Hebrews 6
1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this will we do, if God permit.
He had just discussed these principles in chp. 5 and portrayed them as milk for babes.
The ‘therefore’ stems off from Heb 5:12 – For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
The basic doctrines should be understood at an early spiritual age, and then move on to more meatier topics. Leaving doesn’t mean ‘abandonment’; it is similar to ‘advancing onward’. The doctrines of Christ are those teachings dealing with who Jesus Christ is and those basic, foundational doctrines that are implicitly contained therein: the church (His body) is only local, that Baptism must have correct authority (pictures Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection), that Communion is ‘closed’ (pictures Christ’s suffering for us), that the KJV is inerrant (Christ’s word), that salvation is without works and is eternally secure (salvation totally based upon Christ), etc., are just the basic ‘principles’ of the teachings of Jesus Christ. There is oh so much more out there. The sign of a maturing and perfecting saint is one who is actively pursuing more knowledge from the Bible. Yet, many IFB’s feel that knowing those basic doctrines (mentioned above) is what makes one a mature Christian.
The author is concerned only with the need for maturity so that he can feed his audience with the solid food of extensive, hard-to-understand teaching about Melchizedek. (Robert Gundry)
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
“There are only three ways you can take a passage such as this:
▫ It speaks of true Christians who fall away and lose their salvation. If that is true, then also notice that it is impossible for
them to come back.
▫ It speaks of professing believers who are in fact, prodigal pigs. They are apostates. Those that have heard, seen, and
tasted all that they need to be truly saved, but haven’t become born again Christians and still having the nature of a pig
within them, wilfully turn their backs on it all and return to wallow in the mud!
▫ It is a hypothetical argument that because it is impossible to fall away, the exhortation is given to urge the Christians on
to more growth and sin. My bible gives the following comparison for this type of view. It is similar to saying to a class
of students ‘It is impossible for a student, once enrolled in this course, to turn the clock back (which cannot be done), to
start the course over. Therefore let all students go on towards deeper knowledge.
Now you probably think that they must have been true Christians for it says they were enlightened, tasted the word of God, and had partook of the Holy Spirit. But all these words can still be true the unsaved individual who has come to a knowledge of the truth, seen the power of the Holy Spirit, and felt the convicting and drawing of the Holy Spirit in their life. Judas was an extreme example of this. He knew all there was to know having followed Jesus for three years. He had experienced the Holy Spirit’s power having been among the twelve sent out, two by two, to cast out demons and heal the sick. Yet he was never truly saved!
None of the key words for truly saved individuals such as ‘saving faith’, ‘eternal life’, ‘born again’, ‘redeemed by his blood’, ’saved’, ’salvation’ are used in this passage.” (I. Gordan)
The ‘those’ here were the Hebrews of that time period who were exposed to Jesus Christ and His teachings, and the giving of the Holy Ghost. They were enlightened by the true gospel; but, they were not born again; it made sense to them, but their heart wasn’t willing. They ‘tasted’ but did not actually ‘swallow’ it. They were around Jesus Christ but they did not submit and follow Him. They partook of that experience and power of the Holy Ghost being given and acting through those early disciples…but that does not necessarily imply that they received Him.
Fall away – away from the doctrine of Christ; they knew it but didn’t receive, and actually left it and went on to something else. They received it with joy but it had no root. This seems to say that you have might have just one big opportunity in life for salvation; you may tug and struggle with it for a long time, but if you fall away from it, basically rejecting it and believing a lie, the opportunity is gone. If one is enlightened by the gospel and experiences the power of God going on around them, and chooses not to repent of their dead works and the errors of their belief system, then it (may be) is impossible to have them get saved…for they have not accepted the only payment that is available for their sin debt of Hell. It is like crucifying Jesus Christ all over again…meaning, His crucifixion 2000 years ago was not enough.
This might just be true for those who were alive around the time of Jesus Christ and the giving of the Holy Ghost. Another problem here is that if one takes this to be referring to Christians, then if they fall away and lose their salvation, then it would be impossible for them to repent again and be saved!
“Jews are warned: Hb 10:26, “If we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins.” The old Jewish sacrifices had passed and there was no longer that cure for sins. It was either to take Christ, who had died the sacrificial death for all, or to come into terrible judgment.
Much is said here as having been divinely accomplished in certain individuals, but it is not a sufficient description of the true child of God; who is light; who is already a citizen of heaven; who has been sealed by the Holy Spirit; who bas been regenerated by the washing of the Word; and who has been recreated by the power of God. The passage is addressed to Hebrews and the first part of the chapter concerns their duty of passing from the elements of Jewish faith to Christ, and the warning is of their particular danger of substituting half truths for the full truth in Christ. (Lewis Chafer)
“It applies, for instance, to a young man who makes a profession of faith in Christ, but then something happens in his life. Perhaps he falls into gross immorality. Or perhaps he goes off to college and is shaken by the anti-Christian arguments of atheistic teachers. With full knowledge of the truth, he deliberately turns away from it, completely renouncing Christ, and viciously tramples on every sacred fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. The Bible says it is impossible to restore such a one to repentance.” (William MacDonald)
9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
Greater evidence of the fact that these people were not saved is given in verse 9. Things change in this verse, for now He is speaking to those truly saved (calls them BELOVED). He says that even though he speaks like this concerning THOSE types of people, He is convinced of better things concerning YOU. Things that accompany SALVATION. In other words, the people he was talking about in verses 4-8 didn’t have salvation (and their open rejection testifies to this as well). But he has confidence in the beloved because they are saved! (I. Gordan)
The ‘beloved’ and the ‘you’ are those that are truly saved, and the ‘those’ and ‘them’ are the unsaved Jews of that time. These others were not saved for they did not bear that which accompanies salvation. One of these ‘things’ is one’s work and labour of love for the Lord Jesus Christ…ministering to the saints. Being diligent in one’s spiritually ministering to others is a good testimony to one’s truly being saved. It shows that they have full assurance of salvation…a ‘know-so’ hope that will perservere to the end. They don’t ‘fall away’…
The key is verse 9’s statement; it is referring to true Christians… those that have that which always accompanies salvation. These others only ‘tasted’ of the truth of salvation, vice swallowing it whole. They partook of the Spirit in that they witnessed and experienced His power in lives around them.
If these then ‘fall away’ from this truth of salvation and the power of God then it, I assume, is impossible to have them get saved for they rejected their only hope of salvation. The context seems to bear that this would only apply to those that were alive when Jesus Christ was on the Earth amongst them.
Also, these bore thorns, and no ‘good tree’ bears these…thus, the tree is corrupt, it was never good, i.e. they were never a Christian.
That the passage is not for Christians is most evident from the closing verse of the context (vs. 9), which is preceded by the illustration found in verses seven and eight. These ‘enlightened’ ones were not truly saved for they did not bring forth fruit (8). Ye shall know them by their fruit. Verse 9 shows the contrast between true believers and these ‘enlightened’ ones. (Lewis Chafer)
12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. 13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Saying that you are a believer but being slothful about serving the Lord doesn’t make sense; it is contradictory; a true believer will follow the Lord’s example in ministering to others; they will do it out of faith and hope and patience for what lies ahead for them (Heaven and eternal rewards). “Even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” A true believer will have the characteristic (via the Holy Ghost) of ‘patiently enduring’; they will not give up on God; they will not fall away from ‘the faith’; they will realize what the ‘promise’ is and be motivated to keep on keeping on. So, what about a so-called believer who is fairly slothful about serving God and isn’t patiently enduring?….
Abraham had faith in having the promised son; and a long line of descendents; and ‘the Promised Son’. God confirmed His promise to Abraham by an oath; and He similarly has confirmed the promise of eternal life to us; The two immutable things were His counsel and that He cannot lie.
We have an anchor… This hope takes you into the Holy of Holies, which you have been granted entrance to; this should encourage your hope. You can only have correct hope if you are truly saved; this salvation takes you places that the Holy men of the O.T. could not go. Paul is teaching these Hebrews another very important point about Jesus Christ: that He entered in within the veil for us (through His shed blood and death on the cross), and is our High Priest, and we can go in through Him. Jesus Christ was made a priest after an eternal order…that of Melchisedec…
“Jesus’ entering within the veil signifies His entering the Holy of Holies, where the sacrifice of atonement was made. Under the Old Covenant it was made yearly by the high priest. Under the New is has been made once for all time by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Our anchored soul is, in God’s mind, already secure within the veil, secure within His eternal sanctuary. When Jesus entered the heavenly Holy of Holies, he did not leave after the sacrifice as did the Aaronic high priests, but “He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3). In other words, Jesus remains there forever as Guardian of our souls. Such absolute security is almost incomprehensible. Not only are our souls anchored within the impregnable, inviolable heavenly sanctuary, but our Savior, Jesus Christ, stands guard over them as well! How can the Christian’s security be described as anything but eternal?” (MacArthur)