1) The document discusses the interpretation of Hebrews 6:4-6, a passage often used to argue that believers can lose their salvation. The author argues this cannot be the case, as those redeemed by Christ can never perish since he has given them eternal life. While they cannot lose salvation, believers can experience serious loss by disobeying or neglecting God. 2) It then provides context on the letter to the Hebrews, which was written to encourage Jewish Christians in the late 1st century who were growing impatient for Christ's return. It aimed to prove Jesus is superior to Judaism and that faith in him, not their own works, is the foundation and goal of their lives.

1. HEBREWS 6 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
INTRODUCTION
S L JOHNSON, " Last week I mentioned that this is the prime passage of the Arminians and the cardinal
passage of all who believe that it possible to be saved and then lost. This group includes the Methodists,
Anglicans, Lutherans, the Church of Christ, and the Romans Catholic Church and others.
I once heard an evangelists say, "a Methodist knows he has got religion but he is afraid he may lose it.
A Presbyterian knows he can't lose it, but he’s afraid he hasn't got it. " There is a lot of truth in these two
attitudes towards the New Testament.
Philip Mauro, “Since the Epistle to the Hebrews has to do solely with the experiences of a redeemed
people, it follows that certain passages (Heb. 6:4-6 and 10:26-31) which are sometimes taken as
indicating the eternal condemnation of the persons to whom they refer, cannot have that significance.
That the people of God can bring upon themselves great suffering and loss is clearly set forth in many
Scriptures. But it is equally clear that they cannot themselves be lost. In Hebrews we learn what may
befall the sheep in the wilderness; and it must not be forgotten that the Good Shepherd has Himself
declared concerning them, “I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish” (Jn. 10:28). How
could those perish for whom He laid down His Life, and for whom He now intercedes in resurrection life
and power? That could not be; but there is, on the other hand, the gravest danger that they may,
through perversity, disobedience, unbelief, sloth, or neglect, incur serious loss. It is on this account that
the Holy Spirit so earnestly urges them “to-day,” and so long as it is called “to-day,” to hear His Voice,
Who now speaks from Heaven, in order that, when the crucial hour arrives, that may not befall them,
which befell God’s people of old, who, when the opportunity came for entering into the possesssion of the
promised inheritance, hardened their heart to His Word, provoked His indignation, and so could not enter
in because of unbelief. Those whom God has redeemed from the bondage of sin and the fear of death
can never be lost. Their security rests upon the finished work accomplished by Christ upon the Cross;
and what He has accomplished stands for ever. But beyond any question there is the possibility that
they may fall after the same example of disobedience, and so may fail to inherit “the blessing.” And in
view of that possibility we are here most solemnly warned that such as draw back from entering into the
reward promised to patience and obedience, cannot be renewed again unto repentance, that is to say,
they cannot be permitted, upon change of mind (which is the meaning of “repentance”), to enter into that
blessing from which they willfully turned away.
We are prone to slight the warnings of Scripture, and are all too ready to assign them to others than
ourselves-to “the Jewish remnant” for example. Let us be on our guard against the deceitfulness of our
own hearts, as well as against the deceivableness of sin. We cannot afford to neglect the warnings of
Scripture; and there is no room for doubt as to those for whom the warnings of Hebrews are intended.
They are, beyond question, for those who have been redeemed by the precious Blood of Christ. They
are for those on whose behalf He is gone into Heaven, and for whom now He intercedes. If we apply to
ourselves such passages as “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest that has passed into the
Heavens” (Heb. 4:14), we must also of necessity accept the application of the words that occur in the
immediate context, “Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same
example of unbelief” (lit., disobedience). It is impossible to read the warnings contained in this Epistle
without perceiving that tremendous consequences hinge upon the attention given to them.
It being clear then, that the redeemed people of God may fail to obtain “the promise,” and to
secure to themselves “the recompense of the reward,” it becomes a matter of highest importance for them
to give their most earnest and intelligent heed to the warnings which God, in His faithfulness and
kindness, has vouchsafed them; and also to avail themselves of the provision which His grace extends to
meet their need and to help their infirmities.

2. The Theology of Hebrews
The Church after Paul saw slow but steady progress. By the last quarter of the first century AD the
Church had made inroads into every major city of the Roman Empire. But something else was happening
at the same time; people were growing impatient. You see, Jesus had said "And he said to them, "Truly I
tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has
come with power" (Mk 9:1).
No matter how this verse in interpreted today, when Jesus spoke these words they understood him
literally. Thus, when the earliest believers began to die the Church began to wonder if the coming was not
imminent. Some of them, quite frankly, gave up hope that He would ever come again. Many of those who
grew disenchanted with Christianity were Jews who had converted in the hope that the Messiah would
quickly return and establish his earthly kingdom. When he did not, they began to leave the Church,
evidently in droves.
The Letter to the Hebrews is written to these Jewish Christians in order to encourage them to remain
faithful to Jesus, "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, and have tasted the
goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, since on
their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt" (Hebrews 6).
These believers must hold fast to the faith; for there is no other way by which they can be saved. So the
writer of Hebrews makes every effort to prove that Jesus is superior to anything that Judaism has to offer.
He is better than the angels, Moses, the law, the Prophets, or anything else.
The central idea of the letter is that Jesus is the ultimate gift and the ultimate giver; that is, he is
simultaneously the high priest and the sacrificial victim! Because of his sacrifice the believer can know
God and will become a part of God's rule. But they must beware that it is not their faith that is the
foundation of this kingdom! NO, it is God's gift that is the ground of their faith! This is made quite clear
when the author stresses the death and exaltation of Jesus as he does. Faith in him is the goal of their
lives as well as the ground of their faith. If they forget this, then they will fall away from Him.
Higher than Moses and higher than the angels, Jesus remains forever the greatest gift which God has
ever given humankind. Cf. 2:17-18; 4:14-16; 5:5-10; 6:20; 7:24-28; 9:11-14; 24-28; 10:12-14; 19-21.
Since he is the gift and the giver, his followers must give ear to him; they must listen to him or they will
hear nothing! So it is neither the law nor an angel they must adhere to- they must listen to the voice of the
priest who gave himself for them.
As these things are said by our anonymous writer standing at our imaginary lectern, the crowd begins to
disperse. From this point onward in the New Testament the voices we hear are not quite so well heeded
as Paul or John. Yet what he has to say is very important; and we should chide our neighbors for leaving
before they hear them out!
Pastor Jesse Gistand "Now what is it then that the Apostle instructs these slothful students of the
scriptures to do? Leave! Leave off with the picture. Verses 1-3 of Hebrews 6 is a reference to the old
testament principles pointing at Christ in the dead works of sacrificial offerings. Dead works in that they
had no saving virtue in them.
David a man of faith was raised above the carnal ordinance of sacrifices to see what was acceptable with
GOD. Not the blood of bulls and goats, but the blood of Jesus Christ without spot and blemish. "For thou
desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a
broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." (Psalm 50:16-17).
And this speaks first of that humble servant who was meek and lonely of heart. Jesus Christ his heart, his
work and his brokenness alone is accepted with the Father. I suggest that you give that heart to GOD if
ever you shall be heard of him. This too is the only way your guilty sin stained conscience can be free of
the condemnation of the Law. "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling
the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who

3. through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:13-14).
Do you see it? It takes the same GOD that places the burden of guilt upon the condemned sinners
conscience by the Law, to remove it by the proper and acceptable sacrifice. The blood of his Son, to be
brought to GOD by faith alone. David knew that the mere ritual and formality of orthodox worship was not
acceptable with GOD. His heart still condemned him. GOD was greater than his heart, and pressed out of
his servant this eternal truth, sacrifices and offerings thou wouldst not. True repentance is a work of
Grace, not a work of the Law. Real genuine repentance is exactly what faith in Christ does. Turn you from
the futility and emptiness of works to serve the true and the living GOD.
The Apostle here warns the Hebrews and todays Hebrews that Moses is dead. He died in the wilderness
along with Aaron and Miriam, and is vanishing away in the faith eye of those who see Jesus Christ only.
Faith toward God is what the carnal ordinances tutored, as one was to look beyond the type, the
ceremony to the promise that is conveyed. But men, as it was then also now stumble at the sign. There is
no efficacy in signs, no power. The stop sign calls for one to stop. It however, can not stop the person that
refuses to yield and the consequences are too frequently evident. So too, sacrifices and washings, are of
themselves dead, and possess no sacramental virtues as alleged by the catholics and some branches of
reformed theology.
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings
about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again
the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to
death, and of faith in God,
1. BARNES, "Therefore - “Since, as was stated in the previous chapter, you ought to be
capable of comprehending the higher doctrines of religion; since those doctrines are adapted to
those who have been for a considerable time professors of Christianity, and have had
opportunities of growing in knowledge and grace - as much as strong meat is for those of mature
years - leave now the elements of Christian doctrine, and go on to understand its higher
mysteries.” The idea is, that to those who had so long been acquainted with the way of salvation,
the elements of Christianity were no more adapted than milk was for grown persons.
Leaving - Dismissing; intermitting; passing by the consideration of with a view to advance to
something higher. The apostle refers to his discussion of the subject, and also to their condition.
He wished to go on to the contemplation of higher doctrines, and he desired that they should no
longer linger around the mere elements. “Let us advance to a higher state of knowledge than the
mere elements of the subject.” On the sense of the word “leaving,” or quitting with a view to
engage in something else, see Mat_4:20, Mat_4:22; Mat_5:24.
The principles - Margin: “The word of the beginning of Christ.” Tyndale renders it: “let us
leave the doctrine pertaining to the beginning of a Christian man.” Coverdale, “let us leave the
doctrine pertaining to the beginning of a Christian life.” On the word “principles” see the note on
Heb_5:12. The Greek there, indeed, is not the same as in this place, but the idea is evidently the
same. The reference is to what he regarded as the very elements of the Christian doctrine; and
the meaning is, “let us no longer linger here. We should go on to higher attainments. We should
wholly understand the system. We should discuss and receive its great principles. You have been
long enough converted to have understood these; but you linger among the very elementary

4. truths of religion. But you cannot remain here. You must either advance or recede; and if you do
not go forward, you will go back into entire apostasy, when it will be impossible to be renewed.”
The apostle here, therefore, does not refer to his discussion of the points under consideration as
the main thing, but to their state as one of danger; and in writing to them he was not content to
discuss the elements of religion as being alone suited to their condition, but would have them
make higher attainments, and advance to the more elevated principles of the gospel.
Of the doctrine - Literally, “the word” - λόγον logon - “reason, or doctrine of the beginning
of Christ.” That is, the word or reason that pertains to the elements of his system; the first
principles of Christian doctrine.
Of Christ - Which pertain to the Messiah. Either what he taught, or what is taught of him
and his religion. Most probably it is the latter - what pertains to the Messiah, or to the Christian
revelation. The idea is, that there is a set of truths which may be regarded as lying at the
foundation of Christian doctrine, and those truths they had embraced, but had not advanced
beyond them.
Let us go on - Let us advance to a higher state of knowledge and holiness. The reference is
alike to his discussion of the subject, and to their advancement in piety and in knowledge. He
would not linger around these elements in the discussion, nor would he have them linger at the
threshold of the Christian doctrines.
Unto perfection - compare the notes on Heb_2:10. The word here is used, evidently, to
denote an advanced state of Christian knowledge and piety; or the more elevated Christian
doctrines, and the holier living to which it was their duty to attain. It does not refer solely to the
intention of the apostle to discuss the more elevated doctrines of Christianity, but to” such an
advance as would secure them from the danger of apostasy.” If it should be said, however, that
the word “perfection” is to be understood in the most absolute and unqualified sense, as
denoting entire freedom from sin, it may be remarked:
(1) That this does not prove that they ever attained to it, nor should this be adduced as a text
to show that such an attainment is ever made. To exhort a man to do a thing - however
reasonable - is no proof in itself that it is ever done.
(2) It is proper to exhort Christians to aim at entire perfection. Even if none have ever reached
that point on earth, that fact does not make it any the less desirable or proper to aim at it.
(3) There is much in making an honest attempt to be perfectly holy, even though we should
not attain to it in this life. No man accomplishes much who does not aim high.
Not laying again the foundation - Not laying down - as one does a foundation for an
edifice. The idea is, that they were not to begin and build all this over again. They were not to
make it necessary to lay down again the very cornerstones, and the foundations of the edifice,
but since these were laid already, they were to go on and build the superstructure and complete
the edifice.
Of repentance from dead works - From works that cause death or condemnation; or that
have no vitality or life. The reference may be either to those actions which were sinful in their
nature, or to those which related to the forms of religion, where there was no spiritual life. This
was the character of much of the religion of the Jews; and conversion to the true religion
consisted greatly in repentance for having relied on those heartless and hollow forms. It is
possible that the apostle referred mainly to these, as he was writing to those who had been
Hebrews. When formalists are converted, one of the first and the main exercises of their minds
in conversion, consists in deep and genuine sorrow for their dependence on those forms.
Religion is life; and irreligion is a state of spiritual death, (compare the notes on Eph_2:1),
whether it be in open transgression, or in false and hollow forms of religion. The apostle has
here stated what is the first element of the Christian religion. It consists in genuine sorrow for
sin, and a purpose to turn from it; see the note on Mat_3:2.

5. And of faith toward God - see the note on Mar_16:16. This is the second element in the
Christian system. Faith is everywhere required in order to salvation, but it is usually faith “in the
Lord Jesus” that is spoken of; see Act_20:21. Here, however, faith “in God” is particularly
referred to. But there is no essential difference. It is faith in God in regard to his existence and
perfections, and to his plan of saving people. It includes, therefore, faith in his message and
messenger, and thus embraces the plan of salvation by the Redeemer. There is but one God -
“the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ;” and he who believes in the true God believes in
him as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; the Author of the plan of redemption, and the Saviour of
lost people. No one can believe “in the true God” who does not believe in the Saviour; compare
Joh_5:23; Joh_17:3. He who supposes that he confides “in any other” God than the Author of
the Christian religion, worships a being of the imagination as really as though he bowed down to
a block of wood or stone. If Christianity is true, there is no such God as the infidel professes to
believe in, any more than the God of the Brahmin has an existence. To believe “in God,”
therefore, is to believe in him as he “actually exists” - as the true God - the Author of the great
plan of salvation by the Redeemer. It is needless to attempt to show that faith in the true God is
essential to salvation. How can he be saved who has no “confidence” in the God that made him?
2. CLARKE, "Therefore - Because ye have been so indolent, slow of heart, and have still so
many advantages.
Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ - Ceasing to continue in the state of
babes, who must be fed with milk - with the lowest doctrines of the Gospel, when ye should be
capable of understanding the highest.
Let us go on unto perfection - Let us never rest till we are adult Christians - till we are
saved from all sin, and are filled with the spirit and power of Christ.
The words τον της αρχης· του Χριστου λογον might be translated, The discourse of the
beginning of Christ, as in the margin; that is, the account of his incarnation, and the different
types and ceremonies in the law by which his advent, nature, office, and miracles were pointed
out. The whole law of Moses pointed out Christ, as may be seen at large in my comment on the
Pentateuch; and therefore the words of the apostle may be understood thus: Leave the law, and
come to the Gospel. Cease from Moses, and come to the Messiah.
Let us go on unto perfection. - The original is very emphatic: Επι την τελειοτητα φερωµεθα·
Let us be carried on to this perfection. God is ever ready by the power of his Spirit, to carry us
forward to every degree of light, life, and love, necessary to prepare us for an eternal weight of
glory. There can be little difficulty in attaining the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls
from all sin, if God carry us forward to it; and this he will do if we submit to be saved in his own
way, and on his own terms. Many make a violent outcry against the doctrine of perfection, i.e.
against the heart being cleansed from all sin in this life, and filled with love to God and man,
because they judge it to be impossible! Is it too much to say of these that they know neither the
Scripture nor the power of God? Surely the Scripture promises the thing; and the power of God
can carry us on to the possession of it.
Laying again the foundation of repentance - The phrase νεκρα εργα, dead works,
occurs but once more in the sacred writings, and that is in Heb_9:14 of this epistle; and in both
places it seems to signify such works as deserve death - works of those who were dead in
trespasses, and dead in sins; and dead by sentence of the law, because they had by these works
broken the law. Repentance may be properly called the foundation of the work of God in the soul
of man, because by it we forsake sin, and turn to God to find mercy.

6. Faith toward God - Is also a foundation, or fundamental principle, without which it is
impossible to please God, and without which we cannot be saved. By repentance we feel the
need of God’s mercy, by faith we find that mercy.
But it is very likely that the apostle refers here to the Levitical law, which, in its painful
observances, and awful denunciations of Divine wrath against every breach of that law, was well
calculated to produce repentance, and make it a grievous and bitter thing to sin against God.
And as to faith in God, that was essentially necessary, in order to see the end of the
commandment; for without faith in him who was to come, all that repentance was unavailable,
and all ritual observances without profit.
3. GILL, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,.... The Gospel is
the doctrine of Christ, and is so called, because Christ, as God, is the author of it; as Mediator, he
received it from his Father; as man, he was the preacher of it; and he is also the sum and
substance of it: the principles of this doctrine are either the easier parts of the Gospel, called
milk in the latter part of the preceding chapter; which are not to be left with dislike and
contempt, nor so as to be forgotten, nor so as not to be recurred to at proper times; but so as not
to abide in and stick here, without going further: or rather the ceremonies of the law, which were
the elements of the Jews' religion, and the beginning, as the word may be here rendered, of the
doctrine of Christ; which were shadowy and typical of Christ, and taught the Jews the truths of
the Gospel concerning Christ: in these the believing Jews were very desirous of sticking, and of
abiding by them, and of continuing them in the Gospel church; whereas they were to be left,
since they had had their use, and had answered what they were designed for, and were now
abolished by Christ.
Let us go on to perfection: in a comparative sense, to a more perfect knowledge of things,
which the clear revelation and ministry of the Gospel lead unto; and which the rites and
ceremonies, types and figures of the law, never could:
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works; the Syriac version
reads this by way of interrogation, "do ye lay again, &c." and makes the third verse to be an
answer to it: the phrase, "not laying again the foundation", is to be read in connection, not only
with this article of repentance, but with each of the other five articles, the foundation of which is
no more to be laid again than this: and not laying it again, either means not teaching it, and so
refers to the apostle, and other ministers of the word, who should not insist upon the following
things, at least not stick there, but go on to deliver things more sublime and grand; or not
hearing it, and so refers to the Hebrews, who should seek after a more perfect knowledge of
evangelic truths than the following articles exhibited to them: and the several parts of this
foundation, which; are not to be laid again ministerially, by preachers, or attended to by hearers,
design either the first things, with which the Gospel dispensation was ushered in; or rather, and
which I take to be the true sense, the general principles and practices of the Jews under the
former dispensation; for these are not the six principles of the Christian religion, as they are
commonly called, but so many articles of the Jewish creed; some of which were peculiar to the
Jews, and others common to them, with us Christians: thus,
repentance from dead works, does not intend evangelical repentance, the doctrine of which
is to be ministerially laid, and the grace itself to be exercised over and over again; but a
repentance which arose from, and was signified by the sacrifices of slain beasts; for by them the
Jews were taught the doctrine of repentance, as well as remission of sin; and in and over them
did they confess their iniquities; yea, every beast that was slain for sacrifice carried in it a

7. conviction of sin, an acknowledgment of guilt; and it was tacitly owning, that they, for whom the
creature was slain, deserved to be treated as that was, and die as that did. So the Jews (f) say,
"when a man sacrifices a beast, he thinks in his own heart, I am rather a beast than this; for I am
he that hath sinned, and for the sin which I have committed I bring this; and it is more fitting
that the man should be sacrificed rather than the beast; and so it appears that, ‫על‬‫ידי‬‫קרבנו‬‫הוא‬
‫,יחרט‬ "by the means of his offering he repents".''
But now, under the Gospel dispensation, believing Jews, as these were to whom the apostle
writes, were not to learn the doctrine of repentance from slain beasts, or to signify it in this way;
since repentance and remission of sins were preached most clearly to them in the name of
Christ: nor were they to lay again another part of this foundation, or a second article of the
Jewish creed,
and of faith towards God; which article is expressed in language agreeable to the Jewish
dispensation; whereas evangelical faith is usually called the faith of Christ, or faith in Christ, or
towards our Lord Jesus Christ; but this respects faith in God, as the God of Israel: hence says
our Lord to his disciples, who were all Jews, "ye believe in God": ye have been taught, and used
to believe in God, as the God of Israel; "believe also in me", as his Son and the Messiah, and the
Mediator between God and man, Joh_14:1, so that now they were not only to have faith towards
God, as the God of Israel, and to teach and receive that doctrine; but to have faith in Christ as
the Saviour of lost sinners, without the intermediate use of sacrifices.
4. HENRY, "We have here the apostle's advice to the Hebrews - that they would grow up
from a state of childhood to the fullness of the stature of the new man in Christ. He declares his
readiness to assist them all he could in their spiritual progress; and, for their greater
encouragement, he puts himself with them: Let us go on. Here observe, In order to their growth,
Christians must leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ. How must they leave them? They
must not lose them, they must not despise them, they must not forget them. They must lay them
up in their hearts, and lay them as the foundation of all their profession and expectation; but
they must not rest and stay in them, they must not be always laying the foundation, they must go
on, and build upon it. There must be a superstructure; for the foundation is laid on purpose to
support the building. Here it may be enquired, Why did the apostle resolve to set strong meat
before the Hebrews, when he knew they were but babes? Answer. 1. Though some of them were
but weak, yet others of them had gained more strength; and they must be provided for suitably.
And, as those who are grown Christians must be willing to hear the plainest truths preached for
the sake of the weak, so the weak must be willing to hear the more difficult and mysterious
truths preached for the sake of those who are strong. 2. He hoped they would be growing in their
spiritual strength and stature, and so be able to digest stronger meat.
I. The apostle mentions several foundation-principles, which must be well laid at first, and
then built upon; neither his time nor theirs must be spent in laying these foundations over and
over again. These foundations are six: -
1. Repentance from dead works, that is, conversion and regeneration, repentance from a
spiritually dead state and course; as if he had said, “Beware of destroying the life of grace in your
souls; your minds were changed by conversion, and so were your lives. Take care that you return
not to sin again, for then you must have the foundation to lay again; there must be a second
conversion a repenting not only of, but fRom. dead works.” Observe here, (1.) The sins of
persons unconverted are dead works; they proceed from persons spiritually dead, and they tend
to death eternal. (2.) Repentance for dead works, if it be right, is repentance from dead works, a

8. universal change of heart and life. (3.) Repentance for and from dead works is a
foundation-principle, which must not be laid again, though we must renew our repentance daily.
2. Faith towards God, a firm belief of the existence of God, of his nature, attributes, and
perfections, the trinity of persons in the unity of essence, the whole mind and will of God as
revealed in his word, particularly what relates to the Lord Jesus Christ. We must by faith
acquaint ourselves with these things; we must assent to them, we must approve of them, and
apply all to ourselves with suitable affections and actions. Observe, (1.) Repentance from dead
works, and faith towards God, are connected, and always go together; they are inseparable
twins, the one cannot live without the other. (2.) Both of these are foundation-principles, which
should be once well laid, but never pulled up, so as to need to be laid over again; we must not
relapse into infidelity.
5. JAMISON, "Heb_6:1-14. Warning against retrograding, which soon leads to apostasy;
Encouragement to steadfastness from God’s faithfulness to His Word and Oath.
Therefore — Wherefore: seeing that ye ought not now to be still “babes” (Heb_5:11-14).
leaving — getting further forward than the elementary “principles.” “As in building a house
one must never leave the foundation: yet to be always laboring in ‘laying the foundation’ would
be ridiculous” [Calvin].
the principles of the doctrine — Greek, “the word of the beginning,” that is, the
discussion of the “first principles of Christianity (Heb_5:12).
let us go on — Greek, “let us be borne forward,” or “bear ourselves forward”; implying active
exertion: press on. Paul, in teaching, here classifies himself with the Hebrew readers, or (as they
ought to be) learners, and says, Let us together press forward.
perfection — the matured knowledge of those who are “of full age” (Heb_5:14) in Christian
attainments.
foundation of — that is, consisting in “repentance.”
repentance from dead works — namely, not springing from the vital principle of faith
and love toward God, and so counted, like their doer, dead before God. This repentance from
dead works is therefore paired with “faith toward God.” The three pairs of truths enumerated
are designedly such as JEWISH believers might in some degree have known from the Old
Testament, but had been taught more clearly when they became Christians. This accounts for
the omission of distinct specification of some essential first principle of Christian truth. Hence,
too, he mentions “faith toward God,” and not explicitly faith toward Christ (though of course
included). Repentance and faith were the first principles taught under the Gospel.
5B. FUDGE, “The principles of the doctrine of Christ are the elementary matters which had
been previously taught to the Hebrew Christians. They are encouraged to be leaving these things
-- not in the sense of rejecting their truthfulness, or attempting to unlearn them, but as a child
leaves the first reader in school for one more advanced, or as he leaves milk for solid
nourishment. And they are called to go on to perfection or maturity or completion. The idea of
perfection will reappear in the coming chapters.
It is necessary to lay a foundation in the construction of a firm building, but once the
foundation has been laid, it is not put down again and again. This point is the basis for verses
four through six. Those who fall away, having once been instructed in the fundamentals, will not
be reclaimed by beginning from the first as if they had never heard the gospel. if they
experienced these initial responses and understood these fundamentals -- but then fell away --
they have rejected what they know and have no room in their hearts for a conversion as at the
first. Again is an important word in understanding these verses.

9. Six matters are listed as elementary principles, and they have been variously interpreted.
Some take these as elements of Old Testament teaching in contrast to the more perfect lessons
of the gospel. It is true that the terms which follow are all used at times of elements of
preChristian truth. On the other hand, it seems more nearly correct to think of these
fundamentals as basics in Christian instruction, both in view of the larger context and the
specific terms as well.
The six points are given in three pairs of two each. We might speak of these pairs under the
headings of preparation, initiation and motivation or direction. First mentioned is repentance
from dead works and faith toward God. Repentance and faith are joined also in Mark 1:15 and
Acts 20:21. In repentance, one feels the guilt of his own sin and rebellion against God, is sorry
for it, and purposes to change his direction of life. He abandons dead works (see 9:14
<hebrews.html>), "works of righteousness" or "works of law," which are dead because they lead
to death, can not bring spiritual life and are futile so far as pleasing God. Someone has pictured
works springing from obligation as dead in the sense that they do not spring from life. They are
as sheep’s wool draped over a wolf’s back; there is no vital connection between the animal and
the wool.
In faith toward God one not only accepts intellectually that God is, but places his confidence
in God for salvation. He does this by trusting the reconciliation God has already brought about
through the life and death of Jesus Christ, and by throwing himself on the mercy and grace of
God by identification with that sinless Son through living faith.
By repentance, man denies himself; by faith, he takes up his cross to follow Jesus. By
repentance, he is crucified to the old way of life and all human merit or personal boasting; by
faith, he takes hold of life in Christ and gratefully claims the merit and reward of Christ’s perfect
life. Repentance and faith here stand for the initial hearing of the gospel and the response of the
heart to it.
6. CALVIN, "Therefore, leaving, etc. To his reproof he joins this exhortation,
-- that leaving first principles they were to proceed forward to the
goal. For by the word of beginning he understands the first rudiments,
taught to the ignorant when received into the Church. Now, he bids them
to leave these rudiments, not that the faithful are ever to forget
them, but that they are not to remain in them; and this idea appears
more clear from what follows, the comparison of a foundation; for in
building a house we must never leave the foundation; and yet to be
always engaged in laying it, would be ridiculous. For as the foundation
is laid for the sake of what is built on it, he who is occupied in
laying it and proceeds not to the superstruction, wearies himself with
foolish and useless labor. In short, as the builder must begin with the
foundation, so must he go on with his work that the house may be built.
Similar is the case as to Christianity; we have the first principles as
the foundation, but the higher doctrine ought immediately to follow
which is to complete the building. They then act most unreasonably who
remain in the first elements, for they propose to themselves no end, as
though a builder spent all his labor on the foundation, and neglected
to build up the house. So then he would have our faith to be at first
so founded as afterwards to rise upwards, until by daily progress it be

10. at length completed. [95]
Of repentance from dead works, etc. He here refers to a catechism
commonly used. It is hence a probable conjecture that this Epistle was
written, not immediately after the promulgation of the Gospel, but when
they had some kind of polity established in the Churches; such as this,
that the catechumen made a confession of his faith before he was
admitted to baptism. And there were certain primary points on which the
pastor questioned the catechumen, as it appears from the various
testimonies of the fathers; there was an examination had especially on
the creed called the Apostles' Creed. This was the first entrance, as
it were, into the church to those who were adults and enlisted under
Christ, as they were before alienated from faith in him. This custom
the Apostle mentions, because there was a short time fixed for
catechumens, during which they were taught the doctrine of religion, as
a master instructs his children in the alphabet, in order that he may
afterwards advance them to higher things.
But let us examine what he says. He mentions repentance and faith,
which include the fullness of the Gospel; for what else does Christ
command his Apostles to preach, but repentance and faith? When,
therefore, Paul wished to show that he had faithfully performed his
duty, he alleged his care and assiduity in teaching these two things.
It seems then (as it may be said) unreasonable that the Apostle should
bid repentance and faith to be omitted, when we ought to make progress
in both through the whole course of our life. But when he adds, from
dead works, he intimates that he speaks of first repentance; for though
every sin is a dead work, either as it leads to death, or as it
proceeds from the spiritual death of the soul; yet the faithful,
already born again of the Spirit of God, cannot be said properly to
repent from dead works. Regeneration is not indeed made perfect in
them; but because of the seed of new life which is in them, however
small it may be, this at least may be said of them that they cannot be
deemed dead before God. The Apostle then does not include in general
the whole of repentance, the practice of which ought to continue to the
end; but he refers only to the beginning of repentance, when they who
were lately and for the first time consecrated to the faith, commenced
a new life. So also the word, faith, means that brief summary of godly
doctrine, commonly called the Articles of Faith.
To these are added, the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
These are some of the highest mysteries of celestial wisdom; nay, the
very end of all religion, which we ought to bear in mind through the
whole course of our life. But as the very same truth is taught in one
way to the ignorant, and in another way to those who have made some
proficiency, the Apostle seems here to refer to the common mode of

11. questioning, "Dost thou believe the resurrection of the dead? Dost thou
believe eternal life?" These things were suitable to children, and that
only once; therefore to turn back to them again was nothing else but to
retrograde.
6B. COFFMAN, “Verses 1, 2
Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press
on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead
works, and of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying
on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Leaving ... the first principles
is not enjoined in the sense of departing from those fundamental things, but
in the sense of progressing beyond them, the overwhelming importance of
the things mentioned being inherent in the fact of their being called "first
principles" and "a foundation." Through use of a pronoun "us," the writer
identifies himself with his readers, as more emphatically in Heb. 6:3
following; and from this it should not be presumed that the inspired author
of this epistle was himself deficient in the manner of his readers, nor that
he, like them, was guilty of serious fault of omission. Just why a similar
identification of the author with his readers in Heb. 2:3 should be hailed as
proof that the author was denying his own apostleship has never been
explained. See under "authorship" in the introduction for note on this, also
under Heb. 2:3. What the writer surely did here, he may have done in Heb.
2:3; and the basis of dogmatic affirmations to the contrary, far from being
evident, appears forced and unnatural.
The "perfection" in this place refers to a more extensive and thorough
knowledge of Christian principles, as contrasted with the mere acquaintance
with the basic fundamentals. The goal of all Christian endeavor is absolute
perfection, even as God is perfect, for Jesus said, "Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). Unattainable in the
ultimate sense, perfection is nevertheless the goal of Christians. All should
strive toward it.
THE SIX FUNDAMENTALS
Ironically, ours is an age that has indeed "gone on" to a very fanciful and
indefinite kind of perfection so-called, categorically forsaking and denying
the very principles outlined here as fundamental. For the generation that
first received this letter to the Hebrews, a further stress of the fundamentals
was not needed; but for this age, the opposite is true. Fundamental truth of
the most basic nature is openly denied or presumptuously ignored by an age
that seems to feel that it has outgrown such elementary things as these;

12. and, therefore, we may be thankful indeed for the inspired outline of things
which actually constitute fundamental Christian doctrine. Some study will be
given to this extremely interesting list of the foundation principles of the
Christian religion:
repentance from dead works,
faith toward God,
the teaching of baptisms,
the laying on of hands,
the resurrection of the dead,
the eternal judgment.
There are two categories here, first the plan of salvation, as it has been
called, including faith, repentance and baptism, and pertaining largely to
alien individuals, and secondly, certain doctrines that concern all people
collectively. Some make a triple division, grouping the three successive pairs
to represent man's personal relations, his social relations, and his connection
with the unseen world. F1
Objection to the view that the primary steps of Christian obedience, faith,
repentance and baptism, are intended here springs from two things: (1) the
order of their being mentioned (repentance first), and (2) the mention of
plural baptisms. We shall note each of these. The order of faith and
repentance in the steps of obedience does not depend on any word list, even
of the apostles, for it is impossible for them to be reversed. No unbeliever in
the history of the world ever repented; and the mention of repentance first
in this sequence cannot possibly imply any priority of its appearance in the
sinner's heart. The scriptures supply another example of clearly related
actions being mentioned out of their natural sequence. Peter said of the
crucifixion of Christ that it was he "whom they slew and hanged on a tree"
(Acts 5:30), thus reversing the chronological sequence.
The use of the plural "baptisms" doubtless sprang from the fact that no less
than seven baptisms are mentioned in the New Testament, these being: (1)
the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11); (2) the baptism of fire
(Matthew 3:11); (3) the baptism of John (Matthew 3:16); (4) the baptism
unto Moses (1 Corinthians 10:2); (5) the baptism of suffering (Luke 15:30);
(6) the baptism for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29); and (7) the baptism of
the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20). The seventh of these is beyond
question the "one" baptism of Eph. 4:5; and the knowledge of these things
was most certainly part of the elementary things that one had to know in

13. order to become a Christian. Able scholars have rejected this view, Bruce,
for example, insisting that "baptisms" in this place has no reference
whatever to that Christian ordinance that stands at the gateway of the
church; but in matters of this kind, one must be on guard against the
natural bias that flows from the theological position of the commentator.
Just how anyone can rule out Christian baptism as being included in
"baptisms," especially when it stands in a list of fundamental Christian
doctrines, must ever appear as a mystery indeed. Westcott, an incomparable
master of the Greek text, allows the obvious meaning of the word to stand,
stating that
The plural and peculiar form (of the term "baptisms") seems to be used to include
Christian baptism with other lustral rites. The "teaching" would naturally be directed
to show their essential difference. F2
Repentance from dead works.
Repentance is basic to salvation, on the part of both aliens and Christians,
being a constant duty of all who would enter into life. It is an invariable
condition of forgiveness of any sin whatsoever (Luke 13:3). "From dead
works" is a reference to the class of deeds from which the conscience
requires to be cleansed, as evidenced by the same description of them in
Heb. 9:14. All works are dead, in the sense intended here, except the ones
motivated by faith and love of God. The works of human righteousness, the
works of the flesh, the works of mortal achievement, and even the works of
the Law of Moses, must all be included in the "dead works" mentioned here.
And faith toward God.
Faith as a fundamental is affirmed not only here but in Heb. 11:6, and
throughout the New Testament (Mark 16:15,16). It is rather strange that
faith which has been elevated to a super-status by most of Protestantism
should be revealed here among the simplicities, a rudimentary, fundamental,
basic thing, which one is admonished to leave and go on unto perfection!
What a contrast is between this and the view of the creeds which make it
the "sole" basis of salvation. Nevertheless, it would be difficult indeed to
overstress the importance of faith, without which no man can please God. It
is a "sine qua non" of redemption.
And the teaching of baptisms.
This was noted above, but a few more thoughts are in order. Plainly,
baptism is made to be in this verse a part of the fundamental teaching of
Christianity; and therefore, it simply cannot be that baptism is in any sense
an optional, non-essential, elective, or superficial duty; but it is a genuine
obligation, as should already have been expected from the proclamation of it
on so many solemn occasions as a commandment to be heeded by all
people. See the accounts of the great commission in Matt. 28:18ff and Mark

14. 16:15ff, and also the first sermon of the gospel age (Acts 2:38ff). As regards
faith and baptism, the theology of the Protestant era has exaggerated faith
and diminished baptism; but in the index of Christian fundamentals, one
finds them securely embedded side by side in the foundation of the Christian
theology. Seeing then that the Holy Spirit has made them to be among the
coordinates, it must be sinful indeed to disturb the place that either of them
has in God's marvelous system of salvation. Let those who hail baptism as
non-essential, or some superfluous accessory of the true faith, behold here
its proper place in the foundation.
Baptism is the burial in water of a believing, penitent candidate, and the
raising up again to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12);
only those who believe and repent can receive Christian baptism. The
purpose of baptism is to bring the believer into Christ (Galatians
3:27; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 6:3). The necessity of baptism lies in
the mandate of Christ who commanded all people of all nations of all times
to receive it and submit to it (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15,16;Acts
2:38ff). The responsibility for being baptized rests upon every individual
ever born into the world. Peter commanded his hearers to "repent and have
yourselves baptized." F3
Baptism is a precondition of forgiveness of sins
(2:38; 22:16); it corresponds to the marriage ceremony as applied to Christ
and his bride, the church (Ephesians 5:25-27); it is the initiatory rite by
which one is admitted to the church which is the body of Christ
(1 Corinthians 12:13). Although the scriptures declare that we are saved by
baptism (1 Peter 3:21), it is not baptism alone that saves. Baptism without
faith, or without repentance, or without the newness of life following, is no
baptism. Baptism is "for" the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and for the
purpose of being saved (Mark 16:15,16); and it is to be administered in the
sacred name "of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew
28:18-20). Therefore, let every man ask himself if this sacred and holy
commandment has anything to do with him!
The laying on of hands
would seem at first glance to be misplaced in this list, but not at all.
Absolutely essential to an understanding of the limitation upon the
appearance in the early history of the church of truly inspired men who could
do miracles and speak with divine authority in the church is the knowledge
of the fact that such abilities came to those men through the laying on of the
apostles' hands (Acts 8:18), and from no other source whatsoever. Out of
such knowledge flow epic deductions which are of the utmost consequence
to Christianity. The cessation of miracles and of directly-inspired teachers,
and the closing up of the sacred canon of the New Testament, and such
information as refutes the notion of any so-called apostolic succession - all
these and many other truths of a most crucial kind are directly dependent
upon just one little fact, namely, that it was through laying on of "the

15. apostles' hands" that those wonderful gifts came to the church, and that that
power was not hereditary, or transferable, by any other means whatever.
Plenary power of a kind like that delegated to an ambassador is never
transferable, but every new holder of it must be commissioned at the
original source. Even the sorcerer understood this basic point (Acts 8:18ff);
and the possession of that information by such a person as Simon, after
such a brief contact with the faith, proves both the fundamental or
elementary nature of the doctrine, and its basic simplicity as well. It was in
view of that knowledge that Simon tried to buy the gift, not from Philip who
had baptized him and who also had the power, and who was personally
known to Simon, but from Peter, an apostle!
The resurrection of the dead
is another fundamental sadly shunted aside in the materialistic age through
which people are passing. This old fundamental doctrine should be hauled
out of the cellar and presented anew to the secular and unbelieving society!
An apostle once said, "If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men
most pitiable" (1 Corinthians 15:19). The whole teaching of Christ was
founded squarely on the premise of a resurrection of the bad and good alike,
indeed of all people. He said,
Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear
his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of
life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28,29).
Christianity's most successful missionary, the apostle Paul, never failed to
stress this doctrine. On land or on sea, at home or abroad, in villages or in
great cities, his message was always and constantly that of the resurrection
of the dead. The importance of this fundamental teaching to the onward
sweep of Christianity in the early centuries was marked by Gibbon in his epic
history of the decline and fall of the ancient Roman empire. He wrote,
Our curiosity is naturally prompted to inquire by what means the Christian faith
obtained so remarkable a victory over the established religions of earth. To this
inquiry an obvious but satisfactory answer may be returned; that it was owing to
the convincing evidence of the doctrine itself, and to the ruling providence of its
great Author.
Gibbon then went on to list the factors which he called "the five following
causes" which favored the rapid spread of Christianity; and the second on
the list is "the doctrine of a future life, improved by every additional
circumstance which could give weight and efficacy to that important
truth." F4
Without the doctrine of the resurrection, the whole fabric of
Christian thought dissolves into emptiness and worthlessness. No marvel
then that it is listed as fundamental.

16. And of eternal judgment.
This doctrine too, in these days, is more honored by its neglect than by its
faithful proclamation. The whole concept of an eternal judgment, alas, has
dropped out of the theological firmament, and from its rightful emphasis by
gospel preachers. And why? Is not this also a part of the fundamental
sub-structure of Christianity? Of course it is. The doctrine of the eternal
judgment is taught in the Old Testament (Daniel 12:2); but it is in the New
Testament that the magnificent scope and importance of it most vividly
appear. Christ plainly stated that all nations would appear simultaneously
before him in judgment, that he should sit upon the throne of God and
separate the wicked from the righteous as the shepherd divides the sheep
from the goats (Matthew 25:31ff). He taught that all nations would appear
simultaneously with that current generation in judgment, and that the
citizens of Nineveh (Matthew 12:41) and the queen of the south (Matthew
12:42), separated by centuries of time, would appear in judgment with the
contemporaries of Jesus. Efforts to spiritualize the resurrection and
judgment (the two go together) by making "our age" the judgment day, or
"the day of death" the judgment, or "every day" to be judgment day, or
such things as "historical rejections of prior social wrongs" to be the
judgment mentioned in scripture is nonsense. All such devices utterly fail in
the light of the concise and dramatic statements in the word of God, one of
them in this epistle. "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this
cometh judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). And as for the delusion that the second
coming of Christ, accompanied by the general resurrection and final
judgment, will all be realized in some vague spiritual sense such as a
glorious era of world peace, social justice, and universal felicity among
people, forget it. To be sure, all people would delightfully hail such a
"judgment day" and such a coming of Christ; but the word of God details the
second advent of our Lord in terms of a cataclysmic event of worldwide
terror and destruction, an event that will not be, in any sense, "good news"
for the great majority of Adam's race; for the Saviour himself said that
"Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of
man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthew
24:30).
Great and terrible as the concept of eternal judgment admittedly is, the
most profound necessity for it is evident. Most of the truly difficult problems
connected with the life of faith, and with reference to the entire system of
Christianity, are directly related to the doctrine of eternal judgment. Heaven,
hell, eternal punishment, eternal joy, Satan, and the problem of evil - all
these things pivot in the last analysis upon the scriptural teaching of the
judgment. All of the problems, great and small, eventually fade into
insignificance before the pressing question, "Is this universe just?" The
underlying assumption of revealed religion as set forth in both the Old

17. Testament and the New Testament is the concept of a just universe; and
time and time again it is unequivocably declared to be just (Psalms 45:6,7).
The father of the faithful, Abraham, idiomatically inferred it when he asked,
"Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25). The
existence of laws in the natural realm, the moral law within people, and the
sacred revelation all alike proclaim the justice of the universe; and if it is not
so, life indeed becomes "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
signifying nothing" (Macbeth, Act V). Sanity in any true sense turns upon the
question of justice in the cosmos. If the righteousness and justice of God do
indeed establish his throne and undergird all things, then WE ARE SAFE; and
every man shall receive the reward of the deeds done in the body
(2 Corinthians 5:10); if not, then any true security of the soul is a fool's
dream, and man himself is but an infant crying in the night with no language
but a cry!
But if the universe is just; if the righteous shall be rewarded and the wicked
punished, AN ETERNAL JUDGMENT IS REQUIRED, a judgment in which all
inequities and injustices shall be corrected, an eternal judgment presided
over by infinite justice, wisdom, mercy, and love - in short, the judgment
revealed upon every page of the sacred scriptures, or if not revealed, then
certainly implied. The widespread neglect and apparent disbelief of this
doctrine suggests that it is true of our generation, as it was of those to
whom this epistle was first addressed, that we "have need again that
someone teach us the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God"
(Hebrews 5:12)
A foundation
as applied to these six crucial teachings suggests some facts regarding
foundations. No less than four foundations of Christianity are mentioned in
the New Testament, and these are: (1) the foundation fact that Jesus is the
Christ the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-19; 1 Corinthians 3:11);
(2) the foundation authority, namely the sayings of Jesus Christ, called by
him "these sayings of mine" (Matthew 7:24-27), "whatsoever I have
commanded you" (Matthew 28:20); (3) the foundation personnel, the
apostles and prophets of the New Testament (Ephesians 2:19); and (4) the
foundation teachings as set forth in the place before us. The multiple nature
of the foundation should not be confusing, since foundations, even of almost
any building, are comprised of several different things. The eternal city that
comes down from God out of heaven is said to have twelve foundations!
(Revelation 21:19).
7. Philip Mauro. “A passage of similar import is found in Ephesians 4:8-16. Christ,
having ascended up on high, gave gifts of ministry-namely, apostles, prophets, evangelists,

18. pastors, and teachers-for the equipment of the saints for the work of ministry, with the
object of building up the Body of Christ, until we all come into the unity of the faith, and of
the KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD unto the FULL-GROWN MAN, unto the
measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ, to the end that WE BE NO LONGER
CHILDREN. All true ministry of Christ has this for its object, namely, the building up of
the Body of Christ to its full dimensions and complete stature. This growth comes through
“the knowledge of the Son of God.” As we gain in that knowledge, we advance from
spiritual childhood to spiritual maturity.
8. HARRY HEINTZ “There is more to the faith than kindergarten. We’re meant to grow,
designed to grow, created to grow. Again from The Message: "So come on, let’s leave the
preschool finger-painting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow
up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place . . . . God helping us, we’ll stay true
to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!"
We’re not here for mediocrity. We’re not here to sneak into heaven. We are not here to
recoil in fear. We are here to move forward in faith. We are here to grow in grace. We are
here to pursue excellence in response to the glorious God of the universe. The preacher in
Hebrews has served as a teacher, calling the classroom to wake up and grow in knowledge
and understanding. Charles Osgood wrote a poem in 1986 called "A Pretty Good Student."
I read the beginning and the ending:
There was once a pretty good student/ Who sat in a pretty good class,
And was taught by a pretty good teacher/ Who always let pretty good pass . . .
(The poem continues to follow this pretty good student through school, up to the first job
search.)
And the first time he knew what he lacked was/ When he looked for a pretty good job.
It was then when he sought a position/ He discovered that life could be tough,
And he soon had a sneaky suspicion/ Pretty good might not be enough.
The pretty good town in our story/ Was part of a pretty good state,
Which had pretty good aspirations/ And prayed for a pretty good fate.
There was once a pretty good nation/ Pretty proud of the greatness it had,
Which learned much too late/ If you want to be great,
Pretty good is, in fact, pretty bad.
If Osgood would allow me, I would add:
And people sit in pretty good churches/ Weekly warming pretty good pews,

19. Ill equipped for life in the trenches/ Missing out on God’s Good News.
Our call is to strive for God’s best/ Never just the pretty good,
To grow and stretch and pass life’s test/ And walk with our excellent Lord.
9. ROGER HAHN, “The fact that the author urges his readers to join in him in the journey
to perfection suggests that he was not as negative about their spiritual condition as we
might think from Hebrews 5:11-14. Though they had been at the milk stage he is ready to
challenge them to move on.
The first step in moving on toward perfection was to leave behind the elementary teaching
about Christ. The author does not view this basic teaching as unimportant. The basics are
foundational, but it was time to move on. The author is thinking in terms of teaching (or
theology) about conversion or the beginning of the Christian walk. The second clause has
the same idea when it suggests that the readers are to not be laying again the foundation.
This shifts the figure of speech to that of a building. The foundation is absolutely necessary,
but one does not build the foundation again and again to construct the house. The
foundation is built once and then the super-structure proceeds.
The foundational elements of the Christian life are then listed in the final part of verse 1
and in verse 2. Those foundational elements are presented in three sets of related pairs:
Repentance from works and faith toward God
Instruction on baptisms and laying on of hands
Resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
Each of these basic elements would have been part of the teaching of any Jewish
community in the first century. The readers of Hebrews had built their basic Christian
theology on a foundation that fit into the Judaism of that time. The author of Hebrews has
no problem with that procedure, but he also believed that it was time for them to move on
to a deeper understanding of Christ. At the time of one's first encounter with Christ it is
natural (and necessary) to use the cultural and theological understandings of one's
environment to understand the gospel. However, part of Christian growth is moving
beyond a way of understanding Jesus that is shaped by our culture and background. A
mature understanding of Christ should transform and change our culture.
The first basic teaching that must be left standing is repentance from dead works. The
Greek word for repentance literally refers to a change of mind. However, the New
Testament regularly uses that word as the equivalent of the Hebrew word from the Old
Testament that meant "to turn around" or "to change direction." The point of the biblical
concept of repentance is not just a change of thinking, but a change in the way of living.
The repentance was to be from dead works.
Though many scholars argue that the author calling for his readers to turn away from
external regulations about worship or Jewish legalism, a more likely explanation is at hand.

20. The Greek phrase could be literally translated "from works of death" or "works which
result in death." These works of death include murders, adulteries, lusts, fornications,
thefts, idolatries, magic arts, sorceries, robberies, and many more sinful acts or attitudes.
Thus one of the basics of the Christian life is to turn away from such sinful acts and
attitudes that lead to death.
Repentance is always a matter of turning away from one direction of life and toward
another direction. One can not only turn from. One must also turn toward. The direction
toward which the new Christian turns is faith toward God. This is only the second time the
(Greek) noun faith has appeared in the book of Hebrews. It first was used in Hebrews 4:2
where the author states that the good news did not benefit those who failed to enter the
promised rest because they were not united by faith with those who listened to God. The
context there makes it clear that faith means trusting obedience. Turning from a life of evil
will never happen unless one also turns toward a life of trusting obedience to God.
Instruction about baptisms has traditionally been taken to refer to the Christian rite of
baptism. While this fits well in the flow of thought it is probably a misunderstanding. The
Greek word is plural rather than singular and it is not the normal word used in the New
Testament to refer to baptism. The normal word translated baptism in the New Testament
is baptisma. This word is baptismos which is only used in two other places in the New
Testament (Mark 7:4 and Hebrews 9:10). In both passages the word clearly refers to
Jewish ceremonial washings. Thus instruction about baptisms is a reference to teaching
about Jewish ceremonial washings.
Laying on of hands refers to the early Christian practice associated with the giving of the
Holy Spirit. The Old Testament had used laying on of hands for the appointment of a
person to a special office. Since the Old Testament associated such appointment with divine
empowerment by the Holy Spirit, the early Jewish believers especially connected the idea of
laying on of hands with imparting the Holy Spirit. (That is also why Acts 9:12 and 28:8
connect laying on of hands with healing.) The empowerment with the Holy Spirit is not an
elementary matter, but teaching techniques (like laying on of hands) is. It was time for the
readers of Hebrews to move beyond the techniques to the reality of life with the Spirit.
The doctrines of resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment had unique applications by
early Christianity. The way in which the resurrection of Jesus assured the future
resurrection of the faithful and the role of Christ as participating in the final judgment
were different than the traditional Jewish views. Even so, Jewish Christians should have
had no difficulty in grasping the special role of Jesus in both resurrection and judgment.
They could well leave that foundation standing and move on.
The thoroughly Jewish background of these basic Christian teachings created a special
problem for the readers of Hebrews. Pagan converts to Christianity experienced a major
break between their old life in sin and their new life in Christ. The gulf was so great that
they could not gradually slip back to their old way of life. Christianity would be "all or
nothing" for them.
Jewish Christians like the first readers of Hebrews, on the other hand, could more easily
gradually give up the various distinctives of Christian teaching and slip back toward

21. Judaism without sense a great change in their lives. The author of Hebrews was aware of
the danger and wants no part of it for his readers. They must go on toward perfection as
God permits and leads.
A similar danger exists for "cultural Christians" or those raised in the church. They can
easily live life as cultural Christians or in "church-ianity", never going on to deep spiritual
growth and commitment and yet think themselves to be totally pleasing to God.
10. STEDMAN, “It is from this section that our title comes, "Let's get on with it." He is
urging these people to graduate from milk to meat, from immature diet to solid food, for,
he says, it is this that is the mark of maturity. "Solid food is for the mature."
In the Authorized Version the word for mature is perfection: "Let us go on to perfection."
I hasten immediately to add, this does not mean sinless perfection. John makes that clear in
his first letter, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves [we do not fool anyone else,
especially our wives, but we deceive ourselves], and the truth is not in us," {1 Jn 1:8 RSV}.
No, it is not sinless perfection he is talking about. Paul could write to the Philippians and
say, "Let those of us who are mature [perfect] be thus minded," {Phil 3:15a RSV}. Yet just
three verses before he says, "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect;"
{Phil 3:12a RSV}. Notice, there is a maturity, a perfection, which he disowns. That is yet
ahead. "I have not reached ultimate perfection, I am not claiming to be sinlessly perfect, I
have not yet reached the place where there is nothing at all wrong with me -- that lies
beyond the resurrection, that is ahead," {cf, Phil 3:12b-14}. But there is also a maturity
which he claims. It is that which in Hebrews has already been called "the rest of God," a
moment by moment exercise of faith, a perfect understanding of God's principle of activity,
a coming of age, an entering into spiritual manhood.
This is what the writer means here. It is produced not by age, as we have already seen, nor
by food, for milk will not effect it either, but it is produced by practice. "Those who have
their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil." It is produced by acting
on what you believe, stepping out upon it, putting it into practice. That is what brings
about maturity.
To reach this requires leaving behind the principles of the gospel, the ABC's, the
elementary truths, the familiar ground by which we came into Christian faith. "Not laying
again this foundation." Here is another figure of arrested development. A foundation is
laid but nothing is built on it. Instead of building on the foundation, the owner tears it up
and lays it again. Then he goes back and lays it yet again. There is nothing but a repetitive
laying again and again of the same foundation; it is arrested development.
Major Ian Thomas once said to me, "You know, I have discovered an interesting thing
about American Christians. They do not usually come to church to learn anything.
Whatever they do not yet know themselves they think is heresy. What they want to hear is
the same old stuff so they can say, 'Amen, brother, Amen!'"
That is laying the same foundation over and over again.

22. The foundation is called "the elementary doctrines of Christ," or, in Chapter 5, "the first
principles of God's word." The elements of it are listed for us, and they fall into three very
interesting groups:
There are those doctrinal truths concerning conversion; Then teaching concerning church
ordinances, and doctrine concerning prophetic matters.
This is milk! This is proper for babies, but is very inadequate for anyone who wishes to go
on to maturity, to full growth in the Christian life. He does not mean when he says "leave
these" that they are to be forgotten, or denied, or neglected, but they are no longer to be
the chief center of attention. That is the point he is making.
Is it not rather startling that these are often the sole topics on which many ministers dwell?
They preach them over and over, and call them the simple gospel. Because this simple
gospel is preached unendingly in our churches, we have Christians who are weak, childish
and immature. I have long been convinced that the greatest cause of the weak state of
evangelical Christendom today is preachers who never realize that, in preaching what they
call the simple gospel, they are feeding their people upon milk. They never get beyond the
foundation.
Let's take a closer look at it. The introductory matters concern "repentance from dead
works, and faith toward God." Now those are great themes. They are absolutely essential
to the Christian life. But the point the writer makes is, they are only "A" in the alphabet of
faith. The teaching about ordinances includes "baptism, and the laying on of hands." These
are but figures of reality, they are not the reality itself. They are very blessed figures and
can be very meaningful, but to get concerned over these shadows, these figures, these
pictures; to fight over the mode of baptism or the procedure of ordination, is infantile.
Dear old Dr. A. T. Pierson used to go about and speak at many churches. When he was in a
church that was arguing over the mode of baptism or some such thing, he would say to
them, "Quit your baby-talk!" He was quite right. It is an overemphasis on these things
which leads to the Mickey Mouse regulations that are imposed so frequently in many
churches.
The last two items, "resurrection and eternal judgment," obviously have to do with the
themes of prophecy, eschatology. This would include the time of the rapture, the question
of who the man of sin is, where the church will be during the tribulation, etc. All these are
important truths, the writer does not deny that, but they are so inclined to puff people up
with knowledge instead of to edify in love. "It is time," he says, "to leave these things. You
know them, you have been talking about them for too long, now go on, go on, there is much
more ahead. This," he says, "we will do if God permits."
With those three little words he introduces the knottiest problem-passage in Hebrews, if
not the whole Bible; a passage which has been a battleground of varying convictions for
ages. He changes his figure now, and, beginning with Verse 4, he brings before us a picture
of what I shall call "the stillborn."
11. Jeff Strite

23. The Greek word for repentance meant: TURN AROUND. You’re going the wrong way.
You’re following the wrong road, the wrong leader. TURN AROUND.
Ephesians 2:1-41 (read) tells us that at one time we were following the ways of this world,
following the ruler of the kingdom of the air, gratifying the cravings and desires that were
destroying us. We were going the wrong way - we needed to repent. To turn around.
ILLUS: Repentance is like seeing the sign "Dead End" up ahead. It means we can’t get
where we’re going on that road.
* Repentance was at the heart of the Apostles’ message: Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn
to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the
Lord."
I. But if Repentance is so important, why does the writer of Hebrews say we must get
beyond it?
How many of you believe that Christians get to the point where they don’t have to repent?
(Nobody raised their hands).
I agree. Throughout Scripture we find that not only pagans, but also Christians and even
Churches are called upon to repent.
ILLUS: I don’t know how it is with you, but I say, I think, and I do things that bring me
shame at one time or another in my life. Such shame can bring me to the point where I even
have difficulty praying. It’s as if a barrier is erected between myself and God.
David spoke of this in the psalms: Ps 32:1-4
"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the
man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When
I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer."

24. But then David says: (vs 5) "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my
iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt
of my sin."
The Apostle John (led by the Holy Spirit) agreed: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:8-9
SO, if repentance is necessary even for the Christian... why does the writer of Hebrews say
you and I must mature beyond this "elementary truth?"
I suspect it is that he is saying we need to get to different motivation for our repentance.
II. I have found what I believe are three types of repentance:
There is "Worldly Repentance:"
Judas’s repentance after receiving the 30 pcs. of silver is biblical example of this type of
repentance.
ILLUS: When my boy was 2 years old, my wife would ask him if he had done such and
such a "bad deed" and he would be reading his book saying "no."
"Look at me and tell me that you didn’t do it," she would demand. Still, with eyes diverted,
he would respond, "no."
Finally, she would get him to look directly into her eyes and his resolve dissolved, "yes,
mommy, I did it."
Like the world, my boy wanted to turn away from the stench of his deeds but not change
his behavior.
ILLUS: I remember hearing the story of boy who broke his arm while playing in the street
against his parents strict orders. In tears he pled: I’m sorry I broke my arm, I won’t ever
do it again."

25. A slight variation on this theme is the "Repentance to escape punishment." Hebrews 6:1
speaks of "Repentance of deeds that lead to death."
An example from Scripture would be Simon the Sorcerer. He had watched the gifts of the
Spirit being given to other Christians by the laying on of the Apostles’ hands - and he saw
the possibility of making money if he could accomplish the same feat.
When he offered to buy this ability, the Peter responded: "May your money perish with
you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!" (Acts 8:20)
Now frightened, Simon answered: "Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said
may happen to me."
Simon’s was a repentance based on fear of punishment. He would have changed his
behavior, but the repentance was founded solely on fear. The repentance the writer of
Hebrews is telling us to go beyond is one based solely on fear of punishment.
The best. repentance is what I call "the Repentance of the mature." The mature Christian
is one who repents because he’s afraid of hurting God. It’s like the pain a mature son will
have about hurting his parents.
In a sense, this was the type of repentance that motivated Peter as he sat at the fire with
Jesus after the resurrection. Jesus asks Peter: "Peter do you love me?" and Peter responds
(in the Greek) by saying "You know I LIKE you…" Peter is so ashamed of his past denials
that it almost drives him away from Jesus. His change of heart is motivated by what Jesus
knew lay within his soul - love of Jesus. It was only when Peter’s love for Jesus overcame
his shame of hurting his master, that Peter was transformed.
CLOSE: There was a very capable evangelist whom God used in a significant way in the
British Isles. But he lost his interest in spiritual things and drifted into a life of sin, for a
number of months. Some of his sin was done in secret but ultimately, it became public
knowledge and even made the headlines. At first, all he could think of was that he had been
ruined for life, but, finally, he realized what a fool he had been, and he came back to God
like the prodigal from the pigpen.
He found exactly the same thing the prodigal did. The Lord welcomed him with open arms
and began to strengthen him and bless him. Finally, after a period of waiting, he felt
pressed back into a public ministry for the Lord. He was afraid that his sin would be found
out and brought up all over again, but after he felt sure it was hidden and tucked away in
the past, he went back to preaching, rejoicing in the forgiveness of God.

26. One night, when he was in Aberdeen, he was given a sealed letter. Just before the service
began, he read the unsigned letter. It described a shameful series of events he had been
engaged in. His stomach churned as he read it. The letter said, "If you have the gall to
preach tonight, I’ll stand and expose you."
WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE???
Would you have fled into the night?
Would you have sought out the man and pled with him not to expose you???
This man took the letter and went to his knees in prayer. A few minutes later, he was in the
pulpit. He began his message by reading the letter, from start to finish. Then he said, "I
want to make it clear that this letter is perfectly true. I’m ashamed of what I’ve read, and
what I’ve done. I come tonight, not as one who is perfect, but as one who is forgiven." God
used that letter and the rest of his ministry as a magnet to draw people to Jesus Christ.
12. JOHN HICKS, “While maturity is the goal, the "elementary teaching about Christ" is
the foundation. The preacher encourages them to "leave it behind" only in the sense of
placing it under themselves. He is not encouraging them to forsake it. On the contrary, the
"elementary" or "beginning" (same word as in 5:12) teaching of Christ is the foundation
for growth in Christ. This beginning word (the Greek noun is literally "word" in 6:1) is
contrasted with the meaty word of righteousness in 5:13. The former is the mode of initial
conversion (milk), and the other is the means of progressive sanctification and growth in
Christ. This fundamental teaching is not a reference to the Mosaic system, as some would
argue, but a reference to that beginning word which forms the basis or foundation of
Christianity. They are teachings "about" or "of" Christ. Consequently, they are Christian
teachings, not Jewish.
The "beginning word which belongs to Christ" consists in six particulars, which are listed
in 6:1b-2. Before discussing each of these, it is significant that the preacher considers these
six as the foundation of Christian experience. The preacher is not going to take the time to
re-teach them about the first, beginning or basic principles of their conversion. On the
contrary, he wants to build on that foundation instead of re-laying it. These six items, then,
belong to the context of Christian initiation or the initial conversion experience. As support
for this view, it is striking that the list of six items lacks any reference to sanctification and
growth.
The structure of the six is indicated by the use of the conjunction "and.” Literally, the text
reads: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, teachings about baptism, laying
on of hands, resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment. Repentance and faith are

27. the broad, comprehensive descriptions of conversion, but the preacher particularizes the
specific teachings (doctrines) that are important for understanding conversion: baptism,
laying on of hands, resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment.
We may structure the list in this fashion:
Comprehensively: repentance and faith.
Specific Comprehension these doctrines:
(1) Baptisms
(2) Laying on of hands.
(3) Resurrection.
(4) Judgment.
"Repentance from dead works" is not a reference to the dead works of the Old Testament
(i.e. sacrifices), but to sin (cf. 9:14 where dead works stands in contrast to serving God).
"Faith towards God" refers to that saving, obedient faith illustrated in Hebrews 11.
"Baptisms" ("washings," NASV) is a specific reference to the act of immersion itself
without any implication concerning its meaning. The reference is to the necessity of
understanding the difference between Jewish (cf. Hebrew 9:10 for the use of “baptism” in
the Jewish context), Pagan and Christian immersions. "Laying on of hands" is closely
joined to "baptisms" in the Greek text by a small grammatical particle. This means that
the two should be understood together (the same is true of resurrection and judgment). In
the OT and Judaism the "laying on of hands" was a sign of blessing (cf. Gen. 48:14ff).
Consequently, it used variously in the New Testament as a symbol of the blessing of
miraculous healing (Matthew 9:18), the bestowal of a miraculous gift (Acts 8:18), the
bestowal of the blessing of ministry (Acts 13:3; I Tim. 4:14). Blessing or the Holy Spirit is
associated with the baptismal moment. Through baptism we became partakers of the
heavenly calling and shared in the reality of the Spirit. "Resurrection" does not refer to
Christ's resurrection, but to our future resurrection. "Eternal judgment" is again a future
reference.
These six items, then, form the foundation of the Christian conversion experience. Faith
and repentance involve an understanding of baptism, the blessing of salvation, resurrection
from the dead and the eternal judgment. These points are the foundation for maturity.

28. They are the starting-point of the Christian life. From this basis, Paul encourages his
readers to growth (6:3): "and this we shall do, if God permits." The antecedent of the verb
"do" is "go on to maturity" in 6:1. If God wills or permits (cf. I Corinthians 16:7), the
preacher expects his readers to grow into mature disciples. There are, however, some who
cannot progress because they have fallen away (6:4-8). But the preacher encourages his
readers to progress in the faith rather than continue their regression and backsliding which
leads to apostasy (6:9-12).
3. Hebrews 6:4-12.
Though the preacher is disappointed with their present state of spiritual immaturity, he
has not given up on them. He retains the hope and expectation that they will press forward
in their maturing process. Hebrews 6:4-8 suggests that if they do not reverse their
downward spiral, they will fall into an apostate condition. It is possible, the preacher
testifies, that as infants in Christ you could fall away from the one who redeemed you from
your sins. It is possible that you could crucify the Son of God again. If your Christian life
yields thorns and thistles rather than fruitful vegetation, it is a worthless and cursed life.
However, though this is a possibility, the preacher does not expect it concerning these
Christians. Tactfully, the preacher does not leave his readers with a negative exhortation.
On the contrary, he reassures them of his positive attitude toward them and their
possibilities of faith.
[For more on Hebrews 6:4-6, read the “excursus on Hebrews 6:4-6” below.]
First, he expresses his confidence in their future spiritual life. In contrast to what he has
previously warned, he is convinced that the things which accompany salvation will manifest
themselves in their lives (6:9). He uses a term of endearment in addressing his audience:
"beloved" (the only place where it occurs in Hebrews). The preacher softens his criticism
by reassuring his hearers of his genuine affection for them. He does not yet classify his
readers among the apostates even though they have regressed to the point that they need to
be re-taught the fundamentals of the faith.
The word the preacher uses to express his confidence is a common one. It has several
meanings, including "to be persuaded, be sure, certain, convinced and confident." He uses
the word again in 13:18 in reference to his certainty that he has a good conscience. The
preacher is firmly persuaded that these Christians will pursue "better things" than the
possible apostasy, which he presented in 6:4-8. He expects them to grow up in Christ rather
than be disinherited by falling away, and as they grow up they will come to possess those
things, which "accompany salvation." Literally, the text reads: "having the things of

29. salvation." There are certain things that belong to or accompany salvation. The meaning is
that the things that “belong to” salvation will also enrich one who progresses in Christ and
possess salvation. As we grow in Christ and are able to receive instruction about the "word
of righteousness," we will be persuaded and confident about our salvation. Assurance is not
some fleeting goal that no one can obtain. On the contrary, it is one of those things which
belong to salvation itself. A by-product of salvation is boldness, and a confident expectation
of receiving the fulfillment of our hope (6:11).
Second, the preacher’s confidence is based upon his knowledge of their past and present
service to God (6:10). There is joy in the knowledge that God does not forget our work and
love. This does not, as some have argued, mean that God gives rewards for good works as if
our good deeds place God under obligation to us. Our works are never meritorious. They
do not make a claim on God. The preacher is not addressing the cause or merit of our
salvation, but its fruit. The fruit of salvation is the rendering of service to God. God does
not forget our work and love in the sense that he counts us as faithful that serve and love
him. These Christians, as is clear from the last part of verse 10, not only in the past, but
even in the present continue to serve God by ministering to the saints. God does not regard
these Christians as apostates, but as servants in his vineyard.
Third, the preacher encourages them to press on to full assurance (6:12). The term
"desire" indicates his personal, passionate concern that these believers grow. The word
implies an intense yearning. It literally means "to lust." And this desire is for each
individual. Each one is expected to show the "same diligence" toward assurance, that is, to
show the kind of diligence that they showed in the beginning before they became sluggish
(5:11). This is a constant process of growth. As our hope, faith and understanding growth,
so does our assurance and certainty about our salvation. Yet, it requires a diligence "until
the end." The "end" is probably the inheritance of the blessing of eternal redemption
(6:12).
The reason for this diligence is so that these Christians might escape the sluggishness in
which they are now embroiled (5:11). Dullness of hearing leads to a dullness of life. If they
are only fed milk, they cannot make the progress that only comes through eating meat.
Instead of being sluggish or lazy, the preacher encourages them to be imitators of those
faithful forefathers who have gone before. "Imitators" translates a Greek verb from which
we derive the English verb "mimic" (to act as another). The confidence that comes from
the examples of others is unimaginable (cf. Hebrews 11). Since they reached their goal and
inherited the promises through faith and patience (endurance), then let us imitate them.
The preacher underscores this confidence and assurance by picturing our inheritance in
the present tense. As sons of God, we are even now in the process of receiving our
inheritance. The reception of that inheritance is so certain that he speaks of it in the
present. It is as if we already possess it. That is how certain we ought to be concerning the
promises of God.

30. 4. Hebrews 6:13-20.
Growth and assurance have an interestingly reciprocal relationship. The more we grow in
Christ, the more assured we are. The more assured we are, the more we grow. It is because
of this reciprocal relationship that the preacher now explains the nature of hope as the
basis upon which he encourages his readers to be diligent in their growth. Confident in
hope, they will be diligent in their service for the Lord.
The nature of hope is illustrated by the example of Abraham. God had sworn to Abraham
that he would multiply his seed beyond the number of the stars in the sky and the sands on
the seashore. Abraham never saw the fulfillment of that promise, but he did obtain the
promise (6:15). In what sense did Abraham receive the fulfillment of the promise? In one
sense, he received it in the person of Isaac. He had patiently waited for the birth of this
promised son, and it was through him that God would multiply Abraham's seed. In effect,
then, when Isaac was born, he had received the promise because the presence of Isaac
assured him of the future fulfillment of the promise itself. The future blessings were so sure
that it was as if he already possessed them in Isaac.
The certainty of this promise rested upon two immutable factors. First, God had sworn by
his own nature. As the preacher acknowledges in 6:17, when people make a promise they
guarantee it by swearing their faithfulness by something greater than themselves. But when
God wants to show his reliability, he cannot swear by anything greater than himself, and
consequently he swears by his own nature. God has "interposed with an oath" his promises
(6:17). God has sworn to a thing, and he cannot change that oath.
Second, God has an immutable counsel. The Greek term for "counsel" refers to a legal
contract that is incapable of reversal or annulment. As if the word itself were enough to
convey the certainty of his promise, the preacher adds the word "immutable"
(unchangeable). It is part of God's nature that when he decides to make a promise, or to
make a covenant, he cannot reverse himself. God will keep his promises. Since it is
impossible for God to lie, the believer can be certain of his hope as if he already possessed
the thing for which he hopes.
The knowledge of God's oath and counsel is a strong confirmation of our hope. Hope, in
the context of trial and persecution, has become a refuge for these early Christians. They
"fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us" (6:18). Hope is our aide and
comfort that we seize. The phrase "laying hold of" translates a word that means to take

31. into one's own possession, to seize or, in legal contexts, to arrest. This hope is set before us
as the finish line is set before the participants in a race. It is the prize of victory. While we
may not now actually possess that for which we hope, we have the certain expectation of
receiving it. Hope, therefore, is not wishful thinking. It is an anchor for the soul. This
confidence, however, is based upon understanding that Jesus, as our High Priest, has
already entered into heaven for us. As surely as Jesus continues his priestly work for us in
heaven, so we are certain that one day we will join him there. Our hope, then, presupposes
that we understand Christ's work for us. He has preceded us only to insure our ultimate
entrance into the presence of God with him.
Theological Substance
All Christians are at different stages of growth and development. There are newborn babes
who need milk. There are others who have reached different levels of maturity who need
meat. In either case, all believers need to pursue the goal of maturity (6:1), and bear with
others who have not yet reached their own level of maturity. It is only within this maturing
process that a Christian becomes confident and assured about his hope and salvation. It is
not a matter of becoming more saved now than one was before, but it is a growth in one's
faith, hope and understanding. One is no more saved today than they were yesterday. Yet,
there is a process of maturation which is able to grasp the assurance of faith better today
than it did yesterday. It is this assurance and boldness that grounds the faith of believers
against the social and theological pressures which often engulf them. This maturing process
can only occur, however, in the context of eating meat. Thus, the preacher is about to offer
some meat to his audience (7:1-10:19).
The substance of this text is about spiritual growth and maturity. The mature Christian
eats solid food, is able to discern between good and evil, and bears fruit in service to the
Lord. The immature Christian only drinks milk, is unable to discern between good and
evil, and is fruitless in their ministry before the Lord. The mature Christian grows in
confidence and assurance, but the immature Christian-especially one with a long history in
the Christian community-is weak and uncertain.
The call to move on toward maturity is grounded in the faithfulness of God. It is grounded
in God’s own oath, and this oath has been sworn in his Son as our high priest. The word
the preacher’s audience needs to hear-the priestly work of Christ-is what will ground their
assurance and future growth. Unfortunately, they are not ready to hear it because of their
immaturity. Nevertheless, it is this “meat” or “solid food” which will bear the fruit of
maturity if they will hear it.

32. God will move his community forward if that community will hear his Word and trust his
grace. The community will bear the fruit of the “things that accompany salvation” as the
redeemed community perseveres in faith and lives out that faith.
Excursus on Hebrews 6:4-6
The chart in Guthrie on p. 217 lays out the structure of this text quite well. It visualizes it
for us.
Before discussing details, it is important to understand the function of this text. Its function
is to warn that regression may be permanent. If we do not progress and mature in our
faith, then we will stagnate and ultimately regress. Regression can lead to apostasy and to a
condition where it is “impossible” to be renewed. Consequently, the text functions as a
warning to idle and immature Christians. If they do not mature and build on the
foundation of their faith, then they are in danger of losing everything.
I think Guthrie is correct to see this “impossibility” as linked with the rejection of Christ. It
is parallel to what we will see in Hebrews 10:26ff. If we reject Christ, there is no other
sacrifice for sin. If we reject Christ, it is “impossible” to find repentance because there is no
one else to whom we can turn. Along with Guthrie (p. 220), I take the participle in Hebrews
6:6 as a temporal one, that is, it is impossible to renew an apostate to repentance as long as
(or, while) they are rejecting Christ (crucifying the Son of God afresh). A casual sense is the
majority view, that is, it is impossible to renew them because they have openly rejected
Christ. And one way of understanding this is to say that the social pressure of an
abandonment of Christianity made it impossible to win them back. It was a practical
impossibility. Both would understand that renewal was possible for one who sought the
Lord, but it was impossible for one who had rejected and continues to reject the Lord.
The more thorny issue is whether the descriptors in Hebrews 6:4-5 describe genuine,
authentic Christians or whether they describe people who were loosely attached to the
Christian walk and later fell away. Some would even say that the whole situation described
in Hebrews 6:4-6 is hypothetical. It is a warning about something that could never really
happen. My opinion squares with Guthrie’s summary of McKnight’s view on pages 228-29.
I find Guthrie’s criticism of it quite shallow and fails to take the language for what it says.

33. I find Guthrie’s own position problematic because it means that the descriptors in Hebrews
6:4-5 do not describe authentic Christians. Yet, the very language is used to describe
authentic Christians elsewhere in Hebrews (e.g., “enlightened” is used in Hebrews 6:4 and
10:32; “partakers” in 3:1 and 6:5).
However, I would suggest that our classes not get bogged down in this discussion. Rather,
the point of the preacher is significant without deciding which “theory” lies behind the
point. The point is that the Christian community has some within it who may leave it and
we are warned against being one of them. The “theory” behind why they left (e.g., a
Calvinist would say they left because they never were genuine believers, but others might
say they left because they “lost their faith”) is unimportant and incidental to the point of
the preacher.
The preacher encourages perseverance in faith, and the alternative is apostasy where there
is no salvation. Some in the community have already left, and some others are in danger of
leaving. The preacher is not concerned to develop a theory of apostasy, but to encourage
the remaining believers to hang on to their confidence. Calvinists and Arminians (those
who oppose Calvinism out of an evangelical, Protestant mode) can agree on this: only those
who persevere in faith will be saved. Perseverance is the key, and on this Calvinist and
Arminians can agree. And this is the point in our text.
Teaching Options
When we teach this section, it will be very easy to get bogged down into a discussion of
Hebrews 6:4-6, especially issues ranging from “possibility of apostasy” to “is it impossible
for an apostate to come back to Christ.” I prefer to keep the larger point in mind and not
enter into a detailed discussion of the range of possible interpretations of Hebrews 6:4-6.
Otherwise, we will probably lose the point, as we get lost among the trees. It is better to see
the whole forest rather than a few limbs on a particular tree.
I prefer to emphasize the contrast between maturity and immaturity and how this relates
to assurance, confidence and perseverance. Growth means we are persevering, but
immaturity is always in danger of apostasy. Consequently, I would prefer to concentrate on
Hebrews 5:11-6:3 and 6:7-12. Hebrews 6:13-20 plays into this discussion as the ground of
our hope, which is the faithfulness of God.
My lesson would probably look something like this. (1) Discussion of milk/meat;
mature/immature. What does that look like? What is “milk” and “meat”? Can we give

34. content to those ideas? The preacher gave us some of the content of milk in Hebrews 6:2-3.
Does that look like milk to us? (2) Discussion of the Warning/Exhortation. Hebrews 6:4-8 is
the warning, but Hebrews 6:9-12 is the exhortation. What is the content of both? How do
each function? In particular, what specifics does the preacher bring to bear in his
encouraging word (e.g., past examples, their past ministry, their present ministry, etc.)? (3)
The Ground of Hope/Confidence. This is the faithfulness of God in Hebrews 6:13-20. What
does it mean to say that hope is an “anchor”? How does it anchor our perseverance? How
does the faithfulness of God (his oaths) make hope an anchor for us? In particular, what is
the faithfulness of God to us now (e.g., is God action in his high priestly Son)?
Overall, we need to remember that the function of this text is to warn and encourage. It
warns us about the danger of immaturity and apostasy. And yet it encourages us through
the certainty of hope and our own experience of faith in ministry and among past leaders.
It encourages the immature to hear the word of righteousness about the priesthood of
Christ. It encourages the immature to hear the word and take confidence in the faithfulness
of God expressed in the priesthood of Christ. The immature must grow or they will lose
their way as they fail to persevere.
1 In this section the author moves on to describe the milk that they should have
moved beyond in the previous verses. It should be sobering to us that the author considered
these topics to be elementary and yet much of the Christian Church would call these
weighty matters!
2 ". . . repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. . ." It is a foundational
truth that at one time we walked in the deeds of the flesh but we died to those things having
been united with Christ in His death. We likewise were united together with Him in His
resurrection such that we turned to God in faith. When you turn from something you are
simultaneously turning to something else. This elementary teaching (which all of us should
be equipped to teach and discuss) teaches us that we cannot continue as we did while
spiritually dead and believe that God has truly begun a good work in us.
3 ". . . of the doctrine of baptisms. . ." It is rather curious that the author uses the
plural word baptisms. We can probably conclude at least two things about these doctrines.
First, he may be speaking of the past purpose of the ceremonial washings of Judaism or
secondly, he could be referring to the differences and purposes behind the baptism of John
, the baptism of the Spirit, or Christian baptism. Both points are possibilities however, I
would contend that the second is more likely.
4 ". . . of laying on of hands. . ." We considered this teaching when we discussed the
Gifts of the Spirit. Basically, today we employ the laying on of hands for the purpose of
installing or ordaining someone.
5 ". . . resurrection of the dead. . . " The Christian hope is not in the immortality of
the soul. This was primarily a feature of the Greek materialists who attempted to separate
good and evil by the lines of physical and spiritual. Instead, true Christianity although it

35. confesses the eternal character of people, it primarily believes in the bodily eternal
existence in an imperishable body.
6 ". . . eternal judgment." Despite the desires of many to convince themselves that a
loving God would not punish someone eternally, the Christian Church must be equipped
with the righteous character of God that cannot tolerate rebellion and will pour His wrath
out on the unregenerate. At the same time we must not forget that it is also only by His
mercy that He has extended forgiveness to the elect.
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly
gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God
and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance,
since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. 7
For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for
those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and
briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
1 We have already seen that the author is convinced that he is writing to Christians.
At the same time, he is also very concerned that some of them will fall away to the types
and shadows of Judaism, revealing that they were not part of the house of Christ because
they did not remain steadfast to the end. We know two things for sure about this group
described here: we know that they were numbered with the true believers and that their sin
was that they crucify the Son of God again and put Him to open shame.
2 We know that the solemn warning here is not describing those who had salvation
and then lost it. Instead, this section describes those who are counted in our midst, who
were included with the covenant people but who fell away and revealed that they were not
of the Elect.
3 The reason it is impossible to produce repentance may be understood in a couple of
ways, the most likely meaning is that the system that they were tempted to return to was
not able to take away their sins. The sacrifices of bulls and goats only pictured the true
sacrifice of Christ which was able to atone fully for sin.
9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that
accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget
your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have
ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the
same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become
sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (NKJV)
1 The author here expresses his confidence that the recipients are true converts
although there were probably some within the church who would fall away.
2 There are numerous places in Scripture where warnings are given not to fall away.
Given that we do not know precisely who will persevere till the end, we receive the
warnings as being given to all people. It is beneficial for all of us to evaluate where we are
in the Lord and determine if perhaps we have slowed God's sanctification by tolerating sin.

36. 13. Dr. Charles Revis, “
As I said earlier the "elementary teachings" has the idea of "rudiments" or "ABCs." They
are foundational building blocks that are necessary just as any child must learn the
alphabet to piece together words in order to read. We would be deeply concerned about a
child who stopped learning after memorizing the alphabet Fundamentals, like the ABC's in
writing, or the foundation to a house, must be built upon to be of any use. For this reason
the author urges the Hebrews to move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ. It's
not that he would have them dispense with these teachings. Rather, they must concentrate
on building the superstructure which comes after the foundation. To repour the foundation
time and time again is futility. Just in case they don't understand which "elementary
teachings" he means, he provides some examples, beginning in the second part of v. 1 and
continuing into v. 2: repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2
instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and
eternal judgment. These are rather telling; more than you might realize with a first glance.
Each one of these items could be learned from Judaism. They are not distinctively
Christian teachings. Rather, they are "pre-Christian." There is no specific mention of
Jesus or salvation by grace alone. Furthermore, they are all items in the "common ground"
between Christianity and Judaism; a common ground that these Jewish Christians were
retreating to. Because Christianity did grow out of Judaism, it was a more subtle
temptation for a Jewish Christian to slip back into Judaism than it was for a formerly
pagan Christian to go back to his pagan ways. Of course, these Jewish Christians did not
want to abandon some form of religious life. But, they did want to make it less distinctively
Christian; so they were going back to this "common ground." This is not where they
should be. So, he urges them to knock off this backward drift. As George Macdonald says,
"All growth that is not toward God is growing to decay." They must wake up to the
spiritually dangerous place they are in. And get with the program again, and start moving
ahead in the faith, with God's help, of course. He says in v. 3, "And God permitting, we will
do so." 3. Warning Against Apostasy - A Disastrous Possibility for Those Who Continue to
Wear Diapers 6:4-8 Now, as we move ahead to study vv. 4-8 we encounter one of the most
sobering warnings to be found in all of Scripture-not just in the book of Hebrews. Here the
author outlines the tragic possibilities of what can happen to a person's faith when they
continue to wear diapers and lack the spiritual insight of the maturing, growing Christian.
Those of you who have engaged in serious Bible study and theological reflection recognize
this as one of the most difficult passages in the Bible to interpret rightly. I intend to show
you why it's such a hard passage and I will give you what I consider to be the best
interpretation and application of the passage that I can muster (at this particular time in
my understanding). Before we get carried away exploring the intricacies of the passage I
suggest that you connect with its message and it's serious tone. Even though it's a difficult
passage we don't have freedom to simply set it aside as a "theological problem" to be
scrutinized under glass. Rather we need to heed its warning (vv. 4,6,9): "It is impossible for
those who have once been enlightened . . . if they fall away, to be brought back to
repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again . . . land
that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it
will be burned." What I want you to grasp-and, I will repeat this again-is the fact that these

37. words give us the end result of failing to engage in continuous growth. They show how truly
dangerous it is to be a nominal Christian. They rattle the cage of spiritual complacency.
They awaken us to the danger of putting our spiritual lives in neutral, simply coasting
along in Christ, and hoping against hope that everything will be just be dandy. This is
spiritual folly. Now let's look at the intepretational challenge of the passage. This is a
difficult passage for two reasons. First, the words "if they fall away" in v.6 make it seem
that a true believer can lose his, or her, salvation, that is, they can fall away from a state of
grace. This is difficult to square with passages that assure us that genuine Christians can't
lose their salvation. For example Jesus said in John 6:37-40, 37 All that the Father gives
me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come
down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is
the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them
up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and
believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Furthermore,
Paul seems to say that those that God calls to salvation will be glorified, that is, it is
impossible for them to lose their salvation. Romans 8:29-30 29 For those God foreknew he
also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son . . . 30 And those he predestined,
he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. The
second reason the passage is difficult to interpret is the troublesome phrase which begins in
v. 4 and is completed in v. 6. It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened . . . if
they fall away, to be brought back to repentance. Even those who say that a person can lose
their salvation don't say this! Although they teach that one can fall away, they also teach
that a person can return to Christ by repenting again. This is the most problematic part of
the passage: What could a person do that could possibly keep them from repenting? This
challenge makes all attempts to interpret the passage very difficult. Interpretations vary
almost as widely as commentaries: 1. Some say, that in spite of the problems with the
passage, it is indeed a warning that Christians can lose their salvation. (I don't buy this one.
. . there are too many clear passages that say the opposite, i.e., we can't lose our salvation.)
Having said this I also want to give a word of comfort to those who might feel that they
have lost their salvation. Some people having committed a serious sin read this passage and
wrongly conclude that they cannot be restored to repentance. They become anxious and
despairing assuming that indeed they have fallen from grace. If you feel the presence of
this worry this is evidence that you are still God's child. The very fact that you feel such
anxiety establishes beyond a doubt that you are not one that has fallen away beyond the
possibility of renewal to repentance. Your sin cannot remove you from God's family. It can
make your life miserable but it doesn't have the power to nullify your salvation. 2. Some
say the passage is a warning against willful apostasy. This is different than by neglecting
your walk with Christ, or committing a serious sin. Willful apostasy is when a truly
born-again believer chooses to walk away from Christ once-and-for-all. They utterly
denounce Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Once they do this their hearts become so
hard that there is no way they can return to the faith. My problem with this interpretation
is that I have difficulty believing that a person who is truly born-again would ever do this!
For example one preacher told the story about a young friend who was a new Christian.
The friend called him on the phone and said, "I've decided to give up being a Christian; I
can't handle it anymore." The preacher knowing him quite well said, "I agree. That's
probably what you ought to do." There was silence on the line for a moment, and then the

38. young man said, "You know I can't do that!" And the preacher responded, "No, I know
you can't." Once you know Christ and have been born into God's family, once God has
given you a new identity it is virtually impossible to turn your back on it all. 3. Some
explain that this is simply a hypothetical situation that the author makes up. He says that if
a person falls away there is no provision for repentance. He speaks in such a hypothetical
way to scare the believers back into a life of spiritual growth. (I don't buy this one either.
The biblical writers don't use imaginary threats or scare tactics to keep people in line.) 4.
Others say that the warning is against mere profession of faith short of salvation. That is,
the author is speaking of people who have tasted but not really partaken of salvation. This
views says that all the descriptions found in vv. 4-5 describe a person who has shown an
intense interest in the faith, has attended worship, listened attentively to the preaching of
the Word, has sensed the stirrings of the Holy Spirit in their heart (conviction), but never
truly gave their life to Christ. They were right on the brink of conversion, but they turned
back. Such people are impossible to restore to repentance. Their time for decision, like a
freight train rolling through the night, has come and gone, and will never return. They
have "been there, done that." Their state is now hopeless. As F.F. Bruce cogently
observes, "God has pledged Himself to pardon all who truly repent, but Scripture and
experience alike suggest that it is possible for human beings to arrive at a state of heart and
life where they can no longer repent." This is a compelling interpretation. It has real,
practical implications about endurance! True believers are revealed by how they finish the
race, not by how they start it. So, let us finish well, to insure that what we have is indeed
true faith. Or, as one wag put it, "If your faith fizzles before you finish, it's because it was
faulty from the first!" I would almost buy this one, except for the strong evidence that the
descriptions of the "believer" (or, "almost believer") are normative for true Christians
throughout the rest of the NT. In any other location in the Bible we would instantly
recognize a person who has been enlightened, who has tasted the heavenly gift, who has
shared in the Holy Spirit, who has tasted the goodness of the Word of God, and the powers
of the coming age as a truly, born-again Christian. 5. Here's the interpretation that
compels me (at this point in time). These Hebrews, as I've said many times in this series,
were facing persecution from a hostile Roman Empire and angry Jewish peers. Under such
pressure, especially the threat of bodily harm, there was the strong temptation to publicly
renounce Christ in order to save one's neck. This open denial of Christ brings public shame
to the Christian faith, and it's community, the church. This is where the words in v. 6 take
on important significance: to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again
and subjecting him to public disgrace. By denying Jesus in order to save their necks, these
apostates join the ranks of those who denied that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah and
therefore hung Him on the cross. Their public rejection of Christ, in effect crucifies Jesus
again, submitting Him to public disgrace. Furthermore, as they deny Jesus, they reject His
power for transformation and maturity in their lives. It is possible that these apostates
enter a state from which it is impossible to return from. Their public denial separates them
from the church, and makes them allies with the enemies of the faith. How can they
possibly return to the faith and the fold? (Especially after public denunciation.) Does this
mean that they will lose their salvation? Not necessarily. They will not lose their salvation
but may instead forfeit future rewards. Their lives will be barren. They will experience the
chastisement of God, and His curse against their cowardice. Their fiery judgment is not one
of eternal punishment. Rather, this is a reference to the fire which purges a believer's

39. works. (Cf. 1 Cor 3:13, "fire will test the quality of each man's work.") This is illustrated in
vv. 7-8, 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to
those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns
and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. The
land, whether fruitful or barren, stands for believers. All believers receive the same "rain,"
that is the nurture of God's Spirit. Some believers produce a useful crop. God blesses their
lives. Other believers only produce thorns and thistles; or as Paul put it, hay and stubble.
In the end these will be burned up. Furthermore, they are in danger of God's curse rather
than blessing for producing such a miserable crop. Now, I want to come full circle back to
the author's original concern that the Hebrews are returning to the basics instead of
moving ahead in their faith. A mature Christian would discern the spiritual disaster that
comes from denying Christ when persecuted. They would avoid such a calamity, while the
immature person might reason that its no big deal, "It's only words. What's in my heart is
what really counts. God wouldn't want me to die over this!" The immature would
rationalize their decision and fail to discern the spiritual consequences of their actions. This
continues to apply today. Continuous growth is the only way to avoid running the great
danger of wasting your life and your time on poor choices, spiritually speaking. Mature
Christians avoid frivolous pursuits which in the end make for a worthless life. For our
spiritual well-being we must heed the connection this passage makes between spiritual
growth and spiritual blessing. Without continuous spiritual growth our lives are in danger
of being cursed; even going through the fires of judgment. My pastor decided to pull a
vacation surprise on his four children. "We're going to junction City, Kansas," Peter told
them. "It's where my dad used to pastor a church, and we can have lots of fun there."
Meanwhile he made secret plans to spend one afternoon in Junction City, then drive on to
enjoy the glories of Disney World. Ever trusting, his children bragged to skeptical friends,
"We're going to Kansas for vacation. It's great!" All during the long drive from Denver to
Junction City, Peter kept up morale by describing the wonders awaiting them:
playgrounds, a swimming pool, an ice cream stand, maybe even a bowling alley. After
touring Grandad's old church, the kids were ready to check into a motel and go swimming
when their dad dropped the bombshell. "You know something, it's kind of boring here in
Kansas. Why don't we just drive to DISNEY WORLD!" Mom reached in a bag and pulled
out four custom-made Mickey Mouse hats. Peter expected his kids to jump up and down in
delight. Instead, they complained: "Ah, who wants to get back in the van?" "What about
the swimming pool? You promised!" "I thought we were going to go bowling!"The great
surprise had backfired. For the next few hours Peter sat behind the steering wheel and
smoldered as his children expanded on all the advantages of junction City over Disney
World. Never one to miss a homiletic opportunity, Peter turned this fiasco into a fine
sermon illustration, quoting C.S. Lewis: "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with
drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who
wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the
offer of a holiday at the sea." In a letter to his friend Malcolm, Lewis added that "the hills
and valleys of Heaven will be to those you now experience not as a copy is to an original,
nor as a substitute to the genuine article, but as the flower to the root, or the diamond to
the coal." Yes, Peter said, our desires are too small. We stamp our feet and insist on a
merry-go-round in Junction City when Disney World's Space Mountain lies just down the
road. 4. Continual Growth Pays Off In the End 6:9-12 Having raised the dire warning the

40. writer now speaks in an encouraging manner. He is convinced of better things in their case.
There are two reasons for this conviction-their lives and God's promise. He follows this
with a word of assurance: their diligence in spiritual growth will pay off in the long run. 9
Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your
case-things that accompany salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work
and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.
11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your
hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith
and patience inherit what has been promised. What stands behind such assurance is the
impossibility that God should fail. It is possible as we have seen for people to understand
the gospel and yet reject it. But it is impossible that anyone who has come to the gospel for
refuge should be abandoned. God will never reject us. He swore by himself. He underlined
it. He virtually wrote it in the sky. He will certainly keep his promise! He will not abandon
us. He will not forget our work for His kingdom, or the help we've given other believers.
Since we can count on Him, let's be sure He can count on us. Let us banish laziness,
sluggishness, immaturity. No more diapers or milk. Let us advance into spiritual maturity.
Let us apply diligence to the end. Let us avoid the pitfalls of apostasty and other dangers of
spiritual immaturity. We are not crazy. God guarantees through His justice and
omniscience to remember our devotion to Him. Our reward awaits us if we continue to
hang tough!
14. PINK, Infancy and Maturity.(Hebrews 6:1-3)
The interpretation which we shall give of the above verses is not at all in accord with that
advanced by the older writers. It differs considerably from that found in the commentaries
of Drs. Calvin, Owen and Gouge, and more recently, those of A. Saphir, and Dr. J. Brown.
Much as we respect their works, and deeply as we are indebted to not a little that is helpful
in them, yet we dare not follow them blindly. To "prove all things" (1 Thess. 5:21) is ever
our bounden duty. Though it is against our natural inclination to depart from the
exposition they suggested (several, with some diffidence), yet we are thankful to God that in
later years He has granted some of His servants increased light from His wondrous and
exhaustless Word. May it please Him to vouchsafe us still more.
The writers mentioned above understood the expression "the principles of the doctrine of
Christ," or as the margin of the Revised Version more accurately renders "the word of the
beginning of Christ," to refer to the elementary truths of Christianity, a summary of which
is given in the six items that follow in the second half of verse 1 and the whole of verse 2;
while the "Let us go on unto perfection," they regarded as a call unto the deeper and
higher things of the Christian revelation. But for reasons which to us seem conclusive, such
a view of our passage is altogether untenable. It fails to take into account the central theme
of this Epistle, and the purpose for which it was written. It does not do justice at all to the
immediate context. It completely breaks down when tested in its details.

41. As we have repeated so often in the course of this series of articles, the theme of our Epistle
is the immeasurable superiority of Christianity over Judaism. Unless the interpreter keeps
this steadily in mind as he proceeds from chapter to chapter, and from passage to passage,
he is certain to err. This is the key which unlocks every section, and if attempt be made to
open up any portion without it, the effect can only be strained and forced. The importance
of this consideration cannot be overestimated, and several striking exemplifications of it
have already been before us in our survey of the previous chapters. Here too it will again
stand us in good stead, if we but use it. The apostle is not contrasting two different stages of
Christianity, an infantile and a mature; rather is he opposing, once more, the substance
over against the shadows. He continues to press upon the Hebrews their need of forsaking
the visible for the invisible, the typical for the antitypical.
That in taking up our present passage it is also of first importance to study its connection
with the immediate context, is evident from its very first word, "Therefore." The apostle is
here drawing a conclusion from something said previously. This takes us back to what is
recorded in Hebrews 5:11-14, for a right understanding of which depends a sound
exposition of what immediately follows. In these verses the apostle rebukes the Hebrews for
their spiritual sloth, and likens them to little children capacitated to receive nothing but
milk. He tells them that they have need of one teaching them again "which be the first
principles of the oracles of God," which denoted they had not yet clearly grasped the fact
that Judaism was but a temporary economy, because a typical one, its ordinances and
ceremonies foreshadowing Him who was to come here and make an atonement for the sins
of His people. Now that He had come and finished His work the types had served their
purpose, and the shadows were replaced by the Substance.
The spiritual condition in which the Hebrew saints were at the time the Holy Spirit moved
the apostle to address this Epistle to them, is another important key to the opening of its
hortatory sections. As we showed in our last article, the language of Hebrews 5:11-14
plainly intimates that they have gone backward. The cause of this is made known in the
10th chapter, part of which takes us back to a point in time prior to what is recorded in
chapter 5. First in Hebrews 10:32 we read, "But call to remembrance the former days, in
which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great flight of afflictions." This "great flight
of afflictions" they had, as verse 34 tells us, taken "joyfully." Very remarkable and rare
was this. How was such an experience to be accounted for? The remainder of verse 34 tells
us, "Knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance."
But this blessed and spiritual state which characterized the Hebrews in the glow of "first
love" had not been maintained. While affections were set upon things above where Christ
is seated at the right hand of God, whilst faith was in exercise, they realized that their real
portion was on High. But faith has to be tested, patience has to be tried, and unless faith be
maintained "hope deferred maketh the heart sick" (Prov. 13:12). Alas, their faith had
wavered, and in consequence they had become dissatisfied to have nothing down here; they
became impatient of waiting for an unseen and future inheritance. It was for this reason
that the apostle said to them, "Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great
recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of
God, ye might receive the promise" (Heb. 10:35, 36).

42. Now it was this discontented and impatient condition of soul into which they had fallen,
which accounts for the state in which we find them in Hebrews 5:11, 12. So too it explains
the various things referred to in chapter 6. That is why the apostle was moved to set before
them the most solemn warning found in verses 4-6. That is why we find "hope" so
prominent in what follows: see verses 11, 18, 19. That is why reference is made to
"patience" in verse 12. That is why Abraham is referred to, and why his "patience" is
singled out for mention in verse 15. And that is why in our present passage the Hebrews are
urged to "go on unto perfection," and why the apostle interposes a doubt in the matter:
"This will we do, if God permit" (verse 3), for there was good reason to believe that their
past conduct had provoked Him. Thus we see again how wondrously and how perfectly
Scripture interprets itself, and how much we need to "compare spiritual things with
spiritual" (1 Cor. 2:13).
The sixth chapter of Hebrews does not commence a new section of the Epistle, but
continues the digression into which the apostle had entered at Hebrews 5:11. In view of the
disability of those to whom he was writing receiving unto their edification the high and
glorious mysteries which he desired to expound, the apostle goes on to set before them
various reasons and arguments to excite a diligent attention thereunto. First, he declares
his intention positively: to "go on unto perfection" (verse 1). Second, he names, what he
intended to "leave," namely, "the word of the beginning of Christ" (verses 1-3). Third, he
warns of the certain doom of apostates (verses 4-8). Fourth, he softens this warning in the
case of the converted Hebrews (verses 9-14). Fifth, he gives an inspiring encouragement to
faith, taken from the life of Abraham (verses 15-21).
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ" (verse 1). As already pointed
out, the first word of this verse denotes that there is a close link between what has
immediately preceded and what now follows. This will appear yet more clearly if we attend
closely to the exact terms here used. The word "principles" in this verse is the same as
rendered "first" in Hebrews 5:12. The word "doctrine" is found in its plural form and is
translated "oracles" in Hebrews 5:12. The word "perfection" is given as "of full age" in
Hebrews 5:14. Thus it is very evident that the apostle is here continuing the same subject
which he began in the previous chapter.
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ." The rendering of the A.V. of
this clause is very faulty and misleading. The verb is in the past tense, not the present.
Bagster’s Interlinear correctly gives "Wherefore having left." This difference of rendition
is an important one, for it enables us to understand more readily the significance of what
follows. The apostle was stating a positive fact, not pleading for a possibility. He was not
asking the Hebrews to take a certain step, but reminding them of one they had already
taken. They had left the "principles of the doctrine of Christ," and to them he did not wish
them to return.
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ." More accurately, "Wherefore
having left the word of the beginning of Christ." Bagster’s Interlinear, which gives a literal
word for word translation of the Greek, renders it, "Wherefore, having left the of the
beginning of the Christ discourse." This expression is parallel with the "first principles of
the oracles of God" in Hebrews 5:12. It has reference to what God has made known
concerning His Son under Judaism. In the Old Testament two things are outstandingly

43. prominent in connection with Christ: first, prophecies of His coming into the world;
second, types and figures of the work He should perform. These predictions had now
received their fulfillment, those shadows had now found their substance, in the incarnation,
life, death, resurrection and ascension of the Son of God. This, the "holy brethren" (Heb.
3:1) among the Jews had acknowledged. Thus they had "left" the ABC’s, for the Word
Himself, the pictures for the Reality.
"Let us go on unto perfection." There is the definite article in the Greek, and "The
Perfection" is obviously set in apposition to "The word of the beginning of Christ:" note,
not of "the Lord Jesus," but of "Christ," i.e., the Messiah. It is the contrast, once more,
between Judaism and Christianity. That which is here referred to as "The Perfection" is
the full revelation which God now made of Himself in the person of His incarnate Son. No
longer is He veiled by types and shadows, His glory is seen fully in the face of Jesus Christ
(2 Cor. 4:6). The only begotten Son has "declared" Him here on earth (John 1:18); but
having triumphantly finished the work which was given Him to do, He has been "received
up into glory" (1 Tim. 3:16), and upon an exalted and enthroned Christ the affection of the
believer is now to be set (Col. 3:1).
"Wherefore having left . . . let us go on unto perfection." The first word looks back to all
that the apostle had said. It is a conclusion drawn from the contents of the whole preceding
five chapters. Its force is: In view of the fact that God has now spoken to us in His Son; in
view of who He is, namely, the appointed Heir of all things, the Maker of the worlds, the
Brightness, of God’s glory, and the very Impress of His substance, the One who upholds all
things by the word of His power; in view of the fact that He has by Himself "purged our
sins," and, in consequence, has sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having
been made so much better than angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent
name than they; in view of the further fact that He was made in all things like unto His
brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things God-ward, to make
propitiation for the sins of the people, and having, in consequence of His successful
prosecution of this stupendous work been "crowned with glory and honor;" and, seeing
that He is immeasurably superior to Moses, Joshua and Aaron;-let us give Him His due
place in our thoughts, hearts and lives.
"Let us go on unto perfection" has reference to the apprehension of the Divine revelation
of the full glory of Christ in His person, perfections, and position. It is, from the practical
side, a "perfection" of knowledge, spiritually imparted by the Holy Spirit to the
understanding and heart. It refers to the mysteries and sublime doctrine of the Gospel. It is
a perfection of knowledge in revealed truth. Yet, of course, it is only a relative
"perfection," for an absolute apprehension of the things of God is not attainable in this life.
Now "we know in part" (1 Cor. 13:9). "If any man think that he knoweth anything, he
knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know" (1 Cor. 8:2). Even the apostle Paul had to say,
"Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I
press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13,
14).
"Let us go on unto perfection." Students are not agreed as to the precise force of the plural
pronoun here. Some consider it to be the apostle linking on the Hebrews to himself in the

44. task immediately before him; others regard the "us" as the apostle graciously joining
himself with them in their duty. Personally, we think that both these ideas are to be
combined. First, "let us go on:" it was his resolution so to do, as the remaining chapters of
the Epistle demonstrate; then let them follow him. Thus considered it shows that the
apostle did not look upon the condition of the Hebrews as quite hopeless, notwithstanding
their "dullness" (Heb. 5:11)-I shall therefore go on to set before you the highest and most
glorious things concerning Christ. Second, the apostle condescends to unite himself with
them in their responsibility to press forward. "Wherefore:" in view of the length of time we
have been Christians, let us be diligent to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. It was, thus, a call to stir them up.
"Let us go on" is passive, "be carried on." It is a word taken from the progress which a
ship makes before the wind when under sail. Let us, under the full bent of our will and
affections be stirred by the utmost endeavors of our whole souls, be borne onwards. We
have abode long enough near the shore, let us hoist our sails, pray to the Spirit for His
mighty power to work within us, and launch forth into the deep. This is the duty of God’s
servants, to excite their Christian hearers to make progress in the knowledge of Divine
truth, to urge them to pass the porch and enter the sanctuary, there to behold the Divine
glories of the House of God. Though the verb is passive, denoting the effect-"Let us be
carried on"-yet it included the active use of means for the producing of this effect. "All
diligence" is demanded of the Christian (2 Pet. 1:5). Truth has to be "bought" (Prov.
23:23). That which God has given us must be put into practice (Luke 8:18).
"Let us go on unto perfection." What, we may ask, is the application of this to Christians
today? To the Hebrews it meant abandoning the preparatory and earthly system of
Judaism, (which occupied their whole attention before believing in Christ as the sent
Savior) and, by faith, laying hold of the Divine revelation which has now been made in and
through Him: set your affection on an ascended though invisible Christ, who now serves in
the Heavenly Sanctuary on your behalf. For Christians it means, Turn away from those
objects which absorbed you in the time of your unregeneracy, and meditate now on and
find your joy and satisfaction in things above. Lay aside every weight and the sin which so
easily besets, and run with perseverance the race that is set before us, "looking off unto
Jesus"-the One who while here left us an example to follow, the One who is now enthroned
on High because of the triumphant completion of His race.
To the Hebrews, this much-misunderstood exhortation of Hebrews 6:1 was exactly parallel
with the word which Christ addressed to the eleven immediately prior to His death: "Ye
believe in God, believe also in Me" (John 14:1): Ye have long avowed your faith in "God,"
whom, though invisible, ye trust; now "believe also in Me," as One who will speedily pass
beyond the range of your natural vision. I am on the point of returning to the Father, but I
shall still have your interests at heart, yea, I am going to "prepare a place for you;"
therefore, trust Me implicitly: let your hearts follow Me on high: walk by faith: be occupied
with an ascended Savior. For us today, the application of this important word signifies, Be
engaged with your great High Priest in heaven, dwell daily upon your portion in Him (Eph.
1:3). By faith, behold Christ, now in the heavenly sanctuary, as your righteousness, life,
and strength. See in God’s acceptance of Him, His adoption of you, that you have been

45. reconciled to Him, made nigh by the precious blood. In the realization of this, worship in
spirit and in truth; exercise your priestly privileges.
Thus, the "perfection" of Hebrews 6:1 is, strictly speaking, scarcely doctrinal or
experimental, yet partakes of both. "The law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a
better hope did" (Heb. 7:19). It is Christ who has ushered in that which is "perfect." It is in
Him we now have a full revelation and manifestation of the eternal purpose and grace of
God. He has fully made known His mind (Heb. 1:2). And, by His one all-sufficient offering
of Himself, He has "perfected forever" (Heb. 10:14), them whom God set apart in His
everlasting counsels. Christ came here to fulfill the will of God (Heb. 10:9). That will has
been executed; the work given Him to do, He finished (John 17:4). In consequence, He has
been gloriously rewarded, and in His reward all His people share. This is all made known
to us for "the hearing of faith."
"Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works" (verse 1). It is most
important to see that the contents of the second half of verse 1. and the whole of verse 2 are
a parenthesis. The "Let us be carried on to perfection" is completed in "this will we do if
God permits" in verse 3. That which comes in between is a definition or explanation of
what the apostle intended by his "Having left the word of the beginning of Christ." The six
items enumerated-"repentance from dead works," etc.-have nothing to do with the
"foundations of Christianity," nor do they describe those things relating to the elementary
experiences of a Christian. Instead, they treat of what appertained to Judaism, considered
as a rudimentary system, paving the way for the fuller and final revelation which God has
now made in and by His beloved Son. Unless the parenthetical nature of these verses is
clearly perceived, interpreters are certain to err in their exposition of the details.
"Not laying again the foundation," etc. It is to be remarked that there is no definite article
in the Greek here, so it should be read, "a foundation," which is one of several intimations
that it is not the "fundamentals of Christianity" which are here in view. Had these verses
been naming the basic features of the new and higher revelation of God, the Holy Spirit
had surely said, "the foundation;" that He did not, shows that something less important
was before Him. As said above, this "foundation" respects Judaism. Now there are two
properties to a "foundation," namely, it is that which is first laid in a building; it is that
which bears up the whole superstructure. To which we may add, it is generally lost to sight
when the ground floor has been put in. Such was the relation which Judaism sustained to
Christianity. As the "foundation" precedes the building, so had Judaism Christianity. As
the "foundation" bears the building, so the truth of Christianity rests upon the promises
and prophecies of the Old Testament, of which the New Testament revelation records the
fulfillment. As the "foundation" is lost to sight when the building is erected on it, so the
types and shadows of the earlier revelation are superseded by the substance and reality.
"Not laying again a foundation," etc. This is exactly what the Hebrews were being sorely
tempted to do. To "lay again" this foundation was to forsake the substance for the
shadows; it was to turn from Christianity and go back again to Judaism. As Paul wrote to
the Galatians, who were being harassed by Judaisers, "Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Heb. 3:24). To which he at
once added, "But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." Thus,
under a different figure, he was here in Hebrews 6:1 simply saying, Let us be carried on to

46. maturity, and not go back again to the things which characterized the days of our
childhood.
"Not laying again a foundation," etc. It will be noted that the apostle here enumerates just
six things, which is ever the number of man in the flesh. Such was what distinguished
Judaism. It was a system which appertained solely to man in the flesh. Its rites and
ceremonies only "sanctified to the purifying of the flesh" (Heb. 9:13). Had the
fundamentals of Christianity been here in view, the apostle had surely given seven, as in
Ephesians 4:3-6. The first which he specifies is "repentance from dead works." Observe
that it is not "repentance from sins." That is not what is in view at all. This expression
"dead works" is found again in Hebrews 9:14 (and nowhere else in the New Testament),
where a contrast is drawn from what is said in verse 13: the blood of bulls and goats
sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, then much more should the blood of Christ cleanse
their conscience from dead works. Where sins are in question the New Testament speaks of
them as "wicked works" (Titus 1:16), and "abominable works" (Col. 1:21). The reference
here was to the unprofitable and in-efficacious works of the Levitical service: cf. Hebrews
10:1, 4. Those works of the ceremonial law are denominated "dead works" because they
were performed by men in the flesh, were not vitalized by the Holy Spirit, and did not
satisfy the claims of the living God.
"And of faith toward God." Of the six distinctive features of Judaism here enumerated,
this one is the most difficult to define with any degree of certainty. Nevertheless, we believe
that if due attention be given to the particular people to whom the apostle was writing all
difficulty at once vanishes. The case of the Jew was vastly different from that of the
Gentiles. To the heathen, the one true God was altogether "unknown" (Acts 17:23). They
worshipped a multitude of false gods. But not so was it with Israel. Jehovah had revealed
Himself to their fathers, and given to them a written revelation of His will. Thus, "faith
toward God" was a national thing with them, and though in their earlier history they fell
into idolatry again and again, yet were they purified of this sin by the Babylonian captivity.
Still, their faith was more of a form than a reality, a tradition received from their fathers,
rather than a vital acquaintance with Him: see Matthew 15:8, 9, etc.
Israel’s national faith "toward God" had, under the Christian revelation, given place to
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A few references from the New Testament epistles will
establish this conclusively. We read of "the faith of Jesus Christ," and "the faith of the Son
of God" (Gal. 2:16, 20); "your faith in the Lord Jesus" (Eph. 1:15); "by faith of Jesus
Christ" (Phil. 3:9); "your faith in Christ" (Col. 2:5); "the faith which is in Christ Jesus" (1
Tim. 3:13). As another has said, "All the blessings of the gospel are connected with ‘faith,’
but it is faith which rests in Christ. Justification, resurrection-life, the promises, the placing
of sons, salvation, etc., are all spoken of as resulting from faith which rests upon Christ...
‘Hebrews’ reveals Christ as the ‘one Mediator between God and men.’ It reveals Christ as
‘a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,’ and urges the divine claim of the Son of
God. The apostle is directing his readers to look away from self to Christ, the Center, the
Sum of all blessing. This is not merely ‘faith toward God,’ but it is faith which comes to
God by the way of the mediation and merits of His Son."

47. "Of the doctrine of baptisms" (verse 2). Had the translators understood the scope and
meaning of this passage it is more than doubtful if they had given the rendering they did to
this particular clause.
It will be observed that the word "baptism" is in the plural number, and if scripture be
allowed to interpret scripture there will be no difficulty in ascertaining what is here
referred to. It is neither Christian baptism (Matthew 28:19), the baptism of the Spirit (Acts
1:5), nor the baptism of suffering (Matthew 20:23), which is here in view, but the carnal
ablutions which obtained under the Mosaic economy. The Greek word is "baptismos." It is
found but four times on the pages of the New Testament: in Mark 7:4, 5 and Hebrews 6:2;
9:10. In each of the other three instances, the word is rendered "washings." In Mark 7 it is
the "washing of cups and pans." In Hebrews 9:10 it is "meats and drinks and divers
washings and carnal (fleshly) ordinances," concerning which it is said, they were "imposed
until the time of reformation."
It is to be noted that our verse speaks of "the doctrine of baptisms." There was a definite
teaching connected with the ceremonial ablutions of Judaism. They were designed to
impress upon the Israelites that Jehovah was a holy God, and that none who were defiled
could enter into His presence. These references in Hebrews 6:2 and Hebrews 9:10 look
back to such passages as Exodus 30:18, 19; Leviticus 16:4; Numbers 19:19, etc. Typically,
these "washings" denoted that all the defiling effects of sin must be removed, ere the
worshipper could approach unto the Lord. They foreshadowed that perfect and eternal
cleansing from sin which the atoning blood of Christ was to provide for His people. They
had no intrinsic efficacy in themselves; they were but figures, hence, we are told they
sanctified only "to the purifying of the flesh" (Heb. 9:13). Those "washings" effected
nought but an external and ceremonial purification; they "could not make him that did the
service perfect as pertaining to the conscience" (Heb. 9:9).
"And of laying on of hands." The older commentators quite missed the reference here.
Supposing the previous clause was concerned with the Christian baptisms recorded in the
Acts, they appealed to such passages as Acts 8:17; 19:6, etc. But those passages have no
bearing at all on the verse before us. They were exceptional cases where the supernatural
"gifts" of the Spirit were imparted by communication from the apostles. The absence of
this "laying on of hands" in Acts 2:41; 8:38; 16:33, etc., shows plainly that, normally, the
Holy Spirit was given by God altogether apart from the instrumentality of His servants.
The "laying on of hands" is not, and never was, a distinctive Christian ordinance. In such
passages as Acts 6:6; 9:17; 13:3, the act was simply a mark of identification, as is
sufficiently clear from the last reference.
"And of laying on of hands." The key which unlocks the real meaning of this expression is
to be found in the Old Testament, to which each and all of the six things here mentioned by
the apostle look back. Necessarily so, for the apostle is here making mention of those things
which characterized Judaism, which the Hebrews, upon their profession of their personal
faith in Christ had "left." The "laying on of hands" to which the apostle refers is described
in Leviticus 16:21, "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and
confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all
their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a
fit man into the wilderness." This was an essential part of the ritual on the annual Day of

48. Atonement. Of this the Hebrews would naturally think when the apostle here makes
mention of the "doctrine (teaching) . . . of laying on of hands."
"And of resurrection of the dead." At first glance, and perhaps at the second too, it may
appear that what is here before us will necessitate an abandonment of the line of
interpretation we are following. Surely, the reader may exclaim, you will not ask us to
believe that these Hebrews had "left" the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead! Yet this
is exactly what we do affirm. The difficulty which is seemingly involved is more imaginary
than real, due to a lack of discrimination and failure to "rightly divide the Word of Truth."
The resurrection of the dead was a clearly revealed doctrine under Judaism; but it is
supplanted by something far more comforting and blessed under the fuller revelation God
has given in Christianity. If the reader will carefully observe the preposition we have
placed in italic type, he will find it a valuable key to quite a number of passages. "We make
a great mistake when we assume that the resurrection as taught by the Pharisees, held by
the Jews, believed by the disciples, and proclaimed by the apostles, was one and the same"
(C.H.W.). The great difference between the former and the latter may be seen by a
comparison of the scriptures that follow.
"After the way which they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all
things which are written in the law and in the prophets: and have hope toward God, which
they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and unjust" (Acts 24:14, 15). That was the Jewish hope: "Martha saith unto Him, I know
that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24). Now in contrast,
note, "He charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son
of man were risen from the dead. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning
one with another what the rising from the dead should mean" (Mark 9:9, 10). It is this
aspect of resurrection which the New Testament epistles emphasize, an elective
resurrection, a resurrection of the redeemed before that of the wicked: see Revelation 20:5,
6; 1 Corinthians 15:22, 23; 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
"And of eternal judgment." In the light of all that has been before us, this should occasion
no difficulty. The Jewish church, and most of Christendom now, believed in a General
Judgment, a great assize at the end of time when God would examine every man’s life,
"For God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good
or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14). This is described in fullest detail in the closing
verses of Revelation 20. It is the Great White Throne judgment.
Let us now, very briefly, summarize what has just been engaging our attention. The
Hebrews had confessed their faith in Christ, and by so doing had forsaken the shadows for
the Substance. But hope had been deferred, faith hath waned, persecutions had cooled
their zeal. They were being tempted to abandon their Christian profession and return to
Judaism. The apostle shows that by so doing they would be laying again "a foundation" of
things which had been left behind. Rather than this, he urges them to be carried forward to
"perfection" or "full growth." That meant to substitute "repentance unto life" (Acts
11:18), for "repentance from dead works;" trust in the glorified Savior, for a national
"faith toward God;" the all-cleansing blood of the Lamb, for the inefficacious "washings"
of the law; God’s having laid on Christ the iniquities of us all, for the Jewish high-priest’s
"laying on of hands;" a resurrection "from the dead," for "a resurrection of the dead;" the

49. Judgment-seat of Christ, for the "eternal judgment" of the Great White Throne. Thus, the
six things here mentioned belonged to a state of things before Christ was manifested.
15. S. L. JOHNSON, "What are the principles of the doctrine of the Messiah? What is it
to which we are to go on to perfection? What is the terminus a quo?. Here it is:
"Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward
God." (Heb. 6:1b)
What does that mean? Please turn to Hebrews 9:14. It is so often thought that
"repentance from dead works is salvation". Now I want you to see that it is not
necessarily that at all. See this truth:
Heb. 9:14. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God!
THE DEAD WORKS
What are the dead works? Will you look back into the preceding context, practicing good
hermeneutics. Hebrews 9:9-14 speaks of the first tabernacle which was yet standing!
Heb. 9:9-14
9. Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and
sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the
conscience; 10. Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal
ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. 11. But Christ, being come an
high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with
hands that is to say, not of this building; 12. Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but
by his own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. 13. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 14. How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
It should be obvious that the "dead works" to which he refers are the ordinances of the
Levitical economy. In other words,"to repent from dead works" is to see that the
sacrifices and the offerings and the priesthood of the Old Testament have been fulfilled in
the New Covenant made in the "once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ" and in the high
Priesthood of Him who is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. This has to do
with enlightenment as to the fact that Christ has fulfilled the ordinances of the Old
Testament!
Next, and "of faith toward God."(Heb. 6:1c) Now that is very simple because that is the
act of one who puts his trust in God whether in the Old Testament or in the new
Testament. It is an O.T. and N.T. doctrine.

50. Heb. 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms?
Some have said, "this is the baptism of John the Baptist and the baptism of our Lord".
Others have said that this is "the baptism of John the Baptist and Christian baptism". Heb.
9:10 refers to "meat and drinks, and divers washings." So you see, the doctrine of
baptisms is really the doctrine of washings-a reference to the washing of the priests in the
Old Testament as he enters into his priestly office. So again this is something that pertains
to the Old Testament. Let's leave the "dead works", lets leave Levitical ceremonies, let's
leave the doctrine of washings.
Heb. 6:2, "Of the laying on of hands?"
One of the characteristics of the Old Covenant was the act of a priest laying his hands on
the animal; for example on the Day of Atonement. It was the custom for the priest to lay
his hands on the head of the animal and confess the sins of Israel, and send that goat off
into the wilderness. The doctrine of the "laying on of hands" was simply the identification
of the people with the offerings that were brought into the Levitical economy.
Heb. 6:2 And of resurrection of the dead.
This was an Old Testament and a New Testament teaching as also was " eternal
judgment". By the way the idea of "eternal judgment" is taught in both the Old and New
Testaments throughout the Word of God. We are given a glimpse into this horror of this
eternal judgment by the words our Lord uttered on the cross, "My God, My God Why hast
Thou forsaken me."
Now you can see from this that our author is saying to these professing Jewish Christians,
"let's leave those things that pertain to the revelation of God as set forth in the Old
Testament, and let's go on to perfection!" These things are good in their place, but we
need to go on to maturity. Dr. Barnhouse said that the Epistle to the Hebrews was written
to the Hebrews to teach the Hebrews that they should no longer be Hebrews. And that
expresses it very well, for all these things are "Hebrew things". So, now let's go on to
perfection.
PERFECTION, WHAT IS IT?
What then is perfection? It has to do with the full possession of the Messianic salvation.
Let's leave the things that pertain to the "immaturity of the faith" and let's proceed to the
full possession of the Messianic Salvation, the theme to which these Old Testament
ordinances pointed.
Then he adds in verse 3 "And this we will do if God permits". There is one condition into
which maturity is impossible. Now this is a very hard thing to say to people. But in the
Old Testament it is said that God sent the prophets to the children of Israel, and they
rejected the teaching of these prophets who told them how they had disobeyed God until
finally the writer of Chronicles 36 states that there was no remedy.
2 Chronicles 36:15-16

51. 15 And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up
early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling
place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His
prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
Do you realize that, as a human being, it is possible for you to come to the place before God
where the word of God says to you, "there is no remedy". Now we must not escape the
plain teachings of the Holy Scripture and this is one of the most plain in all the Bible!
I am convinced that the reason there does exist this "dullness of hearing" in Evangelical
churches is because we have not brought them face to face that it is possible for us to so
neglect the teaching of God that hardening begins to set in, and we finally reach the place
where we "cannot hear" because we "will not hear".
It is a principle that operates according to "Divine Law". It operated in the nation of
Israel in the time of our Lord, and finally He said to them after they had not responded to
His teaching;
John 12:40. I have been sent that seeing you might not see, and hearing you might not hear
and that they finally might not see and hear and be converted and be healed.
In other words, it is possible for us to so turn away from privilege that we cannot respond
because we will not respond. Now that is what he means when he says "It is impossible to
renew some people unto repentance". He does not mean "difficult". He means
impossible to renew apostates.
Now we do not know when apostasy takes place. We are human beings. I do not know in
your case, and you do not know in my case. But it does us a great deal of good to know
that such a condition does exist in which there is no remedy. Therefore, if in your own
heart, there is any question about your faith in Jesus Christ, in the light of the fact that you
have had the great privilege of hearing the truth about the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and if
there is any question whatsoever about the genuineness of your trusting Him, then if I were
you I would not breathe another breath until I had made that decision which means
everlasting life. The only breath that you can be sure of is the one that you are drawing
right now. And frankly, I would not draw another breath without the assurance that I
had put my trust in Jesus Christ!
16. preceptaustin, “Therefore (1352) (dio) is a term of conclusion (always ask "What's it
'there for?'"). Why is it there for? Because of the argument he has just mentioned about the
difficulty of subject (of the priesthood of Melchizedek) the dullness of the readers ("by this time
you ought to be teachers!" - see notes Hebrews 5:12; 13; 14). It is time to get out of the crib and
off the bottle and to grow up, to move on, to become mature believers. And to help them
understand the goal God desires for His children, the writer has just present a clear contrast
between the mature Christians and the immature Christian.
Spurgeon observes that...

52. In the previous chapter, Paul was writing to some who ought to have been teachers, but who
needed still to be taught the first principles of the gospel; they were such babes in grace that
they needed the milk of the Word, — the very simplest elements of gospel truth, — and not
the strong meat of solid doctrine. The apostle, however, desires that the Hebrew believers
should understand the sublimer doctrines of the gospel, and so be like men of full age who
can eat strong meat. In this chapter he exhorts them to seek to attain to this standard.
Dave Branon puts it this way...
Few of us look in the mirror and come to the conclusion of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe
Namath. During his heyday as a player, Namath wrote a book titled I Can't Wait Until
Tomorrow . . . 'Cause I Get Better-Looking Every Day.
As egotistical as that title sounds, it can help us see how we as believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ should view ourselves in the lifelong process of becoming like Him. Scripture tells us
that to become more like Christ, we need to keep getting better every day.
The development of Christlikeness is called sanctification. It begins the moment we put our
faith in Christ for forgiveness of our sins. In God's eyes we are sanctified, or "set apart"
from the ungodly, and placed in God's family. But sanctification is also the ongoing process
in which we become more and more like our Savior as we allow the Holy Spirit to develop
in us His characteristics. Our part is to "press on," striving to reach spiritual maturity
(see note Philippians 3:12).
Ask yourself this question: Am I better-looking spiritually than I was yesterday? It's a good
test of whether you are becoming more like Jesus. —Dave Branon(Our Daily Bread,
Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)
Every day more like my Savior,
Every day my will resign,
Till at last Christ reigns supremely
In this grateful heart of mine. --Brandt
The new birth takes only a moment; the growth of a saint takes a lifetime.
17. Stedman introduces this section of the letter noting that...
Life presents a thousand examples of the need to act on knowledge before any benefit is
received. It is not enough to know a telephone number; if you want to talk to someone, you
must dial the number. It is not enough to know the price of an object; if you want it, you
must pay that price. It is not enough to know where India is; if you want to see it, you must
go there. So it should not seem strange that the writer of Hebrews insists that to know Jesus
you must receive Him by faith and obey His teaching. The unfortunate chapter division at
this point tends to minimize the opening Therefore of chapter 6. Our author does not
propose to teach his readers again the elementary truths of God’s word though he has told

53. them their dullness seems to require it. They already know the teaching; what they need now
is personal commitment to it. This can only be achieved by going on to those actions of faith
that produce maturity. For this reason he urges them to leave
the elementary teachings about Christ and go on from words to
applications. Elementary teachings is not a reference to regeneration, but means
introductory information that could lead to regeneration...These transitional truths lead from
Jewish beliefs and practices to a full sharing in Christ. Though Bruce takes them as a Jewish
list and others as Christian, the truth is they are both, as Bruce concedes that each “acquires
a new significance in a Christian context” (1964:112). The point is that they do not
represent anything but the barest beginnings of Christian faith. It is necessary to go from the
knowledge of these initial truths to experiences which actually draw upon the priestly
ministry of Jesus for this is what would lead them from head knowledge to heart response.
(Hebrews 6:1-20 Repentance Can Be Impossible!)
18.preceptaustin, “Leaving the elementary teaching - The verb Leaving (as discussed more
below) is in a tense (aorist) that calls for definite, effective action by the individual. Further,
the active voice signifies that this change of direction requires a definite choice of one's will.
Progress in the Christian life is not just "let go and let God" as some teach, but entails personal
responsibility and personal initiative to seek to progress in the Christian life. Although the
analogy is not perfect, spiritual progress is a bit like riding a bicycle -- stop pedaling and sooner
or later you fall over. The writer of course is not implying that one can press on to spiritual
maturity in his or her own strength apart from the grace of God and the supernatural operation of
the Holy Spirit, but he does place a responsibility for growth upon those who would seek to walk
worthy of their Lord. Paul gives a similar exhortation in Romans 12:1 (note), calling for each
believer to present himself or herself as a living sacrifice, for he knows that unless this act of
consecration occurs and includes a presentation of one's members to God as instruments of
holiness and righteousness, there will be no progress in spiritual maturity. We don't just naturally
"drift" toward Christlikeness.
In short, the writer is emphasizing the human side of pressing on to maturity. Everyone born into
the family of God is born with the capacity to progress out of infancy into maturity in Christ. But
as he has already alluded to in this letter, the writer recognized that there were those who were in
danger of returning to the old "religious" order that they might escape persecution. And so even
as a man seeking a wife is called to "leave and cleave", the writer exhorts his readers to leave
spiritual infancy and press on to spiritual maturity.
Leaving (863) (aphiemi from apo = prefix implies separation + hiemi = put in motion, send)
conveys the basic idea of an action which causes separation and means to send from one's self, to
forsake, to hurl away, to put away, let alone, disregard, put off. It conveys the basic idea of an
action which causes separation and refers to total detachment, total separation, from a previous
location or condition. It means to send forth or away from one's self. It refers to the act of putting
something away or of laying it aside. In secular Greek aphiemi initially conveyed the sense of to
throw and in one secular writing we read "let the pot drop" (aphiemi). From this early literal use
the word came to mean leave or let go.

54. Wuest an an interesting note on the verb leaving writing that it...
is an aorist participle. Greek grammar tells us that the action of the aorist participle
precedes the action of the leading verb in the sentence, which in this case is “let us go on.”
The aorist tense speaks of a once for all action. We could translate, “Therefore, having
abandoned once for all the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection.”
The act of abandoning is the pre-requisite to that of going on. One cannot go on without first
separating one’s self from that to which one is attached. The word translated “let us go on”
is first person plural subjunctive, which is used for hortatory purposes in Greek. That is, we
have an exhortation here. Another way of exhorting one in Greek is to use the imperative
mode. There is a classification of the participle in Greek which is designated, “the participle
used as an imperative.” Our word “abandoning” is an imperative participle. It gives a
command. (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament:
Eerdmans or Logos)
Aphiemi refers to the act of putting something away or of laying it aside and as used in the
present context means that God lets go of the obligation we "owe" Him because of sin against
His holiness. It means to remit (to release from the guilt or penalty of) as one would a financial
debt (e.g., on the Rosetta stone it refers to the "total remission" of certain taxes). Unfortunately
the English word "forgive" does not adequately picture the meaning of the Greek.
In secular Greek literature, aphiemi was a fundamental word used to indicate the sending away
of an object or a person. Aphiemi was used to describe the voluntary release of a person or thing
over which one has legal or actual control. The related noun aphesis meant described a setting
free. .Later it came to include the release of someone from the obligation of marriage, or debt, or
even a religious vow. In its final form it came to embrace the principle of release from
punishment for some wrongdoing.
Colin Brown adds that aphiemi means...
With a personal object, to send forth, send away (of a woman, to divorce; of a meeting, to
dissolve, end), to let go, to leave, dispatch; with an impersonal object, to loose (e.g. a ship
into the sea), to discharge (e.g. arrows), to give up. In the figurative sense the verb (aphiemi)
means to let alone, permit, let pass, neglect, give up (taking trouble, etc.); in Josephus, Ant.,
1, 12, 3, to lose one’s life, die. The legal use is important: to release from a legal bond
(office, guilt, etc. and also, a woman from marriage, e.g. Hdt., 5, 39), to acquit (e.g.
cancellation of criminal proceedings, Plato, Laws, 9, 86, 9d), to exempt (from guilt,
obligation, punishment, etc.; e.g. Hdt., 6, 30). Similarly the noun aphesis (e.g. Demosthenes,
24, 45) means release, pardon, or remission, etc (Brown, Colin: New International
Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986. Zondervan)
Aphiemi was also used of teachers, writers, and speakers when presenting a topic, in the sense of
“to leave, let alone, disregard, not to discuss now. It means “to abandon, to leave as behind and
done with in order to go on to another thing.”
Leaving off or let go from one’s further notice does not imply ceasing to believe in elementary
teaching or to regard them as unimportant, but leaving them "as a builder leaves his foundation
in erecting his building". The writer's point is that the beginning is not a stopping place but is the

55. door to further progress in the spiritual life.
Vincent writes that...
Leaving or dismissing does not imply ceasing to believe in elementary truths or to regard
them as important, but leaving them “as a builder leaves his foundation in erecting his
building” (Bruce).
Wuest adds that...
To use the word “leaving” in the sense that a superstructure of a house leaves the foundation
and yet builds on it, as is done by some expositors, is a case of English eisegesis (reading
into the text what is not there). The word is an aorist participle. Greek grammar tells us that
the action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the leading verb in the sentence,
which in this case is “let us go on.” The aorist tense speaks of a once for all
action. (Ibid or Ibid)
The idea for Jewish believers and those who profess to believe is to abandon shadows, types,
pictures, and sacrifices of the old economy and come to the reality of the New Covenant in Jesus
Christ. To paraphrase it the writer is saying
“Leave the pictures of the Messiah and go on to the Messiah Himself,”
19. Wuest asks...
Now what does the writer exhort these Hebrews to abandon, and to what does he urge them
to allow themselves to be borne along? Well, what does a mariner do when he is at a loss as
to exactly where he is? He checks his position by his instruments. The aviator in a similar
situation checks his course by the radio beam. An exegete in a similar situation will consult
the historical background and analysis of the book. And that is exactly what we will do. We
found that the writer proves twice over that the New Testament in Jesus’ Blood is superior
to and takes the place of the First Testament in animal blood. After proving this, he shows
that faith is the only way of appropriating the salvation which the High Priest procured for
sinners at the Cross. In the light of this demonstration, he warns them against falling away.
He exhorts them to go on to faith in the New Testament Sacrifice. Having left the temple
sacrifices, and having identified themselves with the visible Church, from what could they
fall away but from their profession of Messiah as High Priest, and to what could they fall
back to but First Testament sacrifices? Thus the words, “the principles of the doctrine of
Christ,” must refer to the First Testament sacrifices, for these Jews are exhorted to abandon
them. Likewise, the word “perfection” must speak of the New Testament Sacrifice to which
they are exhorted to allow themselves to be borne along. Our analysis has guided us to the
correct interpretation.

56. 20. perception, “Spurgeon phrased it memorably...
Let us go from the school to the university, let us have done with our first spelling-books,
and advance into the higher classics of the kingdom.
Let us make sure that the foundation is laid, but let us not have continually to lay it again.
Let us go on believing and repenting, as we have done; but let us not have to begin believing
and begin repenting, let us go on to something beyond that stage of experience.
Maturity (5047) (teleiotes related to teleios from telos = an end, a purpose, an aim, a
goal) describes one as being in a state of completion or perfection in the sense of maturity (and in
contrast to the stage of elementary, ABC, knowledge). The related
word teleios means complete, mature, fully developed, full grown, brought to its end, finished,
wanting nothing necessary to completeness, in good working order. Teleios signifies
consummate soundness, includes the idea of being whole. Interestingly the Gnostics
used teleios of the one fully initiated into their mysteries and that may have been why Paul used
teleios in this epistle.
The only other NT use of teleiotes is in Colossians where Paul writes...
And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.
(see note Colossians 3:14)
Teleiotes (5047) is related to the similar word in Hebrews 12:2 with Strong's
number (5051) this latter word referring to Jesus as our Model or Goal to press onward toward
writing that we need to run...
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, Who for the joy set before Him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of
God. (see note Hebrews 12:2)
Christlikeness is our goal. Conformity to the image of the Son is the Father's will for every one
of His children.
Wuest explains that...
Our Lord in His life of faith on earth, became the perfect or complete example of the life of
faith. Thayer speaks of our Lord as “one who has in his own person raised faith to its
perfection and so set before us the highest example of faith.” (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word
Studies from the Greek New Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans) (Bolding added)
Larry Richards writes that
As we run we can look back and see how Jesus ran His race ("Author"). When we look
ahead we can see His exaltation ("Finisher"). He is our example as starter and finisher.
(Richards, L: The Bible reader's companion. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books)
What does Perfecter mean pragmatically? It means that if you want to look for a perfect
example of faith, you look to our Lord Jesus Christ. If you look at Abraham, you see failure. If
you look to Abel, you see failure. If you look to Moses, you will see failure. And in Gideon,

57. Samson, Jeptha, and all the rest of the runners in the race of faith in Hebrews 11, you will see
failure. There is one person, and only One, Who never failed and that Person is our Lord Jesus
Christ. And He will never fail you beloved.
S Lewis Johnson writes:
I am sure, if you feel as I do at times, to look at our Lord as an example which we are to
follow, is a very frustrating thing. Joseph Parker, a great London preacher, had gone to hear
the great pianist Paderiski play. He was so filled with the consummate beauty of the playing
that he went home and asked his wife for an ax to chop his piano into pieces. That was the
power of a great example. When I look at the example of our Lord Jesus, that is the way I
feel. But in the Word of God, we are told that not only is Jesus our example, but He also
offers us the utmost of enablement. A German woman in World War II had been rationing
for years and finally got to the place where she did not have enough food to feed her family.
One day she made a trip to the ocean which she had never seen before. When she saw the
water, she exclaimed, "Well there is after all something that they cannot ration." Likewise,
the power of God through Jesus Christ is something we cannot ration. It is available to us,
and as we run the race, keeping the weight down, keeping our limbs free, and keeping our
eyes upon Him, the power of our Lord Jesus Christ flows through us and we are enabled to
do what we could not do otherwise!
The writer repeatedly alludes to the idea of perfecting (in sense of accomplishing or reaching the
intended goal) See notes Hebrews 2:10; Hebrews
5:9; 6:1; 7:11,7:19, 7:28; 9:9; 10:1, 10:14; 11:40.
The Bible says that Jesus is before us. He is behind us. He is by our side. He is below us. He is
above us. He is around about us and He is in us. There was a man who looked to Jesus once, and
he did an impossible thing. Do you remember? Jesus came walking on the water and when Peter
first saw Him he said "It is a ghost." Then he said, "If it be Thee Lord, bid me come unto Thee.
And Peter climbed out of that boat in the midst of the raging storm with the lightening and
thunder, and he walked on the water. Impossible! But as long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, the
power of Jesus Christ was in Peter!
21. F B Hole (Biographical Note) comments...
"LET US GO ON," is the opening exhortation of our chapter. Movement in the right
direction is to mark us. We are to leave "the word of the beginning of Christ," as the
marginal reading is, and go on unto "perfection." If we glance back over the last four verses
of Hebrews 5 we shall see that the point here is that we ought to grow in our understanding
of the faith of Christ. We ought not to be like children staying year after year in the
kindergarten, but advance until we assimilate the instruction provided for the scholars in the
sixth form.
John the Baptist had brought "the word of the beginning of Christ." He laid the foundation
of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God." He put baptism in the forefront of

58. His preaching, and spoke plainly as to eternal judgement. But things had moved on since his
day. Great light shone when Jesus came forth in His ministry; and then, just as His earthly
service closed, in His discourse in the upper chamber He promised the gift of the Holy
Spirit. He told His disciples that He had "yet many things to say" unto them, but that they
could not bear them then. He added, "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will
guide you into all truth." (John 16:13). By the time the Epistle to the Hebrews was written
ALL truth had been revealed, for it was given to Paul by his ministry to "fulfil the Word of
God." (Colossians 1:25 see note). To "fulfil" in that verse means to "fill out full," or to
"complete."
The whole circle of revealed truth then had been completed. Yet here were these Hebrews
still inclined to dwell in their minds amongst these preliminary things, quite ignoring the
fuller light which was now shining. Are we at all like them in this? In their case it is not
difficult to see where the trouble lay. The special place of privilege, which belonged to the
Jew nationally under the Old Covenant, had disappeared under the New. True, it only
disappeared because a higher order of blessing had been introduced, so that, when
converted, both Jew and Gentile are brought into privileges quite unknown before. Yet their
hearts clung to the old and exclusive national position, and consequently they became dull
of hearing as regards the fuller truth of Christianity. In our case we have no national position
to maintain, but there is many a thing which we naturally love and cling to, which is
dispossessed by the light of full and proper Christianity; and there is very real danger that
we may close our eyes against that light in order to retain the things we love.
Oh, then may we heed this exhortation! May we allow it to repeat itself over and over again
in our hearts —
Let us go on!
Let us go on!
LET US GO ON!
And then let us join the writer of the Epistle in saying, "This will we do, if God permit."
(Hebrews Commentary Notes)
22. John MacArthur adds that...
True repentance not only should but will have correspondingly genuine works,
demonstrated in both attitudes and actions. Right relationship to God brings right
relationship to our fellow human beings, at least as far as our part is concerned (cf Romans
12:18 - note). Those who claim to know Christ, who claim to be born again, will
demonstrate a new way of living that corresponds to the new birth...The idea that repentance
is evidenced by renunciation of sin and by righteous living did not originate with John the
Baptist, but had long been an integral part of orthodox Judaism. Faithful rabbis had taught
that one of the most important passages in Scripture was, “Wash yourselves, make
yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do
good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless; defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah
1:16–17). Theologian Erich Sauer, in The Triumph of the Crucified (Grand Rapids:

59. Eerdmans, 1951, p. 67), speaks of repentance as “a threefold action. In the understanding it
means knowledge of sin; in the feelings it means pain and grief; and in the will it means a
change of mind.” True repentance first of all involves understanding and insight, intellectual
awareness of the need for moral and spiritual cleansing and change. Second, it involves our
emotions. We come to feel the need that our mind knows. Third, it involves appropriate
actions that result from what our mind knows and our heart feels. (MacArthur, J: Matthew
1-7 Macarthur New Testament Commentary Chicago: Moody Press)
In another of his works, MacArthur summarizes repentance as follows...
Like faith, repentance has intellectual, emotional, and volitional ramifications. Berkhof
describes the intellectual element of repentance as “a change of view, a recognition of sin as
involving personal guilt, defilement, and helplessness.” The emotional element is “a change
of feeling, manifesting itself in sorrow for sin committed against a holy God.” The volitional
element is “a change of purpose, an inward turning away from sin, and a disposition to seek
pardon and cleansing.” (from Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Eerdmans, 1939), 486) Each of those three elements is deficient apart from the others.
(MacArthur, J. The Gospel According to the Apostles. Nashville, TN: Word Pub)
23. BI, Foundation-stones
I.
HERE IS A STATEMENT MADE WITH REGARD TO THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF THE
RELIGION WE PROFESS. He tells where they are revealed, and what they are. And, first, he
would have his readers to understand that the principles of the doctrine of Christ are the “first
principles of the oracles of God”; he uses the two expressions interchangeably, as if they both
meant the same thing. His immediate object was to assert that the “ doctrine of Christ,” at which
the Hebrews stumbled, was in reality no fresh revelation, but that all its rudiments had been
taught in their own Mosaic Scriptures. A deep truth was contained in the saying of the ancient
Church, “There were Christians on earth before there were Jews.” Even from Paradise to
Patmos, “the principles of the doctrine of Christ” have been taught with increasing gradations of
development, as “the first principles of the oracles of God”—old, as well as new. This being
established, Paul proceeds to enumerate these principles; and he appears to state them
miscellaneously, without reference to their natural station or logical order.
1. And, first, “Repentance from dead works.” Dead works are works performed by one whose
life is separated from the life of God. Thus separated, men may have the quality of
manliness, but not of godliness; towards one another there may be melting love, heroic
daring, unbending justice, most magnificent generosity; but whatever they may be with
regard to men, with regard to God they are dead. Alienated from His life, even good works
are dead works; dead while they live; dead as the dead leaves on the dead bough, parted
from its parent stem. It is the doctrine of a merely human religion, that while we should
repent of our evil works, we should trust in our righteous works for heaven. But it is the
doctrine of Christ that we should repent of all the works wrought while our souls were dead
in sin; and when we feel the quickening thrills of a new life, this repentance will take place.
2. But, secondly, turning from sin implies turning to God. We shall have no disposition to
renounce our dead works until, united to the living God by faith, we are partakers of His life.
Faith towards God, therefore, is another elementary principle of the oracles. To have “faith

60. towards God “ is to feel able to say, “I think, I will, I speak, I act as I do, because I have faith
towards God”; it is to feel His Spirit touch us, to have the most affecting sense of His society,
to act as under His inspection, to be alive to His presence as the most intense of all realities,
giving the zest to every pleasure, the light to every beauty, the soul to every scene; to trust
Him for the food, and raiment, and home, both of our mortal and immortal nature; to make
Him the confidant of every weakness, and want, and woe; to revive beneath the sun-burst of
His smile, and to mourn at the hiding of His face.
3. But we shall never bare faith towards God, or approach Him in the way that has been just
described, until our infected spirits have applied to a fountain of cleansing. So another
essential principle is “the doctrine of baptisms.” Those baptisms told not only of sin, but of a
fountain opened for sin; and we know where that precious fountain flows. Rejoice to think
that it is a fountain, and not a scanty supply.
4. But the doctrine, or the true meaning of the laying on of hands, was another principle of
the doctrine of Christ. It conveyed a doctrine, and the doctrine was that he who would be
saved must, by b is own personal act and deed appropriate the work of Him who is our
Saviour by being our substitute,
5. The resurrection of the dead is another essential article of faith, and one, like the rest,
peculiar to inspired revelation. Nature does not teach it. It never dawned on the proud
thoughts of philosophy. Even those beautiful mysteries of the spring, which are sometimes
thought to teach, inferentially, the doctrine of a resurrection, convey no teaching sufficiently
defined to still the agonies of doubt or sorrow. The changes they witness and the charms
they show are revivals, not resurrections. But in the oracles of God all the great problems
that affect the destiny of man receive a full solution, and all the questions that come from his
breaking heart meet with a distinct response. The resurrection of the dead is a “doctrine of
Christ.” The Emperor Theodosius having, on a great occasion, opened all the prisons and
released his prisoners, is reported to have said, “And now, would to God I could open all the
tombs and give life to the dead!” But there is no limit to the mighty power and royal grace of
Jesus. He opens the prisons of justice and the prisons of death with equal and infinite ease:
He redeems not the soul only, but the body. From the hour of the “laying on of hands,” the
entire man has been saved.
6. But, once more: the eternal judgment has ever been a primary article of revelation.
Though analogy, intuition, and universal opinion rosy have furnished grounds to justify
belief in it as a probable event, only the “oracles of God” could unfold its principles, or
announce its absolute certainty. This they have ever done. He, through whose sacrifice our
souls have received a “baptism”—He who has become our substitute by “the laying on of
bands,” bearing all the pressure of our responsibility, and binding Himself to be answerable
for us at the judgment-day—will be Himself our Judge. But there are some of you who have
no right to these anticipations. You have not made provision for the great hereafter. By that
tremendous phrase, “eternal judgment,” consider your ways and be wise!
II. And now, passing from the doctrinal statement, let us give attention, to THE PRACTICAL
APPEAL.
1. “Not laying again the foundation.” The teacher, in this phrase, at once indicates the course
he intends to adopt in his own instructions, and the conduct he would prescribe to those who
study them. “Not laying again the foundation.” God will not lay it again in His purposes; you
are not to be for ever laying it again your mind and memory; as it is settled in the heavens, so
let it be settled here as new. This being established, Paul proceeds to enumerate these
principles; and he appears to state them miscellaneously, without reference to their natural
station or logical order.

61. 1. And, first, “Repentance from dead works.” Dead works are works performed by one whose
life is separated from the life of God. Thus separated, men may have the quality of
manliness, but not of godliness; towards one another there may be melting love, heroic
daring, unbending justice, most magnificent generosity; but whatever they may be with
regard to men, with regard to God they are dead. Alienated from His life, even good works
are dead works; dead while they live; dead as the dead leaves on the dead bough, parted
from its parent stem. It is the doctrine of a merely human religion, that while we should
repent of our evil works, we should trust in our righteous works for heaven. But it is the
doctrine of Christ that we should repent of all the works wrought while our souls were dead
in sin; and when we feel the quickening thrills of a new life, this repentance will take place.
2. But, secondly, turning from sin implies turning to God. We shall have no disposition to
renounce our dead works until, united to the living God by faith, we are partakers of His life.
Faith towards God, therefore, is another elementary principle of the oracles. To have “faith
towards God” is to feel able to say, “I think, I will, I speak, I act as I do, because I have faith
towards God”; it is to feel His Spirit touch us, to have the most affecting sense of His society,
to act as under Hits inspection, to be alive to His presence as the most intense of all realities,
giving the zest to every pleasure, the light to every beauty, the soul to every scene; to trust
Him for the food, and raiment, and home, both of our mortal and immortal nature; to make
Him the confidant of every weakness, and want, and woe; to revive beneath the sun-burst of
His smile, and to mourn at the hiding of His face.
3. But we shall never have faith towards God, or approach Him in the way that has been just
described, until our infected spirits have applied to a fountain of cleansing. So another
essential principle is “the doctrine of baptisms.” Those baptisms told not only of sin, but of a
fountain opened for sin; and we know where that precious fountain flows. Rejoice to think
that it is a fountain, and not a scanty supply.
4. But the doctrine, or the true meaning of the laying on of hands, was another principle of
the doctrine of Christ. It conveyed a doctrine, and the doctrine was that he who would be
saved must, by his own personal act and deed appropriate the work of Him who is our
Saviour by being our substitute.
5. The resurrection of the dead is another essential article of faith, and one, like the rest,
peculiar to inspired revelation. Nature does not teach it. It never dawned on the proud
thoughts of philosophy. Even those beautiful mysteries of the spring, which are sometimes
thought to teach, inferentially, the doctrine of a resurrection, convey no teaching sufficiently
defined to still the agonies of doubt or sorrow. The changes they witness and the charms
they show are revivals, not resurrections. But in the oracles of God all the great problems
that affect the destiny of man receive a full solution, and all the questions that come from his
breaking heart meet with a distinct response. The resurrection of the dead is a “doctrine of
Christ.” The Emperor Theodosius having, on a great occasion, opened all the prisons and
released his prisoners, is reported to have said, “And now, would to God I could open all the
tombs and give life to the dead!” But there is no limit to the mighty power and royal grace of
Jesus. He opens the prisons of justice and the prisons of death with equal and infinite ease:
He redeems not the soul only, but the body. From the hour of the “laying on of hands,” the
entire man has been saved.
6. But, once more: the eternal judgment has ever been a primary article of revelation.
Though analogy, intuition, and universal opinion rosy have furnished grounds to justify
belief in it as a probable event, only the “oracles of God” could unfold its principles, or
announce its absolute certainty. This they have ever done. He, through whose sacrifice our
souls have received a” baptism”—He who has become our substitute by “the laying on of
hands,” bearing all the pressure of our responsibility, and binding Himself to be answerable

62. for us at the judgment-day—will be Himself our Judge. But there are some of you who have
no right to these anticipations. You have not made provision for the great hereafter. By that
tremendous phrase, “eternal judgment,” consider your ways and be wise!
II. And now, passing from the doctrinal statement, let us give attention, to THE PRACTICAL
APPEAL,
1. “Not laying again the foundation.” The teacher, in this phrase, at once indicates the course
he intends to adopt in his own instructions, and the conduct he would prescribe to those who
study them. “Not laying again the foundation.” God will not lay it again in His purposes; you
are not to be for ever laying it again in your mind and memory; as it is settled in the heavens,
so let it be settled here. “Not laying again the foundation.” You are not to forget it, so as to
have to learn it again; you ale not to doubt it, so as to need to be convinced of it again; you
are not to forsake it, so as to have to return to it again. “Not laying again the foundation.”
You are not to be like an insane or unskilful builder, who excavates the foundation of his
work, tears it from its place, and takes it to pieces, being doubtful of its materials, or
uncertain of its sufficiency to sustain the superincumbent weight; and who, always engaged
in destroying the foundation, and laying it again, makes no progress with his building.
2. “Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ.” At first sight the meaning of this clause
is not obvious, and it seems to clash with those connected with it. There are different ways of
leaving an object his fathers house, never to return We may leave it as the spendthrift son
leaves we may leave it as the deserter leaves the shield which he is “vilely east away”; we may
leave it as education and refinement leave ignorance and rusticity; but not so ale we to leave
these first principles of our faith. We are to leave them as the scholar leaves the letters of the
alphabet—leaving them only to use them; leaving them that he may bring clot all their
powers, and employ them in startling combinations, as the instrument for acquiring or
diffusing thought. We are to leave them as the plant leaves its root, when it towers into a
majestic tree, leaving it only that it may the more depend upon it; and, day by day, drawing
from it those fresh supplies of vital sap which it pours into the fresh leaves, fresh boughs,
ever fresh and ever beautiful formations of that life which refreshes the hungry with its
clusters, or the weary with its shade. We are to leave them as the builder leaves his
foundation, that he may carry up the building, stone above stone, story above story, tower
above tower, from the dusky basement to the sun-lit pinnacle; always leaving the
foundation, yet always on it, and on it with the most massive pressure, and the most
complete dependence, when most he leaves it.
3. “Let us go on unto perfection.” It is obvious that there can be no reference, in this a word
“perfection,” to the justifying work of Christ on our behalf. That is perfect from the first
moment we believe. At once we receive perfect forgiveness, and a perfect title to the
“inheritance in light.” But, although justification is complete, sanctification has yet to be
carried on. To borrow the idea of a transatlantic writer: “A perfect title to a piece of property
puts a man in possession of it just as absolutely on the first day when it was given as twenty
years after. When a man gives a flower, it is a perfect gift; but the gift of grace is rather the
gift of a flower seed.” It contains within it all the Divine germs necessary for growth. And we
are asked to cherish it, that it may go on unto perfection, as the seed goes on to the
perfection of a full-blown flower.
4. The word employed to indicate the manner of arriving at this end is richly significant. “Let
us go on to perfection,” should rather be rendered, “Let us be carried on.” “The word is
emphatical, intimating such a kind of progress as a ship makes when it is under sail. ‘ Let us
be carried on ‘ with the full bent of our minds and affections, with the utmost endeavours of
our whole souls. We have abode long enough by the shore; let us now hoist our sails, and
launch into the deep.” Perhaps we feel discouraged by the labour, and alarmed by the very

63. glory of our calling. The one may seem too much for us to exercise, and the other too great
for us to hope for. Almost despairing of our ability to go forward, we may even now be
thinking of going back. But if we are unable to go on, we are surely able to be carried on to
perfection. And the Eternal Almightiness is even now at our side. (C. Stanford, D. D.)
Leaving first principles
We must leave these first principles as the pupil leaves the alphabet when he is brought to the
process of combining letters into syllables, and syllables into words, and of words constructing
sentences, and of sentences making a discourse. We must leave them as the architect leaves the
foundation, and proceeds to erect upon it his superstructure. We must leave them as the
mathematician leaves his axioms, and proceeds to the construction of his demonstration. To
what purpose would the pupil have learned the elements of ‘language if he should rest in them?
Where the use of continuing to con them over without proceeding any further? What benefit
would result from the labour and expense of laying the best foundation if it remain
unappropriated—if no building be reared upon it? How long might the mathematician occupy
himself in ascertaining the axioms of the science without coming at a single valuable result? And
what advantage will accrue to us, or the world, from our acquiring the mere elements of
Christianity without reducing them to practice, pushing them out to their ulterior results, and
connecting them with the higher principles of a spiritual life? (Geo. Peck, D. D.)
Passing from elementary principles
How? Not casting it for ever behind our backs: suffering it quite to slip out of our memories. We
must remember even the principles of religion to our dying day; but we must not insist in those,
and set down our staff here, but as good travellers go on forward. As if one should say to a
grammar scholar, “Leave thy grammar, and go to logic, rhetoric, philosophy, to more profound
points of learning,” his meaning is not that he should leave his grammar quite, and never think
of it any more, but that he should pass from that to greater matters. As if one should say to a
traveller going to London, that sits eating and drinking at Colchester, “Leave Colchester, and go
on to London,” so leave this doctrine of the beginning of Christianity, leave your A B C, be not
always beginners, but proceed till ye come to some maturity. (W. Jones, D. D.)
Let us go on
Forward
I. THE NECESSITY FOR THIS EXHORTATION. Do not old habits, which Christian earnestness
should have obliterated, begin to creep into the light again? Do not sins and temptations, which
you thought you had mastered, rise up and gain power over you once more?
II. THE MEANING OF THIS EXHORTATION. Having taken Christ, we must not merely receive
His pardon, but we must live upon Him.
III. THE CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECTING THIS EXHORTATION. If we do not yield up all
to Christ we shall easily drift away from Him. We must go forward, or we shall fall farther away,
till we sink into irremediable ruin. The awful solemnity of this passage (Heb_6:4-6) we cannot
possibly exaggerate (H Phillips, B. A.)

64. Progress in Divine knowledge
Progression marks all God’s works. In nature there is no perfect rest. There is change in
everything—change which partakes of the character of progress; for even that which we regard
as decay is but part of a new creative process. This universal law of progression holds good in the
realm of truth; there is a going on, a climbing higher and yet higher in knowledge even of the
divinest kind. Indeed we may say that, the more exalted the subject, the more absolute is the
necessity that knowledge should ever be progressive—the more impossible it is that we can
quickly and at once attain to the fulness of perfect wisdom.
I. THERE ARE MANY THINGS CONNECTED WITH CHRIST AND HIS TRUTH WHICH ARE
NOT COMMUNICATED TO THE SOUL IN CONVERSION, BUT WHICH MUST BE
ACQUIRED FROM TIME TO TIME THROUGHOUT OUR CHRISTIAN LIFE. Great truths
always come one by one. They are not discovered but by those who diligently search for them,
and they are often the product of laborious toil. The apostolic injunction bids us do something
more than” strike out blindly.” It bids us intelligently and deliberately leave the elements of
Wisdom, and “strike out” towards the perfection of knowledge. It bids us break away, as it were,
from our state of pupilage, and go on to the fulness of the knowledge of Christ. It lifts a corner of
the veil which hides from us the infinitude of Divine wisdom, and urges us to press onward until
our whole soul is filled with His love and grace.
II. In this “ going on unto perfection “ it is desirable that we should clearly recognise the fact
that GOD IS A TEACHER WHO USES MANY BOOKS. To the observing eye and to the teachable
heart God is manifested everywhere. In complying, then, with this counsel to the Hebrews, let us
seek for the fuller revelation of spiritual truths wherever God has written them. Let us regard the
Bible, not merely as a fruitful field where we can quickly thrust in the sickle and reap upon the
surface, but also as a rich mine, in whose deep recesses lie hidden many a costly gem, which our
labour and our study, under the Divine blessing, may bring to the light. Let us look at the letter
as the case which encloses the spirit—remembering that while “the letter killeth, it is the Spirit
that giveth life.” Let us also look for and discover truths of deep spiritual meaning in the
incidents of daily human experience.
III. It should also be duly borne in mind that ALL TRUTHS POSSESS A MUTUAL
RELATIONSHIP, and that each has its influence in the work of perfecting the Christian
character Truth is one, though it may possess many branches. Walking by a wide river, bearing
on its bosom the mightiest navies of the earth, it would be interesting to speculate concerning
the numerous rills and brooklets which, miles away, in different counties, contributed to that
expanse of water. From mountain, moor, and glen those waters have been flowing day after day,
meeting and mingling with others, ever growing and gathering strength, until the result is that
which we see at our feet So are truths gathered from different sources, mingling their powers to
influence the soul and bear it to the ocean of perfect wisdom and eternal love.
IV. THIS PROGRESS IN DIVINE KNOWLEDGE IS SOMETHING QUITE DISTINCT FROM
CHANGEABLENESS IN DOCTRINE. To leave the principles, or first elements, of the doctrine of
Christ is not to depart from the soundness of the faith. It is to leave the first few miles of the
road behind as we press forward towards the end of our journey. It is to leave the foundation
which has been laid firmly in the ground, in order that the building may rise higher and higher
in beauty and majesty, until the topmost stone is laid in its place. It is to lay aside the alphabet of
the language that we rosy devote ourselves to the riches of its literature, and add to our supply of
knowledge from the ample stores of learning of which that alphabet is the key.
V. PROGRESS IN DIVINE KNOWLEDGE IS ESSENTIAL TO THE FULL ENJOYMENT OF
THE PRIVILLEGES OF THE CHRIST’S LIFE. In other words, spiritual knowledge is essential to
spiritual health. Digging deep into the riches of spiritual truth, we discover that which not only

65. stays the anxious throbbing of the heart, but which lifts the soul nearer and nearer to the Source
of truth—to God Himself. As among men the possession of knowledge operates for the most part
so as to elevate and refine the tastes, so to drink deeper at the stream of heavenly wisdom is to
become in spirit more heavenly, and in character more Divine. It is said of Christ, that “in Him
dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” and that He was “the express image of the Father’s
person.” What Jesus was in an infinite degree, the Christian who is full of Divine wisdom and
rich in knowledge is also in his degree. Be, too, reflects the image of the heavenly. He, too, gives
forth rays of reflected but Divine light. The life that is in the soul of him who is going on unto
perfection is Divine in its influence as well as its nature. It is of that man the world takes
knowledge that he has been with Jesus, and that he has sat at His feet and been taught in His
school. (F. Wagstaff.)
The soul’s true progress
I. THE STARTING-PIECE.
1. Evangelical repentance.
2. Godward faith.
3. Spiritual chansing.
4. Reliance on Christ.
5. A future state.
6. Eternal retribution.
II. THE RESTING-PLACE. “Perfection.”
1. Accuracy of Divine knowledge.
2. Conformity to the Divine will, so far as known.
3. The prospects of an ever-brightening future. (Homilist.)
Ever onward
It is an interesting thing to watch an ocean ship get out from London docks. How helpless she is!
She cannot use her machinery. Her sails are furled. She is pushed forward and backward. She is
pulled along by puffing tugs. She stops to let other vessels pass. She waits through weary hours.
She moves on again. But she is hindered and limited and retarded. But some progress is
rewarding her perseverance. She is getting more room. She begins to ply her engines. But she
must go slowly. She must be cautious. Then there is more liberty; there are fewer obstructions
and fewer conditions. The liver is wider. The city is being left behind, with its din and its sin. The
fresh air revives the sailor. He unfurls his canvas. He moves steadily on to the line where river
fades into sea. He hears the music of the surf beating upon the sand. He sees the white-caps
marching across the blue prairies of ocean. And at last the gallant ship, emancipated, seems to
stretch herself and expand herself, and swell and sway and bow in ecstasy, as she speeds her way
over the billowy fields of her native heath and boundless home. Thus it is with the soul that is
escaping from the trammels of the flesh, and the limitations and the conditions imposed upon it
by the world. How slow its progress is at first! How it is pushed forward and falls backward!
How crippled is the soul’s splendid machinery! How awkward its movements! Its sails are
furled. It must submit to be helped by things smaller than itself—by trivial rules and puerile
helps. It stops; it waits. It stands to for obstructions. But it moves on. It makes a little progress.

66. The channel is getting wider. The shores of earth are getting further away. There is more room,
more freedom. The engines move. The sails are thrown out. The fresh air of grace gladdens the
sailor, and tells him that the city of sin is fading in the distance. The ocean of liberty is reached
at last. The Lord takes the helm. The Spirit of God fills the sails, and then, emancipated and free,
unloosed from the devil’s imprisonment, unshackled from the habits and slavery of flesh,
unlimited and unconditioned by the world’s conventionalities, the glad soul rejoices on the
bosom of God, which is the soul’s ocean, which is the soul’s home. (R. S.Barrett.)
A “Dissatisfaction Meeting”
At Chicago Mr. Moody held a “Dissatisfaction Meeting “for pastors and their flocks who were
not satisfied with their spiritual condition. It was said to be overshadowed with the presence of
God as few assemblies have been since the day of Pentecost. (King’s Highway.)
Perfection
On apostolic perfection
Here we may see the germ of what afterwards became at Alexandria and elsewhere the
catechetical system of the primitive Church. Wherever converts to Christianity were the rule, it
was necessary to protect the sacrament of baptism against unworthy reception by a graduated
system of preparation and teaching, each stage of which represented an advance in moral and
intellectual truth. Hence the several classes of catechumens or hearers, who were allowed to
listen to the Scriptures and to sermons in church; kneelers who might stay and join in certain
parts of the divine service; and the elected or enlightened who were taught the Lord’s prayer, the
language of the regenerate, and the creed, the sacred trust committed to the regenerate saints.
They were now on the point of being admitted by baptism into the body of Christ. Then at last as
the Τετέλεστει or the Perfect they entered on the full privileges of believers, they learned in all
their bearings the great doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement, the Eucharist.
They were thus placed in possession of the truths and motives which shaped must powerfully
Christian thought and life. The Christians who are receiving elementary instruction are termed
babes. They cannot understand, much less can they utter, the discourse of righteousness. The
Christians who have received the higher instruction are perfect. They can digest the solid food of
Christian doctrine. Their spiritual senses have been trained by habit to appreciate the distinction
between the good and the evil, which in this connection are other names for the true and the
false. Therefore leaving the principles or the first discourse about Christ, let us go or be borne on
unto perfection. “Perfection.” What does he mean by it? Certainly not here moral perfection, the
attainment in general character and conduct of conformity to the will of God, for this would be
no such contrast to the first principles of the doctrine of Christ as the sentence of itself implies.
The perfection itself must be in some sense doctrinal perfection; in other words, the attainment
of the complete or perfect truth about Christ, as distinct from its first principles: of these first or
foundation principles six are enumerated, and they are selected it would seem for the practical
reason that they were especially nee, led by candidates for baptism: the two sides of the great
inward change implied in conversion to Christ, repentance from dead works—dead, because
destitute of religious motive—and faith resting upon God as revealed in His Son; the two roads
whereby the converted soul enters upon the privilege of full communion with Christ, the
doctrine about baptism, which distinguish-s the Christian sacrament from the mere symbols of
purification insisted upon for proselytes by the Baptist and by the law, and the laying on of
hands which we now call confirmation; and finally the two tremendous motives which from the

67. first cast their shadow across the light of the believer—the coming resurrection, and the
judgment, whose issues are eternal. These three pairs of truths are precisely what the writer of
the Epistle to the Hebrews meant by the first principles of the doctrine of Christ, and therefore
by perfection he must have meant something beyond these truths. He meant, no doubt, a great
deal else, but specifically and in particular he meant the doctrine of Christ’s Melchisedekian
priesthood, in its majestic contrast to the temporal and relatively inefficient priesthood of
Aaron, and with its vast issues in the mediatorial work, whether of atonement or of
sanctification as carried out, the latter to the very end of time, by the great High Priest of
Christendom. Now the point on which the text insists is the going forward from the first
principles to the truths beyond. The apostolic writer does not say, “Let us go on unto perfection.”
He does say, “Let us be borne on” θερώµεθα. He does not say, “Be courageous, be logical, push
your premises well till you have reached their conclusions.” He does say, “Let us all”—teachers
and taught—“let us all yield ourselves to the impulse of such truth as we already hold” θερώµεθα.
It will carry us on, as we try to make it really our own, it wilt lead us to fresh truths which
extend, which expand, which support it. We cannot select one bit of this organic whole, baptize
it by some such names as “primary,” or “fundamental,” and then say, “This, and this only, shall
be my creed.” If the metaphor be permitted, the truck, all of whose limbs are cut off thus
arbitrarily, will bleed to death. Where everything depends upon spiritual activity, non progredi
est regredi. They who shrink from apostolic perfection will forfeit their hold sooner or later on
apostolic first principles. Let us trace this somewhat more in detail. We have seen what were the
first principles insisted upon among the first readers of the Epistle to the Hebrews. They belong
to a disciplinary system of the Apostolical Church. They were selected on practical rather than
on theological grounds. But what would probably be the first principles of an inquirer feeling his
way upwards towards the light, under the circumstances of our own day? What would be the
truths that would greet him on the threshold of faith, as the catechumen of our times, whom
conscience and thought are training with hope for the full inheritance of the believer? They
would be, in all probability, first, belief in a moral God. It is something, no doubt, to believe in a
Cause who is the cause of all besides Himself it is more to believe in aa Intelligence who is the
parent of all created intelligences. But religion, properly speaking, begins when man bows down
in his secret heart before One who, being boundless in power and infinite in wisdom, is also
justice, sanctity, love. And thus, perhaps, simultaneously, the modern catechumen would be
arrested by the character of Jesus Christ as it lies on the surface of the Gospels. These, we will
suppose, are the catechumen’s two first principles. They are now beyond controversy, at least for
him. They seem to be all that he needs, and he says to himself that a simple faith like this is also
a working faith. He can at least limit, or try to limit, and leave the spheres of abstract and
metaphysical discussion to those who will explore them but alter all this, a time will come when
he finds that he must go forward, if he is not to fall back. For he observes, first of all, that this
world, the scene of so much wickedness and so much suffering, is hard indeed to reconcile with
the idea of a God all-goodness and all-powerful, if, indeed, He has left, or is leaving, it to itself. If
He is all-good, He surely will unveil Himself further to His reasonable creatures. Nay, He will do
something more. His revelation will be, in some sort of sense, an efficacious cure. Exactly
proportioned to the belief in the morality of God is the felt strength of this presumption in
favour of a divine intervention of some kind, and the modern catechumen asks himself if the
Epicurean deities themselves would not do almost as well as some moral God, who yet, in the
plenitude of His power, should leave creatures trained by Himself to think and to struggle,
without the light, without the aid, they so sorely need. This is the first observation, and the
second is that the character of Jesus Christ, if attentively studied, implies that His life cannot be
supposed to fall entirely within the limits, or under the laws, of what we call “ Nature.” Fur if
anything is certain about Him, this is certain, that He invited men to love Him, to trust Him, to
obey Him, even to death; and in terms which would be intolerable if, after all, He were merely

68. human. Had He been crucified and then had rotted in an undistinguished or in a celebrated
grave, the human conscience would have known what to say of Him. It would have traced over
His sepulchre the legend, “Failure.” It would have forthwith struck a significant balance between
the attractive elements of His character, and the utterly unwarranted exaggeration of His
pretensions. But, our modern catechumen’s reflections should not end here, for the character of
God, and of Jesus Christ, in the Gospels is, in one respect, like the old Mosaic Law, which
provokes a sense of guilt in man by its revelation of what righteousness really is. The more we
really know about God and His Son, the less can we be satisfied with ourselves. It is not possible
for a man whose moral sense is not dead, to admire Jesus Christ, as if He were some exquisite
creation of human art—a painting in a gallery, or a statue in a museum of antiquities—and
without the thought. “What do His perfections say to me?” For Jesus Christ shows us what
human nature has been, what it might be, and in showing us this, He reveals us as none other,
He reveals us individually to ourselves. Of His character, we may say what St. Paul says of the
law, that “it is the schoolmaster to bring us to Himself,” for it makes us profoundly dissatisfied
with self—if anything can possibly do so—it forces us to recognise the worthlessness and the
poverty of our natural resources, it throws a true, though it may be an unwelcome, light upon
the history of our past existence, and thus it disposes us to listen anxiously and attentively for
any fresh disclosures of the Divine mind that may be still in store for us, or already within our
reach. And thus it is that the first principles which we have been attributing to our catechumen
prepare him for the truths beyond these, that Divine goodness, those perfections of the
character of Christ, which bear the soul onwards and upwards, towards acceptance of Christ’s
true Divinity, and, as a consequence, of the atoning virtue of His death upon the Cross. These
momentous realities rest, indeed, on other bases, but they bring satisfaction, repose, and relief
to souls who have attentively considered what is involved in the truths which were at first
accepted. They proclaim that God has not left man to Himself, that God does not despise the
work of His own hands, they unfold His heart of tenderness for man, they justify by the language
which Jesus Christ used about Himself and about His claims, the faith and the obedience of
mankind, and they enable us to bear the revelation of personal sin in which His character makes
within each separate conscience that understands it, because we now know that “ He was made
to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” But
does the advance towards perfection stop at this point? Surely not. Where so much has been
done, there is a presumption in favour of something more, if more be needed. The Divine Christ
has died upon the Cross, the victim for the sins of men. What is He doing now? The past has
been forgiven, but has no provision been made for the future may not recovery itself be almost a
dubious boon if it be followed by an almost inevitable relapse? And thus it is that the soul makes
a further stage in its advance to perfection. The work of the Holy Spirit in conveying to men the
gift of the now humanity exhibited by the perfect Christ, and this, mainly through the Christian
sacraments, opens at this point before the believer’s eye. It is by a sequence as natural as that
from Christ’s character to His divinity and atonement, that we pass on from His atonement to
the sacramental aspect of His mediatorial work. The new life which He gives in baptism, “As
many as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ”—the new life which He strengthens
in the Eucharist, “He that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me”—these great gifts are but an
expansion of what is already latent in the recognised perfection of His human character; awed
the apostolic ministry, the channel and the guarantee of their reality, is not less a part of that
perfection of truth to which intelligent faith conducts the soul. And the Christian creed has not
said its last word to the soul of man until, besides assuring his reconciliation and peace with
God, it has satisfied his desire for union with the Source of life. Who—let me say it once
more—who does not see that our Lord’s human character can only be described as perfect, if His
right to draw the attention of men in terms which befit only a superhuman person, be frankly
conceded? Who does not know that the existence of a moral God, the Maker and Ruler of this
universe, is more clearly and forcibly contested by a large class of influential writers than any

69. subordinate or derived truths whatever—that whatever may have been the case in the last
century, atheism is even more earnest in rejecting, in our own day, the specific doctrines and the
creed which comes from Jesus Christ? Surely, then, it is our wisdom, as Christian believers,
while the day of life lasts, to make the most, and not the least, of such religious truths as we
know. What must not He, who is their object, think—and surely He is thinking on the subject
now—what must He not think of those many magnificent intellects which He has endowed so
richly, unto which He has granted such opportunities of exercise and development, who yet
know almost as little about Him as the children in our national schools, and who make no effort
to know more; but have studied, with eager enthusiasm, all forms of created life, all the
resources of nature, all the intricacies of the laws of human thought, while He, the Author of all,
He, who is the Infinite and the Everlasting, is, as it would seem, forgotten. It is not much to ask
of a serious Christian to endeavour to make his own, each day, some little portion -f that
knowledge which will one day seem incomparably more precious than any other. Half an hour a
day costs something in a busy life; but it will not be held to have involved a very great sacrifice
when hereafter we are face to face with the unchanging realities, and know in very deed what is
meant by perfection. (Canon Liddon.)
Christian perfection
We have two things here alluded to—progress and attainment. The progress is a walk, a journey,
a contest. The attainment is a complete state of Christian character. This is to be our ideal at
which we are to aim.
I. THE NATURE OF THE PERFECTION HERE ALLUDED TO.
1. The elements of the Christian life are not to absorb our attention and interest. The
alphabet of Christianity is all wry beautiful and necessary. If a professing Christian were to
leave off at faith, he would be but a poor Christian indeed.
2. The high-r elements of Christian virtue are to be assiduously cultivated. We know that
these are not natural to the human mind. Complete control over the evil passion of the heart,
holiness of life, restrained temper, perfect forgiveness, perfect love to man and God, are not
easy to be acquired.
II. SOME PARTICULARS OF THE STEPS TO BE TAKEN IN ATTAINING THIS CONDITION.
1. An increase of faith.
2. An accession of light. Without more light, there is no possibility of progress.
3. An increase of knowledge.
III. NOW, TO ARRIVE AT THIS STARE OF PROGRESSION, THERE MUST BE
1. An unwearied practice of the details of Divine truth.
2. A. constant dependence on the Holy Spirit.
3. An unceasing study of the character of Christ.
4. Continuous prayer. (Preacher’s Analyst.)
On progress to perfection
Man is endowed with a capacity of intellectual, religious, moral improvement; and to cultivate
knowledge, piety, and virtue is the chief end of his being. In each stage of the awful mysterious

70. career of human existence every Christian may conceive his Creator addressing him as He did an
ancient patriarch, “I am the Almighty God: walk before Me, and be thou perfect.” Progress
towards perfection, it is next to be noticed, will conduce much to our honour and our happiness.
Reflect, Christians, how favourable your lot is to improvement, compared with that of those who
lived in days of pagan darkness, or at a period less remote. On you the glorious light of
revelation shines. Are you desirous to exalt your views, to elevate your affections, to ennoble
your characters? Respect and attend the public institutions of religion, for they are powerful
means of human improvement. Further, let us make progress in virtue. Flourishing like the
palm-tree, human nature, in its career of intellectual, religious, and moral improvement, adorns
the terrestrial globe. “Sin is a reproach to any people, while righteousness exalteth a nation.”
Christians, “let us go on to perfection”; for it is highly conducive to our delight as well as to our
dignity. Does not every one feel himself happier as he grows wiser and better? A passion for
knowledge has added much indeed to the felicity of many a life spent in security, far from the
bustle of the world, and with little solicitude about literary fame. The love of virtue is no less
productive of happiness. “Blessed are they who do His commandments.” Again, to prompt you
to rise by progressive steps to higher and higher degrees of virtue, think frequently of those
venerable men who persevered in the paths of rectitude, and have now received a crown of life.
When we recollect the graces of the faithful, let us study also to act a consistent part, and give
the enemies of the gospel no cause to remark, that though our principles may be orthodox, our
conduct is wrong; that we glow with benevolence when nothing is to be given, and are only
captivated with virtue when at a distance from temptation. Further, to animate our progress
towards perfection, let us think of them who are to succeed us in the scene of life. Will not
posterity record with delight those characters which excellence adorned? Therefore let them
never see guilt like a malignant demon, sitting in triumph over the ruins of their fathers’ virtues.
As an additional motive to comply with the exhortation which the text contains, reflect that the
spirits in glory will mark your progress with gladness and applause. “Never did refined Athens
exult more in diffusing learning and the liberal arts through a savage world, never did generous
Rome please herself more with the view of order established by her victorious arms,” than the
hosts of heaven will rejoice at the improvement of men. Finally, I beseech, you to make progress,
for behold the angel of death is approaching to strike the blow which shall terminate your days.
(T. Laurie, D. D.)
Go on unto perfection
I. FORM A JUST NOTION OF THE TRUE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER. View it as delineated by
the inspired writers, and learn from them what the Christian ought to be. They speak of him as
the child of God; not only as “born of God,” but as “bearing the image of his heavenly Father.”
But not confining themselves to these general representations, the inspired writers descend to
enumerate the various excellences in temper and conduct, which combine to form the character
of the Christian. He is one who has “laid aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and
envies, and all evil speakings.” He has “put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, long-suffering”; he is filled with the fruits of the Spirit, which are “love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.”
II. GUARD AGAINST LOSING ANY ATTAINMENTS YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY MADE.
Sinful habits once laid aside, and again resumed, adhere more closely than ever, and will baffle
all ordinary efforts to throw them off. If you now exercise any grace, or practise any duty in
which you were formerly deficient, let no consideration tempt you to relinquish it.
III. TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO EXERCISE THE GRACES AND VIRTUES WHICH YOU
DO IN ANY DEGREE POSSESS. Are yon conscious of devout and reverential feelings towards

71. God? Cherish and strengthen these feelings by habituating yourselves to these exercises of
devotion. In your dealings with mankind are you just and honest? Do men fail in what is their
duty towards you? Let that be your opportunity of cultivating the meek and quiet spirit, and of
practising patience and gentleness towards them.
IV. FREQUENTLY REVIEW YOUR CHARACTER, AND EXAMINE WHAT PROGRESS YOU
ARE MAKING IN THE GRACES OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE.
1. For our aid and direction in acquiring these graces we have set before us the character of
God, the conduct of Jesus Christ, the laws and precepts of the gospel.
2. It will be of great use to compare your character as it now is with what you recollect it
formerly to have been.
V. Let all your efforts after moral improvement be made in HUMBLE DEPENDENCE UPON
GOD, ACCOMPANIED WITH PRAYER TO HIM, AND A CONSCIENTIOUS ATTENDANCE ON
THE ORDINANCES OF RELIGION. These exercises tend in the most direct manner to cherish
the pious and Divine affections of love, of gratitude, of faith, of hope. (R. Boog, D. D.)
Perfection
We count those things perfect which want nothing requisite for the end whereunto they were
instituted. (J. Hooker.)
The instinct of perfection
We see this in everything. We see it in the little pastimes of children playing in the
market-place—practising their baby games, and never resting till they can catch upon their
battledore their fifty or their hundred. We see it in the cricket-field and on the rifle-ground—we
see it in the hunt and at the billiard table: what time, what toil, whatpatience, what
disappointment, is grudged, if at last there may be perfection? We see it in the young scholar’s
devotion to his reading, to his composition. Some may study, some may compete, for the sake of
the prize or the emolument, for the fame or the advancement. But we do a great injustice if we
doubt that hundreds of the nobler youth of England would toil equally, and struggle equally, for
the mere sake of knowing and of being. What is it which makes the great advocate, the eloquent
orator, always tremble before speaking, and oftentimes lash himself afterwards? This, too, is not
all of vanity and greed of praise; this is not all of eagerness to display self and mortification if the
display be unsuccessful; much more is it, in real men, because there lives and glows in them, like
a consuming fire, the ambition of perfection—a perfection which they never feel themselves to
attain, just because nothing short of perfection will satisfy them. So it is with every painter,
sculptor, writer, poet, who has in him that spark of genius by which art works and thought
breathes. (C. J.Vaughan, D. D.)
The impulse of perfection
What else is it which gives its impulse to trade, and makes all the difference in that occupation of
the million, between success and failure, between eminence and stagnation? The bad
tradesman—you may know him by it—sees nothing insufferable in imperfection, and thinks his
customer unreasonable if he looks for the absolute. “It will do,” is his motto: it will do if the
colour almost matches, if the dress nearly fits, if the dropped stitch, if the accidental flaw, can
scarcely be noticed. You know that that workman cannot rise, will always be outstripped, must

72. come to want—why? because he has no instinct of perfection, and therefore he lacks the first
requisite of attainment. On the other hand, so strong is this motive in the body of human life,
that you will find men engaged in large transactions willing to pay almost any price for a scarcely
appreciable improvement in the screw of an engine or the catch of a machine, just because it is
an approach, next to imperceptible, towards a perfection which real men of business never
despise, and which therefore the ingenious never find unremunerative. (C. J. Vaughan, D. D.)
Low aims
It is a low and unworthy strain in some to labour after no more grace than will keep life and soul
together, that is, hell and soul asunder. (Jr. Trapp.)
Spiritual dwarfs
There was once in London a club of small men, whose qualification for membership lay in their
not exceeding five feet in height; these dwarfs held, or pretended to hold, the opinion that they
were nearer perfection of manhood than others, for they argued that primeval men had been far
more gigantic than the present race, and consequently that the way of progress was to grow less
and less, and that the human race as it perfected itself would become as diminutive as
themselves. Such a club of Christians might be established in most cities, and without any
difficulty might attain to an enormously numerous membership; for the notion is common that
our dwarfish Christianity is, after all, the standard, and may even imagine that nobler Christians
are enthusiasts, fanatical and hot-blooded, while they themselves are cool because they are wise,
and indifferent because they are intelligent. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Is perfection attainable?
When God tells us that we are to he “ holy,” “perfect,” “without blemish,” we are bound to
believe that His command can be obeyed, and we ought not to be satisfied until we make the
command an actuality. Could there be a sadder hindrance than that teachers of Divine things
should lead men to suppose that God’s purpose cannot be accomplished—that these words are
mere figures of speech? Does God enjoin on us what is impossible? Convince a man that
anything is impossible and he will not attempt it. A strong swimmer may plunge into the English
Channel to cross to France, but where is the bravest swimmer who would plunge into the
Atlantic to swim to America? Brave explorers do track the Greenland snows to explore the North
Pole, but do we attempt to explore the North Star? Convince a man that the thing is possible,
and sacrifice will be as meat to the noble soul, but impossibility dashes all effort to the ground.
(R. F. Horton, M. A.)
Forward
Brave soldiers die with their face to the foe. Looking back never conquered a city, nor achieved a
work of art, nor wrote a book, nor amassed a fortune. The silent inward cry of the world’s great
men has ever been: On, my soul, right on.
Perfection gradual
The acorn does not become an oak in a day. The ripened scholar was not made such by a single
lesson. The well-trained soldier was not a raw recruit yesterday. It is not one touch of the artist’s

73. pencil that produces a finished painting. There are always months between seed-time and
harvest. Even so the path of the just is like the shining light, which shineth more and more unto
the perfect day. (R. B. Nichol.)
Perfection aids perfection
We may not only say, in general terms, that there may be a growth in perfection, but may assert
further, that the thing which is most perfect, if it be susceptible of growth at all, will have the
most sure and rapid growth. Which grows most and in the best manner—the flower which is
whole and perfect in its incipient state, or that which has a canker in it, or is otherwise injured or
defective in some of its parts? Which will grow the most rapidly and symmetrically—the child
which is perfect in its infancy, or one which is afflicted with some malformation? illustrations
and facts of this kind seem to make it clear that the spiritually renovated state of mind, which is
variously called holiness, assurance of faith, perfect love, and sanctification, may be susceptible
of growth or increase. It is not only evident that there is no natural or physical impossibility in it,
but, as has been intimated, we may go farther, and lay it down as a general truth that perfection
in the nature of a thing is requisite to perfection in degree. And accordingly, although it is
possible for a person who is partially holy to grow m holiness, a person who is entirely holy,
although he may be assailed by unfavourable influences outwardly, will grow much more. (J.
Upham.)
Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works
Of the fundamentals of Christianity
1. The first, in order of nature, is faith towards God. For this must evidently be the first
principle of all religion, the beginning and corner-stone even of the foundation itself
(Heb_11:6). This is the first principle, not of the doctrine of Christ only, but also of the law of
Moses, of the institution of the patriarchs, of the precepts of Noah of the relic, ion of nature
itself, even among those who never had the benefit of Divine revelation. This truth is found
written in the most legible characters, not in the inspired Scriptures only, but in the writings
of the philosophers, in the discourses of the learned, in the consciences of the unlearned, in
the hearts of all reasonable men, in the instincts of animals, in the motions and proportions
even of the inanimate world itself. And is it not a shame that men, that men endued with
reason and understanding, who enjoy moreover the light of the gospel revelation, should
need to have this foundation laid for them any more? Which is the same folly as if a man
should deny there was any light in the world, while he himself walked in the brightness of
the sun shining in his strength; or like the foolish philosopher of old, who pretended to
dispute against the being of motion, while he himself was on all sides surrounded with its
visible and perpetual effects.
2. The next principle in order of nature, though first mentioned by the apostle in the text, is
repentance from dead works. And this is a natural consequence of having faith towards God.
For he who believes in God must consequently believe that obedience is necessary to be paid
to His commands. And then they who perform not that obedience must be confessed to
deserve the severest punishment. Which punishment there is no possible means for the
offender to avoid, but by a timely repentance; and the only satisfactory evidence of the truth
of that repentance is a departure from dead works to serve the living God. This, therefore, is
the second principle of religion, or of the doctrine of Christ: a principle absolutely necessary
to be laid as the foundation of all virtue, the lowest degree whereof is the forsaking of vice;

74. and yet it is such a foundation as, if it always be laying, it is evident men can never go on to
any perfection. It is equally necessary, therefore, that Christians should repent, and yet that
they should not stand in need of being always repenting. Always repenting; not of daily
infirmities, which are unavoidable, but of new and great crimes continually repeated. Of
repentance from these, I say, the Scripture never supposes a Christian to stand frequently in
need.
3. The next fundamental principle of Christian religion here mentioned by the apostle is the
doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands. Repentance is the indispensable duty of all
sinners, and the original mercy of God affords ground of hope, even to natural reason, that
such repentance will be accepted. Yet since hope, in the nature of the thing itself, differs
necessarily from the certainty of knowledge, therefore it has pleased God to confirm this
natural hope by the certainty of an express revelation in Christ that He will accept the
repentance of sinners. And this assurance He has commanded to be sensibly conveyed to us
by a very significant rite in the sacrament of baptism, which sacrament is for that read-on
styled in Scripture the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. To this the apostle
adds as a constant appendage the laying on of hands, because by that rite newly baptized
persons were in the apostle’s times endued with the Holy Ghost.
4. The last principle of the doctrine of Christ mentioned here by the apostle as the
foundation of all religion is the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. I mention
these two together as but one, because in the nature of things they are necessarily connected
with each other. For the resurrection of the dead is only in order to judgment, and eternal
judgment is a certain and necessary consequence of the resurrection from the dead. (S.
Clarke, D. D.)
Repentance
The grace of evangelical repentance does not break the heart and leave every bit of the broken
parts still stone, but it melts the heart and changes every principle of it. If you break a flint stone
every portion of the stone is still flint, but if you melt it in the fire every particle of it becomes
changed. So it is with the heart of man: the Lord does not break it, but by the fire of Divine love
He gloriously changes the heart, and it becomes entirely new. (Rowland Hall.)
Repentance
Repentance is neither base nor bitter. It is good rising up out of evil. It is the resurrection of your
thoughts out of graves of lust. Repentance is the turning of the soul from the way of midnight to
the point of the coming sun. Darkness drops from the face, and silver light dawns upon it. Do
not live, day by day, trying to repent, but fearing the struggle and the suffering. Manly regret for
wrong never weakens, but always strengthens the heart. As some plants of the bitterest root
have the whitest and sweetest blossoms, so the bitterest wrong has the sweetest repentance,
which, indeed, is only the soul blossoming back to its better nature. (H. W.Beecher.)
Dead works
When anything is separated from its source there must be death. Separate the stream from its
fountain and there is death. Separate the branch from the tree and there is death. Separate the
body from the soul and there is death. Separate the soul from God and there is death. There may
be natural life but there is spiritual death. The intellect lives, the will lives, the heart lives, the

75. conscience lives, the instrumental faculties of action are all alive, but all the works to the
production of which they combine, not being instinct with the love of God, are dead works. (C.
Stanford, D. D.)
The doctrine of baptisms
The doctrine of baptisms
If the sons of Aaron, before they were invested with the priestly garments, or entered upon the
functions of their sacred office, plunged in ceremonial waters; if the proselyte from heathenism,
before he took his station amongst the Temple worshippers, or was naturalised amongst the
holy tribes, always did the same; if the Israelite who had contracted legal impurity from the
stroke of leprosy, the touch of death, or from contact with any other unhallowed thing, always
did the same; if on the occasion for the performance of those ceremonies which sealed the
recovered leper’s right to be received into society again, the priest dipped the mystic dove in
water, then flung it up into the air to soar away on glistening wing to the rocky covert or the
shady grove, symbol of the ransomed spirit in its flight to heaven; if these and other baptisms
were administered under the Mosaic economy, all these baptisms held a doctrine, and the first
part of the doctrine they taught was, that our nature, and the whole of our nature, needs
cleansing to fit it for the presence of God. (C. Stanford, D. D.)
Mercy in cleansing
“The doctrine of baptisms,” however, was not merely that man is vile, but that God is merciful.
Those baptisms told not only of sin, but of a fountain opened for sin, and we know where that
precious fountain flows. It was opened on Calvary, and from that hour to the present, baptism
there—the baptism of the soul—has been the only essential baptism, the only act by which,
through the eternal Spirit, the penalties of sin are all remitted, and all its pollutions finally
cleansed away. (C. Stanford, D. D.)
Laying on of hands
Confirmation
Here you see we have some truth or other—some first principle or other—respecting the “ laying
on of hands,” following close upon some “doctrine of baptisms.” Now the only laying on of hands
that we read of in the rest of the New Testament is that which took place in the instances of the
Samaritans and of the twelve upon whom St. Paul laid his hands, except the laying on of hands
when ministers are ordained to their office. Now I do not think that this latter is only alluded to
here, and for this reason: the writer of my text is evidently speaking of six matters or principles,
or foundations, as he calls them, which concern all men equally, so that all men who profess
Christ’s doctrines should realise their importance, and be grounded in all needful truth
respecting them. All men are to repent—all to believe in God—all to be baptized—all will rise
again—all will be judged. Now, associated with these five other first principles, which all men
undeniably have to realise, we have this “laying on of hands.” It seems to me, then, that it must
allude primarily to (or at least that it cannot exclude) that laying on of hands by the chief
ministers of the Church, of which, in those early times, all the baptized partook. We now come to
consider the question, Was it discontinued after the apostles’ time? So far from this, we have the
testimony of two very early writers of the Christian Church—one living about 200 years after
Christ, the other about 250—that each baptized person living in their time was confirmed. The

76. first of these, Tertullian, after describing the ceremonies in use at baptism, goes on to say, “Next
to this the hand is laid upon us, calling upon and inviting the Holy Spirit through the blessing.”
Cyprian, about fifty years after a martyr for the truth of Christ’s gospel, bears similar testimony
to the practice throughout the Church in his day. These are his words: “Which custom has also
descended to us, that they who are baptized may be brought by the rulers of the Church, and by
our prayer, and by the laying on of hands, may obtain the Holy Ghost, and be consummated
with the Lord’s signature.” It is quite clear, from the testimony of these writers, that in their days
every baptized Christian had the hands of the chief pastor laid upon him, as a sort of supplement
to his baptism, and as a means whereby he might receive a further gift of God’s Spirit. It has,
however, been sometimes said that we cannot argue from the example of the apostles in favour
of confirmation at the hands of our present bishops, because, when the apostles laid their hands
on the early converts, the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost were given; and we now lead those
who come in prayer and faith to expect only those ordinary gifts of God’s grace whereby they
may be strengthened to maintain the conflict common to all sincere followers of Christ. This
reasoning appears to me both shallow and faithless. The Spirit which God gives is one, though
the manifestations of His power are various. In order that the heathen might know assuredly
that the doctrine of the despised and persecuted sect of the Christians was from God, the early
followers of Jesus were empowered to work miracles, and to speak with other tongues; but when
the need for the exercise of such gifts was over, the gifts were withdrawn. God intended His
Church to walk by faith, not by sight; and if He had kept up the miraculous gifts as they were in
the first ages, it would have walked by sight. But, though God withdrew certain manifestations of
the Spirit’s presence, He did not withdraw the Spirit Himself. And the rite of laying on of hands
was to give the Spirit, who would manifest Himself, according to His own will and wisdom, in
the person who received Him. Here, then, was a rite ordained for the communication of the
Spirit, who would manifest His presence according to the needs of the individual who received
Him, and of the Church of which that individual was a member. Because, then, we do not expect
in confirmation all His gifts, are we not, therefore, to expect gifts or manifestations suitable for
us and our times? If we really, and without reserve or equivocation, accept the Bible as our
guide; and if we believe, as we must, that the greatest gift that God can now bestow upon us is
that of His Spirit; then we must necessarily seek that Spirit in every way in which God gives us
reason to think that He is communicated. The needs of our nature—our fallen, and weak, and
corrupt nature-should make us eagerly embrace the use of any means, however inadequate they
may outwardly appear. And then, too, we may be morally certain, that if the Holy Spirit had
intended that after the apostles were removed by death this rite should be discontinued, He
would have strictly enjoined upon the Church its discontinuance. You honour God in this
ordinance when you believe that He has ordained it as a means in which to bless you; and when
you believe that He has not deserted His Church, but that He is as effectually present with the
Church now as He was with the Church in the apostles’ time; so that such a rite as this is as
profitable to the prayerful and believing soul now as in the times of St. Peter and St. John. If
God’s Word is true, then you have a life-long fight before you—a fight with the world and its
allurements, and the flesh and its craving lusts, and the devil with his spiritual temptations to
unbelief in God’s mercy upon the one hand, or else to presumption upon God’s mercy, that
Christ will save you in your sins, on the other. To maintain your conflict with such adversaries
you will require all God’s grace and strength. Add to your other daily prayers, then, some hearty
and distinct petition that in the approaching solemn rite you may receive a particular strength
suited to your need. (M. F. Sadler, M. A.)
Laying on of hands

77. It was prescribed in the old Hebrew service-book that when a person brought his sacrifice to the
altar, he should lay his hand upon its head, and lean upon it with all his weight. While thus
standing, with his hand laid upon the victim, and his face directed to the Temple, he repeated
this formula: “O Lord, I have sinned, I have done perversely; I have done thus and thus” (here
naming, either mentally or audibly, the specific sins of which he had recently been guilty, and for
which he now sought pardon), “I have done thus, and thus, but I return by repentance to Thee,
and let this be my expiation.” If several persons united in one presentation, each one in
succession placed his hand upon the victim, and in turn offered this prayer. On the great day of
atonement the high priest did the same thing in the name of all the people whom he officially
represented. He placed troth his hands upon the various victims that were to be offered in
sacrifice, and more especially upon the “Azazel,” the mystical goat, which, as if bearing the sins
which had been confessed over it, was then led away from the crowd of watchers, past the last
dwelling, past the last tree, until both goat and leader disappeared in the glow of the great white
wilderness, that lay like the land of the curse beyond. This laying on of hands was not a mere
ceremony, but a sermon. It conveyed a doctrine, and the doctrine was that he who would be
saved must, by his own personal act and deed, appropriate the work of Him who is our Saviour
by being our Substitute. (C. Stanford, D. D.)
24. Ray Stedman, “Leave These Elementary Teachings (6:1-3)
The rudiments he asks them to leave consist of six matters under two heads: (1) the foundation
of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God; and (2) instruction about
baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. These
transitional truths lead from Jewish beliefs and practices to a full sharing in Christ. Though
Bruce takes them as a Jewish list and others as Christian, the truth is they are both, as Bruce
concedes that each "acquires a new significance in a Christian context" (1964:112).The point is
that they do not represent anything but the barest beginnings of Christian faith. It is necessary
to go from the knowledge of these initial truths to experiences which actually draw upon the
priestly ministry of Jesus for this is what would lead them from head knowledge to heart
response.
This rudimentary foundation is easily recognizable as the same one which Jesus and the apostles
preached, namely, "repent and believe." Repentance is a permanent change of mind which
results in right behavior ("Produce fruit in keeping with repentance"---Mt 3:8). The change they
needed was to cease trusting in acts that lead to death (a phrase which is repeated in 9:14) or
useless rituals, as the NIV alternatively translates. RSV. Tasker describes the result as "an
abandonment of the attempt to obtain righteousness by seeking to obey the precepts of a lifeless
moral code" (quoted by Bruce 1964:113). After turning from lifeless works (repentance), a
positive action of faith in God must be taken. This recalls for us Paul's word to believers in
Thessalonica: "You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." Repentance and
faith are two sides of the same coin. They form the essential foundation upon which one may
enter the Christian life.
Still, certain instruction in important doctrines was carried over from Old Testament teachings.
This instruction falls into two sets: baptisms and laying on of hands, and resurrection of the
dead and eternal judgment. The first set touches upon the beginning of the Christian life; the
second set speaks of its final events. Together they bracket Christian doctrine, involving both
impartation of life and accountability of experience.

78. It is evident from the ministry of John the Baptist that Christian baptism emerged from the
Jewish practice of ritual ablutions or washings. This would explain the unusual plural here
(from baptismos used of Jewish ablutions, rather than from the more common baptisma which
is employed for Christian baptisms). It may, however, be an oblique reference to John's teaching
in 1 John 5:7-8, "For there are three that testify: the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the
three are in agreement" which does tie water baptism with the Christian teachings of Spirit and
blood. The point the writer wishes to make is that baptism is an initiatory rite and must not be
regarded as fulfilling all that a Christian is expected to know or do.
The laying on of hands was widely practiced in the early church, sometimes for the imparting of
the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17), sometimes for healing (Acts 28:8), sometimes for ordaining or
commissioning (Acts 13:3). Though borrowed from Judaism, its Christian usage would need to
be explained to the new convert. It is an act of identification, tying the individual to either the
activity of God or that of the body of Christ. This, too, represents a beginning and not an end.
The doctrine of resurrection is central to Christianity though not to Judaism. It was taught in the
Old Testament (Is 26:19; Dan 12:2) and was important to the Pharisees (Acts 23:6), but its
central position in the New Testament demanded further instruction and repeated exposure to
the testimony of apostles and other eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Jesus. Since his
resurrection is an essential element of the Melchizedek priesthood, it would be especially
important that Christian converts be fully informed on this matter. The Pharisaic view of a
resurrection at the end of time was nothing more than a mere introduction to this great theme.
The theme of judgment to come is also clearly taught in the Old Testament (Is 33:22; Gen
18:25). The figure of the Son of Man, who approaches the Ancient of Days to receive authority to
judge (Dan 7:914), would most certainly be identified as Jesus to any scribe from a Jewish
background. The author will refer to such judgment in 9:27, but the full development of this
theme awaits the recognition of Jesus as the one who speaks from heaven (12:25) before the
terrible shaking of the heavens and the earth.
This foundation and accompanying instruction could, if appropriated by faith, bring a Jew to
new life in Christ. This would not be difficult to accept since it was based upon truth already
taught in the Law and the Prophets. But though some among these Hebrews knew these truths
intellectually, they gave little indication in their behavior that they had combined them with
personal faith (4:2). The combination of the word about Christ with individual faith should have
produced a Spirit-born vitality and enthusiasm which would make it delightfully easy to instruct
them in the wonders of the Melchizedek priesthood. But since this élan is so visibly absent the
writer must warn them that something is seriously lacking. It is dangerous to stay forever on the
foundation; in fact, it is impossible. If they are not willing or able to move on to more mature
understanding, they are in grave peril of losing what they already have, and that irretrievably!
Growth in truth is something all Christians (note the we in v. 3) must do, God permitting.
Surely God would permit all of us to go on to maturity in the Christian life whenever we wished
to do so! Or would he? This is the very question raised by the words God permitting. It seems to
parallel the quotation in 3:11, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my
rest.'" The unbelieving Israelites in the desert wanted to enter into Canaan, and, presumably,
into the spiritual rest which Canaan symbolized. But they could not, for God would not permit

79. it! Hence they must continue to wander in the wilderness till all were dead. Far from being a
polite cliché or pious wish, these words God permitting form the fulcrum on which the warning
of verses 4-8 turns.
2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands,
the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
1. BARNES, "Of the doctrine of baptisms - This is mentioned as the third element or
principle of the Christian religion. The Jews made much of various kinds of “washings,” which
were called “baptisms;” see the note on Mar_7:4. It is supposed also, that they were in the
practice of baptizing proselytes to their religion; see the note on Mat_3:6. Since they made so
much of various kinds of ablution, it was important that the true doctrine on the subject should
be stated as one of the elements of the Christian religion, that they might be recalled from
superstition, and that they might enjoy the benefits of what was designed to be an important aid
to piety - the true doctrine of baptisms. It will be observed that the plural form is used here -
“baptisms.” There are two baptisms whose necessity is taught by the Christian religion - baptism
by water, and by the Holy Spirit; the first of which is an emblem of the second.
These are stated to be among the “elements” of Christianity, or the things which Christian
converts would first learn. The necessity of both is taught. He that believeth and is “baptized”
shall be saved; Mar_16:16. “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter
into the kingdom of God,” Joh_3:5. On the baptism of the Holy Spirit, see the Mat_3:11 note;
Act_1:5 note; compare Act_19:1-6. To understand the true doctrine respecting baptism was one
of the first principles to be learned then as it is now, as baptism is the rite by which we are
“initiated” into the Church. This was supposed to be so simple that young converts could
understand it as one of the elements of the true religion, and the teaching on that subject now
should be made so plain that the humblest disciple may comprehend it. If it was an element or
first principle of religion; if it was presumed that anyone who entered the Church could
understand it, can it be believed that it was then so perplexing and embarrassing as it is often
made now? Can it be believed that a vast array of learning, and a knowledge of languages and a
careful inquiry into the customs of ancient times, was needful in order that a candidate for
baptism should understand it? The truth is, that it was probably regarded as among the most
simple and plain matters of religion; and every convert was supposed to understand that the
application of water to the body in this ordinance, in any mode, was designed to be merely
emblematic of the influences of the Holy Spirit.
And of laying on of hands - This is the FourTH element or principle of religion. The Jews
practiced the laying on of hands on a great variety of occasions. It was done when a blessing was
imparted to anyone; when prayer was made for one; and when they offered sacrifice they laid
their hands on the head of the victim, confessing their sins; Lev_16:21; Lev_24:14; Num_8:12.
It was done on occasions of solemn consecration to office, and when friend supplicated the
divine favor on friend. In like manner, it was often done by the Saviour and the apostles. The

80. Redeemer laid his hands on children to bless them, and on the sick when he healed them;
Mat_19:13; Mar_5:23; Mat_9:18. In like manner the apostles laid hands on others in the
following circumstances:
(1) In healing the sick; Act_28:8.
(2) In ordination to office; 1Ti_5:22; Act_6:6.
(3) In imparting the miraculous influences of the Holy Spirit; Act_8:17, Act_8:19; Act_19:6.
The true doctrine respecting the design of laying on the hands, is said here to be one of the
elements of the Christian religion. That the custom of laying on the hands as symbolical of
imparting spiritual gifts, prevailed in the Church in the time of the apostles, no one can doubt.
But on the question whether it is to be regarded as of perpetual obligation in the Church, we are
to remember:
(1) That the apostles were endowed with the power of imparting the influences of the Holy
Spirit in a miraculous or extraordinary manner. It was with reference to such an imparting
of the Holy Spirit that the expression is used in each of the cases where it occurs in the
New Testament.
(2) The Saviour did not appoint the imposition of the hands of a “bishop” to be one of the rites
or ceremonies to be observed perpetually in the Church. The injunction to be baptized and
to observe his supper is positive, and is universal in its obligation. But there is no such
command respecting the imposition of hands.
(3) No one now is intrusted with the power of imparting the Holy Spirit in that manner There
is no class of officers in the Church, that can make good their claim to any such power.
What evidence is there that the Holy Spirit is imparted at the rite of “confirmation?”
(4) It is liable to be abused, or to lead persons to substitute the form for the thing; or to think
that because they have been “confirmed,” that therefore they are sure of the mercy and
favor of God.
Still, if it be regarded as a “simple form of admission to a church,” without claiming that it is
enjoined by God, or that it is connected with any authority to impart the Holy Spirit, no
objection can be made to it any more than there need be to any other form of recognizing
Church membership. Every pastor has a right, if he chooses, to lay his hands on the members of
his flock, and to implore a blessing on them; and such an act on making a profession of religion
would have much in it that would be appropriate and solemn.
And of resurrection of the dead - This is mentioned as the fifth element or principle of
the Christian religion. This doctrine was denied by the Sadducees Mar_12:18; Act_23:8, and
was ridiculed by philosophers; Act_17:32. It was, however, clearly taught by the Saviour,
Joh_5:28-29, and became one of the cardinal doctrines of his religion. By the resurrection of the
dead, however, in the New Testament, there is more intended than the resurrection of the
“body.” The question about the resurrection included the whole inquiry about the future state,
or whether man would live at all in the future world; compare the Mat_22:23 note; Act_23:6
note. This is one of the most important subjects that can come before the human mind, and one
on which man has felt more perplexity than any other. The belief of the resurrection of the dead
is an elementary article in the system of Christianity. It lies at the foundation of all our hopes.
Christianity is designed to prepare us for a future state; and one of the first things, therefore, in
the preparation, is to “assure” us there is a future state, and to tell us what it is. It is, moreover, a
unique doctrine of Christianity. The belief of the resurrection is found in no other system of
religion, nor is there a ray of light shed upon the future condition of man by any other scheme of
philosophy or religion.
And of eternal judgment - This is the sixth element or principle of religion. It is, that there
will be a judgment whose consequences will be eternal. It does not mean, of course, that the
process of the judgment will be eternal, or that the judgment day will continue forever; but that

81. the results or consequences of the decision of that day will continue for ever. There will be no
appeal from the sentence, nor will there be any reversal of the judgment then pronounced. What
is decided then will be determined forever. The approval of the righteous will fix their state
eternally in heaven, and in like manner the condemnation of the wicked will fix their doom
forever in hell. This doctrine was one of the earliest that was taught by the Saviour and his
apostles, and is inculcated in the New Testament perhaps with more frequency than any other;
see Matt. 25; Act_17:31. That the consequences or results of the judgment will be “eternal,” is
abundantly affirmed; see Mat_25:46; Joh_5:29;; 2Th_1:9; Mar_9:45, Mar_9:48.
2. CLARKE, "Of the doctrine of baptisms - “There were two things,” says Dr. Owen,
“peculiar to the Gospel, the doctrine of it and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Doctrine is called
baptism, Deu_32:2; hence the people are said to be baptized to Moses, when they were initiated
into his doctrines, 1Co_11:2. The baptism of John was his doctrine, Act_19:3; and the baptism of
Christ was the doctrine of Christ, wherewith he was to sprinkle many nations, Isa_52:15. This is
the first baptism of the Gospel, even its doctrine. The other was the communication of the gifts
of the Holy Ghost, Act_1:5; and this alone is what is intended by the laying on of hands; and
then the sense will be the foundation of the Gospel baptisms, namely preaching and the gifts of
the Holy Ghost.”
I am afraid, with all this great man’s learning, he has not hit the meaning of the apostle. As
teaching is the means by which we are to obtain the gifts of the Holy Ghost, surely the apostle
never designed to separate them, but to lead men immediately through the one to the possession
of the other. Nor is the word baptism mentioned in the passage in Deuteronomy which he
quotes; nor, indeed, any word properly synonymous. Neither βαπτισµος, baptism, ምαντισµος,
sprinkling, nor any verb formed from them, is found in the Septuagint, in that place. But the
other proofs are sufficiently in point, viz. that by baptism in the other places referred to, doctrine
or Teaching is meant; but to call Teaching one baptism, and the gifts of The Holy Ghost another
baptism, and to apply this to the explanation of the difficulty here, is very far from being
satisfactory.
I am inclined to think that all the terms in this verse, as well as those in the former, belong to
the Levitical law, and are to be explained on that ground.
Baptisms, or immersions of the body in water, sprinklings, and washings, were frequent as
religious rites among the Hebrews, and were all emblematical of that purity which a holy God
requires in his worshippers, and without which they cannot be happy here, nor glorified in
heaven.
Laying on of hands - Was also frequent, especially in sacrifices: the person bringing the
victim laid his hands on its head, confessed his sins over it, and then gave it to the priest to be
offered to God, that it might make atonement for his transgressions. This also had respect to
Jesus Christ, that Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
The doctrine also of the resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment, were both Jewish,
but were only partially revealed, and then referred to the Gospel. Of the resurrection of the dead
there is a fine proof in Isa_26:19, where it is stated to be the consequence of the death and
resurrection of Christ, for so I understand the words, Thy dead shall live; with my dead body
shall they arise: awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and
the earth shall cast out the dead. The valley of dry bones, Eze_37:1, etc., is both an illustration
and proof of it. And Daniel has taught both the resurrection and the eternal judgment, Dan_12:2
: And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some to everlasting life, and
some to shame and everlasting contempt.

82. Now the foundation of all these doctrines was laid in the Old Testament, and they were
variously represented under the law, but they were all referred to the Gospel for their proof and
illustration. The apostle, therefore, wishes them to consider the Gospel as holding forth these in
their full spirit and power. It preaches,
1. Repentance, unto life.
2. Faith in God through Christ, by whom we receive the atonement.
3. The baptism by water, in the name of the holy Trinity; and the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
4. The imposition of hands, the true sacrificial system; and, by and through it, the
communication of the various gifts of the Holy Spirit, for the instruction of mankind, and
the edification of the Church.
5. The resurrection of the dead, which is both proved and illustrated by the resurrection of
Christ.
6. The doctrine of the eternal or future judgment, which is to take place at the bar of Christ
himself, God having committed all judgment to his Son, called here κριµα αιωνιον, eternal
or ever during judgment, because the sentences then pronounced shall be irreversible.
Some understand the whole of the initiation of persons into the Church, as the candidates for
admission were previously instructed in those doctrines which contained the fundamental
principles of Christianity. The Hebrews had already received these; but should they Judaize, or
mingle the Gospel with the law, they would thereby exclude themselves from the Christian
Church, and should they be ever again admitted, they must come through the same gate, or lay a
second time, παλιν, this foundation. But should they totally apostatize from Christ, and finally
reject him, then it would be impossible to renew them again to repentance - they could no more
be received into the Christian Church, nor have any right to any blessing of the Gospel
dispensation; and, finally rejecting the Lord who bought them, would bring on themselves and
their land swift destruction. See the 4th and following verses, and particularly the notes on
Heb_6:8-9 (note).
3. GILL, "Of the doctrine of baptisms,.... Some read this divisively, "baptism and doctrine",
as the Ethiopic version; as if the one respected the ordinance of baptism, and the other the
ministry of the word; but it is best to read them conjunctively: and by which most understand
the Gospel ordinance of water baptism, so called by a change of number, the plural for the
singular, as the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, who render it baptism; or because of the different
persons baptized, and times of baptizing, as some; or because of the trine immersion, as others;
or because of the threefold baptism of spirit, blood, and water, which have some agreement with
each other; or because of the baptism of John, and Christ, though they are one and the same; or
because of the inward and outward baptism, the one fitting and qualifying for the other; and so
the doctrine of it is thought to respect the necessity, use, and end of it; but since there is but one
baptism, and the above reasons for the plural expression are not solid, and sufficiently
satisfying, it is best to interpret this of the divers baptisms among the Jews, spoken of in
Heb_9:10 which had a doctrine in them, to that people; teaching them the cleansing virtue of
the blood of Christ, and leading them to it, to wash in for sin, and for uncleanness; but now,
since this blood was shed, they were no more to teach nor learn the doctrine of cleansing by the
blood of Christ this way; nor any more to be led unto it through these divers baptisms, ablutions,
and purifications.

83. And of laying on of hands; the foundation of this was to be no more laid, nor the doctrine of
it to be any longer taught and learned in the way it had been; for not the rite, but the doctrine of
laying on of hands is here intended; and it has no reference to the right of laying on of hands by
the apostles, either in private persons, or officers of churches; for what was the doctrine of such
a rite, is not easy to say; but to the rite of laying on of hands of the priests, and of the people,
upon the head of sacrifices; which had a doctrine in it, even the doctrine of the imputation of sin
to Christ, the great sacrifice. It was usual with the Jews (g) to call the imposition of hands upon
the sacrifice, simply, ‫,סמיכה‬ "laying on of hands"; and they understood by it the transferring of
sin from the persons that laid on hands, to the sacrifice, on which they were laid; and that
hereby, as they express it, sins were separated from them, and, as it were, put upon the sacrifice
(h); but now believers were no longer to be taught and learn the great doctrine of the imputation
of sin, by this rite and ceremony, since Christ has been made sin for them, and has had sins
imputed to him, and has bore them in his own body on the tree:
and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment: articles of faith, which
distinguished the Jews from the Gentiles, who were greatly strangers to a future state, the
resurrection of the dead, and judgment to come: these are doctrines of pure revelation, and were
taught under the Old Testament, and were believed by the generality of the Jews, and are
articles which they hold in common with us Christians; yet the believing Hebrews were not to
rest in the knowledge of these things, and in the smaller degrees of light they had in them, under
the former dispensation; but were to go on to perfection, and bear forward towards a greater
share of knowledge of these, and other more sublime doctrines of grace; since life and
immortality are more clearly brought to light by Christ through the Gospel.
4. HENRY, "The doctrine of baptisms, that is, of being baptized by a minister of Christ with
water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, as the initiating sign or
seal of the covenant of grace, strongly engaging the person so baptized to get acquainted with
the new covenant, to adhere to it, and prepare to renew it at the table of the Lord and sincerely
to regulate himself according to it, relying upon the truth and faithfulness of God for the
blessings contained in it. And the doctrine of an inward baptism, that of the Spirit sprinkling the
blood of Christ upon the soul, for justification, and the graces of the Spirit for sanctification.
This ordinance of baptism is a foundation to be rightly laid, and daily remembered, but not
repeated.
4. Laying on of hands, on persons passing solemnly from their initiated state by baptism to
the confirmed state, by returning the answer of a good conscience towards God, and sitting
down at the Lord's table. This passing from incomplete to complete church membership was
performed by laying on of hands, which was extraordinary conveyance of the gift of the Holy
Ghost continued. This, once done, all are obliged to abide by, and not to need another solemn
admission, as at first, but to go on, and grow up, in Christ. Or by this may be meant ordination
of persons to the ministerial office, who are duly qualified for it and inclined to it; and this by
fasting and prayer, with laying on of the hands of the presbytery: and this is to be done but once.
5. The resurrection of the dead, that is, of dead bodies; and their re-union with their souls, to
be eternal companions together in weal or woe, according as their state was towards God when
they died, and the course of life they led in this world.
6. Eternal judgment, determining the soul of every one, when it leaves the body at death, and
both soul and body at the last day, to their eternal state, every one to his proper society and
employment to which they were entitled and fitted here on earth; the wicked to everlasting
punishment, the righteous to life eternal.
These are the great foundation-principles which ministers should clearly and convincingly
unfold, and closely apply. In these the people should be well instructed and established, and

84. from these they must never depart; without these, the other parts of religion have no foundation
to support them.
5. JAMISON, "the doctrine of baptisms — paired with “laying on of hands,” as the latter
followed on Christian baptism, and answers to the rite of confirmation in Episcopal churches.
Jewish believers passed, by an easy transition, from Jewish baptismal purifications (Heb_9:10,
“washings”), baptism of proselytes, and John’s baptism, and legal imposition of hands, to their
Christian analogues, baptism, and the subsequent laying on of hands, accompanied by the gift
of the Holy Ghost (compare Heb_6:4). Greek, “baptismoi,” plural, including Jewish and
Christian baptisms, are to be distinguished from baptisma, singular, restricted to Christian
baptism. The six particulars here specified had been, as it were, the Christian Catechism of the
Old Testament; and such Jews who had begun to recognize Jesus as the Christ immediately on
the new light being shed on these fundamental particulars, were accounted as having the
elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ [Bengel]. The first and most obvious elementary
instruction of Jews would be the teaching them the typical significance of their own ceremonial
law in its Christian fulfillment [Alford].
resurrection, etc. — held already by the Jews from the Old Testament: confirmed with
clearer light in Christian teaching or “doctrine.”
eternal judgment — judgment fraught with eternal consequences either of joy or of woe.
5B. FUDGE, “The next pair consists of the doctrine or teaching of baptisms and of the laying
on of hands. The word here translated baptisms is that commonly applied to the various
washings of the Old Testament (see 9:10 <hebrews.html>; Mark 7:4). The doctrine of baptisms
would therefore seem to involve explanations regarding the difference between Jewish washings
on the one hand and gospel baptism in the name of Jesus the Messiah on the other. This would
certainly involve some teaching on the significance of Christ’s blood and sacrifice, a point to be
developed in detail later in the epistle.
Laying on of hands was done in healing, blessing, or simply giving approval and endorsement.
Many scholars feel that the laying on of hands also accompanied believer’s baptism and signified
the giving of the Holy Spirit, if so, these two teachings go together in a special way and have to
do with Christian initiation, or entering upon the Christian life.
Resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment form the third pair of fundamental principles,
and have to do with Christian motivation or direction. These are not the only proper motives, to
be sure, but in the elementary teaching of the gospel one is taught to look to the resurrection and
judgment as the completion of what God has already begun, and therefore as motives for
faithfulness.
5C. “Verse 2 of the doctrine of Baptisms, laying on of hands, and of resurrection from the
dead. These are old testament ceremonies. Baptism? Yes. The priests were called to constant
washings of complete oblation in order to prepare to minister in the temple. "And Aaron and his
sons thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them
with water." (Exodus 29:4). This was no sprinkling. It was a thorough bathing. The same word is
used for what Bathsheba was doing when David viewed her. "And it came to pass in an
eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house:
and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look
upon." (2 Samuel 11:2). Also that leper, who signified a totally depraved sinner, was to wash
completely in order to be considered cleansed. "And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his
clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that

85. he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days." (Leviticus 14:8).
Again, "And if any man’s seed of copulation go out from him, then he shall wash all his flesh in
water, and be unclean until the even." (Leviticus 15:16).
To follow these commands of washings in the old testament is to see the extent to which the
Israelites were to regard cleansing, signifying once again, their depravity. So it was that the
Pharisee’s were obsessed with washing. They washed their hands off continually and rigorously.
They bathed totally (immersed) when they came from the market place. "For the Pharisees, and
all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And
when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there
be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of
tables." (Mark 7:3-4). They took these external cleansings so far as to question our LORD’S
holiness because he ate with sinners, who touched him also. "Now when the Pharisee which had
bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have
known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner." (Luke
7:39). By cleaving to the sign they missed the substance. By holding to the picture they rejected
the person.
Laying on of hands, was done to all sin offerings. It represented the transfer of sins. It taught
the doctrine of substitution, pointing to the vicarious substitutionary work of Jesus Christ on the
behalf of guilty sinners. "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and
confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all
their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit
man into the wilderness:" (Leviticus 16:21). Christ here is the scape goat. The fit man -- that is
the redeemer who takes away our sin, is Christ also.
Also laying on of hands was to install and, confer authority upon office bearers. "And the
LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay
thine hand upon him;" (Numbers 27:18). Also the laying on of hands signified condemnation
and death. The one upon whom the hand would be laid was subject to punishment. "Bring forth
him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head,
and let all the congregation stone him." (Leviticus 24:14).
That the old testament taught the doctrine of the resurrection is seen also in the ceremony.
"Then shall the priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two birds alive and clean,
and cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop: And the priest shall command that one of the birds be
killed in an earthen vessel over running water: As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the
cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood
of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be
cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living
bird loose into the open field. And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off
all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into
the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days. But it shall be on the seventh day,
that he shall shave all his hair off his head and his beard and his eyebrows, even all his hair he
shall shave off: and he shall wash his clothes, also he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall
be clean. And on the eighth day he shall take two he lambs without blemish, and one ewe lamb
of the first year without blemish, and three tenth deals of fine flour for a meat offering, mingled
with oil, and one log of oil. And the priest that maketh him clean shall present the man that is to
be made clean, and those things, before the LORD, at the door of the tabernacle of the
congregation: And the priest shall take one he lamb, and offer him for a trespass offering, and
the log of oil, and wave them for a wave offering before the LORD: And he shall slay the lamb in
the place where he shall kill the sin offering and the burnt offering, in the holy place: for as the
sin offering is the priest’s, so is the trespass offering: it is most holy: And the priest shall take
some of the blood of the trespass offering, and the priest shall put it upon the tip of the right ear

86. of him that is to be cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his
right foot: And the priest shall take some of the log of oil, and pour it into the palm of his own
left hand: And the priest shall dip his right finger in the oil that is in his left hand, and shall
sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the LORD: And of the rest of the oil that is
in his hand shall the priest put upon the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and
upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the
trespass offering:" (Leviticus 14:4-17).
The two birds in our account stand as representatives of that leper, who was as a dead man.
His condemnation was seen in the death of the one bird, and his resurrection is seen in the bird
that was let loose and free in the open field. The cleansing of this leper signified the work of
grace accomplished at Calvary for the elect, whom Christ, signified by the bird that was killed
over running water. The bird and the running water pointing to the fact that Christ the lamb
slain, the sacrifice was under divine appointment. The living bird was the risen LORD and the
leper. Who also has risen from the dead with Christ, now free from the bondage of his sins. This
is free Grace, that totally frees the sinner from his sin. The articles in this ordinance of cleansing
should have brought great joy to the leper if he could recognize what it signified for him in
Christ.
Of eternal judgment, it is plain that every death of every sacrifice pointed at the penalty of sin.
Death was a constant reality in the sacrifice of bullocks, heifers and goats as they were
slaughtered in the atonement of sin. The wages of sin is death.
You see all these were clearly set forth and taught in the old testament, and they were the first
principle of the doctrines of Christ. But we must leave the first principles of the old covenant
tutor to embrace the perfection of the gospel, Jesus Christ. And the one skillful in the word of
righteousness must abandon all of these pictures and point directly at Jesus Christ, just as John
the baptist did when Christ was revealed to him.
Pastor Jesse Gistand, Grace Bible Church
6. CALVIN, "Of the doctrine of baptisms, etc. Some read them separately, "of
baptisms and of doctrine;" but I prefer to connect them, though I
explain them differently from others; for I regard the words as being
in apposition, as grammarians say, according to this form, "Not laying
again the foundation of repentance, of faith in God, of the
resurrection of the dead, which is the doctrine of baptisms and of the
laying on of hands." If therefore these two clauses, the doctrine of
baptisms and of the laying on of hands, be included in a parenthesis,
the passage would run better; for except you read them as in
apposition, there would be the absurdity of a repetition. For what is
the doctrine of baptism but what he mentions here, faith in God,
repentance, judgment, and the like?
Chrysostom thinks that he uses "baptisms" in the plural number, because
they who returned to first principles, in a measure abrogated their
first baptism: but I cannot agree with him, for the doctrine had no
reference to many baptisms, but by baptisms are meant the solemn rites,
or the stated days of baptizing.

87. With baptism he connects the laying on of hands; for as there were two
sorts of catechumens, so there were two rites. There were heathens who
came not to baptism until they made a profession of their faith. Then
as to these, these, the catechizing was wont to precede baptism. [96]
But the children of the faithful, as they were adopted from the womb,
and belonged to the body of the Church by right of the promise, were
baptized in infancy; but after the time of infancy, they having been
instructed in the faith, presented themselves as catechumens, which as
to them took place after baptism; but another symbol was then added,
the laying on of hands.
This one passage abundantly testifies that this rite had its beginning
from the Apostles, which afterwards, however, was turned into
superstition, as the world almost always degenerates into corruptions,
even with regard to the best institutions. They have indeed contrived
the fiction, that it is a sacrament by which the spirit of regeneration
is conferred, a dogma by which they have mutilated baptism for what was
peculiar to it, they transferred to the imposition of hands. Let us
then know, that it was instituted by its first founders that it might
be an appointed rite for prayer, as Augustine calls it. The profession
of faith which youth made, after having passed the time of childhood,
they indeed intended to confirm by this symbol, but they thought of
nothing less than to destroy the efficacy of baptism. Wherefore the
pure institution at this day ought to be retained, but the superstition
ought to be removed. And this passage tends to confirm pedobaptism; for
why should the same doctrine be called as to some baptism, but as to
others the imposition of hands, except that the latter after having
received baptism were taught in the faith, so that nothing remained for
them but the laying on of hands?
__________________________________________________________________
[95] See [22]Appendix S.
[96] Calvin has followed some of the fathers in his exposition of these
two clauses, who refer to a state of things which did not exist in the
Church for a considerable time after the Apostolic age. What is here
said comports with the time of the Apostles, and with that only more
particularly. "Baptisms," being in the plural number, have been a
knotty point to many; but there is an especial reason for this in an
Epistle to the Hebrews; some of them had no doubt been baptized by
John, such were afterwards baptized only in the name of Christ, Acts
19:5, but those who not so baptized, were doubtless baptized in the
name of Trinity. "The laying on of hands" on the baptized was an
Apostolic practice, by which the miraculous gift of tongues was
bestowed. Acts 8:15-17; 19:6. To understand the different things
mentioned in the first two verses, we must consider the particulars

88. stated in the 4^th and the 5^th verses; they are explanatory of each
other. The penitent were "the enlightened;" "faith towards God" was
"the heavenly gift;" the baptized, who had hands laid on them, were
those who were "made partakers of the Holy Ghost;" the prospect and
promise of a "resurrection," was "the good word of God;" and "eternal
judgment," when believed made them to feel "the powers (or the powerful
influences) of the word to come." Thus the two passages illustrate one
another. Such is the meaning which Schleusner gives dunameis in this
passage, which Scott and Bloomfield have adopted. – Ed
7. preceptaustin, “Instruction about washings (see "various washing" in note Hebrews 9:10)
There were a number of ritual washings - eg, see Washing and Washing The Hands And Feet.
Washings (909) (baptismos from baptízo = baptize) refers to dipping, ceremonial washing. It
was used to refer to the washing of one’s body or part of it as in a religious rite. It was used to
refer to ceremonial washing. It usually referred to purification ceremonies other than Christian
baptism and the fact that it is plural (which would be unusual for baptism - see note below)
favors the translation as washings as in Hebrews 9:10 (note). Furthermore, the usual word for
baptism (baptisma) is not used here.
There is only one baptism in the authority and name of Christ and it does not need to be repeated
if it is properly performed upon a genuine believer. However, even this baptism is only the
beginning of the Christian journey and one must still press on toward maturity in Christ.
There are 4 uses of baptismos in the NT...
Mark 7:4 and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they cleanse
themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe,
such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.) (Clearly refers to ritual or
ceremonial washing)
Colossians 2:12 (see note) having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were
also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
(Comment: Although some commentators explain this as water baptism, it would be better
explained as spiritual baptism into Christ when one's heart is circumcised by the Spirit at the
time of salvation by grace through faith. In either case, baptismos in this verse does not refer
to ritual or ceremonial washings as in all of the other NT uses. This usage therefore does
leave open the possibility that the writer was using baptismos to refer to baptisms in the
plural [see Ryrie's comment below] and not to ritual or ceremonial washings.)
Hebrews 6:2 (note) of instruction about washings, and laying on of hands, and the
resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Hebrews 9:10 (note) since they relate only to food and drink and various washings,
regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.
In the first century, it was common practice for Jews to place a basin by the entrance which all
who entered could use to carry out ceremonial cleansings. It is these ritualistic washings that the

89. Jewish readers are told to abandon. In the OT God speaking through His prophet Ezekiel
predicted that one day Israel's ceremonial cleansings would be replaced by spiritual
washing associated with entrance by grace through faith into the New Covenant...
For I will take you (Israel) from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you
into your own land (at the end of the Great Tribulation and the beginning of
the Millennium ) Then (in the context of entrance by faith into the New Covenant in
Christ's blood God says) I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will
cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. (Ezekiel 36:24-25)
Ryrie however disagrees with the interpretation of baptismos as washings and feels
that baptismos does refer to baptisms writing...
The distinction between various baptisms is a necessary part of basic Christian doctrine
(e.g., the baptism of Jewish proselytes, baptism by John the Baptist, Christian
baptism). (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody
Publishers) (I disagree with this interpretation as 2 of the other 3 NT uses of baptismos
clearly favor the main meaning as washings, but as stated earlier the use in Colossians
2:12 [see note] does leave open the possibility of baptisms)
J Vernon McGee on the other hand writes that...
“Doctrine of baptisms [washings]” has nothing to do with New Testament baptism. They
refer to the washings of the Old Testament ritual, and there were many of them. The Hebrew
believers were wanting to return to these things which were only shadows; they were the
negatives from which the spiritual pictures were developed. They prefigured Christ, the
reality. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos)
There were Jewish proselyte baptisms, Levitical washings for religious ceremonies, and
numerous ritual baptisms in the mystery religions being practiced at that time. The teaching is
that we must get beyond the elementary and be borne along toward maturity, ultimately the
baptism into Christ's death, burial and resurrection (see notes Romans 6:3; 6:4; 6:5).
All the "washings'' in the world will not suffice IF we do not grow toward maturity in Christ. As
an aside, in the same way all the Bible studies in the world mean nothing to maturity unless we
obey what we learn. Biblical Truth brings accountability and demands a response.
AND LAYING ON OF HANDS: epitheseos te cheiron: (Acts 6:6; 8:14-18; 13:3; 19:6)
Laying on (1936) (epithesis from epitíthemi = to put, to lay on, used frequently
in Septuagint for laying one's hands on the substitutionary sacrifice) means literally a placing or
laying upon.
Laying on of hands was seen in both the Old and the New Testament records. From the Old
Testament records the practice of laying on of hands was well known to the Jews. For example
it was associated with commissioning for public office

90. So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit,
and lay your hand on him...23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just
as the LORD had spoken through Moses. (Nu 27:18, 23)
Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his
hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the LORD had commanded
Moses. (Dt 34:9)
Under the Old Covenant, the person who brought a sacrifice placed his hands on it to symbolize
his identification with it as a substitute sacrifice for sin
And he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him
to make atonement on his behalf. (Lev 1:4)
'If he is going to offer a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the LORD, and he
shall lay his hand on the head of his offering, and slay it before the tent of meeting; and
Aaron's sons shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. (Lev 3:7-8)
(On the Jewish Day of Atonement that occurred once each year) Then Aaron (the Levitical
High Priest) shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all
the iniquities of the sons of Israel, and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and
he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of
a man who stands in readiness. (Lev 16:21)
J Vernon McGee writes that laying on of hands was...
an Old Testament ritual. When a man brought an animal offering, he laid his hands on its
head to signify his identification with it. The animal was taking his place on the altar of
sacrifice. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos)
The context does not seem to refer to the practice of some of the apostles in laying hands on
various individuals in the New Testament (cf Acts 5:18; 6:6; 8:17; 1Ti 4:14; etc.)
Our identification with Jesus Christ comes by the Spirit’s baptizing us into union with Him by
faith. “Forget the teaching about laying hands on the Temple sacrifices,” the writer is telling
these immature Jews. “Lay hold of Christ by putting your trust in Him.”
AND THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD: anastaseos te nekron: (Heb 11:35; Isaiah
26:19; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Daniel 12:2; Matthew 22:23-32; Luke 14:14;John 5:29; 11:24,25; Acts
4:2; 17:18,31,32; 23:6; 24:15,21; 26:8; Romans 6:5; 1Corinthians 15:13-57; Philippians
3:21; 1Thessalonians 4:14-18; 2Timothy 2:18)
This last pair of ABC's (resurrection and eternal judgment) are in a sense eschatological
teachings or teachings that speak of last things or future events. The KJV Bible Commentary has
an interesting note regarding study of prophetic things...
Eschatology is included here among the first truths, not as part of the deeper truths. The
mere study of last things does not demonstrate spiritual maturity. The practical changes
which these eschatological truths produce within our lives are what manifest

91. maturity. (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington:
KJV Bible Commentary: Nelson or Logos)
Resurrection (386) (anastasis from ana = up, again + histemi = to cause to stand) literally
means “to stand again" or "to cause to stand again" and most NT uses refer to a physical body
rising from the dead or coming back to life after having once died. The resurrection is
distinguished from belief in reincarnation, which usually involves a series of rebirths from which
the soul may seek release. Resurrection has primary reference to the body. The resurrection is
the central, defining doctrine and claim of the gospel for as Paul wrote
"if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain." (1Cor
15:14)
Speaking to Martha on the occasion of the death of her brother Lazarus, Jesus in His fifth great "I
Am" statement declared
"I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies." (Jn
11:25)
Martha had just declared her belief in the resurrection (implying that she believed the OT
Scriptures) stating
"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” (Jn 11:24)
Resurrection of the dead - This is mentioned in at least three OT Scriptures (see below) but in
general the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is neither clear or complete in the OT. We
learn of life after death and of rewards for the good and punishment for the wicked but not much
more until we come to the NT teachings, especially those of Paul.
The Greek word for resurrection, anastasis, is used four times in the Septuagint (LXX), but none
of these uses (Ps 66:1, Lam 3:63, Da 11:20, Zeph 3:8) clearly describes the resurrection per se.
Nevertheless, we know that the OT saints knew something of the reality of the resurrection for
the writer of Hebrews tells us that Abraham believed in theresurrection, writing that
He considered that God is able to raise men even from the dead; from which he also
received him (Isaac in Ge 22) back as a type. (see note Hebrews 11:19)
Hebrews 11 also records that...
Women received back their dead by resurrection; and others were tortured, not accepting
their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection (seenote Hebrews 11:35)
Isaiah records that
Your dead will live; their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
for your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.
(Isaiah 26:19)
Job declared

92. as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the
earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God. (Job 19:25-26)
In Daniel we read that
many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but
the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. (Da 12:2)
Thus Daniel gives us a preview of two distinct resurrections which are explained in more detail
in the New Testament references above.
In Jesus' day, the resurrection from the dead was an important belief of the Pharisees,
as Paul explained in Acts declaring to Jewish Council...
perceiving that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in
the Council, "Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and
resurrection of the dead!" (Acts 23:6)
Paul emphasized the importance of the resurrection asserting that the resurrection of Christ was
the central truth of the gospel message explaining that
if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. (1 Cor
15:14)
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. (1Cor
15:20)
Christ's resurrection is the first of the harvest to eternal life and guarantees that all of the saints
who have died will be resurrected also. Thus an understanding of this resurrection of Christ and
the subsequent resurrection of believers would change the whole aspect of the doctrine of
resurrection as understood by these Jewish converts and professors.
AND ETERNAL JUDGMENT: kai krimatos aioniou: (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew
25:31-46; Acts 17:31; 24:25; Romans 2:5-10,16; 2Corinthians 5:10; 2Peter 3:7; Jude
1:14,15; Revelation 20:10-15)
Eternal (166) (aionios from aion = age) means perpetual, eternal, everlasting, without beginning
or end, that which always is.
Judgment (2917) (krima from kríno = to judge; suffix –ma indicates result of judging) denotes
the result of the action signified by verb krino and thus is a judicial sentence from the
magistrate. It is the sentence pronounced, the verdict, the act of judging.
Eternal judgment of the OT contrasts to no condemnation for the believer in Christ of the
new (see note Romans 8:1). And thus the Hebrews readers are exhorted not to return to Old
Testament teaching, but to go on to faith in the NT Sacrifice. Clearly taught in the OT
We can learn little more from the OT about final judgment than what is given by Solomon who
wrote...

93. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments,
because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything
which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Eccl 12:14)
Naves Topic on Judgment: (hold pointer over verse - "L" = to Libronix - suggestion = link
Bible on Libronix to commentary like MacArthur's Study Bible for quick reference)
3 And God permitting, we will do so.
1. BARNES, "And this will we do - We will make these advances toward a higher state of
knowledge and piety. Paul had confidence that they would do it (see Heb_6:9-10), and though
they had lingered long around the elements of Christian knowledge, he believed that they would
yet go on to make higher attainments.
If God permit - This is not to be interpreted as if God was “unwilling” that they should make
such advances, or as if it were “doubtful” whether he would allow it if they made an honest
effort, and their lives were spared; but it is a phrase used to denote their “dependence” on him.
It is equivalent to saying, “if he would spare their lives, their health, and their reason; if he
would continue the means of grace, and would impart his Holy Spirit; if he would favor their
efforts and crown them with success, they would make these advances.” In reference to anything
that we undertake, however pleasing to God in itself, it is proper to recognize our entire
dependence on God; see Jam_4:13-15; compare the notes on Joh_15:5.
2. CLARKE, "And this will we do - God being my helper, I will teach you all the sublime
truths of the Gospel; and show you how all its excellences were typified by the law, and
particularly by its sacrificial system.
3. GILL, "And this will we do, if God permit. That is, leave the rites and ceremonies of the
law, which were the rudiments, or first principles of the Gospel, and go on to a more perfect
knowledge of Gospel truths; and, not lay again as the foundation of the ministry, or insist upon
them as if they were the main things, even the above articles of the Jewish creed, especially in
the, way and manner in which they had been taught and learnt: the sense is, that the apostle and
his brethren, in the ministry were determined to insist upon the more solid and substantial parts
of the Gospel, and which tended to bring on their hearers to perfection; and that it became the
believing Hebrews to seek after a greater degree of knowledge under the ministry of the word. It
is, or at least should be, the determination of a Gospel minister, to preach Christ, and the great
truths of the Gospel; and wheresoever God has called him to it, though there may be many
adversaries, and though he may be reproached, calumniated, and deserted: resolution in
preaching the Gospel, and adhering to it, is very commendable in a minister; and it is very
laudable in hearers to attend to it, stand by it, and search further into it; and which both should
determine upon with a regard to the will of God, "if God permit": God's permission is much to be
observed in the ministry of the word, in giving gifts to men, in placing them out here and there,

94. where they shall exercise them, in directing them to subjects, and in making their ministry
useful and successful: and it may be observed in general, that nothing can be done, or come to
pass, good or bad, but what God permits or wills to be done; no good things, no actions, civil,
natural, moral, or spiritual; no evil things, the evil of punishment, afflictions, the persecutions of
wicked men, the temptations of Satan, heresies, and even immoralities.
4. HENRY, "The apostle declares his readiness and resolution to assist the Hebrews in
building themselves up on these foundations till they arrive at perfection: And this we will do, if
God permit, Heb_6:3. And thereby he teaches them, 1. That right resolution is very necessary in
order to progress and proficiency in religion. 2. That that resolution is right which is not only
made in the sincerity of our hearts, but in a humble dependence upon God for strength, for
assistance and righteousness, for acceptance, and for time and opportunity. 3. That ministers
should not only teach people what to do, but go before them, and along with them, in the way of
duty.
5. JAMISON, "will we do — So some of the oldest manuscripts read; but others, “Let us
do.” “This,” that is, “Go on unto perfection.”
if God permit — For even in the case of good resolutions, we cannot carry them into effect,
save through God “working in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Phi_2:13). The
“for” in Heb_6:4 refers to this: I say, if God permit, for there are cases where God does not
permit, for example, “it is impossible,” etc. Without God’s blessing, the cultivation of the ground
does not succeed (Heb_6:7).
6. CALVIN, "This will we do, etc. A dreadful denunciation follows; but the
Apostle thus fulminated, lest the Jews should indulge their own
supineness, and trifle with the favor of God; as though he had said,
"There ought not in this case it to be any delay; for there will not
always be the opportunity for making progress; it is not in man's power
to bound at once, whenever he pleases, from the starting point to the
goal; but progress in our course is the special gift of God."
7. Ray Stedman explains if God permits writing that...
This foundation and accompanying instruction could, if appropriated by faith, bring a Jew to
new life in Christ. This would not be difficult to accept since it was based upon truth already
taught in the Law and the Prophets. But though some among these Hebrews knew these
truths intellectually, they gave little indication in their behavior that they had combined
them with personal faith (see note Hebrews 4:2). The combination of the word about Christ
with individual faith should have produced a Spirit-born vitality and enthusiasm which
would make it delightfully easy to instruct them in the wonders of the Melchizedek
priesthood. But since this élan (vigorous spirit, energy or enthusiasm) is so visibly absent
the writer must warn them that something is seriously lacking. It is dangerous to stay forever
on the foundation; in fact, it is impossible. If they are not willing or able to move on to more
mature understanding, they are in grave peril of losing what they already have, and that
irretrievably! Growth in truth is something all Christians (note the pronoun we in v. 3) must
do, God permitting.

95. Surely God would permit all of us to go on to maturity in the Christian life whenever we
wished to do so! Or would he? This is the very question raised by the words God permitting.
It seems to parallel the quotation in Hebrews 3:11 (note), “So I declared on oath in my
anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” The unbelieving Israelites in the desert wanted to
enter into Canaan, and, presumably, into the spiritual rest which Canaan symbolized. But
they could not, for God would not permit it! Hence they must continue to wander in the
wilderness till all were dead. Far from being a polite cliché or pious wish, these
words Godpermitting form the fulcrum on which the warning of Hebrews 6:4-8 turns.
(Hebrews 6:1-3 Leave These Elementary Teachings) (bolding added)
8. Vincent explains that...
An ominous hint is conveyed that the spiritual dullness of the readers may prevent the writer
from developing his theme, and them from receiving his higher instruction. The issue is
dependent on the power which God may impart to His teaching, but His efforts may be
thwarted by the impossibility of repentance on their part. No such impossibility is imposed
by God, but it may reside in a moral condition which precludes the efficient action of the
agencies which work for repentance, so that God cannot permit the desired consequence to
follow the word of teaching.” All of which goes to say that while there is such a thing as the
sovereign grace of God, yet there is also such a thing as the free will of man. God never in
the case of salvation violates man’s free will. The choice must be made by these Hebrews
between going back to the sacrifices or on to faith in Christ as High Priest. But their spiritual
declension if persisted in, would result in their putting themselves beyond the reach of the
Holy Spirit. This is implied in 3:7, 8 where they are warned that if they desire to hear the
voice of the Holy Spirit, they should not harden their hearts, the implication being clear that
they could harden their hearts to the extent that they would have no more desire to hear the
voice of the Holy Spirit. This shows that the “impossibility” of 6:4,v5,v6 resides in the
condition of their hearts, not in the grace of God
9. Philip Mauro, “The words “if God permit”: are not a mere pious sentiment. The
acquisition of the knowledge of the Son of God as High Priest of the coming good things
carries with it such grave responsibilities, and involves the possessor thereof in such serious
dangers, that God, Who knows our hearts, may not “permit” all who are on the foundation
of the first principles of Christ to come to that knowledge. It is far better to enter the
Kingdom as a “babe” in Christ than, having become enlightened as to the truth now under
consideration, to be put to shame from before Him at His Coming. There is no blessedness
in merely acquiring spiritual knowledge. There is no blessing pronounced on those who
know these things. The Lord said not to His disciples “Happy are ye if ye know these
things,” but “IF ye know these things, happy are ye IF YE DO THEM” (Jn. 13:17). Better
far not to know them, than, knowing them, not to do them. “For if any man be a hearer of
the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he
beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he
was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not

96. a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be BLESSED in HIS DEED
(literally, in his DOING)” (James 1:23-25).
And this is precisely what we find set forth in forcible language in verses 4-6 of
Hebrews 6, which have given rise to so much discussion. This passage states that it is
better not to know these things than, knowing them, to fail in the doing of them. The
reason why there is a question if God will permit the immature saint to go on to full-growth
in the doctrine of Christ, is that it is impossible for those once enlightened, and who have
tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the
good word of God, and the works of power of the age to come, if THEY should fall away, to
renew them again to repentance; seeing that the apostasy of such as have obtained those
great benefits would be equivalent to crucifying for themselves the Son of God, and
exposing Him publicly.
What is called for at this point is the exercise of faith and obedience on the part of those
who have the capacity to distinguish in spiritual things between “good” and “evil”; and
specifically they are called upon to make a choice between the “good things” of the age to
come, which God has announced to them, and the things of “this present evil age” (Gal.
1:4). God specifically described the Land of Promise as a “good land,” using that word
again and again. Moreover, the Israelites had the report of the spies that the land indeed
was a land that flowed with milk and honey; and they “tasted” of the fruit of the land which
the spies brought to them. They were, therefore, charged with the responsibility for their
actions, being fully informed as to what they were doing. Although they had the Word of
God concerning the “good land” confirmed by their own leaders, they turned back and
sought to return to Egypt. In this they were not true “Hebrews”; for what characterizes true
Hebrews is that their minds are set upon the country whereof God has spoken to them; and
they are not mindful of the country from whence they came out, though opportunity be
given them to return to it (Heb. 11:14-16). It was after the Israelites had heard that they
provoked God (Heb. 3:16; 4:2). The penalty, therefore, is for those who have heard the
report. Their children, who were unable to hear understandingly, and who had no voice in
the decision because they were not of age, were eventually admitted into the land. God said
of them, “But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they
shall know the land which ye have despised” (Num. 14:13).
The application of the lesson is clear. Christ gave Himself for our sins that He might
deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the Will of God and our Father (Gal.
1:4). Moreover, He has testified of the world “that the works thereof are evil” (Jn. 7:7).
On the other hand, the coming age is an age of “good things (Heb. 9:11; 10:1). The Word
of God concerning that age is a “good word.” Those who “have tasted the good word of
God, and the powers of the age to come” are in a position similar to that of the Israelites
who had tasted the fruit of the good land, and had an opportunity to enter in and take
possession of it. If such as have this opportunity presented to them turn back to the things
of this present evil age, they incur a just and severe penalty. Since the Son of God died for
their sins in order that He might deliver them out of this present evil age, according to the

97. declared Will of the Father, those who turn back are said to crucify to themselves the Son of
God afresh, and to expose Him publicly.
It is not necessary to our instruction as God’s pilgrims that we should be able to settle
the meaning of every detail of this weighty passage. We shall refer to the details presently;
but first will look at the main points of the argument, and these are not difficult to grasp.
First, then, we learn that those who have gained the knowledge of the Son of God as
High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and of the eternal salvation whereof He is the
Author, are said to be “enlightened,” to have “tasted the heavenly gift,” etc. In other words,
that knowledge is equivalent to, or includes, the five things mentioned in verses 4 and 5.
Second, we learn that, if those who come to that knowledge of the Son of God should
apostatize, that is, should turn back from the things thus made known to them, and should
become occupied with the seen things of this age, as the Israelites turned back from the land
into which God promised and offered to bring them, they cannot be renewed unto a change
of mind. That is to say, after coming to the knowledge of these things and turning from
them, they cannot turn to them again. The Israelites tried to change their minds the next
day after the provocation. “They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top
of the mountain saying, Lo, we be here and will go up unto the place which the Lord hath
promised: for we have sinned.” But it was too late for repentance (change of mind); and
instead of gaining the Promised Land, they were smitten before their enemies (Num.
14:39-45).
10.PINK, ""And this will we do if God permit" (verse 3). Here we learn of the apostle’s
resolution as to the occasion before him, and the limitation of his resolution by an express
subordination of it to the good pleasure of God. The "this will we do" has reference to "Let us
go on unto perfection." The use of the plural pronoun is very blessed. Though a spiritual giant
when compared with his fellow Christians, the apostle Paul never imagined he had "attained"
(Phil. 3:12). "This will we do" means, I in teaching, you in learning. In the chapters that
follow, we see how the apostle’s resolution was carried out. In Hebrews 5:10 he had said, "an
High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, of whom we have many things to say." By
comparing Hebrews 6:3 with Hebrews 5:11,12 we learn that no discouragement should deter a
servant of God from proceeding in the declaration of the mystery of Christ, not even the
dullness of his hearers.
"And this will we do, if God permit." This qualifying word may have respect unto the
unknown sovereign pleasure of God, to which all our resolutions must submit: "I trust to
tarry a while with you, if the Lord permit" (1 Cor. 16:7 and cf. James 4:13-15). Probably the
apostle also had before him the sad state into which the Hebrews had fallen (Heb. 5:11-14),
in view of which this was a solemn and searching word for their conscience: because of

98. their sloth and negligence there was reason to fear they had provoked God, so that He would
grant them no further light (Luke 8:18). Finally, we believe the apostle looked to the Divine
enablement of himself; were He to withdraw His assistance the teacher would be helpless:
see 2 Corinthians 3:5. To sum up—in all things we must seek God’s glory, bow to His will,
and recognize that all progress in the Truth is a special gift from Him (John 3:27).
4 It is impossible for those who have once been
enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who
have shared in the Holy Spirit,
1. BARNES, "For it is impossible - It is needless to say that the passage here Heb_6:4-6,
has given occasion to much controversy, and that the opinions of commentators and of the
Christian world are yet greatly divided in regard to its meaning. On the one hand, it is held that
the passage is not intended to describe those who are true Christians, but only those who have
been awakened and enlightened, and who then fall back; and on the other it is maintained that it
refers to those who are true Christians, and who then apostatize. The contending parties have
been Calvinists and Arminians; each party, in general, interpreting it according to the views
which are held on the question about falling from grace. I shall endeavor, as well as I may be
able, to state the true meaning of the passage by an examination of the words and phrases in
detail, observing here, in general, that it seems to me that it refers to true Christians; that the
object is to keep them from apostasy, and that it teaches that if they should apostatize, it would
be impossible to renew them again or to save them. That it refers to true Christians will be
apparent from these considerations.
(1) Such is the sense which would strike the great mass of readers. Unless there were some
theory to defend, the great body of readers of the New Testament would consider the expression
used here as describing true Christians.
(2) The connection demands such an interpretation. The apostle was addressing Christians.
He was endeavoring to keep them from apostasy. The object was not to keep those who were
awakened and enlightened from apostasy, but it was to preserve those who were already in the
Church of Christ, from going back to perdition. The kind of exhortation appropriate to those
who were awakened and convicted, but who were not truly converted, would be “to become
converted;” not to warn them of the danger of “falling away.” Besides, the apostle would not
have said of such persons that they could not be converted and saved. But of sincere Christians it
might be said with the utmost propriety, that they could not be renewed again and be saved if
they should fall away - because they rejected the only plan of salvation after they had tried it,
and renounced the only scheme of redemption after they had tasted its benefits. If that plan
could not save them, what could? If they neglected that, by what other means could they be
brought to God?
(3) This interpretation accords, as I suppose, with the exact meaning of the phrases which the
apostle uses. An examination of those phrases will show that he refers to those who are sincere

99. believers. The phrase “it is impossible” obviously and properly denotes absolute impossibility. It
has been contended, by Storr and others, that it denotes only great difficulty. But the meaning
which would at first strike all readers would be that “the thing could not be done;” that it was
not merely very difficult, but absolutely impracticable. The word - ᅊδύνατον adunaton - occurs
only in the New Testament in the following places, in all which it denotes that the thing could
not be done; Mat_19:26; Mar_10:27, “With men this is impossible;” that is, men could not save
one who was rich, implying that the thing was wholly beyond human power. Luk_18:27, “the
things which are impossible with men are possible with God” - referring to the same case;
Act_14:8, “A man of Lystra, impotent in his feet;” that is, who was wholly “unable” to walk;
Rom_8:3, “For what the law could not do;” what was absolutely “impossible” for the Law to
accomplish; that is, to save people; Heb_6:18, “In which it was impossible for God to lie;”
Heb_10:4, “It is not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sin;” and Heb_11:6,
“Without faith it is impossible to please God;” in all of these instances denoting absolute
impossibility.
These passages show that it is not merely a great difficulty to which the apostle refers, but that
he meant to say that the thing was wholly impracticable; that it could not be done. And if this be
the meaning, then it proves that if those referred to should fall away, they could never be
renewed. Their case was hopeless, and they must perish: that is, if a true Christian should
apostatize, or fall from grace, “he never could be renewed again,” and could not be saved. Paul
did not teach that he might fall away and be renewed again as often as he pleased. He had other
views of the grace of God than this; and he meant to teach, that if a man should once cast off
true religion, his case was hopeless, and he must perish; and by this solemn consideration - the
only one that would be effectual in such a case - he meant to guard them against the danger of
apostasy.
For those who were once enlightened - The phrase “to be enlightened” is one that is
often used in the Scriptures, and may be applied either to one whose understanding has been
enlightened to discern his duty, though he is not converted (compare the note on Joh_1:9); or
more commonly to one who is truly converted; see the note on Eph_1:18. It does not of necessity
refer to true Christians, though it cannot be denied that it more obviously suggests the idea that
the heart is truly changed, and that it is more commonly used in that sense; compare Psa_19:8.
Light, in the Scriptures, is the emblem of knowledge, holiness, and happiness, and there is no
impropriety here in understanding it in accordance with the more decisive phrases which follow,
as referring to true Christians.
And have tasted - To “taste” of a thing means, according to the usage in the Scriptures, to
“experience,” or to “understand” it. The expression is derived from the fact that the “taste” is one
of the means by which we ascertain the nature or quality of an object; compare Mat_16:28;
Joh_8:51; Heb_2:9. The proper idea here is, that they had “experienced” the heavenly gift, or
had learned its nature.
The heavenly gift - The gift from heaven, or which pertains to heaven; compare the note on
Joh_4:10. The expression properly means some favor or gift which has descended from heaven,
and may refer to any of the benefits which God has conferred on man in the work of redemption.
It might include the plan of salvation; the forgiveness of sins; the enlightening, renewing, and
sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, or any one of the graces which that Spirit imparts. The
use of the article, however - “the heavenly gift,” limits it to something special, as being conferred
directly from heaven, and the connection would seem to demand that we understand it of some
“special” favor which could be conferred only on the children of God. It is an expression which
“may” be applied to sincere Christians; it is at least doubtful whether it can with propriety be
applied to any other.
And were made partakers of the Holy Ghost - Partakers of the influences of the Holy
Spirit - for it is only in this sense that we can partake of the Holy Spirit. We “partake” of food

100. when we share it with others; we “partake” of pleasure when we enjoy it with others; we
“partake” of spoils in war when they are divided between us and others. So we partake of the
influences of the Holy Spirit when we share these influences conferred on his people. This is not
language which can properly be applied to anyone but a true Christian; and though it is true that
an unpardoned sinner may be enlightened and awakened by the Holy Spirit, yet the language
used here is not such as would be likely to be employed to describe his state. It is too clearly
expressive of those influences which renew and sanctify the soul. It is as elevated language as
can be used to describe the joy of the Christian, and is undoubtedly used in that sense here. If it
is not, it would be difficult to find any language which would properly express the condition of a
renewed heart. Grotius, Bloomfield, and some others, understood this of the miraculous gifts of
the Holy Spirit. But this is not necessary, and does not accord well with the general description
here, which evidently pertains to the mass of those whom the apostle addressed.
2. CLARKE, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened - Before I
proceed to explain the different terms in these verses, it is necessary to give my opinion of their
design and meaning:
1. I do not consider them as having any reference to any person professing Christianity.
2. They do not belong, nor are they applicable, to backsliders of any kind.
3. They belong to apostates from Christianity; to such as reject the whole Christian system,
and its author, the Lord Jesus.
4. And to those of them only who join with the blaspheming Jews, call Christ an impostor,
and vindicate his murderers in having crucified him as a malefactor; and thus they render
their salvation impossible, by wilfully and maliciously rejecting the Lord that bought them.
No man believing in the Lord Jesus as the great sacrifice for sin, and acknowledging
Christianity as a Divine revelation, is here intended, though he may have unfortunately
backslidden from any degree of the salvation of God.
The design of these solemn words is evidently, First, to show the Hebrews that apostasy from
the highest degrees of grace was possible; and that those who were highest in the favor of God
might sin against him, lose it, and perish everlastingly. Secondly, to warn them against such an
awful state of perdition, that they might not be led away, by either the persuasions or
persecutions of their countrymen, from the truth of the heavenly doctrine which had been
delivered to them. And, Thirdly, to point out the destruction which was shortly to come upon the
Jewish nation.
Once enlightened - Thoroughly instructed in the nature and design of the Christian religion,
having received the knowledge of the truth, Heb_10:32; and being convinced of sin,
righteousness, and judgment, and led to Jesus the Savior of sinners.
Tasted of the heavenly gift - Having received the knowledge of salvation by the remission
of sins, through the Day Spring which from on high had visited them; such having received
Christ, the heavenly gift of God’s infinite love, Joh_3:16; the living bread that came down from
heaven, Joh_6:51; and thus tasting that the Lord is gracious; 1Pe_2:3, and witnessing the full
effects of the Christian religion.
Partakers of the Holy Ghost - The Spirit himself witnessing with their spirits that they
were the children of God, and thus assuring them of God’s mercy towards them, and of the
efficacy of the atonement through which they had received such blessings.

101. 3. GILL, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,.... The Syriac and
Ethiopic versions render it, "baptized"; and the word is thought to be so used in Heb_10:32. And
indeed baptism was called very early "illumination" by the ancients, as by Justin Martyr (i), and
Clemens Alexandrinus (k), because only enlightened persons were the proper subjects of it; and
the word once here used seems to confirm this sense, since baptism, when rightly administered,
was not repeated; but then this sense depends upon an use of a word, which it is not certain did
as yet obtain; nor does the apostle take notice of baptism in a parallel place, Heb_10:26. This
gave rise to, and seems to favour the error of Novatus, that those who fall into sin after baptism
are to be cut off from the communion of the church, and never more to be restored unto it;
contrary to the promises of God to returning backsliders, and contrary to facts, as well as to the
directions of Christ, and his apostles, to receive and restore such persons; and such a notion
tends to set aside the intercession of Christ for fallen believers, and to plunge them into despair:
it is better therefore to retain the word "enlightened", in its proper sense, and to understand it of
persons enlightened with Gospel knowledge; there are some who are savingly enlightened by the
Spirit of God, to see the impurity of their hearts and actions, and their impotency to perform
that which is good, the imperfection of their own righteousness to justify them, their lost state
and condition by nature, and to see Christ and salvation by him, and their interest in it; and
these being "once" enlightened, never become darkness, or ever so fall as to perish; for if God
had a mind to destroy them, he would never have shown them these things, and therefore
cannot be the persons designed here; unless we render the words, as the Syriac version does, "it
is impossible"----Nwjxy bwtd, "that they should sin again"; so as to die spiritually, lose the grace
of God, and stand in need of a new work upon them, which would be impossible to be done: but
rather such are meant, who are so enlightened as to see the evil effects of sin, but not the evil
that is in sin; to see the good things which come by Christ, but not the goodness that is in Christ;
so as to reform externally, but not to be sanctified internally; to have knowledge of the Gospel
doctrinally, but not experimentally; yea, to have such light into it, as to be able to preach it to
others, and yet be destitute of the grace of God:
and have tasted of the heavenly gift; either faith, or a justifying righteousness, or the
pardon of sin, or eternal life; which are all spiritual and heavenly gifts of grace, and which true
believers have real tastes of; and hypocrites please themselves with, having some speculative
notions about them, and some desires after them, arising from a natural principle of self-love.
Some think the Holy Ghost is intended; but rather Christ himself, the unspeakable gift of God's
love, given from heaven, as the bread of life. Now there are some who have a saving spiritual
taste of this gift; for though God's people, while unregenerate, have no such taste; their taste is
vitiated by sin, and it is not changed; sin is the food they live upon, in which they take an
imaginary pleasure, and disrelish every thing else; but when regenerated, their taste is changed,
sin is rendered loathsome to them; and they have a real gust of spiritual things, and especially of
Christ, and find a real delight and pleasure in feeding by faith upon him; whereby they live upon
him, and are nourished up unto eternal life, and therefore cannot be the persons here spoken of:
but there are others who taste, but dislike what they taste; have no true love to Christ, and faith
in him; or have only a carnal taste of him, know him only after the flesh, or externally, not
inwardly and experimentally; or they have only a superficial taste, such as is opposed to eating
the flesh, and drinking the blood of Christ, by faith, which is proper to true believers; the gust
they have is but temporary, and arises from selfish principles.
And were made partakers of the Holy Ghost; not his person, nor his special grace; there
are some who so partake of him, as to be united to him, in whom he becomes the principle of
spiritual life, and motion: such have the fruits of the Spirit, and communion with him; they
enjoy his personal presence and inhabitation in them; they have received him as a spirit of
illumination and conviction, of regeneration and sanctification, as the spirit of faith, and as a

102. comforter; and as a spirit of adoption, and the earnest and seal of future glory; but then such can
never so fall away as to perish: a believer indeed may be without the sensible presence of the
Spirit; the graces of the Spirit may be very low, as to their exercise; and they may not enjoy his
comforts, gracious influences, and divine assistance; but the Spirit of God never is, in the above
sense, in a castaway; where he takes up his dwelling, he never quits it; if such could perish, not
only his own glory, but the glory of the Father, and of the Son, would be lost likewise: but by the
Holy Ghost is sometimes meant the gifts of the Spirit, ordinary or extraordinary, 1Co_12:4 and
so here; and men may be said to be partakers of the Holy Ghost, to whom he gives wisdom and
prudence in things natural and civil; the knowledge of things divine and evangelical, in an
external way; the power of working miracles, of prophesying, of speaking with tongues, and of
the interpretation of tongues; for the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost seem chiefly
designed, which some, in the first times of the Gospel, were partakers of, who had no share in
special grace, Mat_7:22.
4. HENRY, "He shows that this spiritual growth is the surest way to prevent that dreadful sin
of apostasy from the faith. And here,
1. He shows how far persons may go in religion, and, after all, fall away, and perish for ever,
Heb_6:4, Heb_6:5. (1.) They may be enlightened. Some of the ancients understand this of their
being baptized; but it is rather to be understood of notional knowledge and common
illumination, of which persons may have a great deal, and yet come short of heaven. Balaam
was the man whose eyes were opened (Num_24:3), and yet with his eyes opened he went down
to utter darkness. (2.) They may taste of the heavenly gift, feel something of the efficacy of the
Holy Spirit in his operations upon their souls, causing them to taste something of religion, and
yet be like persons in the market, who taste of what they will not come up to the price of, and so
but take a taste, and leave it. Persons may taste religion, and seem to like it, if they could have it
upon easier terms than denying themselves, and taking up their cross, and following Christ.
5. JAMISON, "We must “go on toward perfection”; for if we fall away, after having received
enlightenment, it will be impossible to renew us again to repentance.
for those — “in the case of those.”
once enlightened — once for all illuminated by the word of God taught in connection with
“baptism” (to which, in Heb_6:2, as once for all done,” once enlightened” here answers);
compare Eph_5:26. This passage probably originated the application of the term “illumination”
to baptism in subsequent times. Illumination, however, was not supposed to be the inseparable
accompaniment of baptism: thus Chrysostom says, “Heretics have baptism, not illumination:
they are baptized in body, but not enlightened in soul: as Simon Magus was baptized, but not
illuminated.” That “enlightened” here means knowledge of the word of truth, appears from
comparing the same Greek word “illuminated,” Heb_10:32, with Heb_10:26, where “knowledge
of the truth” answers to it.
tasted of the heavenly gift — tasted for themselves. As “enlightened” refers to the sense of
sight: so here taste follows. “The heavenly gift”; Christ given by the Father and revealed by the
enlightening word preached and written: as conferring peace in the remission of sins; and as the
Bestower of the gift of the Holy Spirit (Act_8:19, Act_8:20),
made partakers of the Holy Ghost — specified as distinct from, though so inseparably
connected with, “enlightened,” and “tasted of the heavenly gift,” Christ, as answering to “laying
on of hands” after baptism, which was then generally accompanied with the impartation of the
Holy Ghost in miraculous gifts.

103. 5B, FUDFGE, “Those who were once enlightened are Christians who have been instructed in
the first principles of verses one and two (see also 10:32 <hebrews.html>). The following terms
refer to these same individuals. In the post-apostolic writings, "enlightenment" came to be a
technical term for baptism. In the New Testament the knowledge of God through Christ in the
gospel is put in terms of light (John 1:9; Acts 26:18; Colossians 1:12-13). Once is an important
word, and means once for all time. This enlightenment can take place only once; it can not be
repeated.
Taste signifies experience (see 2:9 <hebrews.html>). The heavenly gift may mean the Holy
Spirit, the remission of sins, or (probably) the entire new life as a child of God. As partaker of
the Holy Ghost, Christians are partners of the Spirit. He is God’s gift, the seal and earnest of
future blessing and the originator of fruit well-pleasing to God (Acts 2:38; 5:32; II Corinthians
1:22; Ephesians 1:1314; Galatians 5:22-25).
6. CALVIN, "For it is impossible, etc. This passage has given occasion to many
to repudiate this Epistle, especially as the Novatians armed themselves
with it to deny pardon to the fallen. Hence those of the Western
Church, in particular, refused the authority of this Epistle, because
the sect of Novatus annoyed them; and they were not sufficiently
conversant in the truth so as to be equal to refute it by argument. But
when the design of the Apostle is understood, it then appears evident
that there is nothing here which countenances so delirious an error.
Some who hold sacred the authority of the Epistle, while they attempt
to dissipate this absurdity, yet do nothing but evade it. For some take
"impossible" in the sense of rare or difficult, which is wholly
different from its meaning. Many confine it to that repentance by which
the catechumens in the ancient Church were wont to be prepared for
baptism, as though indeed the Apostles prescribed fasting, or such
things to the baptized. And then what great thing would the Apostle
have said, by denying that repentance, the appendage of baptism, could
be repeated? He threatens with the severest vengeance of God all those
who would cast away the grace which had been once received; what weight
would the sentence have had to shake the secure and the wavering with
terror, if he only reminded them that there was no longer room for
their first repentance? For this would extend to every kind of offense.
What then is to be said? Since the Lord gives the hope of mercy to all
without exception, it is wholly unreasonable that any one for any cause
whatever should be precluded.
The knot of the question is in the word, fall away. Whosoever then
understands its meaning, can easily extricate himself from every
difficulty. But it must be noticed, that there is a twofold falling
away, one particular, and the other general. He who has in anything, or
in any ways offended, has fallen away from his state as a Christian;
therefore all sins are so many fallings. But the Apostle speaks not
here of theft, or perjury, or murder, or drunkenness, or adultery; but

104. he refers to a total defection or falling away from the Gospel, when a
sinner offends not God in some one thing, but entirely renounces his
grace.
And that this may be better understood, let us suppose a contrast
between the gifts of God, which he has mentioned, and this falling
away. For he falls away who forsakes the word of God, who extinguishes
its light, who deprives himself of the taste of the heavens or gift,
who relinquishes the participation of the Spirit. Now this is wholly to
renounce God. We now see whom he excluded from the hope of pardon, even
the apostates who alienated themselves from the Gospel of Christ, which
they had previously embraced, and from the grace of God; and this
happens to no one but to him who sins against the Holy Spirit. For he
who violates the second table of the Law, or transgresses the first
through ignorance, is not guilty of this defection; nor does God surely
deprive any of his grace in such a way as to leave them none remaining
except the reprobate.
If any one asks why the Apostle makes mention here of such apostasy
while he is addressing believers, who were far off from a perfidy so
heinous; to this I answer, that the danger was pointed out by him in
time, that they might be on their guard. And this ought to be observed;
for when we turn aside from the right way, we not only excuse to others
our vices, but we also impose on ourselves. Satan stealthily creeps on
us, and by degrees allures us by clandestine arts, so that when we go
astray we know not that we are going astray. Thus gradually we slide,
until at length we rush headlong into ruin. We may observe this daily
in many. Therefore the Apostle does not without reason forewarn all the
disciples of Christ to beware in time; for a continued torpor commonly
ends in lethargy, which is followed by alienation of mind.
But we must notice in passing the names by which he signalizes the
knowledge of the Gospel. He calls it illumination; it hence follows
that men are blind, until Christ, the light of the world, enlightens
them. He calls it a tasting of the heavenly gift; intimating that the
things which Christ confers on us are above nature and the world, and
that they are yet tasted by faith. He calls it the participation of the
Spirit; for he it is who distributes to every one, as he wills, all the
light and knowledge which he can have; for without him no one can say
that Jesus is the Lord, (1 Corinthians 12:3;) he opens for us the eyes
of our minds, and reveals to us the secret things of God. He calls it a
tasting of the good word of God; by which he means, that the will of
God is therein revealed, not in any sort of way, but in such a way as
sweetly to delight us; in short, by this title is pointed out the
difference between the Law and the Gospel; for that has nothing but
severity and condemnation, but this is a sweet testimony of God's love

105. and fatherly kindness towards us. And lastly, he calls it a tasting of
the powers of the world to come; by which he intimates, that we are
admitted by faith as it were into the kingdom of heaven, so that we see
in spirit that blessed immortality which is hid from our senses. [97]
Let us then know, that the Gospel cannot be otherwise rightly known
than by the illumination of the Spirit, and that being thus drawn away
from the world, we are raised up to heaven, and that knowing the
goodness of God we rely on his word.
But here arises a new question, how can it be that he who has once made
such a progress should afterwards fall away? For God, it may be said,
calls none effectually but the elect, and Paul testifies that they are
really his sons who are led by his Spirit, (Romans 8:14;) and he
teaches us, that it is a sure pledge of adoption when Christ makes us
partakers of his Spirit. The elect are also beyond the danger of
finally falling away; for the Father who gave them to be preserved by
Christ his Son is greater than all, and Christ promises to watch over
them all so that none may perish. To all this I answer, That God indeed
favors none but the elect alone with the Spirit of regeneration, and
that by this they are distinguished from the reprobate; for they are
renewed after his image and receive the earnest of the Spirit in hope
of the future inheritance, and by the same Spirit the Gospel is sealed
in their hearts. But I cannot admit that all this is any reason why he
should not grant the reprobate also some taste of his grace, why he
should not irradiate their minds with some sparks of his light, why he
should not give them some perception of his goodness, and in some sort
engrave his word on their hearts. Otherwise, where would be the
temporal faith mentioned by Mark 4:17? There is therefore some
knowledge even in the reprobate, which afterwards vanishes away, either
because it did not strike roots sufficiently deep, or because it
withers, being choked up. [98]
And by this bridle the Lord keeps us in fear and humility; and we
certainly see how prone human nature is otherwise to security and
foolish confidence. At the same time our solicitude ought to be such as
not to disturb the peace of conscience. For the Lord strengthens faith
in us, while he subdues our flesh: and hence he would have faith to
remain and rest tranquilly as in a safe haven; but he exercises the
flesh with various conflicts, that it may not grow wanton through
idleness.
6B.TRAVIS CASE, “A. There are a number of Different Interpretations of Hebrews 6:4-7:

106. 1. Calvinists teach that it is speaking of lost Jews who had Great Spiritual Light and knowledge
of Christ and salvation by grace but "Relapsed Back To The Law" before becoming True
Christians.
2. Arminians teach it is speaking of Christians who turned back to sin and "Lost Their
Salvation".
If this is true, then a person who was once saved and then lost it Could Never Be Saved Again.
3. Others teach that it is speaking of a Hypothetical Situation that could never actually happen
--- To Prove the point that a True Believer Could Not Lose His Salvation.
a. Its purpose was to exhort believers to be obedient by showing the seriousness of denying
Christ.
b. However, Biblical Writers are Not given to the "Setting Up of Straw Men" and Fictitious
Situations.
c. Can you imagine God using a Deceitful , Fictitious, and Impossible, Hypothetical situation to
teach a Spirit Truth.
4. It is speaking of Christians who committed the sin that leads to becoming a "Castaway" --- or
the "Sin Unto Death".
B. In order to arrive at the truth, let's examine Heb. 6:4-9 in light of other Scriptures because No
Scripture Is of Private Interpretation.
2 Peter 1:20, "Know this first, that No prophecy of the Scriptures is of
any PrivateInterpretation."
C. We will find that Each Phrase in these verses present a Progressively Builds Upon The
Previous leading to a deeper experience of faith.
D. Also We Must Determine Who God Is Talking To --- Who These People Are --- They:
1. "... Restore Again To Repentance ..." --- Those who had previously "Repented".
a. Genuine Repentance is a turning:
(1) From the old way of life,
(2) Unto Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
b. Most Bible scholars agree that Repentance And Faith Goes Together. You cannot have one
without the other.
(1) However, some seem to make an Exception for this verse.
(2) Question: "Can You repent (turn from sin unto Christ) Without having placed your faith in
Christ?"

107. (3) 2nd Question: "If You Have place your faith in Christ, Are You Not Saved By Grace
Through Faith?"
2. "... Those Who Were Once Enlightened ..."
a. This term occurs again in 10:32 and can only refer to the "Saved".
Hebrews 10:32, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated,
ye endured a great fight of afflictions;"
b. To be "Enlightened" (V. 32) corresponds to the experience of "Receiving The Knowledge of
The Truth" (V. 26).
c. Ephesians 1:17-18, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what
the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,"
3. " ... Have Tasted of The Heavenly Gift ..."
a. Some have interpreted "Tasting" to refer to a Temporary or Superficial participation in
salvation.
b. However, the metaphorical usage of the verb "To Taste" does Not Warrant such an
interpretation.
c. The same word is used in 2:9 where Christ is said to have "Tasted Death" for us.
Hebrews 2:9, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of
death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every
man."
d. Did Jesus only Temporary or Superficial "Taste Death" for us, was it a Shallow
Experienceor was it:
Hebrews 10:10-12, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one
sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;"
e. "Heavenly Gift" is a Synonym For Salvation which God has bestowed upon us --- sent down
from heaven.
(1) If this "Heavenly Gift" comes as a results of "Being Enlightened" --- It must refer to
"Salvation".
(2) It is a Gift received Without Payment or recompense.
(3) The article is repeated, stressing the gift's Heavenly Origin and Supernatural Character.

108. f. Westcott agrees, when he describes the gift as, "the divine life brought by Christ which is only
tasted in this age but will be fully realized in the coming age."
g. The Christian knows the Immeasurable Relief of experiencing the Free Gift of
theForgiveness of God.
4. "... Were Made Partakers of The Holy Ghost ..."
a. You become "partakers of the Holy Ghost" by Reception or Importation of the Holy Ghost.
b. The same term is use in 3:14 in reference to Christ.
Hebrews 3:14, "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence
stedfast unto the end;"
c. Each phrase Progressively Builds upon the previous:
(1)Conviction and illumination (Enlightenment),
(2)Followed by conversion (the Heavenly Gift),
(3)The indwelling of the Holy Spirit (become Partakers of The Holy Ghost).
5. "... Have Tasted The Good Word of God ..."
a. "To Taste" implies to experience something in a manner that is Real and Personal.
b. The expression "The Good Word of God" is a synonym for "The Good News" which is "The
Gospel".
c. 1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
d. Refer back to comments under " ... have Tasted of The Heavenly Gift ...".
e. However, some, after tasting and being trained and instructed in doctrine and Christian living,
did Not Grow In The Grace And Knowledge of The Lord but rather turned back to the world.
Heb. 5:12, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of
milk, and not of strong meat.."
6. "Have Tasted, The Powers of The World To Come"
a. "Powers of the age to come" is similar to the
"Signs and Wonders … Various Miracles …Gifts of The Holy Spirit" in Chapter 2, Verse 4.
b. These powers are associated with a Future Age even though they are tasted in the Present
Age.
c. Some believe that it refers to a "Supernatural Experience of Grace" Transforming Their
Character And Conduct --- However, this could only be a Secondary meaning if at all.

109. d. In the Bible, the Messiah is presented as one Who will:
(1) Shepherd God's flock in Strength (Mic. 5:4).
(2) Whose ministry will be accompanied by Miracles of Healing (Isa. 35:5-6, Matt. 11:5)
6:6, "... If ... they shall fall away,"
A. These are Not Empty Threats or "Scare-Tactics," --- they are Real Warnings of the Serious
Consequences for failure to progress in the Christian life --- given to real believers facing real
challenges.
1. The writers purpose is to Move Christians on To Maturity And Obedience --- not bringing
shame upon Christ.
2. Hebrews speaks of the work of Sanctification, not the work of Justification.
B. If to "fall away" meant the Lost of Salvation, it would be Inconsistent With The Clear
Teaching of Other Scriptures.
1. Besides, this is a Deliberate Act --- something They Do, not something that is Done Unto
Them As Punishment for sin.
2. It would be as Impossible For An Unbeliever To Fall Away From A Faith They Never
Possessed as it would be impossible for Esau to trade away a birthright he did not own (Heb.
12:16-17)
C. "To Sin" ….. "To Stray From The Truth or The Right Path" ….. "To Fall Away From
The Truth …"
D. Ezekiel uses the word to depict Israel's Unfaithfulness And Rejection of God For Other
gods. (Ezek. 14:13, 15:8, 18:24).
Many Christians Have Idols In Their Life.
E. This is an Act of Deliberate Rebellion against God.
1. A Willful Rejection of His Blessings --- and His Presence.
2. They not only had Withdrawn From The Influence of The Truth (Preaching of The Gospel),
they had Rejected The Truth Itself.
3. They had turned aside in order to Avoid Hardship And Persecution.
4. This made void (to the public) Christ power to transform the lives of Christians --- His power
to grant them victory in their daily lives …
F. These had ceased to make Progress In The Christian Life.
2 Peter 1:5-9, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to
virtueknowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to
patiencegodliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8

110. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind,
and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."
G. They could Expect Judgment to really happen and Not Merely A Hypothetical Possibility.
6:6, "… impossible … to renew them again unto repentance; …"
A. "Impossible" as some have taught, does Not mean "Very Difficult" --- It Means Impossible.
Just as Esau could Not Regain His Birthright "though he sought it with tears," these will be
unable to find repentance because God Will Not Permit It.
B. To "Renew" means to "Restore" something to a former state or condition --- does Not mean
--- as some have assumed --- "Regeneration" or "Salvation".
C. It was Impossible for them to experience repentance and once again Enjoy A Vital Walk
With--- and Interact With Christ
1. They have reached a point where, Even If They might possibly Want To "Go On To
Maturity" (6:1), God Will Not "Permit" It (6:3)
2. Heb. 6:1, "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, and of faith toward
God." --- V. 3, "And this will we do, if God permit."
D. Christ prayed for those who crucified him at Golgotha, "Father, forgive them, for they Know
Not What They Do" (Luke 23:34). But Now There Is A Knowledge of the truth and therefore
aGreater Responsibility.
E. Now, Why Would God Not Permit It?
6:6, "… seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."
A. While their "Crucifixion" of Christ was Figurative ("to themselves"), it was Not a Private act
--- it involved Public Denial and Renunciation of the Saviour.
1. This is clear from the statement, "Put Him To Open Shame".
2. This shows the Shame and Contempt which these Christians Publicly Expressed For Christ.
a. O. T. --- Psa. 73:12-13, "Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world;
theyincrease in riches. 13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in
innocency."
Mal. 3:14, "Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his
ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?"
b. N. T. --- Mark 8:38, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this
adulterous and sinful generation: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh
in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

111. B. It is one thing for Christ to be Mocked By Unbelievers, but the Real Insult is that His
mocking should come From His Own Children.
1. Although unbelievers have undertaken to mock, ridicule and scorn Christ, Only Believers Are
Truly Capable of Shaming Him Through Renunciation.
2. We wave a White Flag before the world --- "Christ Cannot Provide For or Satisfy Me!"
6:7-8, "For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs
meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth
thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."
A. Just as God Expects Fruit From The Land which has received His rain, so He
ExpectsSpiritual Fruit And Growth form those who have received His blessings.
1. In V. 7, the Rain-Soaked Ground represents Christians.
2. In V. 8, that Same Ground receives the Same Blessings but yields Thorns And
Thistles and is said to be "Worthless," "Disqualified," or "Cumbereth The Ground"
B. "Burning" conjures up the image of a fiery hell --- but instead, He is speaking of
fire whichPurges and Refines.
C. But, if that doesn't work:
Luke 13:6-9, "He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he
unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this
fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he
answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and
dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."
D. Hebrews was addressing Jewish Christians who were facing Persecution from
a Hostile Roman Empire and also Angry Jewish Peers.
Paul had this same fear, that he would not be "Disqualified."
1 Cor. 9:27, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
John 15:1-6, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch
in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit,
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word
which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in

112. me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, andcast them
into the fire, and they are burned.
E. There was a Strong Temptation to reject Christianity (and Christ) for an easier,
familiar lifestyle.
F. The sins that lead to --- "Impossible to renew them again to repentance" --- is
the Last Stepbefore the "Sin Unto Death".
1 John 5:16, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall
ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto
death; I do not say that he shall pray for it."
Heb. 10:28-30, "He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy,
who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the
covenant, wherewith he wassanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto
the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto
me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people."
6:9, "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we thus speak."
A. There are Five Warning In Hebrews --- all of which seek to move believers on
to Maturity In Christ --- which God Expects of All Christians.
1. The Danger of Drifting (Heb. 1:1-2:4)
2. The Danger of Doubting (Heb. 3-4)
3. The Danger of Deformity (Heb. 4:14-6:20)
4. The Danger of Despising (Heb. 10:26-31)
5. The Danger of Denying (Heb. 12:12-29)
B. "Better Things" Can Only Come As We Heed God's Warning And Turn Unto
Him.
Conclusion:
A. What about the word "IF"?
1. Greek (parapipto) --- "If they shall fall away"
a. "If they shall fall away" is all translated from the one greek word, "parapipto".

113. b. J. H. Thayer, defines it as "In the Scriptures, to fall away (from the true faith): fom
Christianity, Heb. vi.6"
c. Spiros Zodhiates says, "To fall aside or away, err, stray, lapse. Used only in Heb.
6:6, denoting a falling away, an abandonment. Some have suggested that this word
and its noun "paraptoma" (a lapse, error, wrong doing) indicate errors of weakness,
faults or accidents and do not represent deliberate, blameworthy or willful sin,
contending that this would be expressed by "parabaino", to willfully transgress.
However, the usus loquendi of the words (verb and noun) yield no such meaning but
in every case signify deliberate acts of sin."
2. The New American Standard Bible, "and then have fallen away,"
3. 1901 American Standard Version, "and then fell away,"
4. The New American Bible, "and then have fallen away,"
5. It is hard today to find Christians Who Are Consistent in what what they believe
and teach:
What if you told your son/daughter that "IF" they disobeyed you that they would be
grounded for the next two weeks. They later disobey you and when you ground them
because of their disobedience, they answer and say: "But, Dad, you didn't say
"WHEN" I disobeyed, you said "IF" and that made it a Hypothetical Situation that
could not happen. I thought that you were merely trying to get your point across to me
without any actual punishment. Isn't that what you explained to me that Heb.
6:6 actually meant?"
B. What About:
1. 2 Chron. 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I
hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
2. 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins,
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
a. Remember, 2 Peter 1:20, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is
of any private interpretation."
b. All Scripture must be Interpreted In Light of Other Scriptures.
3. The Same God Who made the promises in 2 Chron. 7:14 and 1 John 1:9, also said:

114. Isa. 59:1-2, "Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither
his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you
and your God, andyour sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
1 John 5:16, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall
ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto
death: I do not say that he shall pray for it."
6C. RODNEY DECKER, TH.D BAPTIST SEMINARY
A. There are a number of Different Interpretations of Hebrews 6:4-7:
1. Calvinists teach that it is speaking of lost Jews who had Great Spiritual Light and
knowledge of Christ and salvation by grace but "Relapsed Back To The Law" before
becoming True Christians.
2. Arminians teach it is speaking of Christians who turned back to sin and "Lost Their
Salvation".
If this is true, then a person who was once saved and then lost it Could Never Be Saved
Again.
3. Others teach that it is speaking of a Hypothetical Situation that could never actually
happen --- To Prove the point that a True Believer Could Not Lose His Salvation.
a. Its purpose was to exhort believers to be obedient by showing the seriousness of denying
Christ.
b. However, Biblical Writers are Not given to the "Setting Up of Straw Men" and Fictitious
Situations.
c. Can you imagine God using a Deceitful , Fictitious, and Impossible, Hypothetical
situation to teach a Spirit Truth.
4. It is speaking of Christians who committed the sin that leads to becoming a "Castaway"
--- or the "Sin Unto Death".
B. In order to arrive at the truth, let's examine Heb. 6:4-9 in light of other Scriptures
because No Scripture Is of Private Interpretation.
2 Peter 1:20, "Know this first, that No prophecy of the Scriptures is of any Private
Interpretation."
C. We will find that Each Phrase in these verses present a Progressively Builds Upon The

115. Previous leading to a deeper experience of faith.
D. Also We Must Determine Who God Is Talking To --- Who These People Are --- They:
1. "... Restore Again To Repentance ..." --- Those who had previously "Repented".
a. Genuine Repentance is a turning:
(1) From the old way of life,
(2) Unto Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
b. Most Bible scholars agree that Repentance And Faith Goes Together. You cannot have
one without the other.
(1) However, some seem to make an Exception for this verse.
(2) Question: "Can You repent (turn from sin unto Christ) Without having placed your
faith in Christ?"
(3) 2nd Question: "If You Have place your faith in Christ, Are You Not Saved By Grace
Through Faith?"
2. "... Those Who Were Once Enlightened ..."
a. This term occurs again in 10:32 and can only refer to the "Saved".
Hebrews 10:32, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were
illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;"
b. To be "Enlightened" (V. 32) corresponds to the experience of "Receiving The
Knowledge of The Truth" (V. 26).
c. Ephesians 1:17-18, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of
your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,"
3. " ... Have Tasted of The Heavenly Gift ..."
a. Some have interpreted "Tasting" to refer to a Temporary or Superficial participation in
salvation.
b. However, the metaphorical usage of the verb "To Taste" does Not Warrant such an
interpretation.

116. c. The same word is used in 2:9 where Christ is said to have "Tasted Death" for us.
Hebrews 2:9, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should
taste death for every man."
d. Did Jesus only Temporary or Superficial "Taste Death" for us, was it a Shallow
Experience or was it:
Hebrews 10:10-12, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;"
e. "Heavenly Gift" is a Synonym For Salvation which God has bestowed upon us --- sent
down from heaven.
(1) If this "Heavenly Gift" comes as a results of "Being Enlightened" --- It must refer to
"Salvation".
(2) It is a Gift received Without Payment or recompense.
(3) The article is repeated, stressing the gift's Heavenly Origin and Supernatural
Character.
f. Westcott agrees, when he describes the gift as, "the divine life brought by Christ which is
only tasted in this age but will be fully realized in the coming age."
g. The Christian knows the Immeasurable Relief of experiencing the Free Gift of the
Forgiveness of God.
4. "... Were Made Partakers of The Holy Ghost ..."
a. You become "partakers of the Holy Ghost" by Reception or Importation of the Holy
Ghost.
b. The same term is use in 3:14 in reference to Christ.
Hebrews 3:14, "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence stedfast unto the end;"
c. Each phrase Progressively Builds upon the previous:
(1)Conviction and illumination (Enlightenment),
(2)Followed by conversion (the Heavenly Gift),

117. (3)The indwelling of the Holy Spirit (become Partakers of The Holy Ghost).
5. "... Have Tasted The Good Word of God ..."
a. "To Taste" implies to experience something in a manner that is Real and Personal.
b. The expression "The Good Word of God" is a synonym for "The Good News" which is
"The Gospel".
c. 1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
d. Refer back to comments under " ... have Tasted of The Heavenly Gift ...".
e. However, some, after tasting and being trained and instructed in doctrine and Christian
living, did Not Grow In The Grace And Knowledge of The Lord but rather turned back to
the world.
Heb. 5:12, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need
of milk, and not of strong meat.."
6. "Have Tasted, The Powers of The World To Come"
a. "Powers of the age to come" is similar to the "Signs and Wonders … Various Miracles
… Gifts of The Holy Spirit" in Chapter 2, Verse 4.
b. These powers are associated with a Future Age even though they are tasted in the
Present Age.
c. Some believe that it refers to a "Supernatural Experience of Grace" Transforming Their
Character And Conduct --- However, this could only be a Secondary meaning if at all.
d. In the Bible, the Messiah is presented as one Who will:
(1) Shepherd God's flock in Strength (Mic. 5:4).
(2) Whose ministry will be accompanied by Miracles of Healing (Isa. 35:5-6, Matt. 11:5)
6:6, "... If ... they shall fall away,"
A. These are Not Empty Threats or "Scare-Tactics," --- they are Real Warnings of the
Serious Consequences for failure to progress in the Christian life --- given to real believers
facing real challenges.

118. 1. The writers purpose is to Move Christians on To Maturity And Obedience --- not
bringing shame upon Christ.
2. Hebrews speaks of the work of Sanctification, not the work of Justification.
B. If to "fall away" meant the Lost of Salvation, it would be Inconsistent With The Clear
Teaching of Other Scriptures.
1. Besides, this is a Deliberate Act --- something They Do, not something that is Done Unto
Them As Punishment for sin.
2. It would be as Impossible For An Unbeliever To Fall Away From A Faith They Never
Possessed as it would be impossible for Esau to trade away a birthright he did not own
(Heb. 12:16-17)
C. "To Sin" ….. "To Stray From The Truth or The Right Path" ….. "To Fall Away From
The Truth …"
D. Ezekiel uses the word to depict Israel's Unfaithfulness And Rejection of God For Other
gods. (Ezek. 14:13, 15:8, 18:24).
Many Christians Have Idols In Their Life.
E. This is an Act of Deliberate Rebellion against God.
1. A Willful Rejection of His Blessings --- and His Presence.
2. They not only had Withdrawn From The Influence of The Truth (Preaching of The
Gospel), they had Rejected The Truth Itself.
3. They had turned aside in order to Avoid Hardship And Persecution.
4. This made void (to the public) Christ power to transform the lives of Christians --- His
power to grant them victory in their daily lives …
F. These had ceased to make Progress In The Christian Life.
2 Peter 1:5-9, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue
knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience
godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For
if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is
blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."
G. They could Expect Judgment to really happen and Not Merely A Hypothetical
Possibility.

119. 6:6, "… impossible … to renew them again unto repentance; …"
A. "Impossible" as some have taught, does Not mean "Very Difficult" --- It Means
Impossible.
Just as Esau could Not Regain His Birthright "though he sought it with tears," these will
be unable to find repentance because God Will Not Permit It.
B. To "Renew" means to "Restore" something to a former state or condition --- does Not
mean --- as some have assumed --- "Regeneration" or "Salvation".
C. It was Impossible for them to experience repentance and once again Enjoy A Vital Walk
With --- and Interact With Christ
1. They have reached a point where, Even If They might possibly Want To "Go On To
Maturity" (6:1), God Will Not "Permit" It (6:3)
2. Heb. 6:1, "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, and of faith
toward God." --- V. 3, "And this will we do, if God permit."
D. Christ prayed for those who crucified him at Golgotha, "Father, forgive them, for they
Know Not What They Do" (Luke 23:34). But Now There Is A Knowledge of the truth and
therefore a Greater Responsibility.
E. Now, Why Would God Not Permit It?
6:6, "… seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open
shame."
A. While their "Crucifixion" of Christ was Figurative ("to themselves"), it was Not a
Private act --- it involved Public Denial and Renunciation of the Saviour.
1. This is clear from the statement, "Put Him To Open Shame".
2. This shows the Shame and Contempt which these Christians Publicly Expressed For
Christ.
a. O. T. --- Psa. 73:12-13, "Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they
increase in riches. 13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in
innocency."
Mal. 3:14, "Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his
ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?"

120. b. N. T. --- Mark 8:38, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in
this adulterous and sinful generation: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when
he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
B. It is one thing for Christ to be Mocked By Unbelievers, but the Real Insult is that His
mocking should come From His Own Children.
1. Although unbelievers have undertaken to mock, ridicule and scorn Christ, Only
Believers Are Truly Capable of Shaming Him Through Renunciation.
2. We wave a White Flag before the world --- "Christ Cannot Provide For or Satisfy Me!"
6:7-8, "For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth
herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which
beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."
A. Just as God Expects Fruit From The Land which has received His rain, so He Expects
Spiritual Fruit And Growth form those who have received His blessings.
1. In V. 7, the Rain-Soaked Ground represents Christians.
2. In V. 8, that Same Ground receives the Same Blessings but yields Thorns And Thistles
and is said to be "Worthless," "Disqualified," or "Cumbereth The Ground"
B. "Burning" conjures up the image of a fiery hell --- but instead, He is speaking of fire
which Purges and Refines.
C. But, if that doesn't work:
Luke 13:6-9, "He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the
dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and
find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him,
Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit,
well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."
D. Hebrews was addressing Jewish Christians who were facing Persecution from a Hostile
Roman Empire and also Angry Jewish Peers.
Paul had this same fear, that he would not be "Disqualified."
1 Cor. 9:27, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
John 15:1-6, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me
that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,

121. that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have
spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are
the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and
is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
E. There was a Strong Temptation to reject Christianity (and Christ) for an easier, familiar
lifestyle.
F. The sins that lead to --- "Impossible to renew them again to repentance" --- is the Last
Step before the "Sin Unto Death".
1 John 5:16, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and
he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death; I do not
say that he shall pray for it."
Heb. 10:28-30, "He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who
hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of
grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will
recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people."
6:9, "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany
salvation, though we thus speak."
A. There are Five Warning In Hebrews --- all of which seek to move believers on to
Maturity In Christ --- which God Expects of All Christians.
1. The Danger of Drifting (Heb. 1:1-2:4)
2. The Danger of Doubting (Heb. 3-4)
3. The Danger of Deformity (Heb. 4:14-6:20)
4. The Danger of Despising (Heb. 10:26-31)
5. The Danger of Denying (Heb. 12:12-29)
B. "Better Things" Can Only Come As We Heed God's Warning And Turn Unto Him.
Conclusion:
A. What about the word "IF"?

122. 1. Greek (parapipto) --- "If they shall fall away"
a. "If they shall fall away" is all translated from the one greek word, "parapipto".
b. J. H. Thayer, defines it as "In the Scriptures, to fall away (from the true faith): fom
Christianity, Heb. vi.6"
c. Spiros Zodhiates says, "To fall aside or away, err, stray, lapse. Used only in Heb. 6:6,
denoting a falling away, an abandonment. Some have suggested that this word and its noun
"paraptoma" (a lapse, error, wrong doing) indicate errors of weakness, faults or accidents
and do not represent deliberate, blameworthy or willful sin, contending that this would be
expressed by "parabaino", to willfully transgress. However, the usus loquendi of the words
(verb and noun) yield no such meaning but in every case signify deliberate acts of sin."
2. The New American Standard Bible, "and then have fallen away,"
3. 1901 American Standard Version, "and then fell away,"
4. The New American Bible, "and then have fallen away,"
5. It is hard today to find Christians Who Are Consistent in what what they believe and
teach:
What if you told your son/daughter that "IF" they disobeyed you that they would be
grounded for the next two weeks. They later disobey you and when you ground them
because of their disobedience, they answer and say: "But, Dad, you didn't say "WHEN" I
disobeyed, you said "IF" and that made it a Hypothetical Situation that could not happen.
I thought that you were merely trying to get your point across to me without any actual
punishment. Isn't that what you explained to me that Heb. 6:6 actually meant?"
B. What About:
1. 2 Chron. 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
2. 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
a. Remember, 2 Peter 1:20, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation."
b. All Scripture must be Interpreted In Light of Other Scriptures.
3. The Same God Who made the promises in 2 Chron. 7:14 and 1 John 1:9, also said:

123. Isa. 59:1-2, "Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear
heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
1 John 5:16, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and
he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not
say that he shall pray for it."
A. There are a number of Different Interpretations of Hebrews 6:4-7:
1. Calvinists teach that it is speaking of lost Jews who had Great Spiritual Light and
knowledge of Christ and salvation by grace but "Relapsed Back To The Law" before
becoming True Christians.
2. Arminians teach it is speaking of Christians who turned back to sin and "Lost Their
Salvation".
If this is true, then a person who was once saved and then lost it Could Never Be Saved
Again.
3. Others teach that it is speaking of a Hypothetical Situation that could never actually
happen --- To Prove the point that a True Believer Could Not Lose His Salvation.
a. Its purpose was to exhort believers to be obedient by showing the seriousness of denying
Christ.
b. However, Biblical Writers are Not given to the "Setting Up of Straw Men" and Fictitious
Situations.
c. Can you imagine God using a Deceitful , Fictitious, and Impossible, Hypothetical
situation to teach a Spirit Truth.
4. It is speaking of Christians who committed the sin that leads to becoming a "Castaway"
--- or the "Sin Unto Death".
B. In order to arrive at the truth, let's examine Heb. 6:4-9 in light of other Scriptures
because No Scripture Is of Private Interpretation.
2 Peter 1:20, "Know this first, that No prophecy of the Scriptures is of any Private
Interpretation."
C. We will find that Each Phrase in these verses present a Progressively Builds Upon The

124. Previous leading to a deeper experience of faith.
D. Also We Must Determine Who God Is Talking To --- Who These People Are --- They:
1. "... Restore Again To Repentance ..." --- Those who had previously "Repented".
a. Genuine Repentance is a turning:
(1) From the old way of life,
(2) Unto Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
b. Most Bible scholars agree that Repentance And Faith Goes Together. You cannot have
one without the other.
(1) However, some seem to make an Exception for this verse.
(2) Question: "Can You repent (turn from sin unto Christ) Without having placed your
faith in Christ?"
(3) 2nd Question: "If You Have place your faith in Christ, Are You Not Saved By Grace
Through Faith?"
2. "... Those Who Were Once Enlightened ..."
a. This term occurs again in 10:32 and can only refer to the "Saved".
Hebrews 10:32, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were
illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions;"
b. To be "Enlightened" (V. 32) corresponds to the experience of "Receiving The
Knowledge of The Truth" (V. 26).
c. Ephesians 1:17-18, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18 The eyes of
your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling,
and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,"
3. " ... Have Tasted of The Heavenly Gift ..."
a. Some have interpreted "Tasting" to refer to a Temporary or Superficial participation in
salvation.
b. However, the metaphorical usage of the verb "To Taste" does Not Warrant such an
interpretation.

125. c. The same word is used in 2:9 where Christ is said to have "Tasted Death" for us.
Hebrews 2:9, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should
taste death for every man."
d. Did Jesus only Temporary or Superficial "Taste Death" for us, was it a Shallow
Experience or was it:
Hebrews 10:10-12, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of
Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;"
e. "Heavenly Gift" is a Synonym For Salvation which God has bestowed upon us --- sent
down from heaven.
(1) If this "Heavenly Gift" comes as a results of "Being Enlightened" --- It must refer to
"Salvation".
(2) It is a Gift received Without Payment or recompense.
(3) The article is repeated, stressing the gift's Heavenly Origin and Supernatural
Character.
f. Westcott agrees, when he describes the gift as, "the divine life brought by Christ which is
only tasted in this age but will be fully realized in the coming age."
g. The Christian knows the Immeasurable Relief of experiencing the Free Gift of the
Forgiveness of God.
4. "... Were Made Partakers of The Holy Ghost ..."
a. You become "partakers of the Holy Ghost" by Reception or Importation of the Holy
Ghost.
b. The same term is use in 3:14 in reference to Christ.
Hebrews 3:14, "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence stedfast unto the end;"
c. Each phrase Progressively Builds upon the previous:
(1)Conviction and illumination (Enlightenment),
(2)Followed by conversion (the Heavenly Gift),

126. (3)The indwelling of the Holy Spirit (become Partakers of The Holy Ghost).
5. "... Have Tasted The Good Word of God ..."
a. "To Taste" implies to experience something in a manner that is Real and Personal.
b. The expression "The Good Word of God" is a synonym for "The Good News" which is
"The Gospel".
c. 1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
d. Refer back to comments under " ... have Tasted of The Heavenly Gift ...".
e. However, some, after tasting and being trained and instructed in doctrine and Christian
living, did Not Grow In The Grace And Knowledge of The Lord but rather turned back to
the world.
Heb. 5:12, "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need
of milk, and not of strong meat.."
6. "Have Tasted, The Powers of The World To Come"
a. "Powers of the age to come" is similar to the "Signs and Wonders … Various Miracles
… Gifts of The Holy Spirit" in Chapter 2, Verse 4.
b. These powers are associated with a Future Age even though they are tasted in the
Present Age.
c. Some believe that it refers to a "Supernatural Experience of Grace" Transforming Their
Character And Conduct --- However, this could only be a Secondary meaning if at all.
d. In the Bible, the Messiah is presented as one Who will:
(1) Shepherd God's flock in Strength (Mic. 5:4).
(2) Whose ministry will be accompanied by Miracles of Healing (Isa. 35:5-6, Matt. 11:5)
6:6, "... If ... they shall fall away,"
A. These are Not Empty Threats or "Scare-Tactics," --- they are Real Warnings of the
Serious Consequences for failure to progress in the Christian life --- given to real believers
facing real challenges.

127. 1. The writers purpose is to Move Christians on To Maturity And Obedience --- not
bringing shame upon Christ.
2. Hebrews speaks of the work of Sanctification, not the work of Justification.
B. If to "fall away" meant the Lost of Salvation, it would be Inconsistent With The Clear
Teaching of Other Scriptures.
1. Besides, this is a Deliberate Act --- something They Do, not something that is Done Unto
Them As Punishment for sin.
2. It would be as Impossible For An Unbeliever To Fall Away From A Faith They Never
Possessed as it would be impossible for Esau to trade away a birthright he did not own
(Heb. 12:16-17)
C. "To Sin" ….. "To Stray From The Truth or The Right Path" ….. "To Fall Away From
The Truth …"
D. Ezekiel uses the word to depict Israel's Unfaithfulness And Rejection of God For Other
gods. (Ezek. 14:13, 15:8, 18:24).
Many Christians Have Idols In Their Life.
E. This is an Act of Deliberate Rebellion against God.
1. A Willful Rejection of His Blessings --- and His Presence.
2. They not only had Withdrawn From The Influence of The Truth (Preaching of The
Gospel), they had Rejected The Truth Itself.
3. They had turned aside in order to Avoid Hardship And Persecution.
4. This made void (to the public) Christ power to transform the lives of Christians --- His
power to grant them victory in their daily lives …
F. These had ceased to make Progress In The Christian Life.
2 Peter 1:5-9, "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue
knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience
godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For
if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is
blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."
G. They could Expect Judgment to really happen and Not Merely A Hypothetical
Possibility.

128. 6:6, "… impossible … to renew them again unto repentance; …"
A. "Impossible" as some have taught, does Not mean "Very Difficult" --- It Means
Impossible.
Just as Esau could Not Regain His Birthright "though he sought it with tears," these will
be unable to find repentance because God Will Not Permit It.
B. To "Renew" means to "Restore" something to a former state or condition --- does Not
mean --- as some have assumed --- "Regeneration" or "Salvation".
C. It was Impossible for them to experience repentance and once again Enjoy A Vital Walk
With --- and Interact With Christ
1. They have reached a point where, Even If They might possibly Want To "Go On To
Maturity" (6:1), God Will Not "Permit" It (6:3)
2. Heb. 6:1, "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, and of faith
toward God." --- V. 3, "And this will we do, if God permit."
D. Christ prayed for those who crucified him at Golgotha, "Father, forgive them, for they
Know Not What They Do" (Luke 23:34). But Now There Is A Knowledge of the truth and
therefore a Greater Responsibility.
E. Now, Why Would God Not Permit It?
6:6, "… seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open
shame."
A. While their "Crucifixion" of Christ was Figurative ("to themselves"), it was Not a
Private act --- it involved Public Denial and Renunciation of the Saviour.
1. This is clear from the statement, "Put Him To Open Shame".
2. This shows the Shame and Contempt which these Christians Publicly Expressed For
Christ.
a. O. T. --- Psa. 73:12-13, "Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they
increase in riches. 13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in
innocency."
Mal. 3:14, "Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his
ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts?"

129. b. N. T. --- Mark 8:38, "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in
this adulterous and sinful generation: of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when
he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
B. It is one thing for Christ to be Mocked By Unbelievers, but the Real Insult is that His
mocking should come From His Own Children.
1. Although unbelievers have undertaken to mock, ridicule and scorn Christ, Only
Believers Are Truly Capable of Shaming Him Through Renunciation.
2. We wave a White Flag before the world --- "Christ Cannot Provide For or Satisfy Me!"
6:7-8, "For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth
herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which
beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned."
A. Just as God Expects Fruit From The Land which has received His rain, so He Expects
Spiritual Fruit And Growth form those who have received His blessings.
1. In V. 7, the Rain-Soaked Ground represents Christians.
2. In V. 8, that Same Ground receives the Same Blessings but yields Thorns And Thistles
and is said to be "Worthless," "Disqualified," or "Cumbereth The Ground"
B. "Burning" conjures up the image of a fiery hell --- but instead, He is speaking of fire
which Purges and Refines.
C. But, if that doesn't work:
Luke 13:6-9, "He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the
dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and
find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him,
Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit,
well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."
D. Hebrews was addressing Jewish Christians who were facing Persecution from a Hostile
Roman Empire and also Angry Jewish Peers.
Paul had this same fear, that he would not be "Disqualified."
1 Cor. 9:27, "But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."
John 15:1-6, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me
that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it,

130. that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have
spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are
the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and
is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
E. There was a Strong Temptation to reject Christianity (and Christ) for an easier, familiar
lifestyle.
F. The sins that lead to --- "Impossible to renew them again to repentance" --- is the Last
Step before the "Sin Unto Death".
1 John 5:16, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and
he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death; I do not
say that he shall pray for it."
Heb. 10:28-30, "He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who
hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant,
wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of
grace? 30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will
recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people."
6:9, "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany
salvation, though we thus speak."
A. There are Five Warning In Hebrews --- all of which seek to move believers on to
Maturity In Christ --- which God Expects of All Christians.
1. The Danger of Drifting (Heb. 1:1-2:4)
2. The Danger of Doubting (Heb. 3-4)
3. The Danger of Deformity (Heb. 4:14-6:20)
4. The Danger of Despising (Heb. 10:26-31)
5. The Danger of Denying (Heb. 12:12-29)
B. "Better Things" Can Only Come As We Heed God's Warning And Turn Unto Him.
Conclusion:
A. What about the word "IF"?

131. 1. Greek (parapipto) --- "If they shall fall away"
a. "If they shall fall away" is all translated from the one greek word, "parapipto".
b. J. H. Thayer, defines it as "In the Scriptures, to fall away (from the true faith): fom
Christianity, Heb. vi.6"
c. Spiros Zodhiates says, "To fall aside or away, err, stray, lapse. Used only in Heb. 6:6,
denoting a falling away, an abandonment. Some have suggested that this word and its noun
"paraptoma" (a lapse, error, wrong doing) indicate errors of weakness, faults or accidents
and do not represent deliberate, blameworthy or willful sin, contending that this would be
expressed by "parabaino", to willfully transgress. However, the usus loquendi of the words
(verb and noun) yield no such meaning but in every case signify deliberate acts of sin."
2. The New American Standard Bible, "and then have fallen away,"
3. 1901 American Standard Version, "and then fell away,"
4. The New American Bible, "and then have fallen away,"
5. It is hard today to find Christians Who Are Consistent in what what they believe and
teach:
What if you told your son/daughter that "IF" they disobeyed you that they would be
grounded for the next two weeks. They later disobey you and when you ground them
because of their disobedience, they answer and say: "But, Dad, you didn't say "WHEN" I
disobeyed, you said "IF" and that made it a Hypothetical Situation that could not happen.
I thought that you were merely trying to get your point across to me without any actual
punishment. Isn't that what you explained to me that Heb. 6:6 actually meant?"
B. What About:
1. 2 Chron. 7:14, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from
heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
2. 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
a. Remember, 2 Peter 1:20, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation."
b. All Scripture must be Interpreted In Light of Other Scriptures.
3. The Same God Who made the promises in 2 Chron. 7:14 and 1 John 1:9, also said:

132. Isa. 59:1-2, "Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear
heavy, that it cannot hear: 2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."
1 John 5:16, "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and
he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not
say that he shall pray for it."
7. SBC 4-6, “The Renewal of Those Who Fall Away.
The words of the Apostle in the text are very strong and very startling, and I can easily believe
that they have often caused pain and misgiving to Christian minds.
I. I conceive that in the text the Apostle is speaking of no less a sin than that of utter apostasy
from the Christian faith. The whole tenor of the epistle indicated an anxiety in the writer’s mind
lest those to whom he was writing should be deceived as to the greatness of their privileges as
Christians, and should be led to despise them. And if he had this fear, is it any wonder that he
should speak very plainly and boldly concerning the spiritual danger which those persons
incurred who had been baptised, and who fell away?
II. Allowing this, however, we are perhaps still inclined to think a passage harsh which declares
it impossible for a person who has fallen, no matter into what sin it may be, to be renewed unto
repentance. There is no such thing in the world, which Christ redeemed with His own most
precious blood, as a human soul who may not be saved from the wrath of God if only he be
willing to be saved; and if in any case there is an impossibility, it is an impossibility of man’s
own making, and not one arising from the decree of Him who wills not the death of a sinner. The
Apostle did not mean to imply that God would mark with unavoidable damnation those who had
apostatised from the faith of Christ once professed; but he did mean to warn his disciples that
apostasy involved such an awful fall, resulting as it did, and casting shame upon the sacred
sufferings of Christ, holding up with ridicule to the scoffing enemies of our Lord that cross
whereby they professed to have been saved, that any one who did so turn his back upon Christ
would find, to his cost, that to return to the place from which he had fallen would require little
short of a miracle. Impossible it would not and could not be to God, but practically so
improbable was it that any one who so fell would ever rise again, that it was only charitable to
speak in the strongest terms imaginable of the danger incurred, and the consequent necessity of
steadfastness in the faith.
Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons, vol. iii., p. 368.
Falling Away from Christ.
There is no passage in the whole Bible of which the cruel enemy of souls has taken so much
advantage as this. Tertullian tells us, that because of these verses the Church at one time
rejected the whole Epistle to the Hebrews, and denied its inspiration so fearful and so contrary
to the general spirit of God’s words did they consider them. And at this moment it would be
affecting to count up all the real children of God who are being made absolutely miserable, and
who are in danger of letting go all their confidence and all their hope, simply because of these
terrifying words.

133. I. Let us endeavour to distinguish between what it is to "fall" and what it is "to fall away." To fall
is to pass into a state of sin after we have once known the grace of God. And it is of two kinds.
Sometimes it is a gradual declension, an almost imperceptible shading off into a cold, prayerless
frame of mind. When Christ is not in the heart, and the heart is not in Christ—that is a fall, a
deep, dangerous fall. That was the fall of Laodicea. Sometimes a fall is a rapid rush down a
precipice into an act, or even into a habit, of positive sin. That was David’s fall. Now God forbid
that we should hide or extenuate the amazing peril of either of these two states; for both lie in
the road which leads on ultimately to reprobation. But still in neither of these states has the soul
yet fallen away.
II. To fall away is to go on in sin till you let Christ go altogether. It is to cease to acknowledge
Him to be a Saviour at all. It is to be in the state of deadly hatred to Jesus Christ that we would
rather He did not exist; and if we had the opportunity, we could do exactly what the Jews did, so
hateful is He to us. To fall is to offend God; to fall away is to abandon God. To fall is to sin, and
be unhappy; to fall away is to sin and be happy. To fall is to leave Christ; to fall away is to forsake
Him for ever. To fall is accompanied with a secret hope and wish and intention to come back
again; to fall away is to be resolute that you will never return. To fall is the act of a deceived
heart; to fall away is the perversion of the whole man. To fall is guilt; to fall away is apostasy.
J. Vaughan, Fifty Sermons, 5th series, p. 125.
References: Heb_6:4-6.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ii., No. 75; T. B. Dover, A Lent Manual, p.
149.
Hebrews 6:4-20
Exhortation.
I. The danger of apostasy. The Hebrews had become lukewarm, negligent and inert; the Gospel,
once clearly seen and dearly loved by them, had become to them dim and vague; the persecution
and contempt of their countrymen, a grievous burden under which they groaned, and with
which they did not enjoy their fellowship with the Lord Jesus. Darkness, doubt, gloom,
indecision, and consequently a walk in which the power of Christ’s love was not manifest,
characterised them. What could be the result but apostasy? Forgetfulness must end in rejection,
apathy in antipathy, unfaithfulness in infidelity. The whole Church of God, as an, actual,
outward and visible community, even the innermost circle of Apostles, and still more the
innermost sanctuary—the heart of the chosen believers—must be constantly kept in the attitude
of humble watchfulness, and we must continually remember that faith is in life.
II. The children of God are born again of incorruptible seed, and they can never die. They that
believe in Jesus, who really, and not in word only, trust in the Saviour, are born of God, and they
cannot sin, because the seed of God abideth in them. The severe rebuke of the Apostle ends in
words of strong encouragement. Fulness of hope is to characterise the believer. To look unto
Jesus only, to see Him as our light and life, our righteousness and strength, is the fulness of
faith; and to wait for the fulfilment of the promises at the coming of our Lord Jesus is the fulness
of hope.
A. Saphir, Lectures on Hebrews, vol. i., p. 308.

134. 8. COFFMAN 4-6, “It is astonishing to behold the lengths to which people have
gone in their writings to diminish the plain import of these words. The
Calvinistic concept of the impossibility of apostasy, or the final perseverance
of the saints, has always been nothing but a delusion. All efforts to resolve
the matter by the judgment upon apostates to the effect that they were
never really converted fail in the light of this passage, where there can be no
doubt of the true conversion of them that later fell away. As Bruce noted,
the passage can be abused in two ways. He said,
This warning has both been unduly minimized and unduly exaggerated ... (as by
them that say) the sin in question cannot be committed today ... The warning of
this passage is a real warning against a real danger ... On the other hand, our
author's meaning can be exaggerated to the point of distortion when he is
understood to say that for sins committed after baptism there can be no
repentance. F5
The most difficult word in this passage is "impossible," which seems to
perplex most of the writers. Macknight wrote that "The apostle does not
mean that it is impossible for God to renew a second time an apostate; but
that it is impossible for the ministers of Christ (to do so)." F6
Allow that God
might indeed do what is here called impossible does no violence to truth,
since all things are possible with God, except that he should lie or deny
himself; and if the renewing of an apostate is not an action included in that
exception, it would, of course, be possible with God. But the practical
impossibility still stands; and it appears likely that the state here described
as "impossible" of renewal should be identified with the "eternal sin" of Mark
3:28. Barmby noted this, saying,
The correspondence between the state here described and the consequence of "the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" suggests itself at once; our Lord's words, in
speaking of that unpardonable sin, being rightly supposed to point to obduracy in
spite of experience of the Holy Spirit's power. F7
AN ETERNAL SIN
A careful reading of Mark 3:28 and context reveals that the blasphemy
against the Holy Spirit is designated as "an eternal sin," thus one of a class
of sins that are called eternal and which are without forgiveness. In addition
to the scripture before us, there are other New Testament passages bearing
upon this important matter. The Thessalonians were warned, "Quench not
the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19); the pleasure lover was described as
"dead while she liveth" (1 Timothy 5:6); willful sin after knowledge of the
truth results in there being "no more a sacrifice for sin" (Hebrews 10:26,27);
"there is a sin unto death" (1 John 5:16) for which there is not even any
need or commandment that people should pray; certain Corinthians were

135. spoken of as being in a state of "sleep" (1 Corinthians 11:30); and Peter
described a certain condition as being worse than lost (2 Peter 2:20,21); and
the only condition that can answer to such a description is one from which
recovery is impossible. All of these words of the Holy Spirit, and including
the strong words of the Saviour (Mark 3:28), speak of a condition from
which there is no recovery in this life or in the one to come. Yet in spite of
terrible warning uttered here, no morbid fear should be allowed to fasten
upon the soul as a result. What is spoken of may be simply stated as
spiritual death, having its everyday counterpart in physical, or natural death.
Once a man is truly dead, life cannot be breathed again into his body, death
being final. Just so, once a Christian quenches the sacred Spirit within his
soul, that too is final, the destiny of that soul being then and there fully
determined.
What then is THE SIN that can cause so fatal and final a result? The answer
is ANY SIN engaged in, loved, and preferred over fellowship with God. The
sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was the sin judged by Jesus to have
been terminal with the Pharisees; but in making it "an eternal sin," Jesus
clearly made room for the view that other sins as well could be just as
disastrous. The unpardonable or eternal sin is thus any sin that results in the
death of the spiritual life; and therein lies the danger of all sin. The
counterpart is in the physical world where the fatal disease is the one
inscribed on the death certificate and which varies with all kinds of
circumstances. The Christian attitude toward sin should therefore be like
that of a mother's concern over any threatened danger to a child. What
mother could be indifferent to a splinter in her child's knee? She is aware
that POTENTIALLY death is involved; and just so the Christian should move
against the sin, no matter how slight or inconsequential it might appear. The
paranoic fear that some feel in thinking that they might have committed
such a sin is unjustified as revealed by the analogy in the natural realm. No
person physically dead is concerned about his condition. Thus, no person
whose life has already been severed eternally from God could have any
feeling of guilt, remorse, or anxiety. "Dead while living" is the apt
description.
Fortunately for all people, the spiritual life is quite persistent and hardy; and
it may be that relatively few even of those most hardened rebels against
God, have actually gone so far as to reach the "impossible" state. Peter's
description of the condition, cited above, does not affirm that those "who are
entangled" in sins are in that "worse" state, but those who "are again
entangled and OVERCOME."
Then, O child of God, keep the holy fire alive. Just as the vestal virgins of
the ancient Roman temple guarded the holy fire with their lives and constant

136. vigilance, so Christians should alertly mind the sacred flame of the Holy
Spirit within their hearts.
And then fall away
poses the question of the true conversion of those that fell; were they really
and truly born again Christians, or were they in some vital manner deficient,
either of true faith or of possession of the Holy Spirit? The more one studies
this passage, the more it comes through as absolutely certain that those
who, in this instance, are spoken of as falling away, were at first good
Christians, genuinely converted, enlightened, partakers of the Holy Spirit,
and having tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the age to
come! If such a description as this does not indicate a truly converted
Christian, as distinguished from one who is not really so, it would be
impossible to imagine just how it could done at all.
The only thing one needs to give up in order to understand this is Calvinism;
and why should any concern be felt over such a speculation as that of
Calvin? Angels of God sinned and were cast out of heaven (Jude 1:6; 2 Peter
2:4); Judas, an apostle, fell, and a genuine apostle at that, one who was
commissioned to cast out evil spirits and raise the dead (Matthew 10:1-7);
even THAT apostle "by transgression fell" (Acts 1:25); and all of the
repeated warnings of the holy scriptures against falling - what are those, if
they are not stern words designed to keep people back from real dangers? If
not what could be their purpose? "Wherefore let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).
Despite the obvious truth, the bias of Calvinism is discernible in half the
commentaries one may read on this passage. Hardly any passage of the
New Testament having any bearing on the question has escaped some
subtle distortion or outright contradiction. Thus, it is attempted to make out
that Judas was never "truly" an apostle, overlooking the fact that one cannot
possibly "fall" from an eminence that he has not attained. Again, Simon the
sorcerer is usually represented as not having been actually converted; and
to support it, the word of Peter to him are sometimes amended to read,
"thou art STILL in the gall of bitterness" etc. (Acts 8:23), notwithstanding
the colossal fact that the word "still" is not in the text; and not even the
present tense is in it, as a glance at the Greek margin will show; for Peter's
words were actually, "thou WILT BECOME gall of bitterness," etc. And as for
the question of Simon's being saved or not, Christ said, "He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved"; and the inspired writer of Acts said, "Simon
also himself believed and being baptized," etc. (Acts 8:13). Was he saved? If
the word of God is true, he was saved.

137. 9. BI, “The powers of the world to come
That is to say, belonging to, and operating from, that world which, as to us, is” to come,” though
now existing.
And by “ powers,” we easily understand forces, energies, agencies, influences, virtues, and these
in action upon their proper subjects. Now, we are subjects to be acted upon. Our nature has
almost its whole exercise, we might almost say the verification of its existence—in being acted
upon, by influences and impressions, from things extraneous to it. “The powers of the world to
come.” There is one pure, salutary, beneficent order of influences, tending to work the absolute,
supreme, eternal good of our nature. But it confounds the mind to reflect what proportion this
class of influences bears to others, in the actual operation on mankind. This world, too, has”
powers,” which it exerts, we do not say in rivalry with the “powers” of the other, but with a
fearful preponderance of efficacy. ]s it not as evident to our view as the very face and colour of
the- earth, that incomparably a greater proportion of human spirit and character is conformed
to this world than to the other? That “world to come” comprehends the sum, the perfection of
everything, the sublimest, the best, the happiest. But what is it all to me? I feel no congeniality
nor attraction. But is not this a lamentable and fearful state for the soul to be in? But what is to
be done? What but to implore that “the powers of the world to come” may be brought upon us
with irresistible force? and that we should make earnest efforts, if we may express it so, to place
ourselves exposed to them? This is to be done in the way of directing the serious attention of the
mind to that world. Let us fairly make the trial—what agency,, what influences, that world can
convey upon us. The proof of its influential power has been displayed on very many, in effects
the mesh salutary and noble. One of these effects is, that it causes the unseen to predominate in
our minds over what is seen; the future over the present; add these are great and admirable
effects. From that world come the influences to fix and keep us in one great sovereign purpose of
life, and that a purpose high above all the mere interests of this world. From that world comes
the enlightening and active principle which at once exposes the nature of sin, and renders and
keeps it odious to the soul. From that world comes the supporting, animating power for
endurance of the ills of life, and for overcoming the tear of death. They are “powers” of influence
which all the best beings conspire to send. For even the d, parted saints are placed, as it were, in
combination with God, the Mediator, and the angels, in sending a beneficent influence on us
below—by their memory—by their examples—by their being displayed to our faith as in a blissful
state above—and(we may believe,) by their kind regard and wishes for those below. And good
and wise men have thought it not irrational to suppose that they may sometimes even be
employed in real, actual ministries here on earth. These “powers” of the other world we are
regarding chiefly under the character of influences, proceeding at the will of God, and conceived
as exclusive of personal agency. But far oftener than we suspect there may be the interventions,
though invisible, of such an agency. All these “powers,” these forces of influence, are sent,
throng), the medium, and in virtue of the work, of the Mediator, and bear in them a peculiar
character derived from Him. (J. Foster.)
The powers of the world to come
One of the popular names for Messiah among the Jews was, “The coming one.” “He that should
come “ we have rendered it in our version. In like manner, the entire order of things, here and
hereafter, which the Messiah was to introduce, they called “The world to come.” “The powers of
the world to come, “were the Divine energies, truths, and influences brought into operation by
the Lord Jesus Christ.
I. SINLESSNESS IS ONE OF “THE POWERS OF THE WORLD COME.” None of the woe of evil
is there. Above, purity is unimpeded and its joy suffers no eclipse.

138. II. AN UNSUFFERING AND DEATHLESS FUTURE IS ONE OF “THE POWERS OF THE
WORLD TO COME.” Before we reach that world, the burdens of this will have been laid down.
There activity will no more fatigue. None shall sit down and brood over anxious thought and
wearing toil which have left only failure and wreck behind.
III. ETERNITY IS ONE OF “THE POWERS OF THE WORLD TO COME.”
1. Eternity is the name for all that is great. Eternity is the realm of all things vast and
wonderful. So, whatever a godly man does for eternity, must be great. Whatever in the
Christian life pertains to eternity, partakes of its grandeur and sublimity. The Son of God
filled earthly duties with heavenly motives, and linked the fleeting moment and the
transitory deed to the grandeur of eternity.
2. But to the eternal world, as well, we ascribe stability. It is the realm where all things abide,
No abandoned palaces are there, no prostrate temples. No flower weeps upon a grave, no
verdure fringes the rents of gaping tombs.
3. Eternity is not only inseparable from greatness and stability, but it is the theatre of
progress. There souls ever grow. Intellect, heart, character, knowledge, love, power, never
halt.
IV. GOD IS THE GREAT “POWER OF THE WORLD TO COME.” What has been the most
ardent aspiration of the righteous in every age? Has it not always been, to see God? to stand in
His presence? to realise His contact with the soul? Lessons:
1. You must have strong faith in “ the world to come,” if its realities are to be “powers” to
your souls. It is not an easy attainment. It demands industrious culture.
2. One great end of the life, sufferings, resurrection, and ascension of our blessed Lord, was
to make the verities of “the world to come” “powers” to the mind and conduct of men. All the
tender memories of Gethsemane and Calvary centre in His risen and living person, to allure
the affections and uplift the aspirations of the holy to the skies.
3. Oh, ye who are heated in the chase for riches and honour, worldly fame and earthly
enjoyment, walk out to the hallowed lights of eternity, as men at eventide cool their feverish
pulses beneath the heavens when the hot sun has gone down and the stars shine forth. Act
with an awakened consciousness of your immortality, live for eternity, realise the everlasting
years which stretch before you. Among the ruins of Petra there are temples and mansions
excavated in the faces of the rocks. Some, massive in their proportions and elaborate in
embellishment, are unfinished. What an exquisite perfection the artificer would have given
to his work, if informed beforehand that the monuments of his skill would survive all these
long centuries, and be numbered among the wonders of the world! Christian men and
women, let your souls be aglow with the inspiration and ardour of working for eternity, and,
when this is over and the hour of rest shall come, going home to meet the approbation of
your God. (H. Batchelor, B. A.)
The influence of futurity
There can be no doubt that the apostle here marks out as a possible thing, the making great
apparent progress in religion, and then of so offending, as to be finally excluded from the
mercies of the gospel. The parties, of whom the apostle speaks, are such you see as have “ tasted
the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come.” There is no difficulty as to the
meaning of “Tasting the good Word of God.” You all understand the words to denote an
appreciation of the beauty and excellence of the gospel, and, therefore, the feeling its
suitableness, and receiving it with delight in the soul we are very much struck with this

139. expression, and greatly wish to make you conscious of its energy. We desire, if it be possible,
that you should all understand how the invisible world comes out, as it were, from its
impenetrable secrecy, and operates on those who feel themselves strangers upon the earth; and
we desire yet further, that every one of you should learn that there is such a thing as anticipating
the future; ay, and that there may be experienced on this side of the grave so much of the
wretchedness, as well as of the gladness, which shall enter into everlasting portions, as justifies
the assertion that the powers of eternity are already brought to bear on mankind. Take two
cases—consider, in the first place, how the powers of the world to come are tasted by a man in
the season of conversion; in the second place, how they may be tasted in the continued
experience whether of the godly or of the wicked. It is surprisingly strange, and would be wholly
inexplicable if we did not know how man’s powers were disordered by the fall, that beings who
have a thorough persuasion of their deathliness, can go on, day after day, and year after year, as
though certain that the soul would die with the body. This is, perhaps, the strongest of all
demonstrations, that our powers have been shattered and perverted through some great moral
catastrophe; for in this it is that man offers a direct insult to himself as a rational being, acting
with a fatuity and short-sightedness that could only have been expected from the inferior
creation. And hence the chief matter, in working upon men as the recipients of moral
impressions, is to rouse them to the feeling themselves immortal. The world which now is,
exerts incessant power over all of us: persuading us, by the objects which it presents, and the
duties which it imposes, to give our toil and our industry to certain pursuits and occupations.
And the world which is to come will exert the very same kind of power if it can only gain our
belief and attention, so that it may set forth its objects with the duties which their attainment
demands. The man, therefore, who is in earnest as to the saving of the soul, is not a man within
whom has been implanted a new principle of action; he is rather one in whom a principle of
action, vigorous from the first, but contracted in its range, has received a fresh direction, so that
in place of limiting itself to the brief stage of human existence, it expatiates over the whole,
providing for the distant as well as for the near. Here, then, it is that you have the general case of
the putting forth of the powers of the world to come. You observe one man, and you perceive
that he is giving his whole energy to the things of time and sense; you observe another man, and
you perceive that, though not neglectful of providing for the present, his main labour is
employed on securing his welfare in an invisible but everlasting state. The difference between
these men is, therefore, the one has received his impulse from the world which is; the other,
from the world which is to come. The one has submitted himself to no powers but those wielded
by things which are seen and temporal, whereas the other is obedient to the powers put forth by
the things that are unseen and eternal; the one is no consciousness of belonging to more than
one world; the other is practically persuaded that he is a citizen of two worlds. Ay, there hath
risen before the man who is gathering eternity within range of his anxieties, the image of himself
as inextinguishable by death; but thrown without a shred and without a hope on scenes whence
he cannot escape, and for which he cannot then provide, and this has roused him. But the force
of this expression, “tasting the powers of the world to come,” will be far more apparent if you
consider the men as acted on by the communications of the gospel. We are sure of any one of
you who has been translated out of darkness into marvellous light, that he must have had at
times a sense of God’s wrath, and of the condemnation beneath which the human race lies, such
as has almost overwhelmed him, and made him feel as though the future were upon him in its
terrors. He has risen as though the avenger of blood were just crossing his threshold, he has not
tarried, he has not turned either to the right band or to the left, but has gone straightway to the
one Mediator between God and man, and cried for mercy passionately, as a condemned criminal
would plead for his life. And whence this energy? Why, when every other beneath the same roof,
or in the same neighbourhood, is utterly indifferent, moved with no anxiety as to death and
judgment—why has this solitary individual who has no greater stake than all his fellows in
futurity, started up with irresistible vehemence of purpose, and given himself no rest till he has

140. sought and found acceptance with God? We reply at once, that he has been made to “ taste the
powers of the world to come.” The world which now is arraying before him its fascinations; the
world which is to come arraying before him its punishments. The one put forth its influence in
the objects of sense; the other put forth its influence through the objects of faith. The one
solicited him by the wealth and the revel; but the other threatened him with the fire and the
shame. The one used its power of ministering to carnal passions; the other asserted its power of
making those passions our tormentors; and the future has carried it over the present. Nor is this
all. We should convey a most erroneous impression in regard to the process of conversion, if we
represented it as carried on exclusively through a terrifying instrumentality. If one man is
driven, so to speak, to God, another may be drawn; the promises of the gospel being more
prominently employed than the threatenings. For we may rather say, in the majority of cases,
and perhaps in all, conversion is brought about through a combination of agency; the coming
wrath being used to produce fear and repentance, and the provided mercy to allay anxiety,
encourage hope, and confirm in holiness. We cannot imagine a converted man who has never
dreaded the being lost; neither can we imagine one who has never exulted in the prospect of
heaven. And though fear or joy may predominate according to circumstances, which we need
not attempt to define, we may venture to speak of conversion as a process through which man is
alike made to feel that he is a fallen creature doomed to destruction, and a redeemed creature
admissible into glory. He is as much acted on by promises as by threatenings; he does not take
half the Bible, but places as much faith in declarations which speak of honour and peace and
triumph made accessible to man, as in others which set forth the fact, “that the wicked shall be
turned into hell, and all the people that forget God.” And is it not then certain that the world to
come brings to bear upon him its instruments of happiness as well as its instruments of
vengeance—that the future in struggling into the present, is equally energetic and equally
influential, if regarded as the scene in which the good shall be rewarded, or considered as
charged with the overthrow of the reprobate? And if therefore you can say of the converted
individual, surveying him merely as one who is moved by great and impending destruction, that
he manifests the having imbibed the influences of another state of being, will you not make a
like statement when you regard him as animated by the hope of pleasures stored up at the right
hand of God? And what is this, inasmuch as in the invisible world are the magazines of Divine
retribution, so that the powers with which it is replete, are those of exacting the penalty of crime,
and rewarding the efforts of obedience? what, I ask you, is this but saying of an individual—“He
hath tasted the powers of the world to come “? And now let us consider how the powers of the
world to come may be tasted in the continued experience, whether of the godly or of the wicked.
For we may be persuaded, that through not endeavouring to bring the future into close
connection with the present, or rather through not regarding the future as in every sense the
continuation of the present, men strip the realities of another state of much of that influence
which they must otherwise have. We put it to yourselves to decide, whether you are not
accustomed to place, as it were, a great gulf between the two states of being, to regard the
invisible as having few or no points in common with the visible? When heaven is mentioned,
there is ordinarily altogether an indefiniteness in your apprehension of its delights; and when
hall is mentioned, there is the like indefiniteness in your apprehension of its torments. You
consider, in short, that little or nothing can be ascertained in regard to the nature of future joy
and misery; they differ so widely from what now hear the names, that they must be felt before
they can be understood. But we hold it of great importance that men should be reminded that
whatever the changes effected by death and the resurrection, they will be identically the same
beings, with the same organs, the same capacities, the same in nature, though, we doubt not,
marvellously quickened and mightily enlarged. And if the grave shall give us up, the same,
except in the degree in which we can admit either happiness or misery, it is quite evident that
both heaven and hell may begin on this side eternity. There may be the commencement,
however vastly we come short of the consummation. It is in thorough consistency with this view

141. that the apostle speaks of men “ tasting the powers of the world to come.” It is not necessary that
they should die, and actually enter another world, before they can know anything of the powers
of that world. In their sohourning upon earth ere there hath passed on them aught of that
mysterious change through which the corruptible shall put on incorruption, they may have
acquired a degree of acquaintance with those powers—the power of making happy, the power of
making wretched. The evil man may have the commencement of an anguish, which shall be the
same in kind, though not to be compared in intenseness to that by which he shall be racked if he
die in impenitence. The righteous man may enjoy a peace and be elevated by a rapture which
shall be as an introduction to the deep tranquility and lofty ecstasy of the land in which the Lord
God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
The effect of realising “the powers of the world to come”
I. THERE WILL BE A REGULATING INFLUENCE UPON OUR PRESENT LIFE.
1. The inward life will become increasingly pure and holy.
2. The outward life will become increasingly human, just, unselfish.
II. THERE WILL. BE A SUSTAINING INFLUENCE. In times of despondency, sadness, loss,
and temptation, we shall bravely bear all, and wait for the “ eternal years.”
III. THERE WILL BE A RESTRAINING INFLUENCE.
1. Thoughts, motives, professions, deeds, will be kept in the right direction.
2. There will be no apostasy of heart or life. (James Foster, B. A.)
The world to come
The world to come. Is there indeed such a world? Is man to exist beyond the present life? No one
comes back from that future to tell us of it, and open to us its experience. To the natural eye
man’s life goes as does that of the beast; neither his life nor his death speaks anything more. Is
this all? Is there no more to man and no more for man than there is to and for the brute creation
around him?
I. Our intuitions give us answer. The Creator has given a voice to our soul. It tells us of
immortality. It creates the conviction of a “world to come.”
2. Also, man’s attributes give answer to these questions. Though in some things he is like the
brutes that perish, in many things he is most unlike them. In the wonderful gift of speech, in
the endowment of reason, in the possession of conscience, in the intelligent and holy
emotion of love, he belongs to another domain of being from that in which mere animals
have their existence. He is a moral being, and amenable to the bar of right and wrong. Can it
be that a being of such capabilities is the mere creature of a day? My whole being revolts at
such a conclusion.
3. But finally the Scriptures give answer to these questions.
4. This world to come is very near to us; to some of us oh how near! “The world to
come”—can we to-day make this real? Can we open our hearts and enfold the truth that this
“world to come” is a “world to come ‘ to you and to me? Let us bring it near, let us make it
personal. The Christian should be glad to do so; it will strengthen his faith, it will confirm his
hope, it will quicken his zeal, it will purify his love, it will wean him from this world, it will
lift up his life to nobler and holier experiences. (C. P. Sheldon, D. D.)

142. If they shall fall away
Spiritual declension and recovery
I. WHAT PERSONS HAS THE APOSTLE HERE IN VIEW? He enumerates respecting them a
variety of marks, which certainly belong to real Christians.
1. The first of these is, that they have been enlightened. As there are various kinds of
enlightening in visible nature, as by the sun, by the moon, and by lamps, so are there various
kinds of enlightening relative to the human soul. There are many persons who certainly
know what is the one thing needful, and what are the several stages on the road to heaven;
but they know it only from human instruction, and have their light at second or third hand.
Theirs is a moonlight, which neither warms nor fructifies; neither makes that which is dead,
alive, nor that which is withered, green. Such enlightening we may have, and yet be as far
from the kingdom of God as the most unenlightened heathen. There are others who show
that they partake of a better enlightening, and even of a kind of warmth accompanying it.
But they are excitable persons, who are easily moved at hearing of Christ, and the
experiences of His saving grace, and become, perhaps, irresistibly convinced that such things
are true. But should any of their lamps have burned down, or their oil have been spent, so as
to yield a fainter light, or those who carry brighter lamps happen to have withdrawn, then
are those persons as much in darkness again as ever; and this because they have not
cherished the true light in themselves. Now, neither this, nor the former class of persons,
does the Scripture call enlightened. It gives this name, not to those who receive their light at
second or third hand, but only to those who cherish within them a light which is received
immediately from Christ Himself; to those of whom it is written, “Awake, thou that sleepest,
and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” And this light pervades the soul
and spirit, “piercing even to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”; that is, it is a light which discovers to the
sinner his misery, and makes him feel it. And if we have been thus enlightened, then
doubtless we are children of God, and born of the Spirit.
2. The apostle further says, they “have tasted of the heavenly gift”; which is another
exclusive characteristic of true Israelites. This heavenly gift is no other than that spoken of
by our Saviour to the woman of Samaria.
3. Another mark attributed to them is, that they have been “made partakers of the Holy
Ghost”; and this surely will not allow us to remain uncertain what sort of persons the apostle
has in view. Who can doubt that they are children of God?
4. And that we might know that they have received the Spirit of God as aa earnest of their
salvation, it is added, that they “have tasted the good Word of God.” This expression clearly
intimates that they have experienced the Word of God in themselves as a good word; as a
word which takes the most kind and sympathetic part in whatever happens to us, or
oppresses us; as a word that has upon all occasions counsel and deliverance for us, and
stands by us in the most gracious manner with its light and healing balm.
5. And now for the last mark: they “have tasted the powers of the world to come.”
Understand by this expression whatever you can think of it as implying those outpourings of
grace which enable us to overcome the world and death; or, as implying a lively foretaste of
eternal joy, a powerful assurance of the final consummation, and of our being “ever with the
Lord”; or, as signifying our present triumphant elevation upon the wings of faith above time,
above all afflictions and crosses, above death, judgment, sin, and hell; or, understand
whatever as believers you please by these words—this you must allow, that St. Paul could

143. have had only children of God in his eye when he declares of them, that they “have tasted the
powers of the world to come.”
II. THE SPIRITUAL DECLENSION OF WHICH THE CHILDREN OF GOD ARE CAPABLE. St.
Paul then, speaking of children of God, and even of such as have gone on for a considerable time
in the way of salvation, and have attained maturity of growth and decision of character, says, “It
they shall fall away.” In strict language every fall is a falling away; for it is a temporary
forgetfulness and turning aside from Him who hath said, “Abide in Me.” But the Scripture
evidently makes a distinction between falling and falling away. In the 4th verse of the 5th
chapter of his Epistle to the Galatians we meet with persons who had fallen away. They had lost
the lively sense of their unworthiness and inability; and, instead of abiding implicitly at the foot
of the cross, so as to live upon grace and forgiveness alone, they had become bewildered with the
unhappy notion of being their own saviours and intercessors. “Ye did run well; who hath
hindered you that ye should no longer obey the truth? “ This was a falling away; a departure
from grace; it was an erring from the way of God’s children rote the way of self-righteous,
natural men; a virtual renunciation of Christ; a tacit declaration that they no longer needed
Him, and could do without Him. It was a depreciation of His precious blood; a contempt of His
sacrifice, and a rejection of His person: so that St. Paul could utter that reproach with the utmost
propriety and justice, Christ is again “ crucified among you.” But there is a falling away which is
more fearful still. Not only a falling away from grace into legal bondage, but a falling away into
lawlessness, or into a course without law altogether; a falling away from God to idols; from the
kingdom of heaven to the world; from the way of light into the way of the flash and of darkness.
This would seem hardly credible, did not sad experience show it to be true. Look at David at one
period of his life. But no, on David’s crime, dreadful as it was, we will not insist; it was rather an
awful fall than a falling away. Think then of Solomon, that precious man of God, that Jedidiah
from his cradle: observe him in his career; and how can you help shuddering? Twice does the
Lord appear to him, and give him a commandment not to walk after other gods 1Ki_3:14;
2Ch_7:12-22); but he obeys it not; he continues in his departure from Jehovah the God of Israel;
so that the Lord is obliged, at length, to come against him with the thunder and lightning of His
judgments. And, oh! how many of the children of God have brought upon themselves, in like
manner, His rebukes and visitations! How many, to whom the world had been already crucified,
have gone back again to the world!
III. THE WARNING GIVEN. Hearken to that awful thunder of the Divine oracle, which declares
that “it is impossible for those who were once enlightened,” &c. How terribly does this sound I
almost like, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his
angels.” And, indeed, it is evident at once how difficult must be the restoration of those who,
having taken root in a life of holiness, and having been blessed with sweet experiences of Divine
love, could, after all, have fallen away! Whoever is conscious that he is guilty of this, may well
tremble. The word “impossible” in our text is enough to fill him with horrible dread. And if so,
“Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall!” Let all of us watch and pray; let our
abiding station be ever at the foot of the cross. There let us lie down and take our rest; there let
us arise in the morning; there perform every duty of our daily life; there let us be formed, and
fixed, and live; there wait for the Bridegroom; there breathe bur last: so are we safe. (F. W.
Krummacher, D. D.)
The danger of apostasy from Christianity
I. THERE ARE THREE THINGS WHICH DISTINGUISH THE SIN HERE SPOKEN OF IN THE
TEXT FROM “THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY GHOST” DESCRIBED BY OUR SAVIOUR.

144. 1. The persons that are guilty of this sin here in the text are evidently such as had embraced
Christianity, and had taken upon them the profession of it; whereas those whom our Saviour
chargeth with “the sin against the Holy Ghost,” are such as constantly opposed His doctrine,
and resisted the evidence He offered for it.
2. The particular nature of “the sin against the Holy Ghost” consisted in blaspheming the
Spirit whereby our Saviour wrought His miracles, and saying He did not those things by the
Spirit of God, but by tie assistance of the devil, in that malicious and unreasonable imputing
of the plain effects of the Holy Ghost to the power of the devil, and consequently in an
obstinate refusal to be convinced by the miracles that He wrought; but here is nothing of all
this so much as intimated by the apostle in this place.
3. “The sin against the Holy Ghost” is declared to be absolutely “unpardonable both in this
world and in that which is to come.”
II. That this sin here spoken of by the apostle is NOT SAID TO BE ABSOLUTELY
UNPARDONABLE. It is not “the sin against the Holy Ghost”; and, whatever else it be, it is not
out of the compass of God’s pardon and forgiveness. So our Saviour hath told us, “that all
manner of sin whatsoever that men have committed is capable of pardon, excepting only the sin
against the Holy Ghost.” And though the apostle here uses a very severe expression, that “ if
such persons fall away it is impossible to renew them again to repentance,” yet there is no
necessity of understanding this phrase in the strictest sense of the word impossible, but as it is
elsewhere used for that which is extremely difficult. Nor, indeed, will our Saviour’s declaration,
which I mentioned before, that all sins whatsoever are pardonable, except “ the sin against the
Holy Ghost,” suffer us to understand these words in the most rigorous sense.
III. The sin here spoken of IS NOT A PARTIAL APOSTASY FROM THE CHRISTIAN
RELIGION BY ANY PARTICULAR VICIOUS PRACTICE, Whosoever lives in the habitual
practice of any sin plainly forbidden by the Christian law may be said so far to have apostatised
from Christianity; but this is not the falling away which the apostle here speaks of. This may be
bad enough; and the greater sins any man who professeth himself a Christian lives in, the more
notoriously he contradicts his profession, and falls off from Christianity, and the nearer he
approaches to the sin in the text, and the danger there threatened; but yet, for all that, this is not
that which the apostle speaks of.
IV. BUT IT IS A TOTAL APOSTASY FROM THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, more especially to
the heathen idolatry, the renouncing of the true God, and our Saviour, and the worship of false
gods, which the apostle here speaks of. And I doubt not but this is the sin which St. John speaks
of, and calls “the sin unto death,” and does not require Christians “to pray for those who fall into
it,” with any assurance that it shall be forgiven (1Jn_5:16).
V. We will consider the reason of the DIFFICULTY OF RECOVERING SUCH PERSONS BY
REPENTANCE.
1. Because of the greatness and heinousness of the sin, both in the nature and circumstances
of it. It is downright apostasy from God, a direct renouncing of Him, and rejecting of His
truth, after men have owned it, and been inwardly persuaded and convinced of it. It hath all
the aggravations that a crime is capable of, being against the clearest light and knowledge,
and the fullest conviction of a man’s mind, concerning the truth and goodness of that
religion which he re-nounceth; against the greatest obligations laid upon him by the grace
and mercy of the gospel; after the free pardon of sins, and the grace and assistance of God’s
Spirit received, and a miraculous power conferred for a witness and testimony to
themselves, of the undoubted truth of that religion which they have embraced. Now a sin of
this heinous nature is apt naturally either to plunge men into hardness and impenitency, or
to drive them to despair; and either of these conditions are effectual bars to their recovery.

145. 2. Those who are guilty of this sin do renounce and cast off the means of their recovery, and
therefore it becomes extremely difficult to renew them again to repentance. They reject the
gospel, which affords the best arguments and means to repentance, and renounce the only
way of pardon and forgiveness.
3. Those who are guilty of this sin provoke God in the highest manner to withdraw His grace
and Holy Spirit from them, by the power and efficacy whereof they should be brought to
repentance; so that it can hardly otherwise be expected but that God should leave those to
themselves who have so unworthily forsaken Him, and wholly withdraw His grace and Spirit
from such persons as have so notoriously offered despite to the Spirit of grace.
I shall now draw some useful inferences from hence by way of application, that we may see how
far this doth concern ourselves; and they shall be these.
1. From the supposition here in the text, that such persons as are there described (namely,
those who have been baptized, and by baptism have received remission of sins, and did
firmly believe the gospel, and the promises of it, and were endowed with miraculous gifts of
the Holy Ghost), that these may fall away—this should caution us all against confidence and
security; when those that have gone thus far may fall, “Let him that standeth take heed.”
2. This shows us how great an aggravation it is for men to sin against the means of
knowledge which the gospel affords, and the mercies which it offers unto them.
3. The consideration of what hath been said is matter of comfort to those who, upon every
failing and infirmity, are afraid they have committed “the unpardonable sin,” and that it is
impossible for them to be restored by repentance.
4. This should make men afraid of great and presumptuous sins, which come near apostasy
from Christianity; such as deliberate murder, adultery, gross fraud and oppression, or
notorious and habitual intemperance. For what great difference is there, whether men
renounce Christianity, or, professing to believe it, do in their works deny it?
5. It may be useful for us upon this occasion to reflect a little upon the ancient discipline of
the church, which in some places was so severe, as, in case of some great crimes after
baptism, as apostasy to the heathen idolatry, murder, and adultery, never to admit those that
were guilty of them to the peace and communion of the church. This, perhaps, may be
thought too great severity; but I am sure we are as much too remiss now as they were
over-rigorous then; but were the ancient discipline of the church in any degree put in
practice now, what case would the generality of Christians be in?
6. The consideration of what hath been said should confirm and establish us in the
profession of our holy religion. (Abp. Tillotson.)
The Palestinian apostates, and the impossibility affirmed of renewing them again
to repentance
Under a fierce, though—thanks to Roman supremacy—a bloodless persecution, the intensity of
which no one at all familiar with Jewish hate will be at a loss to realise, members of she churches
were falling away, first into backsliding, then into apostasy, to the extent of returning to their
temple service; and the difficulty of reclaiming them from amid those environments prompts the
apostle to impart to his warnings special potency and pungency.
I. Notice THEIR PREVIOUS CHARACTER AND POSITION. The state that preceded their
apostasy, if there be meaning in words, was that of actual conversion; and but for the exigencies
of a vicious creed no other idea would have been entertained. They were “ once enlightened”;

146. and the same word is used of them in the tenth chapter under the rendering “illuminated.” No
stronger expression could be used to denote conversion. “Once ye were darkness, but ye are now
light in the Lord.” Again, they are here affirmed to have “tasted of the heavenly gift,” which,
however it may be explained, it would be arbitrary in the extreme to understand as falling short
of salvation. The same remark applies to the next thing attributed to these apostates, “they were
made partakers of the Holy Ghost.” Full of the Holy Ghost we need not suppose them to have
been; but none the less does the expression denote the saving fruits of faith as contrasted with
the fruits of those that continue in the flesh. (Compare Gal_5:19-25; Ram. 5:5.) On the same
principle, consistency demands it at we explain the attribution—“they have tasted the good
Word of God,” in the spirit of David in such places as Psa_119:1-176., or of Jeremiah when he
sweetly says, “Thy Word was found of me, and I did eat it, and Thy Word was unto me the joy
and rejoicing of my heart.” “To the above tastings,” or spiritual experiences, the apostle adds
that those apostates h d “tasted the powers of the world to come”; or, as the expression means,
“the age to come.” This was the New Testament age, and had long been familiarly so
denominated. The word “power” is the same as that rendered “miracles” in Heb_2:4; and it is
here intimated, therefore, that the spiritual evidences and influences so grandly characteristic of
that period had previously operated their due effects on the minds and hearts of these apostates.
II. We now pass to THEIR PRESENT STATE—that of men who have apostatised.
1. The fact of their apostasy is expressly affirmed. They had “ fallen away.” Their fall, as we
shall see, would not be precipitate. The gradient of the downward path is at first exceedingly
imperceptible; it is not till a further stage down that it becomes recklessly headlong.
2. Let us now pass from the fact to the nature of their apostasy. It was a lapse from all the
Christian experiences above detailed, and that by a lapse from the source of these—namely,
faith, and from all the means by which we are enabled to “ stand fast in the faith.” This lapse
would be stealthy, and so in fact the word implies. It was probably no sudden flight, no leap,
no bound, no run, or even deliberate, walk, but a partially passive and insensible process of
“falling away.” Like the fleecy envelopment of air which, from its yielding nature, falls
behind in the diurnal revolution of our globe (causing our trade and oblique winds) such
retrogressors gradually yield to dragging influences and lag behind. First, the Bible is
neglected, then prayer, then family duty, then Christian converse, then Christian zeal in
every form, then the Sabbath, the sanctuary, and all the means of grace. At whose bidding?
we need hardly ask, seeing the seducers are legion. It may have been at the prompting of
Mammon, or of Belial, of vanity, or of pride. It may have been in the name of free thought,
under the license of free speech, or under the baser dictation still of indolence and cowardice
that shrink from encountering pain, and toil, and loss. Any way, the sphere of salvation in
the soul contracts and grows dim; the fruits of the new life shrivel up; the heart, now “ an evil
heart of unbelief, departs from the living God,” and day by day becomes “hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin.”
III. Let us now endeavour to understand Him: IMPOSSIBILITY HERE AFFIRMED Of again
renewing these recreants unto repentance. Be it noted in the outset, that vain is the attempt of
those who would substitute for the word “impossible” some milder translation, such as
“difficult,” or the like. In the original, just as in our version, the word incontrovertibly and
immovably stands “impossible.” But then the question is still left open to us—In what sense
impossible? First, and surely plainly enough, no suchthing as absolute impossibility is for a
moment to be thought of, for we are here in a far other sphere than that of strict omnipotence.
We are in the moral sphere; and in the moral sense only are we to understand the word
impossible. And even in that sense the impossibility lies not on the side of God, but wholly on
the side of man. How? Only in the moral sense; and in no such sense even of the moral kind as
need doom any apostate to despair, though certainly such as ought to make his ears tingle and

147. his knees tremble, and his frame shake and his heart quake. It was impossible to renew those
men, merely in the sense of Christ’s impossible, when He said, “How can ye believe, who receive
honour one of another?”—this state of mind, while it lasted, being a moral bar to their believing:
but then it had no need to last. It was impossible, in the sense in which we ourselves freely use
the word every day; as when we say, It is impossible to love this man, or hate that man, or to
respect or trust that other—that is, impossible only in the sense of being extremely hard or
difficult by reason of moral dispositions or circumstances; which moral causes, however, it is all
the time understood by us, it is quite in the power of the man concerned to alter or surmount, if
he choose.
IV. THESE MORAL CAUSES FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE, in the case of the apostates in my text, it
only remains that, in the last place, I now briefly explain. For very special they were, and
frightful in the extreme—amply sufficient, and more, to account for the very strong word
“impossible” which the inspired writer here employs. These singular causes are briefly but
expressively set forth in the appended reason, “seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
afresh, and put Him to an open shame.” They not only renounce Christ, they do it with every
circumstance of contumelious indignation and scorn. They re-enact for “themselves” what they
are now too late literally to join in—the crime and the jeering concomitants of the Saviour’s
crucifixion. This they do, not only in the arena of the inner spirit, but in open avowal, by
shamelessly homologating and glorying in the deed. They say, “though for a time deceived, we
now see that the deed was right.” They this gather into themselves the combined virulence of
both Jew and Roman; for while with the Jew they cry, “Crucify Him,” with the Roman they do in
effect “crucify Him,” so far as it is in them to re-enact the deed. And unlike that tumultuous
rabble, who were stirred into frenzy by their rulers, and borne many of them they knew not
whither, so that Christ affectingly said of them, praying, “They know not what they do,” these
apostates, on the contrary, re-enacted the crime deliberately, from amid the full flood of gospel
light, and life, and power, and after they them elves had tasted the sweets of gospel love. This,
the terrible attitude and its implications, were explanation enough of the word impossible, were
we to say no more. But to stop here would leave unexplained the fact, otherwise incredible, how
they could ever have been led to take such an attitude at all. This is the only thing further I have
to explain, and then the shadow over the word “impossible” will have deepened into the most
hopeless gloom. The explanation is to be found in the strongly marked peculiarities of the Jew,
and in the then conditions of social and religious life in Palestine. These were such as to leave no
neutral ground. A Jew’s wrath, in religious matters, easily intensifies to frenzied rage. Hence
their scorn of Jesus, their vindication of His death, their hate of all who bear His name, their
practice by spitting, gesticulation, or terms of execration, of blaspheming and cursing the Holy
One under the opprobrious name of “the Nazarene.” In such a state of society, to renounce
Christianity was not to lapse into negative indifference; for indifference or neutrality there was
none. It meant positively a return to Judaism; and to Judaism aroused awed armed in deadly
antagonism to Christianity. The process would be this. Expelled the synagogue, put under the
ban, disowned by their nearest, if they perished in clinging to the hated Nazarene in spite of the
entreaties, the tears, and ere long the curses of their kin, the Palestinian Christian would at first
waver, then absent himself occasionally from the Christian assemblies. Urged by his relatives,
the occasionally would become frequently, till, now fairly on the decline, he came to abandon
them entirely. And now the entreaties, the blandishments, the impassioned warnings would be
renewed. Let him only pass through the needful discipline and be welcomed anew into the
synagogue and into the bosom of his home. He does so: and the die is cast. To quit the church
for the synagogue was to pass from one hostile camp to another, with no intermediate resting
place or ground even for parley. It was to quit all Christian ordinances and restoring influences,
and to raise a brazen wall between. And it was to enter the synagogue to join the anti-Nazarene
crusade. The apostates, and with proverbially apostate zeal, now persecuted the faith they

148. formerly preached. In conclusion, there result two vitally important lessons, which we briefly
state in Scripture language.
1. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.”
2. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.” (T. Guthrie, D.
D.)
The sin of rejecting the gospel
That we may understand this Scripture, and make it unto us a good comfort, which might seem
otherwise a heavy threatening, let us consider in it these two things: first, the purpose of the
apostle for which he speaketh it, then themselves what they signify. The apostle’s purpose is to
stir us up, desirously to hear, diligently to learn wisely to increase in knowledge, and obediently
to practise that we have learned: for this purpose it was first spoken, to this end it is now
written.
1. The first mark of them is that they be lightened; that is, endued with the knowledge of
God, not only by the heavens, which declare His glory, nor by the firmament, which showeth
His work, nor by any of God’s creatures in which His eternal power and Godhead cloth
appear and shine, and of which light all nations are made partakers, but they are also
lightened with His holy Word, which is a lantern to their feet and a light unto their steps,
and have heard His gospel preached unto them, unto the which they have agreed that it is
the Word of Life.
2. The second note of them is, that they have tasted of the heavenly gift: the heavenly gift is
the life and great salvation that is in Christ Jesus, by whom we are reconciled, which likewise
our Saviour Christ calleth the gift of God, speaking to the woman of Samaria; and this is that
knowledge into which they are lighted by the gospel, and this they not only know, but of this
gift they have also tasted: which is, they have gladly some time received it, and rejoiced in it;
like as our Saviour Christ describeth them by the parable of the stony ground, that
incontinently with joy they receive the seed, and which also He noteth in the Pharisees,
speaking of John Baptist, which was a shining lamp among them, and they for a season did
rejoice in his light.
3. The third note of these men is, that they have been partakers of the Holy Ghost: which is,
that many graces of the Spirit of God have been given unto them, as these two above named,
that they are lightened with knowledge, and rejoice in their understanding, which is neither
of flesh nor blood, nor of the will of man, but of the Holy Ghost.
4. The fourth note is, that they have tasted the good Word of God, not much differing from
that He first spake of, that they were lightened, that is, that they had knowledge of God, not
only by His creatures, but much more by His Word. But here naming the good Word of God,
he noteth especially the gospel, by comparison with the law.
5. The fifth note here set forth is, that they know and confess that this gospel hath in the end
eternal life: and Christ is a mighty Saviour, who will keep for ever those whom He hath
purchased. And he nameth the world to come, because the Spirit hath lightened them to see
the latter end of this corruptible world, and to know assuredly that here they have no
dwelling city, but another habitation made for God’s chosen, not with mortal hands, but
everlasting in heaven, and calling it the powers, because it is made so strong in Christ Jesus,
that it can never be assaulted; for all power is given unto Him in heaven and in cart,, and He
hath made that heavenly city glorious for His saints throughout all worlds. And thus far of
the persons, what gifts they have received; wherein yet let us understand a great difference

149. between these men which fall away and the gifts which are in Gods elect that cannot perish,
nor ever sin against the Holy Ghost. Nosy let us see the manner of rebellion, how far they tall
away: first, we must observe what points the apostle hath before named. In the beginning of
the chapter he mentioneth repentance from dead works, faith towards God, the doctrine of
baptism, and laying on of hands, and resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment,
which here he calleth the beginning and foundation of Christian amity; then he speaketh of
an apostasy or falling away from all these points here named even from the foundation and
first beginnings of the Christian faith, so that all the former light is quite put out, and the
first understanding is all taken away; they laugh now at repentance, and the first faith they
account it foolishness. (E. Deering, B. D.)
What relapses are inconsistent with grace?
I. FOUR FALLS OF THE GODLY.
1. The first and lightest fall of the godly is that in their daily combat between flesh and spirit
(Rom_7:1-25; Gal_5:17). Our duties are imperfect, graces defective, our gold and silver
drossy, “our wine mixed with water.” Sin deceiveth, surpriseth, captivateth, slayeth, yet
reigneth not. These falls or slips are unavoidable and involuntary. There is no saint but
complains of them, no duty but is stained with them. In our clearest sunshine we see a world
of such motes, which yet hinder not the light and comfort of our justification, avid destroy
not sanctification. True grace consists with these; yea, is not separated from the assaults and
indwelling of such motions. “Will we, will we,” said Bernard, “we are pestered with swarms
of these Egyptian flies, and have these frogs in our inmost chambers.” This first fall is but
like the fall of a mist in a winter morning: the sun gets up, and it is a fair day after. This is the
first fall: the second is worse, which is
2. An actual and visible stumble as to offence of others, yet occasioned by some surreptitious
surprise of temptation, for want of that due consideration which we should always have: this
the apostle calls “ a man’s being overtaken with a fault,” who is “to be restored with a spirit
of meekness, considering we also may be tempted” (Gal_6:1). Such falls (or slips rather) all
or most are subject to (Jas_3:2). We sometimes trip, or slip, or “miss our hold,” and so down
we come, but not out of choice. Thus did Peter slip or halt, when he did Judaise out of too
much compliance with the Jews; whom therefore Paul did rebuke and rest- Gal_2:11;
Gal_2:14).
3. The third fall is much worse, “a fall from the third loft,” whence, like Eutychus, they are
“taken up dead” for the present; but they come to themselves again. These are falls into
grosser and more scandalous sins which do “set the stacks or corn-fields of conscience on
fire”; whereas the other two forenamed, especially the former, are such as Tertullian calls “of
daily incursion.” These are very dangerous, and befall, not all professors: (they had not
need!) but, now and then, one falls into some scandalous sin; but they not usually again into
the same sin after sense and repentance of it. Thus fell David and Peter into foul
flagitiousness, but not deliberately, nor totally, nor finally, nor reiteratedly. This fall is like
the fall of the leaf in autumn. Life remains safe; a spring in due time follows, though many a
cold blast first.
4. There is yet one worse fail than the former, incident to a child of God too—to be of the
decaying kind, and to remit and lose his former fervour and liveliness. And it may be he
never comes (as the second temple) up to the former pitch and glory (Ezr_3:12). Thus
Solomon’s zeal and love were abated in his old age. This is like the fall of the hair in aged

150. persons. Life yet remains; but strength, native beat, and radical moistness decay, and the
hair never grows alike thick again.
II. THE FOUR FALLS OF THE UNREGENERATE.
1. The first whereof is a final fall, but not a total at first, but insensible, by degrees,
“gradually and without perceiving it,” grow worse and worse; as the thorny ground, choked
with cares, or drowned with the pleasures of the world.
2. Some fall totally and finally, but not premeditately and voluntarily at first; but are driven
back by the lion of persecution, and tribulation in the way, and they retreat (Mar_4:17;
1Ch_28:9). This is like the fall of Sisera at the feet of Jael (Jdg_5:27).
3. Some more fearfully, totally, finally, voluntarily, deliberately, but not yet maliciously.
Thus Demas is supposed to fall, who, of a forward disciple or teacher, is said to have become
after an idol priest at Thessalonica. Thus fell Saul (1Sa_16:14).
4. The fourth and last fall follows, which is like the opening of the fourth seal, and the fourth
horse appears (Rev_6:8): when men fall totally, finally, voluntarily, and maliciously. Thus
Simon Magus, Julian the apostate, Hymenaeus, and Alexander, whose names are in God’s
black book. Here the gulf is fixed, and there is “no retracing of the steps” hence. These are
not to be renewed by repentance. This fall is like that of Jericho’s walls: they fell down flat
with a curse annexed (Jos_6:26); or as Babylon’s walls, with a vengeance (Jer_51:53-58);
both without hope of repairing: or like the fall of Lucifer the first apostate, without offer, or
hope of offer, of grace any more for ever: or like the fall of Judas, who, “fading headlong,
burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed Act_1:18).
III. THE MIXED FALL. There is also another kind of fall, of a mixed or middle nature; and to
which side of the two (godly or reprobate) I should cast it, is not so easy to determine. Relapses
into sin are like relapses into a disease after hopes and beginning of recovery.
1. This informs us that possible it is for men (yea, too ordinary) to fall from grace. We
wonder not to see a house built on the send to fall, or seed not having root wither, or trees in
the parched wilderness decay (Jer_17:6), or meteors vanish, or blazing stars fall, or clouds
without rain blown about, or wells without springs dried up. So, for hypocrites to prove
apostates is no strange thing, and utterly to fall away.
2. Even godly and gracious persons are subject to fall, and therefore must not be secure:
they must “ work out their salvation with fear and trembling” (Php_2:12) They are bidden to
“fear lest they should fall short” (Heb_4:1): “stand fast” (1Co_16:13): “take heed lest they
fall” (1Co_10:12): “look diligently lest any fail of,” or “fall from” (so is the other reading) “the
grace of God” Heb_12:15): “ take the whole armour of God, that they may he able to stand”
(Eph_6:13).
3. Yet a truly regenerate soul, a plant of God s planting by the waterside, a plant or graft
grafted into Christ, and rooted in Christ, can never fall away totally or finally: Peter could
not, when Christ prayed for him: the elect cannot (Mat_24:24).
1. This text is thunder and lightning against apostales.
Awake, you drowsy professors! There is no sin like apostasy: adulteries, manslaughter, theft,
idolatries, &c., nothing to this.
2. This speaks terror to professors fallen, or lying in scandalous sins.—You cannot sin at so
easy a rate as others. You know your Master’s will, and do it not, therefore ye “shall be
beaten with more stripes” (Luk_11:47). You are as a city set on a hill. Your fault cannot be
hid, no more than an eclipse of the sun.

151. 3. Terror to such as, after conviction and engagements under affliction and distress, after
some prayers, vows, and a begun or resolved reformation, return to former courses.—As
they, after what they promised in their distress, returned when delivered, and started aside
like a broken bow Jer_34:15-16). The new broom of affliction swept the house clean for the
present; but afterwards the unclean spirit returns, and this washed sow is wallowing in the
mire again.
4. Terror to such as lapse and relapse into the same sin again.—As Pharaoh, Jeroboam, and
those antichristian brood which repented not Rev_9:20-21). Notwithstanding all judgments,
convictions, confessions, promises, they go from evil to worse, from affliction to sin; from sin
to duty, and from duty to sin; repent and sin, sin and repent Jer_9:3); and from repenting of
sin in distress, go to repent of their repentance when delivered.
Discrimination.
1. There are some who have fallen into foul sins; and they think their case desperate, because
of the greatness of their sins. But their sin is not the sin against the Holy Ghost, because not
committed after light, taste, partaking of the Holy Ghost. &c., but in the days of their
ignorance, as Paul mice. Some fall foully after conversion, as Peter, but not deliberately,
maliciously; and both these may be the spots of children: they see “the plague” in their heart
(1Ki_8:38), feel the smart. These have foul scabs; hut they go to Jordan and wash, go to “ the
fountain opened for sin and uncleanness”; and then “though their sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow; though red like crimson, they shall be as white as wool” Isa_1:18).
2. There be some relapses through human infirmity, which are truly bewailed. This is not the
sin against the Holy Ghost neither.
3. But there are others that make a trade of sin, “drink up iniquity like water,” that “add
drunkenness to thirst,” and fall and rise, and rise and fall: they lapse and relapse, and slide
away as water
Shall I say such shall have peace? Not What peace to such so long as their sins remain? I shall, to
conclude, give a few short directions, to prevent falls and relapses, but cannot now enlarge upon
them.
1. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation (Mat_26:41).—Watch in prayer, watch
after, watch when alone, watch when incompany, especially against ill company and all
occasions of sin.
2. Keep conscience lender, and shun the first motions and occasions of sin.—“If thou find
thyself given to appetite, put a knife to thy throat”, is thewise man’s counsel; if to wine,
“hook not on the glass”; if to wantonness, “come not near her corner.”
3. Take heed Of having slight thoughts of sin.—As to say, “As long as it is no worse”; “It is the
first time”; “It is but now and then a great chance, when I meet with such company”; and
many have such foolish pleas, and so play at the mouth of the cockatrice’s den till they are
stung to death.
4. Take heed of having light thoughts of God’s mercy.—“When sin abounds, grace
superabounds,” &c. The Lord saith, He “will not spare” such, nor be merciful to them.
5. Take heed of reasoning from God’s temporal forbearance, to eternal forgiveness.
6. Take heed of presuming of thy own strength: “I can, and I mean to repent; I can when I
will, and I will when time serves. I trust I am not so bad, that God hath not given me over.
Many have gone further than I: why may I not repent at my last hour?”

152. 7. Take heed of a mock repentance, saying, “I cry God-mercy, God forgive met I sin daily,
and repent daily. When I have sworn or been drunk, I am heartily sorry. Is not this
repentance?” I answer, No! Repentance is quite another thing. “The burnt child,” we say,
“dreads the fire.” (John Sheffield, M. A.)
The terrible hypothesis; or, the irrecoverable fall
I. PERSONAL CHRISTIANITY IS A SPIRITUAL PARTICIPATION OF DIVINE REALITIES.
1. It is an idea.
2. It is a feeling.
3. It is a power.
II. APOSTASY FROM PERSONAL CHRISTIANITY IS AN IMMENSE SIN.
1. The falling away here mentioned is that of total apostasy.
2. The apostasy here spoken of is stated purely as an hypothesis.
3. Although the apostasy is spoken of only as hypothetical, it is, nevertheless, possible. The
man who parts with Christ through the force of old prejudices, is the Caiaphas of the age; he
who parts with Him for money, is the Judas; he who parts with Him for popular favour, is
the Pilate. The tragedy of Golgatha has many actors; every generation every day reiterates
these multiplied crucifixions.
III. THE SIN OF SUCH AN APOSTASY WOULD ENTAIL THE MOST LAMENTABLE
RESULTS.
1. The lamentable results of this sin would be irremediable.
(1) Their first repentance could only have been produced by the whole force of the moral
considerations contained in the gospel.
(2) The supposed apostates have triumphed over the whole force of the most powerful
considerations that can ever be addressed to them.
2. The lamentable results of this crime are consonant with character. Their doom answers to
their state.
3. The lamentable results of this crime are terribly awful The conscience in flames!
4. The lamentable results of this crime are ever just at hand. “Nigh unto cursing.”
(Homilist.)
Indefinite renewal impossible
The impossibility here asserted consists not in a single repentance, but in the indefinite renewal
of the first vivid life of the Spirit in the case of Christians who are meanwhile continually
crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh: the spiritual impressions that were wrought
once for all at their conversion must of necessity be weakened by repetition. The passage, as it
stands in the text, is in thorough harmony with the previous context, which maintains the need
for progressive teaching as the child grows into the man in Christ and protests against the
continual reiteration of truths which have lost their freshness; and with the subsequent context,
which condemns spiritual barrenness under the figure of sterile soil which, season after season,
in spite of fertilising rain and human tillage, produces only thorns and thistles. (F. Rendall, M.

153. A.)
Final perseverance
If Christians can fall away, and cease to be Christians, they cannot be renewed again to
repentance. “But,” says one, “you say they cannot fall away.” What in the use of putting this “ if “
in, like a bugbear to frighten children. If God has put it in, He has put it in for wise reasons. Let
me show you why.
1. First, it is put in to keep thee from falling away. God preserves His children from falling
away; but He keeps them by the use of means; and one of these is, the terrors of the law,
showing them what would happen if they were to fall away. There is a deep precipice: what is
the best way to keep any one from going down there? Why, to tell him that if he did he would
inevitably be dashed to pieces. In some old castle there is a deep cellar, where there is a vast
amount of fixed air and gas, which would kill anybody who went down. What does the guide
say? “If you go down you will never come up alive.” Who thinks of going down? The very fact
of the guide telling us what the consequence would be keeps us from it. It leads the believer
to greater dependence on God, to a holy caution, because he knows that if he were to fall
away he could not be renewed. It is calculated to excite fear; and this holy fear keeps the
Christian from falling.
2. It is to excite our gratitude. Suppose you say to your little boy, “Don’t you know, Tommy,
if I were not to give you your dinner and your supper you would die? There is nobody else to
give Tommy dinner and supper.” What then? The child does not think that you are not going
to give him his dinner and supper; he knows you will, and he is grateful to you for them. The
chemist tells us that if there were no oxygen mixed with the air animals would die. Do you
suppose that there will be no oxygen, and, therefore, we shall die? No, he only teaches you
the great wisdom of God, in having mixed the gases in their proper proportions. Says one of
the old astronomers, “There is great wisdom in God, that He has put the sun exactly at a
right distance—not so far away that we should be frozen to death, and not so near that we
should be scorched.” He says, “If the sun were a million miles nearer to us we should be
scorched to death.” Does the man suppose that the sun will be a million miles nearer, and,
therefore, we shall be scorched to death? He says, “If the sun were a million miles farther off
we should be frozen to death.” Does he mean that the sun will be a million miles farther off,
and, therefore, we shall be frozen to death? Not at all. Yet it is quite a rational way of
speaking, to show us how grateful we should be to God. So says the apostle. Christian! if thou
shouldst fall away, thou couldst never be renewed unto repentance. Thank thy Lord, then,
that He keeps thee. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The moral condition in which renewal is impossible
When anything is said to be impossible, the natural question is, Impossible to whom? for it is
plain that what may be possible to one being, may be impossible to another being. If I were
called to attempt to lift a stone of a ton weight, I would naturally say, “No, I will not attempt it,
for it is impossible”—meaning, not that it is impossible that the stone should be lifted, but that it
is impossible that I should lift it. The impossibility in the case before us may either be
considered as existing in reference to God, or in reference to man. If the restoration of these
apostates to the state in which they once were be an impossibility in reference to God, it must be
so either because it is inconsistent with His nature and perfections, or with His decree and
purpose. In the first sense, “it is impossible for God to lie,” or “clear the guilty” without

154. satisfaction. In the second sense, it was impossible that Saul and his posterity should continue
on the throne of Israel. That the restoration of an apostate to his former state is an impossibility
in either of these points of view, is more than we are warranted to assert. If we carefully examine
the passage, I apprehend we will come to the conclusion that the impossibility is considered as
existing not in reference to God, but in reference to man—that the apostle’s assertion is, that it is
impossible, by any renewed course of elementary instruction, to bring back such apostates to the
acknowledgment of the truth. He had stated that many of the Hebrews had unlearned all that
they had learned, and “had need of some one to teach them again the first principles of the
oracles of God.” Yet he declares his determination not to enter anew on a course of elementary
instruction, but to go on to some of the higher branches of Christian knowledge; for this cause,
that there was no reason to expect that such restatements would be of any use in reclaiming
those who, after being instructed in the doctrines and evidences of Christianity, had apostatised;
while, on the other band, there was every reason to hope that illustrations of the higher branches
of Christian truth would be of the greatest use to those who “held fast” the “first principles,” in
establishing them in the faith and profession, in the comforts and obedience of the gospel; just
as a farmer after making a fair trial of a piece of ground, and finding that, though everything has
been done for it in the most favourable circumstances, it still continues barren, desists, saying,
“It is impossible to make anything of that field,” and turns his attention to rendering still more
fertile those fields which have already given evidence of their capability of improvement. “It is
not possible, by a renewed statement of Christian principles and their evidence, to bring back
these apostates. Nothing can be stated but what has been already stated, which they seemed to
understand, which they professed to believe, but which they now openly and contemptuously
reject. No evidence, stronger than that which has been brought before their minds, and which
they once seemed to feel the force of, can be presented to them. The meaning and evidence of
Christian truth have been before their minds in as favourable circumstances as can be
conceived.” The apostle’s assertion, then, appears to me to be just this—“Statement and
argument would be entirely lost on such persons, and therefore we do not enter on them.” (John
Brown, D. D.)
Danger of falling away
A Christian said to a minister of his acquaintance, “I am told you are against the perseverance of
the saints.” “Not I, indeed,” he replied; “it is the perseverance of sinners that I oppose.” “But do
you not think that a child of God can fall very low, and yet be restored?” “I think it would be very
dangerous to make the experiment.”
Nothing more can be done
If the mightiest arguments have been brought to bear on the conscience in vain; if after some
slight response, which gave hopes of better things, it has relapsed into the insensibility of its
former state, there remains nothing more to be done. There is nothing more potent than the wail
of Calvary’s broken heart and the peal from Sinai’s brow, and if these have been tried in vain, no
argument is left which can touch the conscience and arouse the heart. If these people had never
been exposed to these appeals, there would have been some hope for them, but what hope can
there be now, since, in having passed through them without permanent effect, they have become
more hardened in the process than they were at first? Here is a man dragged from an ice-pond,
and brought into the infirmary. Hot flannels are at once applied, the limbs are chafed, every
means known to modern science for restoring life is employed. At first it seems as if these
appliances will take effect, there are twitchings and convulsive movements; but, alas I they soon
subside, and the surgeon gravely shakes his head. “Can you do nothing else?” “Nothing,” he
replies; “I have used every method I can devise, and if these fail, it is impossible to renew again

155. to life.” 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. If you are still touched by gospel sermons, and are anxious to repent, and are in
godly fear lest you should be a castaway, take heart; these are signs that this passage has no
bearing on you. Why make yourself ill with a sick man’s medicine? But if you are growing callous
and insensible under the preaching of the gospel, look into this passage, and see your doom,
unless you speedily arrest your steps. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The recoil from good influences
Translated into a statement of tendency, the doctrine taught is this.—Every fall involves a risk of
apostasy, and the higher the experience fallen from the greater the risk. The deeper religion has
gone into a man at the commencement of his Christian course, the less hopeful his condition if
he lapse. The nearer the initial stage to a thorough conversion the less likely is a second change,
if the first turn out abortive; and so on, in ever-increasing degrees of improbability as lapses
increase in number. The brighter the light in the soul, the deeper the darkness when the light is
put out. The sweeter the manna of God’s Word to the taste, the more loathsome it becomes
when it has lost its relish. The fiercer the fire in the hearth while the fuel lasts, the more certain
it is that when the fire goes out there will remain nothing but ashes. The livelier the hope of
glory, the greater the aversion to all thoughts of the world to come when once a Christian has,
like Atheist in the “Pilgrim’s Progress,” turned his back on the heavenly Jerusalem. Action and
reaction are equal. The more forcibly you throw an elastic ball against a wall the greater the
rebound; in like manner the more powerfully the human spirit is brought under celestial
influences, the greater the recoil from all good, if there be a recoil at all. The gushing enthusiasts
of today are the cynical sceptics of to-morrow. Have promoters of “revivals” laid these things
duly to heart? (A. B. Bruce, D. D.)
Backsliding and apostasy
The difference between backsliding and apostasy is that between a body benumbed, stiffened,
and all but deprived of life by the cold, and the same body petrified and hardened into stone. (J.
Leifchild, D. D.)
Sinning against the light
He who sins against the light is hurt beyond hope of cure. (Old Greek Saying.)
Shutting out love
He that shuts love out, in turn Shall be shut out by love,
And on her threshold lie Howling in outer darkness.”
(Tennyson.)
Freezing after a thaw
I have read that there is no ice that is harder to melt than ice that has been once melted and
frozen the second time. So the soul that has begun to melt before the heart of Christ, and then

156. refuses to lay its sins on the Lamb of God, that heart is the hardest and the most difficult to
break again. (Theo. Monod.)
Process of backsliding
Two ministers, walking along the banks of a river, came to a tree which had been blown down in
a recent gale. It was a mighty, noble tree, tall and substantial, with large outspreading roots and
ample foliage. Approaching to examine it, they found it had been snapped off just above the
roots; and, on looking still closer, found that there was only an outer shell of sound wood, and
that the heart was rotten. Unnoticed, decay had been going on for years. So is it generally with
the fall of professing Christians; the fall is but the result of evil that has been allowed to steadily
gather strength within the heart.
The difficulty of the passage
Do you ask me whether it is possible for a Christian man to commit a crime, and to sink into a
doom like this? I dare not obliterate the tremendous force of this passage by denying the
possibility. Far better leave it as it is—an awful hypothesis—to warn us against the danger and
the guilt, than venture by fine-drawn speculations, to diminish its practical power. If you ask me
how I can reconcile the passage as it stands, with the merciful promises which assure us of God’s
keeping if we trust in Him, I answer that these promises are to those who trust, and continue to
trust, in God, not to those who trusted once, but whose trust has now perished; and I answer
farther, that I would rather be charged by a whole council of theologians, with introducing
scientific inconsistency into a theological system, than dare to lessen the term of a
divinely-inspired warning, the undiminished awfulness of which may be needed to save some
soul from death. (R. W. Dale, LL. D.)
What is it to fall away?
To fall away is to go back from the outward profession of Christianity—not temporarily, but
finally; not as the result of some sudden sin, but because the first outward stimulus is exhausted,
and there is no true life beating at the heart, to repair or reinvigorate the wasting devotion of the
life. It is to resemble those wandering planets, which never shone with their own light, but only
in the reflected light of some central sun; but which, having broken from its guiding leash, dash
further and further into the blackness of darkness, without one spark of life, or heat, or light. It
is to return as a dog to its vomit, and as a sow to her filth; because the reformation was only
outward and temporary, and the dog or sow natures were never changed through the gracious
work of the Holy Spirit. It is to be another Judas; to commit the sin against the Holy Ghost; to
lose all earnestness of feeling, all desire for better things, all power of tender emotion, and to
become utterly callous and dead, as the pavement on which we walk, or the rusty armour
hanging on the old castle’s walls. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
A backslider a sad sight
“It is a miserable thing to be a backslider. Of all unhappy things that can befall a man,” says
Ryle, “I suppose it is the worst. A stranded ship, a broken-winged eagle, a garden overrun with
weeds, a harp without strings, a church in ruins—all these are sad sights; but a backslider is a
sadder sight still.”
Misery of a backslider

157. Terrible is the falling away of any who make profession and act quite contrary to conviction. A
lady here (Huddersfield) thus relates her own case. “Once Mr. and I were both in the right way. I
drew him into the world again. I am now the most miserable of beings. When I lie down I fear I
shall awake in hell. When I go out full dressed, and seem to have all the world can give me, I am
ready to sink under the terrors of my own mind. What greatly increases my misery is the
remembrance of the dying speech of my own sister, wile told me she had stifled convictions and
obstinately fought against light to enjoy the company of the world. “Sister,” said she, “I die
without hope. Beware this be not your easel” “But, indeed,” said Mrs., “I fear it will.” (C. Venn.)
They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh
Crucifying the Son of God afresh
Various as have been God’s dealings with the world, there is, after all, a terrible impartiality in
His dispensations to His rational creatures. Wherever men possess reason and conscience, they
possess, in some measure, the means of pleasing or displeasing Him; whenever they can, in the
lowest degree, conceive His law, they are bound to obey it. The whole world is under a moral
government, though we alone are in a written covenant; all live to God, though we alone have
professed “the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus.” The very temptations, ms that dazzle the
unevangelised world are, in innumerable instances, the same temptations that are trying
us—anger, sensuality, ambition, avarice. We are their brethren in all things except in the
revelation of the Divine mercy and the gift of the Divine Spirit. While the human nature of the
Church is uniform, its trials must be nearly so. As the Lord ,,f the Church is the same “yesterday
and to-day and for ever,” so the probation He enforces is distributed pretty evenly through all
ages and classes. But of all the equalisations of evil in successive ages, of all the repetitions of
trial from generation to generation, of all the instances evincing that, in the Church as in the
world, “the thing that has been will be”—unquestionably that expressed in the text is the most
startling and fearful. The Crucifixion of Christ, in its literal reality, stands alone in the history of
man. It was the last and darkest depth of human criminality. The original fall, and the rejection
of the Redeemer, are the two saddest pages in the story of our race. But mournful as is the
former, it has never, probably, left the impression upon the heart which is at once produced by
all those dread accompaniments that prepared and embittered the last sufferings of the meek
and merciful Friend of man. Injustice, cruelty, false shame, unworthy indolence, covetousness,
ambition, hypocrisy, envy, all were in different ways exhibited in this tremendous tragedy; all
contributed in different ways to fix the catastrophe. No, never, surely, is man, in all the
possibilities of futurity, destined again to consummate a wickedness like this. It must be for ever
solitary in the world, an event placed beyond anticipation, repetition, or parallel; a lonely and
terrible monument of unapproachable guilt. Not thus, however, speaks the voice of inspiration.
Heaven has not spared us this trial. When Christ was about to die, He instituted a memorial
sacrament of His passion, to show forth His death until He come. It would seem that there is, as
it were, a fearful and Satanic sacrament too, of that same dread hour, by which it is still in man’s
power to reiterate and prolong His death until He come to judge the long succession of His
crucifiers. St. Paul delivers to us the tremendous truth, that there is in man a continued capacity
of “crucifying afresh the Son of God”; a power to act over again all the scene of His torture, to
league with the malignant priests and the scoffing soldiers, to buffet the unresisting cheek, to
bind the crown of thorns. Reflect on the frame and temper of mind, on the weakness and the
wickedness, that made the chosen people of God the murderers of His Son, and try if you cannot
catch some faint image of that treachery in your own hearts. But be true to yourselves if you
would indeed detect the lurking evil, and think not that even among the best of us, in a world of
oft-recurring temptation, it is useless to prosecute the scrutiny. Doubtless the accuracy of the
image will vary in degree: here, through the progressive sanctification, all but obliterated; here,

158. through remaining worldliness, vivid and undeniable; here, through total rejection of Christ, all
but complete. To estimate the resemblance we must turn to the original. When Christ was, in
that day of mingled horror and glory, sacrificed on Calvary, few things were more remarkable in
the accessories of the event than the feelings and motives of the people. Christ was
unquestionably a favourite with the mass of the people; the great obstacle to the schemes of the
priests was always that “they feared the people.” His gracious bearing and the mysterious
anticipation that surrounded and dignified His singular ‘life, had evidently caught and
conciliated the popular mind. Nor was it unqualified malignity that made them His persecutors,
Christ Himself had found a palliation for this crime in their ignorance, He besought forgiveness
for them because “they knew not what they did.” Yet, however it came to pass, this people, thus
disposed, are found the unanimous destroyers of their Prophet, the tumultuous petitioners for
His crucifixion, the fierce invokers of His blood on them and on their children? Strange as this
appears, is there indeed nothing that resembles it in our own experience? Is no parallel to be
found for it in the Christian world around us! Can we not, when we go abroad into the highways
of daily life, find something in the general mind that reminds us of a people honouring Christ as
long as He offers easy blessings, flocking round His standard with enthusiasm so long as He is
made the standard-bearer of a party, professing boundless admiration, devotion, and love; yet
when the true hour of trial comes, and the question can no longer be escaped,—Shall we
surrender our pleasures or our Redeemer?—give up the favour of earthly superiors or the favour
of the King of heaven?—abandon our cherished sins, or with our sins nail Jesus to the cross once
more?—then, relinquishing their short-lived discipleship, following the instigation of blind and
guilty guides, turning with the turning tide, and swelling the torrent of the persecutors of the
body of Christ. Turn again to the record. Among the unhappy instruments of Satan, on that
dread occasion, was one whose name, almost unknown in all else, his relation to this event has
miserably immortalised—the wretched, wavering, timorous Pilate. Willing to save, but afraid to
resist, anxious to do right as long as virtue cost no trouble,-has this crucifier of Christ no image
among us? Are there no Pilates among our grave and reputable men of business?—none who
cold be models of consummate piety if there were no danger of its disturbing their tenure of
wealth and influence?—who would gladly save the Son of God from degradation if they were not
a tittle apprehensive of degrading themselves in the task,—and would allow Him supreme
authority as long as the r own was warranted secure? Not far removed from this is the case of
those rulers who struggled against their very faith lest it should hazard their popularity
Joh_12:43). Alas! these poor dependents on human fame stand not alone in the world; this
weapon of the evil one has not been suffered to rust in disuse! It is not with open disavowal that
the votary of fashionable worldliness disclaims the Lord of glory. A peril such as this might be
met and warded off. But society does its work surely because slowly. Religion is not proved to be
absurd, but assumed to be so; the world would not harshly ask us to disbelieve in Christ, but
merely to forget Him. Principles are lost for ever before we have dreamed they were in danger,
and the poor victim of the world’s opinion has learned to “crucify afresh the Son of God,”
without relinquishing one outward characteristic of discipleship I But these, wretched and
criminal as they are, are but the less daring forms of crime. Deeper guilt than this bore the
suffering Lamb of God to His cross, and deeper guilt than this is not confined to His first
crucifiers. Can we witness nothing that recalls the rebellious ambition of those who said, “This is
the heir; come, let us kill Him, and the inheritance shall be ours”? The world at large—yea, the
far immense of worlds—is the inalienable property of God; the inheritance is entailed upon that
only-begotten Son, “whom,” it is written, “He appointed Heir of all things.” And when, refusing
to hold as His lessees, spurning His rights of lordship, we would explode His claims for
antiquated and fanciful, that we may enjoy His gift as though the fee were ours; in all this is
there none of that spirit which once raged in those who, in angry impatience of His claims, “took
counsel against Him for to put Him to death”? And when a paltry hope of gain or advancement
can bribe us to forsake a gracious Master, to forget all He has done, and all He has borne; does

159. he remain the alone in the world who “said unto the chief priests, What will ye give me, and I
will deliver Him unto you”? Nay, at such an hour we are worse than Judas; for even Judas, the
miserable suicide of remorse, we may believe, had another option been his, would not have “
crucified the Son of God afresh! “Can we descend yet deeper? Christ was crucified on the
imputation of blasphemy. What was the “blasphemy”? He had called Himself the Son of God,
and the Son of man, and in right of this transcendent union, the Judge to come “ in the clouds of
heaven,” and “sitting at the right hand of power.” If this was false, His crucifiers were justified; if
this was false, in a theocratic government, He deserved His fate. There are those who pronounce
that mysterious title false in any sense that could have ever made it “blasphemy” from human
lips, who deny the Sonship of the Eternal any significance beyond what more or less belongs to
all the virtuous revealers and interpreters of the will of heaven that have ever instructed man.
Surely we cannot in justice refuse to such impugners the place they have chosen for themselves
in the throng that circled the cross of Jesus! Still we have not sunk to the last level of the Jewish
persecutors. Fallen as we are, we could not have borne to prefer Barabbas, the thief and
murderer, to our pure and guiltless Redeemer. And who, then, are the darling idols of human
applause? Who are the chosen of our race that poetry crowns with its halo of glory, and every
young imagination bows to worship? Who, but the laurelled Barabbases of history, the chartered
robbers and homicides that stain its pages with blood, and that, after eighteen hundred years of
Christian discipline, the world has not yet risen to discountenancing? Remove the conventional
discredit that attaches to the weaker thief, exalt him to the majesty of the military despot, and
how many would vote for Barabbas, how many linger with the lowly Jesus? “Be it so, but our
votes would at least be open and undisguised, we would not stoop to the meanness of hypocrisy.
We would not, with those you are pleased to make our prototypes, ‘put on Him the scarlet robe
and the crown, and the sceptre,’ that we might ‘bow the knee and mock Him.’ Of this, at least, we
are incapable.” Perhaps so. I pray God it may he so. And yet, recall but the hour that has just
now floated past you into eternity, when you “bowed the knee” to this same Jesus who was
crucified, when your lips uttered words of piercing sorrow, and besought His mercy and
implored His aid, as erring and straying sheep, as miserable offenders, miserable sinners. Ask
yourselves how many knees were bowed in the repentance the lips rehearsed, how many hearts
were melted in the agony the tongue so readily expressed. And if conscience whisper an
accusation, bethink you how differs this from the guilt of those who called Him King, and
despised the royalty they ascribed; or was it more a crime to insult Him when He walked the
earth in poverty and pain, than when He sits, as now, the recognised Monarch of the universe!
(Prof Archer Butler.)
The crucifixion of Christ, an ever recurring crime
I. THE METHOD BY WHICH HEAVEN TESTIMATES THE CHARACTER OF MEN. The
essence of a moral act lies, not in the muscular exertion, but in the mental volition.
1. This method of judging character commends itself to our sense of justice as obviously
right.
2. This method of judging character urges the most vigorous discipline of the heart.
3. This method of judging character suggests unexpected revelations on the day of
judgment.
II. THE ENORMITIES WHICH CORRUPT MEN ARE AT ALL TIMES CAPABLE OF
PERPETRATING.
1. The feelings which effected the crucifixion we may find everywhere in the hearts of
depraved men.

160. 2. Similar circumstances would probably lead to a similar development.
Learn:
1. The propriety of a trembling modesty in denouncing the great criminals of history. In
condemning them, let us take care that we do not foredoom ourselves.
2. The necessity of a heart renovation for the real improvement of humanity.
3. The inestimable value of the gospel to mankind. (Homilist.)
The crucifixion of Christ modernised
To a nature morally sensitive the crucifixion of Jesus Christ’ is the crime of all crimes. Although
eighteen hundred)ears have passed it is still the most realistic scene in all history. The strokes of
the crucificial hammers are heard not only on the mountains of Palestine; they ring throughout
the universe. The vividness of the cross comes, in part, from the way the story of Calvary is told.
There is nothing elaborate. No attempt at fine writing. Only a few verses. The story is allowed to
tell itself. But here is the secret: it is scenic from beginning to end; it speaks in pictures. God
Himself emphasised the enormity of the crucifixion of His Son by means of the great wonders by
which He marked the event, and by which He proclaimed that all nature was in a sympathetic
agony with the agonising Christ. But mark the way God visits the crime of Christ’s crucifixion
with retribution if you would grasp its enormity. “The Hebrews had for centuries been dreaming
of a Messiah, and at last their Messiah came. But how did they receive Him? They received Him
with yells of ‘Crucify.’ At the Cross of Jesus, which consummated their iniquity, the story of their
nation ends.” Some of those who shared in the scene of Christ’s crucifixion, and myriads of their
children, shared also in the long horror of the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans—a siege which,
for its unutterable fearfulness, stands unparalleled in the story of mankind. They had forced the
Romans to crucify their Christ, anal they themselves were crucified in myriads by the Romans
outside their walls, till room failed for the crosses and wood to make them with. This would be
enough to spread before us the enormity of the crime of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ; but this
is not all; retribution still follows the nation of His crucifiers. In this year the Jews are an
ostracised race in the midst of humanity the world over. To see the enormity of the crucifixion of
Christ put by the side of the appalling judgment which followed it an analysis of the crime. The
crucifixion of Christ was not a single sin, it was a multifold sin; it was a moral compound. It was
a culmination—a climax. A whole series of motives and a whole series of actions were behind it.
When we remember this we see that the Cross stands for something upon the part of man. It is
an exponent of humanity. It is the work of human nature unregenerated. It shows the extreme of
sin to which man will dare to go; he will dare to crucify the Son of God. Is there a point in moral
depravity beyond that? If so, what is it? Hundreds and hundreds of typical bands rear the Cross
and ply the curcificial hammers and drive the cruel nails of death. I see the hand of the Pharisee;
he was a formalist in religion, and could not endure the pure spirituality of Christ’s religion. I
see the hand of the Elder; be was a traditionalist, and he felt his religion reel before the practical
common-sense questions which Christ fired through it, as the gun-boat fires its cannon-balls
through a wooden ship. I see the hand of the Sadducee; he was an agnostic, and he hated Christ
because He brought to bear against the tenets of his agnosticism the deadly parallelism of the
Scriptures. The envy of the Churchmen; the avarice of Judas; the vacillation and cowardice of
Pilate; the perjury of the false witnesses; the false shame of those who believed in Christ but who
refused to confess Him for fear of the Pharisees; the desertion of His long-instructed followers;
the brutality of the mob, who mocked Him as He died—all these were forces which combined to
erect the Cross and nail Christ to it. And what had Christ done that He should thus be crucified
and made an open shame? He had loved men; He had opened the massive prison doors of error

161. and had given men the liberty of the truth; He had smitten haughty tyrannies and broken the
oppressive grip which they had upon humanity; He had taken children into His arms and had
blessed them; He had lived a holy life, in which no one could pick a single flaw; He had healed
the sick; He had uttered the Sermon upon the Mount and the golden promises and the
explanatory parables: That was all He had done. How the enormity of the crime of crucifying
Him grows t We congratulate ourselves that we were not at Calvary and that we were spared the
trial, the experience, and the doom of those who crucified Christ. My fellow-men of the
nineteenth century, the text strikes us while we are right in the midst of our mistaken
congratulations. It says in unmistakable language the crime of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ,
which is so enormous, is a crime that is continuous. In the rearm of human disposition and
feeling, in the thought-life of the world, there is a perpetual Calvary and a perpetual crucifixion.
Christ is being crucified afresh, and the old guilt of the first century is not only being constantly
incurred, but it is being constantly increased. The men of the first century, when they crucified
Christ, knew not what they did—they sinned in darkness; but the men of the nineteenth century,
when they crucify Christ, know what they are doing—they sin against light. What has Christ
done that any man in the nineteenth century should crucify Him? He has filled the world with
pure principles; He has reproduced Himself in the magnificent men and women of the Christian
Church; He has built up the ground institutions of civil and religious liberty; He has shaped and
moulded the leading nations of the earth; He has given the world the progress and the triumphs
of a Christian civilisation. Do these things make Him worthy of crucifixion? The men of the first
century who crucified Him saw only the deeds of a very few years; the men of the nineteenth
century who crucify Him afresh see the deeds of 1800 years. They sin against all the centuries of
the Christian era. There is no mistaking the text. It is in the present tense, and it speaks of a
second act. It was addressed to men thirty years after Jesus had been enjoying the glories of the
throne of heaven. He was beyond the reach of the physical touch of man. Paul did not consider
the essence of a moral act to lie in the muscular exertion, but in the mental volition. “As a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he.” This is heaven’s idea of moral conduct. The heart-life is the true
life. “The Lord looketh upon the heart.” Our life includes the unexpressed wishes, the
inarticulate longings, and the unwrought purposes of the heart. It includes our moral
identifications with our fellow-men and our sympathies with their actions. You hare now before
you the answer of the question, How is it possible to recrucify Christ? The answer is this: It is
possible by means of moral identification with the men of Calvary. There is a brotherhood of
soul with soul; by continuing in the brotherhood made up of the souls of the Pilates, and of the
Pharisees, and of the Judases, and of their kindred, we endorse their deeds and ate held by
justice as alike criminal with them. When their spirit is incarnated in our acts we crucify Christ
afresh. I tell you that not a single impulse or passion that played a part in the great tragedy has
died out of the world. They are all pulsating to-day in the hearts of men. The nineteenth century
is but a moral echo of the first century. If you are not morally one with the friends of Christ you
will be classified with the crucifiers of Christ. That is the principle which the text enunciates.
Jesus Himself enunciates the same principle in the woes which He pronounces against the
Pharisees. Moral identification! That is the criterion of character! That is the basis upon which
God deals with us in judgment. Moral identification is also the basis upon which man judges
man. We saw the play of this principle of judgment during the civil war which tore and
distracted our land. The war opened with the Confederates firing upon Fort Sumter. That first
act was universally made to test all the North. The way a man looked upon that daring act was
made the criterion of his standing, the index of his loyalty or disloyalty. The man who deplored
it, and who lifted his hands in hob’ horror at the thought of American citizens firing upon
American citizens, was identified with the men within the fort who stood by the guns of the
nation loyally and courageously; but the man who let the joy of his soul shine out in his face, or
embody itself in utterance, was identified with the men who aimed and fired the guns of treason,
and who tattered the dear old Stars and Stripes, and trampled them in the dust. The latter man

162. was compelled to leave the North and was treated as a traitor, which he was. The war was closed
with the awful tragedy of assassination. The most dastardly act of all that black history was the
firing of the assassin’s fatal ball by J. Wilkes Booth through the noble frame of Abrabam Lincoln.
That act also was made a test. Here and there through the North there were men who applauded
the act; but no sooner did the words “Good,” “Served him right,” fall from their lips than
instantly they were riddled by the Minie balls of patriots, or swung out into the air from
impromptu gallows. Why? Because everywhere the men of the North looked upon them as
assassins, kindred Booths. Why? Because everywhere the men of the North looked upon soul
identification with treason as treason, and sympathy with a traitor as making a man a traitor.
Moral identification! That is the criterion of character. Both God and man declare it to be the
true basis of righteous judgment. If this be so, then the duty of the hour, in view of the theme
which occupies our minds, is to question ourselves with regard to our moral identification.
Where do you stand with regard to Christ? That is the question. With whom are you classified?
Do you crucify Christ afresh? If by your actions you are classified with Pilate you crucify Christ.
The historical man Pilate is dead, but his principles have been modernised. Pilateism never dies.
It affects friend.-hip; it pays compliments; it shifts and transfers responsibility; it seeks to be on
both sides; it makes an orthodox profession, but lives a heterodox life; it virtually acquits but
actually executes. With whom are you classified? With Judas, the man who sold his Master?
Why did Judas sell Christ? Because he got money. The sale of Christ by Judas was a pure matter
of cash. If you sell conscience or principle for money you are a Judas and a crucifier of Christ. If
yea are untruthful and dishonest in your business you are a Judas and a crucifier of Christ. With
whom are you identified? With the soldiers who robed Him in mock purple, and who platted a
crown of thorns and put it upon His brow, and bowed the knee before Him in hypocrisy? If
when conscience tells you to perform a certain duty you deliberately re use to obey, what is that
but bowing the knee in hypocrisy to Christ as the King of your life, and turning His crown into a
crown of thorns, a thing to be jeered at? With whom are you classified? With the disciples who
forsook Him and fled? If so, you play a part in Christ’s crucifixion. Today the silence and the
backwardness and the desertion of Christians may be the cause of the reign of unbelief; the
cause of indifference with regard to Christ; the cause also of much of the dishonour that is
heaped upon Christ. It is our duty to assort more and claim more for Jesus. With whom are you
classified? With the Pharisees, who kept men from espousing the cause of Christ? Do you hinder
your friends from making a confession? With whom are you classified? With the Sanhedrin who
passed the sentence of death upon Christ? Why did the members of the Sanhedrin sentence
Him? Because He claimed to be God; because they said He was a blasphemer; because they
denied His deity. Do you deny the deity of Jesus Christ? If so, then there is nothing left for you
but to crucify Him. With whom are you identified? I hear a voice saying, “I am identified with no
one.” “I am neutral.” “I neither choose Christ nor Barabbas.” “I wash my hands clear of the
whole business.” That was what Pilate thought he would do; but did he? No; all such talk is the
merest moral stuff, Neutrality! To you who have this day heard the gospel of Christ, there is no
such thing as neutrality. The Master Himself says, “He that is not for Me is against Me.” That
settles it. He that is not morally identified with Christ as a follower and friend is morally
identified with His enemies and crucifiers. Your attempted neutrality is a crime against light and
against infinite love and against the eternity of your own soul. Why should you crucify the Son of
God afresh? Why should you nail H,m to the cross of indifference? Is there any difference
between crucifying Christ upon the cross of indifference and crucifying Him upon the cross of
criticism, or upon the cross of consent, or upon the cross of unbelief? He is crucified all the
same. Do you ask me the way out of your sin? I reply, Seek a true knowledge of Christ. In
speaking of the first crucifixion Paul tells the Corinthians that had the men of Jerusalem known
Christ they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Do you ask me the way out of your sin? I
reply, If you would avoid the crucifixion of Christ join in the coronation of Christ. Crown Him
with an ardent faith; with a loyal love; with a fearless, manly, constant, and open confession.

163. (David Gregg, D. D.)
Christ crucified afresh
Bridaine was one of the most celebrated of the French preachers. Marmontel relates, that in his
sermons he sometimes had recourse to the interesting method of parables, with a view the more
forcibly to impress important truths on the minds of his hearers. Preaching on the passion of
Jesus Christ, he expressed himself thus:—“A man, accused of a crime of which he was innocent,
was condemned to death by the iniquity of his judges. He was led to punishment, but no gibbet
was prepared, nor was there any executioner to perform the sentence. The people, moved with
compassion, hoped that this sufferer would escape death. But one man raised his voice, and
said, ‘I am going to prepare a gibbet, and I will be the executioner.’ You groan with indignation!
Well, my brethren, in each of you I behold this cruel man. Here are no Jews today to crucify
Jesus Christ; but you dare to rise up, and say, ‘I will crucify Him.’” Marmontel adds, that he
heard these words pronounced by the preacher, though very young, with all the dignity of an
apostle, and with the most powerful emotion; and that such was the effect, that nothing was
heard but the sobs of the auditory. (Baxendale’s Dictionary of Anecdotes.)
Continuous crucifixion
Rather, “while crucifying,” “crucifying as they are doing.” Thus the words imply not only an
absolute, but a continuous apostasy, for the participle is changed from the past into the present
tense. A drop of water will, as the Rabbis said, suffice to purify a man who has accidentally
touched a creeping thing, but an ocean will not suffice for his cleansing so long as he purposely
keeps it held in his hand. There is such a thing as “doing despite unto the Spirit of grace”
(Heb_10:29). (F. W.Farrar, D. D.)
10. RAY STEDMAN, “
This solemn warning marks one of the great theological battlefields of Scripture. Here the
clashing proponents of Calvinism and Arminianism have wheeled and charged, unleashing
thunderous volleys of acrimony against one another, only to generate much heat and little profit.
The Calvinists, mindful of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (eternal security), seize
upon the words It is impossible . . . if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance. "These
cannot," they say, "be truly regenerated Christians, no matter how strongly the descriptive
phrases of verses 4-5 seem to imply they are, for otherwise they would not fall away into
irremediable apostasy."
On the other hand, the Arminians focus on the descriptive phrases and say, "It is impossible to
portray true Christians any more powerfully and accurately than is done here; therefore, since
they are said to fall away it is clear that regeneration can be lost after it has been obtained." A
third group of interpreters insist that the question of eternal salvation is not in question here at
all, since it is only a matter of urging new Christians on to further understanding of their
fellowship with Christ.
As in the case of many clashes over Scripture, there is truth in different views. (20) We are
helped here by viewing the readers not as a homogenous group who must all be classified in one

164. category or another. Rather, they are a mixed assembly, among whom were many genuine
believers needing a degree of prodding to go on in their experience of truth. There were also
some who professed faith in Christ but who gave no evidence in their behavior or attitudes that
they were truly regenerate. This is the case in many churches today and has been so in every
generation of believers from the first century on. No matter what careful expedients are
employed to make sure that all church members are born again, it is almost certain that there is
no congregation which is not just such a mixed multitude as the writer of Hebrews addresses.
The ratio of true believers to apparent believers may vary widely, but since we cannot
distinguish these by observation (or even careful testing), we must view these warnings as
applying to us all.
Just how far religious experience can go and yet still fall short of regeneration is described by
five phrases in verses 4-5. Let us look at them one by one. First is, those who have once been
enlightened. Some of the early church Fathers linked this enlightenment with baptism, but that
only identifies the effect with the cause. It plainly means an intellectual understanding of God's
redemptive actions. The light of the gospel can be received without leading to baptism, but those
who were baptized normally did so because they understood the truth about Jesus and his
atonement and wished to avail themselves of its privileges. The once likely means "once for all"
(Gk: hapax), indicating that enlightenment cannot be repeated since a full understanding admits
of no improvement. One sees this in the epignosin, "full knowledge," of 10:26. But though
knowledge is prerequisite to faith, it does not always indicate that saving faith is present.
The second description is that they have tasted the heavenly gift. The gift can be the Holy Spirit
(2:4) or Jesus himself (In 4:10; 2 Cor 9:15), since both come from heaven. The mention of the
Spirit in the next phrase seems to indicate the gift here is Jesus. Some commentators see this
"tasting" as referring to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which identifies its elements as the
body and blood of Jesus. Those who do have saving faith would surely observe this sacrament,
yet it is quite possible to participate in baptism and the Lord's Supper without actual faith. Even
if the reference is not to the Eucharist, it is still true that one can have much knowledge of Jesus
and even have "tasted" of his blessings, without personal commitment to him (Jn 2:23-25).
The third distinctive, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, seems at first glance almost conclusive
that these are true Christians. Paul's admonition "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he
does not belong to Christ" marks the presence of the Spirit as the seal of a regenerated life. But
there are other ministries of the Spirit that precede those of indwelling. One can become a
sharer in or partaker of the Spirit by responding for a time to his drawing power intended to
lead one ultimately to Christ. The translation "shared" implies something done in company with
others, and may well be linked with the "laying on of hands" referred to in 6:2 (Kistemaker
1984:159). This would envision a group response to the gospel, as we see in many evangelistic
rallies today, but it does not mean that all who so respond exercise saving faith. Since
enlightenment and tasting are also ministries of the Spirit, they join the others as true of those
who have traveled for a ways on their journey to faith, but who have not necessarily arrived.
A fourth mark of spiritual progress is to have tasted the goodness of the word of God. Since it is
by the "living and enduring word of God" that men and women are born again (1 Pet 1:23), it is
necessary to hear it first, and then "taste" its goodness. The readers of this epistle had done this,
but there is no indication in this phrase that they have responded with personal faith. Some very
likely have, but others have stopped short of the goal. And this arouses the concern of the writer.

165. The last, and fifth, advantage possessed by these Hebrews is that they have tasted the powers of
the coming age. Hughes rightly says, "These powers may confidently be identified with the signs,
wonders, and miracles mentioned earlier in 2:4 as accompaniments of the preaching of the
gospel" (1977:211). These miracles were predicted in Isaiah 35:56 as accompanying the
appearance of God among his people:
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
Then will the lame leap like a deer,
and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Jesus plainly saw himself fulfilling these words (Lk 7:22). It is apparent from these words in
Hebrews that, eventually, in the divine program they would be manifest at both the first and
second comings of Jesus. They belong primarily to the coming age, which is clearly not the new
heavens and earth; these miracles of restoration will not be needed in that perfect day. They will
be seen, finally, in the kingdom age when the prophet's picture finds its complete fulfillment.
But the "taste" which many of these readers had had in the time of Jesus and the apostles was
unconvincing evidence even to their own eyes. Like the Israelites who murmured in the
wilderness, despite the miracles of supply they witnessed, these also failed to "share in the faith
of those who obeyed" the word they heard.
Simon Magus (Acts 8:9-24) serves to illustrate the possibility that some who experience such
convincing proofs can nevertheless fall short of saving faith and turn away into apostasy. He
professed belief in Jesus, was baptized and yet was severely rebuked by Peter because his "heart
was not right before God." He was still a "captive to sin." Even more to the point is Judas, who
walked and talked daily with the Lord, heard his superb teaching, witnessed many miracles and
was himself sent out to minister in the power of God. But Jesus called him "the son of perdition"
and "a devil" (Jn 6:70). Judas did not receive salvation and then lose it. Despite his enormous
exposure to truth and grace, it is plain that he resisted personal conversion and at last turned
away from eternal life to a sad and eternal death.
Verse 6 describes the grim result of turning back to unbelief after receiving the full
enlightenment provided. Repentance is the gateway to eternal life, as many Scriptures make
clear. (21) After being brought by the Spirit-given blessings of verses 4-5 to the very edge of
repentance, those who fall back into unbelief cannot be brought to that same place again, since
nothing more could be added to that which proved insufficient before. Their state is now
hopeless. As Bruce cogently observes, "God has pledged Himself to pardon all who truly repent,
but Scripture and experience alike suggest that it is possible for human beings to arrive at a state
of heart and life where they can no longer repent" (1964:124).
What blocks their way of return is that they have put themselves into the position of those who
deliberately refused Jesus' claim to be the Son of God and forced him to the shame and
humiliation of the cross. The NIV because to their loss does not translate the Greek heautois
well. "To themselves" (KJV) or "on their own account" (RSV) is better. That is, they fall away
deliberately, unwilling to separate themselves from those who actually condemned Jesus to be
crucified. Their hearts are hardened in flintlike determination to have things their own
rebellious way.”

166. 11. DAN CORNER, “Hebrews 6:4-9
Now for the highly controversial passages cited in 6:4-9 and 10:26-31. Let’s take a close look at
them in this order. First, notice how there are various OSAS views of Heb. 6:4-6:
There are four Calvinist positions that I know of: (1) Those described in Hebrews 6:4-6 are truly
converted but the if proves that it is hypothetical. It could never happen in actual fact. (2)
Those describes [sic] in Hebrews 6:4-6 are saved, but the falling away is not with reference to
loss of salvation but inability to be renewed again unto repentance. In other words, it means
exactly what it says. (3) Those described in Hebrews 6:4-6 have a non-working work of grace in
them. What happened to them was real, but it was not saving; they were never converted in the
first place. (4) Those described in Hebrews 6:4-6 are truly converted people, but if it should
turn out that they fall away, one must but conclude they were not saved after all.
The fact that there are at least four contrasting interpretations, from the OSAS point of view,
shows that at least three must be wrong! Simple logic declares this.
Heb. 6:4-9 reads:
For 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, and have tasted the good word of God and the
powers of the age to come, 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.
For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to
those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and
thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. But, beloved, we
are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we
are speaking in this way (NASB).
Five spiritual checkpoints are listed in this passage, before the falling away mentioned in
verse 6 can even apply. Those checkpoints are:
1. Have once been enlightened
2. Have tasted of the heavenly gift
3. Have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit
4. Have tasted the good word of God
5. (Tasted) the powers of the age to come
Clearly, these checkpoints are the language of salvation, especially “have been
made partakers of the Holy Spirit” (Heb. 6:4, NASB).
This same word (metochos) translated partakers is also found in the following verses:
For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to
the end (Heb. 3:14, NKJV).
But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate
and not sons (Heb. 12:8, NKJV).
Strong gives the following definition of this Greek word:

167. (As noun) a sharer; by impl. an associate:—fellow, partaker, partner.
Besides the clarity of that phrase we also see the same people were once enlightened (photizo).
Again, this same word is used elsewhere and refers to Christians:
But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle
with sufferings (Heb. 10:32, NKJV).
So when does a person become enlightened or illuminated? According to Jn. 1:4, we read:
In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (Jn. 1:4, NKJV).
Notice, spiritual life is the light, which a true believer has.
Beyond these, we see the people referred to in Heb. 6:4-6 had also tasted the good word of God.
That Greek word translated tasted (geuomai) means experience.
This is clearly the meaning as is shown in the following verse:
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned
with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man (Heb. 2:9,
KJV).
This is important to mention because falling away is something that can happen to
Christians, not the unsaved! Hence, a true Christian can apostatize.
In spite of this, John MacArthur, Jr. dogmatically denies these descriptions refer to a saved
person:
The individuals addressed here had five great advantages because of their association with the
church: They had been enlightened, had tasted Christ’s heavenly gift, had partaken of the Holy
Spirit, had tasted the Word of God, and had tasted the miraculous powers of the age to come (vv.
4-5). There is no reference at all to salvation. In fact, no term used here is ever used
elsewhere in the New Testament for salvation, and none should be taken to refer to it in this
passage.
Some Proponents Of A Conditional Security
Unfortunately, some who believe in a conditional security refer to Heb. 6:4-6 to try to prove that
a person can only get saved once, and if he falls away for any reason, he can never come back to
God and get saved again.
This type of teaching has caused incredible, emotional pain in the lives of those who have
accepted this as a Biblical truth, then have turned from God for a time and would like to come
back, but think that they can’t, based on this passage!
Furthermore, that type of interpretation has been exploited by the OSAS camp. The following is
an example:
This destroys the idea that we may be saved and lost and saved and lost, for it says that it is
impossible if we should fall away to renew us again unto repentance. It is impossible. If you are
saved and you are lost, if that is what this means, then you have had one shot at it, my friends
and you have blown it! You’re through! It is impossible to renew you again unto repentance. So
it’s only one time at bat.
After examining the Apostle Peter, his fall and subsequent return to the Lord, it will be apparent
that some should reconsider such an interpretation for Heb. 6:4-6 because Peter didn’tfall
away to the point where he couldn’t return.

168. Remember, Scripture explicitly shows it is possible to be saved more than once (Lk. 15:24,32;
Rom. 11:23 and Jam. 5:19,20), but not if a person falls away as mentioned in Heb. 6:6! Can
these two truths be reconciled? Yes, but you must read on.
Peter Before His Fall
Though we can’t be certain, it appears Peter walked with Jesus for about three years during the
Lord’s earthly ministry. During those special years Peter experienced the following:
• He had the unique privilege of being at the Mt. of Transfiguration where Moses and
Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus. At this time, he heard the audible voice of God
say, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him” (Mt.
17:1-6, NIV).
• Peter was the only apostle of the Twelve to actually walk on the water for a time with
Jesus (Mt. 14:29)!
• He was given powerful, spiritual authority to drive out demons and heal every disease
and sickness (Mt. 10:1).
• The Apostle Peter personally saw Jesus raise three different people from the dead (Lk.
7:14,15; 8:54,55; Jn. 11:43,44).
• He also saw Jesus’ power instantly heal a leper (Mt. 8:2,3), enable a paralytic to be
healed (Mt. 9:2-7), the blind to see (Mk. 8:22-25), and the dumb to speak after a demon
was driven out (Mt. 9:32,33).
• Peter was there when at least 2,000 demons inside a man were begging Jesus for
permission to go inside pigs (Mk. 5:12,13).
• He witnessed Jesus calm the wind and the raging sea with his word (Mk. 4:39).
• He saw Jesus multiply bread and fish to feed thousands of people on two different
occasions (Mt. 16:9,10).
• He also had unique and vital spiritual truth revealed to him about Jesus directly from the
Father (Mt. 16:16,17).
• Peter heard the demons within people call Jesus the Son of God (Mk. 3:11).
• He heard Jesus silence those who tried to trap him (Lk. 20:20-26), perfectly answer and
handle every trick question (Mt. 22:23-31) and remedy every problem that confronted
them (Mt. 17:27; etc.).
• For years, Peter heard the greatest and wisest teacher who ever lived teach the most
important truths with authority.
After all these unique, spiritual privileges and opportunities, he denied Christ three times.
Yet the Apostle Peter, who already held the highest office in the church (1 Cor. 12:28), was
not so mature spiritually that he could not return to Jesus!

169. Finally, after Peter’s return to the Lord, he was the one used on the day of Pentecost, about 50
days later, to win thousands to Christ. He also had the distinguished honor of writing two of the
twenty-seven New Testament books. In fact, Peter (who once fell away) won thousands of
people to the Lord after he came back. Peter never let his public denial of Christ paralyze him
from future service to God. Dear reader, if you once fell away and came back to the Lord,
move on with the Lord as he did!
Two Truths About Hebrews 6:6
There are two relevant truths that need to be noted about Heb. 6:6.
First, the word in this verse translated fall away (parapesontas) is found only once in the
Greek New Testament. Though fall away in English is found elsewhere, it is not the same
Greek word as is used here. Moreover, Peter and the other apostles fell away (skandalizo) (Mt.
26:31,33, NIV), and perhaps multitudes like them throughout the centuries, but it is not the same
Greek word as parapesontas.
Secondly, the word if is not in the Greek in verse 6:
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves
the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame (Heb. 6:6, KJV).
Consider what Adam Clarke wrote about this and the aorist tense:
“And having fallen away.” I can express my own mind on this translation nearly in the words of
Dr. Macknight: “The participles who were enlightened, have tasted, andwere made
partakers, being aorists, are properly rendered by our translators in the past time;
wherefore parapesontas, being an aorist, ought likewise to have been translated in the past
time, ‘HAVE fallen away.’ Nevertheless, our translators, following Beza, who without any
authority from ancient MSS. has inserted in his version the word ‘if,’ have rendered this
clause, IF they fall away, that this text might not appear to contradict the doctrine of the
perseverance of the saints. But as no translator should take upon him to add to or alter the
Scriptures, for the sake of any favourite doctrine, I have translated parapesontas in the past
time, ‘have fallen away,’ according to the true import of the word, as standing in connection
with the other aorists in the preceding verses” (italics and capitals his).
Adam Clarke does not stand alone in his understanding of the Greek. Young’s literal translation
reads:
And having fallen away, again to renew them to reformation, having crucified gain to
themselves the Son of God, and exposed to public shame (v. 6).
Please note, the NASB also renders this passage without the word if:
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.
Kendall surprisingly agrees with Clarke and refutes Spurgeon regarding no if in the Greek and
the past tense of parapesontas:
C. H. Spurgeon believed those described in Hebrews 6:4-6 were obviously saved but the
situation posed was hypothetical. Spurgeon built his whole case on the little word if—“if
they shall fall away” (Hebrews 6:6). Spurgeon claimed it had never happened yet.
Unfortunately, Spurgeon didn’t know Greek and he was unaware that there is no if in the
Greek at all. As a matter of fact those described in Hebrews 6:4-6 had already fallen
away. Parapesontas is an aorist participle, which is to be translated either as those who “fell
away” or those “having fallen away.” Their fall was a fact.

170. Similar to Spurgeon, Dave Hunt also declares Heb. 6:4-6 is just hypothetical:
Clearly those to whom this passage refers are genuine believers. Moreover, it doesn’t say
“when they fall away” but that “if they fall away” it would be “impossible” for them to get
saved again. The reason why it is impossible to get saved again is explained.
First of all, if the death of Christ were not sufficient to keep them saved, then for them to get
saved again would require that Christ die again ... and again, every time they needed to be saved
once more. Secondly, if Christ’s death is not sufficient to keep one saved, then He is held up to
ridicule for having done something so foolish as having procured salvation at infinite cost and
then given it to creatures to maintain who are not able to effect their own salvation and certainly
can’t maintain it. This would be like committing a fortune to the safekeeping of an infant who
would surely lose it.
That the falling away is hypothetical is indicated again by verse 9, which says, “But beloved,
we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus
speak.” In other words, falling away does not “accompany salvation.” Those who are truly
saved can never fall away (italics and ellipsis his).
Like others, Hunt seems to forget the Lord’s apostles all fell away at one point. Should we
conclude they were not truly saved?
Getting back to Kendall, how does he view these passages and still maintain his belief in OSAS?
I simply put forward the view that the “falling away” (Hebrews 6:6) or “sinning wilfully”
(Hebrews 10:26) refers not to losing salvation but one’s reward at the judgment seat of
Christ.
Before we test his OSAS interpretation, let’s also look at Charles Stanley’s understanding:
The writer of Hebrews offers a serious warning. It is a dangerous thing for a believer to turn his
back on Christ. To do so is to run the risk of drifting beyond the point of return—not a return to
salvation, but a return to fellowship with the Savior.
Since the Christians referred to in Heb. 6:4-6 fell away and could not come back, the issue is
now narrowed down to the following question: Did the Christians in the book of Hebrews who
fell away lose only their rewards, their fellowship or their salvation?
Let’s answer by beginning with 6:9:
But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany
salvation, though we are speaking in this way (NASB).
The writer of Hebrews is contrasting two groups of people in 6:4-9:
1. Those who fell away and couldn’t be renewed through repentance; and
2. A group referred to in verse 9 as beloved with a different standing before God—things
that accompany salvation. The words better things concerning you also indicate this.
Note: verse 9 says salvation, not fellowship or rewards!
Heb. 10:26,27 parallel 6:9, in a negative sense, to show salvation is the subject:
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice
for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will
consume the enemies of God (NIV).

171. Raging fire that will consume the enemies of God can only be the language of no salvation,
not lack of rewards or fellowship!
This passage also declares that people, not their rewards, will be consumed by this fire, which is
for the enemies of God.
Regarding God’s enemies, this same description of a person is given elsewhere. Such are
clearly without salvation:
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son,
how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Rom. 5:10, NIV).
Hebrews 10:26-31
The Heb. 10:26-31 passage reads:
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no
sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will
consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on
the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves
to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy
thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of
grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord
will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (NIV).
Perhaps the following comment can supply missing background information on this passage, as
well as 6:4-9, as to why those referred to could not get saved again:
Those addressed were Hebrew Christians, who, discouraged and persecuted, (10:32-39) were
tempted to return to Judaism. Before being received again into the synagogue they would
be publicly required to make the following statements (10:29): that Jesus was not the Son of
God; that His blood was rightly shed as that of a common malefactor; and that His
miracles were done by the power of the evil one. All this is implied in 10:29. (That such a
repudiation would have been insisted on is illustrated by the case of a Hebrew Christian in
Germany, who desired to return to the synagogue, but was refused when he desired to hold on to
some of the New Testament truths.) Before their conversion they had belonged to the nation
which had crucified Christ; to return to the synagogue would be to crucify to themselves the
Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame; it would be the awful sin of apostasy (Heb.
6:6); it would be like the unpardonable sin for which there is no forgiveness, because the
one so hardened as to commit it cannot be “renewed unto repentance”; it would be worthy
of a worse punishment than that of death (10:28); it would mean incurring the vengeance of the
living God. 10:30,31.
If one accepts this interpretation and adds to it the following facts about the eternal sin, then he
can better understand why those in Heb. 6:4-6 who fell away (parapesontas) could not be
renewed by repentance unto salvation as they were enemies of God (10:29), but others, like
Peter, who didn’t sin to that degree, could be renewed.
An Eternal Sin
The context of Jesus’ teaching about eternal sin makes it clear as to what it is:
And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by
Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” ... But whoever blasphemes

172. against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin. He said this
because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit” (Mk. 3:22,29,30, NIV).
Jesus taught that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is directly related to saying that the Lord had
an evil spirit by which he was driving out demons. Hence, a link seems to exist between eternal
sin and insulting the Spirit of grace (10:29). This could possibly explain why the ones referred to
in 6:6 could not be renewed unto salvation, that is, they committed eternal sin.
9. Ray Stedman explains if God permits writing that...
This foundation and accompanying instruction could, if appropriated by faith, bring a Jew to
new life in Christ. This would not be difficult to accept since it was based upon truth already
taught in the Law and the Prophets. But though some among these Hebrews knew these
truths intellectually, they gave little indication in their behavior that they had combined
them with personal faith (see note Hebrews 4:2). The combination of the word about Christ
with individual faith should have produced a Spirit-born vitality and enthusiasm which
would make it delightfully easy to instruct them in the wonders of the Melchizedek
priesthood. But since this élan (vigorous spirit, energy or enthusiasm) is so visibly absent
the writer must warn them that something is seriously lacking. It is dangerous to stay forever
on the foundation; in fact, it is impossible. If they are not willing or able to move on to more
mature understanding, they are in grave peril of losing what they already have, and that
irretrievably! Growth in truth is something all Christians (note the pronoun we in v. 3) must
do, God permitting.
Surely God would permit all of us to go on to maturity in the Christian life whenever we
wished to do so! Or would he? This is the very question raised by the words God permitting.
It seems to parallel the quotation in Hebrews 3:11 (note), “So I declared on oath in my
anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” The unbelieving Israelites in the desert wanted to
enter into Canaan, and, presumably, into the spiritual rest which Canaan symbolized. But
they could not, for God would not permit it! Hence they must continue to wander in the
wilderness till all were dead. Far from being a polite cliché or pious wish, these
words Godpermitting form the fulcrum on which the warning of Hebrews 6:4-8 turns.
(Hebrews 6:1-3 Leave These Elementary Teachings) (bolding added)
10. Vincent explains that...
An ominous hint is conveyed that the spiritual dullness of the readers may prevent the writer
from developing his theme, and them from receiving his higher instruction. The issue is
dependent on the power which God may impart to His teaching, but His efforts may be
thwarted by the impossibility of repentance on their part. No such impossibility is imposed
by God, but it may reside in a moral condition which precludes the efficient action of the
agencies which work for repentance, so that God cannot permit the desired consequence to
follow the word of teaching.” All of which goes to say that while there is such a thing as the
sovereign grace of God, yet there is also such a thing as the free will of man. God never in
the case of salvation violates man’s free will. The choice must be made by these Hebrews
between going back to the sacrifices or on to faith in Christ as High Priest. But their spiritual

173. declension if persisted in, would result in their putting themselves beyond the reach of the
Holy Spirit. This is implied in 3:7, 8 where they are warned that if they desire to hear the
voice of the Holy Spirit, they should not harden their hearts, the implication being clear that
they could harden their hearts to the extent that they would have no more desire to hear the
voice of the Holy Spirit. This shows that the “impossibility” of 6:4,v5,v6 resides in the
condition of their hearts, not in the grace of God
11. The unpardonable sin is not just opposition to the Gospel, for Paul was a great opponent but
yet saved.
Four impossibilities 6:4, 6:18, 6:6 10:4, 11:6
If the Calvinist are right and these are not true believers then it would appear that it is saying
now they can never be saved for it is impossible for them to get this close to the real thing and
back off and then go on to repent and get the real thing. This seems to say they are always lost
from the beginning and cannot ever be anything but lost. The warning seems meaningless for if
they are never saved in the first place how can their being faithful to their commitment save
them? If it is only the non-saved that are dealt with it seems like much ado about nothing. If they
are deceived and think they are saved and then go back to Judaism and are then lost, it makes no
difference for they have been lost all the time. This passage only makes sense if it is written to
believers, for they are the only ones who risk suffering loss. Those who are not saved cannot
suffer loss of salvation.
The major issue here is whether or not these people are true Christians. If they are not but just
clever hypocrites then the passage is no problem, for all agree that they are lost. But if these
people are true believers then we have a problem with the issue of eternal security. Christians
hold both positions. Let’s look at the characteristics of these people.
1. Once enlightened. This could go either way, for I know a non-Christian who learned
much of the Bible even before he became a Christian.
2. Tasted the heavenly gift. Some say that even a non-believer can have a taste of it. But
as Weirsbe points out in 2:9 that Jesus tasted death for every man. This taste was not a mere
nibble, but He had to swallow the whole thing. He says these people experienced salvation
fully.
3. Shared in the Holy Spirit. Only the Christian can be meant.
4. Tasted the goodness of the Word of God.
5. Tasted the power of the coming age.

174. If non-Christians could get this close to heaven and still not be saved, then there is no way
to tell them apart from the true Christian.
What are possible solutions?
1. Hypothetical case. He is not describing any reality that he is aware of, but just what
might be if such a thing could happen that a Christian would forsake Christ and go back to
another way of being saved. In verse 9 he says he is confident of better things in them. It is
just a hypothetical danger he hopes will never take place.
2. It is possible for the child of God to go fully astray and never repent, but still be
redeemed because even as a rebel he remains a child of God.
Harry Heintz, “This passage in Hebrews 5 and 6 has the most difficult occurrence of the word
impossible in the Bible for me. "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, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and
then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are
holding him up to contempt." (Hebrews 6:4-6, NRSV.) I looked in other translations for a softer
word-couldn’t find one. I went to my favorite paraphrase, The Message, seeing if in its creative
freedom it would find another word. Here is what it says, "Once people have seen the light,
gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they’ve personally
experienced the sheer goodness of God’s Word and the powers breaking in on us-if then they
turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can’t start over as if
nothing happened. That’s impossible."
There are other places in the New Testament where the word impossible is used in ways I really
like. When Jesus was teaching about people entering the kingdom of heaven, he said it is
especially hard for rich people to enter because they tend to trust in their riches rather then God.
His disciples were listening this time and asked, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus answered, "For
mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:23-26.) I like that: for
God all things are possible. We cannot save ourselves, but God can save us. When Mary was told
that she was carrying a child, she asked the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
Gabriel answered, "For nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:34-37.) I like that: with
God nothing is impossible.
I simply do not like the thought that any person can be beyond repentance and restoration,
beyond God’s forgiveness. I like the way the Bible shows God again and again reaching out to us
in mercy, grace, and forgiveness. I rejoice in how the Bible shows God using flawed sinners like
us to accomplish his will. I marvel at what Jeremiah 31 says about God forgiving our sins and
remembering them no more. I’m awed at what Psalm 103 says about God removing our
transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. I love what Jesus said about forgiving
your neighbor 70 times seven. But that wasn’t all that Jesus said. He said this also, "Therefore I

175. tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit
will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but
whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come."
(Matthew 12:31-32.) That slows us down.
There is, apparently, a place wherein we cut ourselves off from the saving grace of the God of all
grace and mercy. I shudder to think of that. God’s mercies are so tender, God’s graces so
prolific, God’s promises so abundant, that I cannot imagine limiting God. Yet history tells their
stories. Not only does world history tell of those who did enormous evil, the Scriptures remind us
of Judas, who betrayed the Savior who so graciously called him to be one of the Twelve. In
Colossians 4:14 Paul referred warmly to his co-worker Demas. In 2 Timothy 4:10 the same Paul
tells with sadness of the same Demas who, in love with this world, deserted the followers of
Jesus. In 1 Timothy 1 Paul writes of Hymenaeus and Alexander, who shipwrecked their faith and
were turned over to Satan that they would learn not to blaspheme. It is with no joy that we
recognize that there are people who have hardened their hearts against God and against his great
salvation and have consigned themselves to a terrible fate.
What do we conclude from this hard teaching?
1. First, it is a warning. It is issued not to scare or intimidate the hearer, but to motivate the
hearer to avoid the wrong course and stay on the right one. Warnings are gifts in life, if we heed
them. This is a warning not to take faith for granted, not to rest on yesterday’s successes, not to
coast as if God promised us downhill roads only.
2. Second, it still leaves us with the matter of the person who has so fallen away, who has
blasphemed the Holy Spirit of God. Is that person beyond repentance and restoration?
Reluctantly I believe that certain persons by knowingly jettisoning the faith, by consciously
blaspheming the work of the Holy Spirit, place themselves beyond forgiveness. I also believe
that anyone that still cares about God, no matter how tentatively, that anyone that still shows
even the slightest hint of interest in the Lord, however timidly, is a candidate for forgiveness,
restoration, new life, salvation, and eternal life with God. I believe that anyone that has truly
committed that sin Jesus calls beyond forgiveness will not even ask about it, will not get near the
possibility of following Jesus again.
The author of Hebrews bolsters us in that hope in verse 9: "Even though we speak in this way,
beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation." Now
there is word that I love: confident. Listen again to The Message expressing that confidence:
"I’m sure that won’t happen to you, friends. I have better things in mind for you-salvation
things!" The preacher, having warned the congregation, now encourages them, with a heart filled
with hope, a voice marked by vitality, with a fervent faith. "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."
The Rest Of The Story

176. In last week's article, we considered Peter's fall from discipleship to despondency. We noted the
overconfidence that kept him from acknowledging the real danger which the Lord warned him
of. However, we would be negligent to leave Peter in despondency, for the Scriptures do not.
Peter did not remain hopeless and desperate.
As well known radio personality, Paul Harvey would say, "...and now, the rest of the story...."
"WHEN YOU HAVE RETURNED..."
Consider that Jesus words, as found in Luke 22:32 suggest two things about man's salvation.
First, we can depart. One cannot return if he has not departed. Peter departed from the Lord, and
his soul was in eternal jeopardy at that time. The Bible makes it clear that we are able to lose the
salvation of our soul (1 Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 3:12-13; Hebrews 6:4-6). The apostle Paul
speaks of Demas as a fellow labourer (Philemon 24), but at some later point, writes, "...Demas
has forsaken me, having loved this present world..." (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas returned to the
world, and thus brought damnation upon his own soul.
Second, we learn from Jesus' words that it is possible for the one who has departed from the Lord
to return. Peter would depart, but the Lord acknowledged that he would also return. Again,
several Bible passages discuss the fact that one who had walked with the Lord, then turned away,
can turn back (Psalm 51; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19).
THE PRODIGAL COMES HOME.
We are given no specifics on Peter's return to the Lord. However, we can learn from the
experience of the prodigal son (Luke 15:17-24). Notice, "...he came to himself..." He realized
how far he had fallen (v 13-16). He was awakened to the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13;
11:25). He understood that if there was to be a change, it was his responsibility, and that part of
this change involved a confession of his sins (v 18). He took charge of his life, "...arose and
went..." to his father, confessing his sins (v 20, 21). He did not attempt to justify himself, but
relied upon his father's mercy (v 21). And thus, he was restored (v 22-24).
Peter would come back to the Lord, and would be restored. After Jesus had risen, the angel
commanded the women who had come to the tomb, "...go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that
He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you." (Mark 16:7).
Peter had a special invitation to come back to the Lord, being mentioned by name. At this point,
he was no better than a young Jewish boy stuck in a foreign country feeding swine; but the Lord
desired better for Peter. In Galilee, Peter was restored to the Lord (John 21:15-19).
"...STRENGTHEN YOUR BRETHREN."
Peter's restoration to the Lord is not the end of the story. This once despondent disciple went on
to great service before God. Recall, the Lord said to Peter, "...when you have returned to Me,
strengthen your brethren." (Luke 22:32). By no means did Peter have a flawless life from that
point on (Acts 10:9-17; Galatians 2:11-14), but he fulfilled Jesus' words, being a pillar in the
Lord's kingdom.
Peter became a great leader in the early church (Acts 1:15ff; 2:14; 5:1-11). We have several
records of him speaking boldly the word of the Lord, and influencing people with the gospel

177. (Acts 2; 3; 8:25; 9:32; 10:1-11:18). We have Peter's great faith in trial to look upon and imitate
(Acts 4:29; 5:41-42; 12). We have at our disposal, a continual reminder from the apostle Peter to
keep us focused on heaven. Peter wrote, "...I will not be negligent to remind you always of these
things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long
as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent,
just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always
have a reminder of these things after my decease." (2 Peter 1:12-15).
What a wonderful story is Peter's return to the Lord. God forbid that even one of the Lord's
should fall from faithful service, but God be thanked, that He is merciful and forgiving, and
desires that the wayward return. And so wonderful is that return, for the angels in heaven shall
rejoice, and the brethren upon the earth likewise. And with the return of even one straying sheep,
such as Peter, who knows what unmeasurable good will result in the kingdom of God.
Falling Back
It's that time of year again. Either you remembered to turn your clock back an hour last night, or
you ended up being the first at the assembly this morning. If it happened to you, don't worry -- I
won't tell anyone! A few years back we had forgotten to change our clock, and found ourselves
alone at the meeting place for an hour. Let me say, better an hour early than an hour late!
However, on the occasion of this time change, I want us to note that the Bible warns against
"falling back"; not our time pieces falling back an hour, but the setting aside of Christian conduct
and speech, to the eternal danger of one's soul. There are many in the religious world who will
reject the notion that a Christian could sin so as to lose his salvation. And yet the words of
Scripture are strikingly clear. For the purpose of this study, we will simply focus on texts found
in the book of Hebrews.
HEBREWS 2:1
Ever hear someone say that it doesn't matter if we do things exactly as the Bible says? Too busy
to set aside time to study the Bible? The apostle Paul penned, "Be diligent to present yourself
approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
(2 Timothy 2:15) It is vitally important to our soul's eternity that we understand and act upon the
will of God. The dreadful result of taking a lax attitude to the authority of the Scriptures, and to
our responsibility to study diligently is that we will "drift away."
HEBREWS 3:12-13
The Hebrew writer considers the example of Israel, God's covenant people of old. Israel had
tested and tried the Lord, and as a result received upon themselves His wrath (3:9-11). It must be
noted that these were the Lord's people, those whom He had called out of Egypt. And yet, they
hardened their hearts in rebellion. And so it was that they were not permitted to enter the land.
The writer's warning is vivid. We must watch ourselves, that we do not become hardened as they
did, and thus rebel agains the Lord. As possible as it was for God's people of old to turn away
from serving Him, we today can depart "...from the living God..." Thus, the wonderful command

178. to "...exhort one another daily..." Certainly, we are responsible for our own soul, but the
commandment of Scripture reveals that we are indeed our brother's keeper as well, that we both
might enter the promised rest.
HEBREWS 4:1, 11
At the end of Hebrews 3, the writer comments about the disobedience and unbelief of those who
came up from Egypt. He states plainly that on account of these things, they could not enter the
Lord's rest. However, there remains a promise of rest for the children of God. Thus, having
examined that generation of Israel, the writer cautions us, "...lest any of you seem to have come
short..."
There's an old saying, "He who is ignorant of history is doomed to repeat it." Many times, the
New Testament writers appeal to the conduct of people in the Old Testament, revealing in some
an example for Christians to follow, exposing in others examples which lead to death. Let us not
be ignorant of the history of the unfaithful. They will be no means enter His rest.
Continuing with the focus on Israel's poor example, the writer rallies diligence in the people of
God to enter the Lord's rest. The possibility of falling back is bluntly acknowledged. If it were
not possible that the people of God could fall from grace (Galatians 5:4), there would be no need
for diligence, and no possibility that we would follow the "...example of disobedience."
HEBREWS 6:4-6
The writer speaks of an instance where "...it is impossible for those who were once
enlightened..." to return to the Lord. It is not impossible because of a lack of mercy on God's
part, but a lack of repentance on man's part. It is often the case (as we see in Israel) that those
who fall away from serving the Lord set a wall of arrogance between themselves and the Lord
(Malachi 1:2, 6-7, 12-13; 2:17; 3:8, 13). So long as this attitude remains, renewal to the Lord
cannot occur, for in returning to and living in sin, we count the sacrifice of the Lord as common,
and exclude ourselves from its reach (10:26-29).
HEBREWS 10:26-27
A child of God, turning from the way of the Lord to the path of sin forfeits the only sacrifice
which will satisfy the requirements of God's justice. The willful transgression (John calls it a
"...sin leading to death..." 1 John 5:16) brings with it surety of condemnation in the judgment.
The sinner appears before the Judge without the Advocate, Jesus Christ. As the writer affirms, a
"...fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation..." is to be expected.
HEBREWS 12:15-16
Indeed, "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." (Romans 3:23), but the Lord
provided redemption in Christ. Yet we must ever be alert, resolved to serve the Lord faithfully,
so that we not fall short again. Paul warned, "...let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he
fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Notice, the "...root of bitterness springing up..." not only causes trouble for the one in whom it
began, but "...by this many become defiled..." Our words and conduct have an impact on others,

179. whether for good or for evil. We need to be mindful of our influence, and keep it pure. May we
never sell out on the good things God has in store for us (both here and hereafter) to satisfy a
temporary lust.
HEBREWS 12:25
As the first text we looked at from the book of Hebrews called for our adherence to the word of
God, so does the last. If those who refused to hear the Lord, who spoke from "...the
mountain...that burned with fire..." (12:18) did not escape (Israel of old), we certainly will not
escape if we neglect the word that came in greater fashion and power. Friends, do not refuse
Him, nor turn away from Him; but heed His every command, and thus stand and live before
Him.
Let's be sure that only the clocks "fall back". It is possible to "fall back" from serving the Lord,
but let us always examine ourselves and watch our fellow labourers in the kingdom. None need
ever "fall back".
The Possibility Of Apostasy
We live in a day when false doctrine seems to abound. Among the most popular and widespread,
is that once a person is saved, they can never lose salvation. This doctrine comes as the fifth of
five points in Calvinism (T.U.L.I.P.), entitled "Perseverance of the saints". Some are so deeply
fallen into this false way, that they believe they are invinsible to the consequences of sin. Baptist
preacher, Sam Morris, once stated in a tract by the name, 'Do a Christian's sins damn his soul?',
"We take the position that a Christian's sins do not damn his soul. The way a Christian lives,
what he says, his character, his conduct, or his attitude toward other people have nothing
whatever to do with the salvation of his soul... And all the sins he may commit from murder to
idolatry will not make his soul in any more danger." Bill Foster, another Baptist preacher, once
commented, "If I killed my wife and mother and debauched a thousand women I couldn't go to
hell --- in fact, I couldn't go to hell if I wanted to."
If these things are true, what are we to make of passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:1-3, wherein
Paul says one is saved "...if you hold fast that word which I preached to you -- unless you
believed in vain."? When the Lord commands, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the
crown of life" (Revelation 2:10), shall we not answer, "Why? For if I am unfaithful, you will
likewise give it to me"? There are countless admonitions in Scripture to faithfulness, which, if
the 'once saved, always saved' position is correct, become meaningless words.
Consider a small number of passages which illustrate that a Christian can so sin as to lose his
salvation:
Ezekiel 18:24-26 - The fact that the one spoken of is called righteous would indicate one who is
saved, and yet this one who is saved has the ability to turn from his righteousness, and commit
iniquity. He dies before the Lord because of the sin which he committed (also see v 20).
John 15:1-6 - The frist branch of verse 2 was in the vine. It is speaking of a Christian, but one
who bears no fruit. That one is taken away, cast out, withered, thrown into the fire and burned.

180. Acts 20:28-30 - The apostle Paul warned the elders of Ephesus, that even some of them would
rise up, drawing people after themselves and away from the truth.
1 Corinthians 1:1-12 - Paul shows the unfaithfulness of Israel, and sums up by saying "...let him
who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."
Galatians 2:11-14 - Paul withstood Peter to the face, for he was to be blamed, or literally,
condemned.
Galatians 5:4 - Some Christians from Galatia had become estranged from Christ, they had fallen
from grace.
Galatians 6:1 - In order to restore someone, they must have been saved, and fallen from that
state.
1 Timothy 4:1 - The Spirit expressly says, some will depart from the faith.
Were that not enough passages to see that a Christian can so sin as to lose salvation, study the
following list of texts: Matthew 25:1-30; Luke 8:13; Luke 9:62; Luke 12:42-48; Acts 4:32,
5:1-11; Acts 8:9-24; Romans 11:13-23; 1 Corinthians 9:26-27; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Timothy
1:18-20; 1 Timothy 5:8; 1 Timothy 6:10; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; Hebrews 2:1; Hebrews 3:12-4:1;
Hebrews 4:11; Hebrews 6:4-6; Hebrews 10:25-31; Hebrews 10:38-39; Hebrews 12:7-8; James
5:19-20; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 2:20-22; 2 Peter 3:17; 2 John 8-11; Revelation 2:4-5;
Revelation 3:5; Revelation 3:16-17.
Indeed, apostasy is a reality. It is possible for each child of God to walk the way of Demas, who
at a time was considered a faithful co-worker of the apostle Paul (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24),
but some time thereafter turned back to the world (2 Timothy 4:10). However, we need to fall.
The Lord has given us the ability to stand (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). We can lay hold of the
crown of righteousness, even as Paul did (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Walk careful, be faithful!
12 SPURGEON ON VERSES 4-6 “HERE are some spots in Europe which have been the
scenes of frequent warfare, as for instance, the kingdom of Belgium, which might be
called the battle field of Europe. War has raged over the whole of Europe, but in some
unhappy spots, battle after battle has been fought. So there is scarce a passage of
Scripture which has not been disputed between the enemies of truth and the upholders of
it; but this passage, with one or two others, has been the special subject of attack. This is
one of the texts which have been trodden under the feet of controversy; and there are
opinions upon it as adverse as the poles, some asserting that it means one thing, and some
declaring that it means another. We think that some of them approach somewhat near the
truth; but others of them desperately err from the mind of the Spirit. We come to this
passage ourselves with the intention to read it with the simplicity of a child, and whatever
we find therein to state it; and if it may not seem to agree with something we have
hitherto held, we are prepared to cast away every doctrine of our own, rather than one
passage of Scripture.

181. Looking at the scope of the whole passage, it appears to us that the Apostle wished to push the
disciples on. There is a tendency in the human mind to stop short of the heavenly mark. As soon
as ever we have attained to the first principles of religion, have passed through baptism, and
understand the resurrection of the dead, there is a tendency in us to sit still; to say, "I have passed
from death unto life; here I may take my stand and rest;" whereas, the Christian life was intended
not to be a sitting still, but a race, a perpetual motion. The Apostle, therefore endeavours to urge
the disciples forward, and make them run with diligence the heavenly race, looking unto Jesus.
He tells them that it is not enough to have on a certain day, passed through a glorious change-to
have experienced at a certain time, a wonderful operation of the Spirit; but he teaches them it is
absolutely necessary that they should have the Spirit all their lives-that they should, as long as
they live, be progressing in the truth of God. In order to make them persevere, if possible, he
shows them that if they do not, they must, most certainly be lost; for there is no other salvation
but that which God has already bestowed on them, and if that does not keep them, carry them
forward, and present them spotless before God, there cannot be any other. For it is impossible, he
says, if ye be once enlightened, and then fall away, that ye should ever be renewed again unto
repentance.
We shall, this morning, answer one or two questions. The first question will be, Who are the
people here spoken? Are they true Christians or not? Secondly, What is meant by falling away?
And thirdly, What is intended, when it is asserted, that it is impossible to renew them to
repentance?
I. First, then, we answer the question, WHO ARE THE PEOPLE HERE SPOKEN OF? If you
read Dr. Gill, Dr. Owen, and almost all the eminent Calvinistic writers, they all of them assert
that these persons are not Christians. They say, that enough is said here to represent a man who is
a Christian externally, but not enough to give the portrait of a true believer. Now, it strikes me
they would not have said this if they had had some doctrine to uphold; for a child, reading this
passage, would say, that the persons intended by it must be Christians. If the Holy Spirit intended
to describe Christians, I do not see that he could have used more explicit terms than there are
here. How can a man be said to be enlightened, and to taste of the heavenly gift, and to be made
partaker of the Holy Ghost, without being a child of God? With all deference to these learned
doctors, and I admire and love them all, I humbly conceive that they allowed their judgments to
be a little warped when they said that; and I think I shall be able to show that none but true
believers are here described.
First, they are spoken of as having been once enlightened. This refers to the enlightening
influence of God's Spirit, poured into the soul at the time of conviction, when man is enlightened
with regard to his spiritual state, shown how evil and bitter a thing it is to sin against God, made
to feel how utterly powerless he is to rise from the grave of his corruption, and is further
enlightened to see, that "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified," and to behold
Christ on the cross, as the sinner's only hope. The first work of grace is to enlighten the soul. By
nature we are entirely dark; the Spirit, like a lamp, sheds light into the dark heart, revealing its
corruption, displaying its sad state of destitution, and, in due time, revealing also Jesus Christ, so
that in his light we may see light. I cannot consider a man truly enlightened unless he is a child
of God. Does not the term indicate a person taught of God? It is not the whole of Christian
experience; but is it not a part?

182. Having enlightened us, as the text says, the next thing that God grants to us is a taste of the
heavenly gift, by which we understand, the heavenly gift of salvation, including the pardon of
sin, justification by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, regeneration by the Holy Ghost,
and all those gifts and graces, which in the earlier dawn of spiritual life convey salvation. All
true believers have tasted of the heavenly gift. It is not enough for a man to be enlightened; the
light may glare upon his eyeballs, and yet he may die; he must taste, as well as see that the Lord
is good. It is not enough to see that I am corrupt; I must taste that Christ is able to remove my
corruption. It is not enough for me to know that he is the only Saviour; I must taste of his flesh
and of his blood, and have a vital union with him. We do think that when a man has been
enlightened and has had an experience of grace, he is a Christian; and whatever those great
divines might hold, we cannot think that the Holy Spirit would describe an unregenerate man as
having been enlightened, and as having tasted of the heavenly gift. No, my brethren, if I have
tasted of the heavenly gift, then that heavenly gift is mine; if I have had ever so short an
experience of my Saviour's love, I am one of his; if he has brought me into the green pastures,
and made me taste of the still waters and the tender grass, I need not fear as to whether I am
really a child of God.
Then the Apostle gives a further description, a higher state of grace: sanctification by
participation of the Holy Ghost. It is a peculiar privilege to believers, after their first tasting of
the heavenly gift, to be made partakers of the Holy Ghost. He is an indwelling Spirit; he dwells
in the hearts, and souls, and minds of men; he makes this mortal flesh his home; he makes our
soul his palace, and there he rests; and we do assert (and we think, on the authority of Scripture),
that no man can be a partaker of the Holy Ghost, and yet be unregenerate. Where the Holy Ghost
dwells there must be life; and if I have participation with the Holy Ghost, and fellowship with
him, then I may rest assured that my salvation has been purchased by the blood of the Saviour.
Thou need'st not fear, beloved; if thou has the Holy Ghost, thou hast that which ensures thy
salvation; if thou, by an inward communion, canst participate in his Spirit, and if by a perpetual
indwelling the Holy Ghost rests in thee, thou art not only a Christian, but thou hast arrived at
some maturity in and by grace. Thou hast gone beyond mere enlightenment: thou hast passed
from the bare taste-thou hast attained to a positive feast, and a partaking of the Holy Ghost.
Lest there should be any mistake, however, about the persons being children of God, the Apostle
goes to a further stage of grace. They "have tasted the good word of God." Now, I will venture to
say there are some good Christian people here who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have never
"tasted the good word of God." I mean by that, that they are really converted, have tasted the
heavenly gift, but have not grown so strong in grace as to know the sweetness, the richness, and
fatness of the very word that saves them. They have been saved by the word, but they have not
come yet to realize, and love, and feed upon the word as many others have. It is one thing for
God to work a work of grace in the soul, it is quite another thing for God to show us that work; it
is one thing for the word to work in us-it is another thing for us really and habitually to relish,
and taste, and rejoice in that word. Some of my hearers are true Christians; but they have not got
to that stage wherein they can love election, and suck it down as a sweet morsel, wherein they
can take the great doctrines of grace, and feed upon them. But these people had. They had tasted
the good word of God, as well as received the good gift: they had attained to such a state, that
they had loved the word, had tasted, and feasted upon it. It was the man of their right hand; they
had counted it sweeter than honey-ay, sweeter than the droppings of the honeycomb. They had
"tasted the good word of God." I say again, if these people be not believers-who are?

183. And they had gone further still. They had attained the summit of piety. They had received "the
powers of the world to come." Not miraculous gifts, which are denied us in these days, but all
those powers with which the Holy Ghost endows a Christian. And what are they? Why, there is
the power of faith, which commands even the heavens themselves to rain, and they rain, or stops
the bottles of heaven, that they rain not. There is the power of prayer, which puts a ladder
between earth and heaven, and bids angels walk up and down, to convey our wants to God, and
bring down blessings from above. There is the power with which God girds his servant when he
speaks by inspiration, which enables him to instruct others, and lead them to Jesus; and whatever
other power there may be-the power of holding communion with God, or the power of patient
waiting for the Son of Man-they were possessed by these individuals. They were not simply
children, but they were men; they were not merely alive, but they were endued with power; they
were men, whose muscles were firmly set, whose bones were strong; they had become giants in
grace, and had received not only the light, but the power also of the world to come. These, we
say, whatever may be the meaning of the text, must have been, beyond a doubt, none other than
true and real Christians.
II. And now we answer the second question, WHAT IS MEANT BY FALLING AWAY?
We must remind our friends, that there is a vast distinction between falling away and falling. It is
nowhere said in Scripture, that if a man fall he cannot be renewed; on the contrary, "the righteous
falleth seven times, but he riseth up again;" and however many times the child of God doth fall,
the Lord still holdeth the righteous; yea, when our bones are broken, he bindeth up our bones
again, and setteth us once more upon a rock. He saith, "Return, ye backsliding children of men;
for I am married unto you;" and if the Christian do backslide ever so far, still Almighty mercy
cries, "Return, return, return, and seek an injured Father's heart." He still calls his children back
again. Falling is not falling away. Let me explain the difference; for a man who falls may behave
just like a man who falls away; and yet there is a great distinction between the two. I can use no
better illustration than the distinction between fainting and dying. There lies a young creature;
she can scarcely breathe; she cannot herself, lift up her hand, and if lifted up by any one else, it
falls. She is cold and stiff; she is faint, but not dead. There is another one, just as cold and stiff as
she is, but there is this difference-she is dead. The Christian may faint, and may fall down in a
faint too, and some may pick him up, and say he is dead; but he is not. If he fall, God will lift
him up again; but if he fall away, God himself cannot save him. For it is impossible, if the
righteous fall away, "to renew them again unto repentance."
Moreover, to fall away is not to commit sin. under a temporary surprise and temptation.
Abraham goes to Egypt; he is afraid that his wife will be taken away from him, and he says, "She
is my sister." That was a sin under a temporary surprise-a sin, of which, by-and-by, he repented,
and God forgave him. Now that is falling; but it is not falling away. Even Noah might commit a
sin, which has degraded his memory even till now, and shall disgrace it to the latest time; but
doubtless, Noah repented, and was saved by sovereign grace. Noah fell, but Noah did not fall
away. A Christian may go astray once, and speedily return again; and though it is a sad, and
woeful, and evil thing to be surprised into a sin, yet there is a great difference between this and
the sin which would be occasioned by a total falling away from grace.
Nor can a man who commits a sin, which is not exactly a surprise, be said to fall away. I believe
that some Christian men-(God forbid that we should say much of it!-let us cover the nakedness
of our brother with a cloak.) but I do believe that there are some Christians who, for a period of

184. time, have wandered into sin, and yet have not positively fallen away. There is that black case of
David-a case which has puzzled thousands. Certainly for some months, David lived without
making a public confession of his sin, but, doubtless, he had achings of heart, for grace had not
ceased its work: there was a spark among the ashes that Nathan stirred up, which showed that
David was not dead, or else the match which the prophet applied would not have caught light so
readily. And so, beloved, you may have wandered into sin for a time, and gone far from God;
and yet you are not the character here described, concerning whom it is said, that it is impossible
you should be saved; but, wanderer though you be, you are your father's son still, and mercy
cries, "Repent, repent; return unto your first husband, for then it was better with you than it is
now. Return, O wanderer, return."
Again, falling away is not even a giving up of profession. Some will say, "Now there is
So-and-so; he used to make a profession of Christianity, and now he denies it, and what is worse,
he dares to curse and swear, and says that he never knew Christ at all. Surely he must be fallen
away." My friend, he has fallen, fallen fearfully, and fallen woefully; but I remember a case in
Scripture of a man who denied his Lord and Master before his own face. You remember his
name; he is an old friend of yours-our friend Simon Peter! he denied him with oaths and curses,
and said, "I say unto thee that I know not the man." And yet Jesus looked on Simon. He had
fallen, but he had not fallen away; for, only two or three days after that, there was Peter at the
tomb of his Master, running there to meet his Lord, to be one of the first to find him risen.
Beloved, you may even have denied Christ by open profession, and yet if you repent there is
mercy for you. Christ has not cast you away, you shall repent yet. You have not fallen away. If
you had, I might not preach to you; for it is impossible for those who have fallen away to be
renewed again unto repentance.
But some one says, "What is falling away?" Well, there never has been a case of it yet, and
therefore I cannot describe it from observation; but I will tell you what I suppose it is. To fall
away, would be for the Holy Spirit entirely to go out of a man-for his grace entirely to cease; not
to lie dormant, but to cease to be-for God, who has begun a good work, to leave off doing it
entirely-to take his hand completely and entirely away, and say, "There, man! I have half saved
thee; now I will damn thee." That is what falling away is. It is not to sin temporarily. A child
may sin against his father, and still be alive; but falling away is like cutting the child's head off
clean. Not falling merely, for then our Father could pick us up, but being dashed down a
precipice, where we are lost for ever. Falling away would involved God's grace changing its
living nature. God's immutability becoming variable, God's faithfulness becoming changeable,
and God, himself being undeified; for all these things falling away would necessitate.
III. But if a child of God could fall away, and grace could cease in a man's heart-now comes the
third question-Paul says, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE RENEWED. What did the
Apostle mean? One eminent commentator says, he meant that it would be very hard. It would be
very hard, indeed, for a man who fell away, to be saved. But we reply, "My dear friend, it does
not say anything about its being very hard; it says it is impossible, and we say that it would be
utterly impossible, if such a case as is supposed were to happen; impossible for man, and also
impossible for God; for God hath purposed that he never will grant a second salvation to save
those whom the first salvation hath failed to deliver. Methinks, however, I hear some one say, "It
seems to me that it is possible for some such to fall away," because it says, "It is impossible, if
they shall fall away, to renew them again into repentance." Well, my friend, I will grant you your

185. theory for a moment. You are a good Christian this morning; let us apply it to yourself, and see
how you will like it. You have believed in Christ, and committed your soul to God, and you
think, that in some unlucky hour you may fall entirely away. Mark you, if you come to me and
tell me that you have fallen away, how would you like me to say to you, "My friend, you are as
much damned as the devil in hell! for it is impossible to renew you to repentance?" "Oh! no, sir,"
you would say, "I will repent again and join the Church." That is just the Arminian theory all
over; but it is not in God's Scripture. If you once fall away, you are as damned as any man who
suffereth in the gulf for ever. And yet we have heard a man talk about people being converted
three, four, and five times, and regenerated over and over again. I remember a good man (I
suppose he was) pointing to a man who was walking along the street, and saying, "That man has
been born again three times, to my certain knowledge." I could mention the name of the
individual, but I refrain from doing so. "And I believe he will fall again," said he, "he is so much
addicted to drinking, that I do not believe the grace of God will do anything for him, unless he
becomes a teetotaller." Now, such men cannot read the Bible; because in case their members do
positively fall away, here it is stated, as a positive fact, that it is impossible to renew them again
unto repentance. But I ask my Arminian friend, does he not believe that as long as there is life
there is hope? "Yes," he says:
"While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return."
Well, that is not very consistent, to say this in the very next breath to that with which you tell us
that there are some people who fall away, and consequently fall into such a condition, that they
cannot be saved. I want to know how you make these two things fit each other; I want you to
make these two doctrines agree; and until some enterprising individual will bring the north pole,
and set it on the top of the south, I cannot tell how you will accomplish it. The fact is you are
quite right in saying, "While there is life there is hope;" but you are wrong in saying that any
individual ever did fall into such a condition, that it was impossible for him to be saved.
We come now to do two things: first, to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall away, he
cannot be saved; and, secondly, to improve the doctrine, or to show its use,
I. Then I am going to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall away-not fall, for you understand
how I have explained that; but if a Christian cease to be a child of God, and if grace die out in his
heart-he is then beyond the possibility of salvation, and it is impossible for him ever to be
renewed. Let me show you why. First, it is utterly impossible, if you consider the work which
has already broken down. When men have built bridges across streams, if they have been built of
the strongest material and in the most excellent manner, and yet the foundation has been found
so bad that none will stand, what do they say? Why, "We have already tried the best which
engineering or architecture has taught us; the best has already failed; we know nothing that can
exceed what has been tried; and we do therefore feel, that there remains no possibility of ever
bridging that stream, or ever running a line of railroad across this bog, or this morass, for we
have already tried what is acknowledged to be the best scheme." As the apostle says, "These
people have been once enlightened; they have had once the influence of the Holy Spirit,
revealing to them their sin: what now remains to be tried. They have been once convinced-is

186. there anything superior to conviction?" Does the Bible promise that the poor sinner shall have
anything over and above the conviction of his sin to make him sensible of it? Is there anything
more powerful than the sword of the Spirit? That has not pierced the man's heart; is there
anything else which will do it? Here is a man who has been under the hammer of God's law; but
that has not broken his heart; can you find anything stronger? The lamp of God's spirit has
already lit up the caverns of his soul: if that be not sufficient, where will you borrow another?
Ask the sun, has he a lamp more bright than the illumination of the Spirit! Ask the stars, have
they a light more brilliant than the light of the Holy Ghost? Creation answers no. If that fails,
then there is nothing else. These people, moreover, had tasted the heavenly gift; and though they
had been pardoned and justified, yet pardon through Christ and justification were not enough (on
this supposition) to save them. How else can they be saved? God has cast them away; after he
has failed in saving them by these, what else can deliver them? Already they have tasted of the
heavenly gift: is there a greater mercy for them? Is there a brighter dress than the robe of Christ's
righteousness? Is there a more efficacious bath than that "fountain filled with blood?" No. All the
earth echoes, "No." If the one has failed, what else does there remain?
These persons, too, have been partakers of the Holy Ghost; if that fail, what more can we give
them? If, my hearer, the Holy Ghost dwells in your soul, and that Holy Ghost does not sanctify
you and keep you to the end, what else can be tried? Ask the blasphemer whether he knows a
being, or dares to suppose a being superior to the Holy Spirit! Is there a being greater than
Omnipotence? Is there a might greater than that which dwells in the believer's new-born heart?
And if already the Holy Spirit hath failed, O, heavens! tell us where we can fight aught that can
excel his might? If that be ineffectual, what next is to be essayed? These people, too, had "tasted
the good Word of Life;" they had loved the doctrines of grace; those doctrines had entered into
their souls, and they had fed upon them. What new doctrines shall be preached to them? Prophet
of ages! where whilt thou find another system of divinity? Who shall we have? Shall we raise up
Moses from the tomb? shall we fetch up all the ancient seers, and bid them prophecy? If, then,
there is only one doctrine that is true, and if these people have fallen away after receiving that,
how can they be saved?
Again, these people, according to the text, have had "the powers of the world to come." They
have had power to conquer sin-power in faith, power in prayer, power of communion; with what
greater power shall they be endowed? This has already failed; what next can be done? O ye
angels! answer, what next! What other means remain? What else can avail, if already the great
things of salvation have been defeated? What else shall now be attempted? He hath been once
saved; but yet it is supposed that he is lost. How, then, can he now be saved? Is there a
supplementary salvation? is there something that shall overtop Christ, and be a Christ where
Jesus is defeated.
And then the apostle says, that the greatness of their sin which they would incur, if they did fall
away, would put them beyond the bounds of mercy. Christ died, and by his death he made an
atonement for his own murderers; he made an atonement for those sins which crucified him
once; but do we read that Christ will ever die for those who crucify him twice? But the Apostle
tells us that if believers do fall away, they will "crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an
open shame." Where, then, would be an atonement for that? He has died for me; What! though
the sins of all the world were on my shoulders, still they only crucified him once, and that one
crucifixion has taken all those sins away; but if I crucified him again, where would I find

187. pardon? Could heavens, could earth, could Christ himself, with bowels full of love, point me to
another Christ, show to me a second Calvary, give me a second Gethsemane? Ah! no! the very
guilt itself would put us beyond the pale of hope, if we were to fall away?
Again, beloved, think what it would necessitate to save such a man. Christ has died for him once,
yet he has fallen away and is lost; the Spirit has regenerated him once, and that regenerating
work has been of no use. God has given him a new heart (I am only speaking, of course, on the
supposition of the Apostle), he has put his law in that heart, yet he has departed from him,
contrary to the promise that he should not; he has made him "like a shining light," but he did not
"shine more and more unto the perfect day," he shone only unto blackness. What next? There
must be a second incarnation, a second Calvary, a second Holy Ghost, a second regeneration, a
second justification, although the first was finished and complete-in fact, I know not what. It
would necessitate the upsetting of the whole kingdom of nature and grace, and it would, indeed,
be a world turned upside down, if after the gracious Saviour failed, he were to attempt the work
again.
If you read the 7th verse, you will see that the Apostle calls nature in to his assistance. He says,
"The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for
them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and
briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." Look! there is a field; the
rain comes on it, and it brings forth good fruit. Well, then, there is God's blessing on it. But there
is according to your supposition, another field, on which the same rain descends, which the same
dew moistens; it has been ploughed and harrowed, as well as the other, and the husbandman has
exercised all his craft upon it, and yet it is not fertile. Well, if the rain of heaven did not fertilize
it, what next? Already all the arts of agriculture have been tried, every implement has been worn
out on its surface, and yet it has been of no avail. What next? There remains nothing but that it
shall be burnt and cursed-given up like the desert of Sahara, and resigned to destruction. So, my
hearer, could it be possible that grace could work in thee, and then not affect thy salvation-that
the influence of Divine grace could come down, like rain from heaven, and yet return unto God
void, there could not be any hope for thee, for thou wouldst be "nigh unto cursing," and thine end
would be "to be burned."
There is one idea which has occurred to us. It has struck us as a singular thing, that our friends
should hold that men can be converted, made into new creatures, then fall away and be converted
again. I am an old creature by nature; God creates me into a new thing, he makes me a new
creature. I cannot go back into an old creature, for I cannot be uncreated. But yet, supposing that
new creatureship of mine is not good enough to carry me to heaven. What is to come after that?
Must there be something above a new creature-a new creature. Really, my friends, we have got
into the country of Dreamland; but we were forced to follow our opponents into that region of
absurdity, for we do not know how else to deal with them.
And one thought more. There is nothing in Scripture which teaches us that there is any salvation,
save the one salvation of Jesus Christ-nothing that tells us of any other power, super-excellent
and surpassing the power of the Holy Spirit. These things have already been tried on the man,
and yet, according to the supposition, they have failed, for he has fallen away. Now, God has
never revealed a supplementary salvation for men on whom one salvation has had no effect; and
until we are pointed to one scripture which declares this, we will still maintain that the doctrine
of the text is this: that if grace be ineffectual, if grace does not keep a man, then there is nothing

188. left but that he must be damned. And what is that but to say, only going a little round about, that
grace will do it? So that these words, instead of miltating against the Calvinistic doctrine of final
perseverance, form one of the finest proofs of it that could be afforded.
And now, lastly, we come to improve this doctrine. If Christians can fall away, and cease to be
Christians, they cannot be renewed again to repentance. "But," says one, "You say they cannot
fall away." What is the use of putting this "if" in, like a bugbear to frighten children, or like a
ghost that can have no existence? My learned friend, "Who art thou that repliest against God?" If
God has put it in, he has put it in for wise reasons and for excellent purposes. Let me show you
why. First, O Christian, it is put in to keep thee from falling away. God preserves his children
from falling away; but he keeps them by the use of means; and one of these is, the terrors of the
law, showing them what would happen if they were to fall away. There is a deep precipice: what
is the best way to keep any one from going down there? Why, to tell him that if he did he would
inevitably be dashed to pieces. In some old castle there is a deep cellar, where there is a vast
amount of fixed air and gas, which would kill anybody who went down. What does the guide
say? "If you go down you will never come up alive." Who thinks of going down? The very fact
of the guide telling us what the consequences would be, keeps us from it. Our friend puts away
from us a cup of arsenic; he does not want us to drink it, but he says, "If you drink it, it will kill
you." Does he suppose for a moment that we should drink it. No; he tells us the consequences,
and he is sure we will not do it. So God says, "My child, if you fall over this precipice you will
be dashed to pieces." What does the child do? He says, "Father, keep me; hold thou me up, and I
shall be safe." It leads the believer to greater dependence on God, to a holy fear and caution,
because he knows that if he were to fall away he could not be renewed, and he stands far away
from that great gulf, because he know that if he were to fall into it there would be no salvation
for him. If I thought as the Arminian thinks, that I might fall away, and then return again, I
should pretty often fall away, for sinful flesh and blood would think it very nice to fall away, and
be a sinner, and go and see the play at the theatre, or get drunk, and then come back to the
Church, and be received again as a dear brother who had fallen away for a little while. No doubt
the minister would say, "Our brother Charles is a little unstable at times." A little unstable! He
does not know anything about grace; for grace engenders a holy caution, because we feel that if
we were not preserved by Divine power we should perish. We tell our friend to put oil in his
lamp, that it may continue to burn! Does that imply that it will be allowed to go out? No, God
will give him oil to pour into the lamp continually. Like John Bunyan's figure; there was a fire,
and he saw a man pouring water upon it. "Now," says the Preacher, "don't you see that fire would
go out, that water is calculated to put it out, and if it does, it will never be lighted again;" but God
does not permit that! for there is a man behind the wall who is pouring oil on the fire; and we
have cause for gratitude in the fact, that if the oil were not put in by a heavenly hand, we should
inevitably be driven to destruction. Take care, then Christian, for this is a caution.
2. It is to excite our gratitude. Suppose you say to your little boy, "Don't you know Tommy, if I
were not to give you your dinner and your supper you would die? There is nobody else to give
Tommy dinner and supper." What then? The child does not think that you are not going to give
him his dinner and supper; he knows you will, and he is grateful to you for them. The chemist
tells us, that if there were no oxygen mixed with the air, animals would die. Do you suppose that
there will be no oxygen, and therefore we shall die? No, he only teaches you the great wisdom of
God, in having mixed the gases in their proper proportions. Says one of the old astronomers,
"There is great wisdom in God, that he has put the sun exactly at a right distance-not so far away

189. that we should be frozen to death, and not so near that we should be scorched." He says, "If the
sun were a million miles nearer to us we should be scorched to death." Does the man suppose
that the sun will be a million miles nearer, and, therefore, we shall be scorched to death? He says,
"If the sun were a million miles farther off we should be frozen to death." Does he mean that the
sun will be a million miles farther off, and therefore we shall be frozen to death? Not at all. Yet it
is quite a rational way of speaking, to show us how grateful we should be to God. So says the
Apostle. Christian! if thou shouldst fall away, thou couldst never be renewed unto repentance.
Thank thy Lord, then, that he keeps thee.
"See a stone that hangs in air; see a spark in ocean live;
Kept alive with death so near; I to God the glory give."
There is a cup of sin which would damn thy soul, O Christian. Oh! what grace is that which
holds thy arm, and will not let thee drink it? There thou art, at this hour, like the bird-catcher of
St. Kilda, thou art being drawn to heaven by a single rope; if that hand which holds thee let thee
go, if that rope which grasps thee do but break, thou art dashed on the rocks of damnation. Lift
up thine heart to God, then, and bless him that his arm is not wearied, and is never shortened that
it cannot save. Lord Kenmure, when he was dying, said to Rutherford. "Man! my name is written
on Christ's hand, and I see it! that is bold talk, man, but I see it!" Then, if that be the case, his
hand must be severed from his body before my name can be taken from him; and if it be
engraven on his heart, his heart must be rent out before they can rend my name out.
Hold on, then, and trust believer! thou hast "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which
entereth within the veil." The winds are bellowing, the tempests howling; should the cable slip,
or thine anchor break, thou art lost. See those rocks, on which myriads are driving, and thou art
wrecked there if grace leave thee; see those depths, in which the skeletons of sailors sleep, and
thou art there, if that anchor fail thee. It would be impossible to moor thee again, if once that
anchor broke; for other anchor there is none, other salvation there can be none, and if that one
fail thee, it is impossible that thou ever shouldst be saved. Therefore thank God that thou hast an
anchor that cannot fail, and then loudly sing-
"How can I sink with such a prop,
As my eternal God,
Who bears the earth's huge pillars up?
And spreads the heavens abroad?"
How can I die, when Jesus lives,
Who rose and left the dead?
Pardon and grace my soul receives,
From my exalted head."

190. 13. MY VIEW OF THE PARADOX.
I am convinced that the Bible teaches both eternal security and apostasy. When we are in the will
of God we have security and nothing can take us from the hand of God, but when we walk in
darkness and are out of God’s will we are in danger of judgment. It may not result in being lost
forever, but it is serious judgment that nobody wants to endure, and so the warnings are real and
a threat that we have to take seriously. We have security and yet we have dangers that we need to
fear to stay on the right path. Any rebel spirit will pay a heavy price for being a rebel against
God. We should feel perfectly secure in Christ, but insecure when we live in disobedience to
Christ. Yes, it is a contradiction to both have it and yet have a fear of losing it, but this is the only
possible explanation of the texts that teach both. To deny one is to deny the very basis on which
you build your security. If the warnings are not true, how can you have any confidence that the
promises are true? The only people who are wrong in this controversy are those who take one
side or the other and reject the whole truth of both. You cannot have the whole truth by rejecting
any portion of it. Why should this paradox be any harder to accept than the many others in the
Bible?
14. ROGER HAHN, “The Danger of Falling Away - Hebrews 6:4-8
Hebrews 6:4-6 is one long complicated sentence. It also contains one of the most difficult
passages to interpret. The sentence states that it is impossible for people who have truly known
the Lord and who then turn away to be restored to repentance. A starker way of putting it is that
there is no second chance to be saved if one sins after being saved. Not surprisingly there are a
variety of interpretations of this passage. It demands our most careful study.
First, whatever the final interpretation, verses 4-6 were intended to motivate the first readers of
Hebrews to faithfulness in the face of pressure and persecution. The word for suggests that "if
the readers do not 'go forward' into the fullness of Christian doctrine, they will be in grave
danger of falling away altogether." (Hagner, p. 70) This highlights an important spiritual truth.
The call to go on to perfection and spiritual growth is not a trivial or optional matter. There is no
place in the Christian life where one can simply decide to settle down and to neither obey nor
grow any more. One either moves forward or backward in the Christian life. There is no neutral
ground for a "do-nothing" Christian. This is an important reminder for every believer.
The most difficult word in verses 4-6 is the word impossible. Its position in the Greek sentence
shows that the author intended to emphasize it. "It is IMPOSSIBLE!" is his point. The next part
of basic sentence does not appear until verse 6. A few modern versions bring that next part up to
verse 4 to make the understanding easier. "It is impossible to restore to repentance certain
people."
Who are those certain people that can not be restored? Much of the sentence is devoted to
describing them. They are people who have once been enlightened. The word once is literally
"once-for-all". To have been once-for-all enlightened, once-for-all tasted the heavenly gift,
once-for-all become partakers of the Holy Spirit, to have once-for-all experienced the goodness

191. of the word of God and the powers of the age to come is to be a Christian who is going on to
perfection.
These verses are not describing infants in Christ. These people have thoroughly encountered the
blessings of the grace of God. They know full well the power and glory of life in relationship
with Christ. But these people also have fallen away according to verse 6. The grammatical
construction of fallen away implies that it is a willful and purposeful decision to reject Christ.
William Lane describes the meaning as "a deliberate, planned, intelligent decision to renounce
publicly association with Jesus Christ. It signifies a choice not to believe God, not to listen to
God, not to obey God. It is the decision to be disobedient and to deny all that Christ has done for
you." (Call, p. 94) For such persons it is impossible to restore them to repentance. It is clear that
the passage is not speaking of unwitting sins, but of sin committed with a high hand in willful
defiance of God. The restoration of such people to repentance is impossible as they are
crucifying again to themselves the son of God and exposing him to public disgrace.
The final key to interpreting Hebrews 6:4-6 lies in the way these phrases are related to the main
sentence. Most versions use the word "since" or "because" as the connecting word. It is
impossible to restore to repentance those who have fallen away since they are crucifying again
the son of God and are holding him up to contempt. In the final analysis such a translation makes
repentance of willful apostasy impossible. The person who purposefully denounces Christ can
never be restored.
This interpretation has led to despair both on the part of people who thought this verse prevented
their ever coming back to Christ again and on the part of people who thought persons they loved
had crossed this eternal line that could never be erased. The fact that an interpretation has
brought spiritual despair does not make it wrong, but it should make us want to be very certain
that no other reasonable interpretation is possible.
Another very reasonable interpretation is not only possible; it is quite likely. The grammatical
construction that led to the translation "since" or "because" does not have to be translated
causally. In fact, most frequently that construction is translated temporally. In verse 6 that would
mean that it is impossible to restore to repentance those who have fallen away WHILE they are
crucifying again the son of God and are publicly holding him up for contempt.
In support of this interpretation is the fact that the Greek grammatical construction for the verb
fallen away refers to a single event of rejecting Christ. However, the verbs for crucifying again
and publicly holding up for contempt are constructed to show a repeated and on-going action.
The continuous nature of those verbs suggests a temporal meaning - while. Thus as long as one
contemptuously and publicly rejects Christ, as long as one lives a life of continual sin that
requires a continual atoning death of Christ, there is no repentance. But should one stop
crucifying Christ again and stop publicly humiliating him the possibility of repentance would be
available.
Should the temporal interpretation be correct it is not a basis for a person to conclude that they
need not worry about taking care for the spiritual condition. "If it will always be possible to
repent then it is okay to sin," is the exact opposite of the conclusion the author intended his
readers to draw. The purpose of verses 4-6 was to motivate his readers to stay true to Christ

192. despite persecution. Any interpretation that is taken to give license to believers to sin is a
misappropriation of both the interpretation and word of exhortation given by this author.
15 S.L. JOHNSON, “The author describes (in verses 4-6) a certain class of persons, expresses a
fact about them and then he gives the reason for that fact. These descriptions:
 once enlightened
 tasted the heavenly gift
 become partakers of the Holy Spirit
 tasted the good Word of God
 tasted the powers of the age to come
are largely without parallel in the New Testament and the Bible as a whole. It would be so
helpful if we had these same expressions in other contexts for it would give us some clues as to
the meanings of these expressions. Thus, I think it is fair (and that my Arminian friends would
agree) to say that dogmatism on the meaning of these expressions would be in very poor spiritual
taste. However, in my view they reflect the preliminary nature of the Old Testament revelation
and it's fulfillment in the NT.
Once Enlightened?
He says "it is impossible for those who were once enlightened." What does it mean to be
enlightened? For some people "to be enlightened" would necessarily mean to be converted.
Now it is of course true that all people who are converted have indeed been enlightened.
However, the question is whether all who have been enlightened are converted? Turn to
Numbers 24 and listen to what is said about Balaam the prophet (the NT makes clear that he was
a false prophet).
Numbers 24:4; 16
4 The oracle of him who hears the words of God, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling
down, yet having his eyes uncovered, 16 The oracle of him who hears the words of God, And
knows the knowledge of the Most High, Who sees the vision of the Almighty, Falling down, yet
having his eyes uncovered.
Then in the NT we have 3 texts to which Balaam is referred:
Jude 11 Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain, and for pay they have rushed
headlong into the error of Balaam, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.
2 Peter 2:15 forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam,
the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

193. Revelation 2:14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the
teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel,
to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality.
Clearly, Balaam had a great deal of the knowledge of the Lord God. He was a prophet, that is
one who gave prophecies. Furthermore, if you have ever studied those prophecies you will find
that they consist of 4 magnificent Messianic prophecies. Balaam's prophecies are not dealing
with insignificant things but rather with the coming of the Messiah and the things that would be
characteristic of His person and kingdom. So out of his mouth have come some magnificent
prophecies that are part of the Word of God, yet the NT apparently regards Balaam among those
who are lost. The point that I am making is simply this: one can have a great deal of light and
still not be a genuine believer in Christ.
Tasted the Heavenly Gift
Unfortunately there are no parallels for this phrase of which I am aware. So consequently we
have to speculate in the light of the total gist of this book (since he is talking about Old
Testament things so strongly in this book), that probably this phrase ("tasted the heavenly gift")
is a reference to understanding the truth of the New Messianic Age into which the believers of
the Epistle of the Hebrews have entered.
Partakers of the Holy Spirit
It is possible to partake of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in different ways. It is possible to
partake of the Holy Spirit as genuine believers do today, that is to receive the Holy Spirit as the
indwelling 3rd Person of the Trinity according to the promise our Lord made in John 14:16-17 (
John 14:16-17
16 “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;
17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or
know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
Thus, characteristic of this age is that every believer has the everlasting indwelling of the Holy
Spirit. However, "partakers of the Holy Spirit" in other ways may not necessarily involve an
everlasting indwelling. For example back in Heb. 2:3-4 we read:
Hebrews 2:3-4
3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through
the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, 4 God also testifying with them, both by
signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own
will.
In other words, the author here acknowledges that he and his audience have already known about
the work of the Holy Spirit in the confirmation of the Word of God. The Word that was
confirmed "God bearing witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts
of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will." He refers of course to mighty working of the
Holy Spirit in the signs and wonders that characterized the ministry of our Lord and that of the

194. apostles. So to partake of that is to have been there and that is indeed what our author is talking
about for these people had lived in that age. Like the Galatians 3:3, Paul speaks to them and
says to them,
Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
He defines what he means by "having begun by the Spirit" in the previous verse by stating,
This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the
Law, or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 3:2)
Then in verse 5 he writes,
So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the
works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? (Galatians 3:5)
So the early church experienced the outworking of the power of God in the ministry of Holy
Spirit through the apostles and so it could be said that in that sense they were partakers of the
Holy Spirit.
Tasted the Good Word of God
A similar expression to this one is found in Jer. 29:10 and 33:14; however it is not specifically
spelled out because it is found in a section where Jeremiah is laying great stress on the New
Covenant which is to come and the promises of forgiveness that are related to it-those sovereign
promises of the unconditional New Covenant. Thus, I would suggest that what this phrase,
"tasted the good Word of God", has to do with is the Messianic Promises of the Old Testament.
So to have tasted them is to have come to hear of them and to have come to an understanding of
them. I do not think that "to taste" means "to sip" as if they only a little bit and if they had truly
tasted and eaten them it would have been different. In other words, I do not believe that this
Greek word geuvomaiwas intended to suggest it was not a full participation. Rather it is a
reference to the Messianic promises and these hearers (to whom the author speaks) have truly
come to understand what these promises are.
16. AN IMPOSSIBILITY, FROM ANY VIEW!
For many, we have before us a very difficult text. Those that view Jesus as locking recalcitrant spirits
inside God's will are very foolish. If God could tolerate personalities unlike Himself in His Presence, there
would be no need for the new birth, the remission of sins, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The very
concept of justification presumes the total unacceptability of sin in the presence of the Almighty! The
necessity of the new birth affirms that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor 15:50).
Those who find it difficult to believe God will not "permit" some to "go on to perfection" have not
considered the whole case. The Holy Spirit speaks powerfully to this point. "For it is impossible for those
who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy

195. Spirit, have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew
them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open
shame."
Here is something that is "impossible." Let no person, then, attempt to introduce a possibility where
God has affirmed there is none! Those locked in a backward motion--who have descended beyond the
circumference of sensitivity--cannot be reclaimed! Even though they once participated in the good things
of God, if they did not "go on to perfection," they shall lose their inheritance just as surely as Jacob lost his,
and the unbelieving Israelites lost theirs.
Some people imagine that a mere decision guarantees eternal safety. Let them examine this passage
with care. There is a level of genuine participation that can be forever forfeited by lingering in the realm of
spiritual immaturity.
Once enlightened. The enlightenment of the soul involves a perspective of salvation. As it is
written, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). This is an experience
involving deliverance from darkness, or spiritual ignorance (Col 1:13). The "enlightened" person sees the
world for what it is, is convinced of the nature of sin, and persuaded of the grace of God. He is also certain
that Divine acceptance is attainable in Christ, by grace, and through faith.
Have tasted the heavenly gift. The word "gift" is here used to denote the entirety of salvation.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God" (Eph
2:8). The word "taste" is not a light word, denoting superficial involvement. Rather, it is a strong word,
describing genuineness in every sense of the word. Jesus is said to have "tasted death for every man" (Heb
2:9). That certainly is not the depiction of a shallow experience. Those who have "tasted of the heavenly
gift" have learned from experience that "God is gracious" (1 Pet 2:3). Such have realized the joy of
forgiveness and Divine acceptance.
Have become partakers of the Holy Spirit. God has given His Holy Spirit to those in Christ

196. (1 Thess 4:8). Because we are sons, His Spirit is sent into our hearts, crying Abba Father (Gal 4:6). To
partake of the Holy Spirit is to enjoy His communion and fellowship (2 Cor 3:14; Phil 2:1). The blessed
Spirit "helps our infirmities" (Rom 8:26), coming along side, as it were, to help us navigate through the
difficulties of life in the world.
Have tasted the good word of God. To "taste the good Word of God" is to be nourished by
it: to have strength and joy imparted to us through our insight into Scripture. This experience is living "by
every Word of God" (Luke 4:4). It is being made equal to the challenges of life, encouraged in the good fight
of faith, and made joyful in the anticipation of glory.
Have tasted the . . . powers of the age to come. This is heavenly citizenship--being brought
into the fellowship of "the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and
. . . God, the Judge of all, and . . . the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and . . . the mediator of a new
covenant, and . . . the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:23-24, NASB).
A lively sense of the unseen world grips the soul, and things that are not seen become the focus of the
individual. When it comes to personal consciousness, the believer is more aware of heavenly personalities
than of those in the world.
Some might imagine that there is safety in such experiences--that once they are attained, the person
can never be lost. Such benighted souls forget that we are yet subject to "the wiles of the devil" and a fallen
nature. We still sojourn in a "dry and thirsty land where no water is" (Psa 63:1). We still have "this
treasure in earthen vessels" (2 Cor 4:7). The Holy Spirit Himself can still be "resisted," "quenched," and
"grieved."
Here is something that an experience-centered religion overlooks! By "experience-centered," I mean
a religious posture that looks for something to happen to them. There can be no more lofty experiences than
those here mentioned. Yet, they are a means to an end, and not the end itself. They are all orienting us for
the world to come, in which we shall reign with Christ. They assist us here to prepare for there.
If, however, they are viewed as great single blessings, and are not employed to make progress into

197. the image of God's Son, they will soon be gone! The purpose of God is to conform us to the Image of His
Son (Rom 8:29). To aid us in this monumental work, He has granted enlightenment, the heavenly gift, the
Holy Spirit, the good word of God, and citizenship, in heaven. All are designed to underwrite the good fight
of faith, helping us to "go on to perfection," where Divine fellowship is realized.
Those who "fall away" are those who "neglect so great salvation" (Heb 2:3). They are not pressing
toward the mark, engaging in a fervent quest to "know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the
fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that they may attain to the
resurrection from the dead" (Phil 3:10-11). The point of our text is simply this: a lack of spiritual effort
gives the advantage to the devil. Digression is inevitable where progression is not made, and there are no
exceptions to the rule!
The tragedy of this circumstance is that religion brought the Hebrews into spiritual danger. They had
not, so far as we know, been flirting with immorality, or indulging in idolatry. Rather, they were falling back
into a first-covenant-approach to God--one based upon procedure and conformity to a code. If that approach
thrust them into danger, you can be sure that it does the same today.
It Is Impossible
When God says it is "impossible," to renew a person to repentance, that is precisely what it is! God
has given us every advantage in Christ, but if we do not avail ourselves of His benefits, they will do us no
good. This perspective is remarkably absent most everyplace I go. Myriads of people entertain the notion
that a little amount of religious activity, and an allegiance to the institution is all that is necessary to stay in
favor with God. They thus remain in a state of Scriptural illiteracy, and are unacquainted with the ways of
the Lord. Their hearts are being draw toward the temporal order, and much of what they receive in church
is nothing more than somewhat wholesome entertainment. The gravity of their situation is obscure to them.
Actually, they are drifting away from God, away from grace, and away from power. The world, like a silent
tide, is taking them away from the Lord that bought them. As they drift away from their Lord, they are
becoming less and less sensitive to Him. Unless their course is arrested, eventually they will drift to a place
where their conscience is "seared," and they are unable to hear the voice of the Lord.

198. By not availing themselves of Divine resources, "they again crucify to themselves the Son of God,
and put Him to open shame." They have again cried, "Away with Him! Crucify Him!" Those who do not
"go on to perfection" are in the process of resisting the Holy Spirit. They tear Christ out of the recesses of
their hearts, and refuse to let Him reign over their hearts, minds, souls, and wills. They insult God, pour
contempt upon His Son, consider the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and grieve and quench the Holy
Spirit of God. If all of that seems too strong, do not be deceived. This IS what happens when a soul refuses
to make progress in the conformity determined by God. If we do not become like His Son, we will not reign
with Him!
DIVINE REASONING
The Spirit does not let this matter go. The Hebrews had been resting in Law, and were satisfied with
mere procedure--a posture occupied by far too many with whom we are acquainted. It is unreasonable for
a spiritually unadvancing person to expect Divine approval. It is not right for them to expect their prayers
to be answered, or to receive strength in the time of need. Such defies sound reason. Even nature refuses to
allow us to entertain such folly. "For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears
herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and
briars, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned."
"Thorns and briars" are not merely sinful deeds, or the development of habits that violate the moral
code of the Law. A focus upon things that "are seen" is a "thorn," because it violates the entire thrust of
Scripture, the intercession of Christ, and the convincing power of the Holy Spirit. A preference for the things
of this world--even apparently lawful things--is a "briar" to the soul. Left unaddressed, these will eventually
dominate the heart and cut one off from God. The Lord has lavished His grace upon us to a remarkable
degree. To neglect that grace in preference for "other things" (Mark 4:19) is not innocent, and God will not
tolerate it!
If you cultivated and fertilized a field, only to have it yield a patch of briars and thorns, what would
you do? And what will the Lord God do if He has poured Himself out upon us abundantly, only to find us
immersed in the world, thinking as men, and living without heaven in view? How will it go for those that
have once been tender to the Lord, but are now calloused and insensitive to Him. They cannot long endure

199. His Word, and have no demanding appetite for "the things of the Spirit of God." How does it set with God
when He has appointed a High Priest to continually represent the people to Him, while some of them make
little or no provision for Him? The answer to these questions is obvious! Such people are very close to being
cursed!
Let us not forget the point of this text. The salvation of God will not be effective in an unreceptive
heart! A distracted spirit will NOT obtain the blessing! When we are not aggressive to reach the goal, we
are actually losing ground, slipping back into a state from which recovery is eventuality impossible. If this
single perception were generally known and embraced, it would have such an impact upon our churches you
would not be able to recognize them.
SPIRITUAL OPTIMISM
The Spirit has pointed out how illogical it is to expect blessing while living at a distance from God.
He has shown that such a posture violates the nature of God, as well as that of salvation itself. The danger
in which the Hebrews found themselves was most serious. They were reverting to a system of Law, which
permitted hard hearts and a distance from God--at least, that is what men think. Now a strong appeal is made
to the slumbering spirits of men. Although they have been in a backward stance, He is going to reach into
the depths of their spirit and seek to awaken the sensitivity they once possessed.
"But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany
salvation, though we speak in this manner." How glorious to have such "confidence." One spark of
sensitivity can awaken a zealous return to the Lord! How we must capitalize upon the hearts of God's people,
even when they are in a state of withdrawal! It was necessary to speak forthrightly and sternly, but He will
not end on such a note. The writer knows that no thinking person wants to be rejected by God! He knows
salvation comes with an inexhaustible supply of grace, and "all things pertaining to life and godliness."
These are "things that accompany salvation." God can "strengthen us with might by is Spirit in the inner
man, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith" (Col 3:16). There is "grace to help, in the time of
need" (Heb 4:16). It is still true, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). These are all "things that accompany salvation."
There is no reason why these cannot be found in every believer!

200. What a blessed attitude to have--to be "persuaded of better things" in those that have been drawing
back! How frequently this spirit is expressed in God's Word. We do well to appropriate it for ourselves.
"And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we
command" (2 Thess 3:4). " . . . having confidence in you all, that my joy would be the joy of you all" (2
Cor 2:3). "I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you" (2 Cor 7:16). "I have confidence in you
in the Lord, that you will adopt no other view . . . " (Gal 5:10). "Having confidence in your obedience, I
write to you, since I know that you will do even more than what I say" (Phile 21). The power of such
expressions can be sensed by all that hear them.
GOD WILL NOT FORGET!
Here is why the writer had such confidence. He is saying he was persuaded God would "permit"
their recovery from the snare of the devil. "For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love
which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister."
Looking into their past, the writer finds a ray of hope. The Hebrews had once "ministered to the saints," and
they were still doing so! How sensitive the Lord is to such conduct! Elsewhere the Spirit admonishes, "So
then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the
household of the faith" (Gal 6:10, NASB). God has appointed a High Priest over "the house of God,"
having a special care for it. Those that have ministered to that house are, by virtue of their care for them,
recognized by God. Of old time, a certain man was recommended to Jesus because "he loves our nation,
and it was he who built us our synagogue" (Luke 7:5). How much more, those that have shown favor to
those that are joined to the Lord!
"God is not unjust (unrighteous)!" Here justice is associated with mercy instead of condemnation.
In Christ it is fulfilled, "Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed
each other" (Psa 85:10, NASB). And what is it that God will "not forget." The loving work and labor
bestowed upon His people! You will remember Jesus associated eternal life and condemnation with the
response of individuals to His people (Matt 25:35ff). I have often thought how rare the consideration of
God's people is held in high regard in the institutional church. The absence of such regard is a sign of serious
spiritual decline.

201. Can you believe, child of God, that he will NOT forget your work and labor of love? If you can, that
recollection will help you make any required recovery. How blessed your memory is when motivated by
truth.
WHAT IS WANTED FOR YOU
What is desired for the people of God? "And we desire that each one of you show the same
diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those
who through faith and patience inherit the promises." What a fitting conclusion for the people of God!
Here the writer reveals the mind of God Himself. He wants the people to be noted for their diligence. He
knows that slothfulness defeats the individual, robs the soul, and calls down the curse of Almighty God. He
knows that properly directed diligence is always rewarded by the Lord.
But he also knows the value of "the full assurance of hope"--of knowing our status, and being
persuaded of the reality of Divine commitments. Knowing who you are in Christ, and being fully persuaded
that He can keep what you have committed to Him against that day, becomes a strong incentive to
faithfulness. Too often faithfulness is preached from Sinai. Salvation, when correctly seen, provokes us to
be faithful "until the end."
People speak of role-models. Well here are some good ones: "those who through faith and patience
inherit the promises." They will not allow the world to dim their eye and slow their pace. They are more
convinced of glory to come, than of imagined advantages in "this present evil world." Their patience refers
to their perseverance, or continuation in the race. They have come "through tribulation," but they have
remained in the race!
To inherit the promises--that is the point! These are the appointed means of conforming us to the
image of God's Son (2 Pet 1:3-4). The desire of the godly is that their brethren will inherit the promises
that at last they will stand before the Lord without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing! It is that their brethren
will have their part in the throne of Christ, ruling and reigning, world without end. If that does not happen,
little else matters! O, how such thoughts are to be articulated!

202. CONCLUSION
Let it be clear to every soul, spiritual juvenility is fraught with danger. Simplistic views of God,
Christ, and the glories of the world to come are overrated in our world. People that are regularly subjected
to spiritual froth are not to be content with such a situation. Preachers and teachers that dwell upon "the
principles of the doctrine of Christ," regardless of their seeming sincerity, have thrust us into jeopardy. They
have made it more difficult for us to overcome the devil, run the race, and obtain the promises. Those that
serve up a regular diet of milk are not our friends, and they are not God's ministers. Our safety is found in
our progression toward glory. As we make advancement into the holy of holies, into the very presence of
God, we come into the safety zone. We are only as safe as our faith is strong--and faith cannot be made
strong by continually dwelling upon "the principles of the doctrine of Christ."
The tragic irony of this situation is that many of God's people are not even being subjected to the
"principles." They are hearing about world issues, given humorous anecdotes, and receiving pep talks to
pump life into a gasping organization. What shall be said of such activities at the judgment seat of Christ?
I plead with you to be up and growing "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." "Set your
affection on things above, and not on thins on the earth!" See to it that, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world through lust, you do not come short of glory!
17. by Ray C. Stedman, “Can spiritual life be lost once it has been received? That is a question
which has divided Christians for centuries. An imposing list of scriptural references can be made
to support either a yes or a no. But both cannot be right---unless the problem is our limited
understanding of God's process of salvation! Perhaps our situation is not unlike that of the five
blind men in Aesop's fable who each took hold of a different part of an elephant and insisted the
whole must be similar to only the part they could feel. Let us take another tack and see if it helps
to understand the issue.
Scripture frequently uses the analogy of physical birth and growth to picture spiritual birth and
growth. We have an example in Hebrews 5, where immature Christians are likened to infants
who need milk and not strong meat. If the spiritual life follows the same pattern as physical life,
is it not possible that there is a spiritual gestation period between conception and birth? Is there
not a time when new Christians are more like embryos, growing little by little in the womb, fed
by the faith and vitality of others, just as a fetus lives by its mother's blood and sustenance?
Certainly we have all observed people who seemingly started well in the Christian life,
blossomed and grew rapidly as new Christians, and yet, after a while, lost their spiritual vigor

203. and faded away, sometimes into outright apostasy. This, of course, is just what the Lord
predicted in the parable of the sower. "Some seed," he says, "fell on rocky places where it did not
have much soil. It sprang up quickly . . . but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and
withered because they had no root." But the point is: they did spring up! There was life, but it
could not bear the hot sun. As Jesus interpreted the parable: "The seed that fell on rocky places is
the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy, but since he has no root, he lasts
only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls
away." Not having a root would correspond to the spiritual condition of not having any personal
faith of his own. He lived for a while only on the faith (root) of others.
Again we must ask, What was the life that brought that initial experience of joy? Was it
Spirit-given, or was it only a psychological response, coming from within the person alone? We
probably cannot answer that question with any certainty. A similar case exists with the seed that
fell among thorns and sprang up, only to be choked by the weeds which Jesus said were "the
worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth." These two examples raise the possibility that
there is Spirit-given life which is real and viable, but depends on proper care to come to
fruitbearing potential. It is only when it bears fruit that it can be called genuine grain, and it may
be lost before it reaches that stage. Certainly Jesus said of the seed fallen in good soil that "it
produces a crop." Viewing the parable in this light would make it almost a parallel to the
situation in Hebrews 6.
But let us return to the metaphor of birth. Do we confuse conception with birth? A fetus may
grow in the womb, fed by its mother's strength, but is that equivalent to birth? Of course not!
Birth involves a break with the mother's life and the beginning of an independent existence that
is peculiarly the infant's own. A newborn human may die after birth, even as everyone certainly
will die in the normal course of events. But here the parallel with the spiritual must be altered,
for many promises of Scripture powerfully assert that once born into the Father's family there is
no way to lose that life! "I give unto them eternal life" says Jesus, "and they shall never perish!"
There is at least a hint of a prebirth spiritual gestation period in the promise of John 1:12 "Yet to
all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God---children . . . born of God." Here a "becoming" process is mentioned. This may be what
Paul means when he writes to the Galatians, "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains
of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (Gal 4:19). The critical question then becomes, When
does an individual's faith become truly his own? Is he or she living off the faith of others,
drawing true spiritual grace and life from them? This often seems the case with children raised in
a Christian family. Their faith, which seems real enough as they are growing, is not yet their
own. Only when they leave the family circle and are faced with the necessity of surviving in a
hostile world do they either come to personal faith themselves or, sadly, abandon all pretense of
faith and lose themselves in the world's unbelief.
The situation seems to be that borrowed faith, though real enough at the time to produce many
signs of spiritual vitality, can be lost. Others, observing this, draw the conclusion that eternal life,
once held, can be lost again. Theologians call that Arminianism, after a Dutch theologian named
Arminius who held this view. Certain Scriptures seem to support it. But once faith truly becomes
personal, it can never be lost, though it may waver and grow very weak at times. That is the
conclusion of Calvinists. But who can really tell the difference? Only the Lord can! We must
leave the matter then at that point, as Paul does in his letter to Timothy: "God's solid foundation

204. stands firm, sealed with this inscription: 'The Lord knows those who are his,' and 'Everyone who
confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness'" (2 Tim 2:19). God reads the
hearts and knows whether the faith being exhibited is borrowed faith or genuine; it is only when
that inward faith affects the outward life and the believer "turns away from wickedness" that we
can tell it is genuine faith.
In response to a question concerning our understanding of Hebrews 6:4-6 as it relates to apostasy
and eternal security.
Heb 6:4-6 (NAS) For 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, and have tasted the good word of
God and the powers of the age to come, 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.
The "problem" of the text above is not just academic. We have seen it happen.
A few years ago, a minister we knew renounced the faith and now calls himself a
"post-Christian". He says he "knows what he is doing" in terms of the ramifications of Hebrews
6:4-6. He has rejected the gospel, Christianity, and Jesus. And this scripture puts such situations
into crisp focus.
Of the many flames we get for our Bible study calling people to repent from witchcraft, likely
one a day is from someone who has "tasted the heavenly gift" and "trampled it under foot". By
this ratio--and direct encounter--we would guess that some 1/3 of wiccans are "exChristians".
And so it goes for Mormons, Jehova's Witnesses, and other cults.
So what are we to make of this? How can we be "eternally secure" and yet see people, in plain
fact, apostatizing?
Of these real life experiences, some take the view that these "defectors" were never really "born
again". And this may be true in a few cases. But this is disingenuous in most, and perhaps a
rationalization to force fit the square peg of reality into a pre-fab round hole of doctrinal
prejudice.
Does being born in the natural guarantee that you will live? Hardly, even if in most cases birth
does result in life. In the parable of the sower, was not the seed good? And yet three out of four
did not make it. Jesus was keen to point out these contingencies to us. Is this really so hard to
grasp, since we have been told it over and over and in so many ways?
The issue here is not of the "sin and lose your salvation" silliness of some groups. Scripture
makes it clear that those who seek Him He will not cast out; He will forgive and accept--unless
they blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
What is in view here is apostasy. It is a deliberate and willful renunciation of the gospel of
salvation. Once done, there is NO TURNING BACK--thus the silliness of some UPC
Pentecostals. If this verse applies at all, we have to take the conclusion seriously. There is NO
MORE remission of sins. Give it up.

205. Minus the case of apostasy, scripture enjoins us to take our salvation as secure--in that it depends
on God's faithfulness, not ours. Thus, to doubt our security in Christ (if we are really seeking and
following Him) is to doubt God. It is a failure of faith in the moment. Even this will be forgiven,
as we will see in a moment, but we should aim to please God by faith.
Note the "break" in the pattern of conditional statements in the deliberately constructed verse
below.
2 Tim 2:11-13 (DVP) Here is a trustworthy statement:
1 [11b] If we died with Him, we will also live with Him;
2 [12a] If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
3 [12b] If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
4 [13a] If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
In the first case [11b], we follow and God does for us what He did for Jesus. In the second [12a]
our steadfastness is rewarded as you would naturally expect. Jumping down [to 13a] we see that
if our faith fails us (and whose does not among us "little faiths") then God will still be faithful,
for it is His nature. But notice the third statement in [12b] which seems out of phase with the
rest. And what could be more clear? Jesus said just this in Luke 12:9 and Matthew 10:33, among
other places, and here it is again.
There is no escaping the clear and repeated descriptions of Heb 6:4-6. People can reject Christ,
even after "tasting the heavenly gift"; after having been "made partakers of the Holy Spirit"; after
having "tasted the good word of God"; after experiencing Kingdom "powers". How much more
clear or descriptive could this text be?
Is Scripture wasting words on some theoretical but not possible contingency--as some have
suggested that this is all Heb 6:4-6 means? Is the Holy Spirit sort of pontificating on an unlikely
contingency for an imaginary universe that we need not concern ourselves with--as some
seriously assert? Or is God speaking words that will judge men eternally?
John 3:11 (NRS) "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have
seen..."
Take the minister, mentioned at the start. In the past, Laura and I have prayed with this man,
meditated on scripture, wept, etc. He went to seminary and served in several churches and
ministries, hobnobbed with noted leaders of Christianity, etc. Now he has apostatized. He has
painted a "NO" sign over Jesus on his t-shirt; and mills around the parking lot of his former
church placing diatribes slandering God on people's windshields. Shall we now say he was not
really a believer to begin with? I cannot believe this for one minute without dulling the reality of
the situation. He knows better, but has discovered he does not like God very much. Too holy.
Too perfect. Too dead-set on making people like Him, or else. So he rejects God, and God will
reject him.
As for us, how should we respond? Should we pass final judgment on him? Is not God's word
sufficient for that? He knows it as well as we do; shall we teach him what he already knows?

206. Perhaps your question is not academic, but personal. Perhaps you think you have committed "the
unpardonable sin" and apostatized. If so, and if there is any spark of love for God left in you,
then go with it as the last striving of the Holy Spirit. It may well be your last chance. For all of us
are some mixture of faith and doubt, and yet God is saving us and enduring all of our continued
sins because He is in covenant with us. Only let us not deny Him--or if we have already, let us
quickly repent if the Lord so leads us.
2 Sam 12:21 (GLT) And his servants said to him, "What is this thing you have done? You fasted
and wept because of the living boy, yet when the boy is dead, you have risen up and have eaten
food?" And he said, "While the boy was alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, 'who knows?
Jehovah may be gracious to me and the boy may stay alive.' And now he has died. Why this, that
I should fast? Am I able to bring him back again?"
In the situation with the minister, mentioned above, we have not lost all hope. God can save to
the uttermost, and we cannot judge his eternal soul. Still, we must take the form of his words
seriously and treat him in obedience to scripture as an apostate, and warn him (if he gives us
another chance) that he had better "kiss the son" in a very different sense in the future, than he
has in the past.
Ps 2:11-12 (NKJ) Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be
angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those
who put their trust in Him.
Luke 22:48 (NRS) But Jesus said to him, "Judas, is it with a kiss that you are betraying the Son
of Man?"
This subject has a lot to do with the fear of the Lord and with the sovereignty of God. It is with
these thoughts I will leave you to reflect on your state of peace before Him with whom we all
must deal. For sin and failure come to all of us. The question is not so much of sin, but of
whether or not we believe in the Son of God. If we do, we receive His love, and this puts us at
peace with our Creator and "covers a multitude of sins".
For what does it mean to "lose your salvation"? Salvation is Jesus' name, Yeshua (Mat 1:21). If
we run back to Jesus, we have salvation. Salvation is a person, not merely a concept. We either
have Him or we don't. And if He still beckons, let us leap at the chance of allowing Him to
establish peace with us.
Consider that Jesus prophesied that both Judas and Peter would sin grievously. Taken on the
whole of Jesus' recorded teaching, Peter's sin of denial may well have been the worst of the two.
Had not Jesus clearly said, "If you deny me I will deny you before the Father"? (Mat 10:33). And
yet Peter was restored. Judas was not. Why? Both had the unique privilege of walking and
talking with Jesus in intimate friendship and encounter. Judas saw the supernatural miracles, cast
out demons, etc. (We are told that he was dipping into the till, but not that he alone was not given
the Spirit among the Twelve. In fact, Acts 1:17 tells us specifically that Judas "shared in our
ministry".) He was given much grace, but Jesus said His destiny was set ahead of him. Jesus
even told him to go and do what He did (John 13:27).
If we have sinned in some shameful way, will we be a Peter or a Judas? Of this we can be sure:
God knows the beginning from the end, and not one person that He has chosen will fall from His

207. grasp. But He also knows who will eventually spurn Him, even after "tasting of the heavenly
gift". He knows who is chosen eternally, we do not. Thus, let us not arrogantly presume our own
destinies unless God has spoken to us. Rather, let us acknowledge His great power and election,
and live our remaining days in godly fear and complete reliance and dependence on Him. For is
it really up to Him, not us. And what He has chosen will play out as inexorably for us as it did
with Judas and Peter.
We will see what God's will is for us in the days to come.
Job 23:13 (NIV) "But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases."
Prov 9:10 (GLT) The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom.
Ps 115:3 (NIV) But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.
Ecc 8:3 (NRS) Do not be hasty to go from before him. Do not take a stand in an evil thing, for he
does whatever he pleases.
Rom 9:20-21 (NKJ) But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing
formed say to him who formed it, "Why have you made me like this?" Does not the potter have
power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
Col 1:21-23 (NRS) For in him [Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through
him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making
peace through the blood of his cross. And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind,
doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you
holy and blameless and irreproachable before him--provided that you continue securely
established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel...
2 Pet 1:10 (NIV) Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and
election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.
18. STEDMAN, “What a sobering passage!
There is, first, the elaboration of an awful possibility. It is impossible to restore again to
repentance these who experience certain Spirit-given blessings, if they shall fall away. The
problem of the passage is: How can anyone experience all of this and not be Christian? And, if
he is Christian, how can he fall away, without any hope of restoration? It is over these issues that
the battle has waged hot throughout the Christian ages.
It is important to see that all of this passage hangs upon the three words, if God permits: "This
we will do, if God permits." Here is the danger of prolonged immaturity, of remaining in one
place all your Christian life. It suggests that you may be one of those whom God will not allow
to go further; we have already seen in Chapter 3 that God has said of certain ones, "I swear in my
wrath, they shall never enter my rest."
Can we take these expressions here as describing anything other than Spirit-produced, authentic
Christian life? Look at them again:

208. "Those who have once been enlightened." That means, to have their eyes opened to their own
desperate personal need, to realize they are in a lost world and need a Savior. That is being
enlightened.
"And have tasted the heavenly gift." What is the heavenly gift? Obviously, it is the gift God gave
from heaven. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. " These are those who
have known a personal encounter with Christ, they have "tasted of the heavenly gift."
"Become partakers of the Holy Spirit." That is more than to be influenced by the Holy Spirit, it is
to become companions of him, fellow travelers.
"They have tasted the goodness of the word of God." That means to enter into the joy of the
promises of God.
"And the powers of the age to come," i.e., they have already experienced the miracle of release
and deliverance in their life.
Yet the sentence stands, "when they commit apostasy" (not if, there is no if in the original Greek)
it is impossible to restore them. Their case is hopeless!
The immediate question here is not, "Why can they not come back? We will look at that in a
moment, but first we must ask, How can they fall away after such a God-honored start as this?
I should like to propose an explanation of this which has long haunted me. I would like to raise a
question for you to wrestle with which more and more suggests, at least to me, the correct
explanation of this phenomenon. We have already noted that Scripture frequently uses the
analogy of human birth and growth to explain spiritual birth and growth. We have that even here.
The use of milk by children is an analogy drawn from the physical life. Here is the question I
would like to ask: Is it not possible that we frequently confuse conception with birth?
If the spiritual life follows the same pattern as the physical life, we all know that physical life
does not begin with birth. It begins with conception. Have we not, perhaps, mistaken conception
for birth, and, therefore, have been very confused when certain ones, who seemingly started well,
have ended up stillborn? Is there in the spiritual life, as in the natural life, a gestation period
before birth when true Spirit-imparted life can fail and result in a stillbirth?
Is there not a time when new Christians are more like embryos, forming little by little in the
womb, fed by the faith and vitality of others? Perhaps this is what the Apostle Paul means when
he writes to the Galatians, "My little children, I stand in doubt of you. I am travailing in birth
again until Christ be formed in you," {cf, Gal 4:19}.
If this be the case, then the critical moment is not when the Word first meets with faith, that is
conception; that is when the possibility of new life arises. But the critical moment is when the
individual is asked to obey the Lord at cost to himself, contrary to his own will and desire.
When, in other words, the Lordship of Christ makes demand upon him and it comes into conflict
with his own desire and purposes, his own plans and program. To put it in terms of what is used
of the Lord Jesus in Chapter 5, we are called upon to learn obedience at the price of suffering.
That is the true moment of birth. "If any man will come after me," said Jesus, "let him deny
himself, and take up his cross and follow me," {Matt 16:24}. In grace, the Lord may make this

209. appeal over the course of a number of years. But if it is ultimately refused, this is a stillbirth. The
months, and even years, that may be spent in the enjoyment of conversion joy was simply
Christian life in embryo. The new birth occurs, if at all, when we first cease from our own works,
and rest in Jesus Christ. That is when the life of faith begins.
If this step is refused and the decision is made to reject the claims of Christ to Lordship and
control, there follows, as Hebrews points out, a hardening, blinding process which, if allowed to
continue, may lead such a one to drop out of church, and in effect, to renounce his Christian
faith. Though only God knows the true condition of the heart, if that occurs, the case, he says, is
hopeless.
Is this not what the Lord Jesus describes in that parable of the sower in Matthew 13? "Some
seed," he says, "fell on rocky ground" {cf, Matt 13:20} (not gravelly ground, but ground where
there was an underlying layer of rock). These are those who receive the word with joy and
endure for awhile, but when persecution or tribulation arises, immediately they fall away.
This brings us to the explanation for this hopelessness, this impossibility of return. "It is
impossible to restore them if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on
their own account and hold him up to contempt." Why is it that God will not permit them to go
on in understanding more truth? It is simply because, as far as they are concerned, they are
re-crucifying Christ. They are repudiating the principle of the cross. They become, as Paul terms
it in Philippians, "enemies of the cross of Christ," {Phil 3:18}. From that point on their lives
deteriorate and they shame the profession they once made.
Years ago, at the close of World War II, I frequently attended Saturday night meetings in the
Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles, sponsored by Youth For Christ. A brilliant young man
was the leader of the meetings and a frequent speaker at them. His name was Chuck Templeton.
He had a gift for articulation and I heard him give several wonderful messages, simple, clear
expositions of the meaning of the cross of Christ, and the offer of life in Christ Jesus. Saturday
after Saturday I saw young people come down the aisles to receive Christ in those meetings. But
some time after that Chuck Templeton entered a seminary, where he began to drift from his faith.
He served for awhile as a national evangelist for his denomination. Finally, he quit the ministry
entirely, and later openly and publicly renounced all faith in Jesus Christ, and went back into
secular work. I do not know where he is now, but he no longer makes any Christian profession.
Is he a case like this? Only God knows the answer, but he could be. John tells us there are certain
ones "who went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have
continued with us; but they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us," {cf, 1 Jn
2:19}. There is a conversion of the head that never reaches the heart.
This is Palm Sunday. This is the day we celebrate the Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. I
doubt if he would ever have called it a triumphal entry. He probably would have referred to it as
a Day of Sorrows. That was the day when he left the donkey's back to go into the temple and, for
the second time in his ministry, clean out the money-changers and the filth that had accumulated
in his Father's house. It was then that he stopped the offerings of Israel and would not permit any
man to offer sacrifice in the temple. Then he went up on the Mount of Olives and, looking out
over the city, his heart broke in yearning over that wretched city, and he cried out those
unforgettable words, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are

210. sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood
under her wings, but you would not!" {Luke 13:34 RSV}. The tears coursing down his face, he
wept for the city. One week later he was nailed to a cross outside that very city's gates. Where
was the multitude that greeted him when he came on the triumphal entry? Oh, they were there,
but they were the ones who were now crying out, "Crucify him, crucify him! He said he was the
Son of God, let him save himself!" {cf, Luke 23:35}
We have another picture of this apostasy in the case of Judas who for three years accompanied
the Lord in his ministry, was sent out with the Twelve, and given power to heal, to cast out
demons, to preach the gospel. But at the end, despite the manifestations of Spirit-given power,
there was no faith and he turned and went out into the dark night of betrayal.
The last word on this is the illustration of its reality, the account of the two plots of land which
have drunk in the rain. It is a very simple illustration, and it parallels the parable of the sower
that our Lord told. There were two plots of ground, side by side, both containing good seed. The
rain falls on each. One brings forth fruit but on the other the good seed sprouts but because it has
no root, some of it dies and the thorns and thistles take over and choke out the rest. The rain
pictures the Spirit-given blessings of Verses 4 and 5. What good does more rain do on ground
like that? It can only mean more thorns and thistles. This is why God will not permit someone to
go on in truth until he ceases his own works and depends on his. It is the principle of faith that
alone will receive anything from God. The whole of Scripture testifies to it. For those who refuse
to act on that, the end is to be burned.
Here is the warning. There is nothing left for them. They cannot go back to the Levitical Law
and expect God to honor their worship because they have turned from the One who fulfilled the
Law. They cannot go back to the Temple and offer a sacrifice, since they have already rejected
the Ultimate Sacrifice.
Indeed, if they turn their back on Christ at this point, they cannot even come back to Him, since
there is nothing more to draw them. They have already rejected everything that God has to offer.
They have entered the realm of unbelief. They have passed the point of highest revelation.
6:4 Some have made the point that Jesus' tasting of death (2:9) clearly describes a full and
complete death. Therefore, they argue, tasting the heavenly gift must mean an actual
participation in the life of Jesus. But "taste" (Gk: geuomai) is not always used in this way. In
Matthew 27:34 it refers to Jesus' tasting the wine that was offered him on the cross but refusing
to drink it. Thus here and in 6:5 "tasting" may indicate something only partial.
19. The unpardonable sin is not just opposition to the Gospel, for Paul was a great opponent but
yet saved.
Four impossibilities 6:4, 6:18, 6:6 10:4, 11:6

211. If the Calvinist are right and these are not true believers then it would appear that it is saying
now they can never be saved for it is impossible for them to get this close to the real thing and
back off and then go on to repent and get the real thing. This seems to say they are always lost
from the beginning and cannot ever be anything but lost. The warning seems meaningless for if
they are never saved in the first place how can their being faithful to their commitment save
them? If it is only the non-saved that are dealt with it seems like much ado about nothing. If they
are deceived and think they are saved and then go back to Judaism and are then lost, it makes no
difference for they have been lost all the time. This passage only makes sense if it is written to
believers, for they are the only ones who risk suffering loss. Those who are not saved cannot
suffer loss of salvation.
The major issue here is whether or not these people are true Christians. If they are not but just
clever hypocrites then the passage is no problem, for all agree that they are lost. But if these
people are true believers then we have a problem with the issue of eternal security. Christians
hold both positions. Let’s look at the characteristics of these people.
1. Once enlightened. This could go either way, for I know a non-Christian who learned
much of the Bible even before he became a Christian.
2. Tasted the heavenly gift. Some say that even a non-believer can have a taste of it. But
as Weirsbe points out in 2:9 that Jesus tasted death for every man. This taste was not a mere
nibble, but He had to swallow the whole thing. He says these people experienced salvation
fully.
3. Shared in the Holy Spirit. Only the Christian can be meant.
4. Tasted the goodness of the Word of God.
5. Tasted the power of the coming age.
If non-Christians could get this close to heaven and still not be saved, then there is no way
to tell them apart from the true Christian.
What are possible solutions?
1. Hypothetical case. He is not describing any reality that he is aware of, but just what
might be if such a thing could happen that a Christian would forsake Christ and go back to
another way of being saved. In verse 9 he says he is confident of better things in them. It is
just a hypothetical danger he hopes will never take place.
2. It is possible for the child of God to go fully astray and never repent, but still be
redeemed because even as a rebel he remains a child of God.

212. 20. Harry Heintz, “This passage in Hebrews 5 and 6 has the most difficult occurrence of the
word impossible in the Bible for me. "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, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and
then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are
holding him up to contempt." (Hebrews 6:4-6, NRSV.) I looked in other translations for a softer
word-couldn’t find one. I went to my favorite paraphrase, The Message, seeing if in its creative
freedom it would find another word. Here is what it says, "Once people have seen the light,
gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they’ve personally
experienced the sheer goodness of God’s Word and the powers breaking in on us-if then they
turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can’t start over as if
nothing happened. That’s impossible."
There are other places in the New Testament where the word impossible is used in ways I really
like. When Jesus was teaching about people entering the kingdom of heaven, he said it is
especially hard for rich people to enter because they tend to trust in their riches rather then God.
His disciples were listening this time and asked, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus answered, "For
mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:23-26.) I like that: for
God all things are possible. We cannot save ourselves, but God can save us. When Mary was told
that she was carrying a child, she asked the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?"
Gabriel answered, "For nothing will be impossible with God." (Luke 1:34-37.) I like that: with
God nothing is impossible.
I simply do not like the thought that any person can be beyond repentance and restoration,
beyond God’s forgiveness. I like the way the Bible shows God again and again reaching out to us
in mercy, grace, and forgiveness. I rejoice in how the Bible shows God using flawed sinners like
us to accomplish his will. I marvel at what Jeremiah 31 says about God forgiving our sins and
remembering them no more. I’m awed at what Psalm 103 says about God removing our
transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. I love what Jesus said about forgiving
your neighbor 70 times seven. But that wasn’t all that Jesus said. He said this also, "Therefore I
tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit
will not be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but
whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come."
(Matthew 12:31-32.) That slows us down.
There is, apparently, a place wherein we cut ourselves off from the saving grace of the God of all
grace and mercy. I shudder to think of that. God’s mercies are so tender, God’s graces so
prolific, God’s promises so abundant, that I cannot imagine limiting God. Yet history tells their
stories. Not only does world history tell of those who did enormous evil, the Scriptures remind us
of Judas, who betrayed the Savior who so graciously called him to be one of the Twelve. In
Colossians 4:14 Paul referred warmly to his co-worker Demas. In 2 Timothy 4:10 the same Paul
tells with sadness of the same Demas who, in love with this world, deserted the followers of
Jesus. In 1 Timothy 1 Paul writes of Hymenaeus and Alexander, who shipwrecked their faith and
were turned over to Satan that they would learn not to blaspheme. It is with no joy that we
recognize that there are people who have hardened their hearts against God and against his great
salvation and have consigned themselves to a terrible fate.

213. What do we conclude from this hard teaching?
1. First, it is a warning. It is issued not to scare or intimidate the hearer, but to motivate the
hearer to avoid the wrong course and stay on the right one. Warnings are gifts in life, if we heed
them. This is a warning not to take faith for granted, not to rest on yesterday’s successes, not to
coast as if God promised us downhill roads only.
2. Second, it still leaves us with the matter of the person who has so fallen away, who has
blasphemed the Holy Spirit of God. Is that person beyond repentance and restoration?
Reluctantly I believe that certain persons by knowingly jettisoning the faith, by consciously
blaspheming the work of the Holy Spirit, place themselves beyond forgiveness. I also believe
that anyone that still cares about God, no matter how tentatively, that anyone that still shows
even the slightest hint of interest in the Lord, however timidly, is a candidate for forgiveness,
restoration, new life, salvation, and eternal life with God. I believe that anyone that has truly
committed that sin Jesus calls beyond forgiveness will not even ask about it, will not get near the
possibility of following Jesus again.
The author of Hebrews bolsters us in that hope in verse 9: "Even though we speak in this way,
beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation." Now
there is word that I love: confident. Listen again to The Message expressing that confidence:
"I’m sure that won’t happen to you, friends. I have better things in mind for you-salvation
things!" The preacher, having warned the congregation, now encourages them, with a heart filled
with hope, a voice marked by vitality, with a fervent faith. "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."
21. The Rest Of The Story
In last week's article, we considered Peter's fall from discipleship to despondency. We noted the
overconfidence that kept him from acknowledging the real danger which the Lord warned him
of. However, we would be negligent to leave Peter in despondency, for the Scriptures do not.
Peter did not remain hopeless and desperate.
As well known radio personality, Paul Harvey would say, "...and now, the rest of the story...."
"WHEN YOU HAVE RETURNED..."
Consider that Jesus words, as found in Luke 22:32 suggest two things about man's salvation.
First, we can depart. One cannot return if he has not departed. Peter departed from the Lord, and
his soul was in eternal jeopardy at that time. The Bible makes it clear that we are able to lose the
salvation of our soul (1 Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 3:12-13; Hebrews 6:4-6). The apostle Paul
speaks of Demas as a fellow labourer (Philemon 24), but at some later point, writes, "...Demas
has forsaken me, having loved this present world..." (2 Timothy 4:10). Demas returned to the
world, and thus brought damnation upon his own soul.

214. Second, we learn from Jesus' words that it is possible for the one who has departed from the Lord
to return. Peter would depart, but the Lord acknowledged that he would also return. Again,
several Bible passages discuss the fact that one who had walked with the Lord, then turned away,
can turn back (Psalm 51; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19).
THE PRODIGAL COMES HOME.
We are given no specifics on Peter's return to the Lord. However, we can learn from the
experience of the prodigal son (Luke 15:17-24). Notice, "...he came to himself..." He realized
how far he had fallen (v 13-16). He was awakened to the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13;
11:25). He understood that if there was to be a change, it was his responsibility, and that part of
this change involved a confession of his sins (v 18). He took charge of his life, "...arose and
went..." to his father, confessing his sins (v 20, 21). He did not attempt to justify himself, but
relied upon his father's mercy (v 21). And thus, he was restored (v 22-24).
Peter would come back to the Lord, and would be restored. After Jesus had risen, the angel
commanded the women who had come to the tomb, "...go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that
He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you." (Mark 16:7).
Peter had a special invitation to come back to the Lord, being mentioned by name. At this point,
he was no better than a young Jewish boy stuck in a foreign country feeding swine; but the Lord
desired better for Peter. In Galilee, Peter was restored to the Lord (John 21:15-19).
"...STRENGTHEN YOUR BRETHREN."
Peter's restoration to the Lord is not the end of the story. This once despondent disciple went on
to great service before God. Recall, the Lord said to Peter, "...when you have returned to Me,
strengthen your brethren." (Luke 22:32). By no means did Peter have a flawless life from that
point on (Acts 10:9-17; Galatians 2:11-14), but he fulfilled Jesus' words, being a pillar in the
Lord's kingdom.
Peter became a great leader in the early church (Acts 1:15ff; 2:14; 5:1-11). We have several
records of him speaking boldly the word of the Lord, and influencing people with the gospel
(Acts 2; 3; 8:25; 9:32; 10:1-11:18). We have Peter's great faith in trial to look upon and imitate
(Acts 4:29; 5:41-42; 12). We have at our disposal, a continual reminder from the apostle Peter to
keep us focused on heaven. Peter wrote, "...I will not be negligent to remind you always of these
things, though you know and are established in the present truth. Yes, I think it is right, as long
as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, knowing that shortly I must put off my tent,
just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always
have a reminder of these things after my decease." (2 Peter 1:12-15).
What a wonderful story is Peter's return to the Lord. God forbid that even one of the Lord's
should fall from faithful service, but God be thanked, that He is merciful and forgiving, and
desires that the wayward return. And so wonderful is that return, for the angels in heaven shall
rejoice, and the brethren upon the earth likewise. And with the return of even one straying sheep,
such as Peter, who knows what unmeasurable good will result in the kingdom of God.
Falling Back

215. It's that time of year again. Either you remembered to turn your clock back an hour last night, or
you ended up being the first at the assembly this morning. If it happened to you, don't worry -- I
won't tell anyone! A few years back we had forgotten to change our clock, and found ourselves
alone at the meeting place for an hour. Let me say, better an hour early than an hour late!
However, on the occasion of this time change, I want us to note that the Bible warns against
"falling back"; not our time pieces falling back an hour, but the setting aside of Christian conduct
and speech, to the eternal danger of one's soul. There are many in the religious world who will
reject the notion that a Christian could sin so as to lose his salvation. And yet the words of
Scripture are strikingly clear. For the purpose of this study, we will simply focus on texts found
in the book of Hebrews.
HEBREWS 2:1
Ever hear someone say that it doesn't matter if we do things exactly as the Bible says? Too busy
to set aside time to study the Bible? The apostle Paul penned, "Be diligent to present yourself
approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
(2 Timothy 2:15) It is vitally important to our soul's eternity that we understand and act upon the
will of God. The dreadful result of taking a lax attitude to the authority of the Scriptures, and to
our responsibility to study diligently is that we will "drift away."
HEBREWS 3:12-13
The Hebrew writer considers the example of Israel, God's covenant people of old. Israel had
tested and tried the Lord, and as a result received upon themselves His wrath (3:9-11). It must be
noted that these were the Lord's people, those whom He had called out of Egypt. And yet, they
hardened their hearts in rebellion. And so it was that they were not permitted to enter the land.
The writer's warning is vivid. We must watch ourselves, that we do not become hardened as they
did, and thus rebel agains the Lord. As possible as it was for God's people of old to turn away
from serving Him, we today can depart "...from the living God..." Thus, the wonderful command
to "...exhort one another daily..." Certainly, we are responsible for our own soul, but the
commandment of Scripture reveals that we are indeed our brother's keeper as well, that we both
might enter the promised rest.
HEBREWS 4:1, 11
At the end of Hebrews 3, the writer comments about the disobedience and unbelief of those who
came up from Egypt. He states plainly that on account of these things, they could not enter the
Lord's rest. However, there remains a promise of rest for the children of God. Thus, having
examined that generation of Israel, the writer cautions us, "...lest any of you seem to have come
short..."
There's an old saying, "He who is ignorant of history is doomed to repeat it." Many times, the
New Testament writers appeal to the conduct of people in the Old Testament, revealing in some
an example for Christians to follow, exposing in others examples which lead to death. Let us not
be ignorant of the history of the unfaithful. They will be no means enter His rest.

216. Continuing with the focus on Israel's poor example, the writer rallies diligence in the people of
God to enter the Lord's rest. The possibility of falling back is bluntly acknowledged. If it were
not possible that the people of God could fall from grace (Galatians 5:4), there would be no need
for diligence, and no possibility that we would follow the "...example of disobedience."
HEBREWS 6:4-6
The writer speaks of an instance where "...it is impossible for those who were once
enlightened..." to return to the Lord. It is not impossible because of a lack of mercy on God's
part, but a lack of repentance on man's part. It is often the case (as we see in Israel) that those
who fall away from serving the Lord set a wall of arrogance between themselves and the Lord
(Malachi 1:2, 6-7, 12-13; 2:17; 3:8, 13). So long as this attitude remains, renewal to the Lord
cannot occur, for in returning to and living in sin, we count the sacrifice of the Lord as common,
and exclude ourselves from its reach (10:26-29).
HEBREWS 10:26-27
A child of God, turning from the way of the Lord to the path of sin forfeits the only sacrifice
which will satisfy the requirements of God's justice. The willful transgression (John calls it a
"...sin leading to death..." 1 John 5:16) brings with it surety of condemnation in the judgment.
The sinner appears before the Judge without the Advocate, Jesus Christ. As the writer affirms, a
"...fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation..." is to be expected.
HEBREWS 12:15-16
Indeed, "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." (Romans 3:23), but the Lord
provided redemption in Christ. Yet we must ever be alert, resolved to serve the Lord faithfully,
so that we not fall short again. Paul warned, "...let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he
fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12)
Notice, the "...root of bitterness springing up..." not only causes trouble for the one in whom it
began, but "...by this many become defiled..." Our words and conduct have an impact on others,
whether for good or for evil. We need to be mindful of our influence, and keep it pure. May we
never sell out on the good things God has in store for us (both here and hereafter) to satisfy a
temporary lust.
HEBREWS 12:25
As the first text we looked at from the book of Hebrews called for our adherence to the word of
God, so does the last. If those who refused to hear the Lord, who spoke from "...the
mountain...that burned with fire..." (12:18) did not escape (Israel of old), we certainly will not
escape if we neglect the word that came in greater fashion and power. Friends, do not refuse
Him, nor turn away from Him; but heed His every command, and thus stand and live before
Him.

217. Let's be sure that only the clocks "fall back". It is possible to "fall back" from serving the Lord,
but let us always examine ourselves and watch our fellow labourers in the kingdom. None need
ever "fall back".
The Possibility Of Apostasy
We live in a day when false doctrine seems to abound. Among the most popular and widespread,
is that once a person is saved, they can never lose salvation. This doctrine comes as the fifth of
five points in Calvinism (T.U.L.I.P.), entitled "Perseverance of the saints". Some are so deeply
fallen into this false way, that they believe they are invinsible to the consequences of sin. Baptist
preacher, Sam Morris, once stated in a tract by the name, 'Do a Christian's sins damn his soul?',
"We take the position that a Christian's sins do not damn his soul. The way a Christian lives,
what he says, his character, his conduct, or his attitude toward other people have nothing
whatever to do with the salvation of his soul... And all the sins he may commit from murder to
idolatry will not make his soul in any more danger." Bill Foster, another Baptist preacher, once
commented, "If I killed my wife and mother and debauched a thousand women I couldn't go to
hell --- in fact, I couldn't go to hell if I wanted to."
If these things are true, what are we to make of passages such as 1 Corinthians 15:1-3, wherein
Paul says one is saved "...if you hold fast that word which I preached to you -- unless you
believed in vain."? When the Lord commands, "Be faithful until death, and I will give you the
crown of life" (Revelation 2:10), shall we not answer, "Why? For if I am unfaithful, you will
likewise give it to me"? There are countless admonitions in Scripture to faithfulness, which, if
the 'once saved, always saved' position is correct, become meaningless words.
Consider a small number of passages which illustrate that a Christian can so sin as to lose his
salvation:
Ezekiel 18:24-26 - The fact that the one spoken of is called righteous would indicate one who is
saved, and yet this one who is saved has the ability to turn from his righteousness, and commit
iniquity. He dies before the Lord because of the sin which he committed (also see v 20).
John 15:1-6 - The frist branch of verse 2 was in the vine. It is speaking of a Christian, but one
who bears no fruit. That one is taken away, cast out, withered, thrown into the fire and burned.
Acts 20:28-30 - The apostle Paul warned the elders of Ephesus, that even some of them would
rise up, drawing people after themselves and away from the truth.
1 Corinthians 1:1-12 - Paul shows the unfaithfulness of Israel, and sums up by saying "...let him
who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."
Galatians 2:11-14 - Paul withstood Peter to the face, for he was to be blamed, or literally,
condemned.
Galatians 5:4 - Some Christians from Galatia had become estranged from Christ, they had fallen
from grace.
Galatians 6:1 - In order to restore someone, they must have been saved, and fallen from that
state.

218. 1 Timothy 4:1 - The Spirit expressly says, some will depart from the faith.
Were that not enough passages to see that a Christian can so sin as to lose salvation, study the
following list of texts: Matthew 25:1-30; Luke 8:13; Luke 9:62; Luke 12:42-48; Acts 4:32,
5:1-11; Acts 8:9-24; Romans 11:13-23; 1 Corinthians 9:26-27; 2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Timothy
1:18-20; 1 Timothy 5:8; 1 Timothy 6:10; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; Hebrews 2:1; Hebrews 3:12-4:1;
Hebrews 4:11; Hebrews 6:4-6; Hebrews 10:25-31; Hebrews 10:38-39; Hebrews 12:7-8; James
5:19-20; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 2:20-22; 2 Peter 3:17; 2 John 8-11; Revelation 2:4-5;
Revelation 3:5; Revelation 3:16-17.
Indeed, apostasy is a reality. It is possible for each child of God to walk the way of Demas, who
at a time was considered a faithful co-worker of the apostle Paul (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24),
but some time thereafter turned back to the world (2 Timothy 4:10). However, we need to fall.
The Lord has given us the ability to stand (1 Corinthians 10:12-13). We can lay hold of the
crown of righteousness, even as Paul did (2 Timothy 4:7-8). Walk careful, be faithful!
22. SPURGEON ON VERSES 4-6 “HERE are some spots in Europe which have been the
scenes of frequent warfare, as for instance, the kingdom of Belgium, which might be called the
battle field of Europe. War has raged over the whole of Europe, but in some unhappy spots,
battle after battle has been fought. So there is scarce a passage of Scripture which has not been
disputed between the enemies of truth and the upholders of it; but this passage, with one or two
others, has been the special subject of attack. This is one of the texts which have been trodden
under the feet of controversy; and there are opinions upon it as adverse as the poles, some
asserting that it means one thing, and some declaring that it means another. We think that some
of them approach somewhat near the truth; but others of them desperately err from the mind of
the Spirit. We come to this passage ourselves with the intention to read it with the simplicity of a
child, and whatever we find therein to state it; and if it may not seem to agree with something we
have hitherto held, we are prepared to cast away every doctrine of our own, rather than one
passage of Scripture.
Looking at the scope of the whole passage, it appears to us that the Apostle wished to push the
disciples on. There is a tendency in the human mind to stop short of the heavenly mark. As soon
as ever we have attained to the first principles of religion, have passed through baptism, and
understand the resurrection of the dead, there is a tendency in us to sit still; to say, "I have passed
from death unto life; here I may take my stand and rest;" whereas, the Christian life was intended
not to be a sitting still, but a race, a perpetual motion. The Apostle, therefore endeavours to urge
the disciples forward, and make them run with diligence the heavenly race, looking unto Jesus.
He tells them that it is not enough to have on a certain day, passed through a glorious change-to
have experienced at a certain time, a wonderful operation of the Spirit; but he teaches them it is
absolutely necessary that they should have the Spirit all their lives-that they should, as long as
they live, be progressing in the truth of God. In order to make them persevere, if possible, he
shows them that if they do not, they must, most certainly be lost; for there is no other salvation
but that which God has already bestowed on them, and if that does not keep them, carry them
forward, and present them spotless before God, there cannot be any other. For it is impossible, he
says, if ye be once enlightened, and then fall away, that ye should ever be renewed again unto
repentance.

219. We shall, this morning, answer one or two questions. The first question will be, Who are the
people here spoken? Are they true Christians or not? Secondly, What is meant by falling away?
And thirdly, What is intended, when it is asserted, that it is impossible to renew them to
repentance?
I. First, then, we answer the question, WHO ARE THE PEOPLE HERE SPOKEN OF? If you
read Dr. Gill, Dr. Owen, and almost all the eminent Calvinistic writers, they all of them assert
that these persons are not Christians. They say, that enough is said here to represent a man who is
a Christian externally, but not enough to give the portrait of a true believer. Now, it strikes me
they would not have said this if they had had some doctrine to uphold; for a child, reading this
passage, would say, that the persons intended by it must be Christians. If the Holy Spirit intended
to describe Christians, I do not see that he could have used more explicit terms than there are
here. How can a man be said to be enlightened, and to taste of the heavenly gift, and to be made
partaker of the Holy Ghost, without being a child of God? With all deference to these learned
doctors, and I admire and love them all, I humbly conceive that they allowed their judgments to
be a little warped when they said that; and I think I shall be able to show that none but true
believers are here described.
First, they are spoken of as having been once enlightened. This refers to the enlightening
influence of God's Spirit, poured into the soul at the time of conviction, when man is enlightened
with regard to his spiritual state, shown how evil and bitter a thing it is to sin against God, made
to feel how utterly powerless he is to rise from the grave of his corruption, and is further
enlightened to see, that "by the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified," and to behold
Christ on the cross, as the sinner's only hope. The first work of grace is to enlighten the soul. By
nature we are entirely dark; the Spirit, like a lamp, sheds light into the dark heart, revealing its
corruption, displaying its sad state of destitution, and, in due time, revealing also Jesus Christ, so
that in his light we may see light. I cannot consider a man truly enlightened unless he is a child
of God. Does not the term indicate a person taught of God? It is not the whole of Christian
experience; but is it not a part?
Having enlightened us, as the text says, the next thing that God grants to us is a taste of the
heavenly gift, by which we understand, the heavenly gift of salvation, including the pardon of
sin, justification by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ, regeneration by the Holy Ghost,
and all those gifts and graces, which in the earlier dawn of spiritual life convey salvation. All
true believers have tasted of the heavenly gift. It is not enough for a man to be enlightened; the
light may glare upon his eyeballs, and yet he may die; he must taste, as well as see that the Lord
is good. It is not enough to see that I am corrupt; I must taste that Christ is able to remove my
corruption. It is not enough for me to know that he is the only Saviour; I must taste of his flesh
and of his blood, and have a vital union with him. We do think that when a man has been
enlightened and has had an experience of grace, he is a Christian; and whatever those great
divines might hold, we cannot think that the Holy Spirit would describe an unregenerate man as
having been enlightened, and as having tasted of the heavenly gift. No, my brethren, if I have
tasted of the heavenly gift, then that heavenly gift is mine; if I have had ever so short an
experience of my Saviour's love, I am one of his; if he has brought me into the green pastures,
and made me taste of the still waters and the tender grass, I need not fear as to whether I am
really a child of God.

220. Then the Apostle gives a further description, a higher state of grace: sanctification by
participation of the Holy Ghost. It is a peculiar privilege to believers, after their first tasting of
the heavenly gift, to be made partakers of the Holy Ghost. He is an indwelling Spirit; he dwells
in the hearts, and souls, and minds of men; he makes this mortal flesh his home; he makes our
soul his palace, and there he rests; and we do assert (and we think, on the authority of Scripture),
that no man can be a partaker of the Holy Ghost, and yet be unregenerate. Where the Holy Ghost
dwells there must be life; and if I have participation with the Holy Ghost, and fellowship with
him, then I may rest assured that my salvation has been purchased by the blood of the Saviour.
Thou need'st not fear, beloved; if thou has the Holy Ghost, thou hast that which ensures thy
salvation; if thou, by an inward communion, canst participate in his Spirit, and if by a perpetual
indwelling the Holy Ghost rests in thee, thou art not only a Christian, but thou hast arrived at
some maturity in and by grace. Thou hast gone beyond mere enlightenment: thou hast passed
from the bare taste-thou hast attained to a positive feast, and a partaking of the Holy Ghost.
Lest there should be any mistake, however, about the persons being children of God, the Apostle
goes to a further stage of grace. They "have tasted the good word of God." Now, I will venture to
say there are some good Christian people here who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have never
"tasted the good word of God." I mean by that, that they are really converted, have tasted the
heavenly gift, but have not grown so strong in grace as to know the sweetness, the richness, and
fatness of the very word that saves them. They have been saved by the word, but they have not
come yet to realize, and love, and feed upon the word as many others have. It is one thing for
God to work a work of grace in the soul, it is quite another thing for God to show us that work; it
is one thing for the word to work in us-it is another thing for us really and habitually to relish,
and taste, and rejoice in that word. Some of my hearers are true Christians; but they have not got
to that stage wherein they can love election, and suck it down as a sweet morsel, wherein they
can take the great doctrines of grace, and feed upon them. But these people had. They had tasted
the good word of God, as well as received the good gift: they had attained to such a state, that
they had loved the word, had tasted, and feasted upon it. It was the man of their right hand; they
had counted it sweeter than honey-ay, sweeter than the droppings of the honeycomb. They had
"tasted the good word of God." I say again, if these people be not believers-who are?
And they had gone further still. They had attained the summit of piety. They had received "the
powers of the world to come." Not miraculous gifts, which are denied us in these days, but all
those powers with which the Holy Ghost endows a Christian. And what are they? Why, there is
the power of faith, which commands even the heavens themselves to rain, and they rain, or stops
the bottles of heaven, that they rain not. There is the power of prayer, which puts a ladder
between earth and heaven, and bids angels walk up and down, to convey our wants to God, and
bring down blessings from above. There is the power with which God girds his servant when he
speaks by inspiration, which enables him to instruct others, and lead them to Jesus; and whatever
other power there may be-the power of holding communion with God, or the power of patient
waiting for the Son of Man-they were possessed by these individuals. They were not simply
children, but they were men; they were not merely alive, but they were endued with power; they
were men, whose muscles were firmly set, whose bones were strong; they had become giants in
grace, and had received not only the light, but the power also of the world to come. These, we
say, whatever may be the meaning of the text, must have been, beyond a doubt, none other than
true and real Christians.

221. II. And now we answer the second question, WHAT IS MEANT BY FALLING AWAY?
We must remind our friends, that there is a vast distinction between falling away and falling. It is
nowhere said in Scripture, that if a man fall he cannot be renewed; on the contrary, "the righteous
falleth seven times, but he riseth up again;" and however many times the child of God doth fall,
the Lord still holdeth the righteous; yea, when our bones are broken, he bindeth up our bones
again, and setteth us once more upon a rock. He saith, "Return, ye backsliding children of men;
for I am married unto you;" and if the Christian do backslide ever so far, still Almighty mercy
cries, "Return, return, return, and seek an injured Father's heart." He still calls his children back
again. Falling is not falling away. Let me explain the difference; for a man who falls may behave
just like a man who falls away; and yet there is a great distinction between the two. I can use no
better illustration than the distinction between fainting and dying. There lies a young creature;
she can scarcely breathe; she cannot herself, lift up her hand, and if lifted up by any one else, it
falls. She is cold and stiff; she is faint, but not dead. There is another one, just as cold and stiff as
she is, but there is this difference-she is dead. The Christian may faint, and may fall down in a
faint too, and some may pick him up, and say he is dead; but he is not. If he fall, God will lift
him up again; but if he fall away, God himself cannot save him. For it is impossible, if the
righteous fall away, "to renew them again unto repentance."
Moreover, to fall away is not to commit sin. under a temporary surprise and temptation.
Abraham goes to Egypt; he is afraid that his wife will be taken away from him, and he says, "She
is my sister." That was a sin under a temporary surprise-a sin, of which, by-and-by, he repented,
and God forgave him. Now that is falling; but it is not falling away. Even Noah might commit a
sin, which has degraded his memory even till now, and shall disgrace it to the latest time; but
doubtless, Noah repented, and was saved by sovereign grace. Noah fell, but Noah did not fall
away. A Christian may go astray once, and speedily return again; and though it is a sad, and
woeful, and evil thing to be surprised into a sin, yet there is a great difference between this and
the sin which would be occasioned by a total falling away from grace.
Nor can a man who commits a sin, which is not exactly a surprise, be said to fall away. I believe
that some Christian men-(God forbid that we should say much of it!-let us cover the nakedness
of our brother with a cloak.) but I do believe that there are some Christians who, for a period of
time, have wandered into sin, and yet have not positively fallen away. There is that black case of
David-a case which has puzzled thousands. Certainly for some months, David lived without
making a public confession of his sin, but, doubtless, he had achings of heart, for grace had not
ceased its work: there was a spark among the ashes that Nathan stirred up, which showed that
David was not dead, or else the match which the prophet applied would not have caught light so
readily. And so, beloved, you may have wandered into sin for a time, and gone far from God;
and yet you are not the character here described, concerning whom it is said, that it is impossible
you should be saved; but, wanderer though you be, you are your father's son still, and mercy
cries, "Repent, repent; return unto your first husband, for then it was better with you than it is
now. Return, O wanderer, return."
Again, falling away is not even a giving up of profession. Some will say, "Now there is
So-and-so; he used to make a profession of Christianity, and now he denies it, and what is worse,
he dares to curse and swear, and says that he never knew Christ at all. Surely he must be fallen
away." My friend, he has fallen, fallen fearfully, and fallen woefully; but I remember a case in
Scripture of a man who denied his Lord and Master before his own face. You remember his

222. name; he is an old friend of yours-our friend Simon Peter! he denied him with oaths and curses,
and said, "I say unto thee that I know not the man." And yet Jesus looked on Simon. He had
fallen, but he had not fallen away; for, only two or three days after that, there was Peter at the
tomb of his Master, running there to meet his Lord, to be one of the first to find him risen.
Beloved, you may even have denied Christ by open profession, and yet if you repent there is
mercy for you. Christ has not cast you away, you shall repent yet. You have not fallen away. If
you had, I might not preach to you; for it is impossible for those who have fallen away to be
renewed again unto repentance.
But some one says, "What is falling away?" Well, there never has been a case of it yet, and
therefore I cannot describe it from observation; but I will tell you what I suppose it is. To fall
away, would be for the Holy Spirit entirely to go out of a man-for his grace entirely to cease; not
to lie dormant, but to cease to be-for God, who has begun a good work, to leave off doing it
entirely-to take his hand completely and entirely away, and say, "There, man! I have half saved
thee; now I will damn thee." That is what falling away is. It is not to sin temporarily. A child
may sin against his father, and still be alive; but falling away is like cutting the child's head off
clean. Not falling merely, for then our Father could pick us up, but being dashed down a
precipice, where we are lost for ever. Falling away would involved God's grace changing its
living nature. God's immutability becoming variable, God's faithfulness becoming changeable,
and God, himself being undeified; for all these things falling away would necessitate.
III. But if a child of God could fall away, and grace could cease in a man's heart-now comes the
third question-Paul says, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM TO BE RENEWED. What did the
Apostle mean? One eminent commentator says, he meant that it would be very hard. It would be
very hard, indeed, for a man who fell away, to be saved. But we reply, "My dear friend, it does
not say anything about its being very hard; it says it is impossible, and we say that it would be
utterly impossible, if such a case as is supposed were to happen; impossible for man, and also
impossible for God; for God hath purposed that he never will grant a second salvation to save
those whom the first salvation hath failed to deliver. Methinks, however, I hear some one say, "It
seems to me that it is possible for some such to fall away," because it says, "It is impossible, if
they shall fall away, to renew them again into repentance." Well, my friend, I will grant you your
theory for a moment. You are a good Christian this morning; let us apply it to yourself, and see
how you will like it. You have believed in Christ, and committed your soul to God, and you
think, that in some unlucky hour you may fall entirely away. Mark you, if you come to me and
tell me that you have fallen away, how would you like me to say to you, "My friend, you are as
much damned as the devil in hell! for it is impossible to renew you to repentance?" "Oh! no, sir,"
you would say, "I will repent again and join the Church." That is just the Arminian theory all
over; but it is not in God's Scripture. If you once fall away, you are as damned as any man who
suffereth in the gulf for ever. And yet we have heard a man talk about people being converted
three, four, and five times, and regenerated over and over again. I remember a good man (I
suppose he was) pointing to a man who was walking along the street, and saying, "That man has
been born again three times, to my certain knowledge." I could mention the name of the
individual, but I refrain from doing so. "And I believe he will fall again," said he, "he is so much
addicted to drinking, that I do not believe the grace of God will do anything for him, unless he
becomes a teetotaller." Now, such men cannot read the Bible; because in case their members do
positively fall away, here it is stated, as a positive fact, that it is impossible to renew them again

223. unto repentance. But I ask my Arminian friend, does he not believe that as long as there is life
there is hope? "Yes," he says:
"While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return."
Well, that is not very consistent, to say this in the very next breath to that with which you tell us
that there are some people who fall away, and consequently fall into such a condition, that they
cannot be saved. I want to know how you make these two things fit each other; I want you to
make these two doctrines agree; and until some enterprising individual will bring the north pole,
and set it on the top of the south, I cannot tell how you will accomplish it. The fact is you are
quite right in saying, "While there is life there is hope;" but you are wrong in saying that any
individual ever did fall into such a condition, that it was impossible for him to be saved.
We come now to do two things: first, to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall away, he
cannot be saved; and, secondly, to improve the doctrine, or to show its use,
I. Then I am going to prove the doctrine, that if a Christian fall away-not fall, for you understand
how I have explained that; but if a Christian cease to be a child of God, and if grace die out in his
heart-he is then beyond the possibility of salvation, and it is impossible for him ever to be
renewed. Let me show you why. First, it is utterly impossible, if you consider the work which
has already broken down. When men have built bridges across streams, if they have been built of
the strongest material and in the most excellent manner, and yet the foundation has been found
so bad that none will stand, what do they say? Why, "We have already tried the best which
engineering or architecture has taught us; the best has already failed; we know nothing that can
exceed what has been tried; and we do therefore feel, that there remains no possibility of ever
bridging that stream, or ever running a line of railroad across this bog, or this morass, for we
have already tried what is acknowledged to be the best scheme." As the apostle says, "These
people have been once enlightened; they have had once the influence of the Holy Spirit,
revealing to them their sin: what now remains to be tried. They have been once convinced-is
there anything superior to conviction?" Does the Bible promise that the poor sinner shall have
anything over and above the conviction of his sin to make him sensible of it? Is there anything
more powerful than the sword of the Spirit? That has not pierced the man's heart; is there
anything else which will do it? Here is a man who has been under the hammer of God's law; but
that has not broken his heart; can you find anything stronger? The lamp of God's spirit has
already lit up the caverns of his soul: if that be not sufficient, where will you borrow another?
Ask the sun, has he a lamp more bright than the illumination of the Spirit! Ask the stars, have
they a light more brilliant than the light of the Holy Ghost? Creation answers no. If that fails,
then there is nothing else. These people, moreover, had tasted the heavenly gift; and though they
had been pardoned and justified, yet pardon through Christ and justification were not enough (on
this supposition) to save them. How else can they be saved? God has cast them away; after he
has failed in saving them by these, what else can deliver them? Already they have tasted of the
heavenly gift: is there a greater mercy for them? Is there a brighter dress than the robe of Christ's
righteousness? Is there a more efficacious bath than that "fountain filled with blood?" No. All the
earth echoes, "No." If the one has failed, what else does there remain?

224. These persons, too, have been partakers of the Holy Ghost; if that fail, what more can we give
them? If, my hearer, the Holy Ghost dwells in your soul, and that Holy Ghost does not sanctify
you and keep you to the end, what else can be tried? Ask the blasphemer whether he knows a
being, or dares to suppose a being superior to the Holy Spirit! Is there a being greater than
Omnipotence? Is there a might greater than that which dwells in the believer's new-born heart?
And if already the Holy Spirit hath failed, O, heavens! tell us where we can fight aught that can
excel his might? If that be ineffectual, what next is to be essayed? These people, too, had "tasted
the good Word of Life;" they had loved the doctrines of grace; those doctrines had entered into
their souls, and they had fed upon them. What new doctrines shall be preached to them? Prophet
of ages! where whilt thou find another system of divinity? Who shall we have? Shall we raise up
Moses from the tomb? shall we fetch up all the ancient seers, and bid them prophecy? If, then,
there is only one doctrine that is true, and if these people have fallen away after receiving that,
how can they be saved?
Again, these people, according to the text, have had "the powers of the world to come." They
have had power to conquer sin-power in faith, power in prayer, power of communion; with what
greater power shall they be endowed? This has already failed; what next can be done? O ye
angels! answer, what next! What other means remain? What else can avail, if already the great
things of salvation have been defeated? What else shall now be attempted? He hath been once
saved; but yet it is supposed that he is lost. How, then, can he now be saved? Is there a
supplementary salvation? is there something that shall overtop Christ, and be a Christ where
Jesus is defeated.
And then the apostle says, that the greatness of their sin which they would incur, if they did fall
away, would put them beyond the bounds of mercy. Christ died, and by his death he made an
atonement for his own murderers; he made an atonement for those sins which crucified him
once; but do we read that Christ will ever die for those who crucify him twice? But the Apostle
tells us that if believers do fall away, they will "crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an
open shame." Where, then, would be an atonement for that? He has died for me; What! though
the sins of all the world were on my shoulders, still they only crucified him once, and that one
crucifixion has taken all those sins away; but if I crucified him again, where would I find
pardon? Could heavens, could earth, could Christ himself, with bowels full of love, point me to
another Christ, show to me a second Calvary, give me a second Gethsemane? Ah! no! the very
guilt itself would put us beyond the pale of hope, if we were to fall away?
Again, beloved, think what it would necessitate to save such a man. Christ has died for him once,
yet he has fallen away and is lost; the Spirit has regenerated him once, and that regenerating
work has been of no use. God has given him a new heart (I am only speaking, of course, on the
supposition of the Apostle), he has put his law in that heart, yet he has departed from him,
contrary to the promise that he should not; he has made him "like a shining light," but he did not
"shine more and more unto the perfect day," he shone only unto blackness. What next? There
must be a second incarnation, a second Calvary, a second Holy Ghost, a second regeneration, a
second justification, although the first was finished and complete-in fact, I know not what. It
would necessitate the upsetting of the whole kingdom of nature and grace, and it would, indeed,
be a world turned upside down, if after the gracious Saviour failed, he were to attempt the work
again.

225. If you read the 7th verse, you will see that the Apostle calls nature in to his assistance. He says,
"The earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for
them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and
briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned." Look! there is a field; the
rain comes on it, and it brings forth good fruit. Well, then, there is God's blessing on it. But there
is according to your supposition, another field, on which the same rain descends, which the same
dew moistens; it has been ploughed and harrowed, as well as the other, and the husbandman has
exercised all his craft upon it, and yet it is not fertile. Well, if the rain of heaven did not fertilize
it, what next? Already all the arts of agriculture have been tried, every implement has been worn
out on its surface, and yet it has been of no avail. What next? There remains nothing but that it
shall be burnt and cursed-given up like the desert of Sahara, and resigned to destruction. So, my
hearer, could it be possible that grace could work in thee, and then not affect thy salvation-that
the influence of Divine grace could come down, like rain from heaven, and yet return unto God
void, there could not be any hope for thee, for thou wouldst be "nigh unto cursing," and thine end
would be "to be burned."
There is one idea which has occurred to us. It has struck us as a singular thing, that our friends
should hold that men can be converted, made into new creatures, then fall away and be converted
again. I am an old creature by nature; God creates me into a new thing, he makes me a new
creature. I cannot go back into an old creature, for I cannot be uncreated. But yet, supposing that
new creatureship of mine is not good enough to carry me to heaven. What is to come after that?
Must there be something above a new creature-a new creature. Really, my friends, we have got
into the country of Dreamland; but we were forced to follow our opponents into that region of
absurdity, for we do not know how else to deal with them.
And one thought more. There is nothing in Scripture which teaches us that there is any salvation,
save the one salvation of Jesus Christ-nothing that tells us of any other power, super-excellent
and surpassing the power of the Holy Spirit. These things have already been tried on the man,
and yet, according to the supposition, they have failed, for he has fallen away. Now, God has
never revealed a supplementary salvation for men on whom one salvation has had no effect; and
until we are pointed to one scripture which declares this, we will still maintain that the doctrine
of the text is this: that if grace be ineffectual, if grace does not keep a man, then there is nothing
left but that he must be damned. And what is that but to say, only going a little round about, that
grace will do it? So that these words, instead of miltating against the Calvinistic doctrine of final
perseverance, form one of the finest proofs of it that could be afforded.
And now, lastly, we come to improve this doctrine. If Christians can fall away, and cease to be
Christians, they cannot be renewed again to repentance. "But," says one, "You say they cannot
fall away." What is the use of putting this "if" in, like a bugbear to frighten children, or like a
ghost that can have no existence? My learned friend, "Who art thou that repliest against God?" If
God has put it in, he has put it in for wise reasons and for excellent purposes. Let me show you
why. First, O Christian, it is put in to keep thee from falling away. God preserves his children
from falling away; but he keeps them by the use of means; and one of these is, the terrors of the
law, showing them what would happen if they were to fall away. There is a deep precipice: what
is the best way to keep any one from going down there? Why, to tell him that if he did he would
inevitably be dashed to pieces. In some old castle there is a deep cellar, where there is a vast
amount of fixed air and gas, which would kill anybody who went down. What does the guide

226. say? "If you go down you will never come up alive." Who thinks of going down? The very fact
of the guide telling us what the consequences would be, keeps us from it. Our friend puts away
from us a cup of arsenic; he does not want us to drink it, but he says, "If you drink it, it will kill
you." Does he suppose for a moment that we should drink it. No; he tells us the consequences,
and he is sure we will not do it. So God says, "My child, if you fall over this precipice you will
be dashed to pieces." What does the child do? He says, "Father, keep me; hold thou me up, and I
shall be safe." It leads the believer to greater dependence on God, to a holy fear and caution,
because he knows that if he were to fall away he could not be renewed, and he stands far away
from that great gulf, because he know that if he were to fall into it there would be no salvation
for him. If I thought as the Arminian thinks, that I might fall away, and then return again, I
should pretty often fall away, for sinful flesh and blood would think it very nice to fall away, and
be a sinner, and go and see the play at the theatre, or get drunk, and then come back to the
Church, and be received again as a dear brother who had fallen away for a little while. No doubt
the minister would say, "Our brother Charles is a little unstable at times." A little unstable! He
does not know anything about grace; for grace engenders a holy caution, because we feel that if
we were not preserved by Divine power we should perish. We tell our friend to put oil in his
lamp, that it may continue to burn! Does that imply that it will be allowed to go out? No, God
will give him oil to pour into the lamp continually. Like John Bunyan's figure; there was a fire,
and he saw a man pouring water upon it. "Now," says the Preacher, "don't you see that fire would
go out, that water is calculated to put it out, and if it does, it will never be lighted again;" but God
does not permit that! for there is a man behind the wall who is pouring oil on the fire; and we
have cause for gratitude in the fact, that if the oil were not put in by a heavenly hand, we should
inevitably be driven to destruction. Take care, then Christian, for this is a caution.
2. It is to excite our gratitude. Suppose you say to your little boy, "Don't you know Tommy, if I
were not to give you your dinner and your supper you would die? There is nobody else to give
Tommy dinner and supper." What then? The child does not think that you are not going to give
him his dinner and supper; he knows you will, and he is grateful to you for them. The chemist
tells us, that if there were no oxygen mixed with the air, animals would die. Do you suppose that
there will be no oxygen, and therefore we shall die? No, he only teaches you the great wisdom of
God, in having mixed the gases in their proper proportions. Says one of the old astronomers,
"There is great wisdom in God, that he has put the sun exactly at a right distance-not so far away
that we should be frozen to death, and not so near that we should be scorched." He says, "If the
sun were a million miles nearer to us we should be scorched to death." Does the man suppose
that the sun will be a million miles nearer, and, therefore, we shall be scorched to death? He says,
"If the sun were a million miles farther off we should be frozen to death." Does he mean that the
sun will be a million miles farther off, and therefore we shall be frozen to death? Not at all. Yet it
is quite a rational way of speaking, to show us how grateful we should be to God. So says the
Apostle. Christian! if thou shouldst fall away, thou couldst never be renewed unto repentance.
Thank thy Lord, then, that he keeps thee.
"See a stone that hangs in air; see a spark in ocean live;
Kept alive with death so near; I to God the glory give."

227. There is a cup of sin which would damn thy soul, O Christian. Oh! what grace is that which
holds thy arm, and will not let thee drink it? There thou art, at this hour, like the bird-catcher of
St. Kilda, thou art being drawn to heaven by a single rope; if that hand which holds thee let thee
go, if that rope which grasps thee do but break, thou art dashed on the rocks of damnation. Lift
up thine heart to God, then, and bless him that his arm is not wearied, and is never shortened that
it cannot save. Lord Kenmure, when he was dying, said to Rutherford. "Man! my name is written
on Christ's hand, and I see it! that is bold talk, man, but I see it!" Then, if that be the case, his
hand must be severed from his body before my name can be taken from him; and if it be
engraven on his heart, his heart must be rent out before they can rend my name out.
Hold on, then, and trust believer! thou hast "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which
entereth within the veil." The winds are bellowing, the tempests howling; should the cable slip,
or thine anchor break, thou art lost. See those rocks, on which myriads are driving, and thou art
wrecked there if grace leave thee; see those depths, in which the skeletons of sailors sleep, and
thou art there, if that anchor fail thee. It would be impossible to moor thee again, if once that
anchor broke; for other anchor there is none, other salvation there can be none, and if that one
fail thee, it is impossible that thou ever shouldst be saved. Therefore thank God that thou hast an
anchor that cannot fail, and then loudly sing-
"How can I sink with such a prop,
As my eternal God,
Who bears the earth's huge pillars up?
And spreads the heavens abroad?"
How can I die, when Jesus lives,
Who rose and left the dead?
Pardon and grace my soul receives,
From my exalted head."
23. MY VIEW OF THE PARADOX.
I am convinced that the Bible teaches both eternal security and apostasy. When we are in the will
of God we have security and nothing can take us from the hand of God, but when we walk in
darkness and are out of God’s will we are in danger of judgment. It may not result in being lost
forever, but it is serious judgment that nobody wants to endure, and so the warnings are real and
a threat that we have to take seriously. We have security and yet we have dangers that we need to
fear to stay on the right path. Any rebel spirit will pay a heavy price for being a rebel against
God. We should feel perfectly secure in Christ, but insecure when we live in disobedience to
Christ. Yes, it is a contradiction to both have it and yet have a fear of losing it, but this is the only
possible explanation of the texts that teach both. To deny one is to deny the very basis on which
you build your security. If the warnings are not true, how can you have any confidence that the
promises are true? The only people who are wrong in this controversy are those who take one

228. side or the other and reject the whole truth of both. You cannot have the whole truth by rejecting
any portion of it. Why should this paradox be any harder to accept than the many others in the
Bible?
24. ROGER HAHN, “The Danger of Falling Away - Hebrews 6:4-8
Hebrews 6:4-6 is one long complicated sentence. It also contains one of the most difficult
passages to interpret. The sentence states that it is impossible for people who have truly known
the Lord and who then turn away to be restored to repentance. A starker way of putting it is that
there is no second chance to be saved if one sins after being saved. Not surprisingly there are a
variety of interpretations of this passage. It demands our most careful study.
First, whatever the final interpretation, verses 4-6 were intended to motivate the first readers of
Hebrews to faithfulness in the face of pressure and persecution. The word for suggests that "if
the readers do not 'go forward' into the fullness of Christian doctrine, they will be in grave
danger of falling away altogether." (Hagner, p. 70) This highlights an important spiritual truth.
The call to go on to perfection and spiritual growth is not a trivial or optional matter. There is no
place in the Christian life where one can simply decide to settle down and to neither obey nor
grow any more. One either moves forward or backward in the Christian life. There is no neutral
ground for a "do-nothing" Christian. This is an important reminder for every believer.
The most difficult word in verses 4-6 is the word impossible. Its position in the Greek sentence
shows that the author intended to emphasize it. "It is IMPOSSIBLE!" is his point. The next part
of basic sentence does not appear until verse 6. A few modern versions bring that next part up to
verse 4 to make the understanding easier. "It is impossible to restore to repentance certain
people."
Who are those certain people that can not be restored? Much of the sentence is devoted to
describing them. They are people who have once been enlightened. The word once is literally
"once-for-all". To have been once-for-all enlightened, once-for-all tasted the heavenly gift,
once-for-all become partakers of the Holy Spirit, to have once-for-all experienced the goodness
of the word of God and the powers of the age to come is to be a Christian who is going on to
perfection.
These verses are not describing infants in Christ. These people have thoroughly encountered the
blessings of the grace of God. They know full well the power and glory of life in relationship
with Christ. But these people also have fallen away according to verse 6. The grammatical
construction of fallen away implies that it is a willful and purposeful decision to reject Christ.
William Lane describes the meaning as "a deliberate, planned, intelligent decision to renounce
publicly association with Jesus Christ. It signifies a choice not to believe God, not to listen to
God, not to obey God. It is the decision to be disobedient and to deny all that Christ has done for
you." (Call, p. 94) For such persons it is impossible to restore them to repentance. It is clear that
the passage is not speaking of unwitting sins, but of sin committed with a high hand in willful
defiance of God. The restoration of such people to repentance is impossible as they are
crucifying again to themselves the son of God and exposing him to public disgrace.

229. The final key to interpreting Hebrews 6:4-6 lies in the way these phrases are related to the main
sentence. Most versions use the word "since" or "because" as the connecting word. It is
impossible to restore to repentance those who have fallen away since they are crucifying again
the son of God and are holding him up to contempt. In the final analysis such a translation makes
repentance of willful apostasy impossible. The person who purposefully denounces Christ can
never be restored.
This interpretation has led to despair both on the part of people who thought this verse prevented
their ever coming back to Christ again and on the part of people who thought persons they loved
had crossed this eternal line that could never be erased. The fact that an interpretation has
brought spiritual despair does not make it wrong, but it should make us want to be very certain
that no other reasonable interpretation is possible.
Another very reasonable interpretation is not only possible; it is quite likely. The grammatical
construction that led to the translation "since" or "because" does not have to be translated
causally. In fact, most frequently that construction is translated temporally. In verse 6 that would
mean that it is impossible to restore to repentance those who have fallen away WHILE they are
crucifying again the son of God and are publicly holding him up for contempt.
In support of this interpretation is the fact that the Greek grammatical construction for the verb
fallen away refers to a single event of rejecting Christ. However, the verbs for crucifying again
and publicly holding up for contempt are constructed to show a repeated and on-going action.
The continuous nature of those verbs suggests a temporal meaning - while. Thus as long as one
contemptuously and publicly rejects Christ, as long as one lives a life of continual sin that
requires a continual atoning death of Christ, there is no repentance. But should one stop
crucifying Christ again and stop publicly humiliating him the possibility of repentance would be
available.
Should the temporal interpretation be correct it is not a basis for a person to conclude that they
need not worry about taking care for the spiritual condition. "If it will always be possible to
repent then it is okay to sin," is the exact opposite of the conclusion the author intended his
readers to draw. The purpose of verses 4-6 was to motivate his readers to stay true to Christ
despite persecution. Any interpretation that is taken to give license to believers to sin is a
misappropriation of both the interpretation and word of exhortation given by this author.
25. preceptaustin, “Dwight Pentecost has a good note to introduce this most controversial
section of Scripture which has caused many believers considerable distress...
It is unfortunate that some believers struggle and agonize under the misconception that,
although they desire to walk with God, they have regressed beyond some “point of no
return” and can never again walk in fellowship with Him. If you have a heartfelt longing to
live for Jesus Christ, that desire alone shows that your heart has not been hardened to Him!
All that remains is for you to turn to Him in commitment and submission, and to resume
your progress toward maturity. (Pentecost, J. D., & Durham, K. Faith that Endures: A
Practical Commentary on the Book of Hebrews. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications)
R Bruce Compton in his discussion of Hebrews 6:4-6 rightly comments that....

230. The warning passage in Hebrews 6:4, 5, 6 continues to be a notorious crux in New
Testament interpretation. The difficulty comes in harmonizing the description in He
6:4, 5 of those who have “tasted the heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy
Spirit” with the statement in He 6:6 about their “falling away” and not being able to be
brought back to repentance. The juxtaposition of these verses has raised a number of
questions. Are the experiences predicated in He 6:4, 5 tantamount to salvation, or are they
describing something that approximates salvation but falls short of it? If He 6:4, 5 are
describing salvation, is He 6:6 describing the loss of salvation? Furthermore, why does He
6:6 say that it is “impossible” to restore those who fall away, or is restoration possible? And,
lastly, what precisely is the danger being warned about in these verses? Are those in view
being threatened with the loss of reward or with eternal condemnation, with hell itself? The
purpose of this article is to survey the views found in the commentaries and related literature
on this passage and to update the arguments for the view that supports both the eternal
security of the believer and the need for believers to persevere in the faith.
The various interpretations of this passage in contemporary literature may be conveniently
catalogued under four views. The views themselves are generally distinguished according to
their understanding of the spiritual status of those addressed and the nature of the warning
being issued. The four views are
(1) true believer: apostasy/loss of salvation;
(2) true believer: apostasy/loss of reward;
(3) true believer: hypothetical apostasy/loss of salvation; and
(4) false believer: apostasy/eternal condemnation.
These views are briefly discussed in this section to identify their salient strengths and
weaknesses and to establish a basis for a more detailed examination of the passage in the
following section....
...Conclusion: The chief strength with the fourth view is its interpretation of He 6:6.
Specifically, it defines the sin in the warning passages as the sin of apostasy, a conscious
and deliberate rejection of the gospel. Furthermore, this sin as an irremediable act whose
ultimate consequence is eternal condemnation and judgment. The preceding discussion has
substantiated this interpretation. This rules out the second view which argues that the
judgment in these verses is that of the saved. The judgment in the warning passages is not
that of the saved. It is the final and eternal judgment of God against the unsaved. In addition,
it has been demonstrated from He 6:6 that this sin is neither hypothetical nor impossible. In
fact, it was argued from He 10:25,26 that some who had been associated with the readers
had actually committed this sin. This negates the third view which argues that this sin was
both hypothetical and impossible.
Lastly, it was argued that Scripture teaches the eternal security of those who are saved.
Salvation, once received, can never be lost. This rules out the first view which argues that
the warning involved the loss of salvation. Neither this nor the other warning passages, in
describing the action of an apostate, are describing one who is saved. That leaves the fourth
view as the only alternative.

231. The author of Hebrews had confidence in the salvation of his readers, as was seen in He
6:9, 10, 11, 12. Yet, in He 10:26, he indicates that some had forsaken the services of the
local congregation and had repudiated the faith they had at one time professed. Moreover,
in He 5:11, 12, 13, 14, the author of Hebrews chastises the readers for growing inattentive to
God’s Word and to their responsibilities for spiritual growth. This combination compels him
to exhort his readers to perseverance and to warn any who might fall away of the dire
consequences of such an act. They were to persevere in the faith because, according to He
3:14, only those who persevere show themselves to be partakers of Christ and truly saved.
This does not mean that perseverance in the faith
is a condition for salvation.
Rather,
perseverance in the faith is understood
as the mark of those who are saved.
Were any to fall away, they would show they had not been partakers of Christ, that is, that
they never had been saved. Furthermore, by falling away they would be committing an
irremediable act which would inevitably bring God’s condemnation and
wrath. (Persevering And Falling Away: A Reexamination Of Hebrews 6:4–6 Detroit
Baptist Seminary Journal 1 . Spring 1996 p136 -- Note only first page free - annual $50 fee
[click here] is required to view the entire article but will give you access to literally
thousands of excellent, generally conservative articles) (Bolding added)
The KJV Bible Commentary writes that...
For centuries Hebrews 6 has been a battleground. That fact alone ought to warn us to study
carefully and to conclude slowly concerning the teaching of these verses. The crux of the
issue is whether or not a born-again believer can lose his salvation. Though many
interpretations of these verses have been proposed, four common, contemporary views merit
listing. (Dobson, E G, Charles Feinberg, E Hindson, Woodrow Kroll, H L. Wilmington:
KJV Bible Commentary: Nelsonor Logos)
J Vernon McGee adds that...
As we study this section, we are immediately confronted with the amazing fact that
generally commentators have avoided this chapter. Even such a man as Dr. G. Campbell
Morgan, the prince of expositors, has completely bypassed it in his book on Hebrews.
However, when we do come upon the interpretations available and summarize each, we can
well understand why men have chosen to remain clear of this scene of confusion because we
can get many interpretations. (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas
Nelson or Logos)
F B Hole (Biographical Note) notes that...
After this very encouraging word in verse 3, we drop abruptly into a very dark passage
extending from verse 4 to verse 8. Though the transition is very abrupt it is not without very
good reason. If Christians do not go on they invariably go back; and if it almost seems as

232. though they will not go on, grave fears are aroused lest their unwillingness springs from the
unreality of their profession; in which case their going back might proceed to the length of
open apostasy. In the case of a Jew it would do so without fail.
It is apostasy that is contemplated in these verses, not just ordinary back-sliding — not the
true believer growing cold and falling into sin; not persons, who have once professed
conversion without reality, dropping their false profession and going back into the world —
but that total falling away from, and repudiation of Christianity root and branch, which is
APOSTASY.
No true child of God ever apostatizes, though not a few professors of the Christian religion
have done so. If an Hebrew threw up his Christian profession and wished to get reinstated in
the synagogue and amongst his own people, what would happen? He would find that as the
price of re-admission he would have to call down a curse upon Jesus as an impostor. He
would have in effect to crucify to himself "the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open
shame." Now to go to such lengths as that is to bring oneself under the governmental
judgment of God, just as Pharaoh did in the days of old when God hardened his heart, so
that it is impossible to be renewed unto repentance.
In verses 4 and 5 it is contemplated that those liable to fall away may have shared in
privileges common to believers in those times, and that in no less than five ways. We may
well ask if it is possible for anyone to share in this way without being truly converted; and
this question may well be specially urgent as regards the third of the five. Can it be possible
to be a partaker of the Holy Ghost" without being born again?
The answer to that question is, that it is quite possible. Only a true believer can be indwelt
by the Holy Spirit, but all within the circle of Christian profession, whether truly converted
or not, partake or share in the benefits of the presence of the Spirit. A man may be
enlightened without being saved. He may taste the heavenly gift without receiving it. He
may taste the good word of God without digesting it in his inward parts. He may share in
"the powers of the world to come." (i.e. miraculous powers) without experiencing the real
power of the world to come.
The terrible case of Judas Iscariot furnishes us with an illustration of this very thing. He
walked for over three years in the company of the Son of God. What floods of light fell
upon his path! What tastes he had of the heavenly gift and of the good Word of God! It
could not be said of course that he was a partaker of the Holy Ghost, but he was a partaker
of the benefits of the presence of Christ upon earth; and he shared, in common with the
other apostles, in those miraculous powers which are here called "the powers of the world to
come." He was one of the twelve to whom the Lord gave power over unclean spirits, and of
whom it is said, "They cast out many devils and anointed with oil many that were sick, and
healed them." (Mark 6:13). Yet the miracle-working Judas was all the while a "son of
perdition" and not a saved man at all. He fell away and it proved impossible to renew him
unto repentance.
You will notice that the word here, is "impossible" and not "improbable." This one word is

233. quite sufficient to show that there is no support in this scripture for the idea of a true
believer falling away and being lost for ever. ALL those who "fall away" in the sense
spoken of in this passage are for ever lost. It is not that they may be, but that they must be;
and there would not be a single ray of hope for any back-slider, did it refer to such.
It refers then to the sin of apostasy — a sin to which the Jew, who embraced the Christian
religion without being really converted, was peculiarly liable. By turning back to his ancient
and worn out religion, thereby utterly condemning and disowning the Lord Jesus, he proved
himself to be utterly bad and worthless ground. (Hebrews Commentary Notes)
Dr Charles Ryrie summarizes the interpretative views of Hebrews 6:4-6 writing that...
This much-debated passage has been understood in several ways.
(1) Arminians hold that the people described in these verses are Christians who
actually lose their salvation. If this be so, notice that the passage also teaches that it is
impossible to be saved a second time.
(2) Some hold that the passage refers not to genuine believers but to those who only
profess to be believers. Thus the phrases in verses 4-5 are understood to refer to
experiences short of salvation (cf. v. 9). The "falling away" is from the knowledge of the
truth, not personal possession of it.
(3) Others understand the passage to be a warning to genuine believers to urge them
on in Christian growth and maturity. To "fall away" is impossible (since, according to
this view, true believers are eternally secure), but the phrase is placed in the sentence to
strengthen the warning. It is similar to saying something like this to a class of students: "It is
impossible for a student, once enrolled in this course, if he turns the clock back which
cannot be done, to start the course over. Therefore, let all students go on to deeper
knowledge." In this view the phrases in verses 4-5 are understood to refer to the conversion
experience. (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody
Publishers)
Respected Pastor and Commentator Ray Stedman entitles his section on Hebrews
The Danger of Knowledge Without Faith (Hebrews 6:4-8) This solemn warning marks
one of the great theological battlefields of Scripture. Here the clashing proponents of
Calvinism and Arminianism have wheeled and charged, unleashing thunderous volleys of
acrimony against one another, only to generate much heat and little profit. The Calvinists,
mindful of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (eternal security), seize upon the
words It is impossible … if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance. “These
cannot,” they say, “be truly regenerated Christians, no matter how strongly the descriptive
phrases of verses 4–5 seem to imply they are, for otherwise they would not fall away into
irremediable apostasy.” On the other hand, the Arminians focus on the descriptive phrases
and say, “It is impossible to portray true Christians any more powerfully and accurately than
is done here; therefore, since they are said to fall away it is clear that regeneration can be
lost after it has been obtained.” A third group of interpreters insist that the question of

234. eternal salvation is not in question here at all, since it is only a matter of urging new
Christians on to further understanding of their fellowship with Christ.
As in the case of many clashes over Scripture, there is truth in different views. We are
helped here by viewing the readers not as a homogenous group who must all be classified in
one category or another. Rather, they are a mixed assembly, among whom were many
genuine believers needing a degree of prodding to go on in their experience of truth. There
were also some who professed faith in Christ but who gave no evidence in their behavior or
attitudes that they were truly regenerate. This is the case in many churches today and has
been so in every generation of believers from the first century on. No matter what careful
expedients are employed to make sure that all church members are born again, it is almost
certain that there is no congregation which is not just such a mixed multitude as the writer of
Hebrews addresses. The ratio of true believers to apparent believers may vary widely, but
since we cannot distinguish these by observation (or even careful testing), we must view
these warnings as applying to us all. (Hebrews 6:4-8 The Danger of Knowledge Without
Faith)
Literally the Greek begins with the phrase "It is impossible..." (see discussion
of adunatos below).
John Piper has a thought provoking conclusion (which I agree with) in his sermon on Hebrews
6:4-8 writing...
For these five reasons I conclude that if a person falls away and re-crucifies the Son of God,
he has never been justified. His faith was not a saving faith.
What Then Do These Verses Mean for Us? I'll be very personal, to give it it's sharpest point.
If in the coming years I commit apostasy and fall away from Christ, it will not be because I
have not tasted of the word of God and the Spirit of God and the miracles of God. I have
drunk of his word. The Spirit has touched me. I have seen his miracles and I have been his
instrument for a few.
But if, over the next ten or twenty years, John Piper begins to cool off spiritually and lose
interest in spiritual things and become more fascinated with making money and writing
Christless books; and I buy the lie that a new wife would be exhilarating and that the
children can fend for themselves and that the church of Christ is a drag and that the
incarnation is a myth and that there is one life to live so let us eat drink and be merry -- if
that happens, then know that the truth is this: John Piper was mightily deceived in the first
fifty years of his life. His faith was an alien vestige of his father's joy. His fidelity to his wife
was a temporary passion and compliance with social pressure; his fatherhood the
outworking of natural instincts. His preaching was driven by the love of words and crowds.
His writing was a love affair with fame. And his praying was the deepest delusion of all --
an attempt to get God to supply the resources of his vanity.
If this possibility does not make me serious and vigilant in the pursuit of everlasting joy,
what will? The practical conclusion of this awesome truth is given in next week's text. In the
meantime, I pray that you will not be glib, but serious, about whether Christ is your highest
joy. If you really bank your hope on him and in him, he will not let you go. (Read his full

235. discussion and reasoning for coming to this conclusion - When is saving repentance
impossible?)
Impossible (102) (adunatos from a = without + dunatós = possible, able, or powerful
from dunamai = to be able or have power by virtue of inherent ability and resources. Note the
stem duna- or dyna- conveying the basic sense of ability or capability, power, strength, might)
means impossible, incapable of being or of occurring, incapable of being done. Adunatos is used
twice to convey the idea of one who is impotent, has no strength or lacks capability in
functioning adequately, once in a literal sense (Acts 14:8 below = powerless) and once in a
spiritual sense (Romans 15:1 = of those who do not "strongly" believe).
Note that adunatos is first in the Greek sentence for emphasis. It's as if the author wants to
make it blazingly, blatantly clear...."Impossible it is..."! One can hardly miss his point.
There are 26 uses in the Septuagint (LXX) (Job
5:15, 16; 20:19; 24:4, 6, 22; 29:16; 30:25; 31:16, 20, 34; 34:20; 36:15, 19; Prov. 30:18; Joel
3:10) and 10 uses in the NT. One will note the obvious concentration of "impossibilities" in the
book of Hebrews!
Matthew 19:26 And looking upon them Jesus said to them, "With men this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible."
Mark 10:27 Looking upon them, Jesus said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God;
for all things are possible with God."
Luke 18:27 But He said, "The things impossible with men are possible with God."
Acts 14:8 And at Lystra there was sitting a certain man, without strength in his feet, lame
from his mother's womb, who had never walked.
Romans 8:3 For what the Law could not do (adunatos), weak as it was through the flesh,
God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He
condemned sin in the flesh (Comment: The truth in Romans parallels that in Hebrews 10,
Romans dealing with the Law per se and Hebrews addressing the Levitical sacrificial
system. Neither source had the inherent ability to make man right before the Holy God and
both point ultimately to the Son, the perfect Sacrifice and the fulfillment of the Law!)
Romans 15:1 Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without
strength and not just please ourselves.
Hebrews 6:4 (ESV) For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once
been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
(Note: the NASB places "impossible" in Hebrews 6:6) (Note also that commentators and
some translators including Louw and Nida [!] take adunatos to mean "difficult" but clearly
from the other NT uses and specifically the uses in Hebrews this is inappropriate and leads
to a thoroughly incorrect interpretation of this stern warning passage.)

236. Hebrews 6:18 in order that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God
to lie, we may have strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the
hope set before us.
Hebrews 10:4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
26. Understanding Hebrews 6:4-6
By Richard E Mummau
"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the
heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted of the
good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If They shall fall away, to
renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
afresh, and put him to an open shame." (Hebrews 6:4-6)
Many sincere Christians after reading these two verses have become discouraged and
have almost given up the faith because they have decided that they sinned and have no
hope to repent again. This conclusion is arrived at because they read these verses
without considering the context in which it is written. While God has given us
warnings in the scriptures, this passage is really intended to instruct us how to deal
redemptively in bringing backsliders back into the fellowship with God and the
Church.
The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians, but the truth taught here is for
all times and for all Christians. Briefly stated, this passage is declaring that:
1. It is possible for a saved person to fall away from the faith.
2. When a saved person falls away from the faith, it does not mean that he was
not "born again" initially.
3. When a saved person falls away from the faith it is possible to restore them,
but it is impossible to restore them the same way they were saved the first
time.
In other words, a person cannot be born again the second time.
The writer states in Heb. 5:11-14 that the Hebrews were not growing in their Christian
experience. He says they "are dull of hearing", and still babes. The phrase "word of

237. righteousness" in Heb 5:13 is referring to the way in which God saves a person and
brings him into a right relationship with Himself.
The Jewish religious economy is known for its many sacrifices. Every year the Jews
had to bring a sin offering. The Hebrew Christians were now confronted with the truth
that Jesus Christ had by one offering made the final sacrifice for all sin for all time.
They were having trouble accepting and applying this truth. They had helped people
through to a salvation experience with Jesus Christ. These new believers had given
evidence of being saved or "born again". There was fruit that gave evidence that they
were indeed Christians. But some of these Christians after a period of time fell away
from the faith. When this happened the Jewish Christians thought that they were not
properly converted the first time, so they had them start over again. In other words,
they tried to have them become "Born Again" the second time rather than making
things right and starting off where they lost out. They did this by discounting all that
happened before and making them believe again, repent again, laying hands on them
again in baptism, etc. By doing everything again they were implying that the reason
they fell away was that God's work in their lives wasn't sufficient the first time. When
they did this they were "holding Him up to open shame and crucifying Him a fresh".
This interpretation of Hebrews 6:6 is supported by Hebrews 6:1-3. In these verses the
Paul tells the Jewish Christians, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of
Christ,....not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith
toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands."
Verses 7 and 8 are given as an example of what the Hebrew Christians were doing.
One kind of earth was watered and blessed by God. Some earth brought forth herbs,
and some of the same earth brought forth thorns and briars. What the Hebrew
Christians were doing by having Christians start over again was the same as saying
that God's rain and blessing on the earth that brought forth thorns and briars was not
good enough, when it was the condition of the earth that made the difference. In this
example the earth represents those who have experienced the new birth.
Likewise, when a person falls away, it is because of some fault or failure in the
exercise of faith of the persons who falls away, not because Jesus didn't do His work
right when He saved that person.
There is a current doctrine that says if a person falls away, they were not saved in the
first place. Often people will say that the person only "tasted" salvation, but did not
experience it. This passage clearly refutes this teaching. Hebrews 6:1-8 is teaching
that when a person falls away and does repent, he continues from where he left off.
The phrase "that it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance" is referring to
taking them back to another New Birth. Also, Hebrews 2:9 says that Jesus was willing

238. to taste death for every man, and we know that Jesus actually experienced death. The
word taste is translated from the same Greek word in both Hebrews 6:5 and Hebrews
2:9. Generally, the reason people interpret taste in this way is to make room for their
doctrine "Once saved, always saved."
The Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Romans says that "if we live after the flesh, we
shall die", so it is possible for a Christian to come to the place when he dies spiritually
and is no longer a Christian. But when this person repents and comes again into a
saving relationship with Jesus Christ, it is a person being brought back from the dead,
not being born again the second time.
When Lazarus gave evidence of being alive after he was buried in the tomb, it was not
because he was "Born Again", but because he was brought back to life. There are
numerous instances in the scriptures of people being restored to life, and not one of
them was "reborn". The account of the prodigal son is another example. He was born,
left home, and returned in repentance. His father said when he returned "For this my
son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
An example of being "born again" the second time is - if when Israel sinned after
crossing the Red Sea, Moses would have tried to take the Israelites back into Egypt
and let God bring them out again.
Another example would be to tell a person who made a wrong turn in Indiana on his
way from Pennsylvania to California that he had to go back to Pennsylvania and start
over.
The Apostle Paul's statement in Galatians 4:19 where he says "My little children, of
whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you" is only indicating that he
was having to put as much effort and suffer as much pain trying to establish them as
he did when he helped to convert them. He calls them "little children" and later
brethren, so he was not trying to make Christians out of them, but only trying to help
them grow up into fully mature Christians.
Let us consider some other implications we face if we consider those who are restored
to the faith as being "Born Again" another time.
Do we as a church re-baptize a person when that person strays from the faith and
returns? Generally all they have to do is make confession of their sin, prove
themselves, and we restore them to membership again. When we talk to backsliders,
do we ask them to accept Christ, or do we just tell them to repent of their sins and be
restored again.
I know a person who was born again and afterward had much restitution to make. He
had stolen money, which he repaid. If He falls away again, should he try to be "Born

239. again", and if he does, must he go back and make the same restitution again? We all
know the answer is no. We only ask him to repent of the sins that caused him to fall
and to make things right from the time he fell away.
This passage gives the Christian assurance and peace in that it confirms that to fail in
some area of our Christian experience is not an indication that we are not truly saved.
It assures us that what Christ did for us at our conversion is sufficient and that we can
trust Him to continue to work in our lives. The blessings experienced by the Passover
Blood in Egypt were not an end in themselves, but were continually benefited from as
they allowed God to continue to lead them. Now this article is not to negate the fact
that a person can depart from the faith to such a degree that he is no longer a saved
person. There are many other scriptures that declare that our salvation is conditional.
There are also scriptures that make it clear that people can depart so far from the faith
that they cannot return, but Hebrews 6:2-4 is not one of them.
Romans 1:24 makes it clear that people can become so reprobate that God will give
them up to vile affections. Read also Romans 1:26. 2Thessalonians 2:11 also declares
that God will send people strong delusion that they should believe a lie: that they all
might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
When God gives people up, there is no hope for them any more. The reason is that no
man cometh unto Jesus unless God draws him, and when God gives someone over to
a reprobate mind, that drawing power is no longer working in that individual. When
God gives someone up He does it by completely leaving him and allowing him to be
controlled by his own lusts and desires.
We must be careful that we do not decide when this is. Only God knows when a
person comes to that place. We are to continue to help everyone that we can to come
to salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. I know a person who was accused of being
so reprobate that there was no hope for him. Well, today that person is a member of a
conservative Mennonite Church.
Probably we should distinguish between a backslider and an apostate. A backslider
knows he is wrong, but he is not willing to change. An apostate has convinced himself
that he is right and promotes his error as truth. I tend to think that the Apostate is
beyond hope.
This brings us to another doctrine we should look at.
We are often asked if we believe a person can "Lose" their salvation. Most of us
probably would say yes. But do we really "Lose" our salvation? People can "cease to
be a believer". When a person begins to live in sin and disobey the scriptures, it is
because he does not really "believe" the scriptures. This is not to say that the person
who commits a sin has ceased to believe. But when a person can habitually practice

240. those things that the Bible labels sin, they cease to be a believer. Often these are
practices that they at one time would have called sin.
Our terminology often leaves people confused and frustrated. When we meet a person
who knows only the Calvinistic doctrine of "unconditional eternal security" and we
say they can "Lose" their salvation, the first thing that comes to their mind is that they
can come to the end of a day and not be saved and not know about it.
It is like a person working all day and when he goes to his car and reaches in his
pocket he cannot find his car key. He lost his keys. This is how those who believe in
unconditional eternal security define or understand our use of the term "Lose". It is
easy to understand how this concept would be reprehensible to them.
The scriptures teach that redemption is all of God, but salvation is conditional and
based upon a conscious act of our will in the exercise of faith in Jesus Christ. The
scriptures also teach that a person who continues to exercise saving faith in Jesus
Christ is secure. But when a person begins to neglect his spiritual life he will come to
the place where he is not truly exercising saving faith in Jesus Christ. He may
continue to say he believes, but it is only a verbal belief and not a conscious exercise
of the will to live for God. That is all that saving faith is, a conscious exercise of the
will to always do what we believe the Bible teaches. It is also obeying the voice of the
Spirit in areas where the Scriptures are silent.
When a person continues to habitually practice sin, he "ceases to be a believer" and is
no longer a Christian. So the statement "The believer is eternally secure" is a correct
statement. It is the definition of who is a believer that must be answered.
Our tendency though, is to write people off quicker than God writes them off. I am
convinced that true Christians are more secure then they think they are, and those who
are careless in their Christian walk, are probably not as secure as they think they are.
May God help us continue to consciously exercise a living faith in Jesus Christ, and
may we do it in such a way that others are led to HIM.
27. J. Paul Tanner
Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Studies
The Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary

241. Amman, Jordan
Chapter six of Hebrews, particularly vv 4-6, remains a classic interpretative challenge
as well as a theological battleground concerning the issues of eternal security,
perseverance, and assurance of salvation. Great evangelical stalwarts have parted
company at this juncture. On the one hand, we find no less a scholar than I. Howard
Marshall insisting that genuine Christians are being described but concluding that they
may be "lost through deliberate apostasy." On the other hand, F. F. Bruce, equally an
evangelical champion of the faith, contends (in the Reformed tradition) that the
subjects in view were never Christians at all. Rather, Bruce argues, the author "is not
questioning the perseverance of the saints; we might say that rather he is insisting that
those who persevere are the true saints."
Begging to differ with both these positions are those of the "free grace" camp who see
this passage addressed to true Christians who—though not in danger of losing their
salvation—are nevertheless in danger of judgment from God and eventual loss of
rewards. The following exposition of Heb 5:11–6:12, written from this latter
perspective, not only best accounts for the details of the passage (I believe) but
underscores the urgency for all Christians to grow in spiritual maturity.
HEBREWS SIX IN RELATION TO THE AUTHOR’S ARGUMENT
Chapters 1–7 of Hebrews form the first major movement within the book. In these
chapters, the author of Hebrews argues his case for the superiority of the New
Covenant over the Old Covenant by virtue of the superior Person on which it has been
founded, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 1:5–2:8, he demonstrated the superiority of Jesus to the angels, and explained why
it was necessary for Jesus to temporarily be "a little lower than the angels." This was a
significant point, for angels were instruments of God used in bringing the revelation
of the Old Covenant (2:2). Jesus’ superiority to them implies that the revelation of the

242. New Covenant through Him is superior to the former revelation of God given in the
Old Covenant—and hence ought to be carefully heeded (1:1-2; 2:1).
In 3:1–5:10, he pointed out the superiority of Jesus to Moses and suggested that Jesus
is guiding His people to a greater "rest" than did Joshua under the Old Covenant. This
material likewise supports his case. Moses was the primary human agent by whom
God brought the Old Covenant and by whom the earthly tabernacle was established.
Though Joshua led the people of the Old Covenant to their "rest" in the land of
Canaan and granted them an earthly inheritance, Jesus leads His people to a yet
greater rest. This greater rest is not the mere land of Canaan, but the Messianic
kingdom where faithful believers are to enjoy their eternal rest and inheritance. To be
successful in this pilgrimage that results in an eternal eschatological salvation,
however, New Covenant believers will need the help of a high priest (namely, Jesus).
The matter of Messiah being both king and priest was no doubt a more difficult matter
to comprehend for those steeped in Old Covenant thought. In 5:5-6, however, the
author demonstrated that the Old Covenant revelation anticipated that the Messiah
would not only be a king but also a high priest (so Psalm 110). Hence, there is a
legitimate basis for Jesus to be regarded as a high priest.
Beginning in 5:11, then, he initiates a third case for the superiority of the New
Covenant by arguing for the superiority of Christ’s priestly ministry to that of the
Levitical priestly ministry. The author senses, however, that this will be a much more
difficult task, given the spiritual condition of his readers. They will need to be able to
comprehend deeper spiritual truth, if they are to bear with him. They will need to be
able to understand the Melchizedekan priesthood and its relationship to the Old
Covenant priesthood based on Aaron and the tribe of Levi. The following diagram
clarifies the author’s flow of thought in chapters 1–7:
FIRST MAJOR MOVEMENT OF THE BOOK (Heb 1:1–7:28)
MAJOR THESIS:
The New Covenant is superior to the Old,

243. because of the superior Person upon which it is based.
Though the main force of this argument regarding the comparison of priesthoods will
be given in 7:1-28, the preceding material in 5:11–6:20 is meant to help prepare them
for this presentation. The author must first address their immaturity and declining
spiritual state, which he views as quite a serious matter. Not only will their immaturity
hinder them from comprehending the truth he wants to present; but coninued
persistence in their condition could result in their "falling away" (6:6). That situation
would not only invite God’s judgment upon them (6:7-8), but would result in their
forfeiture of the promises to be inherited.
THE STATEMENT OF THEIR SPIRITUAL PROBLEM (5:11-14)
This section presumes that there is a correlation between spiritual maturity and one’s
ability to understand spiritual truth. As one progresses toward spiritual adulthood, he
should grow in his ability to comprehend spiritual truth. Yet, in the spiritual realm,
one’s ability to comprehend does not necessarily increase with the passing of time.
How one has responded to truth along the way determines one’s present capability to
understand and whether or not he ever gets past the spiritual ABC’s.
The proper response, of course, is one of faith and obedience…applying the Word to
one’s life and thus becoming a "doer" of the Word…becoming more Christlike in
character and being drawn into a deeper experience of worshiping God. Before God
gives us more spiritual light, we must first respond to the light He has already given
us! This is one of the fundamental principles of the Christian life.
The Readers are "Dull of Hearing" (5:11)
The problem with the readers of Hebrews, however, is that they had not responded
properly to the spiritual light they had received. Consequently, they had failed to grow
and develop—and thus remained in spiritual infancy. This makes explaining Christ’s
priestly ministry difficult, for they are "dull" (no„throi) of hearing. The word no„thros

244. basically means slow or sluggish. They are sluggish hearers, meaning that they do not
hear well when it comes to comprehending spiritual truth. Lane remarks,
Deafness or dullness in receptivity is a dangerous condition for those who have been
called to radical obedience. The importance of responsible listening has been stressed
repeatedly in the sermon (2:1,…; 3:7b-8a, 15; 4:1-2, 7b).
The adjective no„thros is important to our evaluation of this whole unit, since it
occurs only one other time in the New Testament and that is in Heb 6:12. What we
have, then, is an inclusio with no„thros marking the beginning and ending points of
the subunit.
5:11 "you are dull/sluggish of hearing"
6:12 "that you might not be sluggish (no„throi), but imitators of those who through
faith and patience inherit the promises"
Within this inclusio, the author will confront them about their immaturity, exhort them
to mature, warn them about failure to do so, and finally encourage them that he has
high hopes for them—even that they might "inherit the promises."
The Readers Cannot Partake of "Solid Food" (5:12)
The problem was not that the readers had not had time to mature and progress to a
point of greater spiritual understanding. In fact, had they made appropriate progress,
they even could have (and should have!) been teachers by this time. With the
comment "you have need again," the word again (palin) was a reminder that someone
had already indeed taught them the basics of Christianity, the "elementary principles
of the oracles of God." The word for principles (NASB) or truths (NIV) is the word
stoicheion which means fundamental principles or what we might call the ABC’s. The
term was used of the letters of the alphabet as they might be learned by a school child.
The author likens these basic truths of the faith to "milk" in contrast to "solid food."

245. Just as a baby has to drink milk until it develops to a point of being able to digest solid
foods, so it is in the spiritual realm as well. Not all truth is at the same level, and not
all truth is digestible by all Christians. Only those who have worked their way through
the "milk stage" are ready for deeper spiritual truth. Yet, the author is not going to
correct their problem by trying to relay the foundational truths. Rather, he will issue a
serious warning to them, and then seek to exhort and motivate them to obey.
Spiritual Maturity Involves the Capacity to Discriminate, but One Must Be Trained
for This (5:13-14)
There is nothing wrong with being an infant (ne„pios), but there is plenty wrong with
remaining an infant. One should make progress beyond spiritual infancy. If one never
feeds on anything other than the "milk" (the first basics), he will be inexperienced
(apeiros) in the "word of righteousness." The expression word of righteousness
(lougou dikaiosune„s) has been variously interpreted. The NIV’s "teaching about
righteousness" reflects their classification as an objective genitive, though Ellingworth
prefers a genitive of quality, meaning "righteous Word." Consideration could also be
given to a genitive of purpose, in which the phrase could be translated "the Word for
righteousness." In this case, the author would have in mind the intended outcome that
growing in the Word should provide. Such an understanding would have a natural
connection with chapter twelve, where "training" that comes by way of God’s
discipline enables believers to share in God’s holiness and righteousness [note
especially Heb 12:11 in which dikaiosune„ is used again with gumnazo„].
Whether an objective genitive is preferred or genitive of purpose, the author’s point is
that "spiritual infants" are untrained and inexperienced in this facet of the Christian
life. Such righteousness does not come easily, but only as one moves beyond spiritual
infancy (the "milk" stage) and begins to walk by faith and endures through the
God-given training sessions designed to produce righteousness and holiness in one’s
life. Retreating in the Christian life will certainly not help one attain these goals.
The solid food of God’s Word, however, is for those who are mature. In the case of
the mature, their senses (aisthe„te„ria) have been trained for distinguishing between
good and evil. One who would desire the "solid food" of God’s Word must realize
that he cannot gain it apart from the process of maturing…a process that will require
difficult training. The idea of stressful "training" is suggested by the word gumnazo„
(from which we get our English word gymnasium), meaning to exercise or train. But
this maturing process is worth the price one pays, for in this way he comes to

246. distinguish good and evil. This thought sets the stage for the author’s exhortation in
6:1 in which he urges them to move on to maturity.
THE CALL TO MATURITY (6:1-3)
The Readers Must Choose the Goal of Maturing (6:1a)
Havng contronted the readers of their woeful state of immaturity—that they are
sluggish hearers who lack the capability to comprehend "solid food"—the author calls
upon them to press on to maturity. The word Therefore (Dio) initiating v 1
underscores the connection to the preceding paragraph and suggests that pressing on
to maturity is the only logical inference to make. Lane notes,
In this context spiritual maturity implies receptivity and responsiveness to the
received tradition (5:14), an earnest concern for the full realization of hope (6:11),
unwavering faith and steadfast endurance (6:12).
The very fact that the author exhorts them to "press on" clarifies that there is still hope
and opportunity for them. But this is the decisive moment in which they must choose
which way they are going to go [note that he is not suggesting a continued diet of
"milk" for them]. Any appeals they may have received to leave the faith and abandon
their confession of Jesus as Messiah (note 3:6, 14; 4:14) must be rejected in
preference to the goal of maturing.
The Remedy Is Not to be Found in Laying Again the Foundational Truths (6:1b-2)
The author is not suggesting that the foundational truths they had learned about
Messiah must now be discarded, as though they were unimportant. Rather, he is
suggesting that these should not be re-laid. His readers must put their efforts into
moving beyond these basic teachings that they already know.
There is debate as to whether the teachings mentioned in these verses pertain to
Jewish or Christian matters of faith. Lane points out that the latter option has been
questioned

247. on the ground that in none of the six items mentioned in 6:1-2 is there any reference to
anything specifically Christian (e.g., Adams, NTS 13 [1966-67] 379-84; Weeks, WTJ
39 [1976] 74-76. Each of the articles, however, is related to the high priestly
Christology developed in the subsequent chapters, which makes explicit the
christological structure of the foundation.
The correct interpretation is probably not an either/or matter (i.e., that the teachings
were either totally Jewish or totally Christian). Given the Jewish background of the
readers, their faith in the Lord Jesus and participation in the New Covenant called for
a radical reassessment of their previous understanding of spiritual matters. In other
words, their Jewish worldview needed to be recast and given new understanding in
light of the New Covenant Jesus Christ inaugurated.
The mention of "dead works" in v 1 does not pertain to human works of the flesh in
general, but more specifically to the external regulations of the Levitical cultus. This
is confirmed by the use of the phrase "dead works" in Heb 9:14, in which the
accomplishment of Christ’s sacrifice is said to do so much more than Levitical
sacrifices ever could. The "dead works," then, represent the efforts connected with the
earthly sanctuary system to secure cleansing and acceptance before God. Now that the
Messiah had come and made a perfect sacrifice (one that did not merely provide
external cleansing but even made possible the cleansing of the conscience), those
Jewish believers who turned to Christ repented of (changed their mind about) the
Levitical approach to God and adjusted their theology to place their faith completely
in the Lord Jesus as the sure and final atonement for their sins.
Other teachings had to be adjusted in light of Messiah’s coming as well. The four
items remaining in v 2 are all grammatically related to the word instruction which in
turn is related to foundation in v 1:
Not laying again a foundation
of repentance from dead works and faith toward God
of instruction about:
ritual washings

248. laying on of hands
resurrection of the dead
eternal judgment
The word washings (baptismo„n) probably does not refer to Christian baptism but to
Levitical washings connected with the cultus (note the use of baptisma in the plural in
Heb 9:10). The "laying on" of hands was commonly practiced under the Old
Covenant. This was associated with sacrifices (e.g., Lev 4:15 [by elders]; 8:14 [by
priests]; and 16:21 [by the high priest on the Day of Atonement]). Also, hands were
laid on the Levites when consecrating them to ministry (Num 8:10). Lane states,
The discrimination between useless washings on the one hand and purification by the
blood of Christ on the other (9:9-10, 19; 10:22), or between priests appointed by the
imposition of hands according to the law, which in its weakness could not achieve the
perfection of the people of God, and the high priest appointed by the oath of God and
the power of an indestructible life (5:1-6; 7:5, 15-28) demonstrates the relationship
between the foundational teaching and the advanced instruction provided in
7:1–10:18).
Whatever understanding they previously had about resurrection and eternal judgment
now had to be corrected in light of Messiah’s coming. There was certainly a
resurrection: since He had been resurrected, so they would be also. Furthermore, the
Father had entrusted all judgment into His hands (John 5:22). For believers, they must
be prepared for giving an account at the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10), while
unbelievers will face condemnation to hell at the Great White Throne Judgment (Rev
20:11).
Yet these foundational matters had already been dealt with in days past. There was no
need to cover this ground again, but rather to "press on."

249. There Is a Danger that the Readers May Not Be Able to Press On (6:3)
With the mention of the eschatological issue of "eternal judgment," the author
suddenly stops his enumeration of what he considers "elementary teaching." The
thought of judgment is a sober reminder of the potential danger his readers face. If
their present situation is not corrected, they may be in store for a negative judgment
experience. Furthermore, God Himself may not permit them to "press on to maturity."
The phrase if God permits in 6:3 raises a note of alarm. While there is still the
possibility of "pressing on," they must be made aware that they are dangerously close
to complete spiritual disaster. Hence, in 6:4-6 the author will now confront them with
the situation whereby God might cut off the opportunity, thus leaving them to face the
severe judgment of God.
THE DANGER OF "FALLING AWAY" (6:4-8)
The compounding problem of their immaturity and "dullness of hearing" (5:11) could
be alleviated if the readers were to "press on to maturity" (6:1). Though they
desperately need to go on to maturity, the author sets forth the reality that in some
cases that may not be possible. Hence, in 6:4-6 he describes a situation in which true
regenerate Christians may commit an offense so serious that God may not permit
them to move on to maturity. This offense is described in 6:6 as "falling away." There
is nothing in the passage that explicitly states they will lose their salvation for this,
anymore than the sin of the wilderness generation meant loss of salvation for them,
and certainly the author still has this Old Covenant failure in mind that he had brought
to their attention in chapter three. Continuing the analogy, however, they may face
temporal judgment and loss of their inheritance (as was true for the wilderness
generation according to Psalm 95).
As serious as such a sin may be, the author is not actually charging his readers as
guilty of this, i.e., he is not saying that any of them had gone to this extent yet. Three
observations confirm this: (1) he offers the possibility of "pressing on" in 6:1; (2) he
makes a subtle shift from the first person in 6:1-3 to a less direct way by use of the
third person in 6:4-6, and (3) he reaffirms his confidence in them in 6:9. Nevertheless,
he recognizes that they are on a perilous path, and they need to quickly gain their
senses and realize the seriousness of what is at stake. If they do not shake out of their
spiritual lethargy, they may very well end up as one of those described in Heb 6:4-8.

250. The Spiritual State of the Offenders (6:4-5)
Verses 4-6 must be seen as one complete unit of thought. In the Greek text, the
emphatic word impossible (Adunton), is placed up front in v 4, while the complement
to restore again to repentance does not come until v 6. In between, we have a series of
five participles describing those who cannot be renewed to repentance. The first four
are positive statements of their Christian experience, while the last ("have fallen
away") in v 6 is negative.
Significantly, all five participles are governed by the one definite article tous in v 4
which serves to unite them. As a result, these are not two different situations, but a
single situation in which the one who "falls away" is the very one who had been
enlightened, etc.
Lane is undoubtedly correct when he states, "Together, the clauses describe vividly
the reality of the experience of personal salvation enjoyed by the Christians
addressed." This is true for at least three basic reasons: (1) the author had expressed
statements of concern about his readers in earlier portions of the epistle (e.g., Heb
3:12) while yet referring to them as "brethren;" (2) what he has to say about them in
6:4-6 cannot be divorced from what he has said about them at the beginning of this
literary unit in 5:11-14, namely, that they are spiritual babes who have not matured;
and (3) the terminology in 6:4-5 is most naturally descriptive of Christian experience,
not of unbelievers.
To claim that they have merely professed to believe (in response to pre-salvation
enlightenment) while yet remaining unregenerate is to force one’s theology on the text
rather than allowing the text to speak for itself. Randall Gleason is right on target
when he points out that this passage must be understood in light of its Old Testament
background. In particular, the author is still making allusions to the event that
occurred at Kadesh-barnea:
Most important to this study is the writer’s use in chapters 3–4 of the Exodus
generation at Kadesh Barnea (Ps 95:7b-11) as a type of the Christian community to
which he was writing. In each case the Old Testament record of God’s dealings in
earlier redemptive history is used to bring understanding to the present situation of his
readers.

251. Gleason substantiates this claim by pointing out numerous instances to the author’s
use of the pilgrimage motif following chapter six. The fateful decision of the
wilderness generation at Kadesh-barnea is the Old Testament counterpart to a decision
by those under the New Covenant who would rebel and "fall away" from God.
The author’s first statement about his readers in this verse is that they had been
"enlightened" (pho„tisthentas). The author uses this term one other time in Heb 10:32
where he says, "after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings."
The context deals with their sufferings for the faith, a situation which would surely
point to their regenerate state, for it is hardly imaginable that they (especially being
first century Jews) would suffer persecution had they not truly come to know the
Savior.
Secondly, he points out that they had "tasted" (geusamenous) the heavenly gift. Some
have tried to argue that they had only "tasted" but had not fully partaken of, and hence
were only professing Christians. The Greek verb geuomai, however, does not restrict
itself to such a limited meaning. Furthermore, the author has already used the same
verb in Heb 2:9 in reference to Christ having "tasted death for everyone." We would
have quite a theological dilemma on our hands if Christ merely tasted death for us but
did not fully undergo it. The Scripture is quite clear, however, that He fully
experienced death for our sins.
As Ellingworth has noted, the author is using the word to mean "eat," not merely taste,
and hence figuratively to "experience (to the full)." Possibly, by the phrase tasted the
heavenly gift, the author has in mind that they had partaken of God’s free gift of
eternal life in Christ (cf. John 4:10; Rom 6:23). As the wilderness generation ate of
the heavenly provision of manna, so these New Covenant believers had eaten the
greater heavenly manna—the "bread of life" (John 6:33).
Thirdly, he states that his readers had been made "partakers of" or "partners with" the
Holy Spirit. The word partakers/participants is the Greek word metochous, a word that
was used earlier in 3:1 of the "holy brethren" who were participants in a heavenly
calling and in 3:14 of those who had become partners with Christ by holding fast their
confidence. In Heb 6:4, the readers are "partakers of the Holy Spirit," because they

252. had received the Holy Spirit when they believed. The Holy Spirit was God’s "pledge"
(or earnest payment) until the day of redemption when they would receive their
resurrected bodies (Eph 1:13-14; Rom 8:23).
Fourthly, he says in 6:5 that they had "tasted (geusamenous) the good Word of God
and the powers of the age to come." The word tasted is the same Greek word as used
in v 4, hence a true experiencing of. The Christian message had come to them
accompanied by miraculous confirmations which they fully experienced (recall 2:3-4).
The Impossibility of a Renewed Repentance (6:6)
The final participle of the series indicates that it is possible that one who had truly
been enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift (i.e., a truly regenerate person) can
"fall away" (parapesontas—from the verb parapipto„). Our understanding of this
crucial term is handicapped by the fact that this is the only time this word is used in
the New Testament. Nevertheless, we are not completely empty-handed, for the verb
is used eight times in the LXX. It is used to translate several different Hebrew words
(most often ma„‘ al). Frequently, parapipto„ has the meaning of "transgressing"
against the LORD, though not in the sense of apostasy. In Ezek 20:27, for instance,
the LXX reads "your fathers provoked me in their trespasses in which they
transgressed (parepeson) against Me." In the preceding context, the main issues to
their "transgressing" were the profaning of the Sabbath and turning to idolatry. From
Moulton and Milligan, we find a few other examples from after the first century AD,
including the following phrase: "if the terms of it (i.e., a contract) should be broken or
it in any other way be rendered invalid."
A better clue of the author’s intention, however, may be found in his use of the
cognate form pipto„ (fall) earlier in the book. In Heb 4:11, he had warned the readers,
"Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall (pese„—aorist
subjunctive of pipto„) through following the same example of disobedience" (cf.
3:17). In our author’s thinking, one could "fall" rather than being diligent to enter
God’s rest. There is also a strong connection to his warning of "falling away from the
living God" in Heb 3:12. In the case of Heb 3:12, the verb is aphiste„mi rather than
parapipto„, but the two verbs are still related. As mentioned above, most of the
instances of parapipto„ in the LXX translate the Hebrew verb ma„‘ al, but the same
Hebrew word is rendered by aphiste„mi in another verse (namely, 2 Chron 26:18).
Though the expression "falling away" in Heb 3:12 is not lexically related to our verb

253. parapipto, conceptually it is. Lane concurs that it is "equivalent to the expression
aposte„nai apo Theou zo„ntos…in 3:12."
We can thus conclude that "falling away" in Heb 6:6 is to transgress against the Lord
in a way that parallels what happened at Kadesh-barnea when the Hebrews rebelled
against the Lord with a heart of unbelief, the end result of becoming hardened in heart
against the Lord. More specifically, this would mean (in the context of what the
author has stated thus far in the epistle) to not hold fast one’s confession of faith in
Christ…the very thing he had exhorted them to do in Heb 4:14 (cf. 3:6). This is a
major concern of the author, for he reasserts this in Heb 10:23.
Of course, any drastic falling away from the faith was unlikely to happen without
some prior development. They must be equally concerned about the root cause.
Already, there was a passive drifting away from the word of Christ (2:1), they were
sluggish hearers who had not moved on to maturity (5:11-14), and some were already
avoiding Christian fellowship (10:25). Such a situation, if not soon corrected, would
only bring on more hardening of heart until (like the Hebrews that fell in the
wilderness) it would be too late. That is to say, God’s judgment would fall…it would
not be averted.
The author is telling them that there is a point beyond which it is impossible to restore
them to a state of repentance. This would presume that their hearts would be gravely
hardened. At this point (and only God knows when one has reached such a point), the
guilty one does not recover to a repentant state, for this would be tantamount to
recrucifying the Savior and a severe public humiliation of Him. Instead, the guilty one
remains hardened against God and must face God’s judgment. However, we must be
careful what we conclude as to the form this judgment will take (and when it will take
place).
An Illustration of two Main Alternatives (6:7-8)
Orientation
The author realizes that his audience could gravitate in one of two directions: they
could either move on to maturity (6:1), or they could continue on the slippery slope
that could ultimately lead them to "falling away" (6:6). Though in reality different
ones among them were at different points of this spectrum, the author is primarily

254. concerned with the direction they are headed. One leads to God’s blessing, while the
other may result in disaster. To help them see his concern, the author uses an
illustration from agriculture involving the response of the ground to care that it
receives.
To understand the illustration, we should carefully note two important observations:
(1) it is not "two grounds" being described but two possible outcomes of the same
ground, and (2) regardless of the outcome, the ground has received the rain and what
it needs for growth. Regarding the first point, we should notice that the NIV has
obscured this matter:
7Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to
those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces
thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be
burned.
In the Greek text, the word ground (ge„) occurs only once (namely, in v 7…not twice
as the NIV implies). So the point is that the same ground can have two possible
outcomes, and by analogy there can be two possible outcomes for any individual’s
life.
The falling of the rain upon the ground probably speaks of God’s divine care and
provision for the ground, i.e., God gives what is needed for growth. In this illustration,
the ground should never be devoid of vegetation, because it is watered and sustained.
This is what God does for the life of each believer. He waters and cares for him so
that there will be fruitfulness. If fruitfulness does not result, it is not because God has
not given His care and done His part.
Possible Interpretative Options
The illustration of vv 7-8 could be interpreted in one of three ways:
A contrast between a true believer and an unbeliever

255. A contrast between a faithful enduring Christian and an "apostate Christian" who
loses his salvation
A contrast between a faithful believer who is fruitful and an unfaithful believer [but
not involving loss of salvation]
The decision about which interpretation to choose should not be based upon one’s
preconceived theology as primary resort, but first and foremost upon the exegetical
details of 6:7-8 and the general context.
In regard to context, nothing explicitly has been said about loss of salvation, and the
details of 6:4-6 do not seem directed at unbelievers (not withstanding the fact that
several commentators have opted for this suggestion). Context is more in favor of
option three above, especially since mature and immature believers have been in view
since 5:11.
Exegetical Details of Heb 6:7-8
Most of the concern is with v8, so attention will primarily be given to this.
An allusion to Gen 3:17-18
The author of Hebrews is not simply making an illustration, but seems to word his
illustration in such a way as to allude to Gen 3:17-18.
Heb 6:8 – ekpherousa de akanthas kai tribolous adokimos kai kataras engus
NASB
Cursed is the ground
because of you;

256. In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles
it shall grow for you,
LXX
epikataratos he„ ge„
en tois ergois sou
en lupais phage„ aute„n
pasas tas he„meraste„s zo„e„s sou
akanthas kai tribolous
anatelei soi

257. Not only do we have the exact words for thorns and thistles (akanthas kai tribolous),
but the noun curse (kataras) in Heb 6:8 has similarity to the adjective Cursed
(epikatapatos) in the LXX of Gen 3:17.
In the context of Gen 3:17-18, the first man Adam received God’s curse for
disobedience. This is reflected in the words "By the sweat of your face you shall eat
bread, till you return to the ground." Hence, the allusion to Gen 3:17-18 (despite the
fact that the order in Hebrews is inverted) brings to our mind the temporal judgment
that fell on the first man’s disobedience.
Blessing-Curse Motif
Given the Jewish nature of the audience, the words blessing and curse would no doubt
have particular significance to them in light of their Old Testament orientation. These
words were juxtaposed in Deuteronomy 28–30, in which blessing was promised for
obedience and curse (i.e., discipline) was promised for disobedience. Notice the use of
the same word katara in Deut 28:15, 45; 29:26; 30:1, 19. The word curse should not
be taken as a technical term in Heb 6:8 for those who are unregenerate. From an Old
Testament perspective, this designated God’s discipline on His own children who
were disobedient.
"If it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless…"
The Greek adjective for worthless (adokimos) is certainly not a technical term for
unbelievers. According to the standard Greek lexicon, the word means "not standing
the test" and [then] "unqualified, worthless." The particular nuance of the word, of
course, depends on the context in which it is being used. In the LXX, dokimazo„ and
its cognate terms were often used in relation to testing or examining metals (especially
by fire) to determine the acceptability of their quality (e.g., Prov 8:10; 17:3; 25:4; Isa
1:22). If they did not meet the standard, they were considered unfit and hence
disapproved. The apostle Paul could use the term in relation to himself, as he does in 1
Cor 9:27, "lest…I myself should be disqualified." In this case, his eternal salvation
was not the concern. Possibly he thought about disqualification or disapproval.
David K. Lowery suggests that Paul was concerned that he might be disapproved by
God and thus face the disciplinary action of God that could even cut short his life.

258. On the other hand, the preceding context (with its analogy of competition in the
athletic games) might suggest that Paul was fearful of jeopardizing his eternal reward.
Fee agrees that the athletic metaphor is still in view. He writes, "This has been the
point of the metaphors from the beginning, that the Corinthians exercise self-control
lest they fail to obtain the eschatological prize.
The antonym to our term for worthless is dokimos, a word that emphasizes a
favorable evaluation. In 2 Cor 10:18, for instance, it is used to indicate the approval of
that Christian (but not every Christian!) who is commended by the Lord. Some
Christians are "approved" and some are not (cf. 1 Cor 11:19). The Lord’s approval
may stem from the way one handles the Word of God (2 Tim 2:15) or by the way one
successfully endures divine trials in his life (Jas 1:12). Thus, the evaluation of the
unfruitful ground of Heb 6:8 as being adokimos probably implies no more than the
fact that the offender is considered unfit and has not gained God’s approval. He may
be in store for God’s discipline and eventual loss of reward, but there is nothing from
a study of adokimos or dokimos in the New Testament to establish that he loses his
salvation.
"whose end (is) for burning" (e„s to telos eis kausin)
The "end" or outcome (telos) of the ground that yields thorns and thistles is burning.
Is the author trying to suggest (by analogy) that the individuals that "fall away" (6:6)
are destined for hell? If so, then those who are in danger are either
Christians who lose their salvation, or
professing Christians who in actuality were never regenerate.
The Greek noun for burning (kausin) is used only once in the New Testament [cf. The
mention of fire as a judgment in Heb 10:27], but it occurs seven times in the LXX. In
Isa 4:4, it is used of God’s judgment and purging of the land (including Jerusalem) for
the Millennium "by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning." In Dan 7:11, it is
used of the destruction of the Antichrist who is "given to the burning fire." The latter
is certainly hell (compare Rev 19:20), though the word itself does not have to mean
this.

259. Basically, fire is often used in Scripture to speak of God’s judgment or sometimes of
purifying something or someone. Though fire can be used to speak of the ultimate
judgment of the unregenerate in hell, fire is also used to speak of God’s judgment in
connection with regenerate Christians. The latter is clearly the case in 1 Cor 3:12-15
where Paul is concerned about the "works" of believers in regard to God’s church:
12Now if any man builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones,
wood, hay, straw, 13each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it,
because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each
man’s work. 14If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive
a reward. 15If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall
be saved, yet so as through fire.
In the case of this passage, fire is used for revealing the quality of the believer’s
works. The purpose is for assessing whether or not these are rewardable good works,
but the person’s eternal destiny is not the issue.
Hence, the motifs of fire and burning can speak of judgment in regard to the
unregenerate (i.e., hades/hell) as well as evaluation of the regenerate (i.e., examination
of one’s works for the purpose of giving rewards). In the case of the latter, works that
are unsuitable for reward are burned up.
So we must ask if in the case of Heb 6:8, the author is using fire to speak of the
ultimate destiny of individuals in hell for their rejection of Christ, or if he is concerned
about their works (i.e., a worthless life without rewardable good works). Two things
in the following context argue for the latter: (1) he mentions their work in Heb 6:10,
and (2) rewards are in view in Heb 6:12 when he speaks of those who inherit the
promises because of their faith and patience.
Based on these two contextual observations as well as the other matters mentioned in
points a–c above, the danger of fire does not seem to be related to hell. This probably
looks at the discipline and judgment that can come upon an unfaithful Christian’s life
who has not brought forth fruit (as he should) but rather a life of worthless works
(thorns and thistles). Such a person stands in jeopardy of receiving the Lord’s
discipline in this life ("near curse") and will certainly see his works burned up when

260. examined at the Judgment Seat of Christ (Rom 14:10-12; 1 Cor 3:10 ff.; cf. 2 Cor
5:9-10). In contrast, the believer that is moving onward to "maturity" and walking in
obedience to the Lord can expect to receive God’s "blessing."
ENCOURAGEMENT AND HOPE FOR THE READERS (6:9-12)
Despite the rebuke for being "dull of hearing" as spiritual babes and despite the
ominous warning given in 6:4-6, the author has better hopes for his readers. It may be
possible for these wayward believers to "fall away," but the author apparently does
not think they have gone to that extreme yet. So, his warning of the fatal
consequences is balanced by an encouraging note and exhortation to faithfulness in vv
9-12.
An Affirmation of His Confidence in the Readers (6:9)
In the previous illustration, the unsuitable vegetation was burned off the unfruitful
ground. That should not be seen as the normative outcome of the Christian life, and
the author is concerned of "better things" for them, i.e., things that "accompany
salvation." Most likely, salvation (so„te„ria) is being used in the same eschatological
sense that it previously had in the book (cf. 1:14; 2:3, 10; 5:9) and in which it will be
used in regard to the Second Coming in 9:28. Earlier in the epistle, the author
anticipated Christ becoming heir of all things (1:2) and of those who would "inherit
salvation" (1:14). In chapter two, the author connects this concept of inheriting
salvation with the regaining of God’s plan for man exercising dominion. This is the
time when man shall be crowned with glory and honor…in resurrected state ruling
jointly with Christ. This is the glorious destiny of believers who are faithful to Christ
in this life (cf. Rev 2:26-27). These are the "better things" that the author has in mind
for his readers. Faithfulness does bring a rich reward, both now and in the
eschatological future.
The Reason for His Confidence in Them (6:10)
The conjunction For (gar) in v 10 signals the reason (illative use of gar) for his
confidence in his readers. Apparently, the author had firsthand knowledge of this
group of believers, and he knew that they had been faithful to the Lord in days past.
Notice that his commendation is not in regard to their personal justification, but in
regard to their faithfulness as Christians. Their faithfulness is evidenced by their work
(ergou) and their love. Later in the book (10:32ff.), he commends their past

261. faithfulness again. Since they had begun their Christian pilgrimage well, they must not
turn from the pathway of faithfulness.
The Exhortation to Remain Faithful (6:11-12)
They are to be diligent to have the "full assurance of hope" until the end. The word
diligence translates the Greek spoude„, the cognate to the verb spoudazo„ in Heb 4:11
("Let us be diligent to enter that rest"). The word means "diligence, earnestness, or
eagerness." They are to be diligent and eagerly making every effort to maintain a "full
assurance of hope" until the end. The author has in mind the same concern as in
3:6—"if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end" (cf.
3:14; 10:23). He is concerned that each one of them (hekaston humo„n) maintain their
confession of Jesus as Messiah and be diligent to remain faithful to Him.
Not only must they be careful to hold fast their confession, but the author does not
even want them to be sluggish (no„throi). This is the same word he used to describe
them in 5:11 when he charged them as being "dull of hearing" (no„throi tais akoais).
Unfortunately, the NIV obscures the connection by its translation "we do not want
you to become lazy." Indeed, they are sluggish at the present moment, but they must
not remain so.
Alternatively, they can be "imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit
the promises." Inheriting the promises is not automatic for any Christian, for this is
based on the exercise of faith and patience. The idea of "inheriting" is found four
times in Hebrews, namely 1:4; 1:14; 6:12; and 12:17. In the context of Hebrews, the
inheritance in view is the "eschatological salvation" and full participation in the
kingdom of Jesus Christ, entering God’s rest and ruling jointly with Christ.
Disobedience and unbelief may jeopardize these future promises (cf. Heb 3:12, 19;
4:1, 3, 11), but faith and patience help to bring them about.
CONCLUSION
From the preceding study, we have observed that the inclusio involving the word
no„thros in 5:11 and 6:12 marks the true parameters of the immediate context. This is
important, since it identifies the readers addressed in 5:11-14 as being the same as
those in 6:4-8. In both cases they are true Christians, and this is confirmed by the
descriptive participles in 6:4-5. Their need is to press on to maturity, but a "falling

262. away"—i.e., a rebellion against God akin to what happened at Kadesh-barnea (as
suggested by the lexical connections between parapipto„ in 6:6 and aphiste„mi in
3:12)—could eliminate that possibility for them. This would not mean a loss of eternal
life, however, and we do well to observe that such an outcome is never clearly
specified. In Heb 6:7-8, the author’s deliberate allusion to Gen 3:17-18 underscores
that divine discipline would be in store for such rebels. Yet he quickly turns in 6:9 to
encourage them that such negative warnings need not be their fate at all. Through
faith and endurance, they can "inherit the promises" (which in the context of Hebrews
amounts to rewards that await them in the Messianic kingdom).
Hebrews 5:11–6:12 is a good reminder to each of us that we should be pressing on to
spiritual maturity, but this is not an automatic or guaranteed outcome for any
Christian. One attains to maturity as he responds in faith and obedience to God’s
Word, surrenders his life to the Savior, and endures in the pathway of discipleship.
The price, of course, is high (death to self), but the reward is great…and the reward is
for all eternity!
5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God
and the powers of the coming age,
1. BARNES, "And have tasted the good word of God - That is, either the doctrines
which he teaches, and which are good, or pleasant to the soul; or the Word of God which is
connected with good, that is, which promises good. The former seems to me to be the correct
meaning - that the Word of God, or the truth which he taught, was itself a good. It was what the
soul desired, and in which it found comfort and peace; compare Psa_119:103; Psa_141:6. The
meaning here is, that they had experienced the excellency of the truth of God; they had seen and
enjoyed its beauty. This is language which cannot be applied to an impenitent sinner. He has no
relish for the truth of God; sees no beauty in it; derives no comfort from it. It is only the true
Christian who has pleasure in its contemplation, and who can be said to “taste” and enjoy it.
This language describes a state of mind of which every sincere Christian is conscious. It is that of
pleasure in the Word of God. He loves the Bible; he loves the truth of God that is preached. He
sees an exquisite beauty in that truth. It is not merely in its poetry; in its sublimity; in its
argument; but he has now a “taste” or “relish” for the truth itself, which he had not before his

263. conversion. Then he might have admired the Bible for its beauty of language or for its poetry; he
might have been interested in preaching for its eloquence or power of argument; but now his
love is for “the truth;” compare Psa_19:10. There is no book that he so much delights in as the
Bible; and no pleasure is so pure as what he has in contemplating the truth; compare Jos_21:45;
Jos_23:15.
And the powers of the world to come - Or of the “coming age.” “The age to come” was a
phrase in common use among the Hebrews, to denote the future dispensation, the times of the
Messiah. The same idea was expressed by the phrases “the last times,” “the end of the world,”
etc. which are of so frequent occurrence in the Scriptures. They all denoted an age which was to
succeed the old dispensation; the time of the Messiah; or the period in which the affairs of the
world would be wound up; see the notes on Isa_2:2. Here it evidently refers to that period, and
the meaning is, that they had participated in the special blessings to be expected in that
dispensation - to wit, in the clear views of the way of salvation, and the influences of the Holy
Spirit on the soul. The word “powers” here implies that in that time there would be some
extraordinary manifestation of the “power” of God. An unusual energy would be put forth to
save people, particularly as evinced by the agency of the Holy Spirit on the heart. Of this “power”
the apostle here says they of whom he spake had partaken. They had been brought under the
awakening and renewing energy which God put forth under the Messiah. in saving the soul.
They had experienced the promised blessings of the new and last dispensation; and the language
here is such as appropriately describes Christians, and as indeed can be applicable to no other. It
may be remarked respecting the various expressions used here Heb_6:4-5,
(1) That they are such as properly denote a renewed state. They obviously describe the
condition of a Christian; and though it may be not certain that any one of them if taken by
itself would prove that the person to whom it was applied was truly converted, yet taken
together it is clear that they are designed to describe such a state. If they are not, it would
be difficult to find any language which would be properly descriptive of the character of a
sincere Christian. I regard the description here, therefore, as what is clearly designed to
denote the state of those who were born again, and were the true children of God; and it
seems plain to me that no other interpretation would have ever been thought of if this view
had not seemed to conflict with the doctrine of the “perseverance of the saints.”
(2) There is a regular gradation here from the first elements of piety in the soul to its highest
developments; and, whether the apostle so designed it or not, the language describes the
successive steps by which a true Christian advances to the highest stage of Christian
experience. The mind is:
(a) Enlightened; then.
(b) Tastes the gift of heaven, or has some experience of it; then.
(c) It is made to partake of the influences of the Holy Spirit; then.
(d) There is experience of the excellence and loveliness of the Word of God; and,
(e) Finally there is a participation of the full “powers” of the new dispensation; of the
extraordinary energy which God puts forth in the gospel to sanctify and save the soul.
2. CLARKE, "And have tasted the good word of God - Have had this proof of the
excellence of the promise of God in sending the Gospel, the Gospel being itself the good word of
a good God, the reading and preaching of which they find sweet to the taste of their souls.
Genuine believers have an appetite for the word of God; they taste it, and then their relish for it
is the more abundantly increased. The more they get, the more they wish to have.

264. The powers of the world to come - ∆υναµεις τε µελλοντος αιωνος. These words are
understood two ways:
1. The powers of the world to come may refer to the stupendous miracles wrought in
confirmation of the Gospel, the Gospel dispensation being the world to come in the Jewish
phraseology, as we have often seen; and that δυναµις is often taken for a mighty work or
miracle, is plain from various parts of the gospels. The prophets had declared that the
Messiah, when he came, should work many miracles, and should be as mighty in word and
deed as was Moses; see Deu_18:15-19. And they particularly specify the giving sight to the
blind, hearing to the deaf, strength to the lame, and speech to the dumb; Isa_35:5,
Isa_35:6. All these miracles Jesus Christ did in the sight of this very people; and thus they
had the highest evidence they could have that Jesus was this promised Messiah, and could
have no pretense to doubt his mission, or apostatize from the Christian faith which they
had received; and hence it is no wonder that the apostle denounces the most awful
judgments of God against those who had apostatized from the faith, which they had seen
thus confirmed.
2. The words have been supposed to apply to those communications and foretastes of eternal
blessedness, or of the joys of the world to come, which they who are justified through the
blood of the covenant, and walk faithfully with their God, experience; and to this sense the
word γευσαµενους have tasted, is thought more properly to apply. But γευοµαι, to taste,
signifies to experience or have full proof of a thing. Thus, to taste death, Mat_16:28, is to
die, to come under the power of death, fully to experience its destructive nature as far as
the body is concerned. See also Luk_9:27; Joh_8:52. And it is used in the same sense in
Heb_2:9 of this epistle, where Christ is said to taste death for every man; for
notwithstanding the metaphor, which the reader will see explained in the note on the
above place , the word necessarily means that he did actually die, that he fully experienced
death; and had the fullest proof of it and of its malignity he could have, independently of
the corruption of his flesh; for over this death could have no power. And to taste that the
Lord is gracious, 1Pe_2:3, is to experience God’s graciousness thoroughly, in being made
living stones, built up into a spiritual house, constituted holy priests to offer spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God; see 1Pe_2:5. And in this sense it is used by the purest Greek
writers. See several examples in Schleusner.
It seems, therefore, that the first opinion is the best founded.
3. GILL, "And have tasted the good word of God,.... Not the Lord Jesus Christ, the
essential Word of God, who seems to be intended before by the heavenly gift; but rather, either
the Scriptures of truth in general, which are the word of God, endited by him, and contain his
mind and will; which he makes use of for conviction, conversion, instruction, and comfort; and
which are preserved by him: and these are a good word; they come from him who is good; they
are a revelation of good things; they make known things true, pleasant, and profitable: or else
the Gospel in particular, of which God is the author; and in which is a wonderful display of his
wisdom and grace; and which he owns and blesses for his own glory, and the good of others: and
this is a "good word", the same with ‫דבר‬‫טוב‬ , "good matter", or "word", in Psa_45:1 ‫פתגם‬‫טובי‬ ,
"my good word", or "the word of my goodness", in the Targum on Isa_55:11 for it is the word of
righteousness, reconciliation, peace, pardon, life, and salvation. And there is a special and
spiritual taste of this good, word, which is delightful, relishing, and nourishing; and such who

265. have it can never totally and finally fall away; because they who taste it, so as to eat and digest it,
and be nourished by it, to them it becomes the ingrafted word, which is able to save them: but
there is such a taste of this word as is disrelishing, as in profane sinners, and open opposers and
persecutors of the word, or as in hypocrites and formal professors; which is only an assent to the
Scriptures, as the revelation of God, or a superficial knowledge of the doctrines of the Gospel
without the experience of them, and a temporal faith in them, and a natural affection for them,
and pleasure with them for a time; as the Jews, and Herod with John's ministry, and the stony
ground hearers.
And the powers of the world to come; meaning either the state of the church, and the
glorious things relating to it, after the first resurrection, which they might have some notional
apprehensions of; or the ultimate state of glory and happiness, the powers of which are the
immortality, incorruption, and glory of the body, the perfect holiness and knowledge of the soul,
entire freedom from all evils of every kind, full communion with Father, Son, and Spirit, and a
complete enjoyment of all happiness for ever; which hypocrites may have a notional knowledge
of, a natural desire after, and delight in the contemplation and hope of, as Balaam had; or rather
the δυναµεις, miracles and mighty works in the former part of the Gospel dispensation, or times
of the Messiah, the Jews' world to come; see Gill on Heb_2:5, are intended; which many, as
Judas and others, were able to perform, who were not sincere Christians, or true believers.
4. HENRY, "They may be made partakers of the Holy Ghost, that is, of his extraordinary
and miraculous gifts; they may have cast out devils in the name of Christ, and done many other
mighty works. Such gifts in the apostolic age were sometimes bestowed upon those who had no
true saving grace. (4.) They may taste of the good word of God; they may have some relish of
gospel doctrines, may hear the word with pleasure, may remember much of it, and talk well of it,
and yet never be cast into the form and mould of it, nor have it dwelling richly in them. (5.) They
may have tasted of the powers of the world to come; they may have been under strong
impressions concerning heaven, and dread of going to hell. These lengths hypocrites may go,
and, after all, turn apostates. Now hence observe, [1.] These great things are spoken here of
those who may fall away; yet it is not here said of them that they were truly converted, or that
they were justified; there is more in true saving grace than in all that is here said of apostates.
[2.] This therefore is no proof of the final apostasy of true saints. These indeed may fall
frequently and foully, but yet they will not totally nor finally from God; the purpose and the
power of God, the purchase and the prayer of Christ, the promise of the gospel, the everlasting
covenant that God has made with them, ordered in all things and sure, the indwelling of the
Spirit, and the immortal seed of the word, these are their security. But the tree that has not these
roots will not stand.
5. JAMISON, "tasted the good word of God — distinct from “tasted OF (genitive) the
heavenly gift”; we do not yet enjoy all the fullness of Christ, but only have a taste OF Him, the
heavenly gift now; but believers may taste the whole word (accusative case) of God already,
namely, God’s “good word of promise.” The Old Testament promise of Canaan to Israel typified
“the good word of God’s” promise of the heavenly rest (Heb_4:1-16). Therefore, there
immediately follows the clause, “the powers of the world to come.” As “enlightening” and
“tasting of the heavenly gift,” Christ, the Bread of Life, answers to FAITH: so “made partakers of
the Holy Ghost,” to CHARITY, which is the first-fruit of the Spirit: and “tasted the good word of
God, and the powers of the world to come,” to HOPE. Thus the triad of privileges answers to the
Trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit, in their respective works toward us. “The world to come,” is
the Christian dispensation, viewed especially in its future glories, though already begun in grace
here. The world to come thus stands in contrast to course of this world, altogether disorganized

266. because God is not its spring of action and end. By faith, Christians make the world to come a
present reality, though but a foretaste of the perfect future. The powers of this new spiritual
world, partly exhibited in outward miracles at that time, and then, as now, especially consisting
in the Spirit’s inward quickening influences are the earnest of the coming inheritance above, and
lead the believer who gives himself up to the Spirit to seek to live as the angels, to sit with Christ
in heavenly places, to set the affections on things above, and not on things on earth, and to look
for Christ’s coming and the full manifestation of the world to come. This “world to come,” in its
future aspect, thus corresponds to “resurrection of the dead and eternal life” (Heb_6:2), the first
Christian principles which the Hebrew believers had been taught, by the Christian light being
thrown back on their Old Testament for their instruction (see on Heb_6:1, Heb_6:2). “The
world to come,” which, as to its “powers,” exists already in the redeemed, will pass into a fully
realized fact at Christ’s coming (Col_3:4).
6. FUDGE, " Those who have tasted the good word of God are those who have experienced
fulfillment of the precious promises God offers by claiming and receiving them in faith. The
expression used here occurs also in the Greek Old Testament at Zechariah 1:13 and Joshua
21:45. The powers of the world to come probably refer to the miraculous manifestations given
the infant church (see notes at 2:3-4 <exp02.html>), but to a Jewish Christian this phrase would
speak of the present reality of the Messianic era in which such things would take place. The
world to come is literally the Coming Age, which is how the Jews spoke of the era of fulfillment
and blessing under Messiah in the Kingdom of God
7.S.L. JOHNSON, “The Powers of the Age to Come
This would seem to be the external side of the third description ("partakers of the Holy
Spirit"). For in the miracles that were performed by our Lord and the apostles, these people
had in experiencing these things a true indication of the power of the age that is to come, that
is the millennial age.
8.The question is, "from what have they fallen away?" Then we must ask, "to what have they
fallen?" Keep in mind that among Christians there are differences as to the answers of these
questions. Some (who hold to perseverance of the saints) believe that such people simply fall
away to fruitlessness, but they are still believing people; thus, interpreting the above-mentioned
descriptions that we have been discussing to be true and determinative of the Christian life. Of
course the Arminian believes that this "falling away" refers to a believer's loss of
salvation. However, the position that I am setting forth is that these people are indeed falling
away into a lost state, yet their fall is not from a state of salvation but from a state of profession
of faith. In other words, those that "fall away" were never saved to begin with and their fall
from their false profession is an irrevocable fall.
9.For example, let us reflect again on the meaning of in Heb. 2:3, "how will we escape if we
neglect so great a salvation?" What does "neglect so great a salvation mean?" It might mean "to
neglect" but yet to remain within the sphere of the saved and thus neglecting the full joy of
salvation. We also read of such a "falling away" in Heb. 3:12: "take care, brethren, that there
not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God." So
again the question, "departing from what?" So again it could mean to depart from a full

267. understanding and appreciation of salvation (and so apostatizing from that) but yet still
remaining within the family of God.
10.Unfortunately, these passages do not tell us from what these people have departed. So when
we look at these warning passages in this epistle we must look for the passage that tells us from
what exactly these people have departed. Chapter 10 gives us such a passage and makes the
point that underlines the necessity of interpreting these passages as those dealing with apostasy.
But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving
of the soul. (Hebrews 10:39)
Notice that the text uses the word "perdition." Perdition refers to the loss of salvation. It is
possible that this word could refer to something that is not eternal perdition; however, in this
context it is impossible to render it anything but eternal perdition. For the very fact that the
"drawing back" is unto perdition indicates that the falling away is one unto perdition, that is
falling away into a lost state. Thus, this verse brings all of the warning verses of this epistle into
harmony with one another. So in summary, to "fall away" is to fall away from a profession of
salvation (not a true state of salvation) and into a state of perdition (lost state).
11.The Calvinistic Interpretation
7. We have already mentioned the various descriptions above from verses 4-6 of this class
of people. In support of the Calvinistic position, let us examine further things that are
said of these individuals and things that are not said regarding them. When you think of
a person who possesses eternal life what thoughts comes to mind about such a
person? For example, the New Testament speaks of one who possesses eternal life as
one who is righteous and justified. Yet, in our passage of study there is no reference to
justification. Clearly from chapter 11 of this epistle we see that this author understood
well the doctrine of justification for we read,
8. By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear,
prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and
became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. (Hebrews 11:7)
9. So the author was well acquainted with the teaching of justification by faith but failed to
mention it in our passage of study.
10. Likewise, when thinking of a person who is saved, we think of one who has life, eternal
life. Again, in our context of Heb. 6:4-6 there is no reference to life in the description of
these individuals. Yet in Heb. 10:38 he writes, "Now the just shall live by faith; But if
anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” So again our author knows quite
well the doctrine of eternal life and justification by faith as he demonstrates by citing
Habakkuk 2:4. But our author never says that these individuals have life—for that would
settle the question!
11. Also, in chapter 2 the author previously stated in regard to salvation that beleivers should
not "neglect so great a salvation", yet again he does not say of those in Heb. 6:4-6 are
they are indeed saved. Later on in Heb. 6:9 he does state that we are "confident of better
things concerning you." In other words, the things that he is confident of concerning the

268. believers (the "you" of Heb. 6:9) are better than the things that he has just been
describing in verses 4-8. He continues in verse 9 by saying that these better things
"accompany salvation" and pertain to this group which represents believers. Thus, the
people whom are author describes in verses 4-6 are not saved individuals for the author
has delineated two groups of people as has been pointed out in the "you" of verse 9.
12. Furthermore, our author mentions nothing of spiritual fruit in relation to those whom he
has described in Heb. 6:4-6. He does not say, "you have tasted the good Word of God
and you have ministered to the benefit of the saints." However, when he goes on to
describe the Hebrew professing believers of whose salvation he is confident, he says:
13. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown
toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. (Hebrews
6:10)
14. Thus, all of these examples give indication that the individuals who are described in Heb.
6:4-6 are individuals who have a great deal of knowledge of the truth and of Old
Testament elementary principles but have not entered into the experience of the Christian
faith. In other words, they are not saved but are apostates who have fallen away from
their profession of faith. Yet it seems that the author is sure that the vast majority to
whom he is writing are indeed saved, but he is concerned about some. Notice his
thoughts the following verses:
15. 9 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10 For God is not unjust so as
to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having
ministered and in still ministering to the saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you
show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,
(Hebrews 6:9-11)
16. His concern about some in the fellowship is that they have a great deal of light but
apparently are not showing much evidence of spiritual growth. Recall that he has
referred to them as "dull of hearing" (Heb. 5:11). Thus, the author is greatly concerned
that some of these with all their exposure to knowledge and truth still have not come to a
genuine reception of Christ as their own personal Savior. Their state of being "dull of
hearing" in regard to God's Word is quite alarming to him for they still have need of
someone to teach them when they should in fact be teachers others!
17. Application Questions
18. Could it be that this very thing pertains to us? For it is possible that some of you who are
reading this study have been believers for quite some time; yet if the author of this epistle
were to look at your life would he be able to see clear evidence of your salvation? Or
would he be concerned and warn you that it is possible to make a profession and
apostatize from it and should you do that there is no possibility of renewal unto
repentance. This is a most severe and serious warning and should be preached to all
bodies of believers. We should all read this epistle and ask ourselves "am I truly a

269. believer in Christ? Are there spiritual fruits that clearly indicate that I belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ?
19. 14 Furthermore, all the officials of the priests and the people were very unfaithful
following all the abominations of the nations; and they defiled the house of the Lord
which He had sanctified in Jerusalem. 15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word
to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people
and on His dwelling place; 16 but they continually mocked the messengers of God,
despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose
against His people, until there was no remedy. (2 Chronicles 36:14-16)
20. Notice that last verse which states, "until there was NO remedy." It is possible to so
oppose the truth of God that one reaches the stage of "no remedy." In the New
Testament we have a similar teaching in which the Lord Jesus Christ says,
21. 37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!
How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks
under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 “Behold, your house is being left to you
desolate! (Matthew 23:37-38)
22. Then in Matt. 21:43 we read,
23. 43 “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given
to a people, producing the fruit of it.
24. This is a judicial turning away from the nation by God.
25. Then Mark 4:11-12:
26. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of
God, but those who are outside get everything in parables, 12 so that while seeing, they
may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand,
otherwise they might return and be forgiven.”
27. A Powerful Illustration: The Alarm Clock
28. Many years ago, I read an illustration that helped me regarding these things. Howard
Guiness tells a story of a business friend of his who bought an alarm clock. For it's
morning alarm it sounded a "greeting" three times in rapid succession. It so alarming
that it would wake the whole household and in fact the first morning he leap out of the
bed trembling from its piercing ring. This method of rising was so startling that he
decided to muffle the clock so that he could rise on time but avoid a nervous
breakdown. The other people in the building were very pleased with this decision as
well. So as a result the tone of the alarm clock became more gentle to everyone's
satisfaction. Then a week later he came down to breakfast complaining that the
miserable thing had gone off only twice out of the three rings and thus he must have it
repaired before it let him down altogether. Then after a lapse of about a week or two he
complained that it had gone off only once that morning. Then days later he came down
for breakfast and said that it has not rung at all. However, the rest of the family heard

270. the clock ring it's thrice a day call from day one to the end. So what had
happened? Why had he failed to hear such an obvious noise? Well, the experience is
common. The sound waves had struck his ear drums and set things in motion but no
stimuli had reached the higher brain centers. Possibly the nerve fibers were tired of
receiving the same reply from the brain cells time after time for when they went to the
brain cells the brain cells said "go away." Until finally the man simply did not hear. Yet
it is more accurate to describe the process thusly: at firs the man would not hear now he
could not hear.
29. This is precisely what we have in the Word of God. If we do not respond to the Word of
God, the time will come when we cannot hear. All of us are in danger of falling into this
trap.
30. Mr. Guiness goes on to say that as we get older the clear resounding truth often becomes
"muffled by other voices—those of science, psychology, philosophy, politics, skeptical
friends, and success. Some of the voices were right in themselves and others
wrong. But one and all they were allowed to drown out the eternal voice. For later that
voice had become an occasional whisper but it seemed far away and apparently divorced
from reality until finally it was lost altogether and was never heard again. The voice had
not ceased to sound but the only part of us that could turn in to hear what it said was
dead.
31. Back to Hebrews
32. So it is possible says our author for individuals to have a great deal of light and then to
fall away, never having really grasped eternal salvation and fall away to irremediable
loss. So it is impossible to "renew them again unto repentance." In other words, it is
impossible to bring them back after they have gone back and that is our author's
point. What a serious statement! Why? The latter part of verse 6 gives us the
answer: "since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an
open shame." It is possible to render "since" as "while" but do so and not to give reason
for the previous statement of the first part of verse 6 is a tasteless interpretation. The
word "since" gives the reason for if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance is
impossible, because (since) they are crucifying again unto themselves the Son of God and
putting him to an open shame. Notice also the present tense which expresses an active
continuous hostility to the truths that at one time they professed.
33. The Sad Example of Harry Emerson Fosdick
34. There are many such people in the history of the Christian church. The most prominent
liberal when I was growing up was Harry Emerson Fosdick. Dr. Fosdick was a well
known individual throughout the country. He was a New York preacher and was quite
gifted and who denied the facts of the Christian faith. Later on in his life there was
report that Dr. Fosdick had repented of his previous beliefs and that he had now become a
believer in the Word of God. However, I ran across a statement by him in which he said
that he did not change any of his view points and so demonstrated by speaking out
against the inspiration of the Scriptures, the Virgin Birth, and the atonement. These
statements were made after he supposedly "repented." But here we have an example a

271. man whose life was one, constant, continuous life opposed to the truth of the Word of
God.
35.The Illustrations of Hebrews 6:7-8
36. Here we have two plots of ground side by side receiving the same amount of rain or
blessing. One is productive and the other is not. Thus, the ground that does not bring
forth is fit only for burning because it is "close to being cursed" and so are the apostates
who are like ground that is totally unproductive. That is why when you go to some parts
of the face of this earth where you will never find farmers farming certain parts of this
earth. It has been tried and it utterly unproductive to do so. There are plots of ground
like this—"bearing only thorns and thistles, it is worthless." This again demonstrates that
believers are not in view here for no believer is ever near to being cursed.
37. Incidentally, the fact that in verse 7 we read of a kind of ministry which is represented by
these blessings from above and is likened to the rain that has been extended upon the
pieces of ground is a kind of blessing which belongs to both saved and unsaved.
38. 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; (Hebrews
6:7)
39. Better Things for Believers
40. Hebrews 6:9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things
that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.
41. The author seems to be convinced that the vast majority to whom he speaks are not
apostates, but he is worried that there might be some. For of course like any good
shepherd, he is concerned about each and every individual sheep. So after speaking forth
such severe words he affectionately encourages them.
42. It is so serious for us to be faced with Word of God and the teaching concerning
Christ. May God help us not to fall away.
43.
12. Preceptaustin, “Tasted (1089) (geuomai) means literally to taste with the
mouth. Metaphorically geuomai means to experience, prove, partake of or come to know. It is
used in idiomatic expressions like "taste death" which is another way to say "to die".
The most direct commentary on the tasting of the good word of God is found in the preceding
passages. In Hebrews Hebrews 4:1-3.
Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you
should seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed we have had good news preached to us,
just as they also (Israel heard the gospel); but the word ("the good word of God") they
heard did not profit them, (why didn't it profit them?) because it was not united by faith in
those who heard. 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, " AS I

272. SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST," although His works
were finished from the foundation of the world. (See notes Hebrews 4:1; 4:2; 4:3)
The writers point is that Israel in the Old Testament had heard the truth of the gospel (Yes the
gospel was present in the Old Testament! See Galatians 3:8"Scripture, foreseeing that God
would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham") but they failed
to "mix it" with saving faith and as a consequence they did not enter salvation rest.
How did they taste it? This could be explained that as they heard the gospel preached, they were
moved and drawn to it. They were like the seed that fell on rocky ground, the hearers responding
to the word and receiving it with joy, but yet they had no root in themselves. They endured for a
while, but when tribulation or persecution arose on account of the word of God, they promptly
fell away (Mt 13:20, 21). They fell away just like these in Hebrews 6:4-6 who were in danger of
falling away into eternal separation from God.
Any person who has heard the gospel and perhaps made a profession of Christ, but who is
uncertain of salvation, should take Paul’s advice:
Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize
this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?” (2Cor
13:5).
Comment: So what is the "test"? How do you "examine" yourself? He is not saying to
"look within yourself" per se, but to look at the One Who is in you and look at the
evidence that He is in you. What does that mean practically? Believer's Study Bible
explains that "this verse is not intended to rob believers of the assurance and security of
their salvation. It is, however, intended as a warning to those who would follow false
teaching and adopt a life-style that is inconsistent with the message of reconciliation
(cf. 2Cor 12:20, 21). To persist in either activity is a cause for serious introspection and
a testing to see whether or not one is truly "in the faith."
44. S Lewis Johnson commenting on tasted of the good word writes that...
A similar expression to this one is found in Jer 29:10 and Jer 33:14; however it is not
specifically spelled out because it is found in a section where Jeremiah is laying great stress
on the New Covenant which is to come and the promises of forgiveness that are related to
it—those sovereign promises of the unconditional New Covenant. Thus, I would suggest
that what this phrase, "tasted the good Word of God", has to do with is the Messianic
Promises of the Old Testament.
So to have tasted them is to have come to hear of them and to have come to an
understanding of them. I do not think that "to taste" means "to sip" as if they only heard a
little bit and if they had truly tasted and eaten them it would have been different. In other
words, I do not believe that this Greek word geuomaias intended to suggest it was not a full
participation. Rather it is a reference to the Messianic promises and these hearers (to whom
the author speaks) have truly come to understand what these promises are.

273. The other day I was having a conversation with some Jewish Rabbis and we were discussing
the question of whether a Jewish person, after they have converted to Christianity, could be
still be called a Jew. One of these Rabbis was trying to make the point that if a Jewish
person converts, then he is no longer a Jew. I was saying that he is a Jew, but he is a
converted Jew. That is his Jewishness is something with which he is born and which he
possesses forever, but his conversion to Christ is coming to the understanding of the
Messiah and the receiving of Him.
After our discussion, the one Rabbi mentioned above of course disagreed. So I tried to point
out that the early church was largely Jewish and the Jews then regarded them as being still
Jews (even though they would have probably regarded them as apostate Jews—nonetheless
they were still Jews). So finally this Rabbi said, "I understand what you are saying, I just
don’t agree with it." I simply use this illustration to show that it is possible to understand
and to not accept. (Hebrews 6:1-12 The Thing God Cannot Permit -audio; Hebrews 6:1-12
Peril of Apostasy - audio)
Powers of the age to come - refers to miracles which they had witnessed or experienced and
which will be seen in the age to come (What age? The age that follows the church age is
the Millennium)
These miracles had been predicted by the prophet Isaiah...
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then
the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb will shout for joy. For waters will
break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah. (Isaiah 35:5-6)
Jesus plainly saw himself fulfilling these words (Luke 7:22). Like the Israelites who murmured
in the wilderness, despite the miracles of supply witnessed, "those who" (See note on Group 2 -
Hebrews 6:4) also failed to “share in the faith of those who obeyed” the word they heard.
It is exciting to contemplate that miracles will be performed in the age to come, the Messianic or
Millennial Age when the Lord Jesus reigns on earth from Jerusalem & saints rule and reign with
Him. This phrase age to come is also found in Mt 12:32 Mk 10:30 and Lk 18:30
6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance,
because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of
God all over again and subjecting him to public
disgrace.

274. 1. BARNES, "If they shall fall away - literally, “and having fallen away.” “There is no if in
the Greek in this place - “having fallen away.” Dr. John P. Wilson. It is not an affirmation that
any had actually fallen away, or that in fact they would do it; but the statement is, that “on the
supposition that they had fallen away,” it would be impossible to renew them again. It is the
same as supposing a case which in fact might never occur: as if we should say, “had a man fallen
down a precipice it would be impossible to save him,” or “had the child fallen into the stream he
would certainly have been drowned.” But though this literally means, “having fallen away,” yet
the sense in the connection in which it stands is not improperly expressed by our common
translation. The Syriac has given a version which is remarkable, not as a correct translation, but
as showing what was the prevailing belief in the time in which it was made, (probably the first or
second century), in regard to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. “For it is impossible
that they who have been baptized, and who have tasted the gift which is from heaven, and have
received the spirit of holiness, and have tasted the good word of God, and the power of the
coming age, should again sin, so that they should be renewed again to repentance, and again
crucify the Son of God and put him to ignominy.”
The word rendered “fall away” means properly “to fall near by anyone;” “to fall in with or
meet;” and thus to fall aside from, to swerve or deviate from; and here means undoubtedly to
“apostatize from,” and implies an entire renunciation of Christianity, or a going back to a state of
Judaism, paganism, or sin. The Greek word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is
material to remark here that the apostle does not say that any true Christian ever had fallen
away. He makes a statement of what would occur on the supposition that such a thing should
happen - but a statement may be made of what would occur on the supposition that a certain
thing should take place, and yet it be morally certain that the event never would happen. It
would be easy to suppose what would happen if the ocean should overflow a continent, or if the
sun should cease to rise, and still there be entire certainty that such an event never would occur.
To renew them again - Implying that they had been before renewed, or had been true
Christians. The word “again” - πάλιν palin - supposes this; and this passage, therefore, confirms
the considerations suggested above, showing that they were true Christians who were referred
to. They had once repented, but it would be impossible to bring them to this state “again.” This
declaration of course is to be read in connection with the first clause of Heb_6:4, “It is
impossible to renew again to repentance those who once were true Christians should they fall
away.” I know of no declaration more unambiguous than this. It is a positive declaration. It is
not that it would be very difficult to do it; or that it would be impossible for man to do it, though
it might be done by God; it is an unequivocal and absolute declaration that it would be utterly
impracticable that it should be done by anyone, or by any means; and this, I have no doubt, is
the meaning of the apostle. Should a Christian fall from grace, he “must perish.” he never could
be saved. The reason of this the apostle immediately adds.
Seeing - This word is not in the Greek, though the sense is expressed. The Greek literally is,
“having again crucified to themselves the Son of God.” The “reason” here given is, that the crime
would be so great, and they would so effectually exclude themselves from the only plan of
salvation, that they could not be saved. There is but one way of salvation. Having tried that, and
then renounced it, how could they then be saved? The case is like that of a drowning man. If
there was but one plank by which he could be saved, and he should get on that and then push it
away and plunge into the deep, he must die. Or if there was but one rope by which the shore
could be reached from a wreck, and he should cut that and cast it off, he must die. Or if a man
were sick, and there was but one kind of medicine that could possibly restore him, and he should

275. deliberately dash that away, he must die. So in religion. There is “but one” way of salvation. If a
man deliberately rejects that, he must perish.
They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh - Our translators have rendered this
as if the Greek were - ᅊνασταυροሞντας πάλιν anastaurountas palin - “crucify again,” and so it is
rendered by Chrysostom, by Tyndale, Coverdale, Beza, Luther, and others. But this is not
properly the meaning of the Greek. The word ᅊνασταυρόω anastauroo - is an “intensive” word,
and is employed instead of the usual word “to crucify” only to denote “emphasis.” It means that
such an act of apostasy would be equivalent to crucifying him in an aggravated manner. Of
course this is to be taken “figuratively.” It could not be literally true that they would thus crucify
the Redeemer. The meaning is, that their conduct would be “as if” they had crucified him; it
would bear a strong resemblance to the act by which the Lord Jesus was publicly rejected and
condemned to die. The act of crucifying the Son of God was the great crime which outpeers any
other deed of human guilt. Yet the apostle says that should they who had been true Christians
fall away and reject him, they would be guilty of a similar crime. It would be a public and solemn
act of rejecting him. It would show that if they had been there they would have joined in the cry
“crucify him, crucify him.” The “intensity and aggravation” of such a crime perhaps the apostle
meant to indicate by the intensive or emphatic ᅊνᆭ ana in the word ᅊνασταυροሞντας
anastaurountas. Such an act would render their salvation impossible, because:
(1) The crime would be aggravated beyond that of those who rejected him and put him to
death - for they knew not what they did; and,
(2) Because it would be a rejection of the only possible plan of salvation after they had had
experience of its power and known its efficacy.
The phrase “to themselves,” Tyndale readers, “as concerning themselves.” Others, “as far as in
them lies,” or as far as they have ability to do. Others, “to their own heart.” Probably Grotius has
suggested the true sense. “They do it for themselves. They make the act their own. It is as if they
did it themselves; and they are to he regarded as having done the deed.” So we make the act of
another our own when we authorize it beforehand, or approve of it after it is done.
And put him to an open shame - Make him a public example; or hold him up as worthy of
death on the cross; see the same word explained in the notes on Mat_1:19, in the phrase “make
her a public example.” The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Their apostasy and
rejection of the Saviour would be like holding him up publicly as deserving the infamy and
ignominy of the cross. A great part of the crime attending the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus,
consisted in exhibiting him to the passing multitude as deserving the death of a malefactor. Of
that sin they would partake who should reject him, for they would thus show that they regarded
his religion as an imposture, and would in a public manner hold him up as worthy only of
rejection and contempt. Such, it seems to me, is the fair meaning of this much-disputed passage
- a passage which would never have given so much perplexity if it had not been supposed that
the obvious interpretation would interfere with some prevalent articles of theology. The passage
“proves” that if true Christians should apostatize, it would be impossible to renew and save
them. If then it should be asked whether I believe that any true Christian ever did, or ever will
fall from grace, and wholly lose his religion, I would answer unhesitatingly, no! (compare the
Joh_10:27-28 notes; Rom_8:38-39 notes; Gal_6:4 note.) If then it be asked what was the use of
a warning like this, I answer:
(1) It would show the great sin of apostasy from God if it were to occur. It is proper to state the
greatness of an act of sin, though it might never occur, in order to show how it would be
regarded by God.
(2) Such a statement might be one of the most effectual means of preserving from apostasy.
To state that a fall from a precipice would cause certain death, would be one of the most

276. certain means of preserving one from falling; to affirm that arsenic would be certainly
fatal, is one of the most effectual means of preventing its being taken; to know that fire
certainly destroys, is one of the most sure checks from the danger. Thousands have been
preserved from going over the Falls of Niagara by knowing that there would be no
possibility of escape; and so effectual has been this knowledge that it has preserved all
from such a catastrophe, except the very few who have gone over by accident. So in
religion. The knowledge that apostasy would be fatal, and there could be no hope of being
of the danger than all the other means that could be used. If a man believed that it would
be an easy matter to be restored again should he apostatize, he would feel little solicitude
in regard to it; and it has occurred in fact, that they who suppose that this may occur, have
manifested little of the care to walk in the paths of strict religion, which should have been
evinced.
(3) It may be added, that the means used by God to preserve his people from apostasy, have
been entirely effectual. There is no evidence that one has ever fallen away who was a true
Christian, (compare Joh_10:27-28, and 1Jo_2:19); and to the end of the world it will be
true that the means which he uses to keep his people from apostasy will not in a single
instance fail.
(This view seems not opposed to the doctrine of the saint’s perseverance. It professes indeed,
to meet the objection usually raised from the passage, if not in a new mode, yet in a mode
different from that commonly adopted by orthodox expositors. Admitting that true Christians
are intended, it is asserted only, that if they should fall, their recovery would be impossible, It is
not said that they ever have fallen or will fall. “The apostle in thus giving judgment on the case, if
it should happen, does not declare that it actually does.” And as to the use of supposing a case
which never can occur, it is argued that means are constantly used to bring about what the
decree or determination of God had before rendered certain. These exhortations are the means
by which perseverance is secured.
Yet it may be doubted, whether there be anything in the passage to convince us, that the
apostle has introduced an “impossible” case. He seems rather to speak of what “might” happen,
of which there was “danger.” If the reader incline to this view, he will apply the description to
professors, and learn from it how far these may go, and yet fall short of the mark. But how would
this suit the apostle’s design? Well. If “professors” may go “so far,” how much is this fact suited
to arouse all to vigilance and inquiry. We, notwithstanding our gifts and “apparent” graces, may
not be “true” Christians, may, therefore, not be “secure,” may fall away and sink, under the
doom of him whom it is impossible to renew. And he must be a very exalted Christian indeed,
who does not occasionally find need of inquiry, and examination of evidences. Certainly, the
whole passage may be explained in perfect consistency with this application of it.
Men may be enlightened, that is, well acquainted with the doctrines and duties of the
Christian faith; may have tasted of the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Spirit
in his miraculous influences, which many in primitive times enjoyed, without any sanctifying
virtue; may have tasted the good word of God, or experienced impressions of affection and joy
under it, as in the case of the stony ground hearers; may have tasted the powers of the world to
come, or been influenced by the doctrine of a future state, with its accompanying rewards and
punishments; - and yet not be “true” Christians. “All these things, except miraculous gifts, often
take place in the hearts and consciences of people in these days, who yet continue unregenerate.
They have knowledge, convictions, fears, hope, joys, and seasons of apparent earnestness, and
deep concern about eternal things; and they are endued with such gifts, as often make them
acceptable and useful to others, but they are not truly “humbled;” they are not “spiritually
minded;” religion is not their element and delight” - Scott.
It should be observed, moreover, that while there are many “infallible” marks of the true
Christian, none of these are mentioned in this place. The persons described are not said to have

277. been elected, to have been regenerated, to have believed, or to have been sanctified. The apostle
writes very differently when describing the character and privileges of the saints, Rom_8:27,
Rom_8:30. The succeeding context, too, is supposed to favor this opinion.
“They (the characters in question) are, in the following verses, compared to the
ground on which the rain often falls, and beareth nothing but thorns and briars.
But this is not so with true believers, for faith itself is an herb special to the
enclosed garden of Christ. And the apostle afterward, discoursing of true belief,
doth in many particulars distinguish them from such as may be apostates, which
is supposed of the persons here intended. He ascribeth to them, in general, better
things. and such as accompany salvation. He ascribes a work and labor of love,
asserts their preservation, etc.” - Owen.
Our author, however, fortifies himself against the objection in the first part of this quotation,
by repeating and applying at Rom_8:7, his principle of exposition. “The design,” says he, “is to
show, that if Christians should be come like the barren earth, they would be cast away and lost.”
Yet the attentive reader of this very ingenious exposition will observe, that the author has
difficulty in carrying out his principles, and finds it necessary to introduce the “mere” professor
ere he has done with the passage. “It is not supposed,” says he, commenting on the 8th verse,
“that a true Christian will fall away and be lost, but we may remark, that there are many
professed Christians who seem to be in danger of such ruin. Corrupt desires are as certainly seen
in their lives, as thorns on a bad soil. Such are nigh unto cursing. Unsanctified, etc., there is
nothing else which can be done for them, and they must be lost. What a thought!” Yet that the
case of the professor in danger cannot very consistently be introduced by him, appears from the
fact, that such ruin as is here described is suspended on a condition which never occurs. It
happens “only” if the “Christian” should fall. According to the author, it is not here denounced
“on any other supposition.” As then true Christians cannot fall, the ruin never can occur “in any
case whatever.” From these premises we “dare not” draw the conclusion, that any class of
professors will be given over to final impenitence.
As to what may be alleged concerning the “apparent” sense of the passage, or the sense which
would strike “the mass of readers;” every one will judge according to the sense which himself
thinks most obvious. Few perhaps would imagine that the apostle was introducing an impossible
case. Nor does the “connection” stand much in the way of the application to professors. In
addition to what has already been stated, let it be further observed, that although the
appropriate exhortation to awakened, yet unconverted persons would be, “to become converted;
not to warn them of the danger of falling away;” yet the apostle is writing to the Hebrews at
large, is addressing a body of professing Christians, concerning whom he could have no infallible
assurance that “all of them” were true Christians. Therefore, it was right that they should be
warned in the way the apostle has adopted. The objection leaves out of sight the important fact
that the “exhortations and warnings addressed to the saints in Scripture are addressed to mixed
societies, in which there may be hypocrites as well as believers.”
Those who profess the faith, and associate with the church, are addressed without any
decision regarding state. But the very existence of the warnings implies a fear that there may be
some whose state is not safe. And “all,” therefore, have need to inquire whether this be their
condition. How appropriate then such warnings. This consideration, too, will furnish an answer
to what has been alleged by another celebrated transatlantic writer, namely, “that whatever may
be true in the divine purposes as to the final salvation of all those who are once truly
regenerated. and this doctrine I feel constrained to admit, yet nothing can be plainer, than that
the sacred writers have every where addressed saints in the same manner as they would address
those whom they considered as constantly exposed to fall away and to perish forever.” Lastly.

278. The phraseology of the passage does not appear to remove it out of all possible application to
“mere” professors.
It has already been briefly explained in consistency with such application. There is a difficulty,
indeed, connected with the phrase, παλιν ανακαινιζειν εις µετανοιαν palin anakainizein eis
metanoian, “again” to renew to repentance; implying, as is said, that they, to whom reference is
made, had been renewed “before.” But what should hinder this being understood of “reinstating
in former condition,” or in possession of former privilege; Bloomfield supposes, there may be an
allusion to the non-reiteration of baptism, and Owen explains the phrase of bringing them again
into a state of profession by a second renovation, and a second baptism, as a pledge thereof. The
renewing he understands here “externally” of a solemn confession of faith and repentance,
followed by baptism. This, says he, was their ᅊνακαινισµος anakainismos, their renovation. It
would seem then that there is nothing in the phrase to prevent its interpretation on the same
principle that above has been applied to the passage generally.)
2. CLARKE, "If they shall fall away - Και παραπεσοντας And having fallen away. I can
express my own mind on this translation nearly in the words of Dr. Macknight: “The participles
φωτισθεντας, who were enlightened, γευσαµενους, have tasted, and γενηθεντας, were made
partakers, being aorists, are properly rendered by our translators in the past time; wherefore, πα
ραπεσοντας, being an aorist, ought likewise to have been translated in the past time, Have fallen
away. Nevertheless, our translators, following Beza, who without any authority from ancient
MSS. has inserted in his version the word si, if, have rendered this clause, If they fall away, that
this text might not appear to contradict the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. But as no
translator should take upon him to add to or alter the Scriptures, for the sake of any favourite
doctrine, I have translated παραπεσοντας in the past time, have fallen away, according to the
true import of the word, as standing in connection with the other aorists in the preceding
verses.”
Dr. Macknight was a Calvinist, and he was a thorough scholar and an honest man; but,
professing to give a translation of the epistle, he consulted not his creed but his candour. Had
our translators, who were excellent and learned men, leaned less to their own peculiar creed in
the present authorized version, the Church of Christ in this country would not have been
agitated and torn as it has been with polemical divinity.
It appears from this, whatever sentiment may gain or lose by it, that there is a fearful
possibility of falling away from the grace of God; and if this scripture did not say so, there are
many that do say so. And were there no scripture express on this subject, the nature of the
present state of man, which is a state of probation or trial, must necessarily imply it. Let him
who most assuredly standeth, take heed lest he fall.
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.

279. 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).
3. GILL, "If they shall fall away,.... This is not supposed of true believers, as appears from
Heb_6:9 nor is it to be supposed of them that they may fall totally and finally; they may indeed
fall, not only into afflictions and temptations, but into sin; and from a lively and comfortable
exercise of grace, and from a degree of steadfastness in the Gospel; but not irrecoverably: for
they are held and secured by a threefold cord, which can never be broken; by God the Father,
who has loved them with an everlasting love, has chosen them in Christ, secured them in the
covenant of grace, keeps them by his power, has given them grace, and will give them glory; and
by the Son, who has undertook for them, redeemed and purchased them, prays and makes
preparations in heaven for them, they are built on him, united to him, and are his jewels, whom
he will preserve; and by the Holy Ghost, whose grace is incorruptible, whose personal indwelling
is for ever, who himself is the earnest and seal of the heavenly inheritance, and who having
begun, will finish the good work of grace: but falling away, so as to perish, may be supposed, and
is true of many professors of religion; who may fall from the profession of the Gospel they have
made, and from the truth of it, and into an open denial of it; yea, into an hatred and persecution
of what they once received the external knowledge of; and so shall fall short of heaven, and into
condemnation: for,
to renew them again unto repentance, is a thing impossible: by "repentance" is meant, not
baptism of repentance; nor admission to a solemn form of public repentance in the church; nor
a legal repentance, but an evangelical one: and so to be "renewed" unto it is not to be baptized
again, or to be restored anew to the church by repentance, and absolution; but must be
understood either of renovation of the soul, in order to repentance; or of the reforming of the
outward conversation, as an evidence of it; or of a renewing of the exercise of the grace of
repentance and to be renewed "again" to repentance does not suppose that persons may have
true repentance and lose it; for though truly penitent persons may lose the exercise of this grace
for a time, yet the grace itself can never be lost: moreover, these apostates before described had
only a show of repentance, a counterfeit one; such as Cain, Pharaoh, and Judas had; and
consequently, the renewing of them again to repentance, is to that which they only seemed to
have, and to make pretensions unto; now to renew them to a true repentance, which they once
made a profession of, the apostle says is a thing "impossible": the meaning of which is not only
that it is difficult; or that it is rare and unusual; or that it is unsuitable and improper; but it is
absolutely impossible: it is impossible to these men to renew themselves to repentance;
renovation is the work of the Holy Ghost, and not of man; and repentance is God's gift, and not
in man's power; and it is impossible for ministers to renew them, to restore and bring them
back, by true repentance; yea, it is impossible to God himself, not through any impotence in
him, but from the nature of the sin these men are guilty of; for by the high, though outward
attainments they arrive unto, according to the description of them, their sin is the sin against the
Holy Ghost, for which no sacrifice can be offered up, and of which there is no remission, and so
no repentance; for these two go together, and for which prayer is not to be made; see Mat_12:32
and chiefly because to renew such persons to repentance, is repugnant to the determined will of
God, who cannot go against his own purposes and resolutions; and so the Jews (l) speak of
repentance being withheld by God from Pharaoh, and, from the people of Israel; of which they

280. understand Exo_9:16 and say, that when the holy blessed God withholds repentance from a
sinner, ‫אינו‬‫יכול‬‫לשוב‬ , "he cannot repent"; but must die in his wickedness which he first
committed of his own will; and they further observe (m), that he that profanes the name of God
has it not in his power to depend on repentance, nor can his iniquity be expiated on the day of
atonement, or be removed by chastisement:
seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh; who is truly and properly God,
begotten of the Father, and of the same nature with him, in whom he greatly delights; this is
Christ's highest name and title; and it was for asserting himself to be the Son of God that he was
crucified; and his being so puts an infinite virtue in his sufferings and death; and it heightens the
sin of the Jews, and of these apostates, in crucifying him. He was once crucified, and it is both
impossible and unnecessary that he should be, properly speaking, "crucified afresh", or "again";
it is impossible, because he is risen from the dead, and will never die more; it is unnecessary,
because he has finished and completed what he suffered the death of the cross for; but men may
be said to crucify him again, when, by denying him to be the Son of God, they justify the
crucifixion of him on that account; and when they lessen and vilify the virtue of his blood and
sacrifice; and when both by errors and immoralities they cause him to be blasphemed, and evil
spoken of; and when they persecute him in his members: and this may be said to be done "to
themselves afresh"; not that Christ was crucified for them before, but that they now crucify him
again, as much as in them lies; or "with themselves", in their own breasts and minds, and to
their own destruction. Now this being the case, it makes their renewal to repentance impossible;
because, as before observed, the sin they commit is unpardonable; it is a denial of Christ, who
gives repentance; and such who sin it must arrive to such hardness of heart as to admit of no
repentance; and it is just with God to give up such to a final impenitence, as those, who
knowingly and out of malice and envy crucified Christ, had neither pardon nor repentance; and
besides, this sin of denying Christ to be the Son of God, and Saviour of men, after so much light
and knowledge, precludes the way of salvation, unless Christ was to be crucified again, which is
impossible; for so the Syriac version connects this clause with the word "impossible", as well as a
foregoing one, rendering it, "it is impossible to crucify the Son of God again, and to put him to
shame"; and so the Arabic version. Christ was put to open shame at the time of his
apprehension, prosecution, and crucifixion; and so he is by such apostates, who, was he on
earth, would treat him in the same manner the Jews did; and who do traduce him as an
impostor and a deceiver, and give the lie to his doctrines, and expose him by their lives, and
persecute him in his saints.
4. HENRY, " The apostle describes the dreadful case of such as fall away after having gone so
far in the profession of the religion. (1.) The greatness of the sin of apostasy. It is crucifying the
Son of God afresh, and putting him to open shame. They declare that they approve of what the
Jews did in crucifying Christ, and that they would be glad to do the same thing again if it were in
their power. They pour the greatest contempt upon the Son of God, and therefore upon God
himself, who expects all should reverence his Son, and honour him as they honour the Father.
They do what in them lies to represent Christ and Christianity as a shameful thing, and would
have him to be a public shame and reproach. This is the nature of apostasy. (2.) The great misery
of apostates. [1.] It is impossible to renew them again unto repentance. It is extremely
hazardous. Very few instances can be given of those who have gone so far and fallen away, and
yet ever have been brought to true repentance, such a repentance as is indeed a renovation of
the soul. Some have thought this is the sin against the Holy Ghost, but without ground. The sin
here mentioned is plainly apostasy both from the truth and the ways of Christ. God can renew
them to repentance, but he seldom does it; and with men themselves it is impossible.

281. 5. JAMISON, "If — Greek, “And (yet) have fallen away”; compare a less extreme falling or
declension, Gal_5:4, “Ye are fallen from grace.” Here an entire and willful apostasy is meant; the
Hebrews had not yet so fallen away; but he warns them that such would be the final result of
retrogression, if, instead of “going on to perfection,” they should need to learn again the first
principles of Christianity (Heb_6:1).
to renew them again — They have been “once” (Heb_6:4) already renewed, or made anew,
and now they need to be “renewed” over “again.”
crucify to themselves the Son of God — “are crucifying to themselves” Christ, instead of,
like Paul, crucifying the world unto them by the cross of Christ (Gal_6:14). So in Heb_10:29,
“trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith ...
sanctified, an unholy thing.” “The Son of God,” marking His dignity, shows the greatness of their
offense.
put him to an open shame — literally, “make a public example of” Him, as if He were a
malefactor suspended on a tree. What the carnal Israel did outwardly, those who fall away from
light do inwardly, they virtually crucify again the Son of God; “they tear him out of the recesses
of their hearts where He had fixed His abode and exhibit Him to the open scoffs of the world as
something powerless and common” [Bleek in Alford]. The Montanists and Novatians used this
passage to justify the lasting exclusion from the Church of those who had once lapsed. The
Catholic Church always opposed this view, and readmitted the lapsed on their repentance, but
did not rebaptize them. This passage implies that persons may be in some sense “renewed,” and
yet fall away finally; for the words, “renew again,” imply that they have been, in some sense, not
the full sense, ONCE RENEWED by the Holy Ghost; but certainly not that they are “the elect,”
for these can never fall away, being chosen unto everlasting life (Joh_10:28). The elect abide in
Christ, hear and continuously obey His voice, and do not fall away. He who abides not in Christ,
is cast forth as a withered branch; but he who abides in Him becomes more and more free from
sin; the wicked one cannot touch him; and he by faith overcomes the world. A temporary faith is
possible, without one thereby being constituted one of the elect (Mar_4:16, Mar_4:17). At the
same time it does not limit God’s grace, as if it were “impossible” for God to reclaim even such a
hardened rebel so as yet to look on Him whom he has pierced. The impossibility rests in their
having known in themselves once the power of Christ’s sacrifice, and yet now rejecting it; there
cannot possibly be any new means devised for their renewal afresh, and the means provided by
God’s love they now, after experience of them, deliberately and continuously reject; their
conscience being served, and they “twice dead” (Jud_1:12), are now past hope, except by a
miracle of God’s grace. “It is the curse of evil eternally to propagate evil” [Tholuck]. “He who is
led into the whole (?) compass of Christian experiences, may yet cease to abide in them; he who
abides not in them, was, at the very time when he had those objective experiences, not
subjectively true to them; otherwise there would have been fulfilled in him, “Whosoever hath, to
him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance” (Mat_13:12), so that he would have
abided in them and not have fallen away” [Tholuck]. Such a one was never truly a Spirit-led
disciple of Christ (Rom_8:14-17). The sin against the Holy Ghost, though somewhat similar, is
not identical with this sin; for that sin may be committed by those outside the Church (as in
Mat_12:24, Mat_12:31, Mat_12:32); this, only by those inside.
5B.FUDGE, “If is not in the original Greek, and the verb fall away is of the same tense as
those preceding it in verses four and five. It is impossible to renew again unto repentance those
who experienced the benefits of verses four and five, then fell away (our almost-literal English
idiom would be "dropped out"). Not that all hope is gone, for God may once again give them
repentance in acknowledging the truth (II Timothy 2:25). But it is impossible for those
individuals to experience again the renewal through enlightenment which was theirs in the first

282. hearing of the gospel (see Acts 11:18). They can not again go through the fundamental process
of repentance and faith, or of initiation into the body of Christ, as they did before (read this verse
in the context of those preceding it). They have done that once, but have now rejected all that
God offers. For such a person the gospel holds no appeal.
These individuals (considered hypothetically as among the readers) crucify for themselves the
Son of God. By their apostasy they judge Christ to be an imposter and guilty of death. In such a
person repentance cannot take place, for it is based on godly sorrow and a conviction of sin
growing out of faith in Christ as the Son of God.
Such apostates put Christ to an open shame (see 10:29 <hebrews.html>). This same verb is
used in the Greek Old Testament at Numbers 25:4 ("hang them up," KJV), where its point is
clearly seen in a context of apostasy from God. Christians who fall away do just this to the Son
of God. They hang Him on the cross again, whether they forsake Christ for the world, for
antichrist religion, or simply for carelessness and indifference.
6. CALVIN, "To renew them again into repentance, etc. Though this seems hard,
yet there is no reason to charge God with cruelty when any one suffers
only the punishment of his own defection; nor is this inconsistent with
other parts of Scripture, where God's mercy is offered to sinners as
soon as they sigh for it, (Ezekiel 18:27;) for repentance is required,
which he never truly feels who has once wholly fallen away from the
Gospel; for such are deprived, as they deserve, of God's Spirit and
given up to a reprobate mind, so that being the slaves of the devil
they rush headlong into destruction. Thus it happens that they cease
not to add sin to sin, until being wholly hardened they despise God, or
like men in despair, express madly their hatred to him. The end of all
apostates is, that they are either smitten with stupor, and fear
nothing, or curse God their judge, because they cannot escape from him.
[99]
In short, the Apostle warns us, that repentance is not at the will of
man, but that it is given by God to those only who have not wholly
fallen away from the faith. It is a warning very necessary to us, lest
by often delaying until tomorrow, we should alienate ourselves more and
more from God. The ungodly indeed deceive themselves by such sayings as
this, -- that it will be sufficient for them to repent of their wicked
life at their last breath. But when they come to die, the dire torments
of conscience which they suffer, prove to them that the conversion of
man is not an ordinary work. As then the Lord promises pardon to none
but to those who repent of their iniquity, it is no wonder that they
perish who either through despair or contempt, rush on in their
obstinacy into destruction. But when any one rises up again after
falling, we may hence conclude that he had not been guilty of
defection, however grievously he may have sinned.

283. Crucifying again, etc. He also adds this to defend God's severity
against the calumnies of men; for it would be wholly unbecoming, that
God by pardoning apostates should expose his own Son to contempt. They
are then wholly unworthy to obtain mercy. But the reason why he says,
that Christ would thus be crucified again, is, because we die with him
for the very purpose of living afterwards a new life; when therefore
any return as it were unto death, they have need of another sacrifice,
as we shall find in the tenth chapter. Crucifying for themselves means
as far as in them lies. For this would be the case, and Christ would be
slandered as it were triumphantly, were it allowed men to return to him
after having fallen away and forsaken him.
__________________________________________________________________
[97] See [23]Appendix T.
[98] See [24]Appendix U.
[99] Some render the verb "renew" actively, in this way, -- "For it is
impossible as to those who have been once enlightened, and have tasted
of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of holy spirit, and
have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come,
and have fallen away, to renew them again unto repentance, since they
crucify again as to themselves to Son of God, and expose him to open
shame." This is more consistent with the foregoing, for the Apostle
speaks of teaching. It is as though he had said "It is impossible for
us as teachers;" as they had no commission. To "renew" may be rendered
to "restore." It is only found here, but is used by the Sept. for a
verb which means renewing in the sense of restoring. See Psalm 103:5;
104:30; Lamentations 5:21. Josephus applies it to the renovation or
restoration of the temple. The "crucifying" was what they did by
falling away; for they thereby professed that he deserved to be
crucified as an imposter, and thus counted his blood, as it is said in
chapter 10:29, "unholy," as the blood of a malefactor; and they thus
also exhibited him as an object of public contempt. -- Ed.
7. “ETERNAL SECURITY, cf. security
Harry Ironside stated that salvation was like Noah inviting a
pagan in his day to place his trust in God's Word and come in to
the ark. Some view salvation like Noah offering to put a peg on
the outside of the ark. "If you just hang on through the storm,
you'll be saved." Salvation is not dependent on our holding on
to God, but on our being securely held by and in Christ.
So Great Salvation, Charles Ryrie, Victor Books, 1989, P. 137FF
Robert Stein writes, "What do we mean by such terms as eternal security and once saved,

284. always saved? These are not the best ways to describe this theological concept. A far
better expression is the "perseverance of the saints." Here the thought is that the believer
will persevere in his faith until the end. Understood in this manner, there exists little
practical difference between a Calvinistic and an Arminian view on this subject.
Calvinism argues that by God's grace the true believer will continue in faith until
he meets the Lord. Thus it must be concluded that someone who does not persevere in
faith never really had true faith. I John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they were not
of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us..." Is often used as an
illustration of this.
On the other hand, the Arminian position also states that a Christian must
persevere by God's grace in the faith. If he does not, he has rejected his faith and is now
lost. Once he had been saved; now he is lost.
In both cases the result is the same. Whether once he had saving faith and lost it
(Arminianism) or whether he never had it to start with (Calvanism), both systems
ultimately agree: the lack of persevering faith means the individual is lost.
Anyone of the six descriptions found in Hebrews 6:4-6 can be interpreted as
referring to one who was not a true Christian. But when all six are grouped together, such
an interpretation becomes more difficult, if not impossible. As one who has always
believed in eternal security, I must confess this passage does indeed conflict with such a
view. I have much less of a problem, however, with the more biblical concept of the
perseverance of the saints." AUTHOR UNKNOWN
8. Illustration: Most of you have heard of Ted Turner. He is the founder of CNN, TNT, TBS, etc. He
is a very successful businessman, a billionaire and a well known critic of Christianity. In fact he
has publicly stated that "Christianity is for losers." What is not so well known is how Mr. Turner
became so anti-Christian. According to numerous newspaper articles as a teenager, Mr. Turner
aspired to become a missionary but lost his faith when his younger sister, Mary Jane, contracted
an immune system disease that eventually killed her. "I was taught that God was love and God
was powerful and I couldn’t understand how someone so innocent should be made or allowed to
suffer so,"
9. Kenneth S. Wuest wrote, "There is but one sin spoken of in the Book of Hebrews,
namely, the act of a first century Jew who has left Judaism and has identified himself with
teh visible Christian church, who having made a profession of Christ now is in danger
under stress of persecution, of renouncing that faith and going back to the abrogated ritual
of the Levitical system.
It is described in chapter 2:1 as a "slipping away from the New Testament truth," a
"hardening of the heart against the Holy Spirit" (3:7,8). a "falling away," and a
"crucifying the Son of God afresh" (6:6), a "wilful sin" consisting of three-fold sin against
the Triune God, "treading under foot the Son of God," a sin against the Father who sent
the Son, "counting Jesus' blood as common blood," a sin against the Son who shed His
blood, and "doing despite to the Holy Ghost," a sin against the Holy Ghost who led them to
the place of repentance (10:26,29).
The words "falling away" are from a Greek word which literally means "to fall beside
a person or thing, to slip away, to deviate from the right path, to turn aside." From early
manuscripts we have two illustrations of its use: "if the terms of the contract be broken,"
and where it is used of a person who falls back to his earlier interpretation.
These two uses fit exactly into the historial background of the book, and the context in

285. which the word is found. Here is the case of Jews who professed faith in Christ, who
going along with the Holy Spirit in HIs pre=salvation work, had been brought into the
place of repentence, to the very threshold of salvation. They had made a contract so to
speak with the Spirit, willingly being led along by Him. Now, should they refuse the
proffered faith and return to Judaism, they would be breaking their contract which they
made with the Spirit.
Again, at one time they had adhered to the sacrificail system of the First Testament.
Then they had left it to embrace the New Testament truth. Now, should they return to the
temple sacrifices, they would be reverting to their former opinion regarding the same.
These words "falling away," can only refer to the one sin spoken o fin this book. It
could only be committed in the first century and by a Jew, or a Gentile proselyte to
Judaism, and for the reason that conditions since A. D. 70 have been such as to make
impossible the committing of that sin. The temple at Jerusalem was destroyed on that
date. There are no Jewish sacrifices to leave nor to return to. This was apostasy, a most
serious sin. These Jews had been made partakers, "partners," see Luke 5:7, same Greek
word, of the Holy Ghost, going along with HIm in HIs pre-salvation work. Now, to reject
HIs further ministrations, was a most serious thing from which act there was no recovery.
10. Are Apostates from the Faith beyond Repentance?
by Wayne Jackson
Christian Courier: Questions
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
The writer of Hebrews speaks of those who are beyond the possibility of repentance
(Heb. 6:6). Does this mean that if a Christian falls away from the faith, he can never
return? Is it even possible for the child of God to apostatize – so as to be lost? This
week’s Q&A segment addresses this issue.
“Please explain Hebrews 6:6. Is it ‘impossible’ for some people to repent of their
sins and be saved? This seems to be in conflict with Peter’s statement that God
wants all people to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).”
Hebrews 6:6, especially the part that reads, “it is impossible to renew them again unto
repentance,” is troubling to many sincere people. A correct view of the passage,
however, will relieve one of needless concern. The Bible student may be assured that
Hebrews 6:6 does not conflict with any teaching elsewhere in the Scriptures.
First, one needs to understand something of the general theme of the book of
Hebrews. This document is an inspired treatise by an anonymous author. The original
design was to prevent Hebrew Christians from yielding to the influence of certain
Jewish teachers, who would have them defect from the faith, and return to their
original religious heritage.

286. Warnings of Danger
The book of Hebrews is replete with warnings to Jewish Christians who were in
danger of falling from the faith.
For instance, the recipients of the letter were warned against “drifting away” from the
truths they had learned regarding the Lord Jesus – which truths had been confirmed by
miraculous phenomena (2:1-4).
The “Hebrews” were urged not to listen to those influences that denied the identity of
the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, and who were attempting to corrupt their faith,
leaving them only with evil hearts of unbelief – should they grant these teachers a
sympathetic ear (3:12).
They were warned not to follow the destructive course of some of their ancestors, who
succumbed to weaknesses, and so were not allowed to enter into the rest that Jehovah
had prepared for them (4:1ff).
The Current Status
A consideration of the latter portion of chapter 5, and the initial segment of chapter 6,
reveals that many of these Hebrew Christians had become stagnant in the service of
Christ. Note some of the traits they had developed.
They had become “dull of hearing,” i.e., they had not continued to absorb the rich
teaching that they had received in the earlier days of their Christian commitment
(5:11). In fact, these Jewish Christians had regressed. With the passing of time, they
ought to have been stronger, yet they were at a point where they now needed
instruction again in the very “first principles” of the oracles of God. To say the same
thing in another way, they needed to learn the “rudiments” [their ABC’s] all over
again (v. 12). The Hebrews had remained in the spiritually “infantile” stage (vv.
12b-14), and that needed remedying.
These erring brethren were admonished, therefore, to advance beyond the “first
principles” of Christ’s teaching, and “press on” to a state of spiritual maturity. The
term “perfection” (6:1) in this passage signifies the mature, in contrast to the
elementary.
Were These People Genuine Christians?
Because so many within the protestant community are wedded to the Calvinistic
dogma of “eternal security,” artful maneuvers of exegetical gymnastics are frequently
employed in an attempt to establish the notion that the subjects of this rebuke are not
genuine Christians. They were only “professors,” not real “confessors.” Because, as

287. one writer asserts: “True Christians do not (i.e., cannot) apostatize” (Hagner, 93; cf.
Hodges, 794).
But carefully notice the specificity with which these “brethren” (cf. 3:12) are
described (6:4-5).
1. They once were “enlightened,” thus had left the realm of darkness (cf. Col.
1:13; cf. Acts 26:18).
2. They had “tasted the heavenly gift.” If the “gift” was not salvation (cf. Rom.
6:23; Eph. 2:8-9), what was it? Some attempt to make a play on the word
“taste,” suggesting that the Hebrews had merely sampled the gift, though not
having “received” it. Note this comment from an otherwise respected scholar.
“Hebrews who had never actually obeyed the Word of God in the gospel and
been saved, could taste the word and could experience the powers of a future
age, without having become children of God” (Vine, 56).
Does that make any sense? And what of this: when Christ “tasted” death (Heb.
2:9), did he really die, or only get close to it? How terrible it is to be so
enslaved to a theory as to have to resort to this sort of textual twisting (cf. 2 Pet.
3:16).
3. These people had been made “partakers of the Holy Spirit” (cf. 3:1,14). Does
not this mean that they belonged to Christ (cf. Acts 2:38; Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6)?
Again we cannot but cite W.E. Vine, who quibbles, suggesting that to be “a
partaker of the Holy Spirit is not becoming indwelt by Him through faith in
Christ” (56). And yet, this same writer equates the phrase “partakers of a
heavenly calling” (3:1) with being “children” of God (32).
4. The Hebrews had “tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to
come.” On “tasted” see (2) above.
It is only by the most deceitful handling of the word of God (cf. 2 Cor. 4:2) that the
obvious conclusion, namely that those addressed in this epistle were bona
fide Christians, can be denied. They were children of God in spite of the fact that they
had not grown to the point that was expected of them.
That Ominous “Impossible”
What is the plight of one who has known and experienced the lovely blessings
detailed in verses 4-5, and then he defects? What is his spiritual status should he “fall

288. away”? And “fall away” from what? From the grace that had been bestowed upon
them (see 12:15; cf. Gal. 5:4).
The answer to the question is this: “it is impossible to renew them again unto
repentance.” The phrase is frightening. It sounds so bleak. It is bleak! It is an
“impossible” endeavor.
The word “impossible” derives from the Greek adunatos, literally “without power.”
Note the word’s use elsewhere in this letter (6:18; 10:4; 11:6). Any attempt to weaken
the term is an exercise in futility.
But, as our original question suggested, the passage does seem to conflict with so
many other biblical texts that lavishly describe the unfathomable love and mercy of
our wonderful and benevolent Maker. How is one to reconcile this seeming difficulty?
The key to the solution is to be found in the following phrase. The American Standard
Version renders it as follows: “seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God
afresh, and put him to an open shame.” The ASV footnote has it: “the while they
crucify....” The English Standard Version reads like this: “since they are crucifying
once again....” The translators are attempting to give the English reader a hint as to the
force of the original text. Here are some important grammatical facts.
1. Both of the expressions “crucify” and “put him to open shame” are present
tense participles. In Greek, the present tense has more to do with the type of
action, rather than time (the latter being secondary). It is an action that is in
progress, and generally, one that is sustained (see Wallace, 518). The
“crucifying” and “putting to open shame,” therefore, represent on-going
actions on the part of apostates.
2. It is also important to note that present participles normally express action
that is contemporary with that of the main verb of the sentence (Wallace,
625), which, in this case is “renew.” In other words, “while they continue to
crucify,” “as long as they are crucifying,” etc., the Son of God, they cannot be
brought to repentance.
Why is this the case? Because Christ is the motive for repentance! How could
one possibly repent of falling away from the Christian faith, if he believes that
the crucifixion of Jesus was a just sentence upon a false Messiah? As F.F.
Bruce expressed it: “Those who repudiate the salvation procured by Christ will
find none anywhere else” (149).
Conclusion

289. And so, it is not the case that Jewish Christians who abandon the faith cannot ever be
saved; the tragic reality is this: they cannot be saved if they drift into a state of
unbelief and remain that way! But, as Blackwelder observes, the temporal participles
imply that “if persons guilty of such sin will cease it, and repent, they can be
reclaimed” (104).
While the passage contains a fearful warning for apostates, it does not suggest a state
of utter despair.
11. OVID NEED, “The author that seemed to me to deal with it in the most Scriptural
manner was Joseph Parker.
He was a English Congregational preacher who was born in 1830 and died in
1902. Because of the pressure to support his family, he was only able to gain an
elementary education, but he was very well read and seized upon every opportunity to
listen to great men preach, as well as any opportunity to advance his education. God
blessed him in a marvelous way, and by the time of his death, the Lord had forced
them to build a new building for the increase of the Church, and he had been twice the
chairman of the London Congregational Board and twice chairman of the
Congregational Union of England and Wales. He wrote many books, including the 27
volumes of Preaching Through the Bible, which my dad gave me. This is a
collection of his messages arranged in their Biblical order. They are extremely
powerful and practical.
Over 100 years ago he said this about Heb. 6:4-6. "This has been a great
battle-ground; innumerable Calvinists have slain innumerable Arminians within the
four corners of this most solemn declaration. There was no need for the fray. All the
energy was misspent."
Parker went on to explain; "The Apostle's reasoning then is simply this: that if we
continue to sin we cannot repent; whilst we are in the very act of crucifying the Son of
God afresh, and putting him to an open shame, it is impossible for us to repent, to
pray, to return." Thus, this passage as referring to the impossibility of forgiveness of
sin for a person who is willfully remaining in sin.
This would be against the Roman theory that one can continue in sin as long as
they go to confession.
This appears to be the thinking today. A person thinks they can go ahead in sin as
long as they admit they are in sin. Parker points out the impossibility of their renewal
to the Lord unless they are willing to admit their sin and return to righteousness.

290. His thoughts on this would appear to be the best within the context, and would fit
well with 1 Cor. 2:8. If we really understood who Christ is, how much different
would we act? How much sin would we remain in? To try to repent without returning
to the Lord in holy living, is to openly crucify the the Son of God again, and is
impossible, 1 John 1:9; Pro. 28:13, 14.
Now, this gave me a good sound answer to this difficult passage. But this is not
what brought this message on. The part of his sermon that spoke to me was his
introduction to the passage.
Let me chase a rabbit here a moment:
Seeing as how I am being as plain in this message as any I have preached since I
have been here, let me mention something which brought this message about.
One of the best investments a congregation can make for their own benefit is in
good, hard-hitting books for their pastor, IF THEIR PASTOR READS AND
STUDIES. Sad to say, not many pastors do much reading after they get out of
college. These books preach to the preacher in the privacy of his study. They allow
God to point out sin in his life and, if he will listen, will make the man out of him that
the Lord desires him to be. If this doesn't take place, the money spent on books is
wasted.
Just about any passage where I am studying, I will look to see what others have to
say. I love study and reference material. I find it very difficult to read the modern
day fluff which controls the Christian publishing right now. I would love to have a
couple of sets, about $500 worth. These old authors preach to me, and usually get me
where it hurts.
I have been here long enough for you all to know that the desire of my heart is to
be what the Lord would have me to be, and to influence others to be what the Lord
would have them to be. My desire is not to offend or hurt folks, but anyone who
preaches the whole counsel of God will offend everyone sooner or latter, even the
preacher himself. The word of God is very offensive to the fallen nature. It exposes
the heart which is so deceitful.
I make mistakes, small and large. They are not hidden from the Lord, and you
know most of them. You also know by now, that when the Lord shows me something,
I try to deal with it. Just about every time He has shown me something, it has been
from my personal study with these old men of God.

291. All of that to say this about books for the pastor! If you desire the pastor to be less
of what he is, and more of what the Lord would have him to be, see that he gets good
hard-hitting books to study with.
Criticism, gossip and anger will not help the matter with the pastor anymore than it
does with you. So in a pastor's case, it is books or Bible conferences which will speak
to him. You can help the pastor be what the Lord would have him to be through
prayer and books. We need to take action for one another, do all we can for one
another.
Now, to the difficult part of this message.
As I read Parkers message on Heb. 6:4-6, I was completely stopped and struck
dead with what he said in his introduction.
As I mentioned, I read this passage last Wednesday. It struck my heart like an
arrow. I left it lay on my desk until Thursday morning, as I went on in my study of 1
Cor. 2. I came to verse 10, and it all fell together.
1 Cor. 2:10 raises some very searching questions.
The Spirit of God alone can reveal the deep things of God. This includes the plan
of Salvation, the counsels of God, all of the workings of the Tri-Une God in time and
space.
Why does He work in the hearts of some and not in the hearts of others?
Why does He not work in in more hearts than what He does?
Why the time table that He uses? Why does He wait, when it would seem to us that
it would be far better far sooner?
Only the wisdom of God can explain these things and hundreds more mysteries
like these. All of the deep things of God are known only by the Spirit of God. They
are revealed to us as God sees fit to reveal them by His Spirit. He teaches us what He
wants us to know, when He wants us to know it and in the manner which pleases Him.
I have found in my own life that I cannot learn, or comprehend, or understand, or
apply the truth of God until the time is right. I can be confronted over and over again
with the same thing, but until the time is right, the Holy Spirit will not apply or allow
me to see the lesson to be learned, and action taken. His timetable is indeed strange
to us at times.
The plans and purposes of God are unknown to us, other than what is revealed by
His Spirit through His method of instruction; His word, His Spirit and the preaching

292. of His men. Man can not search into them, and only what the Lord wants to reveal is
shown to man.
The Lord must show to us anything that is of Him. The context of this passage is
clear. It is utterly impossible for the natural man to see or understand the things of
God, apart from the Spirit of God. AndHeb. 6 tells us that one who desires to remain
in rebellion to the word of God cannot see the truth of God, either.
The timing of the Spirit of God in revealing the lessons to learn is strange to us. In
our wisdom, it is totally uncomprehendable. Why doesn't He show these things to us
in a manner that we can understand before so much harm and damage is done?
As I said, Parker statement on Heb. 6:4-6 spoke right to me. Why did the Lord wait
so long to call my attention to this.
(Read the passage from the book, pg. 183.)
Parker is talking about me. I could not count the number of people who have said
almost these very words to me, my wife included. Nor can I remember when they
started saying these this.
I am not bragging, but I need to lay this out to help explain where I am coming
from.
The Lord has provided me with the grace to go to His word for my encouragement.
I do not get my encouragement from preaching meetings, or fellowship with others.
Now, I enjoy going and they are a help, but my primary source is His word. There are
some others in here who are the same.
Now, this leaves me in an extremely difficult situation. Because of the personality
and the grace which the Lord has given to me because of what He has called me to do,
I view every one in the same light which I have. Before you poke at me, every one in
here does the same. Therefore, down deep within my heart, I feel that any one who
needs outside encouragement is backslidden and not right with God.
Now, to me, this is as true as the day is short. To people of my personality, this is
also true, but I am afraid this is not a Scriptural truth.
Others may feel that those who do not feel about God as they do, are also
backsliden. It is human nature to view things, God included, from our own personalty
and experience. Then we desire to fit everyone into our mold, and in doing this, we
offend many.

293. I respect Parker highly. The messages of his that I have read are very hard-hitting,
except for the point on which I disagree with the Congregationalist. He is a passivist.
According to Parker, this person who needs no outside encouragement is
an exception to the rule for the child of God.
The grace which God gives to folks of my personality is the exception. After all,
what kind of a pastor and teacher would I be if I needed 'outside encouragement?'
What would it be like if every time I got down I had to go to a meeting somewhere
and hear some preaching? It is nice, but not necessary to keep me going.
On the other hand, where would we be if all others were like we are?
As I look back over my life, I can easily see how the Lord was preparing me for
what He had for me to do. He knew that I would have to stand alone on issues,
because others who refuse to stand would think I am crazy. There are other pastors
who take similar stands on the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, but not one in this
county, or Tipi. Co.
There are some who will stand on the issues, but they are suffering and enduring,
waiting for the rapture to get them out of this mess.
God prepared me to stand alone, with only His word as my encouragement. My Jr.
year in HS especially, I had to stand alone, plus all the rest of my years growing up.
Now, all of that to say this.
There are very few exceptions to this rule for the need of encouragement, and
those exceptions are mostly in leadership or teaching positions. My problem is that I
preach as though the vast majority are like me, and continue on because it is right,
with only the word of God as their encouragement.
As I looked at Parker, the Lord has shown me that this just is not true. This is a
false assumption because I have walked in my own light in this area, rather than in the
light of the word of God.
Which brings us to this point.
1. James tells us that we must confess our faults openly. Our confession must be
restricted to include only those effected by that fault, and all who are affected by the
fault. If only one is effected, then only that one is to be confessed to. If it is a public
fault, then the confession must be public. My fault in this area is quite obvious for all
to see.

294. 2. I must ask forgiveness of those who have been effected by the fault. The fault is -
thinking that the need for encouragement is the exception to the rule of the Christian
life.
The fault is - not being the encouragement that is needed by God's people. Rather,
far too often I have been a discouragement and laying more upon them than they can
handle.
3. I must first, thank you who have stuck with me over the years as I have ignored this
need.
Then second, I ask you for your continued patience as the Spirit of God must
redirect 25 years of thinking in order to redirect my preaching. This will be a dificult
task for the Spirit of God, but His grace is made perfect in our weakness, BUT ONLY
IF WE REALIZE OUR WEAKNESS!
Don't get your hopes up that I have changed any convictions, I haven't. I am still
just a firm in all of my convictions, except that the need for encouragement is the
exception to the Christian rule. The Lord used Parker to reverse this, and it is going to
take quite a bit of work by the Spirit to change many years of thinking on this. But His
grace is sufficient to overcome all our faults, 2 Cor. 12:9.
4. I must ask for your prayers. This will be extremely difficult for one of my
personality and background.
5. As I mentioned. If you believe I am off track in an area, pray for me, and do
something like books.
Now, a hard question: Why didn't the Lord show me this before this past week?
This I have no answer for, other than He, in His Divine providence controls the timing
of His Spirit which reveals the deep things of God, 1 Cor. 2:10.
Ja. 5:7-16. Maybe this is why some are in condemnation, afflicted, depressed, and
even sick, in the Body of Christ. Confession of our faults is to be standard
practice among the body of Christ, so why is it so seldom practiced? Pastos are not
exempt from this, as some might think.
Has this confession been part of your Christian life?

295. 1. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
2. Confess and forsake the sin as revealed by the Holy Spirit.
3. Cast ourselves upon the mercy of God.
12. ETERNAL SECURITY
ARMINIAN VIEW
Once saved, always... stubborn?
by R H Johnston
1. Introduction
That a christian can have assurance that God will not fail to save those to whom He
has promised salvation is important to every christian. God is not capricious,
promising to save us one day, but changing His mind without cause the next. God is
faithful to His promises, and this is widely taught in scripture. God is consistent, and
will not change what He has promised to do: thus, "If we endure, we shall also reign
with Him, if we deny Him, He also will deny us" (2 Timothy 2:12). If any doubt that
God's sure promises are conditional on our attitudes to Him in our daily walk they
would do well to start by reflecting on the fate of the house of Eli (1 Samuel 2:30-35).
Unfortunately this wholesome doctrine of our assurance of salvation has been
caricatured. The idea that once someone has made a profession of faith in Christ, and
is "saved", that person can never lose their salvation is a teaching which has achieved
wide currency in parts of the church, especially in Reformed and Brethren circles. It is
doubtless a comfortable teaching, but it fails to find any support from scripture,
rightly understood, and violates the very many scriptures which emphasise the need
for a continuing obedient walk with God. This note, does not attempt a comprehensive
treatment of the subject of salvation, but simply examines the case made for the
doctrine by a leading "Reformed" writer, to see if there is a case to answer.
2. What evidence is put forward by proponents of the doctrine?
Louis Berkhof is an authoritative writer on "Reformed" doctrine. His "A Summary of
Christian Doctrine", first published in the USA in 1938, was republished in Britain by
Banner of Truth in 1960. What does this influential writer rely on?
2.1 Berkhof on perseverance

296. Berkhof defines his doctrine of perseverance as "that continuous operation of the Holy
Spirit in the believer, by which the work of divine grace that is begun in the heart, is
continued and brought to completion".
This statement would be reasonable, if it were balanced by recognising the need for
the "believer" to go on believing to make this effective, a balance between the work of
God and the work of man which is consistently maintained in scripture (see e.g. Phil
2:12-13). Berkhof does not recognise the need for such a balance but makes this
God-centredness absolute, as if it were solely God's responsibility. Given the
over-emphasis in Reformed doctrine on God's sovereignty at the expense of man's
responsibility such an oversight is perhaps not surprising. That the doctrine should
find favour in the Arminian culture of the Brethren, who put great emphasis on the
free availability of Christ to all and who place relatively little emphasis on God's part
in drawing men to salvation, is altogether astonishing.
Berkhof claims that the above doctrine is "clearly taught in Scripture, John 10:28,29;
Rom 11:29; Phil 1:6, 2 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim 1:12;4:18".
Let us examine each of these scriptures in turn.
• John 10:28,29. "And I give (present indicative active) unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish (2nd aorist subjunctive middle), and no one shall snatch
(future indicative active) them out of my hand. My Father, who hath given (perfect
indicative active) them unto me, is greater than all; and no one is able (present
indicative middle or passive deponent) to snatch (present infinitive active) them out of
the Father's hand." (ASV, quoted in Berkhof, tenses from original Greek)
The context of the above verses are important. Jesus is contrasting his sheep in v27
with the unbelieving attitudes of those who do not believe (v25- 26): "Jesus answered
(Aorist Indicative Middle deponent) them, "I told (2nd aorist indicative active) you,
and you do not believe (present indicative active); the works that I do (present
indicative active) in My Father's name, these bear witness (present indicative active)
of Me. But you do not believe (present indicative active), because you are (present
indicative) not of My sheep. My sheep hear (present indicative active) My voice, and I
know (present indicative active) them, and they follow (present indicative active)
Me;" (John 10:25-27, NASB, tenses from Greek).
The Greek present tense never represents a point action (which are expressed by the
aorist tense in Greek). The Greek present expresses the idea of present continuity - as
does the English "I am giving". Thus the contrast revealed in v25-27 is between those

297. who are living in unbelief and those who are living in faith and who are continuing to
hear and to follow. Verse 28 therefore says that Christ is giving them eternal life
(living a life is far more than having experienced a birth, important as that is as the
only means of entry into life). They will never perish: the tense of perish, although
subjunctive, is that special emphatic negative future form implying certainty, and this
might seem conclusive. However the context implies that this is conditional on the
sheep hearing his voice, and following and receiving the continual supply of eternal
life. The rest of the verse shows that no third party can snatch them from Jesus or
from the Father. This does not mean that sheep who cease to hear, follow and believe
are immune from being lost.
• Romans 11:29. "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance". This
is a classic case of dragging a verse from its context to make it appear to mean
something which the same passage denies. This verse properly concerns God's
faithfulness towards His people Israel in spite of their sins, not for their own sake -
for, as Romans 9-11 amply proves, many individuals have failed to enter the promised
blessings - but in order to fulfil God's promise to Abraham, God promises that a
remnant shall be saved and inherit the promises. Romans 11:18-22 deals specifically
with individuals who choose to be presumptuous. Unlike the rest of the passage which
is in the plural dealing with with the people of Israel, these five verses are all in the
singular, and verse 22 says: "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on
them which fell severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness;
otherwise thou also shalt be cut off" (AV). The individual is only secure while he
continues in God's goodness, without presumption.
• Phil 1:6. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Christ." (AV). This rightly emphasises
Paul's confidence in God's part in their salvation; nevertheless Paul does not take this
in any way for granted as is shown by the prayer which follows, and the fact that he
felt it desirable to write the Philippians a letter. His confidence was in any case based
on the generally good attitude to God which the Philippians had and which he
commended. He did not make statements like this to those churches which had serious
problems.
• 2 Thess 3:3. "But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you
from evil." This verse emphasises God's protective hand against third party
interference - we certainly do need protection from the devil and his agents! The
verses that follow suggest that Paul had good reason for the confidence he expressed
that the christians at Thessalonica would obey his commands, and that they would be
discriminating in their conduct to protect themselves from disorderly brothers. (2
Thess 3:4-6). Once again this is seen not to be an absolute text, but one which is

298. balanced by a context of things which the christians themselves had to do towards
their own protection.
• 2 Tim 1:12. "For which cause I suffer (present indicative active) also these
things: yet am I not ashamed (present indicative middle or passive deponent); for I
know (perfect indicative active) Him whom I have believed (perfect indicative active),
and I am persuaded (perfect indicative passive) that He is (present indicative) able to
guard (aorist infinitive active) that which I have committed unto Him against that
day." (ASV, quoted in Berkhof)
The perfect indicative speaks of an act in the past giving rise to a continuing present
state of the same thing. Thus on the basis of his past and continuing knowing,
believing and being persuaded, Paul has confidence that God will keep him whenever
there is a time of pressure arising from the sufferings he is experiencing (see 2 Tim
4:16-18). Again all of this is dependent on his continuing walk with God, and 2 Tim
1:12 is neatly complemented by 2 Tim 1:13-14 which place a firm emphasis on the
need for Timothy to act appropriately.
• 2 Tim 4:18. "The Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me
unto His heavenly kingdom: to whom be the glory for ever and ever." (ASV, quoted
in Berkhof). This expresses Paul's confidence in God keeping him (2 Tim 4:17) in a
context where he is being failed by men (2 Tim 4:16), and subject to heavy pressure
from third parties. As with all the previous verses, such a verse is hardly relevant to
those who are careless about their faith.
These scriptures do give the christian who is walking with God the confidence to deal
with all the circumstances in which he finds himself. The conditions are unambiguous,
and they provide no comfort for those who wish to live in a worldly fashion.
2.2 Berkhof on Assurance of Salvation
Berkhof continues immediately after the above statement on perseverance: "And it is
only when we believe in this perseverance of God that we can in this life attain to the
assurance of salvation, Heb 3:14; 6:11; 10:22; 2 Peter 1:10."
It is true that the verses already considered have that effect for the christian who is
walking with God. The verses quoted provide us with the assurance that God will not
let us down, and that no third party can undo our salvation.
Berkhof cites the above verses for the sole purpose of showing that the concept of
assurance exists in scripture: he seems to be simply relying on the presence of the
word "assurance" in the first three of these verses, rather than on examining the truth

299. the verses contain. On examination, they prove that the christian can have assurance
of salvation when we approach God provided that we satisfy the appropriate
conditions. Berkhof however, ignores entirely the associated conditions, which
entirely demolish his suggestion that christians will be saved irrespective of their
conduct, for they prove our need to "hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast
unto the end." (Heb 3:14) and, to use a lawyer's phrase, "show due diligence" (Heb
6:11), and "hold fast the profession of faith without wavering" (Heb 11:23):
• Hebrews 3:14. "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning
of our confidence steadfast unto the end." (AV)
• Hebrews 6:11 "And we desire that every one of you do shew the same
diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end." (AV)
• Hebrews 10:22. "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure
water." (AV)
The last scripture (2 Peter 1:10) makes clear we can secure our ultimate salvation
through due diligence, but there is no promise there that somehow we can do a point
action which will thereafter secure our salvation irrespective of what we do thereafter:
• 2 Peter 1:10 "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your
calling and election sure: for if you do these things, ye shall never fall." (AV)
This tendency to ignore the conditions associated with the promises in scripture is, in
my experience, characteristic of those who hold this doctrine.
2.3 How Berkhof deals with objections to the doctrine
Berkhof then continues: "outside of Reformed circles this doctrine find[sic] no favour.
It is said to be contradicted by Scripture, which warns against apostasy, Heb 2:1;
10:26, exhorts believers to continue in the way of salvation, Matt 24:13; Col 1:23;
Heb 3:14, and even records cases of apostasy, 1 Tim 1:19,20; 2 Tim 2:17,18; 4:10.
Such warnings and exhortations would seem to assume the possibility of falling away,
and such cases would seem to prove it completely. But as a matter of fact the
warnings and exhortations prove only that God works mediately and wants man to
co-operate in the work of perseverance; and there is no proof that the apostates
mentioned were real believers. Cf. Rom 9:6; 1 John 2:19; Rev 3:1."
2.4 Berkhof fails to present a case needing an answer
On the basis of Berkhof's writings we must conclude that there is really no case to
answer. He admits that God works mediately and wants man to co- operate in the
work of perseverance. If men fail to do so, then how can they be saved? If God can

300. save them without and apart from such co-operation, what is the point of the hard and
possibly unpleasant work of undertaking such co- operation?
The crucial significance of Berkhof's last point, his suggestion that the apostates may
not have been real believers, must not be overlooked. Once this idea is accepted, the
alleged purpose of the doctrine - to provide security comfort to the christian - is
thereby completely vitiated. Most proponents of the doctrine are usually aware of
people, like these apostates, who made a very good profession, and who walked
closely with God for sometime thereafter, before going on to deny their faith
completely. As in this case, such people are dismissed as having never been christians
in the first place. This may serve to save the doctrine from repudiation, but this
thereby eliminates any real assurance for those presently believing in Christ, for who
can say whether he will not himself eventually turn out to one who denies the faith? It
is "he who endures to the end who will be saved". (Matt 10:22, cf. Phil 3:2-16). Thus,
we have shown that, not only is the teaching unbiblical, but it fails in its objective of
providing the desired permanent assurance of salvation. The doctrine is not only a
delusion, its purported benefits also turn out to be an illusion!
In summary, Berkhof proves that assurance of salvation exists. He assumes, but does
not prove, that this means that no christian can lose his salvation irrespective of his
conduct. He then assumes, but fails to prove, that once someone becomes a real
christian then their "assured position" persists irrespective of their life-style and of
their diligence in their continuance in the faith. Indeed the very verses he quotes
disprove his case.
3. Conclusions
Louis Berkhof, a leading proponent of the doctrine of "Once saved, always saved" has
been shown to rely on scriptures do not prove that doctrine, but instead show the true
biblical doctrine of assurance, namely:
• a) The concept of assurance of salvation exists - God will not rescind what He
has promised to do for us.
• b) assurance of salvation depends on a continuing walk in obedience towards
God and faith in Jesus Christ.
The main problem with the "once saved, always saved" doctrine, is that people come
to rely on an experience which took place long ago. This often leads to a smug
complacency, and, ultimately, stubbornness of heart.
We cannot be saved by a doctrine, nor by an experience: true assurance rests in our
continuing relationship with a Saviour Jesus Christ, obeying the scriptural commands
to continuously maintain and enhance a close walk with God, and adding to our faith

301. those things which will make certain our call and election. Peter tells us if we do these
things we shall never fall but enter His kingdom (2 Peter 1:4-11).
13. Caird, The Church after Paul saw slow but steady progress. By the last quarter of
the first century AD the Church had made inroads into every major city of the Roman
Empire. But something else was happening at the same time; people were growing
impatient. You see, Jesus had said "And he said to them, "Truly I tell you, there are
some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God
has come with power" (Mk 9:1). No matter how this verse in interpreted today, when
Jesus spoke these words they understood him literally. Thus, when the earliest
believers began to die the Church began to wonder if the coming was not imminent.
Some of them, quite frankly, gave up hope that He would ever come again. Many of
those who grew disenchanted with Christianity were Jews who had converted in the
hope that the Messiah would quickly return and establish his earthly kingdom. When
he did not, they began to leave the Church, evidently in droves.
The Letter to the Hebrews is written to these Jewish Christians in order to encourage
them to remain faithful to Jesus, "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, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the
powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, since on their own they are
crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt" (Hebrews 6).
These believers must hold fast to the faith; for there is no other way by which they can
be saved. So the writer of Hebrews makes every effort to prove that Jesus is superior
to anything that Judaism has to offer. He is better than the angels, Moses, the law, the
Prophets, or anything else.
The central idea of the letter is that Jesus is the ultimate gift and the ultimate giver;
that is, he is simultaneously the high priest and the sacrificial victim! Because of his
sacrifice the believer can know God and will become a part of God's rule. But they
must beware that it is not their faith that is the foundation of this kingdom! NO, it is
God's gift that is the ground of their faith! This is made quite clear when the author
stresses the death and exaltation of Jesus as he does. Faith in him is the goal of their
lives as well as the ground of their faith. If they forget this, then they will fall away
from Him.
14. Philip Mauro, ““Who were once enlightened”; that is to say, who have received
by the Word and Spirit the knowledge of God’s eternal purpose in Christ, which is to
be fulfilled in the age to come. That purpose lay eternally in the depths of the
counsels of God. Its accomplishment involves the highest expression of His Wisdom

302. and His Power. Those to whom it is made known are recipients of the highest
privilege the Creator can bestow upon His creatures. It is a perilous thing to be
entrusted with the knowledge of that greatest and most cherished purpose of God,
which has to do with the glory of His Beloved Son. Those who attain knowledge of
the coming era of His glory, and turn in their hearts to the things of the present era of
His humiliation and rejection, do thereby incur the righteous judgment of being bound
to their own choice.
“Who have tasted of the heavenly gift”. We understand the heavenly gift to be
“the Holy Ghost Who is GIVEN to us” (Rom. 5:5). The Holy Spirit is the “promise
of the Father” now bestowed upon the believers of this age (Acts 2:33; 15:8). In
fulfillment of His appointed ministry, the Holy Spirit takes of the things of Christ, that
is, of “the all things” given Him by the Father, and shows them unto the saints (Jn.
16:13-15). Those who have experienced this ministry of the Spirit have tasted of the
heavenly gift.
“And were made partakers of the Holy Ghost.” This seems to be something
more than tasting of the heavenly gift. We take it as signifying what is spoken of in
such Scriptures as Ephesians 1:14, which refers to those who have been sealed with
that Holy Spirit of Promise, Who is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption
of the purchased possession; and Romans 8:23, which also speaks of those saints who
have received the Spirit as the first-fruit, and hence are awaiting the “adoption.”
Those saints are no longer babes. They have been made “partakers of the Holy
Ghost,” having received, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God, in
order that they may know the things that have been freely given them of God (1 Cor.
2:12). For such to turn to the things of the world is a very serious matter, for it is an
insult to the Spirit of Grace, entailing much severer punishment than was awarded to
those who set aside the law of Moses (Heb. 10:29).
“And tasted the good Word of God.” The expression “Word of God”
occurring here is not the same expression as that used in chapter 4:12, but a different
one, signifying, not the Word of God in its living energy and searching power, killing
and making alive, but a good thing spoken to us by God. It signifies, doubtless, the
good things connected with the age to come, the things which we have heard, the
“excellent things” which the Wisdom of God speaks to the children concerning the
blessing of those that keep His ways. Those who have come to the knowledge of the

303. Son of God as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, have had a taste of the good
Word of God pertaining to the era when He will exercise that Kingly-Priesthood; and
if they, after tasting that good word, turn back to the things of the present era, they
bring serious consequences upon themselves.
“And the works of power of the age to come.” The coming age will be the day
of Christ’s power. This is said in the Psalm which promises Him the Priesthood after
the order of Melchizedek. Some of these “works of power” have been wrought in
this age. Hebrews 2 speaks of these as having been wrought by God for the purpose
of “bearing witness” in confirmation of the so-great salvation reported to us, whereof
a beginning was spoken by the Lord (Heb. 2:3-4). The word rendered “miracle” in
Hebrews 2:4, is the same word rendered “powers,” literally, “works of power” in
Hebrews 6:5. It should be noted that, in Hebrews 2:4, the works of power are
associated with “gifts of the Holy Ghost,” as in the passage we are now considering.
Whatever room there may be for questioning as to the full and exact
significance of the several clauses of this passage (and certainly they are worthy of far
more study than the present writer has given to them), there can be no doubt that they
refer to the state of those who have come to the adult knowledge of the Son of God as
High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. And of such it is said with unmistakable
clearness, that, if they fall away, i.e., apostatize, or turn back, they cannot be renewed
again unto repentance. They will be precisely in the case of the Israelites who sought
repentance, saying, “We have sinned,” after the provocation in the wilderness, and in
the cause of Esau, who, after having despised and parted with his birthright, found no
place of repentance or change of mind in Isaac, his father, though he sought it
CAREFULLY and WITH TEARS (Heb. 12:17).
Now, as to the reason given why those referred to in this passage cannot be
renewed again unto repentance, it has been supposed that, because of the saying that
“they crucify to themselves the Son of God,” it could not apply to believers. But it
seems to us that this saying could not apply to any but to believers. Unbelievers
cannot do any act which would amount to crucifying to themselves the Son of God.
They may reject the grace of God, continuing in their sins, refusing the pardon and
life offered to them as the fruit of the Cross of Christ; but one and all are alike in that
respect. They are dead in sins. Christ was crucified for them. They cannot crucify
Him for themselves.

304. Furthermore, those who are said to crucify to themselves (or for themselves)
the Son of God, are expressly declared to be those who apostatized after having been
enlightened, after having taste do the heavenly gift, after having been made partakers
of the Holy Spirit, etc. It is impossible to apply these statements to unbelievers, or to
those who make merely a profession of Christianity. They describe believers and
indeed a class of believers, who are specially “enlightened and are therefore no longer
in the state of spiritual infancy.
Then again, only a believer can “fall away.” The unbeliever has nothing of
God from which he can fall away. The thought is similar to that expressed in
Hebrews 2:1-“Lest any of US (believers, heirs of salvation) should slip away.”
And, finally, the passage speaks of the impossibility of renewing the persons
referred to again. The unbeliever has not been “renewed” at all. Consequently, the
passage could not apply to such.
In seeking the meaning of the words “crucifying for themselves,” etc., it should
be noted that there is no word in the original corresponding to the word “afresh” in the
A.V. The passage reads literally, “crucifying for themselves the Son of God, and
exposing Him publicly.” Those who, having come to the knowledge of the Son of
God as the One saluted of God a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, that is,
the high Priest of the good things to come, turn back from Him Whom they have thus
known, do crucify Him for themselves, and expose Him publicly. This we must
accept as a fact upon the Word of God, even though we fail to understand it. We
should not be surprised at finding difficulties, for we are notified that the present
subject includes things hard to be uttered (verse 11).
The Holy Spirit, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, is drawing a sharp contrast
between the present evil age, in which the Son of God was publicly crucified, and the
age of blessing to come, in which He will be publicly glorified. The Christians, who
have come to the knowledge of that age, and who do not walk as belonging to it, but
turn back, identifying and associating themselves with this present age, do thereby
repeat for themselves that which characterizes this age, namely, the crucifying of the
Son of God. In so doing, they not only bring sore punishment upon themselves, but
they dishonor Him. Those true “Hebrews” of the present era, who like Enoch, Noah,
and Abraham, walk with God as perfect strangers to the present age, awaiting the

305. things not seen as yet, which God has reported to them, do thereby condemn the
world. They take God’s view of the One Whom the rulers of this age crucified.
Those who, on the contrary, after being enlightened, walk according to the flesh, and
according to the course of this world, make the Cross of Christ of none effect, utterly
disregarding, as they do, that line of separation which the Cross make between the
believer and the world. Christ gave Himself for their sins to the end that He might
deliver them out of this present evil age, according to the Will of God the Father (Gal.
1:4). Therefore, those who, after being enlightened concerning the Will of the
Father, “turn back,” do thereby crucify to themselves the Son of God.
We understand the thought of this passage to be similar to that expressed in
Philippians 3:18. The latter passage speaks of pressing toward the mark for attaining
the PRIZE of the HIGH CALLING of God in Christ Jesus; and closes with a
description of those, whose citizenship (political status) is in heaven, and who are
AWAITING (the word so often used in Hebrews) the Lord Jesus Christ to come from
heaven AS SAVIOR, to transform the bodies of their humiliation, and fashion them
like unto the Body of HIS GLORY. In contrast with these, Paul speaks, even
weeping, of another class of persons who are THE ENEMIES OF THE CROSS OF
CHRIST, whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, (i.e., the appetite that
craves present gratification), the GLORY of whom is in their shame (i.e., in the
present state of mankind, which is that of degradation and humiliation); who mind
(that is, have an inclination for) earthly things. It is clear that only Christians could
be spoken of in these terms, for which reason Paul speaks of them even weeping.
Particularly it is clear that the expression “enemies of the Cross of Christ,” could be
used only of Christians. They are not enemies of Christ, but are antagonistic to what
His Cross has done for them as regards the world. They enjoy the friendship of the
world, which is “enmity against God” (James 4:4). They glory in their shame,
instead of in the Cross of Christ, whereby the world is crucified to the saint, and he to
the world (Gal. 6:14). Peace and mercy are invoked by the apostle on those who
“walk according to this rule,” that is, the rule of separation from the present evil age
(Gal. 6:16). But of the many who were walking otherwise, he declared, that they
were enemies of the Cross, whose end is destruction (compare 2 Thess. 1:9; and Heb.
10:39, reading “destruction” instead of “perdition”).
The difference here pointed out (and where shall we look for one greater or
more important), is precisely that between Paul and Demas. Paul’s place in the world
was a dungeon. There he could say with exultation, “I have fought the good fight, I
have finished my course, I have KEPT the faith,” and his mind was set upon “that
day” in which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give him the crown of

306. righteousness, and not to him only, but unto all them also that LOVE HIS
APPEARING.” But “Demas,” he says, “hath forsaken me, having LOVED THIS
PRESENT AGE” (2 Tim. 4:7-10). This is the difference. It is a matter of the state
of the heart. Which age do we love? This present age, or the age of His Appearing?
Whichever it be, the clear lesson of the Scriptures we have examined is that we will
have our portion in the things of that age upon which we set our hearts. Do we truly
love His Appearing? Are we truly awaiting the Lord Jesus Christ to come out of
heaven as Savior? Are we truly waiting for Him to appear the second time for
salvation? If so, let us prove it by so walking in this present scene as to honor Him
and condemn the world with all its doings; and may we submit ourselves to God in
this matter, to be searched by His Word, in order that the thoughts and intents of our
hearts may be shown to us.
15. William Most, “There is a similar statement in The Shepherd by Hermas in
Similitude 9. 26. 6: "It is impossible for him who now denies His Lord to be saved."
Many think Hermas is using a psychological ploy to deter people from sinning after
receiving the seal, Baptism. Pardon was given in the first centuries even to apostates,
but only after years of long and difficult penance - in the thought that something so
drastic was needed to really cause them to see the truth, especially if a Christian when
called before the Roman judge thought to himself: "I will deny now, and then get
pardon later". His repentance shortly after that would almost certainly not be real, not
sincere. It would be preplanned, and so not involved a real change of heart. (More on
this later in comments on 10. 36).
But what is the reason now why those who fall back into Judaism or paganism cannot
be restored? Surely God Himself would not be unwilling to grant pardon even for
such sins. For the death of Jesus infinitely earned forgiveness for every sin.
The answer is that such people had made themselves incapable of taking in what God
would gladly offer. It is helpful to start with Matthew 6. 21: "Where your treasure is,
there is your heart also." One can put his treasure in a hoard of money, or in eating, or
in sex, or in travel, or in study, even studying Scripture. But all these things are lower
than God Himself.
Further, some allow themselves to be pulled more than others by these outside
attractions - even to habitual mortal sin. In such a case two factors work together:
what they seek is much lower than God, and they have surrendered to the pull of
creatures with abandon.
A modern comparison will help to supplement this thought. We think of a
galvanometer, a compass needle on its pivot, with a coil of wire around, it through

307. which we pass a current. The needle should swing the right direction and the right
amount. But if there are powerful outside pulls, e.g., 33000 volt power lines or a mass
of magnetic steel - then these outside forces may be so strong as to overwhelm the
effect of the current in the coil. We are thinking of our mind as a sort of meter, which
should register the movement of grace, that is, the current in its coil. But grace is
gentle, in that is respects our freedom; outside pulls if one surrenders to them with
abandon can take away freedom: then the needle, does not register the effect of grace
which tries to put into a man's mind what God is trying to tell him to do.
Then if grace cannot do the first thing, it will not do the further things. So the man is
left without grace, is blind or hardened. Then even though God gives grace, the man is
incapable of taking it in. Then his conversion, is, humanly speaking, impossible.
We said "humanly speaking" because there is always the possibility of a grace
comparable to a miracle that can cut through or forestall such resistance, and so cause
the man to follow the movement of grace. But this is not given ordinarily - for then
the extraordinary would become ordinary. It is given only when some other person by
heroic prayer and penance, puts, as it were, an extraordinary weight into the one pan
of the scales of the objective moral order: it can call for, and obtain, an extraordinary
grace.
The case is similar with the classic unforgivable sin, of which Our Lord Himself
spoke when the scribes attributed the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil. The Father
and He would gladly grant pardon - but the hardness was so immense that they could
not even perceive the first movement of grace.
This problem happens especially with those who have already had great light from
grace -- if they become habituated to special favor, and even then reject, they make
themselves hardened - they are harder to convert than a beginner who never felt the
effects of grace.
These hard souls had already been enlightened in Baptism, had tasted the heavenly
gift - probably the Holy Eucharist, had received the Holy Spirit, and seen even the
mighty works of the age-to-come, i.e., the miracles which at first were used to ground
and spread the Church. If after all that they still fell away - what was there left to
awaken them anew from their self-inflicted torpor?
So they are like land which has become hard and dry: the rains may come, but all in
vain.
Cardinal Manning, in his great work, The Eternal Priesthood. wrote in his concluding
chapter, on the death of a sinful priest: "Next to the immutable malice of Satan is the
hardness of an impenitent priest... . They have been so long familiar with all the
eternal truths": that the end of such a man is like that of one for whom medical science

308. can do no more: He must die. Manning quotes St. Bonaventure (Pharetra 1. 22):
"Laymen who sin can be easily restored; but clerics if they once go bad become
incurable." We comment: satan could not repent because his clear intellect (not being
hindered by junction with a material brain) saw everything at once with the maximum
possible clarity. So there was no room for him later to go back on it, see it differently,
and so repent. The more one grows in knowledge, the more he approaches that
condition - though of course, still having a material brain, he does not reach it.
Then the author turns to a more cheerful note: God will not forget the good you have
done. We hope you may imitate those who have persevered in faith, such as Abraham.
St. Paul in proposing Abraham as a model of faith usually thought of Genesis 15. 6,
where Abraham believed God, and his faith was the means of his justification. But
here - in view of the comments in Hebrews 11. 19 -- he is more likely to have in mind
Abraham's faith in being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, even though he had to
believe that he would be the father of a great nation by the same Isaac. We do not
know how old Isaac was at this point. Some rabbis thought he was old enough to
already have children. We do not know, and the example of faith is more powerful if
we suppose he was still too young to start a line of descendants. In 11. 19 the author
of Hebrews reduces greatly that demand of faith by supposing Abraham expected God
would raise Isaac again from the dead. That could be true - but since the genre of
Hebrews is homiletic, and since the idea of resurrection seems not to have been
known among the Jews at so early a point, it is more likely that Abraham did not think
of that possibility, even though of course it was true that God could raise Isaac from
the dead.
St. Paul speaks of us as children of Abraham (Galatians 3. 29 and Romans chapter 4)
not by carnal descent, but by imitating the faith of Abraham. So by imitating his faith
we become heirs of the promise given to Abraham ( 6. 17).
16.S.L. JOHNSON, “[ Recall that we pointed out in our last study that the correct
translation of verse 6 is not to take this participle as conditionally for it cannot really
be that. Those who translated this verse by using "if" overlooked the fact this
participle is an adjectival participle and not an adverbial participle. They have
translated it as if it were an adverbial participle, yet there is in the original text a
significant use of the article that makes such a rendering impossible. Thus, it is not
"if they shall fall away" but rather" and have fallen away." For our author is not
speaking of individuals who might fall away; he is speaking about that which is true
of those who possess these privileges and who have fallen away.]
Ignorance is often bliss, for when we get knowledge we also get greater responsibility.
It is often a pleasure not to know the full story.

309. A man was scheduled to speak for an important business dinner. But, as he was eating
his meal he must have bitten down on something hard, for at that moment his false
teeth broke in his mouth. Nearly paralyzed by panic, he muttered to the man next to
him, “I can’t believe this!” he says, “my false teeth just broke and I’ve got to get up
and speak in a few moments!”
“No problem,’ the man whispered back at him, “I’ve got an extra pair you can use!”
And the man pulled a few sets of false teeth out of his pocket and presented them to
the frantic speaker.
The speaker tried the first pair-they were too tight. The second pair was too loose. The
third pair fit like a dream. Now totally relieved, he set back and greatly enjoyed his
meal and afterward delivered an excellent speech.
At the end of the evening, the speaker walked up to his benefactor and thanked him
for his help. “He said to his rescuer, “You really did me a great favor tonight. You
know, I’ve been looking for a good dentist. Where are you located?”
The other man smiled and replied: “Oh, I’m not a dentist… (pause) I’m an
undertaker!”
So in this text we are learning what we don’t want to know about our responsibility.
They again crucify to themselves the Son of God (6:6).
This is spoken to Jews who are turning away from Jesus. They are trying to leave the
cross and go back to the temple sacrifice. They are trying to leave the reality and go
back to the type.
In doing so, they are turning their backs upon Jesus. Less than forty years earlier,
another generation of Jews had turned from Jesus. They had manifested their hatred of
Jesus by crucifying Him. Now, these Jewish people are in danger of doing the very
same thing.

310. 17. Brian Shelley, “. If you fall away, you can’t be reinstated-vs. 4-6a Who is the
audience?
Some say they are not Christians. They are professors, but not possessors. But they
were enlightened. It is passive. The Holy Spirit did something to them-He enabled
them to know the truth of God’s Word. Eph. 1:18-19. But they tasted the heavenly
gift. What is the heavenly gift? Heaven. Eph. 2:8-9 “Tasted” means to enjoy
something you have experienced. But they have shared in the Holy Spirit. Again, this
is passive. The Holy Spirit shared Himself with them. They were born or created into
something that they were not before. To “share in” means to have fellowship with the
Holy Spirit. Enlightened; tasted; shared. These words describe a Christian. Verse 9
Arminians say that the passage is talking to Christians who backslide and lose their
salvation.The rest of Hebrews argues against that, even later this chapter. For
example, 7:25 If a Christian loses his or her salvation, Jesus Christ is a failure. So, if
one person loses salvation, we all do. The text does not say they lose their salvation; it
says they can’t be brought back to repentance. So, if this passage teaches that if you
backslide, you
lose your salvation, it also says that you are going to hell. No one will make it to
heaven.
A third position says this refers to Christians, but it is a hypothetical situation, which
to me is the same as saying, “I have no clue what it means.” “This could never
happen, so just let this hypothetical situation motivate you to maturity.” It is not
hypothetical. It is a warning.
Lastly, if you are a true believer, then decide to reject God’s
truth and go back to your old religion, God will not let you change your mind and you
will lose rewards in heaven. These Christian Jews reverted to Judaism, probably from
family pressure. God says if you go back, He will make you stay there. What religious
substitute did God save you from? Liberalism? Legalism? Don’t go back. You will
say there.
B. Abandon God’s truth and you disrespect God-vs. 6b-8
They are crucifying God all over again. They have no respect for the cross. They have
abandoned grace. It means nothing to them that Christ died to be the only way to
heaven and the only truth to live the Christian life. They put Christ to public shame by
their actions. Jesus is spoken badly of. God will not allow them any more spiritual
fruit. There will be no spiritual growth. They will not lead others to Christ. They will
not get any more rewards in heaven. When God sets fire to their works to test the

311. quality of those works, they will vaporize and no rewards will be left. They will be
saved, but as by fire.
I have seen people go back to their old way of non-grace worship, and they die on the
vine. God is finished with them for the rest of their lives. Go back to your old religion
and God will keep you there.
III. You can still decide to become a mature Christian-vs. 9-20
A. If you have not gone back to your old religion, there is still hope for change-vs.
9-10
You can be dull but not dead yet. There is some fruit in your life. You have worked
for God. He will reward you for that. God is confident that you can do better-you can
get out of your spiritual stupor.
B. Mature in faith and thereby assure yourself of your salvation-vs. 11-20
Remaining in the truth of God’s Word makes your hope sure. Assurance of salvation
is an ABC-v. 11 The Christian life is lived by faith and grace, not ritual-vs. 12-17 The
way to godly maturity has always been by trusting God’s Word. Imitate the godly of
the past as the model for your maturing process. Abraham trusted God. God gave
Abraham assurances that He could be trusted.God gave an oath to bless Abraham with
a son. Abraham waited in faith and matured in faith, and God rewarded him.
So put your faith in the promises of God-vs. 18-20 God cannot lie. So study His
Word, trust Him and grow. God must do what He says. He promises eternal life to all
who will call upon Him. We have an anchor for the soul. This is a ship metaphor.
Our salvation anchor is firmly attached to God’s heavenly dock. It means that it
cannot be untied or lose hold. Our salvation anchor is secure; it cannot break under
any stress. We are tied to the mercy seat in the holy of holies in the heavenly
tabernacle. We are securely, eternally fastened to the very throne of God.
Jesus acts as our high priest and guarantees we are firm and secure. Our salvation is
guaranteed!! As the hymn writes said, “My anchor holds and grips the solid Rock.”
You can trust God and live by faith, study His Word and grow to be a spiritual giant if
that is your choice. Is that your choice?
18. 6:6. A possible harmonizing of the Calvinist and Arminian views surrounding this
passage may be found in the appendix. Henrichsen argues that the passage is not
about eternal salvation at ail, "In summary, the writer is saying that when a Christian
fails into sin, it is impossible for him to be renewed through another conversion

312. experience, because that would be equivalent to 'crucifying the Son of God all over
again and subjecting him to public disgrace' " (1979:78). This interpretation would
mean that it is impossible to treat the Savior so disgracefully, but that is just what the
writer of Hebrews is warning his readers against doing. The passage, in this view,
becomes only a hypothetical case which has no basis in reality.
19. 6:6. Hughes states, "The tenses of the Greek participles are significant: the aorist
participle parapesontas indicates a decisive moment of commitment to apostasy, the
point of no return; the present participles anastaurountas and paradeigmatizontas
indicate the continuing state of those who have once lapsed into apostasy: they keep
on crucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt" (1977:218). Some
have understood the latter part of this verse to be a temporal statement ("It is
impossible to renew them again unto repentance while or so long as they crucify to
themselves the Son of God") rather than a causal one ("It is impossible to renew them
again unto repentance because they crucify . . ."). Bruce says of this, "To say that they
cannot be brought to repentance so long as they persist in their renunciation of Christ
would be a truism hardly worth putting into words" (1964:124).
20. CONVERTED VIEW
S.L. JOHNSON, "The Hebrews who read this epistle are those who have heard the
gospel and really believed the gospel. They have received Jesus Christ as their
Savior, but since that time of acceptance of Him, they have become carnal and walk
as men. (1 Cor. 3:3). It is possible for "true believers in Christ" to have so
backslidden from their profession of faith in Christ, that they look as if they are an
ordinary person who has never received Jesus Christ! These two possibilities exist
always where there is a group which is "dull of hearing". Now our author is
persuaded that the Hebrews are those who have genuinely believed in Jesus Christ.
Yet he is worried about the "individual possibility" of apostasy and that danger is the
case of some, for he says in 6:9;
Heb. 6:9. But beloved we are persuaded better things of you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
So in 6:1-3 he says, "Lets go on to perfection, and this we will do if God permit".
That is a strange thing to say for surely God would permit us to go on in our Christian
faith. But the question in our author's mind is this: suppose some are apostates.
Why permit apostates to go on? And our author insists that where apostasy exists,
HOPE IS GONE!

313. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the
heavenly gifts, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good
word of God and the power of the world to come, and they fall away, to renew them
again unto repentance. (Heb. 6:4-6)
In 6:4-8 the author says, "If apostasy is the condition of heart, then it is irremediable"
and he illustrates this by a plot of ground which does not respond to the blessing of
God's rain and is finally to be burned. But in verse 12 he states, "I am persuaded that
your condition is not hopeless in the light of the past and the present". In the past
you have manifested your faith by ministering to those in the faith. But I am
concerned about some of you so he says; "We desire that EVERYONE OF YOU do
show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end".
And finally he concludes the 6th chapter with an illustration from Abraham's case.
The promise came after long suffering, although the issue was settled by "our pioneer"
who has entered, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father on high. But
continuance in the faith is the ultimate proof of the reality of the faith. And if you
have genuinely believed in Jesus Christ, you have need of patience, after having done
the will of God, you will receive the promise! That is the author's overall pattern.
Now we want to come secondly to the author's plea for perfection. 6:1-3
21. NOT CONVERTED VIEW
WILLIAM KELLY, "The apostle describes a confessor with all the crowning
evidences of the gospel, but not a converted man, Not a word implies this either here
or in 2 Peter. Short of this he uses uncommonly strong expressions, and purposely so:
he sets forth the possession of the highest possible external privileges, and this in that
abundant form and measure which God gave on the ascension of the Lord. He says it
all, no doubt, about the baptized; but there is nothing about baptism as the ancients
would have it, any more than, with some moderns, the progressive steps of the
spiritual life. There is knowledge, joy, privilege, and power, but no spiritual life.
Enlightenment is in no sense the new birth, nor does baptism in scripture ever mean
illumination. It is the effect of the gospel on the dark soul - the shining on the mind of
Him who is the only true light. But light is not life; and life is not predicated here.
But, again, they were "made partakers of the Holy Ghost." Of Him every one became
a partaker, who confessed the Lord and entered into the house of God. There the Holy
Ghost dwelt; and all who were there became partakers after an outward sort (not
koinwnoi;, but mevtocoi) of Him who constituted the assembly of God's habitation
and temple. He pervaded, as it were, the whole atmosphere of the house of God. It is

314. not in the least a question of a person individually born of God, and so sealed by the
Holy Spirit. There is not an allusion to either in this case, but to their taking a share in
this immense privilege, the word not being that which speaks of a joint known
portion, but only of getting a share.
Moreover, they "tasted the good word of God." Even an unconverted man might feel
strong emotions, and enjoy to a certain extent, more particularly those that had lain in
Judaism, that dreary valley of dry bones. What fare was the gospel of grace! Certainly
nothing could be more miserable than the scraps which the scribes and Pharisees put
before the sheep of the house of Israel. There is nothing to forbid the natural mind
from being attracted by the delightful sweetness of the glad-tidings which Christianity
proclaims.
Lastly, we hear of "the powers of the age to come." This seems more than a general
share in the presence of the Holy Ghost, who inhabited the house of God. They were
positively endued with miraculous energies - samples of that which will characterize
the reign of the Messiah. Thus we may fairly give the fullest force to every one of
these expressions. Yet write them out ever so largely, they fall short both of the new
birth and of sealing with the Holy Ghost. There is everything one may say, save
inward spiritual life in Christ, or the indwelling seal of it. That is to say, one may have
the very highest endowments and privileges, in the way both of meeting the mind, and
also of exterior power; and yet all may be given up, and the man become so much the
keener enemy of Christ. Indeed such is the natural result. It had been the mournful
fact as to some. They had fallen away. Hence renewal to repentance is an
impossibility, seeing they crucify for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to open
shame.
22. S. L. JOHNSON, "SOME ARE MERE PROFESSORS
Some are mere professors and have never really believed. In Heb. 3:12 the author
says;
Heb. 3:12. Take heed brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in
departing from the living God.
This in effect reads "in apostatizing from the living God" for that is the meaning of the
Greek word translated "depart". So the possibility exists that a person has joined a
Christian group, become a member with them, but has never had a change of heart.

315. Such a person has never believed in the Lord Jesus As Savior and there never came
the "new life".
The moral danger is not "backsliding", for such a perons would have nothing real
from which to "backslide". The danger is that of falling away into apostasy from a
mere confession which one has made. So when you find a group of Christians which
are "dull of hearing," this always exists as a possibility.
S.L. JOHNSON, " Now notice, first of all he describes a class of persons and he gives
six things about this class of persons. It is impossible for those;
1. Who were once enlightened
2. have tasted of the heavenly gift,
3. were made partakers of the Holy Spirit
4. have tasted of the good word of God
5. have tasted of the powers of the world to come
6. and have fallen away.
The hard fact about this class of persons is that it is impossible to renew them unto
repentance. There is given the cause of this impossibility at the end of verse 6,
"seeing they crucify unto themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open
shame." Now that is a definition of what "crucify" means. Taking these six facts
and putting them together, that is having done all this and denying the Son of God and
putting him to an open shame, the author points out the following,
 there is a description of persons,
 there is a fact about them
 there is a cause.
Are the Arminians Correct?
What shall we say? We could say, "the Arminians are right." If these facts
described in verses 4-6 are right, and express truths that pertain to Christians, and in it
says that it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, then they were saved and
they were lost! And therefore it is possible to fall from salvation and to be lost. We
will accept the Arminian viewpoint and let it go at that.
Some years ago I was preaching on difficult texts in the Bible like;

316.  What is the sin unto death?
 What is the unpardonable sin?
 Once saved, always saved ?
I preached from Galatians 4 on falling from grace and a young Pentecostal preacher
came to speak with me the next morning. He said, I heard you say last night that
once you receive Christ as Savior, you can never lose your salvation. He said I've
been reading Matthew Henry and he says that it is possible to lose one's salvation and
he pointed to Hebrews 6.
I said to him, my doctrine is "Once saved, always saved". Your doctrine is " Once
lost, always lost". He said "Oh no that's not my doctrine. But I explained to him
that in Heb. 6 it says that once lost you can never be saved again for it is impossible to
renew again unto repentance those who have fallen away. So if it is possible to be
lost, then you cannot be saved again. Of course he was very disturbed by that. I
went on and explained Hebrews 6. Then he said, What about 2 Peter chapter 2?
SSo I explained what it meant to have the full knowledge of salvation yet to be come
like a sow which has wallowed in its mire. Finally after about 30 minutes, he left, a
very shaken Arminian.
Now it is possible for us to take this viewpoint, but it is surely not scriptural.
Tertullian, the ancient father was much more logical when he said, This passage
means that one cannot be pardoned for "Post Baptismal Sins". In other words, once
we have come to believe in Christ and have been baptized; and we sin after we have
been baptized, there is no hope. At least he was logical; however, he was still
incorrect. Nonetheless, He saw that it was impossible to renew certain people to the
place they were before. So, Hebrews 6 is not a very good passage for the Arminians.
Professor Weiss suggested that since this passage has to do with the temple and the
sacrifices and we do not have the temple and the sacrifices today, Hebrews 6 has no
real application to us today. We will just read through the passage and forget about
the application because the situation does not exit. That is a terrible way to handle
the Word of God (When you find something difficult-you just say, "well that was
New Testament time 2,000 years ago and our times are different.") I don't think that
will do.
25. The Popular Hypothetical View
The most popular view of those who do not see the truth of the passage is some form
of a "hypothetical interpretation". For example one man says, "we must go on
because we cannot retreat." Now don't laugh. This passage does not say, "we must
go on because we cannot retreat", nor in the letter is he in doubt for it says precisely

317. "And have fallen away". Now I think this hypothetical view is wrong for several
reasons.
1. It is wrong grammatically. This participle in 6:6 is not conditional. It is not
"If they fall away"-it is "and then fallen away". The Phillip translation of the English
by is correct it translating this verse, "who then fall away".
2. Then it is false exegetically. It does not say "impossible to go back", it says
"impossible to bring back those who have gone back". It doesn’t say that it is
impossible to go back, but rather to "bring back whose who have gone back".
If that is true then it should be obvious that those referred to in verses 4-6 are NOT
Christians. Why did our author begin by saying, "we", "you"; but then in verse 4-6
he uses the third person pronouns, "those", "they", "them." But then in verse 9 he
goes back to the first person and second person but "we" beloved are persuaded better
things of "you".
Then the doctrine of this view is wrong too. All the way from one's profession and
the privileges of the Christian position, it is very possible for us to hear the word of
God, to respond to some of its teaching, then be enlightened to some of its truths, to
some measure to put one's trust in Christ, and to fall away from it. It is very, very
possible to do that.
But it is impossible for a Christian to so sin that he cannot turn to his Father and
confess his sin and find forgiveness. See exposition of 1 John 2:1 for a wonderful
exposition of this precious truth. But you can say concerning the apostates, "it is
impossible to bring you back to the place where you once were. Listen to the word
of God,
Hebrews 12:15. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root
of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. 16. Lest there be
any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat, sold his
birthright. 17. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the
blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it
carefully with tears.
He was rejected for "he found no place of repentance though he sought it with tears."
Esau could never get that birthright back which he lost. And even tears could not
bring back the stolen birthright. John says, "they went out from us because they were
not "OF US". If they were of us, they would have continued with us." They were
with us, and they left us. They made a profession of faith, but they left and John
says, "If they really had been one of us, they would have continued with us".

318. Continuance in the faith is the proof of the reality of faith. So what our author has in
mind is apostasy. He feels that his readers are believers. But in the assembly there
is lethargy and "dullness of heart." It is just possible that some in the assembly have
not yet made their profession real. So he wants to warn them to go on, and make that
decision real. For if they constantly refuse that ultimate committal to Jesus Christ,
the time will come when they will not be able to come, because God's judgment
begins to operate.
Oh how solemn a thing this is. Do you know it is possible to sit in a church and to
listen to the preaching of the Word of God Sunday after Sunday and never respond
and then finally one day judgment begins to operate and you may fall away into
eternal perdition. Yes, that is what our author says in Heb. 10:39,
Heb. 10:39. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that
believe to the saving of the soul.
So Hebrews then has to do with apostasy.
The Tragedy of Benedict Arnold
One of the most tragic things that has ever happened in American history was
Benedict Arnold. Four generals were prominent in the American revolution one of
whom was Benedict Arnold, a traitor. In the book of Revelation there is a great city
and the wall of the city has twelve foundations and in them the names of the twelve
apostles of the Lamb. But Judas was not one of those names. Judas, an apostle of
Jesus Christ and son of perdition. He who possessed so much-an apostle,
enlightened, listened to the Son of God teach, preach, and perform miracles; however
Judas was a son of perdition because he fell away.
This is not a sermon to preach to the world. This is sermon to preach to the church.
This is a sermon to preach to every one who sits at the Lord's table for communion.
What about you? Where do you stand? Have you made that decision, and do you
know you belong to him? Or is it possible that you stand in that place of doubt?
Don’t' breathe another breath until you say “Thank you Lord for dying for me, I take
you as my personal Savior". O how painful it would be for the Holy Spirit to mark
over you, "fallen away". For it is impossible to renew again such unto repentance.
Closing Prayer
Father we thank Thee for these solemn words, for surely they should stir any of us
who are "dull of hearing" on to perfection to possess the Messianic salvation to the
fullest. And if there are any here who have not yet responded to the good news in
Jesus Christ, oh give them no rest nor peace until they rest "in Him". Now may

319. grace, mercy and peace be and abide with all who know him in sincerity until he
comes again, for Jesus sake, Amen.
26. WAS EVER LOVE AS GREAT AS THIS?
Was ever love as great as this?
That God enthroned on high
Should all His heavenly glories miss
To come to earth to die?
Was ever love as great as this?
What man can comprehend
How one with spotless holiness
Can be the sinner's friend?
Was ever love as great as this
Who wore the crown of thorns?
Whose loving eyes were brimmed with tears
While men laughed Him to scorn?
Was ever love like this
That paid the deadly price
To buy unworthy souls from sin
With one full sacrifice?
Was ever love like this
That seeks the erring sheep,
And labors on with burning zeal
In spite of mountains, steep?
Was ever love like this
That pleads for me below,
And as my High Devoted Priest

320. Makes blessings overflow?
Was ever love as great as this?
That words can fully show
The height and length, the depth and width
Of love I long to know?
"In this was manifested the love of God toward us,
because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through Him.
Herein is love,
not that we loved God,
but that He loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
1 John 4:8-9
27. HARALD L. WHITE,
One cause of confusion in this doctrine is the fact
that the New Testament also plainly teaches the doctrine of apostasy.
This word means literally, "to stand back from";
and, in the New Testament context,
it means -- to repudiate the Christ that one has confessed.
Paul uses this term in 2 Thess. 2: 3,
and the idea is also developed in Hebrews and 2 Peter.
It is important to observe that the New Testament
never speaks of salvation in conditional or temporary terms.

321. Those who are in danger of apostasy
are never spoken of as "saved",
or "being saved", or "conditionally saved".
In fact, none of the classic terms for salvation
(i.e., justification, regeneration or "new birth",
reconciliation, redemption, or any other)
is ever used to describe these people.
The word, salvation, is always set up against and contrasted with apostasy.
In the great proof text for apostasy, Hebrews 6,
the writer affirms this very point.
After listing the many strong descriptions of spiritual experience
(once enlightened, tasting the heavenly gift,
made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
tasting the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come),
and after warning them that if, they then, fall away
it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance,
and then he says that he is persuaded better things of them --
things which accompany salvation.
He has plainly said that his readers could have all this
and still not have the things which accompany salvation

322. Some have debated whether these terms must necessarily imply genuine salvation,
and they often stress the words, "tasting," and the conditional, "if"
in order to weaken their force.
But, the very same terms can be and are used to describe an experience
that is not superficial, but genuine.
No, there is only one difference between those who fall away
and those who have "the things which accompany salvation":
those who persevere have salvation.
They hold their "confidence steadfast unto the end."
Salvation means perseverance, and the refrain of Hebrews
is that "we have the full assurance of hope unto the end"
because "we have an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast," who is none other than Jesus,
the pioneer of our faith who entered once for all
into the holy of holies and became the author of eternal salvation,
whereby He is able to save forevermore
those who come unto God by Him
because He is ever living to make intercession for them.
The purpose of these great warning passages
is to remind the readers of the dreadful danger

323. of denying with their lives
what they had professed with their lips.
They might have many of the outward evidences of the Christian life,
but if they did not get beyond the elementary principles
of repentance from dead works, baptisms, and laying on of hands,
they would be like the land which drank in the rain
and brought forth only thorns and briers --
such unfruitful land is rejected, cursed, and burned!
As in the words of Jesus,
the ultimate test of the Christian life is fruit-bearing.
This same principle is laid down by Jesus
in the figure of the vine and the branches in John 15.
The only branches, which are saved are the fruit-bearing ones.
The others are cut off and destroyed.
By a strange twist of reasoning,
some Arminian interpreters have read into the words
"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit"
the idea that such branches were "<I>saved for a little while
because they really were in him".
Of course, the passage is saying exactly the opposite.

324. There is no such thing as a saved branch, which is not fruit-bearing.
No believer is in right relation to Christ unless he bears fruit.
Jesus even goes on to emphasize the two-way abiding
of the fruit-bearing branches, which are saved --
"He that abideth in me and I in him" -- that is the saved branch.
As if to dispel all possible question,
Jesus declares that the rejected branch is not really abiding in Him:
"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered."
Continual abiding in Christ (present tense)
is exactly what perseverance means.
If a person believes for a little while,
but does not have persevering faith,
his condition is worse than if he had never believed at all!
For when a man puts his hand to the plow and looks back,
he has committed the sin of apostasy -- it is unpardonable.
This is certainly what is meant in 2 Peter 2: 20-21,
"For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,
than, after they have known it,
to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them."

325. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and
that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is
farmed receives the blessing of God.
1. BARNES, "For the earth - The design of the apostle by this comparison is apparent. It is
to show the consequences of not making a proper use of all the privileges which Christians have,
and the effect which would follow should those privileges fail to be improved. He says, it is like
the earth. If that absorbs the rain, and produces an abundant harvest, it receives the divine
blessing. If not, it is cursed, or is worthless. The design is to show that “if” Christians should
become like the barren earth they would be cast away and lost.
Which drinketh in the rain - A comparison of the earth as if it were “thirsty” - a
comparison that is common in all languages.
That cometh oft upon it - The frequent showers that fall. The object is to describe fertile
land which is often watered with the rains of heaven. The comparison of “drinking in” the rain is
designed to distinguish a mellow soil which receives the rain, from hard or rocky land where it
runs off.
And bringeth forth herbs - The word “herbs” we now limit in common discourse to the
small vegetables which die every year, and which are used as articles of food, or to such in
general as have not ligneous or hard woody stems. The word here means anything which is
cultivated in the earth as an article of food, and includes all kinds of grains.
Meet for them - Useful or appropriate to them.
By whom it is dressed - Margin, “for whom.” The meaning is, on account of whom it is
cultivated. The word “dressed” here means “cultivated:” compare Gen_2:15.
Receiveth blessing from God - Receives the divine approbation. It is in accordance with
his wishes and plans, and he smiles upon it and blesses it. He does not curse it as he does the
desolate and barren soil. The language is figurative, and must be used to denote what is an
object of the divine favor. God delights in the harvests which the earth brings forth; in the effects
of dews and rains and suns in causing beauty and abundance; and on such fields of beauty and
plenty he looks down with pleasure. This does not mean, as I suppose, that he renders it more
fertile and abundant, for:
(1) It cannot be shown that it is true that God thus rewards the earth for its fertility; and,
(2) Such an interpretation would not accord well with the scope of the passage.
The design is to show that a Christian who makes proper use of the means of growing in grace
which God bestows upon him, and who does not apostatize, meets with the divine favor and
approbation. His course accords with the divine intention and wishes, and he is a man on whom
God will smile - as he seems to do on the fertile earth.
2. CLARKE, "For the earth which drinketh in the rain - As much as if he had said: In
giving up such apostates as utterly incurable, we act as men do in cultivating their fields; for as
the ground, which drinketh in the rain by which the providence of God waters it, brings forth

326. fruit to compensate the toil of the tiller, and continues to be cultivated, God granting his blessing
to the labors of the husbandman; so,
3. GILL, "For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it,.... Here
the apostle illustrates what he had before been speaking of, by a simile taken from the earth, to
which men in general answer, who are of the earth; earthy and unregenerate men and carnal
professors are of earthly minds; they are like the earth when it was rude and without form, and
cursed by God; and are as insensible as the earth: but the earth is particularly distinguished into
that which is fruitful, and which is unfruitful; and the former is spoken of in this verse, to which
true believers in Christ agree; who are the good ground, into which the seed of God's word is
received, and brings forth fruit; these are God's tillage or husbandry: and the "rain" that comes
upon them may signify either the grace of Christ, which, like rain, is an instance of his
sovereignty, and what he alone can give, and not the vanities of the Gentiles; and which he gives
to persons undeserving of it; and which refreshes, revives, and makes fruitful: or else Christ
himself, Psa_72:6 whose first coming was like rain much desired, and long expected; and so is
his spiritual coming very desirable, delightful, refreshing, and fructifying: or rather his Gospel,
Deu_32:2 which comes from above, and is the means of softening hard hearts, of reviving
distressed and disconsolate minds, and of making barren souls fruitful; which is done by coming
"oft" upon them, at first conversion, and afterwards, alluding to the former and latter rain; and
may refer to the receiving of more grace, even grace for grace, out of Christ's fulness, through the
ministration of the word, which is drank in by faith, under the influence of the Spirit of God:
and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed; God the Father, who is
the husbandman, and ministers of the Gospel, who arc labourers under him; and where the
Gospel comes in power, it brings forth the fruits of the Spirit, the fruits of righteousness, the
fruits meet for repentance; and which are to the glory of God the Father, and are answerable to
the means be makes use of, the ministry of the word and ordinances; and no man can bring
forth fruit without Christ, his Spirit, and grace: and such earth, or those signified by it,
receiveth blessing from God; both antecedent to all this, and which is the cause of
fruitfulness; and as consequent upon it, for such receive more grace, even all the blessings of
grace, and at last the blessing of glory; and all this being in a way of receiving, shows it to be of
gift, and of pure grace.
4. FUDGE, " The earth or ground which drinketh in the rain and then bears produce meet
or fitting and appropriate for those who have worked, receiveth blessing from God. On the
other hand ground which produces thorns and briers or thistles proves itself unworthy of
blessing and is rejected (the same word translated "reprobate" in II Corinthians 13:57) for
cultivation. Instead it is burned over, perhaps to prevent the further spread of briers to the
adjoining land. A double meaning is certainly intended here, for such unproductive and
evil men will meet their end in the burning of hell (see a similar thought in Matthew
3:10,12; 13:30; John 15:6).
5. JAMISON, "the earth — rather as Greek (no article), “land.”
which drinketh in — Greek, “which has drunk in”; not merely receiving it on the surface.
Answering to those who have enjoyed the privilege of Christian experiences, being in some sense
renewed by the Holy Ghost; true alike of those who persevere and those who “fall away.”

327. the rain that cometh oft upon it — not merely failing over it, or towards it, but falling
and resting upon it so as to cover it (the Greek genitive, not the accusative). The “oft” implies, on
God’s part, the riches of His abounding grace (“coming” spontaneously, and often); and, on the
apostate’s part, the willful perversity whereby he has done continual despite to the oft-repeated
motions of the Spirit. Compare “How often,” Mat_23:37. The rain of heaven falls both on the
elect and the apostates.
bringeth forth — as the natural result of “having drunk in the rain.” See above.
herbs — provender.
meet — fit. Such as the master of the soil wishes. The opposite of “rejected,” Heb_6:8.
by whom — rather as Greek, “for (that is, on account of) whom,” namely, the lords of the
soil; not the laborers, as English Version, namely, God and His Christ (1Co_3:9). The heart of
man is the earth; man is the dresser; herbs are brought forth meet, not for the dresser, by whom,
but for God, the owner of the soil, for whom it is dressed. The plural is general, the owners
whoever they may be; here God.
receiveth — “partaketh of.”
blessing — fruitfulness. Contrast God’s curse causing unfruitfulness (Gen_3:17, Gen_3:18);
also spiritually (Jer_17:5-8).
from God — Man’s use of means is vain unless God bless (1Co_3:6, 1Co_3:7).
6. CALVIN, "For the earth, etc. This is a similitude most appropriate to excite
a desire to make progress in due time, for as the earth cannot bring
forth a good crop in harvest except it causes the seed as soon as it is
sown to germinate, so if we desire to bring forth good fruit, as soon
as the Lord sows his word, it ought to strike roots in us without
delay; for it cannot be expected to fructify, if it be either choked or
perish. But as the similitude is very suitable, so it must be wisely
applied to the design of the Apostle.
The earth, he says, which by sucking in the rain immediately produces a
blade suitable to the seed sown, at length by God's blessing produces a
ripe crop; so they who receive the seed of the Gospel into their hearts
and bring forth genuine shoots, will always make progress until they
produce ripe fruit. On the contrary, the earth, which after culture and
irrigation brings, forth nothing but thorns, affords no hope of a
harvest; nay, the more that grows which is its natural produce, the
more hopeless is the case. Hence the only remedy the husbandman has is
to burn up the noxious and useless weeds. So they who destroy the seed
of the Gospel either by their indifference or by corrupt affections, so
as to manifest no sign of good progress in their life, clearly show
themselves to be reprobates, from whom no harvest can be expected.
The Apostle then not only speaks here of the fruit of the Gospel, but
also exhorts us promptly and gladly to embrace it, and he further tells
us, that the blade appears presently after the seed is sown, and that
growing follows the daily irrigations. Some render thotanen eutheton "a

328. seasonable shoot," others, "a shoot meet;" either meaning suits the
place; the first refers to time, the second to quality. [100] The
allegorical meanings with which interpreters have here amused
themselves, I pass by, as they are quite foreign to the object of the
writer.
7. unknown, “There are many passages from which we can take comfort that we are secure
in Christ, but lest we become complacent we have these verses to humble that pride. We
should continually cultivate a need for God’s grace and mercy in our lives so we are forever
reminded how unworthy we are of this blessing of God’s favor. All of us are hell deserving
and have no right even to expect redemption. But we can take comfort in the fact that God
has chosen the weak things of this world to confound the wise. "All the father has given to
me shall come unto me and he that comes to me I shall in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). I
think it is the natural tendency of a humble believer to be sensitive to failure and to put
himself in the category of this verse or even of the infamous blasphemy of the Holy Spirit of
which our own Lord speaks. But if we look at the lives of those in scripture who have failed
(Peter, Thomas, David, et al), we can see it is true for both believer and unbeliever that, "he
who comes to me I will in no wise cast out." This section is reminiscent of Charles Haddon
Spurgeon’s view of Matthew 5:29-30. Here Christ states, "If your right eye causes you to
sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than
for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it
off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole
body to go into hell."
Evidently it was quite common in his day as it is not for preachers to water down this
passage. It is not uncommon to hear commentators say that we are not to take this literally
but only in a spiritual sense for surely God does not want us to deform ourselves. C.H.’s
supposed response to this line of thinking was to say, don’t be so sure! For it is imminently
clear throughout scripture that we are to hate sin. These verses are only speaking of the
degree with which we should hate sin for we can hate it enough. Whether this story is true
or not remains to be seen, but the wisdom of it is great. Going back to the verses at hand,
we shouldn’t intend to use any of this analysis to heap coals of fire onto the heads of others.
But there is one sure bit of advice which we would give to believer and unbeliever alike:
throw yourselves upon the mercy of God today! It will not return void.
The rain represents all of those things which God has sent in verses 4-5 to convince men of
the truth of the salvation that Jesus provides. This rain has been offered to all. But it has a
different effect in some areas than it has in others.
In some areas, it bears fruit and is blessed by God. In other places, it bears thorns and is
destroyed by God.
8. preceptaustin, “To review remember that there are 4 Interpretative Views of Hebrews
6:4-8...
1). Saved, but lose salvation thru deliberate apostasy:

329. The Whole Counsel of God refutes the idea that one can lose his salvation. (Read
passages like Jn 10:27, 28, 29, 30; Ro 8:35, 36, 37, Ep 1:13, 14,4:30, Php 1:6, He
10:14, 1Pe 1:3, 4, 5- see notes on following passages Romans
8:35; 8:36; 8:37; 8:39; Ephesians 1:13, 1:14; Ephesians 4:30;Philippians
1:6; Hebrews 10:14; 1 Peter 1:3; 1:4; 1:5.)
2). Professors but not truly saved.
They clearly see the Truth ("enlightened"), experience the power to a degree
("tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come"), like Judas
Iscariot (Mt 10:1-8) but they are like the rocky soil (see Lk 8:13), soil with thorns
(Lk 8:14), who for a time conform to truth but in face of persecution (Lk 8:13),
utterly and completely renounce the faith, falling away to perdition (Hebrews
3:12-note, Hebrews 10:39-note, Jn 17:12) (cf. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews,
pp. 118-125).
3). Saved persons who have fallen beyond repentance:
Falling into sin so that they are at the point of divine chastisement, having gone so
far they cannot repent again of their sin. That they lose all their rewards.
4). Hypothetical case:
The proponents of this view feel that writer is presenting this hypothetical example
to illustrate the folly of apostasy.
Ground that drinks the rain - The contrasting issue is either usefulness or worthlessness. The
initial advantage described is the same and it is only the final result that is different. Agricultural
illustrations are frequent in Scripture (Isaiah 5:1-7- notes [Israel compared to a vineyard
cultivated by God and yet did not yield fruit] ;Isaiah 28:23-29; Ezek 19:10-14 [Judah prospered
like a luxuriant vine but God plucked the vine in judgment]]; Mt 3:10 [Divine judgment >
fruitless persons would be destroyed like fruitless trees]; Matthew 7:16 see note).
John Piper writes concerning these verses that...
The two fields represent two kinds of persons: one a fruitful person. The other a fruitless
person. Three words point to the final condemnation and lostness of the fruitless person. The
fruitless field is worthless (Cf. Ro 1:28-note; 2Cor 13:5-7; 1Cor 9:24-25, 26-27; 2 Timothy
3:8-note; Titus 1:16-note - these verses all use adokimos - see notes Hebrews 6:8 ), and it is
about to be cursed, and it's end (not means but end) is burning. Worthless, cursed, destined
for burning. That is the language of final condemnation...The whole context tells us that
more than a simple change of mind is involved (in their "falling away" in Hebrews 6:6).
What's involved is a life that is persistently fruitless. That's the point of verse 7 -- the
fruitless field. What brings the curse of God down on a person in this text is that they have
drunk the rain of God's goodness year after year but have not brought forth any fruit.
The issue of apostasy is not primarily doctrinal, but practical. It's the problem of Hebrews
5:14 (note) where they are unwilling to put there faith into practice, and so their faculties
are getting dull, right and wrong are becoming hazy, and the writer says, if you don't stop

330. drifting (Hebrews 2:1-note) and neglecting your salvation (Hebrews 2:3 note) and forsaking
the assembling of yourselves together (Hebrews 10:25-note) you are going to be hardened
by the deceitfulness of sin and fall away from the living God (Hebrews 3:12-note; Heb
3:13-note).(See Related Discussion: The Deceitfulness of Sin)
What exposes a person to the danger of eternal loss in this text is the persistent failure to
exercise the organ of faith in pumping the blood of obedience (see notes Hebrews
3:18; 4:11; 5:7; 5:8, 5:9; 10:36; 12:14). The issue at every point in Hebrews
5:11 to Hebrews 6:12 is the neglect of practical holiness not the abandonment doctrinal
orthodoxy (as important as that is). And the falling away referred to in Hebrews 6:6 is the
point at which the heart becomes so hardened and indifferent that it is beyond help any
more.
If you allow yourself to drift down the river of sin with no zealous pursuit of holiness and
growth in grace, there will come a point of no return." This is the great folly of those who
profess to be Christians but live a carnal life thinking that they will clean things up in their
old age.
I've told the story once before of the vulture who spotted the corpse of a fox on a big hunk
of ice floating down the river toward Niagara Falls. He flies to the ice, lands and begins to
eat the fox. He watches the falls approaching and hears the warnings of danger, but he tells
himself that he has wings and is free and does not need to pay attention to such warnings.
He is destined for the sky. At the last minute he finishes his feast and spreads his wings but
he can't fly because his talons have frozen in the ice and he is dragged over the falls to his
destruction.
And so it will be with people who have heard the warnings of scripture to abandon their
worldly lusts and pursue holiness, but who say, "I have wings, I am a Christian. I can fly
anytime I want to." The day will come when they may try and will not be able to repent
because they are so hardened and addicted to the world they can't even feel one genuine
spiritual affection (referring to Esau's regret without repentance - example of exposure to the
Truth and yet their hardness - Hebrews 12:17 note). (See Piper's full pithy discussion The
Doctrine of Perseverance)
F B Hole (Biographical Note) writes that...
The contrast in verses 7 and 8 is not, you notice, between ground which this season is
fruitful and the same ground which another season is unfruitful, but between ground which
is essentially good and another piece which is essentially bad. The very form of this
illustration supports the explanation just given of verses 4 to 6. Judas enjoyed "the rain that
cometh oft," yet he only brought forth thorns and briars and was rejected. (Hebrews
Commentary Notes)
Expositor's Bible Commentary writes that...
The process is illustrated from agriculture. There is land that frequently drinks in rain and as
a result brings forth a crop. The rain comes first. The land does not produce the crop of
itself. The spiritual parallel should not be overlooked. The word translated "a crop" (botane)

331. is a general term for herbage; it does not mean any specific crop. "Useful to those for whom
it is farmed" means that the beneficiaries are people in general and not only those who
actually work on the farm. This land, then, receives God's blessing. (Gaebelein, F, Editor:
Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament. Zondervan Publishing)
8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is
worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end
it will be burned.
1. BARNES, "But that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected - That is, by the
farmer or owner. It is abandoned as worthless. The force of the comparison here is, that God
would thus deal with those who professed to be renewed if they should be like such a worthless
field.
And is nigh unto cursing - Is given over to execration, or is abandoned as useless. The
word “cursing” means devoting to destruction. The sense is not that the owner would curse it “in
words,” or imprecate a curse on it, as a man does who uses profane language, but the language is
taken here from the more common use of the word “curse” - as meaning to devote to
destruction. So the land would be regarded by the farmer. It would be valueless, and would be
given up to be overrun with fire.
Whose end is to be burned - Referring to the land. The allusion here is to the common
practice among the Oriental and Roman agriculturists of burning bad and barren lands. An
illustration of this is afforded by Pliny. “There are some who burn the stubble on the field,
chiefly upon the authority of Virgil; the principal reason for which is, that they may burn the
seeds of weeds;” Nat. Hist. xviii. 30. The authority of Virgil, to which Pliny refers, may be found
in Georg. i. 84:
“Saepe etiam steriles incendere profuit agros,
Atque levem stipulam ciepitantibus urere flammis.”
“It is often useful to set fire to barren lands, and burn the light stubble in crackling flames.”
The purpose of burning land in this way was to render it available for useful purposes; or to
destroy noxious weeds, and thorns, and underbrush. But the object of the apostle requires him
to refer merely to the “fact” of the burning, and to make use of it as an illustration of an act of
punishment. So, Paul says, it would be in the dealings of God with his people. If after all
attempts to secure holy living, and to keep them in the paths of salvation, they should evince
none of the spirit of piety, all that could be done would be to abandon them to destruction as
such a field is overrun with fire. It is not supposed that a true Christian will fall away and be lost,
but we may remark.

332. (1) That there are many professed Christians who seem to be in danger of such ruin. They
resist all attempts to produce in them the fruits of good living as really as some pieces of ground
do to secure a harvest. Corrupt desires, pride, envy, uncharitableness, covetousness, and vanity
are as certainly seen in their lives as thorns and briars are on a bad soil. Such briars and thorns
you may cut down again and again; you may strike the plow deep and seem to tear away all their
roots; you may sow the ground with the choicest grain, but soon the briars and the thorns will
again appear, and be as troublesome as ever. No pains will subdue them, or secure a harvest. So
with many a professed Christian. He may be taught, admonished, rebuked, and afflicted, but all
will not do. There is essential and unsubdued perverseness in his soul, and despite all the
attempts to make him a holy man, the same bad passions are continually breaking out anew.
(2) Such professing Christians are “nigh unto cursing.” They are about to be abandoned
forever. Unsanctified and wicked in their hearts, there is nothing else which can be done for
them, and they must be lost. What a thought! A professing Christian “nigh unto cursing!” A
man, the efforts for, whose salvation are about to cease forever, and who is to he given over as
incorrigible and hopeless! For such a man - in the church or out of it - we should have
compassion. We have some compassion for an ox which is so stubborn that he will not work -
and which is to be put to death; for a horse which is so fractious that he cannot be broken, and
which is to be killed; for cattle which are so unruly that they cannot be restrained, and which are
only to be fattened for the slaughter; and even for a field which is desolate and barren, and
which is given up to be overrun with briars and thorns; but how much more should we pity a
man all the efforts for whose salvation fail, and who is soon to be abandoned to everlasting
destruction!
2. CLARKE, "That which beareth thorns and briers is rejected - That is: The land
which, notwithstanding the most careful cultivation, receiving also in due times the early and
latter rain, produces nothing but thorns and briers, or noxious weeds of different kinds, is
rejected, αδοκιµος, is given up as unimprovable; its briers, thorns, and brushwood burnt down;
and then left to be pastured on by the beasts of the field. This seems to be the custom in
husbandry to which the apostle alludes. The nature of the case prevents us from supposing that
he alludes to the custom of pushing and burning, in order to farther fertilization. This practice
has been common from very early times: -
Saepe Etiam Steriles Incendere Profuit Agros;
Atque Levem Stipulam Crepitantibus Urere Flammis.
Virg. Geor. I., 5:84.
Long Practice Has A Sure Improvement Found,
With Kindled Fires To Burn The Barren Ground;
When The Light Stubble To The Flames Resign’d,
Is Driven Along, And Crackles In The Wind.
Dryden.
But this, I say the circumstances of the case prevent us from supposing to be intended.
Is nigh unto cursing - It is acknowledged, almost on all hands, that this epistle was written
before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This verse is in my opinion a proof of it, and
here I suppose the apostle refers to that approaching destruction; and perhaps he has this all
along in view, but speaks of it covertly, that he might not give offense.
There is a good sense in which all these things may be applied to the Jews at large, who were
favored by our Lord’s ministry and miracles. They were enlightened by his preaching; tasted of

333. the benefits of the heavenly gift - the Christian religion established among them; saw many of
their children and relatives made partakers of the Holy Ghost; tasted the good word of God, by
the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham; and saw the almighty power of God exerted, in
working a great variety of miracles. Yet, after being convinced that never man spake as this man,
and that none could do those miracles which he did, except God were with him; after having
followed him in thousands, for three years, while he preached to them the Gospel of the
kingdom of God; they fell away from all this, crucified him who, even in his sufferings as well as
his resurrection, was demonstrated by miracles to be the Son of God; and then to vindicate their
unparalleled wickedness, endeavored to make him a public example, by reproaches and
blasphemies. Therefore their state, which had received much moral cultivation from Moses, the
prophets, Christ, and his apostles; and now bore nothing but the most vicious fruits, pride,
unbelief, hardness of heart, contempt of God’s word and ordinances, blasphemy, and rebellion;
was rejected - reprobated, of God; was nigh unto cursing - about to be cast off from the Divine
protection; and their city and temple were shortly to be burnt up by the Roman armies. Thus the
apostle, under the case of individuals, points out the destruction that was to come upon this
people in general, and which actually took place about seven years after the writing of this
epistle! And this appears to be the very subject which the apostle has in view in the parallel
solemn passages, Heb_10:26-31; and, viewed in this light, much of their obscurity and difficulty
vanishes away.
3. GILL, "But that which beareth thorns and briers,.... To which wicked men answer;
who are unfruitful and unprofitable, and are hurtful, pricking and grieving, by their wicked lives
and conversations, by their bitter and reproachful words, and by their violent and cruel
persecutions; and particularly carnal professors, and especially apostates, such as before
described; for to such earth, professors of religion may be compared, who are worldly, slothful,
defrauding and overreaching, carnal and wanton; as also heretical men, and such as turn from
the faith, deny it, and persecute the saints: and the things or actions produced by them are aptly
expressed by "thorns and briers"; such as errors, heresies, and evil works of all kinds; and which
show that the seed of the word was never sown in their hearts, and that that which they bear, or
throw out, is natural to them: and such earth is
rejected; as such men are, both by the church, and by God himself; or "reprobate", as they are
concerning the faith, and to every good work; and are given up by God to a reprobate mind: and
is "nigh unto cursing"; and such men are cursed already by the law, being under its sentence of
curse and condemnation; and are nigh to the execution of it; referring either to the destruction
of Jerusalem, which was near at hand; or to the final judgment, when they shall hear, Go, ye
cursed:
whose end is to be burned; with everlasting and unquenchable fire, in the lake which burns
with fire and brimstone.
4. HENRY, "Their misery is exemplified by a proper similitude, taken from the ground that
after much cultivation brings forth nothing but briers and thorns; and therefore is nigh unto
cursing, and its end is to be burned, Heb_6:8. To give this the greater force here is observed the
difference that there is between the good ground and the bad, that these contraries, being set
one over against the other, illustrate each other. First Here is a description of the good ground:
It drinketh in the rain that cometh often upon it. Believers do not only taste of the word of God,
but they drink it in; and this good ground bringeth forth fruit answerable to the cost laid out, for
the honour of Christ and the comfort of his faithful ministers, who are, under Christ, dressers of

334. the ground. And this fruit-field or garden receives the blessing. God declares fruitful Christians
blessed, and all wise and good men account them blessed: they are blessed with increase of
grace, and with further establishment and glory at last. Secondly, Here is the different case of
the bad ground: It bears briers and thorns; it is not only barren of good fruit, but fruitful in that
which is bad, briers and thorns, fruitful in sin and wickedness, which are troublesome and
hurtful to all about them, and will be most so to sinners themselves at last; and then such
ground is rejected. God will concern himself no more about such wicked apostates; he will let
them alone, and cast them out of his care; he will command the clouds that they rain no more
upon them. Divine influences shall be restrained; and that is not all, but such ground is nigh
unto cursing; so far is it from receiving the blessing, that a dreadful curse hangs over it, though
as yet, through the patience of God, the curse is not fully executed. Lastly, Its end is to be
burned. Apostasy will be punished with everlasting burnings, the fire that shall never be
quenched. This is the sad end to which apostasy leads, and therefore Christians should go on
and grow in grace, lest, if they do not go forward, they should go backward, till they bring
matters to this woeful extremity of sin and misery.
5. JAMISON, "that which — rather as Greek (no article), “But if it (the ‘land,’ Heb_6:7)
bear”; not so favorable a word as “bringeth forth,” Heb_6:7, said of the good soil.
briers — Greek, “thistles.”
rejected — after having been tested; so the Greek implies. Reprobate ... rejected by the Lord.
nigh unto cursing — on the verge of being given up to its own barrenness by the just curse
of God. This “nigh” softens the severity of the previous “It is impossible,” etc. (Heb_6:4,
Heb_6:6). The ground is not yet actually cursed.
whose — “of which (land) the end is unto burning,” namely, with the consuming fire of the
last judgment; as the land of Sodom was given to “brimstone, salt, and burning” (Deu_29:23);
so as to the ungodly (Mat_3:10, Mat_3:12; Mat_7:19; Mat_13:30; Joh_15:6; 2Pe_3:10).
Jerusalem, which had so resisted the grace of Christ, was then nigh unto cursing, and in a few
years was burned. Compare Mat_22:7, “burned up their city” an earnest of a like fate to all
willful abusers of God’s grace (Heb_10:26, Heb_10:27).
6. Expositor's Bible Commentary writes that...
This land then, producing only what is worthless, awaits the curse. "Is in danger of being
cursed" might give the impression that the land came close to being cursed but just escaped.
The author seems rather to be saying that at the moment of which he speaks the curse has
not yet fallen, certain though it is. Such a field in the end "will be burned." Some
commentators think the writer knew little of agriculture, for the burning of the field was not
a curse but rather a source of blessing as it got rid of the weeds and so prepared for a good
crop. But whatever his knowledge of farming, he had a valid point. Land that produced
nothing but weeds faced nothing but fire. The warning to professing Christians whose lives
produce only the equivalent of weeds is plain. (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible
Commentary 6-Volume New Testament. Zondervan Publishing)
7. F B Meyer notes that...

335. The writer of this Epistle is eager to lead his readers from first principles to that strong meat
which was befitting for those of mature growth; and, as he proceeds to do so, it was as
though he were arrested by a sudden thought of some who had recently fallen away from the
faith.
In the awful stress of trial which accompanied the fall of Jerusalem, the Hebrew Christians,
who were still dwelling in Palestine, were strongly tempted to apostatize. Some, indeed, had
done so. But can we really consider that they ever were true Christians? They went out,
because they had never been truly of. They had been enlightened as to the doctrines
of Christianity; but the enlightenment had been of their head rather than of their heart. They
had tasted of the heavenly hopes, anticipations, and joys of the Gospel message, without
really belonging to the Household of Faith. But, notwithstanding all, they had gone back.
It is impossible to renew such to repentance, whilst they go on living as they do, crucifying
the Son of God by their vicious and cowardly course of action, and putting Him to an open
shame. Notice that whilst, suggested by Bishop Westcott, of the margin of the r.v. It is
the solution of the great difficulty which has perplexed many timid souls. The impossibility
of renewal is only for those who persist in their evil ways. Abandon your sins, and God will
restore you to your old place.
It cannot be too clearly emphasized that this text does not say that backsliders cannot be
restored to the favor and forgiveness of God; but that they cannot be restored so long as they
cling to the things which had been the sources of their declension. (Meyer, F. B. Our Daily
Homily)
8. Philip Mauro, “The contrast between ground that produces herbage fit for the use of
those by whom it is tilled, and ground that brings forth thorns and briers, is apparently
given as an illustration of the two ages we have been discussing, namely, the present evil
age, which is like the ground that bears thorns and briers, and the age to come, upon which
the frequent rain of Heaven, the blessing of God, descends, and which brings forth fruit to
those who till it.
The present age is “rejected,” being nigh unto a curse. The end of the things it
produces is “to be burned” (literally “for burning”). The coming age, on the other hand,
receives blessing from God. The mountains of Zion are in the habitable earth to come;
and it there that God commandeth “the blessing,” which descends like the dew of Hermon
(Psa. 133:3). This illustration, therefore, furnishes another reason why we should
studiously withdraw our affections from the world, and the things that are in the world,
and should set them upon the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the Right
Hand of God, waiting until He shall appear “in glory” (Col. 3:1-4).
This is entirely a Divine view and estimation of the present age and its things. That
this age is “nigh to a curse,” and that the boasted products of its scientific civilization are

336. “thorns and briers,” whose end is “for burning,” is a fact which few Christians believe, and
fewer still act upon. Yet this is a fact which the Word of God sets forth with unusual
fullness and clearness. “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty
angels, in flaming fire” (2 Thess. 1:7-8). “The harvest is the end of the age; and the
reapers are the angels. As, therefore, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so
shall it be AT THE END OF THIS AGE” (Matt. 13:40). “Whose fan is in His Hand, and
He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner, but He will burn
up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt. 3:12).
In view of these clear warnings of what will surely take place “at the end of the age,”
it is sad indeed to see the time, energies, and money of Christians expended in raising a
crop of thorns and briers to feed the flames of that day, when the fire shall try every man’s
work of what sort it is. For the fire-test will be applied to the works of those who are on
the true Foundation, as it is written: “For other foundation can no man lay than that is
laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon THIS FOUNDATION, gold, silver,
precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest of what sort
it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, ye shall RECEIVE A
REWARD. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall RECEIVE A
REWARD. If any man’s work SHALL BE BURNED, he shall SUFFER LOSS: but he
himself shall be saved, yet so as by (through) fire” (1 Cor. 3:11-15).
The case of Lot illustrates this Scripture. Being a “righteous” man, he was
identified, we may be sure, with all the commendable enterprises set on foot for the
betterment of Sodom and its citizens. But whatever works he built, they were all
consumed in the flames of judgment; and he himself was saved only as through fire.
It should not be overlooked that Lot was given a special warning and opportunity to
get clear of Sodom. That warning and opportunity came when he was taken prisoner with
the people of Sodom, and was rescued by Abraham. On their return, they were met by the
King of Sodom, and also by Melchizedek, the King of Salem (Gen. 14:17-18). Then it was
that Abraham refused to accept even a gift from the King of Sodom. Lot must have
witnessed the incident, and must have understood the testimony of Abraham.
Nevertheless, Lot parted company with Abraham, and returned to Sodom, perhaps
deceiving himself with the thought of the many opportunities for “doing good” existing
there; and the next reference to him states that “Lot sat in the gate of Sodom” (Gen. 19:1),
that is to say, occupied an official post or honor and authority in the city.
So Lot stands as a type of the Christian who takes part in the affairs of the world,
and attains distinction therein, but whose works are thorns and briers. Abraham, on the
other hand, represents the ground that receives blessing from God; for it is written that
Melchizedek “BLESSED him and said, BLESSED be Abram of the Most High God,

337. Possessor of Heaven and earth” (Gen. 14:20). The circumstance that Melchizedek
“blessed” Abraham is recited in Hebrews 7:1.
The bringing forth by the earth of thorns and briers, is not a normal thing. It is
wholly abnormal, being the result of the curse which Adam, by his sin, brought upon the
ground. Indeed, it is the thing which specially bears witness to the fact that a curse rests
upon the ground. Therefore, we are confronted at this point with truth that is
fundamental, truth that lies at the very bottom of the evil state of human society. When
God set the earth in order for the occupation of mankind, He said, “Let the earth BRING
FORTH grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind.” And
God, after creating the man, put him in the garden to dress it and keep it. Thus, so long as
creation was in its normal state, the earth brought forth herbs, meet for them by whom it
was dressed. But when, by Adam, “sin entered the world” (Rom. 5:12), God cursed the
ground for his sake, and said, “Thorns also and thistles shall it BRING FORTH unto thee”
(Gen. 3:17-18).
The fact, therefore, that the ground brings forth thorns and briers is a testimony
that the man who dresses it is still under the dominion of sin and death. “Thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth UNTO THEE,” that is, unto Adam, the natural man, now
indwelt by sin. So long as the earth is possessed and occupied by the race of Adam, the
natural man, it will bring forth thorns and briers. But when, in the age to come, creation
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the GLORY of the
children of God—those “born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God”—then it will no longer bring forth thorns and briers, but will yield herbs
meet for those by whom it is dressed.
The production of thorns and briers is, therefore, the characteristic of the natural
man, and of this present age. Hence, when the Second Man, the Lord out of Heaven, came
in the Body of His Flesh prepared for Him, wherein He offered Himself a Sacrifice for SIN,
He was crowned with THORNS, signifying that He Himself bore the curse. Having borne
the curse, He is qualified to deliver the purchased possession from the effects of the curse.
In the age to come He will wear, not the crown of thorns, but the “many crowns” which
show Him to be “the Blessed and only Potentate, the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF
LORDS"”(Rev. 19:12, 16; 1 Tim. 6:15). Therefore, the choice now offered to the saints of
God is between the age in which their Lord and Savior was crowned with thorns, and that
in which He will wear the many diadems.
The land of Canaan—the rest and the inheritance (Deut. 12:9) promised by the
Lord to the Israelites—is put before us as a type of the rest of God to come. God said of
that land, “But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys and
DRINKETH WATER of the RAIN of HEAVEN” (Deut. 11:11). Thus it corresponds to

338. the ground described in Hebrews 6:7, “which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it.”
It also represents the land which “receiveth blessing from God,” for the passage in
Deuteronomy continues: “A land which the Lord thy God careth for. The Eyes of the
Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the
year” (Deut. 11:12). The promise of rain as symbolizing blessing from God is also given in
Deuteronomy 32:2: “My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My speech shall distil as the dew,
as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as showers upon the grass.” Also in
Deuteronomy 33:28: “Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be
upon a land of corn and wine; also His heavens shall drop down dew.”
The song of the vineyard in Isaiah 5 shows that, even under the best possible
conditions, the natural man cannot bring forth fruit that is meet for God. Israel was a
vineyard which the Lord Himself had planted, and which He tended. “For the vineyard of
the Lord of Hosts, is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah, His pleasant plant” (Isa.
5:7). He chose for the site of His vineyard “a very fruitful hill, and He fenced it, and
gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in
the midst of it, and also made a wine press therein: and He looked that it should bring forth
grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes” (verse 2). There was nothing more that He
could have done for Israel; for He asks, “What could have been done more to My vineyard,
that I have not done in it?” (verse 4). After showing them His mighty works in delivering
them out of Egypt; after driving out their enemies from the Promised Land and planting
them therein; after giving them the law, and the covenants, and the priesthood, and the
sacrifices, and the promises; after sending His prophets, “rising up early and sending
them,” to call them from their evil ways, what was there more that He could have done to
His vineyard? We may take as a concise explanation of this parable the brief statement
found in Hebrews 7:19, “For the law made nothing perfect,” literally, brought nothing to
full-growth; or that in Romans 8:3-4, “For what the law COULD NOT DO, in that it was
WEAK THROUGH (because of) THE FLESH, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh (in order), that the righteous
requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk, not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit.”
The reason for the failure of Israel, even under the holy law of God, to produce the
fruits of righteousness, is the condition of “the flesh.” It was because of the hopeless
corruption of human nature that the Lord of the vineyard “looked for judgment, but
behold, oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry” (Isa. 5:7).
Therefore, the Lord pronounced judgment, saying, “And now, go to; I will tell you
what I will do to My vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up;
and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down: And I will lay it waste: it
shall not be pruned nor digged: but there shall come up BRIERS and THORNS; I will also
command the clouds that they RAIN NO RAIN UPON IT” (Isa. 5:5-6). This passage

339. connects the song of the vineyard with the sixth of Hebrews. Moreover, the Lord Himself
applied the song of the vineyard in Matthew 21:33-45. That Scripture contains the
parable of the vineyard, and the Lord, in uttering that parable, uses almost the identical
words of Isaiah 5 in describing the vineyard. The parable shows that the Lord’s judgment
on His vineyard was put into execution only after God had sent unto them His Son, saying,
“They will reverence My Son”; but the husbandmen, when they saw Him, said, “This is the
Heir; come, let us kill Him, and seize on His inheritance.” And the parable also shows that
the “inheritance” is the Kingdom of God; for the Lord said, “Therefore say I unto you, The
Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation BRINGING FORTH THE
FRUITS THEREOF.”
So Israel became, and still remains, as ground that is rejected, that is nigh to a
curse, bringing forth thorns and briers, whose end is to be burned. The hedge has been
broken down, and the children of Israel have been scattered among the nations of the
earth, to take part in their unprofitable doings.
But deliverance from the curse is promised to them through the Son of God, coming
to His vineyard, and submitting Himself to the wicked will of the husbandmen, and being
Himself made a curse. In Isaiah 53, He is described as the Lamb brought to the slaughter,
wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and pouring out His Soul unto
death. Then in Isaiah 55, is described the deliverance accomplished and through the
Cross of the Redeemer, when “the mountains and the hills shall break forth—into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of THE THORN shall come up
the fir tree, and instead of THE BRIER shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the
Lord for a name, and for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Isa. 5:12-13). That
will be also a time of the rain coming down, as indicated by verse 10: “As the rain cometh
down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and
maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.”
This speaks of a land that receives blessing from God, drinking in the rain that cometh oft
upon it, and bringeth forth, in place of thorns and briers, herbs meet for them by whom it
is dressed.
The Epistle to the Hebrews gives the names of a number of persons who were true
pilgrims, holding fast their confession to the end. In contrast with these, but one person is
named. That unenviable prominence is given to Esau. His case, therefore, calls for
special consideration. What is related of Esau in Hebrews is that he so lightly esteemed his
birthright as to sell it for one morsel o