Hebrews 6:8

If no good fruit results, however, only dangerous and destructive thorns, God will bring judgment on this ground rather than blessing it (cf. John 15:2; John 15:6).

"Worthless" literally means disapproved (Gr. adokimos). It does not mean totally rejected but failing to gain God’s blessing (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:27). It is "in danger of being cursed" but is not cursed as unbelievers are. "Burned" does not mean burned in hell (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15). In ancient times, as well as today, farmers often burned their fields to removed unwanted vegetation, not to destroy the field itself. This is evidently a judgment on a believer that God allows because of his or her apostasy (cf. Isaiah 9:18-19; Isaiah 10:17; John 15:6; Hebrews 10:17). The judgment might result in premature death in some cases (cf. 1 John 5:16-17). However the text does not warrant concluding that this fate will befall every apostate. Some "fields" once burned turn out to be more productive in the future, and that might be what God’s judgment would lead to in the case of some apostates (cf. 1 Timothy 1:19-20). The purpose of the burning (chastening) is restoration to fruitfulness (cf. Hebrews 13:1-9; Hebrews 13:18-23). [Note: See Charles C. Bing, "Does Fire in Hebrews refer to Hell?" Bibliotheca Sacra 167:667 (July-September 2010):342-57.]

The history of the interpretation I have offered in this passage, and in Hebrews generally, is as follows. Robert Govett was one of the earliest modern authors who wrote on the theme of the Christian’s rewards. [Note: See Robert Govett, Entrance Into the Kingdom.] He was also a leading figure in the school of thought that took the warnings of Hebrews as being addressed to Christians who were eternally saved and secure. However some in this school also believed that unfaithful Christians would miss the Millennium and spend 1,000 years in a kind of "purgatory." Those in this school include G. H. Lang, [Note: G. H. Lang, The Epistle to the Hebrews, pp. 106-7.] R. E. Neighbor, [Note: R. E. Neighbor, If They Shall Fall Away.] and probably Philip Mauro. [Note: Philip Mauro, God’s Pilgrims.]

Among the standard commentators B. F. Westcott, James Moffatt, and I. Howard Marshall, as well as most others, took the view that the writer addressed true Christians in the warning passages. These three men took what we would call an Arminian stance, believing true Christians can lose their salvation, but they believed the writer addressed Christians in these passages.

Students of this passage sometimes assume that the view that the writer addressed only false professors (i.e., not genuine Christians) is the majority view, but it is not. It is, however, the most popular Calvinistic interpretation.

Another modern writer who takes this passage as I do is R. T. Kendall. [Note: R. T. Kendall, Once Saved, Always Saved, pp. 175-99, and 219-28. Kendall succeeded D. Martin Lloyd-Jones as minister of Westminster Chapel, London, England.] He also discussed briefly the history of this interpretation in the church fathers. [Note: Kendall, pp. 224-25.] Hodges also held this view [Note: Hodges, "Hebrews;" and The Gospel . . . .] as did Oberholtzer, [Note: Oberholtzer, "The Warning . . .," 145:319-28.] Dillow, [Note: Dillow, pp. 433-55.] Gleason, [Note: Randall C. Gleason, "The Old Testament Background of the Warning in Hebrews 6:4-8," Bibliotheca Sacra 155:617 (January-March 1998):62-91.] and others.