A Difficult Passage
When I write the blog posts, I don’t often consult too many
commentaries. Occasionally when I am
struggling to get into a text I will turn to a commentary for inspiration. When I come across a difficult passage, I
will survey a bunch of commentaries just to make sure I’m not butchering the
passage. But in general, I don’t use too
many commentaries. I like to let the
Spirit percolate within and see what comes out.
Today, however, is a day when I have done some serious
research. These first 8 verses of this
chapter are difficult – especially in the context of “fear” that was present in
Hebrews 4 and the context of “not maturing” that we had at the close of Hebrews
5. There is every reason to take this
chapter seriously.
In my research, I found that there are a myriad of opinions on
what the author is actually saying in this passage. In the end, I’m going to present what I
believe to be accurate and know that there are plenty of people who both agree
and disagree with the position that I am going to take. There are good theologians on every side it
appears.
First things first. I do
believe that these first 8 verses are speaking about salvation. The thrust of the past two chapters has been on
Christ and finding ourselves in Christ.
Since we’re talking about salvation, I believe that scripture is clear
that the presence of the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of salvation. Ephesians 1:13-14 says as much. As far as I understand scripture, if the Holy
Spirit is within you then you have the absolute assurance of salvation.
Furthermore, I also believe that a person who truly has the Holy
Spirit within them will never leave God.
Once one knows personally the abundance of life that is found in God,
the person will not turn away. I’m not saying
it is impossible to lose one’s salvation.
What I am saying is that nobody who is truly saved and who truly has the
Holy Spirit as their guarantor of salvation would ever want to lose it.
However, I must also acknowledge that the Holy Spirit works in our
life from positions within as well as without.
It has to be this way. The Lord
calls each of us to Him prior to our receiving His grace. The Holy Spirit speaks to our heart
externally, calling us to repent and embrace the grace of God. Once we embrace God, then the Holy Spirit
enters within and speaks to us from within.
So I also think it is important to discern whether we are experiencing
the external call of the Holy Spirit or the internal movement of the Holy
Spirit. I believe it is only the
internal movement of the Holy Spirit – what some people call the indwelling of
the Holy Spirit – that is the guarantor of our salvation. God calls all people; He desires all to be
saved. {See 1 Timothy 2:3-4 for example.}
But that doesn’t mean that all people receive that salvation.
So, where does that leave us with respect to Hebrews 6? Remember that in Hebrews 4 the author showed
great concern that some of the recipients would have “failed to attain the
desired condition.” At the end of
Hebrews 5 the author had concern that the Hebrew people had not matured to a
place of desiring spiritual meat and instead were still desiring spiritual
milk.
In Hebrews 6 we hear that there are people who have:
- Been Enlightened – Literally: illuminated by an exterior source of light
- Tasted – Literally: experienced through personal involvement
- Shared – Literally: to participate as an associate, companion, or partner
These are people who have experienced community with God and His
people. But these are not necessarily
people who have “drank the Kool-Aid.”
These are people who became involved, were influenced externally and
associated with people of the faith. But
these are not necessarily people who have fully and completely submitted to
Christ. These are people who have
encountered God, perhaps even believe He exists {as though that changes His existence} and who occasionally try to
do things His way; but they are not people who have forsaken the world, picked
up their cross, and followed Him.
So then we get to verse 6 and we hear that people in this
condition who fall away are not easily restored. In truth, what the author says is that it is
impossible to restore them. Yes, that’s
right, you heard me: impossible. It is
impossible to restore a person who is actively falling away and actively doing
harm to Christ and holding Him in contempt.
I think this is really the author’s point for the last three
chapters. This is why it is so important
to teach people from the very beginning about submitting to God and following
Him. This is why it is so important to
move people beyond “consumer” faith and actually get them into “producer”
faith. People need to become leaders and
teachers who are practicing their faith and teaching it to others. People need to receive and embrace the Holy
Spirit and know the full joy of being with God before they fall away.
As the author of Hebrews says, all land will drink the rain that
comes from God. Some of that land will
bear a good harvest. But some of the
land will instead bear thorns and thistles.
We need to be active in promoting a spiritual harvest and getting people
into a place in their life where they are indeed promoting the lifestyle of
following God.
Guarantee
I think it is important to now turn to the closing section of this
chapter. The opening verses are enough
to scare a person. It is good to cause
people to think through these things for themselves. But we should not want to leave people in a
place of wondering any longer than necessary.
People need to know that we can move beyond such concern into a place of
surety.
We can have the Holy Spirit.
As I said before, He is the guarantor of our salvation. If we have the Holy Spirit genuinely within
us, we can be confident. The author of
Hebrews also reminds us that we have Jesus Christ as a mediator between us and
God. If we are genuinely in Christ, then
we can have assurance that what God has done in Christ He will do in us. If we are in Christ, we can have assurance in
the resurrection of the dead and life eternal in the presence of God. We who are ready for spiritual meat can live
confident under God’s promise.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment