No way back

A while back, I wrote some posts about the more scary sections of the Bible, one about whether God refuses forgiveness and another on getting through the narrow door. These are tricky passages that often startle us and cause us to question what we believe. These, however, are not the only scary passages of the Bible.

Yesterday, I got a text that read, 'Hiya, do you know what Hebrews 6v4-6 means?' My initial response was, 'Of course I do; I know what everything means.' (As a trainee English teacher, I feel the need to have a least one literary device per post. This is an example of hyperbole.) So, full of confidence, I dropped Hebrews 6 into Google and read the passage. The verses my friend was asking about were these:

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

I don't know about you, but I felt slightly tricked. The beginning sounded so positive; I was sure it was going to have a happy ending. When I was reading it, I was expecting it to go a bit like this:

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age to be separated from the love of Jesus. They will go to heaven, which we know is like Disneyland but without the queues.

But instead, it dropped a bombshell. It tells us that 'it is impossible for those who have once been enlightened... and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance'" Initially I was a bit stunned so I reread the passage. Then, just in case I missed an important 'not' somewhere, preferably before the word 'impossible', I read it again. There was no missing not. (I did debate with myself whether I should pencil it in, but I didn't.) Then a load of questions flew around my head. ('What happened to "once a king and queen of Narnia, always a king and queen of Narnia"? Did Alsan lie?'; 'But what about people who grew up Christian, had a wobbly moment but now are committed to following Jesus?'; 'Who was right, then, Calvin or Arminius?') Needless to say, this passage left me somewhat confused.

The Bible suggests that at least the appearance of original salvation isn't everything. Philippians 2:12 talks about continuing to work out your salvation. There are loads of other verses, some of which I have compiled for you here, that talk about falling away. Even Paul voices a concern at becoming "unqualified for the prize" (1 Corinthians 9:27). 

However, the Bible is clear that salvation is not based on what we do. It is based entirely on what Jesus has done, and it is a case of having to accept this gift. This is what really matters. The Bible also says this in a lot of places. So, Jesus saves, and that's where you have to put your confidence. Once you've done this, persevere in it and the evidence of your faith will be a life that bears fruit.

I don't think we should be surprised if we see people seem to put their faith in Jesus and, either pretty much straight away or over time, lose this. The parable of the sower warns of this. However, this does not leave us hopeless. James 5:19-20 tells us:

My brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring that person back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

This passage explicitly states that those who have turned away can be bought back to repentance. As a brother or sister in Christ to such a person, we are to bring them back to repentance. And as they say, prevention is as good as a cure, Hebrews 3:12-14 is also helpful:

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.

The prevention and cure both involve the role of others. It is, therefore, so important to be in a community of believers that can encourage you. Find people that will encourage you and find those that you can encourage as well. Run the race, run it well, and may you be blessed in doing so.

Quick Questions

• Who encourages you?
• Are the questions that come into my mind normal? Or are they an insight into a troubled psyche?
• What passages do you find worrying?

Want to know more?

• tweet your questions to @thomasashmead
• Have a read of Hebrews 6:4–6 and Losing One’s Salvation. I found it pretty helpful.

Refusing forgiveness

Last week I wrote about some of the tough passages of the Bible. Since then I found another one. It's short; it's only two verses in length. It's also tucked away just after the Lord's Prayer so I expect it often gets overlooked. The passage is Matthew 6:14-15:

"If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."

This, again, seems to fly in the face of what I know about God's love. If you repent your sins are dealt with.This is what I thought to be the basic principle of what Christians call grace. 1 John 1:9 summarises it like this:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

These two verses seem to contradict one another, or at least the second one needs some small print. It's pretty confusing. You will be forgiven if you confess your sins (unless you have a grudge or two). So why is this?

This verse comes in a chapter where a major theme is hypocrisy. So how do these verses fit into this? Dictionary online has a helpful definition of hypocrisy, which could give us a few clues:

the practice of professing standards, beliefs, etc, contrary to one's real character or actual behaviour, esp the pretence of virtue and piety

To ask for forgiveness is to profess a belief in the need for it; however, if you refuse to forgive others that behaviour is contrary to such a standard. Asking for forgiveness is a humbling process: you are recognising how you are a flawed and sinful; you are a screw up. To say, however, that someone doesn't deserve your forgiveness is an act of pride. They have screwed up, but you are somehow better than them and to give them forgiveness is beneath you.

Sometimes, I try to imagine how God reacts when someone has refused to forgive someone else but expected forgiveness themselves. I would be outraged. I would be thinking, "How dare you suggest that what ever that person did is a more significant wrong than what you did against the God of the universe! What makes you so important or special that you can withhold forgiveness when the Creator of Everything doesn't?"

Moreover, if you can't forgive someone, you're not really taking the gift of salvation seriously. Jesus Christ had to go through hours of agony, be ritually humiliated and have his heart broken as he was separated from his Father so that you could receive the glorious gift of forgiveness. Although forgiving people can be tough, it is not going to be anywhere as tough as that. If you are amazed by the gift of salvation that you are given, if you are humbled by the thought that the God that gave everything being would send his son to die for you, if you are aware of your own brokenness and need for the transformative power of grace, then a desire to bestow forgiveness on those that have wronged you must be a natural response. So don't refuse to forgive someone or you will be refusing forgiveness for yourself.

Quick Questions

1. What pet peeves do you have that you really struggle to forgive?
2. What passages of the Bible do you struggle with?

The Narrow Door

I've recently finished Erasing Hell by Francis Chan. It got me thinking about some of the more challenging passages of the Bible. One particularly challenging passage really concerns me. It's what Jesus says in Matthew 7: 

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

Does that not terrify you? You can prophesy, drive out demons and perform miracles, all in the name of Jesus, and he can still say he never knew you. He will say you were an evildoer. Am I a person that is just saying, 'Lord, Lord' yet not doing the Father's will? It may appear on the surface that I am doing the right things, in Jesus' name, but is it meaningless?

Something similar is recorded in Luke 13:

Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”

He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’

“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 

“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’

“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.”

Am I like the people who will say, 'But Jesus, I was there. I was with you.'? The result of both passages is horrific. These people will not enter heaven, and the alternative is dreadful.


These verses seem to go against what I've been taught: the way to heaven is to say Jesus is 'Lord, Lord' and to do all the miracles and prophesying and stuff. The Message versions of these passages are really helpful. There is obedience involved and not half-hearted, self-indulgent, look-at-how-good-I-am, obedience; the obedience is total and sincere. It's the faith that James talks about; one that isn't hollow and empty, but full of life. I suppose it all comes down to this:

‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Quick Questions

• Do you find these passages as scary as I do?
• Can you see yourself amongst the people who say "But you know me. I was there. I did things for you?" (I certainly can see myself there sometimes.)
• What passages trouble you?