Know the Danger
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Open to Heb 6:4-8...
Explain context - middle of the third warning (Heb 5.11-6:12)
5.11-6.3 - shames the audience
6.4-8 - illustrates the danger
6.9-12 - encourages and exhorts
Now, why is this passage difficult or controversial?
Because of the questions it can pose...
Does it teach that believers can fall away from the faith?
Is the author speaking strictly of backslidden believers who lose rewards but not their salvation?
Is he writing to those who have, are currently, or are close to experiencing this?
Is this actually talking about whether or not those who have sinned after being baptized and receiving communion can be re-baptized?
How can anything be impossible for God? Especially, as it relates to a person desiring to be restored through repentance?
Some of the issues arise by reading into the text our own pre-conceived theological presuppositions…
Some arise because we ignore what Scripture teaches elsewhere...
And some arise because we don’t stick to the text… or we treat the passage as if it exists within a vacuum...
Before we look at the passage itself… let us consider some big picture items of Hebrews that will help us understand our passage...
(1st) Audience - Believers…
Not non-believers
Not an intentional mixed bag… that is… x amount profess faith, x amount openly deny faith
The audience here, all of them, profess to believe… though of course that does not mean they all actually believe... every church, every local body, to some degree is a mixed bag… wheat/tares, sheep/goats...
The author writes and speaks to those who profess faith and as far as they are concerned of themselves… they believe in Jesus Christ as Savior...
(2nd) The use of the 3rd person… notice how the warning starts with the 1st person plural (we/us) and second person plural (you all)`… all the other warnings do that as well...
Then with our text, he switches to 3rd person… indicating he’s not talking about his audience specifically…
After this illustration he switches back in v. 9 to the first and second person
(3rd) The other warnings...
All of them point essentially to the same consequence that fits the purpose of the letter… and we’ll see how this theme helps understand our passage as we get to it… but for now let’s do a quick review of the five warnings
Heb 2.1-4 - Pay attention - if we neglect the greater message.. the greater salvation… than the message of old? How shall we escape?
Consequence - Judgment…
Heb 3.12-4:13 - Don’t harden your heart to His voice… as those in the wilderness...
Consequence - You will not enter into the promised rest - judgment
Heb 5.11-6:12 - Don’t be sluggish in hearing… consequence… we’ll talk about that…
Heb 10:26-31 - If we keep sinning in light of the Good News… having put our trust in Christ… how much worse will our punishment be compared to those in the Old Covenant?
Consequence - Judgment…
Heb 12:25-29 - Don’t refuse the One who is speaking -
Consequence - If they (OT) did not escape, having been warned on earth, how will we escape having been warned from heaven? - Judgment
All judgments being eternal… (a basic of our faith, Heb 6.2) - not simply a lost of rewards...
With the stage set… let us read our passage Heb 6.4-8
4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Let’s look at the first phrase - “For it is impossible”...
Impossible to do what?
You have to keep going until you find the infinitival phrase found in v. 6…
Where the author says… to restore them again to repentance...
That is what’s impossible… everything in between describes to whom the statement “For it is impossible to restore them again to repentance” applies...
So, let’s look at who these people are...
Those who have...
Been enlighten…
Have tasted the heavenly gift...
Have shared in the Holy Spirit...
Have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to came...
Then have fallen away… (note, KJV makes this last participle conditional by putting an “if” in it… but it is joined with the previous participles clearly in the Greek by the repeated use of the Greek conjunction ‘kai’)
Also, all these participles, being connected via conjunctions, are also unified by being bracketed within the infinitval clause
The question for us remains however — Are these false converts? Are they believer who lose their salvation or do lost of rewards? Or is the author referencing the wilderness generation?
Been enlightened (Ex 13.21) “once” = a decisive event
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.
Heb 10.32 - enlightened - refers to conversion
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,
2 Cor 4.4-6 - Paul speaks of non-believers as not being enlightened
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Have tasted the heavenly gift (manna?)
Tasted here is a reference to experience… not actual eating
Heb 2.9 - taste = full experience not partial
9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
So, what gift did they experience?
Gift of the Spirit, Acts 2.38
38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Gift of righteousness Ro 5.17
17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Have shared in the Holy Spirit
Just as taste represented a full experience… this sharing is a full-sharing… a full participation
A full sharing - Heb 3.1, 3.14
1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,
14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Jesus shared flesh and blood Heb 2.14
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
Having tasted the goodness of the Word of God (the revelation of Christ)
And the powers of the age to come
Which may be a reference to the signs and wonders mentioned back in Heb 2.4… or more likely, and more simply, the experienced life of a regenerate person with the indwelling Spirit...
Then fell away (παραπίπτω)
Only time in the NT this word is used
Used in Ezekiel (LXX) five times...
But in each instance refers to being faithless/to transgress/to sin
Even in extra-biblical usage it means a variety of things relating to falling aside… making a mistake… to fail...
In no other instance does it mean straight up apostasy as we understand apostasy...
However… though… falling away… is falling away..
And in this letter what is falling away?
Well Heb 3.12, 4.11 help us with that...
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
Since… (essentially, this is what’s happening (when one falls away))
They are crucifying again the Son
To their own harm - Heb 10.26-27
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Those who turn against Christ will face a fiery judgment
and holding Him up to contempt (disgraces Christ) (Heb 10.29)
29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
Hebrews is clear that he dies only once Heb 7.27, 9.12, 27-28, 10.10
27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
So, how is it then impossible for someone to not be restored via repentance?
They’ve essentially gone too far… their hearts are too hard...
Maybe you say… but aren’t these believers?
To whom the author is writing? Yes...
And… believers.. those who are saved… will not perish… ever..
Jn 6.37-44, Jn 10.28-29
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Rom 8.28-39, 1 Cor 1.8-9, Eph 1.13-14, Phil 1.6, 1 Th 5.23-24, 1 Peter 1.5, Jude 24-25...
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Then why speak of falling away if falling away (understood as apostasy) is not possible for the believer?
Our God is a God of both means and ends.
We pray to an all sovereign God who knows our needs before we ask...
We evangelize and make disciples, but it is God who causes them to be born again
Our sin has been forgiven… yet we still confess and repent…
The warnings of Scripture are part of the means that God uses to ensure we remain faithful to the end…
Think of Mark 13.20, 22
20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
Yet, in v. 21, 23, 33, 35, 37, Jesus warns the elect… so that they would not be deceived…
This is how God works out our salvation… Phil 2.12-13
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
And in regard to their being people who profess, “Lord, Lord” (Mt 7.21)… but are not saved… consider 1 Jn 2.19, 1 Co 11.19, 2 Peter 2.1...
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
By these warnings… no one will be without excuse… and by these warnings the work of God is accomplished
But perhaps… you think… this passage is about lost of rewards… like what Paul speaks of in 1 Cor 3.15...
15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
Well, let’s look at the agricultural illustration provided in v. 7-8… let’s read it again Heb 6.7-8
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Land that has drunk the rain
Produces a useful crop
Receives blessing (Could be thinking of Dt 11.11, 28:12)
But if it produces a worthless crop
It is near to being cursed (Dt 29.27)
Note what is burned...
and it’s (the land’s) end is to be burned (Dt 29.23)
It’s not the crop… it’s not the produce… it’s the land… and what does the land represent?
The individual… this isn’t about loss of rewards… it’s loss of entry into the kingdom...
But yet again… maybe you think… no this is lost of blessedness in this life… just as it was for the people in the wilderness… when they didn’t enter the promised land...
Admittedly… I do struggle with what view to side with here…
For burning land was common in the 1st century… for the sake of the land itself to be used once again for fruitful cultivation...
But I also find it hard to embrace the idea that the author is speaking of loss of rewards or blessedness in this life…
When I consider all the other warnings… and the main argument of the letter...
Every warning progresses from inferior to superior, lesser to greater… both in blessing and in judgment…
The people of the wilderness suffered an earthly judgment for they had an earthly message.... but what kind of judgment will we receive having refused to obey the message from heaven?
It’s not the same… it must be greater… and indeed… it is...
And indeed there is a real danger of being part of the community of believers… and on the day of judgment being found with those of Mt 7.21… of whom Jesus does not know...
Therefore… let us heed His voice… let us not be sluggish to obey His Word.. let us examine ourselves.. 2 Cor 13.5
5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
Let us keep to the good work of God in our lives… trusting Him to complete it…