Salvation Summaries

Hebrews 12:15-17

¹⁵ See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; ¹⁶ that there be no immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.  ¹⁷ For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Possible Interpretation

Some people interpret these verses to mean that when Esau finally decided to repent of his sins and receive the blessing of salvation, it was too late. God had given him ample time for this, but time ran out, and God, in His sovereignty, chose not to give Esau another opportunity for salvation even if he repented with tears.  Is this what it really means?

Conclusion

The best way to interpret Hebrews 12:15-17 is to look up the Genesis story of Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau, and to understand the underlined terms in this passage.

Overall, Hebrews 12:15-17 is not about God rejecting Esau’s desire to be saved after Esau took too long to seek it and despite tearfully repenting for it. Rather, the passage is about Esau repenting over the foolish mistake of selling his birthright to Jacob and thereby losing out on the rich blessing that he, as a first-born son, should have received. The blessing Esau wanted to receive but given to Jacob is recorded in Gen. 27:28-29, with Esau’s actual blessing in verses 39-40.

The rejection Esau experienced was not from God, but rather Isaac, who could not rescind the blessing he gave to Jacob and in turn give it to Esau.  The blessing had already been given; it was too late to change this.

The tears of Esau occurred when he learned of Jacob stealing his blessing and just before he received the blessing from his father (see Genesis 27:34 and 38, where Esau cried out with an exceedingly great and bitter cry and wept) and relate to Isaac’s rejection. They have nothing to do with Esau being remorseful over his sins and wanting to repent in order to be saved. Per Hebrews 12:16, Esau was godless and immoral, and there is no evidence he sought to get right with God by putting his faith in Him.

Are there other verses in the Bible that indicate a person may lose out on their opportunity to get right with God and become saved?  Yes. Romans 1:18-32 describe people who were so wicked and ungodly that God knew they would never turn to Him in repentance and faith.  As a result, He let go of his restraining influence on them and allowed them to descend further and further until they were “filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity.”  Romans goes on to describe these people as “full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.”  The Bible tells us that God is very patient for sinners to repent of their sinful way of life and put their faith in Him, but there are some who deliberately choose to go down a different path – as far away from God as possible – and it is clear that God will allow them to do this.