blank is innovative / creative / cool / organic / missional / different. Whether it’s an assimilation process, a discipleship strategy, a leadership method, or a culture of creativity, people orient themselves around a method and think wherever that method is practiced, people will flock to Christ. They forget that God has baptized a THOUSAND different methods with power to reach people in THOUSANDS of different cultures.
But when people think the power is in the message, they’re right. There’s a reason Scripture says, “The gospel is the power of God”. I’ve been reading a lot of church history lately and there’s one undeniable characteristic of every great move of God you read about: the gospel was boldly and clearly preached from “the pulpits” and “from house to house”. When people realize the power is in the simple gospel message, they realize that THEY carry this power wherever they go – into their offices, their homes, their neighborhoods, their HG’s, and the grocery store. Wherever you find a group of people captured by the message, you’ll find a group of people among whom God is saving sinners and drawing men unto himself. When people begin looking to the message of the gospel as the location of a church’s power, they say things like “Come, see a Man who told me everything I ever did - come hear about Jesus.”
Men die. Methods change. But heaven and earth will pass away while the message lives on.
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Theology Thursday: Can Christians Fall Away?- Hebrews 6:4-6
Theology can often be seen as unnecessary, divisive, or impractical when it is anything but. The Bible says the default mode of the human heart is idolatry – replacing the one, true God with something else in our lives. One way we fashion a false god is by imagining God as we wish he was instead of worshiping him as he really is. Theology is simply “the study of God” and is the pursuit of smashing the idols in our heads and deepening our relationship with God by getting to know him as he has revealed himself in Scripture.
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Last week we looked at Perseverance of the Saints. We concluded that, in the gospel, God saves and sustains sinners until we reach eternal life. By the same power that God saves us, He also preserves us and transforms us into the image of his Son, Jesus. (Philippians 1:6 and 2 Corinthians 3:18)
This week I am going to deal with THE passage that most people point to when they argue that we can fall away- that apostasy is possible. Hebrews 6:4-6 is the most common passage used to argue that people can lose their salvation. We will examine these three verses and see what the author of Hebrews is really saying. There are other passages that people point to when they argue salvation can be lost, but I only have so much space and time. Therefore, I decided to address the most difficult and popular passage.
Hebrews 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
We are going to focus primarily on whether or not the people described in this passage are justified, born-again believers. We have to ask the question: “Is it possible for people to experience some form of spiritual ‘enlightenment,’ to ‘taste’ the heavenly gift, to ‘taste’ the goodness of the Word, and to have ‘shared’ in the Holy Spirit, and yet never know Jesus in a saving way?”
I believe the answer to that question is, “Yes.” In my opinion, the verses that follow 4-6 make the case pretty clear that this passage is not talking about justified, born-again Christians who have committed apostasy (fallen away).
John Piper: This passage says that there is a spiritual condition that makes repentance and salvation impossible. And it says that this condition may look in many ways like salvation, but it isn’t. And it leads to destruction. And so this text is a warning to us not to assume that we are secure when our lives have some religious experiences but no growing fruit. And the reason for showing us this serious situation is so that we will flee from it, and move to solid ground and lasting joy.
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3 REASONS THIS CAN’T BE DESCRIBING LOSS OF SALVATION
1. Verses 7-8. The author is describing two different types of ground.
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
What this is describing is two different types of ground similar to the parable of the sowers. The “drinking of the rain which falls on it” language refers to the blessings in which verses 4-5 refer. What you will notice is that when the rain falls, only one type of ground is cultivated and receives a blessing from God. However, the other bears thorns and thistles, is worthless, and will be burned. Both grounds receive the blessings described in verses 4-5, and yet two very different things happen.
Sam Storm explains it like this:
Rain falls on all kinds of ground, but one cannot tell from that alone what kind of vegetation, if any, will appear. The picture here is not of ground that receives frequent rain, yields life and vegetation, and then loses it. The picture is of two different kinds of ground altogether. One responds to the rain [spiritual blessings and opportunities] by producing bountiful vegetation, while the other is barren, lifeless, and thus condemned. Likewise, people who hear the gospel and respond with saving faith bring forth life. Others, however, who sit in church and hear the truth and are blessed by the ministry of the HS but eventually turn their back on it all are like a field that never yields vegetation and thus comes into judgment.
2. Verses 9-12. Better things were there for the Christians being written to – things that belong to salvation.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to over look your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
In verses 9-12 the author is arguing that there are better things for those to whom they were writing, things that belong to salvation. (Those things are italicized in the quoted passage.) He is making the case that Christians have better things(verses 9-12) than what is seen in verses 4-6 because these things are things that belong to salvation. This implies that the blessings in verses 4-6 were not things that belong to salvation.
3. The language in vs. 4-6 is not typical language used to describe Christians.
The book of Hebrews uses a lot of different language to describe Christians; none of it is closely related to the language used in vs. 4-6. Here is a list that deals pretty specifically to the issue of perseverance:
(1) God has forgiven their sins (10:17; 8:12)
(2) God is producing holiness of life in them (2:11; 10:14; 13:21)
(3) God has given them an unshakable kingdom (12:28)
(4) God is pleased with them (chp. 11; 13:16,21)
(5) They have faith (4:3; 6:12; 10:22,38,39; 12:2; 13:7; etc.)
(6) They have hope (6:11,18; 7:19; 10:23)
(7) They have love (6:10; 10:33-34; 13:1)
(9) They obey God (5:9; 10:36; 12:10,11,14)
(10) They persevere (3:6,14; 6:11; 10:23)
(11) They enter God’s rest (4:3,11)
Now, what usually throws people off about this passage is that the language in verses 4-6 is also not language that typically describes lost people. When we think of lost people, we don’t first think of, “they have shared in the Holy Spirit” and “tasted the goodness of the word of God,” etc. To this point Wayne Grudem says this:
“I agree that the phrases [in 6:4-6] alone do not match the author’s descriptions of the lost, and they do not indicate that these people are lost (before they commit apostasy). But that is just the point: Before they commit apostasy their spiritual status is uncertain. It remains to be seen whether they are among the saved or the lost. They have not yet given decisive indications either way. That is the reason the author warns them not to turn away – they are still at a point where a decision to be among the saved or the lost must be made.”
Throughout the entire book of Hebrews there are several “warning” – passages whose purpose is to encourage saints to persevere, thus proving their salvation. Their persevering is not what saves them; it merely proves they have, in fact, been justified and are being sanctified. When a person falls away, it does not prove that people who are in Christ can fall out of Christ. When someone falls away, it proves they were never really in Christ.
People can be in church for years, hear great preaching, partake in many blessings that go along with living amongst Christian community, and be somewhat enlightened to the realities of God. This does not mean that they have genuinely repented of their sin and trusted Jesus. We urge people and warn them to persevere, not because they are earning their salvation, but rather they are proving they are in fact saved.
Indeed God pours out rain on all different types of ground. (Parable of the sower gives 4, and this passage gives 2.) For some it is cultivated and salvation is had; for others only thorns and thistles are grown, and the end is death. This is why Hebrews 3:12 says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.” People can play the Christian game, but we need to remember that people fall away because of an evil, unbelieving heart. That certainly does not describe a Christian.
The author of Hebrews is begging his hearers to check their hearts and look at their lives to be sure they are in Christ, so that they do not fall away. He surely knew that if someone were in Christ, perseverance was to be had. All Christians, myself included, need to continually examine ourselves and read these warning passages as strong reminders – reminders that those who fall away are people whose hearts have not been regenerated and are still evil and unbelieving.
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