Thorns and Thistles

by Steve Bastin

Someone has said, “If it is too good to be true, it probably is not true!”  Sometimes that proverb is wrong, but not usually.

The idea that one can become a Christian and never lose their salvation is an idea that sounds “too good to be true.”  Whether it is true or not depends upon what the Bible says.  Wishful thinking does not make it true and cynicism does not make it false.

We want to consider several passages of scripture, beginning with one in Hebrews, chapter 6.  “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

The previous verses define the “field.”  Field in this passage is obviously a metaphor for a person.  A person may be useful, or a person may be producing “thorns and thistles.”

It is useful to note that a single field (or person) is under consideration.  There is not one field that yields useful vegetation and another field that yields thorns and thistles.  It is the same field that has an equal potential for good or bad.

The field that yields useful vegetation is blessed.  If that field yields thorns and thistles it is cursed.  The same field may be either blessed or cursed.

It would be easy to simply conclude that the person who produces thorns and thistles is not a Christian and the person who produces useful vegetation is a Christian.  The problem is that there are not two different fields, nor are there two different persons in mind.  Some translations blur this distinction.  The King James Version and the New American Standard Version are true to the original text and make it clear that a single field is under discussion.

One might suppose that the writer has in mind a person who is not a Christian and thus produces thorns and thistles.  That same person upon becoming a Christian produces useful vegetation.  This view seems reasonable until one examines the preceding verses.

The person under consideration is not described as an unbeliever.  Rather the person is described (again, this is in Hebrews 6) as one of those who have “been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.”

The writer then goes on to say that such a person, when they “have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance.”  Notice the use of the word, “again.”  They had come to repentance, they had been a partaker of the Holy Spirit.  Now there remains only an expectation of being cursed and their final state is described as “being burned.”

If the passage were about people who never had become Christians, it would only be saying the obvious.  Those outside of Christ are lost.  But it cannot be intended for that purpose in the midst of a discussion about Christians who ought to be teachers, but need, again, to be taught.  The passage is addressed to God’s people as a warning to them.  Unless one is progressing, there is danger of falling away.

The superiority of Jesus to the angels, to Moses and to the priests under the law of Moses, in the earlier chapters of Hebrews, leads to a conclusion concerning the awesome responsibility of those who would be followers of Jesus

They should be people who have moved beyond the elementary principles to that which the writer describes as “solid food.”  They should not be people who “have become “dull of hearing.”  They should be people who are pressing “on to maturity.”

After warning about being ground that is “close to being cursed,” the writer goes on to say, “But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.”

Probably, about 16 paragraphs before reading this far, there were those who were saying to themselves, “But what about . . .”  I know that people who believe that a Christian can never be lost have their favorite verses.

If I were writing a book on the subject, due attention would be given to those verses.  But for the moment, I want you to simply think about the passage in Hebrews, chapter 6.  What does the passage mean?  What was in the mind of the writer as he wrote these verses?  Did he really intend for these ideas to serve as a warning to God’s people?  Is he addressing a problem that is really not a problem if one is a true Christian?

The Bible was not written so that one might say, “You have your verses and I have mine, so you believe what you want to believe and I will believe what I want to believe.”  The Bible was written so that, as Jude said, we might “earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.”  Or as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, there is “one faith.”  Or, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Be of the same mind.”

The Bible does not contradict itself when understood properly.  When wrong conclusions are reached, then scriptures, that do not agree with those conclusions, must be either ignored, or tortured beyond recognition in order to avoid changing conclusions.

Peter talks about those who “wrest the scriptures.”  It is not a new phenomenon.  People, like the Pharisees whom Jesus opposed, have been twisting scriptures for their own purposes forever.  Satan did it with Jesus and many have followed in his footsteps.

Quoting scripture does not make one right.  Jesus proved that in his contest with Satan in the wilderness.  Every scripture is an expression of something that was in the mind of the writer.  The purpose of interpretation is to understand, first of all, the meaning that the writer intended.

Peter, in his second letter, tells us of a proven method to make certain of our future.  That method consists of adding to our faith.  The things that should be added are:  moral excellence (virtue), knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love.  He says, “If these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Further, he says, “In this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

“Once saved, always saved.”  No.  But there is a sure way to secure your eternal salvation.  “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”  (Jesus, Rev 2:10b)