Joel M Bradshaw

4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.–Hebrews 6

TWO VIEWS:

1. Salvation is all a matter of man’s choice. Man can choose to be saved and can choose to fall away. If a man does this, then there is no hope for him anymore, for he has rejected Jesus, his only hope.
2. Salvation is a matter of God’s choice. Only God knows the heart and nobody can out-choose God. For a man to reject Christ publicly it reveals that he is not regenerate. Repentance produces fruit and fruit is grown by remaining in Jesus the vine. Since a man doesn’t not ultimately choose to be saved, he cannot choose to be unsaved.

TWO MEN:

1. Judas was once a member of the inner twelve, the closest followers of Jesus. And then he publicly betrayed Jesus in the worst way possible. So much so that is name is now synonymous with being a traitor. The Gospels tell us that Satan was involved (Luke 22:3), and so it looks like he lost his salvation. But we were also told that he was destined by God for this role (John 17:12).
2. Simon was also a member of the inner twelve, and arguably the closest man to Jesus. On the hardest night of Jesus’ life, Simon denied him three times. Talk about a public rejection! What if Jesus had not restored Simon publicly? Would he have lost his salvation? Jesus literally prophesied that Peter would do this. The night of that betrayal, Jesus said to Peter “after you turn back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32). Peter’s journey seemed to be a matter of God’s plan.

TWO RESPONSES:

1. Judas hung himself after his betrayal. Judas was selfish to the end.
2. Peter wept bitterly after his betrayal. Peter took steps of broken repentance.

My own story is one of a person who professed faith at a young age and then lived for many years as a hypocrite. God used the events of my life to humble me and bring me back to Himself. He taught me to trust Jesus daily and produced fruit in my life as I remained in Jesus. If I could out-choose God, I surely would have. I am grateful for God’s plan to save me and lead me through these valleys. I now have scars where I once had wounds. I know rock-bottom and I know God’s love that has preserved me to this season. My once-broken and messy story therefore gives God glory.–JMB