My Thoughts on Hebrews 10:26, Eternal Security, and Conditional Security

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My recent study of Hebrews with Vernon McGee's "Thru the Bible" commentary has now brought me over to the tenth chapter. I was thinking of some familiar verses that have been used to justify the doctrine of conditional security. Preachers like Dan Corner are known to take verses out of their context. I've had a headache reading through Corner's self-righteousness and forked tongued posts. Since many of these preachers tend to use the New International Version (while some also use the King James Version) - I'm going to quote from both versions of Hebrews 10:26-29 for a fuller reference than just the verse on focus. 
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? (KJV) 
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? (NIV)

It's something whenever conditional security preachers say, "Look, you can lose your salvation!" What they don't realize is the distinction in lordship salvation.  The lordship salvation distinctive also draws a line between true converts and false converts. Many people claim to be saved but their lifestyles show otherwise. Truly saved people may not have their flesh 100% nailed to the cross but the fruits of righteousness show up. Titus 2:11-14 tells us that God's grace teaches righteous living. I do have every right to question the validity of the salvation of a person claiming to be in Christ yet living in sin.

What does it mean to receive the knowledge of the truth? Receiving the knowledge of the truth is different than trusting Christ as your Lord and Savior. McGee's commentary has mentioned that going on willful sinning means to still continue offering sacrifices even after Jesus completed it all. There are no more sacrifices for sins because Jesus paid it all. 

Also, John F. MacArthur's article "Can Believers Continue in Patterns of Willful Sin?" has some useful insights which I'm going to quote:
Every apostate is an unbeliever, but not every unbeliever is an apostate. Many people have never had the opportunity to hear the gospel, even in part. They are sinful and, of course, do not believe in Christ, because they have never heard of Him or of His claims. An apostate, however, is well acquainted with the gospel. He knows more than enough to be saved. 
The Greek language has two primary words that can be translated “knowledge.” Gnosis has to do with ordinary knowledge, and in the New Testament is often used for general spiritual knowledge. But epignosis, the word used in verse 26, denotes full knowledge, understanding, and discernment. In other words, the persons described here are those who have much more than a passing acquaintance with the gospel. They know it well. An apostate has all the information. He lacks nothing intellectually. He has epignosis. He is among those who have “once been enlightened, … tasted of the heavenly gift,” and even “been made partakers of the Holy Spirit” (Heb. 6:4). 
An apostate can be bred only in the brilliant light of proximity to Christ. Apostates are not made in the absence, but in the presence, of Christ. They are bred almost without exception within the church, in the very midst of God’s people. It is possible for a person to read the Bible on his own, to see the gospel clearly, and then reject it—apart from direct association with Christians. But by and large, apostates come from within the church. 
Eventually, sometimes even after years of pretense and self-deception, the unbeliever who acts like a believer finally falls away. He gives up, loses interest, and goes his own way. He returns to sinning willfully, with no more regard for the Lord’s way or the Lord’s people. To know God’s way, to study about it and hear about it, to identify with believers, and then turn away is to become apostate. The process of falling away may be gradual, but at some point a conscious decision is made to leave the way of God, and reject the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Willfully (hekousios) carries the idea of deliberate intention that is habitual. The reference here is not to sins of ignorance or weakness, but to those that are planned out, determined, done with forethought. The difference between sins of ignorance and sinning willfully is much like the difference between involuntary manslaughter and first-degree murder. Hekousios is habitual. It not only is deliberate, but is an established way of thinking and believing. It is the permanent renunciation of the gospel, the permanent forsaking of God’s grace. 
A believer may sometimes lapse into sin and stray from intimacy with the Lord and with His people. But, unless the Lord disciplines him and takes him to heaven, he will come back. He will be too much under conviction to stay away permanently. In the meanwhile, he will be robbed of joy and peace and of many other blessings.

Apostates are people who seem to be Christians. I've run across some of them. One time a Buddhist joined a Christian fellowship for four years straight every Friday night. However, he returned to being a Buddhist when he exited the school. Another claimed that she supposedly received Jesus as her Lord and Savior but later returned to her family's syncretic background. I've known someone who grew up in a Baptist school but later converted to Taoism. MacArthur's book "Hard to Believe" also had him mention some of his schoolmates who later converted to Buddhism. It's a sad thing really when you realize it.

This hekousios or willfully means that it's intentional and very well-planned. MacArthur's comparison to both involuntary manslaughter (that is me killing out of passion) vs. well-planned murder. I might get parole from involuntary manslaughter while I would deserve the death penalty or to rot in jail for well-planned murders. You can think about how apostates are. Remember Judas Iscariot showed not shown single remorse for stealing money. I'm not saying Christians can't lapse into that, they might get mad when they are rebuked, but God usually chastises them almost instantly. I remembered trying to cheat small amounts of money out of desperation and foolishness. God would usually get even unbelieving people to chastise me. I end up returning the money. I know someone who said he was an Evangelical Christian, he cons people money, and he still continues to do it without remorse. It would be safe to assume that he's an apostate.

How does hekouisios also make it not just habitual but also an established way of thinking, believing, and permanent renunciation of the Gospel and the forsaking of God's grace? My thoughts would be such people have heard the truth too many times. I think the Buddhist I knew already was told that Gautama Buddha is still dead and that Jesus rose from the grave. A Buddhist cousin of mine heard it too many times and still sticks to Buddhism. Some of my Roman Catholic schoolmates in a Baptist school never got saved had their experience too. Another person who I knew returned to syncretism (Catholic and Buddhist) temporarily attended church services in the Baptist school. Some have grown up in Christian schools since pre-school and yet they never come out saved. Many have heard the Gospel in every graduation ceremony and left the school with the pastor's speech. Yet, they are still not saved. I remembered how somebody I used to despise actually had a true conversion. Sadly, others who attended the youth fellowship with him walked out on him. They have heard the Gospel so many times yet they still go back to their religion. They attended the graduation worship service but only a few came forward. Others came forward but were never truly saved. However, some people only entered the Baptist school for a few years and they got saved. It's sad really how it happens. They have been exposed to Bible studies for a very long time yet they are never saved.

I remembered the time I didn't fight for my right to attend a Christian service. I was told that if I wanted to go to church then why not just go with them. My folks always tell me that the difference between Catholic and Protestant is just interpretation. I was robbed of joy and peace, even desiring and lusting after unbelieving women, because of that straying away. Then I noticed that after my teenage to college years - I decided that I really needed to go to church. I thought of running away from home yet I was told by a pastor not to do it. I had to show with my life and maybe my folks will support my decision to attend a Bible-believing church. I was walking in a contradiction. The worse was that I never asked God to help me with my lustful feelings towards certain unbelieving women. I could have landed in Samson's predicament because of his affairs with three unbelievers - his Philistine wife, a prostitute in Gaza, and Delilah. I got too nervous because I never asked God for strength. I soon discouraged people from converting to Christianity when I kept badmouthing my family while saying I was a Christian. I told them my family was unconverted, told half-truths, told them I was a convert. Yet, such behavior is not pleasing at all. Yet, I didn't find myself living wantonly like the rest of the world. I still found myself willing to finish on time, not drinking nor smoking, getting into idolatrous rituals, and the like. Then I found myself entering into pagan places of worship (such as Buddhist and Taoist temples which are open to the public) because while demons can't possess me - they can still obsess me with things, not of God. Now, I wonder how I can be open about my faith after I told them that I was a Christian? 

I was even thinking I wanted to do a lot of worse things than my compulsive lying or gossiping lately. I've even had the temptation to sexually molest someone beyond the mischief I did while I was a frustrated teenager. I really feel the desire to sexually assault someone I find attractive. I find myself coveting another man's wife and the desire to steal her. I also want to torture someone brutally for past offenses. I seldom think of even committing murder when somebody called me a name or irritated me to no end. I even want to mutilate someone. Thank God that I didn't do any of them and I take no credit for myself. I don't think it's just the fear of going to jail that has stopped me. Sure, there are the authorities jailing criminals yet some people who have no connections still break the law. I think it has to do with the restraining power of the Holy Spirit. Criminals may hear of prosecution of their kind yet they do the crime anyway - even in countries that have very strong law enforcement. I think there's a special kind of power Christians have that would prevent them from doing something maliciously foolish.

Which also reminds me - I do have disagreements with this statement made by MacArthur:
We cannot always determine who is apostate and who is backsliding, and we should not try. We are not able to distinguish between a disobedient carnal believer and an apostate unbeliever. That is the Lord’s business. But there is a difference between the two, a very great difference. A person’s concern should be first of all that he himself is a true believer (2 Cor. 13:5) and then that he is a faithful believer. There are many calls to self-examination in the New Testament. Every time a believer comes to the Lord’s Table, he faces the reality or unreality of his salvation.

Well, there are times that we can't determine the apostate so I agree that we can't always determine who's who. A man caught in adultery may be a genuine believer. Meanwhile, a man who is habitually adulterous has a high chance of being an apostate. I wonder what MacArthur means we shouldn't try. Sometimes, we are not able to determine a disobedient believer who has fallen into a state of carnality vs. an apostate unbeliever. Does MacArthur mean that time (or better God) will ultimately reveal the apostate? It seems to be that's what he means that we shouldn't try to determine who is backsliding and who is apostate. Yet, there are times the obvious comes in. I think anybody claiming to be a Christian living a life of crime and fraud is obviously apostate. I guess Christians didn't even need to try because God made some apostates too obvious for Christians to identify. I think MacArthur could've said "We are not always able." instead of "We are not able." Christians can determine the apostate. Then again, what if he means that we can only distinguish them by God's grace and nothing more?

Yet, there are still some people who claim to be Christians but they live otherwise. I remembered being asked to who's better between the living well Buddhist and the rapist Christian. Even as a young believer - I found the idea of a rapist or assassin Christian to be repugnant. The idea of living in sin and still landing into Heaven is foolish. Not that I believe in salvation by works but someone's lifestyle can prove them to be fake. How can I believe that a rapist is a Christian? I could understand if a Roman Catholic or any obvious fake Christian was a rapist. However, having a habitual rapist in the assembly of Bible-believers is something to consider. I would say that such a person was obviously not saved. He would sooner or later leave the pulpit if most of the people around him are genuinely saved. He would only remain in a church that teaches Antinomianism either directly or indirectly.

Instead, Hebrews 10:26 is really a strong warning not about losing one's salvation or adding works to salvation. Rather, it's all about exposing the fakeries of apostates. They are simply people who are pretenders. 

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