This is a question on which many Christians disagree. More than any other book in the New Testament, the Book of Hebrews is pointed to as key to answering this question because of passages that speak of a person "falling away," "drifting away," or "turning" from the faith, as in 2:1; 3:12; 6:4-6; 10:29, 39; and 12:25. Many Bible teachers also see in the following passages from other New Testament books some related form of the "fallout" expressed in Hebrews: Matthew 12:31; Luke 8:13; Galatians 1:6; 1 Timothy 1:19; 2 Peter 2:1, 20-21.

To help understand these passages and the ones in Hebrews, Christians have taken three prominent positions:

Position 1: Eternal Security

The first understanding of these troubling texts essentially says that the people being described were fully exposed to Christianity, but they eventually chose darkness instead, as if they eventually jumped overboard into shark-infested waters rather than remain aboard the ship deck of professing Christianity.

Those who hold this position believe that these individuals only professed salvation in the first place without every truly possessing it. They can be compared to the group described in 1 John 2:19 who seceded from the local church—their abandonment of the Christian church constituted clear-cut evidence that they weren’t ever authentic Christians in the first place.

Most Christians holding this position (including many Baptists) support a doctrine of eternal security. They cite such verses as John 10:28-30; Romans 8:31-39; Ephesians 1:13-14; Philippians 1:6; and Jude 24 to support their case for a never-to-be lost gift of salvation. Therefore, those who deliberately defect from the Christian faith never really were "sold out" to it in the first place: they were professors rather than possessors.

Position 2: Losing Salvation

Some churches hold that a genuine believer can choose to stop believing and so not be saved at last. This view observes the warnings within all of the "if" passages of the New Testament (such as John 15:6; 1 Cor. 15:2; Col. 1:23; or Heb. 3:14). Those holding this viewpoint might cite 2 Timothy 2:12: "If we disown [Christ], he will also disown us."

Those who hold this position would also emphasize that God genuinely honors human free will. That is, people who once professed Christianity but later repudiated it are permitted by God to arrive at their own free choices—and so be held accountable for the consequences of those choices. People holding this view would therefore argue that those whom God would "keep . . . from falling" (Jude 24) are those who respond responsibly to the active command of Jude 21: "Keep yourselves in God’s love . . . ." (italics added). In that case, such individuals are left free to fall away from grace (Gal. 5:4) if they so choose.

The Bible does not teach that people lose their salvation, and then get it back, and then lose it, and so on. Look at the key word "impossible" in the long sentence that makes up Hebrews 6:4-6. If salvation is indeed "lost," it is "lost" forever.

Position 3: Lost Rewards

Those who hold Position 3 are in agreement with those who espouse Position 1, that believers such as those mentioned in the Book of Hebrews are professing Christians. According to this position, however, it is possible to be a Christian (and an) apostate. In other words, a person can be a professing Christian, yet lose out on God’s blessings for his or her life.

Just as many Jews missed out on sharing in the land of Canaan (Heb. 3:18-19), so some Christian Jews in New Testament times (due to renunciation) might suffer loss. (Even Moses—a true believer—didn’t get in on the blessing of entering God’s rest-land of Canaan.)

These apostate or "fallen" Christians would lose out on sharing in Christ’s future dominion (see Rev. 2:26-27). Such renouncers would miss out on God’s blessings (Heb. 6:7-8) and fall under His severe chastisement (6:8; 10:30-31; 12:29). Such passages in Hebrews should be compared with John 15:5-6; 1 Corinthians 11:28-32; and Jude 23.

So which position is the correct one? Position 3 seems to have the strongest argument.

Consider the sexually immoral man at Corinth that Paul described in 1 Corinthians 5. Paul says to expel the man from the church and "hand him over to Satan" (vs. 5), but not so he would lose his salvation. This was done so that "his spirit [will be] saved on the day of the Lord [at the day of judgment]." This fits Paul’s description of those Christians whose works will be judged at Christ’s return and found lacking, but they themselves will be saved "as one escaping through the flames" (3:10-15). This is a strong "case study" argument for Position 3. That position seems to fit the best even with the biblical passages that appear to indicate "lost" salvation. If we argue that people have "lost their salvation" they would then never have the opportunity to get it back again, but we know that God can forgive and restore us even to the last minutes of our lives, as Jesus did with the thief on the cross (Luke 23:39-43).

Regardless of which position you take, however, these things are certain:

God alone decides who will be saved, regardless of what we may think ourselves. He alone knows a person’s heart. It is possible to fool other people, but not God.

There will be eternal rewards for believers and punishment for non-believers given after this life on earth. Those whose names are written in the book of life will be rewarded at the last day (Rev. 20:15)--but also now. We lose the rewards God wants to give us now if we turn away from Him. Christians are saved to something, not just from something (Eph. 2:10). We are saved to do His work now, and that work will be judged.

There are enough warnings in Scripture about not "turning back" or "falling away" that God wants Christians to always be on guard against missing the wonderful plans He has for them, both now and into eternity. Any number of "wrong turns" can ruin our lives here and now. We do not have to shake our fists at God and say "I am turning away from You" in order to do just that through our actions.

The most important thing we can do is pledge our lives to Jesus and persevere with Him, whatever happens to us in this life, because He is the only one with the key to eternity (see John 6:66-69).