Hebrews 6

[Pastorj]

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,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.
Heb 6:4 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,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 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.

What do these verses mean. I am looking for an explanation of this passage. Please do not copy and paste commentaries. Read the passage and tell me what you think it means.

Thanks
Pastor J

[Jerry]

I believe the end of chapter five and the beginning of chapter six is Paul's exhortation to believers to grow and mature - and then an exhortation to the lost that know the truth to accept it and let it affect their lives. Perfection means maturity. Notice how Paul switches from we/us (believers) to them/those - the contrast between the saved and the lost who though enlightened to the truth (about how Jesus and His work of salvation is better than anything the Old Testament economy had), turned back from it. It is a strong warning - then he goes back to the true believers and states that God will not forget their work and service to Him.

[Pastorj]

Thanks Jerry, I agree with you. Does this passage have any application to end times?

[Madeline]

Also, I don't believe that having "tasted" the heavenly gift refers to a state of Salvation. Just as it is possible to "taste" something but not having "swallowed" it.

John 6:55 - For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
John 4:14 - But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
John 6:58 - This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

[Jerry]

I believe it applies specifically to the church age - directly applicable to those Jews before the destruction of the Temple, who heard the truth from the Christians and had to make a choice regarding it. Fits with all "religious" people during this age, who need to turn from their traditions and shadows to Christ the reality. It may indirectly apply to the Tribulation period - as those Jews would be faced with being religious and having true faith in Christ.

[Anon]

Its a good passage to help those with salvation doubts...to show that once you are saved, you can't keep going over and over the doctrines of salvation and baptism, because if you are constantly obsessed with doubts in those areas, you can never grow to the "perfection" or maturity God wants in your life. God says we are to leave the "baby stuff" and mature.

[Pastorj]

Thanks, and I agree completely. The reason I asked is: I heard a message that used this passage to prove that anyone who has heard the gospel prior to the rapture cannot get saved. I have never heard this passage being used as a proof text for this belief.

I do not wish to debat that topic, just wanted to make sure that I understood this passage correctly.

Thanks again
Pastor J

[JJJ4given]

I think there are as many opinions on Hebrews 6 as there are languages in the world. =P

I'll give mine briefly:

The "those" in verse 4 seems to be speaking in an objective sense which can apply directly to the audience being addressed. What is said in the next few verses is a possible state in which they might fall into, but haven't yet. It is a warning for them. However, this is not a warning that they will lose their eternal life. But the warning is that as a collective agency they could lose something of great value if they leave out on the new covenant worship they are in, which Jesus Christ had bought with his own blood(Acts 20:28). Therefore, I believe that this is a warning very similar to the warning given to the church at Ephesus in Revelations 2:5:

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.


If they left back to Judaism, which they were desiring to do, and then tried to congregate again after realizing the error, how would they attain that candlestick again? It would be gone.

So I believe the warning would be for them to stay within the new covenant worship: the local New Testament church; or they would risk the possibility of not having God in their midsts anymore. They would individually still have eternal life, but as a congregation, they might possibly not have the power and blessings of God if they turned back to Judaism.

We later see Paul coming to his conclusion of chapters 7-10:

Hebrews 10
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
28 He that despised Moses

[Doc H]

pastorj,

I always believed the above explanations as well.

Heb 6 is commonly quoted by those who believe that a Church Age Christian can lose his salvation, of course, as we know this is balloney.

Having said that it is a very difficult passage to interpret, however, if this verse applies to tribulation saints then I see no problem and agree that it does teach you can lose your salvation in the tribulation.

If it agrees with what Paul wrote then it is for the Church age. If it disagrees then it must apply to another dispensation.

Hebrews is similar to the book of James in that doctrinally many passages apply only to the tribulation period and not to the Church age Christian.

I guess the other thing one needs to consider is whether Paul was the author of Hebrews.

[Alen]

*Alen is too scared to delve into this topic of doctrine and how it applies. :hide *

As for the author of Hebrews:

(Summarized from the introduction of the book of Hebrews in my study Bible)

1. The author has superb knowledge of Jewish Levitical thought and Greek literary style.
2. Though the author seems to identify himself as a Jew (13:13)
3. Earliest sources of people accepting Pauline authorship is around 2nd century AD in the east. In the west it was rejected until around 4th century AD, when it became accepted.
4. Pauline authorship is weakened though by 2:3, showing the person had secondhand knowledge of Christ. This is contrasted with what Paul states in the book of Galatians (1:1, 1:12)
5. Alternative authors proposed are: Luke, Barnabas, Silas and Apollos.
6. What seems to argue against Pauline authorship, goes in favor towards Lucan authorship. Though since Luke is believed to be a gentile, this would argue against Lucan authorship.
7. Silas and Barnabas could of been authors, both were Jews, and Barnabas was also a Levite (Acts 4:36), as such he would of been familiar with the Levitical ritual commonly cited in this epistle. What argues against this though is lack of evidence for it, and that the early church did not regard either men as the author.
8.Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew (Acts 18:24) as such he probably would of been familiar with the philosophical thinking displayed in this epistle. He was also very well versed in the scriptures (Acts 18:24). Again the argument against this is the lack of early historical evidence. It would also be confusing as to why the early church fathers in Alexandria such as Clement and Origen, would not lay claim to one of their own as the author.

-Alen

[JJJ4given]

We could just as easily say that God is the author which would settle that. =P

God bless!

[Alen]

Yep, that sure would simplify things :lol

-Alen

[Pastorj]

Back to the OP. I do not see an application to Tribulation saints here in Heb. 6.

The preacher used this passage to prove that people who have heard the gospel prior to the Rapture cannot be saved after the Rapture. This passage doesn't prove that either. I agree with Jerry's interpretation and application. This is also consistent with most of the commentaries I read, with the exception of the calvinistic one, which I then put in the do not consult pile unless absolutely necessary

[JJJ4given]

I agree too that it definitely has direct application to us. It is not something for the tribulation period.

Jerry,

I do have a question about your take on it. I'm just curious what you think of verse three and the first word in verse 4 and how that fits into your understanding of these verses:

3 And this will we do, if God permit.
4 For...

(The 'this will we do' is referring back to 'let us go on unto perfection' mentioned in verse 1.)

God bless!

[Jerry]

Paul switches who he is referring to - notice the pronouns:

Heb 6:3
And this will we do, if God permit.
Heb 6:4
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,
Heb 6:5
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6
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.

Then back to the believers:

Heb 6:9
¶ But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
Heb 6:10
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.