Hebrews: A 28-Day Musical DevotionalMuestra

Wilderness: A Third Warning

Today’s passage is the third warning in Hebrews, and it is a doozy! The writer warns his readers about the dangers of falling away, but commentators are divided as to whom the author is describing in these verses: believers or unbelievers? There is not enough time here to adequately deal with such a difficult text, but here are some succinct guiding thoughts that may help you think through this passage.

For at least three reasons, it does not seem that the author of Hebrews is referring to believers, which would imply that Christians can lose their salvation; instead, he is likely speaking about persons who have participated fully in the covenant community of God, yet, through the fruit of their actions, have shown themselves to have never made a true saving response to the gospel. (1) Scripture as a whole, especially the New Testament, clearly speaks about salvation as an act of God not based on human merit. Thus, if we did not earn our salvation, we cannot lose it. (2) Given the central role of the message of endurance in Hebrews, it makes more sense that the author is underscoring the importance of persevering in the faith to show oneself to be a true believer. Note the conditional clause in 3:6 where the writer bases inclusion in the household of God on whether or not we “[hold] fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” (3) This passage is replete with language that echoes the wilderness wanderings in the Old Testament, a topic the author has already alluded to in chapters 3 and 4. This correlation suggests that just as many people identified themselves with the old covenant community of God (Israel) yet were excommunicated because of their rebellious hearts, so also people today can erroneously associate with themselves with the new covenant community of God (the church), with their lack of endurance revealing their true stance in Christ.

The fact that the author is likely referring to unbelievers and not true believers does not lessen the intensity of the warning for Christians. We are called to “make [our] calling and election sure” (2 Pet. 1:10), “to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14), and to endure “so that when [we] have done the will of God [we] may receive what is promised” (Heb. 10:36). 

So be warned.