The book of Hebrews is essentially a series of exhortations from the writer (I often call him the preacher) urging his readers to not turn away from their faith. Some were turning back to Judaism and many others were tempted to do so. His exhortations are based on the superiority of Christ. Key to the book are the so-called warning passages. One of them is found in Hebrews 6:
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
This passage is one of the most controversial in the entire Bible. The warning passages have been interpreted in four ways:
- A Christian who loses his/her salvation [Yet see John 6:39-40; 10:27-29]
- The preacher has built a hypothetical scenario for rhetorical affect—it seems to me that if the warning here is not real then it would not have an affect!
- The preacher is talking about God’s discipline—a Christian losing his/her reward—the language of this passage seems too strong for that view.
- Exhortation to Genuine Christianity—he is speaking of those who ‘profess’ Christ but do not ‘possess’ Him. Instead of identifying with Christ and ‘bearing His disgrace’ [Heb 13:13]—they stand with those who at the cross cast insults at Him, disparaging His claims as the True Messiah (6:6).
Keep in mind the writer is “convinced of better things relating to salvation” (Heb 6:9).
My stance on the passages is that the preacher is writing about those who profess but don’t possess. One of my teachers, Dr. Thomas D. Lea, observed correctly, “The distinctive evidence of true Christianity is endurance” (The New Testament: Its Background and Message, 514.)
StevePattonOnline 