Gospel Guidebook: Getting and Keeping It Right 
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How to Understand Warning Passages Like Hebrews 10:26-31
by Robert P. TerryUpdated July 4, 2025
Before giving my opinion on how to interpret warning passages such as Hebrews 10:26-31, I think it would be helpful to clarify the relationship between justification by faith, the new birth, and the presence of good works. Contrary to popular opinion, justification by faith is not evidenced by the presence of good works in a person's life. Even though people who are justified by faith are characterized by the presence of good works thanks to the new birth (assuming that the new birth — what Calvinists call conversion — is always coincident with justification by faith), justification by faith is apart from the presence of works, and thus incapable of being evidenced by the presence of good works in the life of the believer. At the same time, because of the positive correlation between faith and good works (due to it being impossible to please God apart from faith), it is nonetheless tempting to say that the presence of good works, while not evidence itself, is still suggestive of a person being justified by faith. However, this is also somewhat problematic because good works are often counterfeited by unjustified people. Therefore, the presence of good works provide us with a poor gauge for judging whether a person has been justified by faith. In contrast, justification by faith should be judged by the profession a person makes regarding the Gospel. Does he understand the Gospel? Does he understand the nature of faith? Does he profess to believe the Gospel? On the other hand, the positive correlation between faith and good works means that the absence of good works is suggestive that a person has not experienced the new birth (and probably, but not definitely, has not experienced justified by faith). Despite his profession of faith, maybe he hasn't understood the Gospel and the nature of faith. Or maybe he does understand them but hasn't believed the Gospel. Or maybe he has believed the Gospel but is going through a prolonged bad season of unbelief and rebellion. It is in such a case as this that we need to understand warning passages like Hebrews 10:26-31.
Having said the above, it is crucial to observe that warning passages such as Hebrews 10:26-31 are not directed toward born-again people who are abiding in Christ by faith in the Gospel. However, they are directed toward people who have made a profession of faith in the Gospel but are currently living in a manner quite contrary to what is expected of those who have experienced the new birth (especially toward those who are on the brink of apostasy). If any such people have been born-again, they cannot have any assurance of being justified (or born-gain) while they remain in a state of unbelief. For these people, there is only "a certain terrifying expectation of judgment" (Heb. 10:27). They must be threatened in the severest language in hope of "snatching them out of the fire" (Jude 23), for even though they have been born-again, they are living in a manner characteristic of lost people. This is why Jesus said to treat such people as publicans and Gentiles (Mat. 18:17), for there is no other way to treat them, and the chastisement of God is sure to catch up with them.