Letter to the Hebrews Volume 49

 The Danger of Not Advancing in the Faith Part 4

Hebrews 6:5-6 And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 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. KJV

Now the writer of Hebrews continues his analysis, his argument, and his answer to the theory he raised in the question of Hebrews 6:3 above with these next words, "And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come," (Hebrews 6:5) (KJV). Let us remember that the writer here is speaking to believers in our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ who had been born again, but had spent their entire lives following the Hebrew 'Law of Moses' with the many many added rites, rituals, and religious ceremonies written into or added into the 'Law of Moses' by many of the past high priest of the Scribes and Pharisees over the Centuries that frankly were not ever supposed to be imposed upon the Hebrew people. Remeber also how furious this practice made our Lord Jesus Christ against those Scribes and Teachers of the Law, as it is written here, "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?" (Matthew 23:13-17) (KJV) and also as it is written here, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." (Matthew 23:23-28) (KJV).

This condemnation by our Lord Jesus Christ to those Hebrew Scribes and Pharisees went on for the entire Chapter 23, but I wanted these words of His to point out the hatred our Lord Jesus Christ had for those who would prostitute God's Word and His Holy Covenant with His people and at the same time show why the writer of Hebrews understood that many of these Hebrew converts were having a hard time mentally and emotionally coming out of all those religious rites and rituals some of them were falling back into them making the Gospel of Christ and the Word of God or the Word of Grace being taught to them now by the Apostles of no effect, efficacy, or efficaciousness, that is, simply of no real power in their daily lives. There was then and still is not nor will there ever be any power in rites, rituals, or religious ceremonies. However, there is mighty power in the Grace of God and the Word of God, as the Apostle Paul wrote with these words, "For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power." (1 Corinthians 4:20) (KJV).  The little English phrase 'have tasted' Hebrews 6:5 is translated by the Greek word geuomai which is a primary verb meaning (as used here) figuratively to experience (good or ill). In other words, the Hebrew converts had experienced the Grace of God when they were regenerated, redeemed, and reborn by God the Holy Spirit and it would be tragic for any of them (or any of us who are born again today or of any era or generation) to then go back to trying to please God the Father by fleshly means instead of by receiving grace from God the Holy Spirit that manifest power in their/our lives that no rites or rituals could ever make manifest, that is, make evident or visible in their/our lives as believers in Christ Jesus our Lord, as the Apostle Paul warned the Galatians with these words, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:1-5) (KJV). Here is what John Wesley had to say of Hebrews 6:5, "Have had a relish for, and a delight in it. And the powers of the world to come - Which every one tastes, who has an hope full of immortality. Every child that is naturally born, first sees the light, then receives and tastes proper nourishment, and partakes of the things of this world. In like manner, the Apostle, comparing spiritual with natural things, speaks of one born of the Spirit, as seeing the light, tasting the sweetness, and partaking of the things 'of the world to come.'"

Now the writer of Hebrews goes on to warn all those professed Hebrew converts (as well as all professed converts to Christ of every era and generation) of why he is so adamant in seeing their (the Hebrews then and all of us today or of every era and generation) advancement from being 'babes in Christ' to growing up and becoming full grown spiritual adults in our Lord Jesus Christ fully able and capable of discerning good from evil (Hebrews 5:14), because some professed converts may prove or turn out to be just that 'professed', that is, not sincere but insincere converts, that is, having really never been born again at all. Just like the Apostle Paul above warned the Galatian believers, here the writer of Hebrews does the same to the apparent or the professing Hebrew converts to Christ wanting them to understand what their individual spiritual conditions are actually, so he writes these words, "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." (Hebrews 6:6) (KJV). The words in this verse have sparked great argument and contention throughout Christendom for the past 2,000 plus years, however, it ought not be if we see and understand the complete context of this passage and not pull it out alone without seeing it in the light of what the author of Hebrews has been speaking of all the way back beginning with Hebrews 5:11. Remember these words in Hebrews 5:12-13, "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 are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe." The author of Hebrews is writing to 'Christians', the Church, those who he deems to have been truly born again, however, his words here now in Hebrews 6:6 are for those who may be in the visible Church, but were insincere believers, that is, one's who had never been actually born again. The English phrase 'shall fall away' is translated by the Greek word parapiptō (used this one time only in the entire New Testament) meaning to fall aside, that is, (figuratively) to apostatize: - fall away. An Apostate is actually a person that was never born again or a true believer or follower of Jesus Christ, for example the people who deny His virgin birth do so because the Holy Spirit of God does not dwell or live in them. A sinner does not have to believe in the virgin birth of Christ to become a Christian, but when any sinner truly believes in and on Jesus Christ only for their salvation they will believe (by faith) in His virgin birth, because God the Holy Spirit 'in them/us' makes this true and real to us. Same holds true concerning His Bodily Resurrection from the dead. This belief and trust in Christ Bodily Resurrection and His virgin birth does not come from being taught it by any earthly person at all. When the writer declares, 'to renew them again unto repentance', he means that this is impossible because they have not ever received the gift of faith through grace, as Paul the Apostle describes, details, and declares with these words written to the Ephesian believers, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) (KJV).

In other words, you cannot renew someone to repentance who has never received the gift of faith unto repentance in the first place. The true believers entire sojourn and pilgrimage here on the earth is a faith walk (consisting of a lot of repentance of our sins) with God the Father by virtue of God the Son's death, burial, resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins, through the power we receive from God the Holy Spirit when we are not grieving Him. Again as we stated in the previous Volume 48 those of us who are true believers by virtue of the 'new birth' (John 3:3) can never lose our salvation, however, we can lose out on all the spiritual blessings made evident and visible in our lives that are ours 'in Christ' by the power of the Holy Spirit, for if we are grieving Him then He will become silent in our inner man or inner woman and everything we do when this occurs will be done in the 'flesh' and not in the Spirit's power. Amen! Here is what Vinvent's Word Studies had to say of Hebrews 6:6, "The passage has created much discussion and much distress, as appearing to teach the impossibility of restoration after a moral and spiritual lapse. It is to be observed: (1) That the case stated is that of persons who once knew, loved, and believed Christian truth, and who experienced the saving, animating, and enlightening energy of the Holy Spirit, and who lapsed into indifference and unbelief. (2) The questions whether it is possible for those who have once experienced the power of the Gospel to fall away and be lost, and whether, supposing a lapse possible, those who fall away can ever be restored by repentance - do not belong here. The possibility of a fall is clearly assumed. (3) The sin in the case supposed is the relinquishment of the spiritual gifts and powers accompanying faith in Christ, and rejecting Christ Himself. (4) The significance of this sin lies in the mental and spiritual condition which it betrays. It is the recoil of conviction from Christ and the adoption of the contrary conviction. (5) The writer does not touch the question of the possibility of God's renewing such to repentance. He merely puts his own hypothetical case, and says that, in the nature of such a case, the ordinary considerations and means which are applied to induce men to embrace the Gospel no longer appeal to the subjects supposed. He contemplates nothing beyond such agencies, and asserts that these are powerless because the man has brought himself into a condition where they can no longer exert any power. Whether God will ever reclaim by ways of His own is a point which is not even touched. Destruction of the faculty of spiritual discernment is the natural outcome of deliberate and persistent sin, and the instrument of its punishment. Note, 'renew unto repentance.' God promises pardon on penitence, but not penitence on sin."

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...


Sincerely in Christ,


Clifford D. Tate, Sr.


Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…