![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/driftwood-300x214.jpg\")
This is deeply relevant to us for a couple of different reasons. First, it shows that falling away is possible. This truth is bound up in the very language of the text. It is impossible to drift away from a place where you aren’t, and it’s impossible to neglect a salvation you don’t have. Those who teach, then, that true Christians can’t fall away are misguided. We can be in a state of grace now and fall from it later.<\/p>\n
Of course, this concept is significant not merely in an abstract, doctrinal sense, but in a personal, concrete sense. I can fall away. You can fall away. The godliest Christian any of us know, the distinguished preacher, the elder of the church, or the devout widow, all of these can fall away.<\/p>\n
The fault here is not in Jesus. He has promised that no one will snatch us out of His hand. We are immune to danger from outside forces, but we are not immune to danger from within. We can willingly abandon the safety from which no one can remove us. Indeed, unless we acknowledge the risk and humbly resolve to remain faithful, we infallibly will bring this disaster upon ourselves.<\/p>\n
Second, the writer’s word choice also tells us how the disaster will arrive. Drifting away is not a sudden, violent activity. Instead, it happens gradually, slowly, wavelet by wavelet.<\/p>\n
Neither is neglect. Neglect is the result of failing to make an effort when the need to act doesn’t seem pressing or important. The lawn doesn’t look much worse today than it looked yesterday, it’s hot out there, and I’d rather spend my Saturday in the woods than behind a lawnmower anyway. However, if I continue to defer exertion, soon the front door is covered in nastygrams from the HOA, and they’re filming episodes of _Tarzan_ in my front yard!<\/p>\n
Spiritual disaster advances upon us in the same slow, subtle way. It is the fruit of coming home from a long day of work on Wednesday and deciding that it’s too much effort to round up the kids and get everybody out to Bible class. It is the result of closing our eyes metaphorically to the trashy side of that TV show we love to watch-but not closing them literally. It is the outcome of a thousand tiny enticements to depart from Jesus in a way that still seems safe. Nobody’s going to lose their soul over a Wednesday night or a Netflix drama, are they?<\/p>\n
The problem is, though, that the more we draw away, the more reasonable extreme departures become. Maybe a steamy period romance isn’t that far away from godliness, but neither is pornography that far away from steamy romances, nor an affair from porn. It’s extremely easy for us to find ourselves in a spiritual position where we never intended to be. The only way to make sure that we don’t drift away is to make sure that we don’t drift.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bassford Hebrews 2:1 contains one of the most sobering warnings in the entire Bible: “For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.” A couple of verses later, the writer uses a rhetorical question to make the point that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[617,1308],"class_list":["post-35064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apostasy","tag-falling-away"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90863,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-danger-of-quietly-walking-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":35064,"position":0},"title":"The Danger of Quietly Walking Away","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Cleve Stafford Picture yourself out on the open water in a small boat. The waves are gentle, the wind mild, and the sun warm on your face. You close your eyes just for a moment to enjoy the peace. But when you open them again, you realize something chilling:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/drifting-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18299,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-we-be-in-danger-of-losing-our-salvation-if-we-do-not-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":35064,"position":1},"title":"Can we be in danger of losing our salvation if we do not study?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it possible to study and understand all of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments? I was talking to an older man who told me that it was impossible to understand all of the Bible or even most parts of it. I did not agree with him,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24569,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/reclaiming-john-1028\/","url_meta":{"origin":35064,"position":2},"title":"Reclaiming John 10:28","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford It is sad but true that often, the most emphatic refutation of doctrinal error is another error. Consider, for instance, Martin Luther\u2019s reaction to the Renaissance Catholic practice of selling indulgences. He objected, and rightly so, to the notion that we could purchase our salvation, whether\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/jesus_the_good_shepherd_2-249x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92347,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/once-saved-always-saved-refuted-can-a-christian-fall-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":35064,"position":3},"title":"\u201cOnce Saved, Always Saved\u201d Refuted: Can a Christian Fall Away?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Christians (those truly \"saved to begin with\") can: Depart from the faith (I Timothy 4:1) Wander away from the faith (I Timothy 6:10) Swerve from the faith (I Timothy 6:21) Abandon our faith (I Timothy 5:12) Make a shipwreck of our faith (I Timothy 1:19) Fall\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42128,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-salvation-assured\/","url_meta":{"origin":35064,"position":4},"title":"Is Salvation Assured?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I John 2:15-25 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0During the Reformation, a man named John Calvin came up with a system of belief that has impacted a large portion of the denominational world. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The ideas were not original with Calvin. He based his work on many that preceded him.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53521,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-christian-lose-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":35064,"position":5},"title":"Can a Christian Lose Salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The other day, a brother sent me this link (Can a Christian lose salvation?) and asked if I had ever before addressed the topic in a blog post. I replied that I hadn't (at least so far as I can remember), but this seemed like a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}