Mission Impossible

I found this article in an old word document I had saved a while back. I don't even know who it is from so I can not give proper credit where credit is due. This article addresses the controversial passage in Hebrews 6:4. Enjoy the article and hopefully it will get you to think about this passage and what it truly means. Enjoy.

*****************************************

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance” (Hebrews 6:4,6).
Now the first question which arises is this: Were these people about whom the apostle is writing saved or unsaved? They were either one or the other, and the correct answer depends on the correct interpretation. There are first of all those who assert that these people had been saved, but then had “fallen away” or backslidden, and consequently had lost their salvation, and were again un-regenerates and unsaved. We call this “falling from grace”. It is the teaching that one can be born again and on the way to heaven, and then through some sin or sins, or losing faith, be ultimately lost and go to hell in the end. We shall come back to this later.
But first we must state the opposite view. It is the view that these folks who “were once enlightened” and were “partakers of the Holy Ghost” were not saved at all, and never had been saved. They are said to be Hebrews who were professing an outward confession of faith, but had never been truly born again. This is the view of those who teach the eternal security of believers. We can understand why they should, therefore, insist that these folks were never saved, for if they were and then “fell from grace”, it would upset their entire doctrine of “once in grace, always in grace”.

THE TWO VIEWS DISCUSSED
These are the two views commonly held by Bible students. We want to examine both of them, and see if they are in accord with the rest of Scripture. First, will you notice that if this passage teaches that a man can be saved today, and then backslide and lose his salvation, he never can be saved. He is forever lost. Notice carefully what it says. “It is impossible to renew them again unto repentance.” It is impossible. Then a person can only be saved once, and if he loses that, there is no more hope, and there is no use to invite him to come and confess and be saved again, for it is impossible. Now the very people who insist that the persons in Hebrews 6:4-6 were once saved and then lost their salvation, are the very ones who are incessantly inviting backsliders to return, and folks who have lost their salvation to come and be saved again. What a contradiction!
Instead, if a person comes to us and says, “I was saved once, but fell away, and I want to be saved again,” we should tell him, “Go away, there is no hope for you; it is impossible to renew you again to repentance”. This interpretation breaks down completely, and we must look elsewhere for the true meaning.
Examine with me, therefore, the opposite view of the “security” people who believe in the doctrine of “Once in grace, always in grace”. (Now remember, we are merely trying to show the true interpretation of the passage, and not condemn either the Arminian or the Calvinist. We respect the sincere convictions of both, and love them, even though we may differ on many things.) The view of this school of interpretation is concisely stated in the notes on this passage in the Schofield Bible:
Hebrews 6:4-8 presents the case of Jewish professed believers who halt short of faith in Christ after advancing to the very threshold of salvation, even “going along with” the Holy Spirit in His work of enlightenment and conviction (John 16:8-10). It is not said that they had faith (Page 1295, Footnotes).
This interpretation is followed by almost all fundamental and Calvinistic students.
It is argued that professors may pose as believers and yet not be possessors; for if Hebrews 6:4-8 teaches that a man can be once saved and then lost, he can never repent and be saved again. So there is no use inviting such a one to come back to Christ, since it is impossible for him to repent. As someone has said, “You have a through pass to perdition.”
For this reason our good friends reject this interpretation and insist that these folks never were saved at all. They were mere professors and not possessors. But that presents the same difficulty. Remember, it says of these that it is impossible to renew them to repentance. Do we believe that if a man has been a false professor, a mere church member, a religious hypocrite, there is no chance for him to be saved? It is true that if a person has once made a profession of Christ, but later it proves to be not genuine, there is no hope for such a one to ever be saved? It would be difficult to reconcile this with the invitation of the Gospel, and the message of “whosoever will may come”. We have all seen hundreds, yea, thousands, who formerly had been religious professors, but had gone into sin, then have come to Christ and found Him as willing to forgive as He is to any other.

WHAT IS THE ANSWER?
Who then is right? There is an element of truth in both views, but both miss the point entirely. The writer of Hebrews Six is not talking about losing salvation. He is talking about repentance. It does not say, “It is impossible to renew them unto salvation”. What a gloomy Gospel it would be-telling people in this day of grace that it is impossible for them to be saved. I trust you have followed us thus far. As we study the context of the entire epistle we must conclude that the author is writing to believers who have been born again. This is evident from the many fruits of the Spirit which had been present in their lives. Moreover, these believers had been saved a long time, and had progressed far on the way of Christian growth. Then they had lost their first love and instead of going forward, they began to fall behind. We repeat, without apology the “heart” of Hebrews in Chapter Five:
“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 [ye] are become such as have need of mild, and not of strong meat" (Hebrews 5:12).
These folks should have been mature, but instead they had lapsed into spiritual infancy, and so the apostle opens the Sixth Chapter of Hebrews with this plea:
“Therefore leaving the principles [the ABC’s, the baby food], of the doctrine of Christ, let us go unto perfection” (Hebrews 6:1).
The word “perfection” means maturity. It is so used also in Luke 8:14, where the seed among thorns is said to “bring no fruit to perfection" [maturity].
And then follows the dire warning of our Scripture. It is possible for a believer who has gone a long way on the path of service, to fall by the wayside, and as a result the Lord in chastening sets his ministry aside and he becomes one of God’s “castaways”. He is not lost, but his usefulness is ended, and he will have to bear his judgment at the Judgment Seat of Christ, when all the believer’s works shall be tried with fire. This is the meaning of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians Three:
“If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: for he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1 Corinthians 3:15).
This was the thing Paul feared above all things. Paul did not fear losing his salvation. He was sure of that, but he feared losing out on the reward and the crown. He feared that after a lifetime of preaching he might in a careless moment succumb to the flesh and be set aside. That he did not fear losing his salvation is clear. He says:
“...I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Timothy 1:12).
But there was something Paul did fear. He says in 1 Corinthians Nine:
“Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beats the air: 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” (1 Corinthians 9:24, 26 & 27).
How this passage has confused people! But notice carefully, Paul is NOT talking about salvation, but about rewards and a crown for faithfulness. He is talking about “running a race”. Surely the sinner must not run to get into heaven or to obtain salvation. That is a free gift. A dead sinner cannot run.
Paul knew better. He knew salvation did not depend on our running, but upon the grace of God. What Paul feared was that after a life of service, he might play the fool, lose out on the reward and make it necessary for God to put him on the shelf. It is possible for a Christian to fall away until God “retires” him from service, waiting to deal with him at the Judgment Seat of Christ, to see all the wood, hay and stubble go up in smoke, and he be saved “so as by fire”.
The word “castaway” is translated in the Revised Version as “rejected”. It means “disqualified to receive a reward”. Again let me remind you, Paul is NOT thinking of salvation, but of earning a crown. Sinners are not in a race; only Christians run for the prize. He expresses the same ambition in Philippians 3.

THE SIN UNTO DEATH
“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 [finish line, the goal] for the prize [crown] of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”(Philippians 3:13 & 14).
This, we believe, will explain the passage in Hebrews Six. He is speaking of Christians who began the race, but fell by the wayside. There comes a time when after repeated warnings and admonitions the Christian continues in disobedience and “willful” sin, until God shelves him, to deal with him at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The passage refers to the sin unto death, the result of presumptuous, willful, continued disobedience against better light. Such may never repent here below, but be among those who shall be “ashamed at His appearing”.
It is a serious thing to be a child of God. It carries grave responsibilities; and willful continuance in known sin against clear and better light must call for the chastening of the Lord. The Bible admonishes us:
“Let a man examine himself...For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:28, 31 & 32).

CHAPTER TWELVE - GOD’S CASTAWAYS
Is it true that the Bible's teaching of grace and security leads to carelessness and license? What about Christians who have been truly born again and then fall into sin? What about some who apparently were saved, but fall away and die without giving evidence of repentance? Is it true that when we are saved, and all our sins, past, present and future, are put under the blood, it will then make no difference how we live? These are questions of grave importance and are constantly being asked. Here we are able to give an answer.
Various groups have sought to answer the question: What is God going to do with believers who fall into sin and die before repenting? The Catholic Church has its answer in “purgatory”. The Arminians have their answer in “falling from grace”, and they say that such believers are lost again. Certain holiness groups have another answer. They say that only the “sanctified” ones will be raptured when Jesus comes, and the others will have to pass through the Tribulation. Now these are all attempts to answer the question: What happens to believers who die in unconfessed sin?
Well, I hear some of you say, “I don’t believe any of those explanations are correct”. But let me ask you; do you have a better answer? Or have you an answer at all? Before rejecting any solution, you should have a better one to replace it. We should never reject someone else’s interpretation unless we can give a better one.
We certainly cannot accept a doctrine which teaches that God will do nothing about it. Common sense as well as the Bible teaches that we cannot claim to be Christians and continue in sin. Let's re-examine this problem in the light of Scripture. Our first definite proposition is that God does hold believers accountable. In 1 Corinthians Eleven Paul teaches that because believers will not judge sin in their own lives, God visits them with chastening, which may take various forms.
“For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep" (1 Corinthians 11:30).
Living in known, willful sin and disobedience will bring physical chastening in the form of weakness and sickness. If this chastening fails to correct, God may take that child of His by death, to be straightened out at the Judgment Seat of Christ. In the same vein, the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews Twelve:
“Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:11).
Notice the last phrase,
“It yields [works] the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are exercised thereby.”
But what about those who are NOT exercised thereby, those who, instead of repenting and returning under the chastening of the Lord, become bitter and rebellious, and continue in their disobedience? With such God deals in a different way. He may either take them by death (1 Corinthians 11:30) or cease dealing with them here, and take them out of service, putting them on the shelf. These are the folks referred to in that controversial passage in Hebrews Six, which because of its importance we quote once again:
“For it is impossible...If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance” (Hebrews 6:4,6).
It is definitely not a matter of salvation, but a matter of chastening; not condemnation but judgment of their sins. It is a solemn warning against the “sin unto death”. The epistle has many such warnings. In Hebrews 2:1 the apostle, speaking to believers says:
“Therefore we” [the writer includes himself as a believer] “ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.”
Or consider the opening verse in Chapter Four:
“Let us” [again the writer includes himself] "therefore fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it” (Hebrews 4:1).
The warning again is not against losing salvation, but coming short of the “rest” of the believer’s victory. There are two kinds of rest, sharply distinguished in the Scriptures. There is a “rest” of salvation, which is God’s free gift; and a “rest” of service, for which we must labor. The one is the rest of salvation; the other is the rest of reward.

BELIEVERS CAN FALL SHORT
Now with this twofold possibility of Christian experience in view, turn again to Hebrews Six. The whole Book of Hebrews is written to believers, and has to do with their rewards: NOT salvation. They are called “holy brethren” in Hebrews 3:1. They have a great High Priest (Hebrews 4:15). They are admonished to come “boldly” unto the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). But the all-conclusive evidence about the people addressed in Hebrews 6:4-12 is found in the description of these believers. Notice carefully of whom it is said to be impossible to renew to repentance, if they fall away. It is said they:
“...were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come” (Hebrews 6:4 & 5).
If that is not a description of true, born again believers, then language means nothing, and we cannot understand anything in the Word of God any more.

Five marks of the believer are given:

GOD’S CASTAWAYS:
1. They were once enlightened.
2. They had tasted the heavenly gift.
3. They were partakers of the Holy Ghost.
4. They had tasted the good Word of God.
5. They had knowledge of prophecy.

The exponents of the doctrine that these people were not truly saved, but were mere professors, have attempted an answer to this description, but it fails to stand under examination. They tell us that unconverted sinners do see the light of the Gospel, they taste the heavenly gift and the good Word of God, but have never appropriated or “eaten” it. Being “partakers” of the Holy Ghost is made to mean that they did not actually possess the Holy Spirit, but had merely “gone along with” Him in an outward profession.

COMPARE SCRIPTURE WITH SCRIPTURE
Is this argument defensible in the light of other Scripture? What do these words, “enlightened”, “tasted”, “partakers”, mean when used elsewhere in the Bible? If we know this, then we shall be able to know what the Holy Spirit means in this passage.
First then the meaning of the word, “enlightened”. It is the translation of the Greek word, photizo, and means to “make to see”. The word is translated twice as enlightened (Ephesians 1:18; Hebrews 6:4) and once as “illuminated” (Hebrews 10:32). What is its meaning in Ephesians 1:18?
“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.”
In the one other instance where the word is used we read:
“But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated [the same word], ye endured a great fight of afflictions (Hebrews 10:32).
In both references the application is strictly to born-again people. By what rule of interpretation then can we say that in Hebrews 6:4 it does not mean “to see”? Can an unregenerate sinner see the riches of His glory? If he can, then Jesus was wrong when He said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see...” (John 3:3).

TASTE AND SEE
The word, “taste”, in our Scripture is genomai in the Greek and means “to experience and to eat”. This is its meaning wherever else it is used. It occurs once earlier in Hebrews 2:9 and says that Jesus
“...by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”
The same word is used. Does it mean to taste only, and not partake of it? As one Bible teacher says, “It is one thing to taste - another to eat.” To what pains men will go to defend their theories. The same word, genomai, is used in 1 Peter:
“As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious" (1 Peter 2:2 & 3).
The meaning of the word is clear from these other passages. By no method of reasoning then can we say that in Hebrews Six it means to “touch” but not to appropriate.

PARTAKERS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
But in addition we are told that these people were “partakers of the Holy Spirit”. This is made to mean that they had agreed with and gone along with the Holy Spirit, but had never received Him. As one has put it, “They were neither sealed nor indwelt nor baptized nor filled with the Spirit”. Just because it does not go into detail means nothing. These operations simply are not mentioned, because all of them are implied in being partakers. But we submit the following unassailable proof that these people were indwelt by the Holy Spirit as born-again believers:
The word “partakers” is metochos in the original. It is translated “partakers” in five passages (Hebrews 3:1; 3:14; 6:4; 12:8; and 12:10). It is translated “fellows” once (Hebrews 1:9).

GOD’S CASTAWAYS
We need do little more than quote the passages where it occurs to see the real meaning of the word.
“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus" (Hebrews 3:1).
“For we are made partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end” (Hebrews 3:14).
“But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers” (Hebrews 12:8).
“...that we might be partakers of his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10b).
In addition to these, the word is used in a few other passages, but all with the same meaning - to participate, to be part of. In Hebrews 1:9 Jesus is said to be anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows. The word “fellows” is a translation of the same word as “partakers”.
In 1 Corinthians 9:10 we are said to be “partaker[s] of his hope”. In 2 Timothy 2:6 a slightly different form is used, but the meaning is the same.
“The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.”

In 1 Corinthians 10:17, 1 Peter 4:13; 2 Peter 1:4. In every instance it means to share to the fullest extent.
Now we have left our verse in Hebrews 6:4. Here it is stated that partakers of the Holy Spirit can fall away. By what rule of interpretation can this be construed as not being full participants? An illustration follows. The same soil can bring forth fruit or briers. If the soil is cultivated, it will produce fruit; if it is neglected, it will produce briers. The same good seed in Mark five fell on good ground, yet some yielded only thirty-fold, other sixty-fold, and only a small part of it one hundredfold. Every man’s work shall be tried with fire, and the “briers” of neglect and disobedience go up in smoke. But the apostle hopes his warning will take effect and trusts that they will bring forth fruits that “accompany salvation.” God says He will remember their
“work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Hebrews 6:11).
Obedience and self-judgment and faithfulness and diligence in our service will result in full assurance. It is not a matter of salvation, but of reward and assurance and fruit, and the final approval of His “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”. Christian, walk carefully, with your eye on the goal. How fitting the conclusion of this passage:
“That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Hebrews 6:12).
Examine yourself, judge every known and doubtful sin, confess to Him, and be clean, and you need never fear the judgment, against which we are so earnestly warned.