2Corinthians 2:11 “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

(Satan tries to use “’blasphemes against the Holy Spirit’ [Mark 3:29]; ‘disqualified’ [2Corinthians 13:5]; ‘fall away’ [Hebrews 6:6]; and ‘sin willfully’ [Hebrews 10:26],” to devour those without spiritual discernment [1Corinthians 2:14], and uneducated souls [2Peter 3:16]. They are used by God perhaps to chasten and test, but the Lord has not put them there to condemn believers in Jesus Christ.)

John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

2Timothy 2:3 “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Dr. Norman L. Geisler explains the eternal security of believers in chapter 11 of his Systematic Theology Volume Three: Sin/Salvation, this excerpt is from pages 305-309:

Paul urged the Corinthians: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you – unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5). Peter teaches, “Be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall” (2 Peter 1:10). Jude adds, “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life” (Jude 21).

Just what is it that provides the basis of our assurance that we have saving faith? “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope” (Rom. 15:4). John declared, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

The Bible is replete with affirmations that salvation can never be lost and that we can be sure of this while we are still living. Among them the following stand out.

Job 19:25-26
“I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God.”

Job was certain of two things: (1) that his Redeemer lived, and (2) that he would one day see God in his flesh (affirming resurrection). In other words, Job had present knowledge that he had been redeemed (“my Redeemer”) and that he would see Him in his heavenly resurrected body: I ”know” (now) that I “will see God” (later, in heaven).…

Ecclesiastes 3:14
Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the wisest man who ever lived said, “I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.” Scripture’s application of this principle to salvation (cf. Eph. 1:4) results in the doctrine of eternal security. If what God does is forever, and if salvation is a work of God (Jonah 2:10), then salvation is forever. If salvation can be lost, then it is not forever. Therefore, salvation cannot be lost.

John 3:18
“Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

The plain sense of this text is that if one believes now, he is not condemned (lost) now and will not be condemned later (cf. Rom. 8:1). John adds that such a man “will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24, see below); likewise, if a man does not believe now, then he is “already” condemned (lost). In short, a present act of faith assures one of never being condemned. Just as one is condemned “already” for notbelieving in Christ, even so one is saved “already” for believing in Him.

John 5:24
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” That is, those who truly believenow can be certain now that they will be in heaven later. Everlasting life is a present possession the moment one believes, and this assures he will never be condemned.

John 6:37
“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” Not only is everyone who comes saved, but everyone who is saved is saved permanently! God’s gift is a forever salvation.

John 6:39-40
“This is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Jesus says everyone who now “believes” in Him will be resurrected to life – saved. Further, He emphatically declares that He will never lose anyone given to Him by the Father. Thus, those who believe are as eternally secure as the promise of Christ. Believe now; be saved forever.

John 10:27-28
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

What makes our salvation sure is not only God’s infinite love but also His everlasting omnipotence. We are not only saved by His unlimited love, but we are also kept by His unlimited power (1 Peter 1:5; cf. Jude 24). No one, not even ourselves, can pry us away from His promise.

Further, Jesus said His sheep (the saved) would never perish. Plainly, then, if any believer does lose his salvation, Jesus was wrong. If Jesus is the Son of God, this is impossible. Accordingly, our salvation is as eternally secure as the Word (Gk: logos) – Jesus Himself (John 1:1), who said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35).…

Romans 8:29-30
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son….And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”

This “Golden Chain” is unbroken. The same persons who were foreknown and predestined were also called and justified and will be glorified (received into everlasting life)….

Romans 11:29
“God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” Salvation involves both the gift (Rom. 6:23) and the calling (Rom. 8:30) of God. Paul here declares that both are “irrevocable” – salvation can never be undone [emphasis his].

I also found this note in the Life Application Study Bible on 1 John 1:9 very helpful:

1:9 Confession is supposed to free us to enjoy fellowship with Christ. It should ease our consciences and lighten our cares. But some Christians do not understand how it works. They feel so guilty that they confess the same sins over and over, and then they wonder if they might have forgotten something. Other Christians believe God forgives them when they confess, but if they died with unconfessed sins, they would be forever lost. These Christians do not understand that God wants to forgive us. He allowed his beloved Son to die just so he could pardon us. When we come to Christ, he forgives all the sins we have committed or will ever commit. We don’t need to fear that he will cast us out if we don’t keep our slate perfectly clean (John 6:37). Of course we want to continue to confess our sins, but not because we think failure to do so will make us lose our salvation. Our relationship with Christ is secure (John 6:47). Instead, we confess so we can enjoy maximum fellowship and joy with him.

True confession also involves a commitment not to continue in sin. We are not genuinely confessing our sins before God if we plan to commit the sin again and just want temporary forgiveness. We must pray for strength to defeat the temptation the next time it appears [emphasis his].

With the eternal security of the believer demonstrated, we now turn to each of the aforementioned passages to understand their meaning in light of the fact that “once saved, always saved.”

Concerning denying Christ, in Matthew 10:32,33 Jesus said:
32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
33 “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

If a person has denied Christ before men, and never repents and puts their faith in Christ, Jesus will deny them entrance into heaven. But as verse 32 states, if the person repents, believes, and confess Christ before men, they will be accepted into heaven.

But what if someone who believes in Jesus denies Christ before men? If they have eternal security for their salvation, how could Christ deny them entrance into heaven? The answer is that a true believer in Jesus Christ will always repent and therefore be forgiven by God (while being forgiven in the ultimate sense all along). After they repent, they’ll be willing to confess Christ before men, even if they sinned at some point and denied Jesus temporarily. So they really are eternally secure in their salvation, and will be accepted in heaven.

However, someone who never truly believed in Jesus might deny Him before men, never repent, and be denied heaven by Christ.

So the solution is simple: repent and believe in Jesus, confessing Him before men. Then, as Christ says in verse 32, He will confess you before His Father who is in heaven.

The following article from the note on Mark 3:28,29 of the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, addresses the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, explaining that God forgives all who repent for blasphemy directed at the Holy Spirit. Indeed God forgives all people for all sin if they repent and believe in Jesus Christ (1 John 1:7):

3:28-29 This important saying of our Lord referring to the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit occurs also in Mt. 12:31,32 and Lk. 12:10. It speaks of God’s willingness and ability to forgive anyone of any sin and of all their sins put together. It is to be noted that these words of the Lord were spoken immediately after the accusation was made against Him that the works He was doing were done by the power of Beelzebul, the chief of the demons (see Mt. 12:22-30; Mk. 3:20-27). In Lk. 12:10 the Lord’s saying about the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is separated from the context of the discussion concerning Jesus and Beelzebul which is given in Lk. 11:14-23. The words of Christ become far more understandable if we examine what occasioned them. What the Lord wanted to teach after this discussion regarding the activity of the devil among men was this: The devil is really not the countertype of the Lord Jesus in the plan of man’s salvation, but he is the countertype of the Holy Spirit who’s function is to convict unto repentance or reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment (Jn.16:8-15). The devil counteracts this conviction. The verb that is translated as “convict” in Jn. 16:8 is elegxei which means “to bring under conviction.” The Holy Spirit here is presented as the one who brings judgment upon the devil. The two are counteracting each other. The first statement that is made by Christ is that each sin (hamartia, 266), all sins together (pasa, 3956) and blasphemy (blasphemia, 988) shall be forgiven. Mark 3:28, instead of saying every sin and blasphemy, says panta, “all sins,” the neuter plural of pas (3956). The word “blasphemies” means to say something which hurts a person. Hamartia is the inclusive name of all kinds of sins, missing the mark of any kind which God has set for man’s goal. What is stated in this first word is that God is both ready and able to forgive anything. In order to comprehend this, we must first understand the meaning of the word “forgiven,” (aphiemi, 863). It means to send away, to remove the sin from the sinner, so that he is free from it in order that the sin can never be found and charged against him before the judgment seat of God. It is not overlooking the sin,paresis(3929), but removing the sin from the sinner, aphesis(859). In this connection see note on Rom. 3:25. Secondly, observe that this verb is in the passive voice, which means any and all sins will be removed by God. God must be understood at the agent who removes the sin from the sinner. This is particularly the function of Jesus Christ who took upon Himself man’s sin. We must remember however, that no personality of the triune God acts independently, but always in complete and united agreement and cooperation with the other personalities of the Trinity. Thus the agent of “shall be forgiven,” (aphethesetai), must be understood to be God in general and Christ in particular. Thirdly, this verb “shall be forgiven” is in the punctiliar future which means that it will be taken away each time that it is necessary to do so, and it will be done repetitively. It indicates that the forgiveness which man experiences from God is available whenever man asks for it in true repentance. The objects of this forgiveness are “the sons of men” (Mk. 3:28), “men” (Mt. 12:31) and “him” (Lk. 12:10).

In Mk. 3:28 we have panta ta hamartemata, “all the sins.” The word for “sins” here is hamartemata (265) and not hamartia as in Mt. 12:31. Hamartema (singular), as all nouns ending in ma, indicates the result of an action. In this instance, hamartemata(plural) indicates sins as individual acts or the bad reputation resulting from them. The comprehensiveness of the forgiveness which God can give to the sinner is made very clear here. Not only all sin (hamartia) or sinfulness in itself, but also the individual acts of sin, as well as their ill repute brought upon the sinner, are removed. This forgiveness, however, we know from other Scriptures is not automatic, but depends on our true repentance. Every sin is forgiven by God consequent to man’s repentance, and man’s repentance is consequent to the activity of the Holy Spirit in a man’s life. If man resists that activity of the Holy Spirit, he will be unconvicted of either his sinfulness in general or his sin in particular and its ill repute; if man is unconvicted by the Holy Spirit, he will not repent. Consequently, God will not remove that sin or its effects.

Mark adds something which the other two evangelists do not in this first statement about God’s readiness and ability to forgive all sin and blasphemy: “Whatever blasphemies they may utter.” More literally this should be translated: “and blasphemies, (the reports that men will give which will hurt God’s reputation among men) whatever these blasphemies may be if they shall blaspheme.” The verb blasphemesosin, “will blaspheme,” is in the punctiliar future which means at one time and not continuously as a perpetual and uninterrupted mode of life. The Lord is here declaring that no matter how careful we are, we can never live in such a perfect way as to always cause others to believe all that they should about our God whom we represent among them. Our actions portray a different God than what our mouths proclaim. Many times we give the wrong impression to others about our Lord whom we profess to follow. These wrong reputations of God, blasphemiai, will be forgiven. We who love Him allow His Holy Spirit to convict us of our shortcomings in adequately representing God among others. As a result of that conviction, there is the removal of the harm which we have done to the testimony of God.

For a more complete understanding of what these blasphemies are which are generally spoken of by Mark, we must go to Mt. 12:32. Jesus said, “And whoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him.” The Son of Man here is Jesus Christ. In order for a sinner to appropriate Christ he must repent of his sin (Rom. 10:9; Jn 1:12). But, in order that we may be convicted of our sin, it is necessary for us to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. In other words, any sin that we confess to the Lord Jesus Christ He will forgive, being able and ready to remove it from us. But, if an individual has not been convicted of sin, how can he confess Christ? And this is what makes the next statement of our Lord in Mt. 12:32 understandable: “But whoever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him.” In Mk. 3:29 is says, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness.” And in Lk. 12:10 we read, “But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him.” The verb in Mt. 12:32 is eipe, the subjunctive aorist of lego (3004), which is, “to say at one particular time with full understanding of what one says.” In Mk. 3:29 it is blasphemese the aorist subjunctive of blasphemeo. In Lk. 12:10 it is blasphemesanti. This is a participial noun in the aorist, meaning the one having blasphemed in the past at one particular time or repetitively. It is used as a supposition, meaning that if at any time in the past he did blaspheme. Both words eipe, “say,” and blasphemesanti (being an aorist participle), “having blasphemed,” are indicative of the fact that this saying or blasphemy is a one-time blasphemy either once or on different occasions, and not a continuous life of blasphemy, i.e., constantly attacking the person and work of the Holy Spirit and His reputation among men. This refers first to the resistance against the Holy Spirit for His conviction unto salvation, the initial repentance of man. The declaration is that no one who resists the convicting power of the Holy Spirit can be saved. The secondary meaning is that no one, not even the believer, will be able to escape the consequence of his willful sin (hamartema) if he does not allow the Holy Spirit to convict him of these specific sins, or sinfulness in general, which has hurt God’s reputation among men (Heb. 10:26,27).

As to the relationship of the sin of blasphemy to the Holy Spirit in Mt. 12:32, we have it thus, “But whoever shall speak against (Kata, 2596) the Holy Spirit.” In Mark 3:29 we have, “But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit.” In Greek it does not say “against” but “unto” (eis, 1519), which means “unto or in the face of.” In Lk. 12:10 the same preposition is used. Actually the use of this preposition, eis, makes the blasphemy worse. With kata, “against,” we may understand that the blasphemy is spoken against the Holy Sprit to others, but with the preposition eis we may understand that the blasphemy is hurled directly in the face of the Holy Spirit. It is as if man is defying the Holy Spirit and saying, “There is nothing you can do to divert me from my present sinful course. I am going to have my own way regardless of the shame brought upon the name of Christ.” The remarks of all three evangelists differ in the last statement concerning the impossibility of forgiveness here and in the hereafter in the absence of man’s acknowledgement of his sin, and consequent convicting of the Holy Spirit. Mt. 12:32 says, “It shall not be forgiven him, either in this age, or in the age to come.” The verb ouk aphethesetai, translated “shall not be forgiven,” is in the passive punctiliar future, which means it shall not be forgiven by God, and in particular by Jesus Christ, at any specific time in the future. Matthew says, “shall not be forgiven him,” (auto), meaning, “will not be removed from him.” Put positively, it means it will be counted against him, either in hindering him from entrance into heaven if he only had a false repentance. Mk. 3:29 says, “never has forgiveness.” A more literal translation of the Greek text is, “does not have remission unto the aeon.” Luke simply says, “shall not be forgiven” (ouk aphethesetai). Matthew, however, is the most explicit in saying, “either in this age, or in the age to come.” This is proof that the fate of man as it is determined in this age cannot be altered in the next age. If one does not submit to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and repent, in the future, God is not going to grant that person exemption from the consequences of his failure to repent during his earthly life. The bed that one makes in his life will be the one he must lie in for eternity!

Only Mark 3:29 has the concluding phrase, “But is guilty of an eternal sin.” The Greek text says, “But guilty is he of eternal judgment.” “Guilty” in Greek is enochos (1777), from the verb enecho and enechomai (1758), “to be held fast, bound, obligated.”

Therefore, enochos means guilty and deserving of the punishment to which he is subject, as also in Mt. 26:66; Mk. 3:29; 14:64. Observe that the verb estin (eimi, 1510) is in the present tense. He is guilty right now, not will be guilty. This guilt is always upon the man who does not recognize the Holy Spirit’s conviction. There is no chance of repenting in the hereafter. If he would recognize it and seek forgiveness here, then he would not be liable at the eternal judgment.

Eternal judgment is based upon the judgment of sin on this earth. In eternity God is going to respect our will which we have exercised in the here and now. If we chose to defy God here and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, then God is going to defy us in eternity and let us reap the results of the choice which we made. The last phrase of Mk. 3:29 in the Textus Receptus is aionibu kriseos, “eternal judgment or condemnation.” In other manuscripts, instead of kriseos, “judgment,” we have hamartematos, “individual sin or the result of sin,” which agrees with hamartemata in v. 28 in the phrase “all sins…whatever blasphemies.” Both words, krisis and hamartema, would fit perfectly. If it is krisis (2920), it refers to the ultimate judgment of God which means separating or sifting the good from the evil (Mt. 13:41-43; 49-50), but it also includes the punishment for the evil. If we take it as hamartematos, it would refer to the consequence or the result of our unconfessed and unredeemed sin on earth. The adjective aioniou (166) refers to the eternal judgment, that judgment that will have an effect upon us in the future aeon, “generation” or “age.” Since Matthew speaks both of the present generation and the future generation, this must refer to the future generation when we will be judged as to whether we believed on the Lord unto salvation and also for our walk of the life of faith. The phrase aionios krisis, “eternal judgment,” never occurs anywhere else in the N.T. The closest to it we have is in II Thess. 1:9 where it speaks of “everlasting destruction” (olethron, 3639, aioniou); and in Jude 7, “the vengeance of eternal fire,” which in Greek is “of fire,” puros(4442), “eternal,” aioniou in the genitive, “vengeance or judgment,” diken (1349), as a synonym of krisis.

As far as aionion hamartema, “eternal result of sin,” we find it nowhere else in the N.T. [italics his].

Dr. John Piper also has a spectacular article on forgiveness and the blasphemy against the Spirit at his website desiringGod.org.

In brief, a true believer in Jesus Christ will always repent for “whatever blasphemies they may utter” (Mark 3:28), and be forgiven. Indeed they are forgiven for all their sins, past, present, and future, when the first truly believe in Jesus Christ (John 6:37). Only a person who has made a false profession of faith (2 Peter 2:1) will blaspheme and refuse to repent, perhaps angering God to the point that He hardens their heart so they will not repent (Romans 9:18).

Regarding being disqualified, 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? ––unless indeed you are disqualified.”

Again, once a Christian is saved they are always saved, so the question becomes, “how can a Christian know they have saving faith?” On pages 510 and 511 of Dr. Norman L. Geisler’s Systematic Theology Volume Three: Sin/Salvation, he answers that question:

There are two spheres in which a believer can be aware that he has saving faith: internal and external.

First, in the internal sphere, one must ask whether his faith is in the right object. Saving faith must be in God, not in faith itself. True faith is trusting God’s faithfulness, not ours (2 Tim. 2:13; cf. 2 Cor. 13:5).

Second, one must ask whether he has the right motive, since even the greatest faith in the universe with the wrong intention will not be efficacious. Paul said, “If I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2).

Third, true faith will be confirmed by the right Spirit (the Holy Spirit) witnessing in our hearts that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16; cf. 1 John 4:1).

There are also external tests of true faith.

First, true faith manifests the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).

Second, true faith naturally results in good works (James 2:14-18; 1 John 3:17). We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves us is not alone. It naturally produces good works. We are saved by faith but to works (Eph. 2:8-10; Titus 3:3-8).

Third, true faith lasts (Matt. 13:21-23; 1 John 3:9; 2:19).

Fourth, true faith learns by discipline (Heb. 12:5, 11).

Fifth, truth faith manifests love (1 John 3:18-20).

However, the relationship between true faith and works is not automatic, though it is natural; not inevitable but normal. Saving faith may be dormant, even for long periods of time. Nonetheless, it is difficult to hide life: if it is there, it will tend, naturally and normally, to manifest itself [emphasis his].

This excerpt taken from John Bunyan’s legendary classic The Pilgrim’s Progress, from the chapter titled The Interpreter, looks at falling away from the faith and sinning willfully:

So he took him by the hand again, and led him into a very dark room, where there sat a man in an iron cage.

Now, the man seemed very sad to look on. He sat with his eyes looking down to the ground; his hands folded together; and he sighed as if he would break his heart. Then CHRISTIAN asked, “What does this mean?” At which the INTERPRETER bid him talk with the man.

Christian. Then CHRISTIAN said to the man, “What are you?”

Backslider. The man answered, “I am what I was not once.”

Chr. What were you once?

Back. The man said, “I was once a fair and flourishing professor, both in my own eyes and also in the eyes of others: I once was, as I thought, right for the Celestial City, and even had joy at the thought that I should get there.”

“But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.” Luke 8:13

Chr. Well, but what are you now?

Back. I am now a man of despair, and am shut up in it, as in this iron cage. I cannot get out; oh now, I cannot!

Chr. But how did you come to be in this condition?

Back. I stopped watching over my soul; I laid the reins upon the neck of my lusts; I sinned against the Light of the World, and the goodness of God. I have grieved the Spirit, and he is gone. I tempted the devil, and he has come to me. I have provoked God to anger, and he has left me. I have so hardened my heart, that I cannot repent.

Then CHRISTIAN asked the INTERPRETER, “But is there no hope for such a man as this?” “Ask him,” said the INTERPRETER.

Chr. Then said CHRISTIAN, “Is there no hope. Must you be kept in the iron cage of despair?”

Back. No, none at all!

Chr. Why? The Son of the Blessed is very pitiful.

Back. I have crucified him to myself afresh;

“if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.” Hebrews 6:6
I have despised his person;

“But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’” Luke 19:14
I have despised his righteousness; I have counted his blood an unholy thing; I have done despite to the Spirit of grace:

“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 10:26-29
Therefore I have shut myself out of all the promises, and there now remains for me nothing but threatenings–dreadful threatenings –fearful threatenings, of certain judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour me as an adversary.

Chr. For what did you bring yourself into this condition?

Back. For the lusts, pleasures, and profits of this world; in the enjoyment of which I promised myself much delight; but now everyone of those things bites me and gnaws me like a burning worm.

Chr. But can’t you not now repent and turn?

Back. God has denied me repentance. His Word gives me no encouragement to believe: yes, he himself has shut me up in this iron cage; nor can all the men in the world let me out. Oh, eternity! eternity! how shall I grapple with the misery that I must meet with in eternity?

Inter. Then the INTERPRETER said to CHRISTIAN, “Let this man’s misery be remembered by you, and be an everlasting caution to you” [emphasis his].

The key to the genius of John Bunyan’s commentary, is recognizing the significance of this statement which he puts in the mouth of Backslider, “I was once a fair and flourishing professor.” The operative word is professor, because not every profession of faith is a saving profession, as Dr. Geisler explained regarding 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Bunyan is explaining that while a true believer will always repent and be forgiven for their backsliding (viz. “The Son of the Blessed is very pitiful”), a person making a false profession of faith may have their heart hardened by God, or be left in a state of fear that God wouldn’t forgive them if they repented and believed (“God has denied me repentance. His Word gives me no encouragement to believe”; Romans 9:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:11,12).

A person who has lived a lifestyle of sinning willfully in the past but repents, does not “sin willfully,” they obey God and Christ’s sacrifice is accepted on their behalf. A person who denies Christ for a time, but still believes in Him, has not truly fallen away from the faith. They still have faith, they are just sinning temporarily. A true believer in Jesus will always repent eventually, and be forgiven, (though again, they were ultimately forgiven all along). But a false professor may choose a lifestyle of willfully sinning and not repent, or fall away permanently from the Christian faith they falsely professed butgenuinely experienced in the company of true believers (Hebrews 6:4,5), having their heart hardened by God because they were not willing to truly believe in Jesus and persevere.

Dr. Norman L. Geisler also makes a significant observation regarding Hebrews 6:4-6 on page 332 of his Systematic Theology Volume Three: Sin/Salvation:

Of course, if they were believers, the question then arises as to their status after they had “fall[en] away” (v. 6). In response, it should be observed that this term (Gk: parapesontas) does not indicate a one-way (irreversible) action, which means that the status of those who have fallen away is not hopeless. In fact, that it is impossible for a fallen believer to repent again indicates the once-for-all nature of repentance – his already having “changed his mind” about (or “reversed his direction toward”) Christ has brought him “eternal redemption” (9:12).

What the text (6:6) seems to teach is that there is no more need for drifters (or backsliders) to re-repent and get re-saved than there is for Jesus to be re-sacrificed (cf. 7:27; 9:12, 25-27; 10:5-10)….In summary, this passage points not to loss of salvation but loss of maturity (6:1) and growth (5:13-14), which is precisely the context of the whole discussion [emphasis his].

In addition, Dr. James White has a spectacular sermon on the warning passages in Hebrews at his website aomin.org.

With respect to forgiveness and condemnation, Revelation 21:8 warns us, “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

And Ezekiel 33:10-20 further informs us concerning death:

10 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: ‘Thus you say, “If our transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?”’
11 “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’
12 “Therefore you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: ‘The righteousness of the righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his righteousness in the day that he sins.’
13 “When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.
14 “Again, when I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right,
15 “if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
16 “None of his sins which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is lawful and right; he shall surely live.
17 “Yet the children of your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ But it is their way which is not fair!
18 “When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it.
19 “But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it.
20 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways.”

Finally, 1 John 1:7 blesses us with these words, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

In conclusion, we have seen that the Bible teaches the eternal security of the believer, “once saved, always saved.” In light of this Biblical fact, we understand that believers in Jesus are forgiven for any and all sins, past, present, and future, the moment they truly believe in Jesus Christ (John 5:24). Specifically, we observed that a person who denies Christ before men need only repent and confess Christ before men, in order to have Jesus confess them before His Father in heaven. And we learned that a true believer in Jesus will always repent, even if they get caught up in sin and the denial of Christ for a time. We also learned that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the lifelong, final and decisive refusal to repent, when the Holy Spirit testifies to the truth of Jesus Christ. Such refusal to repent and believe constitutes blasphemously calling the Holy Spirit a liar while He testifies (1 John 5:10). In addition, we noted that the “qualification” for being “in the faith,” is true saving faith. There is an internal and external sphere with which we may examine ourselves to see if Christ is in us: the relationship between true faith and works is not automatic, though it is natural. Lastly, we looked at falling away from the faith and sinning willfully, where the distinction between a true and false profession of faith was drawn out. We recognized that a true believer will always repent, knowing that “The Son of the Blessed is very pitiful,” but false professors will be made fearful and given no encouragement to believe. Conversely, God tells us that in His infinite love and mercy, He will forgive all those who repent, believe, and walk in the light as He is in the light (Ezekiel 33:14-16; 1 John 1:7).