Hebrews 6:4-8. A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 2

Hebrews 6:4-8

A Double-Barrel Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 2

After warning those in the church to grow up in Christ, the preacher speaks a strong word against those who have left it and gone back to Judaism.  This passage, in its immediate context, does not readily apply to 21st-century American gentile Christians, but the warning holds in principle.  If you don’t commit to Christ and persevere, you are not saved. If you worship in another faith, you are not saved. It is impossible to find repentance anywhere other than in the cross of Christ. The video of our study is below, and the notes follow.

1. Difficulty of interpretation:

“And I will frankly confess to you I don't understand what it means. I'm sorry. I cannot give to you some glorious revelation that I have and this is what the text is saying.”  Chuck Smith study guide to Hebrews 5 and 6

2. Review of the context.
1. Jewish messianic congregation where several people had left the church to return to Temple or Synagogue worship.
2. Several calls not to harden your heart but to take hold of the gospel and make it your own (3:12ff)
3. He had just warned those who have sprung up in the faith but are not bearing fruit that they need to mature.
3. Separation and unity with preceding warning.
1. The pronouns change (review)
2. The tenses change.  
1. Before vs 3, perfect and present tenses.
2. After verse 7, perfect and present tenses
3. Verses 4 are adjectival aorist participles (supporting phrases that describe brief moments in time as a description of a dominant phrase.)
3. However, the presence of “For” as a connecting word keeps us from cutting completely free of the rest of the passage in its meaning.
4. This warning is the “second barrel” of the preacher’s shotgun in this section, and it is not aimed at those in the room.  Those who are the target of this had a brief encounter with body life and the community of believers, but they are no longer a part of it. The warning, however, to those who still attend in their immaturity is linked.  Take heed lest you immature become dead as well.
4. Review of the parable of the soils.  There are more who spring up (respond to a call) than are saved (persist in the faith to the end, bearing fruit).  You won’t be able to tell early on which shoots are saved and which are not.
5. Interpret difficult scriptures in light of clearer ones. Let’s get some boundaries to our interpretation.
1. James 5:19-20.  Matt 18:15.  Gal 6;1.  Those who are truly saved and fall away can come back, and we are to pursue doing so.
2. Matt 19:23-26. When it comes to salvation, it is always impossible for mankind, but nothing is impossible for God.  
3. John 6:39; John 17:6, 12; 2Tim 1:12.  It is Jesus who guards the salvation of those who are truly saved. It is not underwritten by their righteousness but by His faithfulness, and because of this, no saved person will be lost
4. Psalm 41:9; John 6:70, 13:18; 2Tim 4:10.  1Jn 2:19 It is possible for those in long time association with the church and with  ministry (even with Jesus and Paul) to leave their work and their association with the church.  Those who leave demonstrate that they were never really a part of it.   
6. Grammatical analysis of 6:4-6.  
1. The main verb is “to restore.”  All other verbal phrases are adjectival aorist prepositions and describe why it is “impossible to restore.”
1. This inflection focuses on a short temporary status.  “Punctiliar action.”  
2. Other uses of “tasted” apply to Christ’s experience of death (Heb 2:9).  It was a very real experience, but temporary.  He was resurrected. He is no longer dead.
3. The verbal change from the surrounding passage is significant.  Present and perfect verbal inflections still bear out in the present time.  They are ongoing. These actions were once true, but no longer are.
2. The second half of vs 6 is an explanatory phrase, also supporting why it is “impossible to restore.”
3. Impossible
1. Emphatic position.  This is the main point.
2. Occurs 4 times in Hebrews, and always seems to imply something that cannot be done.  Can’t soften the meaning to “hard” or “difficult.”
4. Literal translation: “Impossible it is for one who has been illuminated, has tasted of the heavenly bounty, having shared in the Holy Spirit and having tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the coming age, and having fallen away, again to restore them to repentance, since they crucify again the Son of God and hold Him in contempt.”
7. 6:4
1. “Enlightened,” or “illuminated” does not mean “saved.” It is a prelude to salvation.  We must be enlightened so that we can understand what the offer of the gospel is (Eph 1:18).  It is impossible for those who are not enlightened to understand, but the understanding is not synonymous with salvation.
2. “Tasted the Heavenly gift” is a short-term, momentary encounter with the gospel.  Reminiscent of the “springing up” in the parable of the soils.  It doesn’t last. They haven’t placed their whole faith and trust in Christ.  “Try Jesus.”
3. “Shared in the Holy Spirit” If the verbal tense were not what it is, this would imply that the Holy Spirit has become your “partner,” but the “partnership” was momentary and punctiliar. This is a short-lived association.
8. 6:5
1. “Tasted the goodness of the Word God” Same verb and inflection as above.  Short-term association. They have not poured over the scriptures, they’ve read a few passages and then moved on.
2. “And the powers of the world to come” same verb as the above phrase.  They have heard about the second coming of Christ and judgment and have dismissed the warning.
9. 6:6
1. “and have fallen away” is in the same tense.  This was a discrete moment in time.  An event, not a gradual slide.  
2. “restore them to repentance”
1. cf. 2Cor 4:13-16 The power of God and presence of the Spirit in our lives are constantly “renewing” us.  Same words.  The reason these people cannot be restored or renewed is because the Spirit is not there with the Power of God in His word to effect this renewal in the unbelieving.
2. 2Pe 2:21 Those who hear and reject are “worse off” because of their hardened hearts than those who never have heard (Rom 2:12-16)
3. 1John 5:16 The “sin that leads to death” is the rejection of the work of Jesus, saying “no” to the offer of the gospel.
4. Matt 12:31-32 Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the rejection of His work.  Same as above.
5. Crucifying again the son.  As a Jew, to step outside of the church of Jesus Christ and back into Judaism, you wold be adding your voice to the crowd which called for His execution and spit on him on the cross.
3. Historical help:  
1. During the time when this sermon was preached, the followers of Jesus were being persecuted, but the Jews were not.  This caused many jews to hesitate about joining “the way.”  
2. Also, starting in the early 60’s AD, the Sadducees began “evangelizing” Christians and inviting them back into Judaism overtly.  They simply had to come to Temple and participate in a sacrifice.
3. This would constitute a moment of apostasy where they rejected the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice.  
10. 6:7-8 Vineyard parable
1. Parallel to Isa 5. God has done all the work to save us.  Those who reject Him will suffer terrible consequences.
2. Obvious exceptions to “irresistible grace”
3. The Rain which falls on the field is the constant presentation of the word of God and the call to repentance which was present in the community to which they belonged.
4. Those who mature (a warning applicable to those inside and outside the church) and bear fruit will be blessed.  
5. Those who bear evil fruit, will be judged.  Gen 3:17 Thorns and Thistles.
6. “close to” and “in the end”  The judgment is coming, but we still get to live out our days in the common grace of God in this life.