And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
Hebrews 6:3-6
We are now on the verge of moving on to the next section; God and you, my readers willing. I feel very much just like the writer of the letter to the Hebrews. Letters were a live, interactive communication tool; much like the Bible Gems. In the very beginning I designed the Gems to be interactive in the sense of having a live Quiet Time on the Internet through which you could respond, ask questions and give your input as well. Very much like a letter. We see that most clearly in Paul’s letter(s) to the Corinthians. “Now concerning the things about which you wrote. . .” The same thing is true of the Bible Gems. There have been several of you who have responded already about my comment in Gem 2094 related to “Let’s move on to higher, deeper things. Let’s leave behind things like:
- Repentance
- Faith
- Laying on of hands
- Resurrection from the dead
- Eternal Judgment“
Making comments like “I hope you are going to say something about the rudimentary things.” Or Margareth Spencer’s comment “Interesting you didn’t go much (yet) on 6:5-6… or is that still part of “milk”? Perhaps prompted by my fictitious conversation:
“No, hang on a moment. Please, teach us more about these things you tell us we should leave behind. ‘Repentance’ has always bothered me. Please tell me more. ‘Faith’, I have never really understood the concept of “faith”. I just don’t get it. And how are we supposed to understand the saying “the just shall live by faith”? I mean what does that even mean? And please tell us more about the laying on of hands; I haven’t even heard that term before! You can’t mean we’re not going to talk about ‘the resurrection from the dead‘ anymore. I want to know more about that. Please, can we have another class on that; I have so many questions. No more on ‘eternal judgment”. You can’t be serious!”
It is my intention to leave these rudimentary [stoicheia] things behind and continue with the deeper things. But yes Margareth I will deal with Hebrews 6:4-6. A couple of you have already commented that you have found Gems 2091 to 2100, which I have now named a Gem series called Jesus is The Word of RIghteousness, difficult to comprehend. I am aware that a number of you have found this series of Gems difficult to grasp. It contains some linguistic terminology and some truly deep concepts, not the least of which is the true meaning of righteousness [dikaiosunē], but it is worth working your way through again because it’s important.
There is also an element as to whether God is willing for me to move on. I try to write these Gems at the direction and inspiration of God. The previous Gem, Why Your Own Righteousness Will Not Get You To Heaven, I felt God tell me to rewrite. I had already written the bulk of it only to feel that God was telling me to re-write it and make it clearer, which I then did. So I guess what I am also saying is that I am deliberately allowing God, or you as my reader the opportunity to ask me to deal with the rudimentary things if that is what I am supposed to do.
In Gem 2093, I told you that we would unpack the warning signs in the next Gem. “You will have noticed too I am sure that I have not done anything yet with the last three verses, Hebrews 6:4-6. That’s because they need special treatment. More to come on that later.“ Well now is that later time. In this new section, the writer adds the strongest warning of the letter to the Hebrews so far: Hebrews 6:4-6. Why so strong? The writer told his readers that it was [ἀδύνατος] “impossible”, “not possible”, “unable to be done”, i.e. “we are powerless” to bring back to repentance those who have turned away from God. Why such strong language? This appears to be in the category of the unforgivable sin, so we had better investigate the significance of it thoroughly. Before we do, I am giving both God and you the opportunity of your input in terms of what you would like.
- Go back to elementary things briefly.
- Make the meaning and significance of The Word of Righteousness clear and simple.
- Move on to the “Impossibility”.
Your collective wish will be my command unless God trumps it.
It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.
Ian
Most people’s opinion of a good sermon is one that goes right over their head and hits their neighbour right between the eyes!
Bob Gass
Your greatest obstacle to personal growth isn’t ignorance; it’s the illusion of knowledge. It’s in believing you’ve ‘arrived.’
Bob Gass
When you love the unlovable and forgive the unforgivable you are free.
Bernie Siegel
Move on
Hey friend. Im looking forward to 4-6. It’s been a rock in my gumboot ever since you told us to read those chapters several times.
Kev
Is the rock out of your gumboot now Kev?
number 2 Ian there is much to understand and learn.