Well our inbox holds at least 50 questions already about Hebrews chapter 6 verses 4 to 6 because we get a lot of questions about falling away and losing salvation like this question from Josh. Pastor John, a couple of years back I heard you speak on Hebrews 6, "I fear a lot." And your words have not helped my fear because you talked about what it would look like if you, John Piper, were to fall away.

"I have professed faith and I have been dealing with sexual sin for a long time. It manifests itself in my marriage as I acted out on fantasies and committed adultery multiple times. My sin was found out of my wife who left me. I spent last summer living as one with the world.

I slept around and was one of the guys in every respect. Nothing could distinguish me as a Christian. I've repented and I'm trying to overcome the root sexual sin that caused my downfall. I'm getting back into the Word and praying daily. I know that my salvation depends on Christ, but would what I have done count as falling away in the context of Hebrews 6 verses 4 to 6?

Does my sexual sin mean I cannot be restored to repentance?" Well the short answer is, I don't know. I don't know whether your protracted sexual sin will have the effect of preventing you from being restored to repentance. And I hope the fact that I don't know will sound to you both sobering and hopeful.

Sobering because it is possible to sin oneself into a condition of inability to repent. And hopeful because in Christ Jesus, the worst of sins, the worst of sins will be forgiven if there is authentic repentance in faith in Jesus Christ. So let me try to help by giving the bigger picture of the book of Hebrews.

This book is written precisely to help people, save people, who have made a great beginning in the Christian life. Described, for example, in chapter 10 verses 32 to 34, "Recall the former days when you were enlightened. You endured a hard struggle with sufferings. You had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one." That's an amazing beginning in the Christian life.

They joyfully accepted the plundering of their property for the sake of love. They made a great beginning, but now they're starting to drift away, according to chapter 2 verse 1. "We must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it." Or chapter 12 verse 12, "Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather healed." Or chapter 3 verse 12, "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, because we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end." So we know that they were born again because they're persevering.

Did you get that from verse 14? We have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our confidence firm to the end. So our perseverance to the end confirms that we were truly in Christ. And what's so baffling for many people, and yet so wonderful about this book, is that the strategy of the inspired writer is to lavish the readers with glorious displays of superiority, the superiority of Christ and his salvation for sinners.

That's one thing. And yet, on the other hand, to give the most stark and stunning warnings of destruction if we turn away from this overflowing grace and join Esau by selling our birthright for a bowl of pottage and so prove that we were never in Christ like we saw in 3.14.

So I strongly encourage anyone who may be stumbling over the warnings of chapter 6 and chapter 10 and chapter 12 to read the whole book beginning to end and let yourself be swept up into the superiority of Christ over angels, superiority of Christ over Moses, superiority of Christ over Old Testament priests, superiority of Christ over Melchizedek.

Let yourself be swept into the fact that his covenant is a better covenant, and his promises are better promises, and his sacrifice is a better sacrifice. This book is a volcano, an overflow of spectacular provisions of God through Christ to save the worst of sinners. Yes, it is. Let this be the primary impact of the book of Hebrews.

Now, to be sure, the terrible warnings of destruction are there, like Hebrews 12.15. "See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God, that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected." Why?

"For he found no place of repentance." He couldn't repent, "though he sought it with tears." That's the heart of the warning in this book. Don't treat the grace of God and the preciousness of Christ and the forgiveness of sins and eternal life with such contempt that you harden your heart to the point where you can't cherish Christ anymore.

You can't hate sin anymore. You can't repent or receive forgiveness anymore. The warnings in the book of Hebrews are most fundamentally not warnings about being beyond the reach of grace. They are warnings about hardness of heart that cannot receive grace as a precious gift and rest in grace as free and cherish grace as all-satisfying.

The problem with Esau in chapter 12—and this is the main problem that the writer is dealing with— the problem with Esau in chapter 12 was not that grace and forgiveness were unavailable, but that he had sinned himself into a condition where he could not welcome them as more precious than his bowl of Cheerios, oatmeal, pottage.

He loved this world so much. He loved sin so much that freeness, the freeness and the all-sufficiency of grace couldn't be seen or felt or received as more precious than sin. So it says in 12.17, "He found no place, no occasion, no ability of repentance, though he sought it with tears." Not tears of repentance over the ugliness and the distastefulness and the Christ-crucifying evil of sin.

No, no. His tears were the tears of fearful remorse that refused repentance because of the sin he still loved. So, the point of the book of Hebrews—and my point here is not to identify people for whom it's too late. That's not what Hebrews is trying to do. That's not what I want to do.

I don't want to decide for anybody whether it's too late for you. I pray, and I hope it's not. I don't believe it is. Rather, the point is to say to everyone, just like it does in chapter 3, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, but take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.

Exhort one another every day, as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." This is a man crying out to a church for whom he believes it's not too late. It's not too late if you can do this. Would you do this?

Would you not harden your hearts? Or as chapter 10 says, "Oh, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what is promised." It's a sweet pleading to every person.

It's not too late. Turn. Don't harden your heart. Maintain your hope. Keep your confidence. Amen. Thank you, Pastor John, for those sobering words. And Josh, thanks for your openness to talk about your past here on the podcast. It's very much appreciated that you would share your story with us.

And thanks for listening to the podcast. Over at our online home, you can explore all of our episodes in our archive now of about 1,300 episodes to date. There you can see a list of our most popular episodes, read full transcripts, even submit a question you might be wrestling with yourself.

For all of that, go to DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn. Also, be sure to subscribe to us and your favorite podcast app. Well, God is sovereign. How do we pray boldly for things while also honoring God's final decision that his "no" may be the best option? How do we rightly pray in confidence with authority on someone else's behalf for healing, for example, while remaining in full submission to the mystery of God's will?

That's a really sharp, good question, and that's on Monday. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Have a wonderful weekend. We'll see you back here then.