Salvation Is Conditional And Christians Can Fall Away Hebrews 6:4-8
“More often than Trump tweets”. “More times than Blake Shelton’s won The Voice”. What is the most current phrase for a very large number of something? It used to be “More something than Carter has liver pills”, but that phrase means nothing to most people today, so I’m stuck trying to find a catchy phrase about a large number that makes sense to the most people in 2021. Nearly everyone knows Trump, probably because of the tweets. Many, but not all, will know about Blake Shelton from the TV show The Voice.

All of that was to say this - the Bible has more “if” statements than all the Trump tweets and Blake Shelton wins combined. For the sake of brevity we’ll look at just a couple today, beginning with God’s appearance to Solomon after the completion of the temple. God began with a recognition of Solomon’s prayer of dedication and confirmation that He (God) had made the temple holy. But He immediately followed up with a conditional statement: “As for you, if you will walk before Me…then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever” (1 Kings 9:2-5; 2 Chronicles 7:17-18).

Our current religious world, which teaches “unconditional election”, more commonly known as “faith only”, is uncomfortable with that conditional promise. But those who believe “once saved always saved” are even more uncomfortable with God’s next conditional statement. “But if you turn away from following Me…I will cut off Israel…I will cast this house…out of my sight” (1 Kings 9:6-9; 2 Chronicles 7:19-20).

And if that makes people uncomfortable imagine their response to God’s conditional statements in the New Testament. Over and over God warns Christians against the danger of falling away. It is heartbreaking to hear those who believe in “faith only” and “once saved always saved” choke over Hebrews 6:4-8. The text warns of the difficulty of restoring those who have fallen away, so most evangelical preachers assert they were never saved in the first place. But listen to how the text describes them: “once enlightened…tasted of the heavenly gift…partakers of the Holy Spirit...tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.” Yes, they were Christians. Then listen to their fate, “have fallen away…crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame…whose end is to be burned”.

God has made the reception and retention of salvation conditional and filled the Bible with warnings against ignoring those conditions and losing our salvation. Thankfully He invites us all to meet His conditions: “whosoever will may come” (Revelation 22:17), including the once saved ones who fell away. What about you? The choice to receive it and keep it is yours. Will you come to Jesus by meeting His conditions and receive salvation?