Preface: This article is an edited, condensed version of chapter seven in the author's book A Ready Reply: Answering Challenging Questions About the Gospel (Horizon Publishers, 1994). The complete version of this article, along with all references, can be found therein. On a related note, a detailed treatment of the evidence that the early Christian church taught that good works were necessary for salvation can be found in chapters 33 and 34 of the author's book One Lord, One Faith (Horizon Publishers, 1996). Information on ordering the book is given at the end of this article, for those who might be interested.

CAN GENUINE CHRISTIANS FALL AWAY?

Michael T. Griffith

1996

@All Rights Reserved

     The question of whether or not genuine Christians can fall away is a crucial one, especially for fundamentalist anti-Mormons who believe in the "eternal security of the believer." They believe that once a person is "saved" he or she is "always saved." The LDS Church, on the other hand, teaches the biblical doctrine that even mature Christians can fall away.

     One passage which powerfully teaches that genuine Christians can fall away is Hebrews 6:4-6. This is readily apparent in good translations of the text. Here is how these verses read in the King James Version:

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,

And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,

If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

     The Contemporary English Version phrases this passage in language designed to be easily comprehended, and I am impressed by the clarity and simplicity of the translation:

But what about people who turn away after they have already seen the light and have received the gift from heaven and have shared in the Holy Spirit? What about those who turn away after they have received the good message of God and the powers of the future of the world? There is no way to bring them back. What they are doing is the same as nailing the Son of God to a cross and insulting him in public.

     This question shouldn't even need to be asked, for it is obvious that the verse refers to mature believers who left the church. However, "eternal- security" fundamentalists cannot admit this point because it literally destroys their doctrine of salvation.

     Some evangelicals claim that Hebrews 6:4 does not indicate that the people in question had received the Holy Ghost. The evidence is decidedly against this assertion. Equally untenable is the related claim that verses 4- 6 are not talking about genuine Christians. If anything, the author of Hebrews seems to go out of his way to make it clear that he is talking specifically about mature members of the church, hence his veritable laundry list of all the things these people knew and experienced.

     For one thing, the end of the verse itself says the people in question had "become partakers of the Holy Spirit." The fact that these individuals had become "partakers" of the Spirit logically implies they did not receive it only once. Someone who has become a "partaker" of something has obviously experienced it more than once, and will do so again.

     Furthermore, the use of the word "enlightened" is clear evidence that we are talking about people who were baptized members of the church. In early Christian sources (e.g. Justin Martyr), baptism is called "illumination" (Buchanan 106). The Syriac text of Hebrews 6:4 reads "those who have once descended for baptism" (Buchanan 106). Moreover, four chapters later, the author of Hebrews clearly applies the word "enlightened" to experienced, tested members of the church (Hebrews 10:32-39).

     Dr. Harold Attridge notes that Hebrews 6:4-5 provides a series of common images "which recalls the conversion to a new life" (Harper's Bible Commentary, p. 1264). Attridge correctly adds that "many unconvincing attempts have been made to ameliorate the severity of the warning" (1264). One anti-Mormon author wrote to me and said that not all true Christians partake of the heavenly gift because, he claimed, in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul says that participating in the gifts of the spirit "is not for all." But nowhere in 1 Corinthians 14 does Paul say any such thing. In fact, he says the saints are to "earnestly desire the spiritual gifts" (1 Cor. 14:1). Moreover, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul clearly seems to say that all good members of the church should enjoy at least one particular gift of the Spirit (see especially vss. 4-12).

     Still more evidence that Hebrews 6:4 refers to full-fledged Christians who had fallen away is the declaration that they had "tasted the goodness of the word of God." Warren Quanbeck points out that this statement "implies, not sampling, but a genuine experience of the reality" (in Laymon 905). The Greek word for "tasted," geuomai, often carries a broader meaning, as in to partake of something in its entirety (Lenski 118-125). In Acts 10:10, it refers to partaking of a meal, not just to tasting the food. In Hebrews 2:9, we read that Christ "tasted" death, i.e., He fully partook of it. And according to the editors of the ultra-conservative Liberty Bible Commentary,

In the same sense these people [of Hebrews 6:4] have partaken of the heavenly gift and of the Holy Spirit. Further, they have fully experienced the Word of God and the powers of the coming age. (Falwell 683, emphasis added)

     Not only is the view that true believers cannot fall contrary to scripture, but it is also repudiated in the writings of the early church fathers. The ancient saints understood perfectly that even mature believers could apostatize.

     Surprisingly, a few anti-Mormons claim that Hebrews 6:4-6 refers to unbelievers. In all seriousness, one anti-LDS writer told me that in Hebrews 6:4 the ancient author "utilizes geuomai [tasted] within the context of unbelievers." How could an unbeliever experience the heavenly gift? And be a partaker of the Holy Spirit? And experience the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age? And how could an unbeliever be described as having once been "enlightened" when the author of Hebrews uses this term for seasoned Christians elsewhere in the epistle?

     Let's recap what Hebrews 6:4-6 says about the Christians in question:

     * They were "once enlightened." This same term is applied to experienced, tested members of the church in Hebrews 10:32-39.

     * They had "tasted the heavenly gift." Some commentators weakly opine that in verse 4 the author does not mean "tasted" in its normal New Testament theological sense of "to fully experience something" (p. 3). They suggest that in this case the act of experiencing was brief or superficial in nature. Why the arbitrary switch in meanings? As we have seen, even the editors of the staunchly conservative Liberty Bible Commentary acknowledge that the Christians referenced in verse 4 "have partaken of the heavenly gift and of the Holy Spirit" in the same sense that Jesus "tasted" death, i.e., fully (Falwell 683; see also, Lenski 118- 125).

     * They had become "partakers" of the Holy Spirit. Again, the fact that these individuals had become "partakers" of the Spirit indicates they did not receive it only once. Someone who has become a "partaker" of something has obviously experienced it more than once, and will do so again unless he chooses to stop partaking. Myles M. Bourke points out that the phrase "sharers in the Holy Spirit" refers to "those who possess the Spirit as a guarantee of the full possession . . . of the eschatological blessings" (in Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy 2:391).

     * They had "tasted" the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age. As noted above, Warren Quanbeck observes that this statement "implies, not sampling, but a genuine experience of the reality" (in Laymon 905, emphasis added).

     Not surprisingly, Theognostus of Alexandria (ca. A.D. 200-270), a highly regarded ancient Christian theologian, viewed Hebrews 6:4 as a warning to spiritually experienced Christians (Roberts and Donaldson 6:156). Theognostus served in the presidency of the Christian academy in Alexandria and was a respected theologian and writer. He was even praised by Athanasius. Theognostus made a clear distinction between the Christians of Hebrews 6:4 and those who were "not yet able to receive what is perfect" (Roberts and Donaldson 6:156). He said that such "imperfect" members could be forgiven for serious spiritual apostasy but that "for those who have tasted the heavenly gift, and been made perfect, there remains no plea or prayer of pardon" (Roberts and Donaldson 6:156).

     H. T. Andrews correctly observes that any attempt to soften the "harshness" of Hebrews 6:4-6 is utterly destroyed by Hebrews 10:26 (in Eiselen, Lewis, and Downey 1307-1308). Andrews begins by discussing the point made in vss. 4-6:

When men have once been enlightened, it is argued, and have tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance. (in Eiselen, Lewis, and Downey 1307)

     Andrews then observes that in Hebrews 10:26 this doctrine "is restated in a form" which allows for no possible means of escape or misinterpretation (in Eiselen, Lewis, and Downey 1308). The verse reads as follows:

For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries. (RSV)

     Notice the use of the word "we" in this verse. The author was applying this warning to himself as well as to his readers. Plainly and clearly, this verse, like Hebrews 6:4-6, teaches that genuine Christians can fall away.

     The Bible teaches that mature members of the church can fall away. This doctrine refutes the idea of "eternal security" or "once saved, always saved."

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael T. Griffith holds two Associate of Applied Science degrees from the Community College of the Air Force and is awaiting the awarding of a Bachelor of Science degree from Excelsior College in Albany, New York. He is a two-time graduate of the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and of the U.S. Air Force Technical Training School in San Angelo, Texas. He is the author of four books on Mormonism and ancient texts. He has completed advanced Hebrew programs at Haifa University in Israel and at the Spiro Institute in London, England. While at BYU he was a research assistant for Dr. Ross T. Christensen of the Society for Early Historic Archaeology. His published works on gospel subjects include Refuting the Critics (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon Publishers, 1992) and A Ready Reply: Answering Challenging Questions About the Gospel (Horizon Publishers, 1994), and One Lord, One Faith: Writings of the Early Christian Fathers as Evidences of the Restoration (Horizon Publishers, 1996).

*** One Lord, One Faith can be purchased or ordered from your local LDS bookstore, or you can order it directly from Horizon Publishers via their toll-free number 1-866-818-6277. One Lord, One Faith documents dozens of parallels between Mormonism and ancient Christianity and is an excellent book for investigators and members alike. It is also an excellent companion book to the famous talk tape "The 17 Points of the True Church." If you'd like to order the book online, click here.

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