Can a genuine believer fall away?
“For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened” (Heb. 6:4a). This is one of the most difficult passages in all of Scripture. Hebrews 6:4–6 has often been used with the attempt to prove that genuine Christians can lose their salvation. Because of this text, the Novatians and Donatists in the early church denied readmission to the church to those who had fallen into idolatry under persecution—even when some of these lapsed people repented and later died for the Gospel. Arminians believe this passage destroys any confidence that the saints will persevere. Calvinists deny that the passage should be understood in this way but sometimes have trouble articulating the reasons why. And so we must ask: Does Hebrews 6:4–6 refer to genuine believers who once really believed in Christ but then later fall away? At first glance we might answer yes. The person described in these verses has done many things that might lead us to believe he once