Enduring Word Bible Commentary Hebrews Chapter 6
To understand Hebrews 6:4 ff. We need to understand why this letter was originally written.
These verses were written to Jews who had come to trust Jesus but had returned to Judaism and started to believe again that animal sacrifice was sufficient to save them from sin thus denying the total work of Jesus upon the cross.
Also if someone falls away the reason for them not to repent it is not because God stops them repenting it's because they don't want to repent.
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 passage has nothing to do with those who fear lest it condemns them. The presence of that anxiety, like the cry which betrayed the real mother in the days of Solomon, establishes beyond a doubt that you are not one that has fallen away beyond the possibility of renewal to repentance.” (Meyer)
To understand Hebrews 6:4 ff. We need to understand why this letter was originally written.
These verses were written to Jews who had come to trust Jesus but had returned to Judaism and started to believe again that animal sacrifice was sufficient to save them from sin thus denying the total work of Jesus upon the cross.
Also if someone falls away the reason for them not to repent it is not because God stops them repenting it's because they don't want to repent.
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 passage has nothing to do with those who fear lest it condemns them. The presence of that anxiety, like the cry which betrayed the real mother in the days of Solomon, establishes beyond a doubt that you are not one that has fallen away beyond the possibility of renewal to repentance.” (Meyer)
