seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Hebrews 6:1 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites,[b] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] 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. 7 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. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 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. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Footnotes:
- Hebrews 6:1 Or from useless rituals
- Hebrews 6:2 Or about baptisms
- Hebrews 6:6 Or age, 6 if they fall
- Hebrews 6:14 Gen. 22:17
For it is impossible… if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance: Despite their impressive spiritual experience – or at least the appearance of it – these are in grave danger. If they fall away, it is impossible for them to repent.
If these are genuine Christians who “lost their salvation,” the terrible fact is that they can never regain it. In the early church some groups (such as the Montanists and the Novatianists) used this passage to teach there was no possibility of restoration if someone sinned significantly after their baptism.
Others explain it by saying that this is all merely a hypothetical warning (in light of the statement in Hebrews 6:9). In this thinking, the writer to the Hebrews never intended to say that his readers were really in danger of damnation. He only used a hypothetical danger to motivate them. However, one must say that there is questionable value in warning someone against something that can’t happen.
Still others think that this penalty deals only with reward, not with salvation itself. They stress the idea that it says repentance is impossible, not salvation. Therefore these are Christians of low commitment and experience who risk a loss of all heavenly reward, saved only “by the skin of their teeth.”
This difficult passage is best understood in the context of Hebrews 6:1-2. The writer to the Hebrews means that if they retreat back to Judaism, all the religious “repentance” in the world will do them no good. Retreating from distinctive Christianity into the “safe” ideas and customs of their former religious experience is to forsake Jesus, and to essentially crucify Him again. This is especially true for these ancient Christians from a Jewish background, since the religious customs they took up again likely included animal sacrifice for atonement, denying the total work of Jesus for them on the cross.
If they fall away: There is a necessary distinction between falling and falling away. Falling away is more than falling into sin; it is actually departing from Jesus Himself. For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity (Proverbs 24:16). The difference is between a Peter and a Judas. If you depart from Jesus (fall away) there is no hope.
The message to these Christians who felt like giving up was clear: if you don’t continue on with Jesus, don’t suppose you will find salvation by just going on with the ideas and experience that Christianity and Judaism share. If you aren’t saved in Jesus, you aren’t saved at all. There is no salvation in a safe “common ground” that is not distinctively Christian.
If someone falls away we must understand why he or she can’t repent – it is because they don’t want to. It is not as if God prohibits their repentance. Since repentance itself is a work of God (Romans 2:4), the desire to repent is evidence that he or she has not truly fallen away.
The idea is not that “if you fall away, you can’t ever come back to Jesus.” Instead, the idea is “if you turn your back on Jesus, don’t expect to find salvation anywhere else, especially in the practice of religion apart from the fullness of Jesus.”
This chapter is a continuation from the previous chapter. It's like the writer ran out of room on the page and went on to the next.... so this is about Jesus being the Chief Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek was the Chief Priest that Abram[Abraham] met after he rescued his cousin Lot. Now this was before the destruction of Sodom. This was before God named Abram, Abraham. I wonder.... was Melchizedek a Gentile priest? Was he a Priest for all with knowledge of both Judaism and pagan practices? That might explain how Melchizedek [the king of Salam] and Jesus were alike.Now on to the difficult passage of the day.... It's impossible to repent for dropping Jesus.
I need to remember what was going on in life when these letters were written. The Christians of the day were expecting Jesus to come right back with a huge army... to run Rome out of town. Rome.... hunted down Christians.... after all Christians were always talking about a Nazarene who survived the crucifixion. No one survived a crucifixion. After all... they shoved that sword into that man's chest and he didn't even wince... they were sure He was dead. Rome had to silence the Christians.... they couldn't have people running around committing crimes against Rome thinking they could survive the Roman cross.
Now on top of that... there were things going on in the church..... there were descendants of Jacob [Israel] who were insisting that the 10 Commandments had been handed down from God Himself... all those other laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures were from God too.... through Moses. Those descendants of Jacob [Israel] just could not dump everything... and take a chance on Jesus who said He was coming back... and "didn't show".
Humans love to put God on their timeline. I bet God giggles over that.
The problem here is apparently those Jews didn't really "Believe". They were looking for a King to run Rome out of town. They were ok with being hunted down... since Jesus was coming back with an army and they would get revenge on Rome.....but then Jesus "didn't show". So they said "to hell with it... I'm going back to the Temple".
Going back to the Temple is what this chapter is about. It's not the guy who got saved a few months ago and gets caught with the choir director's wife. It's a history lesson for us to learn so we don't repeat their mistakes.
The men who returned to the Temple... returned to making animal sacrifices.
Now... back to that Melchizedek Priest. Abram [Abraham] and Melchizedek [the chief priest] ..... didn't do a blood sacrifice..... Abram [Abraham] gave Melchizedek [the chief priest] an tithe of everything... but they didn't build an altar and make a blood sacrifice. See..... it's different.
When those stupid humans gave up on Jesus and went back to the Temple... they went back to making blood sacrifices.... they went back to offering up their best lamb.... but Jesus had already gone to the Cross.... and all those blood sacrifices were useless. The whole reason people had to offer up a sacrifice in the first place was to get God to forgive them for sin. Remember... Job even did a sacrifice for the sins his children did that not even his children remembered they did.... that's what this chapter is about.... those descendants of Jacob [Israel] gave up on Jesus.
I went to a church meeting many many years ago. The preacher wanted to be more inclusive. The preacher wanted to stop teaching "Christ Crucified" for a more gentle approach. The preacher wanted to teach that "all" are welcome in Heaven.... and Jesus was not the only key. The preacher actually said the treasury of the church needed the boost. See.... Salvation was at risk and not even that preacher knew..... that's what's going on here.
There's a difference between Salvation and Repentance. Salvation is a gift from God. Once He gives it to you... He won't take it back. Repentance is something we do..... when we repent... we tell Jesus we are sorry.... but if we go back to doing whatever it is we were saying we were sorry for... then were we really sorry? That's what this is about.
Some people think that becoming a Christian is as easy as nodding in all the right places during the Alter Call..... nodding or saying "amen" in all the proper places during the sermon.... and then doing it all again the next week.... faithful to show up and nod... faithful to pay 10% for the pew space..... faithful to be pious.... faithful to be there to lead the prayer or read the scripture... to be seen.... the good Christian in their mind is a big show.... they didn't Repent..... they are just returning to the Temple... where they can perform the rituals.
Jesus offers Salvation to all who believe. Those people who went back to the Temple.... they didn't Believe. They had their own version of what Jesus was going to do... and when He didn't fill their expectations... they returned to making animal sacrifices.... they didn't repent... they didn't want Salvation.... they only wanted to have a king who would run Rome out of town... they didn't want to be a child of God.
They weren't Christians. They didn't want Salvation.... they dropped Jesus. It's impossible to return from dropping Jesus.
