Can a Believer Loose Their Salvation?

[Davy]

The answer is yes, because believing on Jesus Christ as God's promised Savior is a CHOICE, not a forced decision.

If someone who claims to have believed on Jesus Christ at some time later changes his/her mind, and falls away from Christ Jesus to another, then yes, they have lost... their Salvation. And Apostle Paul in Hebrews 6 reveals this fact...

No dilly-dallying on this like some smooth soothsayer pushes the lie of 'once saved, always saved', I'm going straight to The Scripture...

Heb 6:1-12
6 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 And this will we do, if God permit.

Basically, Apostle Paul here is getting ready to reveal a 'strong meat' teaching... so it's time here he shows with this matter, to temporarily leave the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, etc., i.e., the saving milk of God's Word. Hope you're ready for this 'strong meat' here...

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.

What Paul says above is very serious, and it is about a 'believer' on Jesus Christ that PURPOSEFULLY turns away from belief on Jesus Christ, even AFTER that believer had ALREADY been given PROOF by being once enlightened, and tasted of the heavenly gift, and made partaker of The Holy Spirit, and tasted the good Word of God, and even the powers of the world to come!

You see brethren, once you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, and have been given PROOFS of those "powers of the world to come", and partake of The Holy Spirit, then it means there is NO EXCUSE, NO PARDON, if you afterwards decide to turn away from that belief on Jesus Christ.

The gifts by The Holy Spirit is your EVIDENCE and ACCOUNTABILITY of your Faith on Jesus Christ. Once you experience that, and you decided to turn away, it would mean for you to be 'saved' anew, it would be like crucifying Jesus all over again!

Now before some of you that love to do guilt trips on yourself, understand this; a believer that loses their way temporarily because of this world, yet in their heart they never give up their Faith in The Father and on the saving Blood of His Son Jesus Christ, that person is NOT in that situation above. They are still a 'believer'. The above situation is about a believer that renounces... their belief on Jesus Christ, like if they became an atheist.

7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

And thus Paul reveals the 'fate' of that one above that renounces their Faith after having experienced The Holy Spirit and the powers of the world to come. And this definitely is... about one who once 'believed' on Jesus Christ but then turns away to not believe. We know this simply because, only a 'believer' on Jesus Christ would be able to experience those gifts of the powers of the world to come by The Holy Spirit.

9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
KJV

But those brethren in Christ which Paul addresses this to, he is persuaded will stay the course in their Faith on Jesus Christ, and working for Him, all the way to the end of this world.

This Hebrews 6 WARNING by Apostle Paul, reveals man's "once saved, always saved" doctrine is a lie. If a believer that has been given PROOF turns away from the Faith, and no longer believes on Jesus, they WILL... lose their Salvation.

 

[DJT_47]

A saved person (which is not simply a believer) can lose their salvation as the scriptures teach

 

[Jim C]

This Hebrews 6 WARNING by Apostle Paul, reveals man's "once saved, always saved" doctrine is a lie. If a believer that has been given PROOF turns away from the Faith, and no longer believes on Jesus, they WILL... lose their Salvation.

And this is because in doing so they have committed the one unpardonable sin: blaspheming the Holy Spirit. You see, the Holy Spirit testifies about Christ and the fact that He is God's Son.
In Scripture, the Pharisees blasphemed the Holy Spirit by rejecting His testimony by attributing the miracles Christ was performing through the Holy Spirit to the Devil.
Today, people blaspheme the Holy Spirit by taking in the testimony of the Holy Spirit (doing as Paul describes), then turning around and consciously rejecting it. By doing so they call the Holy Spirit a liar and that His testimony is false. As a result they cut themselves off completely from the Holy Spirit, resulting in them being fully unable to have any desire for Christ as such desire can only come at the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

 

[Gabriel _Arch]

Faith and God's grace by which we arrive at faith, and in so doing are saved, is a gift of Father God. Not our doing,so that we cannot boast of saving ourselves.

The calling and gifts of God,as he tells us,are permanent.
So no,we cannot truly lose our faith or salvation. All that God blesses us with when we are washed clean and are re-born in Christ is God's doing. Because he knows the heart unto the end of time. And does not make mistakes.


God knew us before the womb.He certainly deeply knows us in the flesh.

 

[Papa Smurf]

The answer is yes, because believing on Jesus Christ as God's promised Savior is a CHOICE, not a forced decision.

Hello Davy, this thought crossed my mind when I read the OP title, what about when we are in Heaven, or living out eternity on the New Earth? Will we be secure at that point (and thereby, for the balance of eternity, as well), or will the possibility of ending up in the Lake of Fire be something that believers will always need to be worried about?

What do you think, why/why not?

Thanks

--Papa Smurf

 

[APAK]

The answer is yes, because believing on Jesus Christ as God's promised Savior is a CHOICE, not a forced decision.

If someone who claims to have believed on Jesus Christ at some time later changes his/her mind, and falls away from Christ Jesus to another, then yes, they have lost... their Salvation. And Apostle Paul in Hebrews 6 reveals this fact...

No dilly-dallying on this like some smooth soothsayer pushes the lie of 'once saved, always saved', I'm going straight to The Scripture...

Heb 6:1-12
6 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
3 And this will we do, if God permit.

Basically, Apostle Paul here is getting ready to reveal a 'strong meat' teaching... so it's time here he shows with this matter, to temporarily leave the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, etc., i.e., the saving milk of God's Word. Hope you're ready for this 'strong meat' here...

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.

What Paul says above is very serious, and it is about a 'believer' on Jesus Christ that PURPOSEFULLY turns away from belief on Jesus Christ, even AFTER that believer had ALREADY been given PROOF by being once enlightened, and tasted of the heavenly gift, and made partaker of The Holy Spirit, and tasted the good Word of God, and even the powers of the world to come!

You see brethren, once you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, and have been given PROOFS of those "powers of the world to come", and partake of The Holy Spirit, then it means there is NO EXCUSE, NO PARDON, if you afterwards decide to turn away from that belief on Jesus Christ.

The gifts by The Holy Spirit is your EVIDENCE and ACCOUNTABILITY of your Faith on Jesus Christ. Once you experience that, and you decided to turn away, it would mean for you to be 'saved' anew, it would be like crucifying Jesus all over again!

Now before some of you that love to do guilt trips on yourself, understand this; a believer that loses their way temporarily because of this world, yet in their heart they never give up their Faith in The Father and on the saving Blood of His Son Jesus Christ, that person is NOT in that situation above. They are still a 'believer'. The above situation is about a believer that renounces... their belief on Jesus Christ, like if they became an atheist.

7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

And thus Paul reveals the 'fate' of that one above that renounces their Faith after having experienced The Holy Spirit and the powers of the world to come. And this definitely is... about one who once 'believed' on Jesus Christ but then turns away to not believe. We know this simply because, only a 'believer' on Jesus Christ would be able to experience those gifts of the powers of the world to come by The Holy Spirit.

9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
KJV

But those brethren in Christ which Paul addresses this to, he is persuaded will stay the course in their Faith on Jesus Christ, and working for Him, all the way to the end of this world.

This Hebrews 6 WARNING by Apostle Paul, reveals man's "once saved, always saved" doctrine is a lie. If a believer that has been given PROOF turns away from the Faith, and no longer believes on Jesus, they WILL... lose their Salvation.

If you say you are saved/being saved today, have you ever 'lost' your salvation in the past, even many times, (in and out as it were) and 'returned' yet again after another round of genuine repentance and renewal Davy? Do you know of anyone who has ever has been reinstated, even many times and the Spirit of God returned to back into them? And then what would make or want one to return to salvation get again under these 'lost' conditions?

This is surely an impossible feat....

 

[APAK]

(Heb 6:4) For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
(Heb 6:5) who tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
(Heb 6:6) but then fell away- it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (NEV)

They dropped off the Christ/Christian scene, and no human alive or even God, could then bring them back (renew them, turn them around) to true repentance. Their so-called 'free' will would not allow it I guess...? Or did God not choose them (influence their free will) in the first place, as his elect?

The focus in Heb 6: 4-6 is about a person, or persons who experienced everything, all things spiritual to become a genuine believer, except for one crucial thing, their demonstration of genuine repentance that would have given them the Spirit of God in their heart(s) and life(lives).

He or she never truly repented of their sins after first being enlightened by hearing the gospel. Their heart(s) and 'free' will could never come to this point of true belief and true faith. They held out all the while. And so they of course had to eventually fall aside, along the wayside (away) and depart from the experiences of knowing the Spirit of God, they even observed and experienced in other people. Other believers could not bring them to their knees to repent of their sins. The Spirit of God was absent.

They knew the gospel and what it meant. And they knew why Christ went to the Cross. Many even associated with other true believers in Christ, true partakers of the Spirit of God, and was amongst them, even in their congregations. And still they held out and never truly repented and therefore were never given the gift of salvation of the Spirit of God in their heart.

And then the author confirms this previous thought by saying eventhough we spoke this way (of the fallen unrepentant ones) we as believers now speak of the better things for a believer who are saved, having salvation....
(Heb 6:9) But beloved, though we speak in this manner, we are confident of better things for you; things that accompany salvation.

Now the original audience of this message were the Judeans, Judahites, the Pharisees, Sadducees etc., not the modern day 21st century reader.

Even some of the Pharisees would have been some who matched the ones described in this post.
They experienced the source of the truth and of the gospel right in front of their eyes, saw/partook/experienced his miracles of the Spirit of God first-hand and still did not come to repentance. They still preferred the old wine from the old wineskins, as many did in Judea at that time.

Today's equivalence for falling back or going back to drink the old wine of the Law would be for one to go back and drink or eat form the vomit of the self and the world and its carnal ways of living...whatever that would be, as a form or type self-centered heartless living.

(2Pe 2:20) For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.
(2Pe 2:21) For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
(2Pe 2:22) It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to his own vomit and a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

These never truly repented of their sins for true salvation

 

[Davy]

Hello Davy, this thought crossed my mind when I read the OP title, what about when we are in Heaven, or living out eternity on the New Earth? Will we be secure at that point (and thereby, for the balance of eternity, as well), or will the possibility of ending up in the Lake of Fire be something that believers will always need to be worried about?

What do you think, why/why not?

Thanks

--Papa Smurf

If we make it to God's Eternity, which I'm almost certain most of us will, then God revealed through His Old Testament prophets, like Isaiah, that He will make our minds anew, and make us a joy. We will not remember the things of this present imperfect world of sin and wickedness. And we will plant vineyards and build houses in that future Eternity.

There will never... be a second rebellion like Satan did in the beginning, which caused today's wicked world.

 

[MatthewG]

The answer is yes. However Jesus has saved all people from sin, death, and hades. There is the inside and outside to the kingdom.

 

[Davy]

If you say you are saved/being saved today, have you ever 'lost' your salvation in the past, even many times, (in and out as it were) and 'returned' yet again after another round of genuine repentance and renewal Davy? Do you know of anyone who has ever has been reinstated, even many times and the Spirit of God returned to back into them? And then what would make or want one to return to salvation get again under these 'lost' conditions?

This is surely an impossible feat....

I already covered that idea in my original post. The believing Christian does not always listen to The Holy Spirit as Guide, and falls into Satan's traps of sin. That doesn't mean they renounced their FAITH on Jesus Christ though. Often times, it is the seed of their FAITH on Jesus still in their spirit that makes them want to leave a bad condition of sin, and get back with Lord Jesus Christ.

But for a Christian who had experience gifts by The Holy Spirit, who clearly renounces their FAITH in Christ Jesus, and consciously becomes an atheist, that is the unpardonable sin. Thus deception is one thing, but falling away under accountability is another.

 

[Hobie]

Hello Davy, this thought crossed my mind when I read the OP title, what about when we are in Heaven, or living out eternity on the New Earth? Will we be secure at that point (and thereby, for the balance of eternity, as well), or will the possibility of ending up in the Lake of Fire be something that believers will always need to be worried about?

What do you think, why/why not?

Thanks

--Papa Smurf

Sin and all its elements will be gone, never to rise again. So we will be immersed in the things of God through all eternity...

 

[Davy]

The focus in Heb 6: 4-6 is about a person, or persons who experienced everything, all things spiritual to become a genuine believer, except for one crucial thing, their demonstration of genuine repentance that would have given them the Spirit of God in their heart(s) and life(lives).

He or she never truly repented of their sins after first being enlightened by hearing the gospel. Their heart(s) and 'free' will could never come to this point of true belief and true faith. They held out all the while. And so they of course had to eventually fall aside, along the wayside (away) and depart from the experiences of knowing the Spirit of God, they even observed and experienced in other people. Other believers could not bring them to their knees to repent of their sins. The Spirit of God was absent.

That is not... the idea Apostle Paul was warning about in Hebrews 6.

I was wondering when some here were going to try and INSERT that false idea, that a believer who falls away like that one Paul speaks of never actually repented in the first place, and thus were never a 'true' Christian.

No... that idea goes directly against... what Paul stated about that one having experienced gifts of The Spirit and of the powers of the world to come, and then turning away from Faith on Jesus Christ. That is why Paul showed there also that it is impossible to renew their Faith after doing that, as it would be like crucifying Christ all over again. All that REQUIRES that it be about a believing Christian that DID repent to begin their Faith.

 

[Gabriel _Arch]

The answer is yes. However Jesus has saved all people from sin, death, and hades. There is the inside and outside to the kingdom.

Verse?

 

[Hillsage]

My answer is NO! and YES!

NO!. You can't LOOSE a salvation you could never be good enough to EARN in the first place. And you can't MAINTAIN a salvation that you could never OBTAIN to begin with. And that (first) salvation is the salvation of your spirit being justified. That is the salvation that gives ETERNAL forgiveness for your sins.

YES! But you can GAINor "work out your (soul) salvation with fear and trembling" and you can loose that salvation too. It is called sanctification when doing good and backsliding when doing sin.

But the salvation of your soul has little to do with the eternal consequence of sin in your life. It has to do with the temporal consequence of sin on this side of glory. And in that regard YOU as a Christian WILL reap what you sow. That's simply the first covenant of God, with the first Adam, which is still in effect today...It's "the law of sin and death." That's why Christians all end up in the grave to this day....and heaven in the hereafter.

I am not a Calvinist and I am not an Armenianist.....they are both 1/2 right and 1/2 wrong. And arguing which ONE is right for the next 500 years won't change anything from the last 500.

That's why I am a CALMENIAN......a term I made up long ago.......although CALMINIANISM is a real word.

 

[MatthewG]

Verse?

His victory over all things

 

[Davy]

My answer is NO! and YES!

NO!. You can't LOOSE a salvation you could never be good enough to EARN in the first place. And you can't MAINTAIN a salvation that you could never OBTAIN to begin with. And that (first) salvation is the salvation of your spirit being justified. That is the salvation that gives ETERNAL forgiveness for your sins.

YES! But you can GAINor "work out your (soul) salvation with fear and trembling" and you can loose that salvation too. It is called sanctification when doing good and backsliding when doing sin.

But the salvation of your soul has little to do with the eternal consequence of sin in your life. It has to do with the temporal consequence of sin on this side of glory. And in that regard YOU as a Christian WILL reap what you sow. That's simply the first covenant of God, with the first Adam, which is still in effect today...It's "the law of sin and death." That's why Christians all end up in the grave to this day....and heaven in the hereafter.

I am not a Calvinist and I am not an Armenianist.....they are both 1/2 right and 1/2 wrong. And arguing which ONE is right for the next 500 years won't change anything from the last 500.

That's why I am a CALMENIAN......a term I made up long ago.......although CALMINIANISM is a real word.

Nice speech, but one can... loose their Salvation via sin. It's what Lord Jesus called the unpardonable sin. Only a believer can commit it, which is what Paul was pointing to in Hebrews 6, because only a believer would experience the powers of the world to come by The Holy Spirit, unless... one believes pagan spiritism is equal to the Holy Spirit, which it of course is not.

 

[Davy]

His victory over all things

All brethren should have Faith that our Lord Jesus will save us, as He promised.

But for one who once believed and had that Faith, and experienced spiritual gifts of the world to come, but by their own choice then removes that Faith from their life and follows their flesh and this world, then for that there is no excuse, and to try and renew, it would be like crucifying Christ all over again.

 

[JBO]

Faith and God's grace by which we arrive at faith, and in so doing are saved, is a gift of Father God. Not our doing,so that we cannot boast of saving ourselves.

The calling and gifts of God,as he tells us,are permanent.
So no,we cannot truly lose our faith or salvation. All that God blesses us with when we are washed clean and are re-born in Christ is God's doing. Because he knows the heart unto the end of time. And does not make mistakes.


God knew us before the womb.He certainly deeply knows us in the flesh.

Faith is not a gift. Salvation is a gift to the one with faith. We are saved by grace through faith. Grace is God's part, faith is our part.

But with respect to the topic, a believer will not lose his salvation. One who ceases to believe will lose his salvation. The disbeliever or the unbeliever will not continue in salvation.

Mar 16:16 "He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

It does not preclude the one who has disbelieved from once being a believer.

 

[mailmandan]

The answer is NO. Now in regard to Hebrews 6:4-6, once enlightened - which means to bring to light, to shed light upon or to cause light to shine upon some object, in the sense of illuminating it. John 1:9 describes Jesus, the "true Light," giving light "to every man," but this cannot mean the light of salvation, because not every man is saved. The light either leads to acceptance of Jesus Christ or produces condemnation in those who reject the light.

In regard to partakers of the Holy Spirit, the word translated “partaker” can certainly refer to a saving partaking in Christ, as we read in Hebrews 3:14, yet it can also refer to a less than saving association or participation. See Luke 5:7 and Hebrews 1:9 - "comrades, companions," which describes one who shares with someone else as an associate in an undertaking. These Hebrews who fell away had obviously in some aspect shared in the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but in what way? There are other ministries of the Holy Spirit which precede receiving the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit, which only genuine believers receive.

Those who fall away absolutely could have been affiliated closely with the fellowship of the church. Such people certainly may have experienced sorrow for sin, heard and understood the gospel and have given some assent to it and have become associated with the work of the Holy Spirit while around believers and have tasted the heavenly gift and the powers of the age to come. They may have been exposed to the true preaching of the word of God yet have simply tasted and stopped there. People who have experienced these things may be genuine Christians, yet this alone is not enough to give conclusive evidence that the beginning stages of conversion (repentance unto life, regeneration, salvation, justification, adoption etc..) have taken place for those who fell away. The experiences in Hebrews 6:4-6 are all preliminary to those decisive beginning stages of becoming a Christian, yet those who draw back to perdition after receiving the 'knowledge' of the truth do not believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:39)

These certain individuals who fall short of obtaining salvation certainly may have become partakers of the Holy Spirit in his pre-salvation ministry, convicting of sin and righteousness and judgment to come by tasting the good word of God and temporarily responding to His drawing power which is intended to ultimately lead sinners to Christ, yet the writer of Hebrews does not use conclusive terms that these individuals were "indwelled by the Holy Spirit" or "sealed by the Holy Spirit." Genuine believers who have believed the gospel are sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession/unto the day of redemption. (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30)

In regard to tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, they may have tasted in such a way as to give them a distinct impression of what was tasted, yet they still fell away. Inherent in the idea of tasting is the fact that one might or might not decide to accept what is tasted. For example, the same Greek word (geuomai) is used in Matthew 27:34 to say that those crucifying Jesus "offered him wine to drink, mingled with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it." We do not merely taste, but drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)

In regard to renew them again unto repentance, this does not specify whether the repentance was merely outward or genuine accompanied by saving faith. They have in some sense "repented," there may be sorrow for sins and an attempt to turn from them (moral self-reformation) that non-believers can experience. There is repentance that falls short of salvation, which is clear from Hebrews 12:7 and the reference to Esau, as well as the repentance of Judas Iscariot in Matthew 27:3. Paul refers to a repentance “without regret that leads to salvation,” which shows there is a repentance that does not lead to salvation. As with “belief/faith”, so too with “repentance,” we must always distinguish between what is substantial and results in salvation and what is spurious. Renew them again "unto salvation" would be conclusive evidence for the argument of a loss of salvation.

In Hebrews 6:7-8, we read - For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. In this metaphor relating to agriculture, those who receive final judgment are compared to land that bears no vegetation or useful fruit, but rather bears thorns and thistles. We see in scripture where good fruit is the evidence of spiritual life and a lack of good fruit is a sign of false believers (Matthew 3:8-10; 7:15-20; 12:33-35) so we have an indication that the trustworthy evidence of one's spiritual condition is the fruit they bear (whether good or bad), suggesting that those who fell away in Hebrews 6 were not genuine believers.

*Verse 9 sums it up for me. The writer is speaking to those truly saved (refers to them as BELOVED). He says that even though he speaks like this concerning THOSE types of people, He is convinced of better things concerning YOU. Things that ACCOMPANY SALVATION. Thorns and briars and falling away permanently do not accompany salvation and are not fruits worthy of authentic repentance.

It's generally stated by those who believe that salvation can be lost that it can be regained again, yet that would not be the case here if the writer of Hebrews was teaching a loss of salvation. I have heard certain individuals state they know someone who was truly saved, but later lost their salvation, yet only God truly knows the heart of individuals. Certain people "on the surface" may do a good job of looking like the real deal for a while (like Judas Iscariot, who was an unbelieving, unclean devil who betrayed Jesus - John 6:64-71; 13:10-11) yet to the other 11 disciples, he looked like the real deal, but Jesus knew his heart. There are genuine Christians and there are "nominal" Christians. There are genuine believers and there are make believers and you can't always tell them apart at first.

 

[JBO]

It's generally stated by those who believe that salvation can be lost that it can be regained again, yet that would not be the case here if the writer of Hebrews was teaching a loss of salvation.

The passage in Hebrews has typically been poorly translated/interpreted.

Heb 6:4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
Heb 6:5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
Heb 6:6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.

The word "since" is a poor choice. The NASB has the marginal option of "while" instead of "since". That is a better choice and agrees more properly with other passages such as Romans 11:23,24, where "grafting back in" is positively stated provisionally on not continuing in unbelief.