1. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 1

2. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 2

3. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 3 “Do A Christian's Sins Damn His Soul?“ "We take the position that a Christian's sins do not damn his soul. The way a Christian lives, what he says, his character, his conduct, or his attitude toward other people have nothing whatsoever to do with the salvation of his soul…..all the sins a Christian may commit from idolatry to murder would not put his soul in any danger!"

4. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 4 1. A child of God who does not abide in Christ will be lost (John 15; Romans 11) 2. A child of God can become an unbeliever and depart from God (Hebrews 3; 6; 10). 3. One having been justified can again be entangled in sin so as to be lost (I Corinthians 10; Galatians and 2 Peter) 1. A child of God who does not abide in Christ will be lost (John 15; Romans 11) 2. A child of God can become an unbeliever and depart from God (Hebrews 3; 6; 10). 3. One having been justified can again be entangled in sin so as to be lost (I Corinthians 10; Galatians and 2 Peter)

5. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 5

6. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 6 [Barnes; Heb 3:6] - If we hold fast - A leading object of this Epistle is to guard those to whom it was addressed against the danger of apostasy. Hence, this is introduced on all suitable occasions, and the apostle here says, that the only evidence which they could have that they belonged to the family of Christ, would be that they held fast the confidence which they had unto the end. If they did not do that, it would demonstrate that they never belonged to his family, for evidence of having belonged to his household was to be furnished only by perseverance to the end.

7. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 7

8. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 8 Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV) Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV) Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, Hebrews 3:12-14 (NKJV) Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; [13] but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. [14] For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,

9. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 9 Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV) Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV) Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, Hebrews 4:14-16 (NKJV) [14] Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. [15] For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. [16] Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

10. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 10 Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV) Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, Hebrews 3:1 (NKJV) Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, Hebrews 10:22-23 (NKJV) [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

11. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 11BEWARE!!  A child of God CAN become an unbeliever and depart from God!  A child of God CAN become hardened through the deceitfulness of sin!!  Being a partaker of Christ is conditioned upon the continuance of a steadfast faith!!  Is ONE who has departed from the living God SAVED?? Hebrews 3:12-14 (NKJV) [12] Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; [13] but exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. [14] For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,

12. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 12 Heb 3:17-19 (NKJV) Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? [18] And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? [19] So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Hebrews 4:1 (NKJV) Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. Hebrews 4:11 (NKJV) Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.

13. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 13 Hebrews 6:4-8 (NKJV) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, [6] if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. [7] For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; [8] but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, [6] if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. [7] For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; [8] but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

14. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 14 Hebrews 6:4-5 (NKJV) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, G5461 – φωτίζω pho ̄ tizo ̄ “ 4) to enlighten, spiritually, imbue with saving knowledge 4a) to instruct, to inform, teach 4b) to give understanding to” (Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.663).

15. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 15 Hebrews 6:4-5 (NKJV) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, Hebrews 10:32 (NKJV) But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, [ 5461] you endured a great struggle with sufferings:

16. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 16 Hebrews 6:4-5 (NKJV) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, Strong’s G1089 - γεύομαι Geuomai - ghyoo'-om-ahee A primary verb; to taste; by implication to eat; figuratively to experience (good or ill): - eat, taste.

17. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 17 Hebrews 6:4-5 (NKJV) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, Hebrews 2:9 (NKJV) But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.

18. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 18 Hebrews 6:4-5 (NKJV) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, Ephes. 2:8-9 (NKJV) [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, [9] not of works, lest anyone should boast.

19. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 19 Hebrews 6:4-5 (NKJV) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,  Have Become Partakers Of The Holy Spirit,  And Have Tasted The Good Word Of God  And [have tasted] The Powers Of The Age To Come,

20. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 20 Hebrews 6:6 (NKJV) [6] if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.  There is no ‘if’ in the Greek in this place  Literally, “and having fallen away.” - (see ASV; NAU; YLT, etc.)  “To Renew them again to repentance” requires that they had in the past repented!! (You cannot restore that which has never been!!)

21. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 21 Hebrews 6:6 (NKJV) [6] if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. “Nevertheless our translators, following Beza, who without any authority from the ancient MSS hath inserted in his version the word, ‘if,’ have rendered the clause, ‘if they fall away;’ that this text might not appear to contradict the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints” (James MacKnight [Presybterian], Apostolical Epistles, 532).

22. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 22 Hebrews 6:6 (NKJV) [6] if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.  These individuals, who in the past were saved, have rejected the Christ, the cross and the New Covenant and returned to the Old Law.  It is possible for truly saved persons to harden their hearts so as to become insensible to the influence of truth. For it is impossible for those who were... to renew them again to repentance, (6:4,6)

23. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 23 “Owen says, ‘The persons here intended are not true and sincere believers…’ But all this is clearly wrong, and contrary to the plainest sense of the terms here used. The writer even heaps clause upon clause to show that no such shallow tasting is intended. And the whole contextual argument is against the view, for it is the very fact of those persons having veritably entered in the spiritual life, which makes it impossible to renew them afresh if they shall fall away. If they have never entered it, if they are unregenerate, what possible logic is it, or even common sense at all,... (Henry Alford, Alford’s Greek Testament, Exegetical and Critical Commentary, Volume IV, Page 113).

24. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 24 “... to say that their shallow taste and partial apprehension, make it impossible to renew them…If they never have believed, never have been regenerated, how can it be more difficult to renew them to repentance, than the heathen or any unregenerate person? Our landmark of exegesis must be to hold fast to the plain simple sense of the passage, and recognize the fact that the persons are truly the partakers of spiritual life—regenerate by the Holy Spirit” (Henry Alford, Alford’s Greek Testament, Exegetical and Critical Commentary, Volume IV, Page 113).

25. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 25 “The best interpretation seems to be that this passage refers to Jewish people only and their rejection of the Messiah.” – (The Study of the Doctrine of Salvation, pg. 99) The fact remains – they were at one time SAVED persons!! (3:1,12; 4:14; 5:12; 6:1,4,5) The fact remains – they were at one time SAVED persons!! (3:1,12; 4:14; 5:12; 6:1,4,5)

26. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 26 Why would God warn those who were NOT His children of the danger of apostasy??

27. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 27 Hebrews 10:22-39 (NKJV) [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. [24] And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, [25] not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

28. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 28 Hebrews 10:22-39 (NKJV) [26] For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, [27] but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. [28] Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. [29] Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

29. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 29 Hebrews 10:22-39 (NKJV) [30] For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The Lord will judge His people." [31] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. [32] But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: [33] partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; [34] for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods,

30. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 30 Hebrews 10:22-39 (NKJV)... knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. [35] Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. [36] For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: [37] "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. [38] Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." [39] But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul..

31. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 31  Therefore, brethren, - Heb. 10:19; cf. 3:1  They had, by boldness, entered the holiest through the blood of Christ – 19  BY the new and living way that Jesus had consecrated for Christians, i.e. “US” – 20  Having Christ as High Priest in the house of God – 21; cf. 3:5,6

32. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 32  [22] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,...  [23] Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.  [24] And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,  [26] For if we sin willfully...

33. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 33  [26]... after we have received the knowledge [ε ̓ πίγνωσις - epigno ̄ sis] of the truth,  [29] Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?

34. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 34  [30]... "The Lord will judge His people."  [32] But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated,  [33] partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations,...  [34] for you had compassion on me in my chains,...

35. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 35  [34]... knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.  [35] Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.  [36] For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:

36. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 36  [38] Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."  [39] But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.. Living by faith is a choice!! How can you retreat from a position never occupied?

37. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 37  Turn his back on the means of his past justification! [26; cf. Rom 5:9]  Trod under foot the Son of God! [29]  Count the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing! [29]  Resist the Holy Spirit’s invitation of grace! [29]  [26] For if we sin willfully A Christian Can:

38. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 38  The CERTAIN fearful judgment of God, (27,30,31)  The fiery indignation of God (27)  Worse punishment than those who rejected Moses [28,29]  [26] For if we sin willfully  [27] but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. A Christian who falls into unbelief and rejects the gospel will experience:

39. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 39 “If a person rejects the truth of Christ’s death for sin, there is no other sacrifice for sin available. Such unbelief brings the threefold indictment in verse 29.” – (The Study of the Doctrine of Salvation, pg. 99) The context clearly affirms that it is possible for a believer to become guilty of such unbelief!! (Proposition sustained) The context clearly affirms that it is possible for a believer to become guilty of such unbelief!! (Proposition sustained)

40. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 40 Why would God warn His children of a hypothetical danger that is an impossibility??

41. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 41 1. A child of God who does not abide in Christ will be lost (John 15; Romans 11) 2. A child of God can become an unbeliever and depart from God (Hebrews 3; 6; 10). 3. One having been justified can again be entangled in sin so as to be lost (I Corinthians 10; Galatians and 2 Peter) 1. A child of God who does not abide in Christ will be lost (John 15; Romans 11) 2. A child of God can become an unbeliever and depart from God (Hebrews 3; 6; 10). 3. One having been justified can again be entangled in sin so as to be lost (I Corinthians 10; Galatians and 2 Peter)

42. Don McClainW. 65th St church of Christ / March 11, 2007 42