Three for the Price of One-Hebrews 6:1-8

As a preacher of God’s Word, I firmly believe that God has a message for His church every time I get up to proclaim the Scriptures. Let me assure you that if I did not hold this belief firmly, I would be in another profession and probably wouldn’t waste my in church to begin with. I pray that our church would have a heart that longs to hear God’s intended message for us week after week and that our mindset would be, “I can’t wait to hear what God has to say today!” Well, if it is true that God has something to say each time we meet together, this week it is not only doubly true, but triply true, for in Hebrews 6:1-8, three messages are presented to three different groups. To be sure, these groups may overlap and some people might belong to two, or even all three. Therefore, there is at least the potential for us all to learn a lot in today’s message. If you have ever wondered what you should be doing in the Christian life, or whether or not you can lose your salvation, or how many different kinds of people there are in the world, you are in luck. The preacher in this passage answers all three of these! Therefore, let’s not waste any time.  

The Message to the Immature-Press On To Maturity-6:1-3

Having assessed the spiritual condition of his listeners in 5:11-14 (that they are spiritual infants in need of some growing up), the preacher begins to point the way to maturity in chapter six saying, “therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity” (6:1a). He knew how important it was for the spiritual babes in this church to matriculate to the adult table to take in better sustenance, for, it was the only way for them to have any chance of responding to their perilous circumstances of persecution as spiritual grown-ups. This required leaving the fundamentals (lessons 101-104), and graduating to higher levels of learning. Who could/would help them make this change? Not the pastor, nor themselves—only God was able to carry them on to maturity. This is intimated by the passive verb for “let us press on” which, more woodenly translated would say, “let us be carried on.” That the preacher includes himself in the discussion here with the word “us” demonstrates that everyone has a degree of maturing to do and only a dependency on God can accomplish it.

It is not as though that by leaving these fundamental teachings the church was going to forget them all together. These teachings were “no more dispensable than are letters of the alphabet for moving children beyond the first steps of education” (Guthrie, 204). Instead, the elementary truths of the faith are presupposed in the continued trek toward maturity just as letters are presupposed by higher grade levels when they read and learn new vocabulary words.

However, what exactly were the fundamental/elementary-level teachings they needed to move past? The preacher provides a list of six in verse 1b-2: “not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment…” “Repentance from dead works” and “faith toward God” illustrate the beginning of salvation which involves the turning away from a former lifestyle and turning toward faith/dependency on God. For many of these new Jewish Christians the life they needed to turn away from was a works-based salvation. Therefore, one of the fundamentals they needed to both master and move past was understanding that salvation comes by grace through faith and this, not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8-9). Third, the preacher wanted them to be carried beyond considerations of baptisms. The plural form of the word here may mean that the author is referring to repeated ceremonial washings as found in expressions of first-century Judaism. These were largely unnecessary and a new baptism—a singular Christian post-conversion baptism had taken their place. Fourth, “laying on of hands” was a practice associated with the beginning of Christian commitment, especially as it pertained to the coming/anointing of the Holy Spirit for ministry. Though this was perfectly appropriate, becoming singularly focused on this was un-preferred and kept people from actually growing and being used as these were preoccupied with whether or not they had received the Spirit. The final two instructions the preacher identifies involve “the resurrection of the dead” and “eternal judgment.” These are foundational to considerations of one’s personal destiny and the end of the entire world. If the believers to which the preacher is writing did not know what their ultimate fate was, they could be of very little use. This is why he encourages them to move beyond this and all of these other considerations.

In sticking with the theme of God carrying them all beyond these elementary truths, the preacher qualifies his encouragement with “and this we will do, if God permits” (6:3). This entire program that the preacher is forwarding to this congregation could only take place if God’s will permitted it (This was an important reminder lest any of them be tempted to bring their pharisaic self-confidence into the Christian faith).

The Message to the Fearful-If You have it, you could never lose it-6:4-8

By way of moving them beyond the elementary things and on toward maturity, the preacher moves in verses 4-6a to discuss a very mature message—in fact, a message involving one of the scariest passages in all of Scripture, “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, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,  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.” (Heb. 6:4-6). How is this for getting them out of the floaties? Just throw them into the deep end of this difficult series of verses!

Ultimately, though this verse is used by some to suggest that people can, in fact, lose salvation, while others believe it to be saying something about apostasy, the evidence within the passage itself seems to suggest that the preacher is presenting an impossible hypothetical scenario in order to make a point. He does this by giving a fairly robust description of a person who has first been “enlightened” (6:4). Inasmuch as Jesus is described elsewhere as the light of the world, this is referring to those who have been illuminated by the bright light of His gospel. This is especially appropriate considering the only other use of this word in Hebrews is in 10:32 when the author encourages the church in saying, “Remember those earlier days after you had received the light…” Both are in the perfect tense, suggesting a past act with present and ongoing implications. Truly, being enlightened by the gospel and its Christ would have a significant impact on one’s life going forward.

However, not only is this hypothetical person said to have been enlightened, they are also said to “have tasted of the heavenly gift” (6:4b). Though one use of this term “tasted” suggests “sipping” or “trying” something, in other cases the term is used metaphorically as in 2:9 where Christ is said to have “tasted” death for every person. Here and there, the verb means to experience something. That this is the appropriate choice is made absolutely clear when the object being “tasted” is identified—“the heavenly gift.” These include, according to many commentators, the blessings of God surrounding salvation (i.e. forgiveness, justification, hope, peace, relationship, spiritual gifts, fellowship with believers, etc.). One cannot literally taste these. Instead, they can experience them. Again, the perfect tense is used to suggest someone who has experienced these blessings and has been and will continue to be profoundly impacted by that experience.

A more complete picture of this hypothetical person comes into view when one reads the end of verse 4, “and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit” (6:4c). Ancient authors used the word “parktaker” with reference to either a companion or to an associate in a legal or moral context (Guthrie, 218).   It is often used in Hebrews and Psalms to speak of a companion (see Ps. 45:6-7; Heb. 1:9; 3:1, 14; 12:8). This person that the preacher is describing has become a partaker of the Holy Spirit—i.e. a companion or close associate of the Holy Spirit.

You have heard it said, you can’t be a little pregnant. You either are or you are not. Well, I’m here to tell you, you cannot be a casual companion of the Holy Spirit, you either are or you are not. This hypothetical person is a companion of the Holy Spirit.

The final descriptive phrase on the positive end of things for this hypothetical individual is that he has “tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” (6:5). The Word of God and the power of God are closely linked and again, as in verse 4, this hypothetical person has experienced both and is presently experiencing the natural results thereof.

However, against all of these positive clauses assigned to this individual, the author shocks the reader by next revealing that this individual has “fallen away” (6:6). What?! After being enlightened by the gospel, experiencing the gifts of salvation, having the Holy Spirit as a companion, and tasting the goodness of God’s Word and power, someone could fall away? No way! The word “have fallen away” means to “abandon a former relationship” or “dissociate from.”  According to our author, this person he is describing has, in spite of all the experiences he has had, abandoned his relationship with God!

However, is this possible? Can someone lose their salvation? No! May it never be! No one who has been enlightened by the gospel, become the recipient of salvation’s blessed gifts, been made a companion to the Holy Spirit, and tasted God’s power and Word in a genuine way could ever fall away as described here. However, if it was possible for this to happen, what could this individual expect?

If anyone could fall away as described above, in spite of all of their circumstances, it would be “impossible to renew them again to repentance” (6:6b). In other words, if anyone could, in fact, lose their salvation, they would never be able to get it back again. Why?

Because they “again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame” (6:6c). In other words, anyone who could lose their salvation, to get it back again would have to put Jesus back on the cross for another sacrifice. This would subject Jesus to public disgrace again and again, thereby diluting the sufficiency of his Passion 2000 years ago.

If someone was truly saved and the sacrifice of Jesus was rightly applied to them because of their faith but then they could abandon Him altogether and lose their salvation, what does that say about Jesus’ salvation? It would at least suggest that it is not as “once for all” as the preacher will suggest in 9:28 or as sufficient/efficient as Peter asserts in 1 Peter 3:18 (“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit”). The “good news” of the Gospel would not be so great if people could lose the salvation they attain in Christ. This is the preacher’s point: no one who has really been saved can ever fall away. If they did, they could never be saved and this does not comport well with Scripture –1 Tim. 2:3-4 “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Rom. 10:13 ^“for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”

A Message to the World-There are Two kinds of People in this World-6:7-8

The last message the preacher in Hebrews gives in this passage is directed to the world—there are two kinds of people. The first kind of person is described in verse 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;…” (6:7). Most people in the ancient world were heavily involved in agriculture as it was essential to everyone’s livelihood. In today’s world, we do not often think about things in terms of yielding a harvest and how integral this is to life. Why? Because unlike the ancient world, we have canned vegetables and freezers that can preserve food no matter what the growing conditions have been. These luxuries were not known in the ancient world. In fact, there were only two ways things could go down in a growing season. On the one hand, as described in this verse, seeds could be planted in the earth, rain could fall, and a crop could be produced leading to a harvest. This was indicative of God’s blessing and a fitting analogy for those who are truly saved by God and grow in His likeness as witnessed in the way that they are a blessing to others.

However, the other possibility is witnessed in verse 8, “but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.” Rather than evidencing the blessing of God, this land proves accursed (Gen. 3:17-18) and leads to devastation. In the ancient world, the only recourse a farmer had was to burn off the area and start again. Such is the plight of the lost who are planted in the same world the saved are planted in, but produce thorns and thistles.  

Ultimately, there are two kinds of people in the world—the lost and the saved/curses and blessings. There is no middle ground suggested here and it was important for the early church and remains important for the church today to know the difference.

So What?

This passage is rich with important messages for different groups of people. To the immature, the preacher says, “press on to maturity” (6:1-3), to the church he says, “if you have salvation, you can never lose it” (6:4-6), and to the world he says, “there are two kinds of people in this world: the lost and the saved” (6:7-8). For those who are most challenged by the first message, continue to mature in your faith by moving beyond the fundamentals and into the greater truths of God that will inevitably help you persevere in this ever-darkening world. Lazy/ uninformed Christians will make very little if any difference in today’s world where more and more are asking “why?” and demanding proof for what we believe. The world needs a smart church, not a spoiled baby. For those who wonder if they could ever lose their salvation, I say along with the preacher in Hebrews 6, “may it never be!” If you could lose it, you would never get it back! Jesus’ sacrifice paid your penalty past, present and future. His passion and resurrection settled your debt once and for all! Praise the Lord!!! For those who do not know where they stand, consider what is being yielded from your life. Is your life producing a blessing of God or adding to the thorns and thistles of this world?