Scary Bible Verses - Hebrews 6:4-6

 

There are several scary parts of the Bible.  The first time you read them, it is a surprise, even a shock, followed by some fear about losing your salvation or having the door slammed in your face.  One of those passages is Hebrews 6:4-6.  Read below:

"4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." (KJV)

"4 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, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 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."  (NASB)

Ooooo!  Scary huh?  The doubts start to rise.  Someday will I fall away?  Have I already fallen away and don't know it?  My first response quotes the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, "Fear not!"

Let me give you some reasons why you shouldn't.  Faith and reason are brothers not enemies.  First, I don't think any of those things are observable in the physical realm except for the very end result, which is a person rejecting God.  In context, the author just said at the end of chapter 5 he will stop giving spiritual milk and start revealing spiritual meat.  The passage above is for the spiritually mature.  It is a deep spiritual truth.  God is in a sense removing the veil temporarily to show us what only He can see in the human soul.

Second, all the words in the folowing list are used in very specific senses: once, enlightened, tasted, heavenly gift, partakers, powers of the age to come, and fall away.  I don't think they are absolute usages.  Think again about the word "once", ἅπαξ in the Greek.  It means "one time".  It doesn't mean two times, or in the past.  The passage is talking about some one who has had only one experience.  That means anyone who has gone to church for a week, a month, or a year and then drifted away from God doens't fit this this category.  You can always come back.  If you do, that is a hint that God isn't done with you.

We also have to think about what the person experienced that one time.  Tasted speaks of something temporary and partial.  The person didn't drink the Water of Life.  He let a drop fall on his tongue.  The most common usage of the word doesn't mean to consume or take nourishment.  It means to sense an enjoyable flavor.  It's a mere taste test.

Were made partakers describes a situation where someone shares something.  The phrase is passive meaning they were on the receiving end.  They weren't sharing something they possessed.  They received something someone else possessed.  Take that together with the idea of tasting, and the situation becomes clear.  A believer shared the heavenly gift, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and the powers of the age to come with somenone.  That person experienced it in some way but never owned it.  Those things never owned him either.

After this one-time interaction, the person then rejected it all.  To fall away is not a passive thing, literally.  It is something someone does actively with the will.

Those of you who grew up in church, stopped following God for a while, and then came back to Him do not follow the pattern of Hebrews 6:4-6.  Either you never tasted or partook in the past or you never fell away in the sense that Hebrews means.  So your return is not impossible.  It is very possible.  God brings you back.  For the first time, you taste, partake, and then grab hold of God by faith.