4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
The book of Hebrews is a contrast between Christianity and Judaism. It's an encouragement to those who have become Christians that they made the right choice. It's a call to those standing at the edge, those who know all the information, but haven't yet made the commitment. And it's giving information to those who have never heard it before.
According to MacArthur, this is how we need to view the entire book of Hebrews. Always asking ourselves what is it that the writer is saying about the superiority of Christianity over Judaism. He is not contrasting a new, baby Christian with a mature Christian. He is contrasting an unsaved Jew in Judaism with a redeemed Jew in the new covenant. The emphasis is the superiority of the new covenant over the old, the new mediator or great high priest, over the old, that Jesus is better than angels, that Jesus is better than Moses, better than Joshua, better than Aaron, better than Melchizedek, better than everyone.
In fact, MacArthur would disagree with our interpretations of our passages over the last few days.
Some have said that this is talking to Christians, and he's saying to Christians, "You shouldn't be immature Christians. You should be grownup Christians." That's a good principle. That's terrific principle. That's a Biblical principle. I don't think that's what being taught in Hebrews chapter 5. I think he's talking here to Jews who are intellectually convinced, but still hanging onto Judaism and, incidentally, folks, Judaism is the ABCs of the new covenant, is it not? And he is saying to them, "Come on to maturity in the new covenant." Now, I'm gonna try to defend that thesis, because it is a little foreign to most interpretations; but I think it's consistent. So we say then that the question is not a question of whether one's a baby Christian or a mature Christian. The issue is...is an evangelistic appeal. Come on to Christ. Come all the way. Many of these readers have professed to believe, but they're still hanging onto the patterns of Judaism. They wouldn't let go. They weren't saved, and they're in great danger, chapter 6 verse 4, of falling back and then finding it impossible to be renewed to salvation again. So when we're talking about maturity here, we're talking about the maturity of accepting Christ, you see, and coming into all the full-grown truths of the new covenant....
Now, lemme give you an overview of the passage very quickly. In 5:11 through 6:3, the Holy Spirit says, "Grow up from the...the ABCs of Judaism, and come all the way to maturity. Leave the milk of the Old Testament. Come to the solid food of the new covenant. Come to Christ. Leave Judaism." That's exactly what he's saying. Then in 6:4, he says, "If you don't, you're in serious danger of coming all the way up, hearing all of the truth, then falling away, and being lost forever." Because, my friends, if a man hears all the truth of Jesus Christ, considers it carefully, and walks away, he's hopeless. What else can God do once he's known the truth?
And, finally, in verse 9, he turns to Christians and says, "But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you and things which accompany salvation." And, at that point, he turns to Christians and lays on them the need to grow spiritually and to make sure they, too, don't fall back into old patterns. So the passage, then, is directed primarily as a warning to the unsaved. Now, someone is bound to ask me, "Do you think that the passage has anything to do with Christians?" Well, in an indirect sense, very definitely. If spiritual ignorance and fooling around with the ABCs is a serious problem for an unsaved person, how much more serious would it be for a Christian? How much more tragic for a Christian who never really grows up to fully understand the new covenant. But the direct issue is to the unsaved. Each warning in Hebrews is directed to the intellectually convinced who are on the edge of decision, but haven't yet responded to Christ. So we believe it to be a warning to them. (emphasis mine)
Sorry this got a little long, but I found that fascinating.
Tomorrow's scripture focus: Hebrews 6:7-8Sorry this got a little long, but I found that fascinating.
3 comments:
Very interesting! It does make sense, when you look at the purpose of the book in its entirety.
Specifically regarding these verses, he says...
Then he says this, "With all of this benefit, you people have had it all. You have had the whole Old Testament revelation...verses 1 and 2...all the basic elements are there. You've had it all. Not only that, in this age, you've been enlightened. You've tasted the gift of salvation. You even worked and you even saw the Spirit working in your midst. You even got a taste of the good speeches and utterances concerning God, and you saw miracle upon miracle." Then he says this, "If you fall away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance. That's it." The word fall away is a tragic word. It's used only here in the New Testament, and it says, "If they have fallen away, to renew them again to repentance...back to verse 4...is impossible." Oh, this is tragic thing.
They came all the up to edge of fully accepting Christ and turned away, hardening their hearts after receiving the full revelation of God.
Here's an even better explanation...
It says they were enlightened, not saved. They've tasted, not eaten. They were partakers, not possessors of the Holy Spirit; and there is no direct salvation term in that passage that is used elsewhere in the New Testament. It doesn't say they were saved, justified, righteous, called, elect, believers, sons, children of God, redeemed, sanctified, adopted, made holy, chosen, bought, regenerated, born again. Nothing. They had all the information. That's the point.
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