And we're here. The most controversial passage in all of scripture.
What makes these verses so problematic? Error in human interpretation. Remember Scripture never contradicts. We must use Scripture to interpret Scripture. Oftentimes we apply this warning to a wider theological question: Is it possible to become a genuine Christian and then lose your salvation? The author of Hebrews doesn't answer this here. He doesn't press the issue in this letter...so we are wise not to misapply it as a case against eternal security. (Romans 5-8 addresses these questions regarding salvation).
So why say it? Why should the author even use such strong language as "It is impossible...to restore them again unto repentance...crucifying Christ again"? Remember from last week Hebrews 6:1-2 reminds us of the context from which this warning passage comes. "...let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity." The current vein of thought here is to persevere. The audience were Jews turned Christian. They were believers during the dangerous reign of Nero facing trials and persecution. The purpose of this letter was to exhort disheartened and probably scared Christians to persevere in following Christ. Throughout the discourse Christ is declared superior to the Law, Moses, Aaron, and Melchizedek. The author reminds them that Judaism can offer nothing compared to Christ. Only through Christ is there salvation. Don't look back to Judaism as the Hebrews of the wilderness longed for the slavery of Egypt. Christ is better. Persevere.
To best understand this warning, let's make a distinction between the audience and type of person that he is warning about. Following the warning passage, in Hebrews 6:9, the author reveals that the audience is the beloved of God. Later in Hebrews 10:39 he describes the audience as not being "those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." Despite the author's confidence of the audience's salvation as evidenced through their fruit, he warns of a particular kind of person that Jesus describes as a weed. In the case of the local church, there will always be a combination of wheat and weeds (Matt. 13:24-30).
Weeds can appear to embrace the gospel, attend local church gatherings, and share fellowship with the other believers; yet, under the pressures of trial, temptation, or indwelling sin reveal a lack of true conversion. Jesus describes such a person in the "Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:16-17. The sower sows the word upon the rocky soil. They receive the word with joy, but do not persevere when persecution and tribulation come. This is not faith, but more of an opportunistic, intellectual enlightenment that cannot produce perseverance.
So, what should we do with these verses then?
While we need not concern ourselves with uprooting the weeds, as wheat we need to persevere, individually and collectively. Hebrews 12:1-2 exhorts us "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..." As we persevere in Christ individually, let us also "see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God" (Heb. 12:15). In other words, Christians, watch out for one another. Make certain there are none among you that fall short of receiving salvation. This is one of the beautiful purposes of the local church and fellowship with other believers...mutual encouragement to remain hopeful, faithful, and patient on this journey.
It is my prayer and hope for you, dear friend to persevere and that you "show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Heb. 6:11-12)
"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, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and powers of the age to come, 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." (Hebrews 6:4-6)
What makes these verses so problematic? Error in human interpretation. Remember Scripture never contradicts. We must use Scripture to interpret Scripture. Oftentimes we apply this warning to a wider theological question: Is it possible to become a genuine Christian and then lose your salvation? The author of Hebrews doesn't answer this here. He doesn't press the issue in this letter...so we are wise not to misapply it as a case against eternal security. (Romans 5-8 addresses these questions regarding salvation).
So why say it? Why should the author even use such strong language as "It is impossible...to restore them again unto repentance...crucifying Christ again"? Remember from last week Hebrews 6:1-2 reminds us of the context from which this warning passage comes. "...let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity." The current vein of thought here is to persevere. The audience were Jews turned Christian. They were believers during the dangerous reign of Nero facing trials and persecution. The purpose of this letter was to exhort disheartened and probably scared Christians to persevere in following Christ. Throughout the discourse Christ is declared superior to the Law, Moses, Aaron, and Melchizedek. The author reminds them that Judaism can offer nothing compared to Christ. Only through Christ is there salvation. Don't look back to Judaism as the Hebrews of the wilderness longed for the slavery of Egypt. Christ is better. Persevere.
To best understand this warning, let's make a distinction between the audience and type of person that he is warning about. Following the warning passage, in Hebrews 6:9, the author reveals that the audience is the beloved of God. Later in Hebrews 10:39 he describes the audience as not being "those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls." Despite the author's confidence of the audience's salvation as evidenced through their fruit, he warns of a particular kind of person that Jesus describes as a weed. In the case of the local church, there will always be a combination of wheat and weeds (Matt. 13:24-30).
Weeds can appear to embrace the gospel, attend local church gatherings, and share fellowship with the other believers; yet, under the pressures of trial, temptation, or indwelling sin reveal a lack of true conversion. Jesus describes such a person in the "Parable of the Sower" in Mark 4:16-17. The sower sows the word upon the rocky soil. They receive the word with joy, but do not persevere when persecution and tribulation come. This is not faith, but more of an opportunistic, intellectual enlightenment that cannot produce perseverance.
So, what should we do with these verses then?
While we need not concern ourselves with uprooting the weeds, as wheat we need to persevere, individually and collectively. Hebrews 12:1-2 exhorts us "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith..." As we persevere in Christ individually, let us also "see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God" (Heb. 12:15). In other words, Christians, watch out for one another. Make certain there are none among you that fall short of receiving salvation. This is one of the beautiful purposes of the local church and fellowship with other believers...mutual encouragement to remain hopeful, faithful, and patient on this journey.
It is my prayer and hope for you, dear friend to persevere and that you "show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." (Heb. 6:11-12)
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