If your understanding of Hebrews 6 is about true believers falling away, then based on Heb 6:6, it is impossible for backsliden believers to redelicate their lives to God coz that will be cruxifying Christ once again on the cross.
Rather, Let's start with the context of Hebrews 6... context...
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
Hebrews 6:1 ESV
What are the elementary doctrine of Christ? He is referring to the Old Covenent.
For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.
Hebrews 5:1 ESV
He is addressing the apostasy of going back to animal sacrifices after Christ has come.
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:11-14 ESV
So here, he continues to warn the Jeruselam Christians against the temptation to abandon faith in Christ, and seek salvation by animal Sacrifices... elementary teachings of ritual laws.
and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.
Hebrews 6:2-3 ESV
So it is in this context, that he continues in verse 4, that it is impossible for genuine Christians to fall away...
For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who 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,
Hebrews 6:4-5 ESV
Falling away would have been an insult to the cross. It does not mean a backsliden Christian cannot be enlightened again and redelicate his life to God... if this verse is about genuine Christians falling away, then many backsliden Christians who repents and wants to come back to God can never do so coz that will mean "crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt".
and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
Hebrews 6:6 ESV
Therefore those who bear thorns and briers, and actually not saved, since they decided to leave their faith and return to the Old Covenent. Its the same today for a "Christian" who decided to return to his old Pagan religion, or went back to his Sinful lifestyle, his faith was never genuine in the first place.
For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Hebrews 6:7-8 ESV
V7 to 8 is parallel to the Parable of the Sowers in Matt 13, it is also Parallel to Matt 7 where Jesus called out false teaching of the Pharisees who teaches a distorted version of the Old Covenent, which is basically Judaism. Same as Mark 7, where Jesus flagged out the false tradition of the Pharisees that contradicts God's original intention of the Law.
Hence, the universal enemy that the early church was battling against, was Legalism of the Pharisees...
*of course beside Legalism, they had to also battle against the Lawlessness of the Nicholaitans and Doctrine of Balaam, Jezebel and the Gnostics (1 John). But the context of Hebrews is against Legalism (Salvation by works). We can expand this context to apply it to any other means to Salvation other than Christ, meaning, idolatry through false teachings, false ideas about God, trying to please God in our own terms. These does not contradict the doctrine of Eternal Security.
The truly saved will obey and continue with faith, false believers will not and can only bear thorns and briers.... and only time will tell.
No comments:
Post a Comment