This is chapter 12 in Covenant Children Today by Alan Conner.
Not sure how much I agree or disagree with it. I do appreciate his references in Hebrews though.
Sanctification and New Covenant Membership
An issue that needs to be addressed involves what may be called covenantal sanctification. There are passages in the New Testament which some believe set forth a kind of sanctification which a person can have that may not end in salvation. Individuals that partake of this sanctification are supposedly members of the covenant for a season. They enjoy many of its outward and external blessings, even though they eventually fall away from the faith and are lost.
The impact of this line of thought on the issue of covenant membership and infant baptism is important. Many of our paedobaptist brethren believe that the New Testament teaches this kind of covenant sanctification. This belief becomes a reason for why they baptize their infants. In effect, this view is embraced in order to justify the practice of baptizing their infants even though some of them will grow up, depart from the faith and become “covenant-breakers.” They argue that since their children are holy, or sanctified (1 Corinthians 7:14), they belong to the covenant. Therefore, even as infants, they should receive the covenant sign of baptism. But, since they also admit that not all of their baptized infants grow up to embrace the faith, they have to hold to a form of covenant sanctification that can be lost. Thus, some paedobaptists want to import into the New Covenant a type of sanctification found in the Old Covenant. They adopt a viewpoint where one can be, at least outwardly speaking, sanctified in some way that brings them into New Covenant membership, but falls short of actual salvation.
Worse still, some go so far as to believe that their infant children are holy in the sense of being saved, being in Christ and having received the Spirit, but still in the end can fall away from grace and be lost. For some of them, their infant children actually receive these blessings when they are baptized. Thus, they embrace something very near, if not identical, to what the Roman Catholics teach about baptismal regeneration.
But there are numerous problems with these assertions about covenant sanctification. In this chapter, we will examine some of the Scriptures used to argue for these assertions. We will examine this view of a sanctification which does not save in the end, yet, nevertheless, makes a person, especially infants, members of the covenant for a limited period of time and, therefore, worthy of baptism. Let us begin, however, by reviewing one of the elements of the New Covenant that we established previously in chapters seven and eight.
The New Covenant Gives Persevering Grace to its Members
The New Covenant gives to all of its members persevering grace. This is the Achilles’ heel of any view that says one can be a member in the New Covenant temporarily and then somehow become a covenant-breaker and fall out of it and be lost. What was true for the Old Covenant is impossible in the New Covenant. Remember Jeremiah 31:31-32, which says: 31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD.
The New Covenant is not like the Old Covenant in this specific way: it cannot be broken as the Old Covenant could. The reason for this is that the New Covenant is a covenant of salvation which regenerates the hearts of its members, forgives them of all of their sins, writes God’s laws on their hearts, and gives them the Holy Spirit by which they are enabled to walk in God’s ways. The Old Covenant did not provide these blessings to all of its members. But, in the New Covenant, “’they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’ declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:34).
The New Covenant cannot be broken because it provides saving grace to all of its members.
Remember also Jeremiah 32:39-40, which says: 39 and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good and for the good of their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me (emphases added).
The New Covenant does not have a kind of sanctification that can fall short of salvation or which can be lost by unbelief or disobedience. Why? Because it gives all of its members a new heart which creates a godly fear in them “so that they will not turn away from Me.” Ezekiel 36:27 says the same: “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” No one can be a member of the New Covenant and then fall away from the faith or apostatize because the Holy Spirit dwells in them and causes them to walk according to God’s Word. God’s New Covenant grace will guarantee their perseverance in the faith. All true members of the New Covenant will remain covenant-keepers; none can fall away. Thus, the New Covenant actually changes the heart and makes one a permanent child of God who cannot practice sin as a way of life (1 John 3:9).
This is a crucial observation. There are no second-class citizens of the New Covenant who get sanctified with only some outward blessings and privileges but who are denied the spiritual grace of salvation. Also, there are no members of the New Covenant who get the spiritual grace of salvation but who lose it in the end. Such reasoning denies the well established doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 1 John 3:9; Romans 8:35-39; John 10:26-30). Those who advocate the view that one can have and then lose their salvation have basically fallen into the error of Arminianism. Those who promote the former view are guilty of pouring new wine into old wineskins. They have failed to see the newness of the New Covenant. The blessings of the New Covenant are not temporary, nor do they provide only outward benefits. They secure in saving grace those who enter into its hallowed halls. Those who become members of the New Covenant are sanctified by the Spirit and kept safe unto the day of glory (1 Peter 1:3-5).
Can an Apostate be previously Sanctified?
How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Hebrews 10:29)
Some suggest that Hebrews 10:29 teaches a view of sanctification in the New Covenant that is similar to that found in the Old Covenant in which a person can be sanctified as a covenant member but eventually turn away and become an apostate. This view asserts that the person referred to in this verse appears as having been sanctified by the blood of the covenant. He subsequently tramples under foot the Son of God, having regarded as unclean the blood by which he was sanctified. This brings down upon himself severe punishment from God. Even though he once was in the covenant, he has now become a covenant-breaker and comes under the severe judgment of God (10:30-31).
This same theory of sanctification is often applied to the infants of believers. They are understood to be legitimate and sanctified members of the New Covenant, even though some may fall out of the covenant later in life. But does Hebrews 10:29 teach this?
There are several reasons for rejecting this point of view. One reason is that this entire interpretation may be misguided in its understanding of the crucial clause, “and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified” (verse 29). Instead of it meaning that the apostate was previously sanctified by the blood of the covenant, there is another possible interpretation. The great Puritan theologian, John Owen, was convinced that the person who was sanctified did not refer to the apostate, but to Jesus Christ himself. The meaning would be that the apostate in this verse was not sanctified himself but regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which Christ was sanctified. I will refer the reader to Owen’s insightful exposition of this text in his seven volume commentary on Hebrews.
For the sake of argument, however, let us assume that the one who was sanctified in this verse does refer to the apostate who trampled under foot the Son of God and regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant. What can we infer from this kind of sanctification? Is there evidence that this apostate was truly a member of the New Covenant and then lost his position in the covenant due to his sin of apostasy? In order to find biblical answers, we shall first consider the context and what it teaches about sanctification in the New Covenant. Then, we will take a closer look at Hebrews 10:29.
First, New Covenant sanctification results in perfection. The context clearly identifies the nature of New Covenant sanctification and it does not allow for anything that results in less than perfection. Hebrews 10:14 says, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (emphasis added). Those who are sanctified by the New Covenant have been perfected by Christ’s one sacrifice on the cross (see Hebrews 10:15-20 for what is clearly sanctification in a New Covenant context). The word “perfect” is used in the book of Hebrews of the tabernacle in heaven (9:11), of Christ (2:10; 5:9; 7:28; 12:2) and the resulting perfection of the saints in heaven (12:23). When applied to believers, this perfection is basically synonymous with salvation and the forgiveness of all sins. On the other hand, this kind of perfection could not be achieved by the law and its various forms of sanctification and cleansing (7:11, 19; 9:9; 10:1). In other words, the sanctification brought about by the New Covenant is not like the defective kind found in the Old Covenant. Unless there was saving faith involved, the Old Testament sanctification that came from its sacrifices and cleansing rituals could only remove the ceremonial uncleanness of sin whereas, the sacrifice of Christ removes the guilt and penalty of sin. New Covenant sanctification brings about a perfection and final salvation unlike anything the Old Covenant law could produce. Those sanctified in the New Covenant are made perfect by Christ. They are perfectly forgiven. They do not receive just outward blessings and privileges which may fall short of salvation. All who are sanctified in the New Covenant are made perfect by the blood of Christ. He has obtained eternal redemption for them all (9:12).
Second, New Covenant sanctification is eternal in duration. It is not temporary, neither can it be lost. As Hebrews 10:14 teaches, those who are sanctified by Christ’s sacrifice have been perfected for all time, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (emphasis added). In other words, our perfection is not temporary in nature but eternal. And if our perfection through Christ’s offering is eternal, then so is our sanctification for how can one remain perfect in God’s sight if they lose their sanctification?
Thus, those in the New Covenant have been perfected and sanctified for all time by the blood of Christ. To say that one can be a member of the New Covenant and receive its sanctification and subsequently lose it, is to make the sacrifice of Christ no more effectual or powerful than the sacrifice of goats and bulls. Sanctification in the New Covenant is superior to that of the Old Covenant.
Third, New Covenant sanctification cannot result in damnation. The author of Hebrews does not think that true New Covenant members can fall away or shrink back from the faith. In confidence he says about his readers, “But we are not those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith in the preserving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39). Also, consider 6:9: “But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.” True members of the New Covenant are “perfected for all time” (10:14). None are lost or shrink away to destruction. All have faith and are preserved to the end.
Thus, the context of our debated verse in Hebrews 10:29 is full of guidelines to protect us from making a false deduction. What we can say is that New Covenant sanctification does not fit into the model suggested by those who believe that one can have it and be a member of the New Covenant and then later be lost. Clearly, New Covenant sanctification results in perfection; and that forever.
So what are we to think about this apostate in Hebrews 10:29? Let’s take a closer look and see what we can learn about him and his sanctification.
The Sanctified Apostate
We learn several things about the person described in Hebrews 10:29. First, he has trampled under foot the Son of God. This was done, at least in part, by his vicious verbal attacks against Christ and his saving sacrifice on the cross. Second, he has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified. His view of the blood of Christ has been dramatically reversed from his former profession. Third, he has insulted the Spirit of grace. Fourth, he deserves a severer punishment than those who set aside the law of Moses (verses 28-29). In addition to this information found in verse 29, we also learn in verse 26 that he goes on “sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth” and consequently there no longer remains “a sacrifice for sins” for him. This type of person, indeed, received the “knowledge [epignosis] of the truth.” Yet, even though his knowledge of the truth may have included a full understanding of the basic facts of the gospel, he fell short of regeneration for he kept on sinning willfully. A regenerate person simply does not do this. He is no longer under the dominion of sin (1 John 3:9; Romans 6:14), and though he will still wrestle with sin until the day he dies, he does not continue to sin willfully as this person does. It is impossible (1 John 2:29; 5:4, 18; Matthew 7:18).
But was the unregenerate apostate in Hebrews 10:29 previously a member of the New Covenant? In what sense was he sanctified? Are we to assume that the New Covenant has two kinds of sanctification, one that saves and one that does not? No doubt he partook of some kind of sanctification for it says that he “regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified.” But is this the same kind of sanctification that perfects for all time (10:14)? Obviously not, since he fell away into willful sin and came under the judgment of God (10:26-31). Rather than assume that the New Covenant has two kinds of sanctification, it is more biblical to think in terms of there being only one. All members of the New Covenant partake of this sanctification and are eternally saved. However, there is also another kind of sanctification, or spiritual influence, which comes upon those who are outwardly identified with the church but spiritually outside the covenant and which does not make them a member of the covenant.
Therefore, the sanctification that this apostate received was not genuine New Covenant sanctification at all because it did not perfect him for all time (10:14). Rather, it was more of a superficial form of sanctification that comes by way of contact with the gospel and Christ’s true church. Those who have this kind of sanctification never have the real thing. They may have knowledge of the truth (10:26) in their head, but no grace in their heart. They really never stopped their sinning (verse 26) because their nature was never really changed. Whatever moral affect the blood of the covenant had upon them was defective and temporary. Like the scribe who came close to the kingdom of God, but apparently never entered in (Mark 12:34), this apostate came close to the New Covenant but never entered in.
This apostate was sanctified in the same way as those described in Hebrews 6:4-6, which says: 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, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 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.
These people were temporarily influenced by the grace of the New Covenant gospel and the love of the New Covenant people. They also received a similar kind of sanctification as the man in Hebrews 10:29, a sanctification that temporarily cleansed the outer man, but did not change the inner man (cf. Hebrews 9:13-14). But, those addressed in Hebrews 6:4-6 were never really true members of the New Covenant themselves. They had been enlightened, were partakers of the Holy Spirit which no doubt sanctified them in some spiritual way, and tasted both the word and power of the kingdom. Nevertheless, they never had the new heart (Ezekiel 36:26), nor was the law written on their heart, nor were their sins forgiven (Jeremiah 31:31-34), nor did they receive the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:27), nor did they “fear God always” (Jeremiah 32:39), nor did they persevere in faith. Rather, they “turned away” (Jeremiah 32:40) because they did not really “know God” (Jeremiah 31:34). They were like Judas who partook of many godly influences, but was a devil (John 6:70). As John says, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19). These apostates were not “of” the New Covenant. They may have drawn near and been temporarily affected by the godly influences and powers of the New Covenant, but they “were not really of us.” They were like those who “profess to know God” but their lives deny him and they become worthless for any good work (Titus 1:16). They claim a name that they are alive, but they are spiritually dead (Revelation 3:1), and their end is destruction.
Thus, the sanctification they received from the covenant was not the kind received by members of the New Covenant which is “for all time” and which makes one “perfect.” They have a very different kind of sanctification. It reforms a person temporarily and makes them outwardly look like a Christian. They may even talk like a Christian, but eventually the affect wears off and they walk away dry as a bone on the inside. They are like a man who sits on a rock next to the ocean. When the waves come crashing down on the rocks he will be misted and sprinkled with its spray, even though he never enters into the ocean itself. He gets a little wet, but he never enters the water. Such wetness will quickly dry from him because he was only near the ocean, but never actually in it.
So, there is no doubt that the apostate in Hebrews 10:29 received some kind of sanctification from the covenant, but the context makes it clear that is was not the same kind of sanctification received by members of the New Covenant. The apostate can be outwardly and temporarily sanctified by virtue of his proximity to the New Covenant. He can be affected superficially by its power and grace. Like the man above, they can be misted by the spray, but they never enter into the real thing. They never become true members of the New Covenant. Though they may join a church, be baptized and engage in some of the church activities and worship, they nevertheless remain spiritually on the outside.
This is the only interpretation that seems to do justice both to the saving nature of the New Covenant, which gives the new heart and persevering grace to all of its members, and to the fact that there are some who are in the visible church that do fall away. Whether they are like the “every branch in Me that does not bear fruit” which are removed from the vine (John 15:2), or the unbelieving branches on the olive tree that are cut off (Romans 11:17-24), or those who have “once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit” (Hebrews 6:4ff.), they all refer to the same group of people. None of them were ever saved covenant members. None of them have ever partaken of the sanctification of the New Covenant which “has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14).
Thus, those who fall away were never in the New Covenant. They never belonged to Christ. They are like those in Matthew 7:22-23 who say to Christ, “‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (emphasis added). Christ never knew them! How could they have been at some previous point a true member of his covenant when he uses this language, “I never knew you?” How could they have formerly been a true “branch in Me,” or a true “branch on the olive tree,” or really and spiritually “once tasted of the heavenly gift” when Christ says that he never knew them? Such language shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that there are some who are baptized members in the church, but who are not, and have never been, true members of the covenant of Christ.
Such apostates are “false brethren” (2 Corinthians 11:26; Galatians 2:4) who never had the faith of the covenant. They are “wolves in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15), tares among the wheat (Matthew 13:25) and pigs who, after washing, return to wallowing in the mire (2 Peter 2:22). And, as Jude describes them, “These men are those who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted; wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever (Jude 12-13). These were not once covenant members who fell out, but “sons of the evil one” who were sown by the devil among the sons of the kingdom (Matthew 13:38-39). They may have been outwardly influenced by the morality of the church for a season. They may have outwardly appeared to belong to Christ. But, in reality, they were strangers to the covenant of grace. They never possessed the sanctification or the saving grace which the New Covenant gives to all of its members. Like Judas, they never belonged to Christ’s covenant, but are devils masquerading among the saints (John 6:70).
In light of this, there is no support in Hebrews 10:29 for any kind of sanctification that makes one a member of the New Covenant but which can be eventually lost. Also, since there are no infants mentioned in the context, it is hardly appropriate to make any application to them. Hebrews 10:29 certainly does not teach, nor imply, that the infants of believers are “sanctified” as covenant members in such a way that they may fall out of the covenant later in life. This verse deals only with an adult who made a profession of faith, was received into the church and was superficially sanctified by his contact with the true members of the covenant. But having no true saving grace in his heart, he fell away and proved that he never was a true member of the New Covenant, nor did he ever participate in the sanctification that perfects for all time (10:14). Therefore, to apply the sanctification of this verse to the infants of believers is unwarranted.
Christ our Superior High Priest
Another issue that needs to be raised is how does all of this reflect on the high priestly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ? The fact that Christ is our high priest is clearly taught in the book of Hebrews (2:17; 3:1; 5:10; 6:20; 7:26; 8:1; 9:11). Yet, how can his high priestly ministry be superior to the Old Covenant high priests if he loses some of his covenant people through apostasy? In other words, if Christ, as our high priest, mediates the blessings of the New Covenant to his covenant people, and yet some of them can lose these blessings, how can the New Covenant be better than the Old Covenant? How can Christ be a superior high priest?
Let’s apply this to the paedobaptist view of the infants of believers. Their infants are considered to be “covenant children” based on the Abrahamic Covenant principle of physical descent. Thus, they are viewed as members of the New Covenant. As members of the New Covenant, Christ is their high priest. As such, he mediates the covenant blessings to all covenant members. But, most, if not all, paedobaptists would agree that some of their children grow up and become covenant-breakers and fall away and are lost in the end. So how does this reflect on Christ as their high priest? Does Christ fail to mediate the covenant blessings to all of his covenant people? In what way is Christ a superior high priest if he fails to save some of his people?
These are serious questions for those who believe that some (such as the infants of believers) can be covenant members and yet eventually apostatize and lose out on the covenant blessings. Does it not make a mockery of the superiority of Christ’s high priestly ministry? Does this not make him a failure like the Old Covenant high priests?
Which of Christ’s high priestly ministries can be lost or rendered ineffectual? For example, can some of Christ’s covenant people miss out on his atoning sacrifice? Can he fail in his high priestly ministry to atone for some of his covenant people? Hebrews 2:17 tells us, “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (emphasis added). Now, is this true for all of his covenant people, or only some of them? The context identifies the people as the “children” (verses 13-14) and “brethren” (verses 12 and 17). The clear implication is that he made propitiation (i.e., removed God’s wrath due to their sins) for all of his covenant people. However, those who believe that covenant members can be lost in the end must rewrite the above text to make it say that he made propitiation for only some of his people. But if, as the text says, Christ made propitiation for his covenant people, which implies all of them, then which ones are left out? Are some “covenant babies” eventually left out due to later apostasy? If so, then has Christ failed as their covenant high priest? The book of Hebrews teaches that Christ “obtained eternal redemption” for his people (Hebrews 9:12) and “put away [their] sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (9:26). This is why he is a superior high priest to those in the Old Covenant who could not take away sins. Yet, if some of his covenant people end up being lost, then Christ’s high priestly ministry is no better than those in the Old Covenant.
Consider, also, our Lord’s high priestly ministry of intercession. Christ “always lives to make intercession for them [His covenant people]” (Hebrews 7:25). Christ’s prayers are one of the reasons why “He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him” (verse 25). But if some of his covenant people eventually fall away, does Christ fail in his high priestly petitions for them? We may assume that our Lord is now praying for his covenant people similarly as he prayed for Peter: “I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail” (Luke 22:32). As our Lord’s prayer was effectual then, so it is also now. And if this is the case, then how can any of those for whom he prays fall away and apostatize? Does he not pray for all of his people? Or does he pray for only some of them? And if some for whom he intercedes eventually fall away, is his high priestly ministry in the New Covenant really superior to that of the Old Covenant?
Those who believe that New Covenant members can fall away just like they did in the Old Covenant must severely limit the superiority of both the New Covenant and of Christ’s high priestly ministry. If the high priest of the New Covenant can not effectually save all his covenant people, then in what way is he a superior high priest? Yet, the New Testament teaches that Christ died to remove God’s wrath (propitiation) for all of the sins of all of his people. He accomplished eternal redemption for them and he prays effectually for them that their faith may not fail. By giving his covenant people a new heart and writing his laws into their hearts and minds (Hebrews 8:10; 10:16), he effectually transforms them so that they remain covenant keepers who cannot fall away. Though the church may have its share of counterfeit Christians, who are devoid of saving grace and end up falling away, Christ will never lose any of his covenant people (John 6:39). As their merciful and faithful high priest, he lives forever and saves forever all for whom he died and for whom he now intercedes. He is, indeed, a superior high priest!
A Superficial Sanctification
In conclusion, Hebrews 10:29 does not teach that the apostate was a true member of the New Covenant. He was sanctified in some way by the covenant, but not in a way that indicated regeneration or membership in the New Covenant. Since those who are sanctified by the blood of Christ are perfected forever (Hebrews 10:14), the apostate in Hebrews 10:29 could not have partaken of this kind of sanctification. His sanctification was defective, superficial in nature, and did not make him a true member of Christ’s covenant or his high priestly ministry.
