What do you think Hebrews 6:4-6 says?

Willie T

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A different read:
Hebrews 6:4-6 The Passion Translation (TPT)
A Warning to Never Turn Away

4 It is impossible to restore an apostate. [a] For once a person has come into God’s light, and tasted the gifts of the heavenly realm, and has received the Holy Spirit, [b] 5 and feasted on the good Word of God, and has entered into the power of the age that is breaking in, [c] 6 if he abandons his faith, there is no use even trying to lead him to repentance. By their sin of apostasy [d] they re-crucify the Son of God, [e] and have publicly repudiated him. [f]

Footnotes:
[a] Hebrews 6:4 That is, one who has abandoned their faith. Because of the extraordinary length of the Greek sentence, this summary statement implied in the text is given here at the beginning of the paragraph for the sake of English narrative. To say it is impossible does not mean that God cannot bring them to repentance, but that he chooses to leave them in their hardened state, much like Pharaoh who hardened his heart to God. The Aramaic is very clear, “they cannot be renewed to conversion.”
Hebrews 6:4 Or “has been in [business] partnership with the Holy Spirit.”
[c] Hebrews 6:5 Or “the age that is about to come.”
[d] Hebrews 6:6 As translated from the Aramaic and implied in the Greek.
[e] Hebrews 6:6 Or “it is impossible to crucify the Son of God again for them to change their own minds!”
[f] Hebrews 6:6 Or “have made a public spectacle of him.” The Aramaic can be translated “insulted the Son of God.”
 
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ToBeLoved

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They were never saved or they would have remained.
No. This is wrong.

The verse says “who were once enlightened, and having tasted the heavenly gift, and been partakers of the Holy Ghost “

If they received the Holy Spirit, they were saved.
 
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Dave L

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No. This is wrong.

The verse says “who were once enlightened, and having tasted the heavenly gift, and been partakers of the Holy Ghost “

If they received the Holy Spirit, they were saved.
This cannot be true. John says;

“Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1 John 3:9–10) (KJV 1900)

Notice the contrast between the saved and lost is not profession, but obedience and love. Most converts are superficial believers and wash out according tho the parable of the sower.
 
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Hank77

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per Adam Clarke's Commentary
To renew them again unto repentance
- As repentance is the first step that a sinner must take in order to return to God, and as sorrow for sin must be useless in itself unless there be a proper sacrificial offering, these having rejected the only available sacrifice, their repentance for sin, had they any, would be nugatory, and their salvation impossible on this simple account; and this is the very reason which the apostle immediately subjoins: -
Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God - They reject him on the ground that he was an impostor, and justly put to death. And thus they are said to crucify him to themselves - to do that in their present apostasy which the Jews did; and they show thereby that, had they been present when he was crucified, they would have joined with his murderers.
And put him to an open shame - Παραδειγματιζοντας· And have made him a public example; or, crucifying unto themselves and making the Son of God a public example. That is, they show openly that they judge Jesus Christ to have been worthy of the death which he suffered, and was justly made a public example by being crucified. This shows that it is final apostasy, by the total rejection of the Gospel, and blasphemy of the Savior of men, that the apostle has in view. See the note on Heb_6:4 (note).
Hebrews 6 Clarke's Commentary

See Heb. 6:4 notes
 
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Tree of Life

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It says that if one rejects Jesus, it is impossible to restore them to God in any other way. There is no other sacrifice, no other name by which we are saved, and no repentance outside of Christ.

It actually doesn't directly contribute one way or another to the OSAS debate.
 
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GingerBeer

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What do you think Hebrews 6:4-6 says?

I think it says:

Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt.

;)


 
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Bible Highlighter

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Show me one verse in the Bible that states someone repented and at least heavily implies that they were not saved.

This is merely the length folks will go to defend the view that nobody can lose their salvation.
 
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Yarddog

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Well Hebrews was mainly pointed at the Jewish Christians who were turning away from Jesus back to the Law. (Anti-Christs) It can also apply to other Christians who have been baptized into the Church and turned away from Jesus into unbelief or another religion, such as Judaism, Islam, Paganism, Buddhism, etc...
 
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St_Worm2

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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.
7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
9 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.


Commentary excerpts for your consideration:

(6:4–6 See Interpretive Challenges at the bottom of this post)

6:4 enlightened. They had received instruction in biblical truth which was accompanied by intellectual perception. Understanding the gospel is not the equivalent of regeneration (Hebrews 10:26, Hebrews 10:32). In John 1:9 it is clear that enlightening is not the equivalent of salvation. Hebrews 10:29. tasted the heavenly gift. Tasting in the figurative sense in the NT refers to consciously experiencing something (Hebrews 2:9). The experience might be momentary or continuing. Christ’s “tasting” of death (2:9) was obviously momentary and not continuing or permanent. All men experience the goodness of God, but that does not mean they are all saved (cf. Matthew 5:45; Acts of the Apostles 17:25). Many Jews, during the Lord’s earthly ministry experienced the blessings from heaven He brought—in healings and deliverance from demons, as well as eating the food He created miraculously (John 6). Whether the gift refers to Christ (cf. John 6:51; 2 Corinthians 9:15) or to the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts of the Apostles 2:38; 1 Peter 1:12), experiencing either one was not the equivalent of salvation (cf. John 16:8; Acts of the Apostles 7:51). partakers of the Holy Spirit. Even though the concept of partaking is used in Hebrews 3:1; Hebrews 3:14; and Hebrews 12:8 of a relationship which believers have, the context must be the final determining factor. This context in vv. 4–6 seems to preclude a reference to true believers. It could be a reference to their participation, as noted above, in the miraculous ministry of Jesus who was empowered by the Spirit or in the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8) which obviously can be resisted without experiencing salvation (cf. Acts of the Apostles 7:51).

6:5 tasted. This has an amazing correspondence to what was described in Hebrews 2:1-4. Like Simon Magus (Acts of the Apostles 8:9-24), these Hebrews had not yet been regenerated in spite of all they had heard and seen (cf. Matthew 13:3-9; John 6:60-66). They were repeating the sins of those who died in the wilderness after seeing the miracles performed through Moses and Aaron and hearing the voice of God at Sinai.

6:6 fall away. This Gr. term occurs only here in the NT. In the LXX, it was used to translate terms for severe unfaithfulness and apostasy (cf. Ezekiel 14:13; Ezekiel 18:24; Ezekiel 20:27). It is equivalent to the apostasy in Hebrews 3:12. The seriousness of this unfaithfulness is seen in the severe description of rejection within this verse: they re-crucify Christ and treat Him contemptuously (see also the strong descriptions in 10:29). The “impossible” of v. 4 goes with “to renew them again to repentance.” Those who sinned against Christ in such a way had no hope of restoration or forgiveness (cf. Hebrews 2:2-3; Hebrews 1:26-27; Hebrews 12:25). The reason is that they had rejected Him with full knowledge and conscious experience (as described in the features of vv. 5, 6). With full revelation they rejected the truth, concluding the opposite of the truth about Christ, and thus had no hope of being saved. They can never have more knowledge than they had when they rejected it. They have concluded that Jesus should have been crucified, and they stand with his enemies. There is no possibility of these verses referring to losing salvation. Many Scripture passages make unmistakably clear that salvation is eternal (cf. John 10:27-29; Romans 8:35-39; Philippians 1:6; 1 Peter 1:4-5). Those who want to make this verse mean that believers can lose salvation will have to admit that it would then also say that one could never get it back again. ~Again, see Interpretive Challenges below.

6:7, 8 Here are illustrations showing that those who hear the gospel message and respond in faith are blessed; those who hear and reject it are cursed (cf. Matthew 13:18-23).

6:8 rejected. See the use of the term in Romans 1:28 (“debased”); 2 Corinthians 13:5 (“disqualified”); and 2 Timothy 3:8 (“disapproved”).

6:9 beloved. This term shows a change of audience and a change from a message of warning to a message of encouragement. That the address is to believers is further confirmed by the expression of confidence that “better things” could be said of them (as compared to those who were being warned in the preceding verses). The “things that accompany salvation” are their works which verify their salvation (Hebrews 6:10; cf. Ephesians 2:10; James 2:18, James 2:26). The very statement implies that the things described in Hebrews 5:11–6:5 do not accompany salvation but are indicative of unbelief and apostasy. though we speak in this manner. Though it had been necessary to speak about judgment in the preceding verses, the writer assures the “beloved,” those who are believers, that he is confident of their salvation. ~MacArthur, J. Jr., Hebrews Notes, MacArthur Study Bible (excerpt)

Hebrews Interpretive Challenges

A proper interpretation of this epistle requires the recognition that it addresses 3 distinct groups of Jews:

1) believers;
2) unbelievers who were intellectually convinced of the gospel; and
3) unbelievers who were attracted by the gospel and the person of Christ but who had reached no final conviction about Him.

Failure to acknowledge these groups leads to interpretations inconsistent with the rest of Scripture.

The primary group addressed were Hebrew Christians who suffered rejection and persecution by fellow Jews (Hebrews 10:32-34), although none as yet had been martyred (Hebrews 12:4). The letter was written to give them encouragement and confidence in Christ, their Messiah and High-Priest. They were an immature group of believers who were tempted to hold on to the symbolic and spiritually powerless rituals and traditions of Judaism.

The second group addressed were Jewish unbelievers who were convinced of the basic truths of the gospel but who had not placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their own Savior and Lord. They were intellectually persuaded but spiritually uncommitted. These unbelievers are addressed in such passages as Hebrews 2:1-3; Hebrews 6:4-6; Hebrews 10:26-29; and Hebrews 12:15-17.

The third group addressed were Jewish unbelievers who were not convinced of the gospel’s truth but had had some exposure to it. Hebrews 9 is largely devoted to them.

By far, the most serious interpretive challenge is found in Hebrews 6:4–6. The phrase “once enlightened” is often taken to refer to Christians, and the accompanying warning taken to indicate the danger of losing their salvation if “they fall away” and “crucify again for themselves the Son of God.” But there is no mention of their being saved and they are not described with any terms that apply only to believers (such as holy, born again, righteous, or saints). This problem arises from inaccurately identifying the spiritual condition of the ones being addressed. In this case, they were unbelievers who had been exposed to God’s redemptive truth, and perhaps made a profession of faith, but had not exercised genuine saving faith. In Hebrews 10:26, the reference once again is to apostate Christians, not to genuine believers who are often incorrectly thought to lose their salvation because of their sins.
~MacArthur, J., Jr.
 
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ThatCanadianDude_88

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We can't compartmentalize Scripture, Chapter 3 makes it clear who he's writing to, believers.

The point is that the foundation has already been laid, which is why Paul is saying not to lay it down all over again. It is not in the context of those who have never laid it.
 
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Philip_B

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Hebrews 6:9-12
Even though we speak in this way, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we want each one of you to show the same diligence, so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.​

I think the writer to the Hebrews is clear in warning is to stay true to the faith, loyal to the one who has called us, and not to reject the gift we have been given. I fear that by posting the first part of the passage and not the second we may see it more as discouragement than an encouragement.
 
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hedrick

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In the early church people didn't see this passage as answering the question of whether you could fall away from salvation. It was obvious that you could. What was controversial about this passage is that it says that someone who falls away can't ever come back. Note that we're talking about apostasy, not normal sorts of sins.

This was a concern in the early church because of people who deserted in the persecutions. Could they really never come back?

Personally I think the answer is that yes, you can come back even after apostasy. But it's hard to understand Hebrews 6 as acknowledging that possibility. Sure, there are always ways to interpret things. But I believe the author's meaning is clear.
 
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ToServe

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Hebrews is to the Hebrews for starters.

Hebrews 6:4-6 is connected to the Jews who refuse to let go of Old Covenant practices and thereby tread under foot the Son of God and at the same time offend the Spirit of Grace (Hebrews 10:29)

Getting back to Hebrews 6:4-6, we can decipher the context being spoken about to the Jews who accepted Christ, they then had reverted back to their Old Customs. They were saved Jews in this regard.

"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"

Repentance from dead works within the Jewish covenantal context is the Old Testament foundations that cannot save.

The context is a contrast between the Old Covenant Priesthood and the New Covenant Kingly Priesthood of Melchizedek.

The emphasis here is that Jews who revert back to Old Covenant practices are treading under foot the Son of God who justifies them and at the same time offending the Spirit of Grace who sanctifies them.

The message has no bearing on the Gentile Churches today unless they revert back to Old Covenant practices, that then become the basis of setting up the Abomination of Desolation in the Holy Place where the Holy Spirit ought to be.
 
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