4. 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,
5. and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6. and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again
crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
7. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to
those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8. but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
9. But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany
salvation, though we are speaking in this way.
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,
12. so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
v4-6 the warning
4. 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,
5. and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6. and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again
crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
v7,8 the plant illustration
7. For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to
those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God;
8. but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
what does this mean? an assortment of options.
1. it is hypothetical.
i don't like it when this is used as a means of saying that the author is saying, "if it were to be possible for this to happen,
(and it isn't), then just think about how bad it would be!"
not a huge fan of this argument, as i don't think there is much support for it other
than that the passage is difficult.
2. apostate christians will be judged, no salvation lost.
they take the phrase, "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance to be referring to them being struck dead,
a la ananias and saphira.
a variant in this view is that things lost by the apostate might be their witness, innocence, etc...
there's a lot of variety in this camp.
my problem with the view is that there isn't any indication of punishment/judgement, and the reason
for the irreversability is that they can't recrucify christ, which seems a spiritual necessity more than anything else.
3. apostate christians lose their salvation
phrases meaning saved in this view:
- "have been enlightened",
- "have tasted of the heavenly gift",
- "have been made partakers of the holy spirit",
- "have tasted the good word"
what about the verses that seem to argue you can't lose your salvation?
eph 1:13,14 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation —
having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a
pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
john 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal
life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
i'm uncomfortable with this reading because of these verses...but i think it is unfairly dismissed because it
doesn't match people's theological expectations.
4. some will appear christians; they will leave, and are lost.
this view argues that "have been enlightened", "have tasted", "have been made partakers" refers to those who were
around god's people but weren't really ever saved.
this is very similar to 1 john 2:8,9
Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many
antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us,
but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us;
but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us
first off - the for.
the 'for' is a transition from v1 - "therefore...let us press on to maturity"
this is intended as a warning of what happens when we do not press on to maturity.
also...however we interpret the warning, it should probably be done in a manner consistent with the flow
of the book (esp with the other warnings we've viewed).
2. things we know: there is no hope for those being discussed
"it is impossible to renew them again to repentance"
whatever we're talking about here, it's irreversable.
if you get to this point, the cancer is so bad you can't be healed.
3. things we know: stern warnings are given to those in the church.
the tendency among christians is often to feel safe;
"fire insurance" is a cliche, but often a default worldview.
don't ignore the fact that this warning was written to those, at minimum, in a church setting.
4. don't believe you can lose your salvation? that doesn't mean you should ignore the warnings.
i don't think you can lose your salvation; neither did the calvinist reformers.
but the classical reformed doctrine is that:
- god will maintain the true believer till the end
- the true believer will fight to maintain himself until the end.
"it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since the crucify to themselves the son of god and put him to open shame"
we need to hold this link in our minds as well - our actions and lives must be viewed in light of the god's suffering on our behalf.
this is not a new thought biblically:
matt 13:3-8, 18-23 - parable of the sower
3. And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4. and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
5. "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up,
because they had no depth of soil.
6. "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7. "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
8. "And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
18. "Hear then the parable of the sower.
19. "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes
and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road.
20. "The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and
immediately receives it with joy;
21. yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution
arises because of the word, immediately he falls away.
22. "And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and
the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
23. "And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and
understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty."
john 15:4-6 - upper room discourse (jesus' talk to his disciples on his last night with them)
4. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in
the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
5. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit,
for apart from Me you can do nothing.
6. "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather
them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
also see matt 3:7-10, matt 7:15-23, and matt 25:14-30 (tossed into outer darkness)
v9,10 don't worry
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.
1. immediatly after giving a warning that has everyone feeling kind of tense, the author says that he doesn't think it applies.
"but...we are convinced of better things concerning you"
the author does not believe that his audience is "beyond repentance" / etc
2. a reminder that god is not capricious
a reminder to the audience that god will not forget their love.
god...will not switch
3. brief note: love shown towards christ...is ministring to the saints
just a brief note - notice how love is shown towards his name; by "ministring to the saints"
4. hmmm...so, if the audience isn't supposed to fear for their salvation, why is this here?
most of us will hopefully hear the warning in v4-8 and not fear for our salvation.
it is to us that the warning is addressed.
in other words, the warning is given to the healthy.
the warning was to a group that:
- has worked
- has shown love towards his name
- has ministered and is still ministring to the saints
we need to take the warning as valid and applicable to ourselves as well.
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,
12. so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
here, finally, is the point:
show diligance to realize the full assurance of hope until the end.
a few notes to that end.
1. don't be sluggish.
sluggish is what humans naturally are.
please note...we are specifically referring to christianity.
you might work hard at work or at school.
you might exercise regularly.
you might keep a clean house, brush 3 times daily, and floss before bed.
none of that has any bearing on whether you are exherting yourself spiritually.
am i sluggish?:
note: i hate asking rhetorical questions. but i'm not sure how else to communicate here, so i'm asking them out
of personal communication deficiency.
do i think about how i spend my time during the week?
do i link my life/work to christianity and the cross?
is my christianity practiced in a way that requires me to be diligent? i.e. does it require my exhertion to live as i do?
do i work hard at showing "love towards [the the name of christ] in...ministering to the saints" (v10).
super great if you can find things worth emulating in those around you.
jeff and i endeaver to model virtue to the extent that we can; we will let you down.
hopefully you will view us accurately and learn from our sins and successes.
hebrews itself will point the way at another group - historical believers.
we are not restricted to only those who we know.
heb 11 will ask us to live in the way of those who have gone before us.
we can attempt to have the faith of abraham, the courage of joshua, the patience through suffering of job.
and don't forget the example of christ; reread phil 2 for more...
we are supposed to be living in light of a known end to our lives.
4. (hint) believe that maturity is not optional
the christian is not called/allowed to not be diligent.
the author of hebrews delivers a warning so serious that it makes chrisians wonder if it means what
it seems to next to his command for us to be diligent.
4. finally...a personal appeal
many of you know me well enough to know my impatience, my insensitivity, unkindness, and arrogance.
so...please know that i at least am trying to deliver these comments without self-rightousness.
my greatest concern is for you all, as individuals who i know and love, to dilgently pursue christianity.
i really want this for you; i believe god wants this for you. i believe god requires this from you.
please, ask yourself if you are being diligent.
final note: if any of you feel the desire to be more diligent but aren't quite sure just what to be diligent in,
a few things:
1. read chapter 12 of hebrews - specifics are nicely provided there.
2. talk with jeff or i after service - we'd be glad to discuss with you.