Doesn't Hebrews say there is no sacrifice left for a believer who keeps sinning?
Hebrews 3, 6, and 10.
The short answer Settled
It does, but it does not threaten a believer with losing eternal life. For one who goes on sinning willfully, "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" (), and those who "fall away" cannot be renewed "to repentance" (). These warnings are spoken to believers. One who falls away can lose his reward and his share in Christ's reign, and he will face God's discipline now. He cannot start over, laying again the foundation of repentance and faith, because there is no second offering to come to. But he is still God's son.
Spoken to believers
The writer speaks to "holy brethren" () and includes himself: "if we sin willfully" (). He describes the people of as "once enlightened," and uses the same word for his readers' own conversion: "after you were illuminated" (). These are believers, not people who only seemed to believe.
Perfected forever
A few verses before his sternest warning he writes, "by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified" (). Someone perfected forever cannot be un-perfected. He tells his readers they have "a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven" ().
What is at risk
The warnings name what a son can lose, and what he can suffer, and still be a son.
His reward. "Do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward" (). Every child of God is already an heir, and the readers "have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven" (). But they are urged to imitate "those who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (), what Paul calls "the reward of the inheritance" (). Esau "sold his birthright" () and was still his father's son: "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau" ().
His share in Christ's reign. "We have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end" (). The same word is used for Christ's "companions" in a passage about His "throne" and "kingdom" ().
God's discipline now. "The LORD will judge His people" (). Hebrews says how: "God deals with you as with sons" (). It can be severe, but it is a Father's discipline, not the final judgment; the fire is for "the adversaries" ().
No starting over
The writer will not lay "again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God" (). To "renew them again to repentance" () would be to lay that foundation a second time. It cannot be done, "since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God" (): a new start would need a new offering, and Christ was offered "once for all" (). That is also why "there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins" ().
So a believer who falls away cannot start over. What he faces is pictured as a field that "bears thorns and briers": "it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned" (). Esau shows what cannot be recovered: "when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears" (). He lost the blessing, not his place as a son.
The usual objection
says that if those "once enlightened" fall away, it is impossible "to renew them again to repentance." says, "if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins." On one view a believer who turns away loses his salvation. On another, these people were never believers.
The writer speaks to believers and counts himself among them, so the second view does not fit. He says Christ's one offering perfected them forever, so the first does not fit either. is about starting over, not about eternal life being taken away.
The words behind it
| Word | Where | Form | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| ἀδελφοὶ ἅγιοι adelphoi hagioi, "holy brethren" (Strong's 80, 40) | Noun with adjective | The readers are believers. | |
| ἅπαξ φωτισθέντας hapax phōtisthentas, "once enlightened" (530, 5461) | Aorist passive participle | The same verb as ... | |
| φωτισθέντες phōtisthentes, "after you were illuminated" (5461) | Aorist passive participle | ... used of the readers' own conversion. | |
| τετελείωκεν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς teteleiōken eis to diēnekes, "has perfected forever" (5048, 1336) | Perfect active indicative | Made perfect, and it stays so. | |
| μισθαποδοσίαν μεγάλην misthapodosian megalēn, "great reward" (3405, 3173) | Noun with adjective | What is at risk is reward. | |
| κύριος κρινεῖ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ kyrios krinei ton laon autou, "The LORD will judge His people" (2919, 2992) | Future active indicative | God's judgment of His own people. | |
| τὴν ἀνταπόδοσιν τῆς κληρονομίας tēn antapodosin tēs klēronomias, "the reward of the inheritance" (469, 2817) | Nouns | An inheritance that is a reward. | |
| μὴ πάλιν θεμέλιον καταβαλλόμενοι mē palin themelion kataballomenoi, "not laying again the foundation" (3825, 2310, 2598) | Present middle participle | The foundation is laid once. | |
| ἀνασταυροῦντας anastaurountas, "crucify again" (388) | Present active participle | A new start would need Christ offered again. | |
| ἀπεδοκιμάσθη apedokimasthē, "he was rejected" (593) | Aorist passive indicative | The same root as "rejected" in . |
No textual variants affect the conclusion.
This study checks the Greek Received Text against the Majority Text, and the written Hebrew against its traditional reading. If a difference could change a conclusion, this note explains it. Otherwise it says that none does.