Articles

Hebrews / Chapter 6 / V4-9

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It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case - the things that have to do with salvation. ~He 6:4-9

In the earlier passage, chapter 5 verses 11-14 to chapter 6 verses 1-3, the author pointed out to the Hebrew Christians that though they had spent a long time in the Lord, their spiritual lives were likened to those of infants. They had come to a spiritual standstill, staying at the elementary teachings about Christ and did not move on towards a deeper spiritual pursue. (Please read: “Moving beyond the elementary teachings about Christ”)

The author, continued in the above passage, suggested a possible reason for their persistent ignorance in spiritual matters, that perhaps they had a more severe underlying problem. They were likely not even saved to begin with. They were devoid of the life of Christ, therefore, it was no surprise that they were unable to understand spiritual things. “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance,” these verses do not refer to saved Christians, since it is impossible for saved Christians to “fall away” or to be “brought back to repentance.” All saved believers are once saved, always saved; therefore it is not possible for them to leave the faith or to lose their Salvation. Just as our confession of repentance before the Lord is one-off and forever effective, it needs not and cannot be repeated.

By recollecting how Jesus died on the cross, we would be able to understand the passage above. The Lord in His lifetime performed many miracles among the Israelites, such as healing, exorcising, and the miraculous feeding of thousands of people. The numerous miracles performed by the Lord were more than sufficient to authenticate Him as the Christ. In addition, the Lord also revealed and made complete the spiritual truths contained in the Old Testament, such that even rulers and teachers of the Law sought His advice. The Israelites of that time were an enlightened group, who had tasted the heavenly gifts and the powers of the coming age. They had been bestowed with such an extraordinary grace by God and partook in the heavenly blessings that no other had enjoyed before. So what was their response? Did they choose to receive the Lord’s salvation? No, they did not, but instead nailed Jesus on the cross, openly declaring their rejection of Him.

The Hebrew Christians, followers of the Lord for many years, had similarly been enlightened to understand the truths concerning heaven and hell and had personally experienced the Holy Spirit working in their lives. Should they after having tasted the heavenly gifts, yet remained unmoved towards receiving the Lord’s salvation, they would regrettably never have the chance again. For they were likened to the Israelites who nailed Jesus to the cross even after God had bestowed upon them all the grace needed to believe in Jesus as the Christ. When the Israelites finally chose defiantly to go against their conscience and crucified Him, it was not done due to ignorance but out of a rebellious heart. The Hebrew Christians, likewise having been in the Lord for many years, should have clearly understood this Salvation, yet they did not receive the Lord till this very day. It could no longer be due to ignorance but defiance! Having known that Jesus was the Christ, they did not render to Him the deserved honour and refused to receive Him as their Lord and Saviour – this was an outright humiliation to Him. What they were doing was exactly the same as what the Israelites had done to Jesus. Although they knew that Jesus was the Son of God, they persisted in denying His deity and nailed Him to the cross subjecting Him to public disgrace. “Crucifying the Son of God all over again” means to once again deny Jesus as the Son of God; to once again deny Jesus as the Christ; to once again deny Jesus as the Saviour. “All over again” means “once more,” the Israelites had rejected the Lord once, and now the Hebrew Christians were rejecting the Lord once again!

When the passage states that they “have shared in the Holy Spirit,” it does not mean they had received the Holy Spirit, because if they did, they would have been genuine believers of Christ. The Lord once performed a miracle healing ten lepers. However, out of the ten, only one returned to give praise to God (Lk 17:11-19). The ten lepers though all of them had “shared in the Holy Spirit,” only the one who returned and gave praise to God was saved. And when the Lord performed a miracle of feeding more than five thousand people, no one stayed behind but everyone left Him (Jn 6). All the five thousand people “shared in the Holy Spirit,” but none of them was saved. Likewise, all the Hebrew Christians had “shared in the Holy Spirit,” for all of them had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives; however, they did not produce a heart of repentance and hence had no part in the Salvation.

The author went on to explain why they could no longer be saved. The example used was similar to the parable of the sower spoken by Jesus. The hearts of the Hebrew Christians were likened to a field for sowing, and the grace that God had bestowed upon them was likened to the rain that fell upon the field. If they were to repent, they would be like a beautiful harvest. Or else, they were like a field filled with thorns and thistles, useless to the Kingdom of God, but to be thrown into hell’s burning fire. Judging from the many years the Hebrew Christians had been in the Lord, the type of harvest that grew from their hearts was apparent. Should they have chosen repentance, they would have long ago done so. But by remaining unrepentant even after so many years, it was obvious that their hearts had already been overgrown with thorns and thistles and no longer capable of repentance, because they had understood everything and yet chose to reject the gospel of God.

Although the author used such harsh words towards the Hebrew Christians, he said it out of love for he feared that they still did not have genuine faith in Christ. The author for their sake had to tell them the plain truth that was hard to swallow, but on the other hand, he had chosen his words carefully so as not to hurt their feelings: “Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case – the things that have to do with salvation.”