Hebrews 6:4-6 After people have left the way of Christ, can you make them change their lives again? I am talking about people who once learned the truth, received God’s gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit. They were blessed to hear God’s good message and see the great power of his new world. But then they left it all behind, and it is not possible to make them change again. That’s because those who leave Christ are nailing him to the cross again, shaming him before everyone.
Hello Daniel, I believe that those being spoken of here were 1st Century Jewish ~almost~ Christians. Like those spoken of in
Hebrews 10:26-27, they were part of visible church back then and had experienced
("tasted", "partaken", been "enlightened", etc.) many of the benefits/blessings that church has to offer.
They knew who the Lord Jesus really was
(were enlightened), that He was the Messiah, but they continued to reject Him as such
(even with that knowledge) and turned back to Judaism instead. For them
(and others like them even today), those who "
go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth" about Jesus,
"there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, only a terrifying expectation of judgment" .. Hebrews 10:27-28.
This is why I believe that those being discussed
(in those passages in Hebrews anyway) were Jewish ~almost~ Christians, because the particular sin that they were guilty of
(of knowingly/willfully and continually choosing to commit) was rejection of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. It seems to me that those who were/are so enlightened/those who understand exactly who Jesus really is, but who still refuse to accept Him as the Messiah even so, never were, and sadly, never will be, true believers
(as there is no other sacrifice for sins than His sacrifice .. cf Hebrews 10:4).
That said, those who God has caused to be
born again, who He made
new creatures in Christ, and who have been permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit, may walk away/into sin for a time, but not forever
(as the Holy Spirit will see to it that we will not) .. e.g.
Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Hebrews 7:25; 1 John 5:13; Jude 24-25.
God bless you!
--David
Hebrews 6
4 In the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
Hebrews 10
26 If we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.