Chapter Three

The first verse listed below (Heb. 3:6) appears to show that it is possible for a Christian to lose his place “in Christ’s house.” This supposedly occurs if he fails to firmly maintain his confidence and rejoicing in the hope firm unto the end. This is another way, however, of saying that “he lost his salvation.”

The second verse below (Heb. 3:14) appears to show that it is possible for a Christian to cease being a “partaker of Christ.” This also supposedly occurs if he fails to steadfastly hold the beginning of his confidence unto the end. This is also just another way of saying “he lost his salvation.”

Even more unfortunate, those who do not understand that the Book of Hebrew was written to the Hebrews make the sad mistake of teaching that these verses declare that a Gentile Christian can lose his salvation. As a matter of fact, neither of the above Scriptures teaches that a Christian (Hebrew or Gentile) can lose his salvation. Neither of these two verses have anything at all to do with any Christian (Hebrew or Gentile) losing his salvation. They deal with an entirely different subject. They ask, “Did the Group 3A Hebrews in these two verses ever have salvation at all?” (Remember, Group 3A are the “undecided.” Refer again to the Introduction.) Put differently, these two verses ask, “Were these Group 3A Hebrews ever saved to start with?” The following discussion will demonstrate this for you. You will be startled but your faith will be increased.

Again, these verses have nothing to do with any Christian losing his salvation. There is no way on earth that anyone can accurately believe that these Scriptures teach one thing about any Christian losing his salvation. The reason is that the Greek construction used in these two verses prohibits it. Here’s how.

In Greek, there are Four Classes of Conditional Sentences. These Conditional Sentences are sentences that contain “if-then” constructions. That is, they contain a condition and a conclusion. The condition is the “if clause,” while the conclusion is the “then clause.”

Now, the two verses listed above are Third Class Conditional Sentences. This class has to do with the future only. Consequently, the Third Class Conditional Sentence is a sentence in which the conclusion (then clause) will become reality in the future only if and when the condition(s) in the “if clause” has been fully met.

In the Third Class Condition, the probability is high that the if clause will in fact be fulfilled. Remember, though, the conclusion or then clause will be fulfilled only if and when the condition(s) in the if clause is fulfilled.

Let us illustrate this Third Class Condition with Three Scripture examples or illustrations. The examples shown below will make the Third Class Condition as plain to you as the nose on your face.

Scripture Example #1

21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, (then,) I shall be whole. (KJV) (Parenthesis and italics mine)

This woman believed that she would be healed if only she could touch Jesus. She touched him and was instantly healed. In other words, her healing was contingent upon her touching Him. When the if clause (touching his garment) was fulfilled, the conclusion or then clause, (healing) followed instantly. Conversely, had she not touched him, she would not have been healed.

Scripture Example #2

2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the Law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, (then,) she is loosed from the Law of her husband. (KJV) (Parenthesis and italics mine)

In this verse, being loosed from the Law of her husband (the conclusion or then clause) was contingent upon the death of her husband (the if clause). Once the husband died, she was instantly loosed. Put differently, the conclusion followed immediately upon the condition being met. On the other hand, had the husband not died, she would not have been loosed.

Scripture Example #3

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, (then) thou shalt be saved. (KJV) (Parenthesis and italics mine.

Being saved, here, (the conclusion or then clause) is contingent upon confessing with the mouth and believing with the heart (the condition or if clause). In other words, the very moment anyone confesses and believes, he/she is instantly saved. But if these conditions, confessing and believing, are not met, no salvation follows.

These verses demonstrate and clarify the Greek Third Class Condition. Nothing happens in the conclusion or then clause until the condition(s) in the if clause has been literally and actually fulfilled.

In addition to the above Bible illustrations of the Third Class Condition, Greek Grammarians define it for you the very same way. They say the very same things about it. Two of them define it for you in the following footnote. [i]

Leading Commentators also declare that the Author employs the Third Class Condition in Hebrews 3:6 and 14. Two of them confirm this for you in the following footnote. [ii]

What Heb. 3:6 and 14 Really Said About Salvation

From the above discussion, we easily see that no one can ever determine if the people in verses 6 and 14 ever possessed salvation at all until the very end of their lives. Here’s why!

The condition (the if clause in verse 6) contains a time element for its fulfillment. That time element is unto the end. The time element, unto the end, prevents the fulfillment of the if clause before the very end of a person’s life. In other words, for anyone to determine for sure whether or not one of these Hebrews in verse 6 was ever really in Christ’s house (the conclusion or then clause), he/she will have to wait until the very end of that Hebrew’s life. Why? They will have to wait to the end of that Hebrew’s life because that is the only time the if clause can finally be realized. Please remember our Greek rule above: the conclusion can only occur when the condition has been completely fulfilled. In verse 6, the condition can only be fulfilled at the end of their lives.

Verse 14 also has a time element that limits when the if clause can be fulfilled. That time element is also the end of these Hebrews’ lives. Therefore, no one can say for sure whether or not these Hebrews were “partakers of Christ” until the very end of their lives. Only at that time can the condition of being “a partaker” be fulfilled.

Both verses have the same basic condition that can only be fulfilled at their death. Verse 6 declares that they must hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of hope firm unto the end. Verse 14 states that they must hold the beginning of their confidence stedfast unto the end.

These two Scriptures do not and cannot teach that a Christian (Hebrew or Gentile) had salvation and lost it! Had our Author meant to say this, he would never have used the Third Class Conditional Sentence here. There is no way anyone could ever use the Greek Third Class Conditional Sentence, in this context or anywhere else, to teach that these people had salvation and lost it.

Yes, the English translation of these two verses does appear to teach that a Christian (Hebrew or Gentile) can lose his salvation by a crisis of confidence. Applying the above rule concerning the Third Class Condition from the Greek text, however, we can readily see that this is impossible! These two verses absolutely do not teach that a Christian can cease being “in Christ’s house” or cease being “a partaker of Christ” by any kind of crisis in his confidence level. For this to happen, the “if clause” in both verses must have a total fulfillment. In this context this total fulfillment cannot occur until the very end of their lives!

In other words, it cannot be known whether or not they were in Christ’s house (in verse 6) until and unless the condition or “if clause,” (the holding fast both the confidence and rejoicing of the hope) has been completely and totally fulfilled! According to this rule, then, it cannot be determined whether or not the people in verse 6 were part of Christ’s house until the very end of their lives. Only at that time and not before, can anyone accurately determine whether or not they held fast to their confidence level! The same thing holds true for verse 14.

Therefore, in these two verses above, it was not at all a matter of these Hebrews being part of Christ’s house and losing it. It was a matter of being there to start with. Kenneth Wuest, applying the rules for the Greek Third Class Conditional Sentence, says that this verse has nothing to do with the retention of salvation. He said that it has to do with the possession of salvation. Remember, the “if clause” must be fulfilled before the “then clause” becomes actual reality.[iii] (KW2-Hebrews-P72)

This Greek construction demands the interpretation that for any one to have ever been “in Christ’s house,” or a “partaker of Christ,” he will never have this crisis of confidence. Should a crisis of confidence ever occur, he was never “in Christ’s house” from the beginning. Neither was he ever “a partaker of Christ” at all. This is the exact meaning of the Third Class Condition.

Obviously, this verse is aimed at those who profess but do not possess. This is Group 3C we mentioned in the Introduction of this Commentary. Therefore, this verse has nothing to do with any Christian losing his salvation. On the other hand, this verse proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that they never possessed salvation at all. Their confidence level getting shook to the core provides the proof that they never possessed salvation at all.

Let me emphasize again, Verse 14 says nothing about a Christian (Hebrew or Gentile) being a present “partaker of Christ” and then losing it based upon a crisis of confidence. A believer is a “partaker of Christ,” in the final analysis, only when the “if clause” has been completely fulfilled. Again, this condition will only be fulfilled at the very end of his/ her life.

Therefore, verse 14 says nothing about any Christian presently “partaking of Christ.” In this Greek construction, it cannot be determined whether or not he/she was a partaker of Christ until the end of his/her life and it was found to be true of him/her that he/she maintained his/her confidence level up to the end.

In other words, these verses absolutely do not teach that any person (Jew or Gentile) who has salvation now, can lose it by a crisis in his confidence level. Theses verses teach the exact opposite. They demonstrate from the hard and fast rules of Greek grammar this absolute truth: the people who were the subjects of these verses never possessed salvation at all if they waver in their confidence level!

Yes, they professed that they had accepted Christ as their final sacrifice for sin under Moses’ law, but did they mean it? Was it real? Did they really have salvation to begin with? Did they profess what they did not have? If they lost their confidence, according to the Greek Third Class Condition, they never had salvation at all.

These two Scriptures have absolutely nothing to do with possessing salvation and then losing it. It has everything to do with whether or not they ever had salvation to begin with. The only test will be at the end of their lives as evidenced by the continued maintenance of their confidence level. Wuest, again, said it well. He said that it is not a matter of “retention of salvation based upon a persistence of faith, but of the possession of salvation as evidenced by a continuation of faith. ⁴

Who are The Fathers and what difference does it make?

The answers to these questions are absolutely necessary for you to understand, not only this Commentary, but also the entire New Testament.

It is very easy to demonstrate that “the Fathers” are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The verses below go back in the Bible to some of the first uses of the expression, “the Fathers.”

13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations. (KJV) (Italics mine)

5 That they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee. (KJV) (Italics mine)

From these verses we may conclude this hard and fast rule: unless the context absolutely dictates otherwise, the expression, “the Fathers,” include Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This is so because God made the Abrahamic covenant with Abraham, confirmed it with Isaac and finally reconfirmed it with Jacob.

Furthermore, in verse 8 below, God calls His covenant with Abraham the oath which he had sworn to your fathers. We now know who the fathers are.

8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (KJV) (Italics mine)

Now notice that in verse 9, He calls his covenant with Abraham both covenant and mercy.

9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; (KJV) (Italics mine)

Now, Dear Reader, you can easily see that the keeping of the Law of Moses enabled the Old Testament Abrahamic Seed Group to maintain the blessings given them by birth in the Abrahamic covenant. Verse 11 below contains God’s command for them to keep the commandments of Moses while verse 12 shows what God does for them if they do, in fact, keep Moses’ commandments.

11 Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them.

12 Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers:

Here, we see that the Law of Moses was given to maintain the blessings the Hebrews had been born with in the Abrahamic covenant. Observe closely, here, that the Abrahamic covenant is called the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers. Keep in mind that the Law of Moses was never intended to enable the Old Testament Abrahamic Seed Group to obtain salvation and blessings by the works of the Law. Instead, it was given to enable them to maintain the Abrahamic blessings they had by birth in the Abrahamic covenant.

In the next chapter, you will see God’s rest replacing their many, many works of sacrificing. This is also a real faith builder. Many of these Hebrews just couldn’t get it out of their minds that God had done it all for them in the Abrahamic covenant and ratified and perpetuated it through the blood of Jesus. You will never be the same after reading just this one chapter.

¹The following Greek Grammars define precisely the Third Class Condition. (In Greek grammars, the condition or “if clause” is called the protasis and the conclusion or “then clause” is called the apodosis.)

Books and Winbery in Syntax of New Testament Greek, Page 164, states, “The statement in the apodasis (the conclusion or “then clause”) becomes a reality only when the conditions stated in the protasis (the condition or “if clause”) are met.” (Parentheses mine)

In other words, the conclusion follows immediately upon the heels of the fulfillment of the conditional part, the “if clause” of the sentence.

James Allen Hewett, in his New Testament Greek, A Beginning and Intermediate Grammar, Page 170, uses Bible illustrations to define the Third Class Condition. Citing John 13:17, he says that the conclusion or then clause will occur “only upon the fulfillment” of the “if clause.”

He then cites John 8:36 and says concerning it that “Given it’s (the condition or “if clause”) future fulfillment…the apodosis (the conclusion) is sure to follow.” (Parentheses mine)

Finally, he cites Romans 10:9. He emphatically declares that if one confesses and believes (the conditions or “if clause”) then “the conclusion will follow without question.” (Parenthesis mine)

[ii] A. T. Robertson in his famous Word Studies in the New Testament, Volume 5, Pages 355 and 358, asserts that both these verses use the Third Class Condition.

Kenneth S. Wuest in Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, Vol. 2,, Page 72, does not call it a Third Class Condition, he just describes it. He says, “The writer is proposing a condition as yet unfulfilled. If these Jews, to whom he is writing, hold fast their confidence and the rejoicing of their professed hope in Messiah firm to the end of their lives, that fact shows that they belong to the house of God, in other words, are saved.”

³ Wuest, cited above, says concerning verse 6 that, “The subject of the security of the believer is not in view here.” He further states that if the Jews being addressed in this passage do not maintain their confidence until the very end of their lives, this fact “shows that they never were saved.” Again, we repeat with Wuest. “It is not the retention of salvation that is in question here, but the possession of salvation.”

⁴Concerning verse 14, Wuest says, “If these first-century Jews would maintain their faith in Messiah to the end of their lives, that would show that they had become in the past partakers of Messiah, and that as a present result they are partakers of Him. Again as in verse 6, the question is not one of the retention of salvation based upon a persistence of faith, but of the possession of salvation as evidenced by a continuation of faith.”

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Chapter Three

Two Warnings to those who profess but do not possess: False and Misleading Interpretations Corrected

Scripture Example #1

Scripture Example #2

Scripture Example #3

What Heb. 3:6 and 14 Really Said About Salvation

Who are The Fathers and what difference does it make?