Salvation Summaries

Hebrews 6:4-6   ⁴ It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,  ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,  ⁶ if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Possible Interpretation

Hebrews 6:4-6 can be difficult to understand and create anxiety in Christians who interpret it incorrectly.  The verses appear to say that Christians – or those who have been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit and tasted the goodness of the word – can lose their salvation if they “fall away.” Worse, if they fall away, they will never be given an opportunity to repent and become saved again (even if they desperately want to).  Is this really what it means?

Conclusion

The meaning of Hebrews 6:4-6 can largely be determined from its context, key terms and phrases, and other verses about the Israelites in the desert.

This passage refers primarily to the Israelites in the wilderness, which the author discussed in Hebrews chapters 3, 4 and 6. The Israelites knew how to get right with God (they had been enlightened) and had received many blessings via miracles from God and wise counsel from Moses (shared in the Holy Spirit, tasted the goodness of the word), but ultimately, they rejected God. They had been given many opportunities, over many years, to get right with God and obey Him, but they stubbornly refused to do so as their hearts had become hardened by rebellion and sin.  Because of their evil and unbelieving hearts, the Israelites “fell away” from God.  They were not going to repent even if given another opportunity to do so, and as a result, God would not allow them to enter His rest (see Hebrews 10:26 for more information on this).

The author likely wrote Hebrews 6:4-6 as a warning to certain non-Christian Hebrews addressed in his letter. As we saw in Hebrews 3:12 vs. Hebrews 3:1, there appear to be two different audiences the author was addressing: 1) spiritually immature Christians who needed to grow in their salvation, and 2) non-Christians who might have considered themselves Christians, but whose actions resembled the Israelites in the wilderness.

One of the clues to realize that the passage does not refer to Christians is the terms and phrases it uses.  While enlightened can refer to a Christian person, it can refer to a non-Christian too.  It refers to anyone who has received spiritual light, knowledge or wisdom. In the case of the Israelites referenced in Hebrews 6:4-6, it likely means knowledge of God and His salvation through saving belief or faith in Him.  Although the Israelites clearly knew that God existed and learned about him from Moses, they never had saving belief or faith in Him.  “Tasted the heavenly gift,” “shared in the Holy Spirit,” and “tasted the goodness of the word of God” are not used anywhere else in the Bible.  However, they appear to mean a person who has experienced something to some extent or received the benefits of it. By way of contrast, Christians have received the Holy Spirit and are to walk in the Spirit. Fall away means to reject, depart from or possibly a desire to not be associated with something or someone.  As we saw in chapter 3, the Israelites fell away from God because of an evil and unbelieving heart, and thus not from a believing heart that a Christian would have.  Last, the Bible uses many different terms to describe Christians (e.g., born again, saved, believer, justified, redeemed, child of God, adopted, filled with the Holy Spirit, citizen of heaven, heir of eternal life, etc.) and none of them are used here.

Another clue to understanding this passage is the illustration the author uses in Hebrews 6:7-8.  In these verses, the author compares two fields.  One soaks up the rain that falls on it and bears a good crop; this field is blessed by God.  The other receives rain but is a useless field of thistles and thorn, and one day will be burned.  This illustration contrasts believers with unbelievers, or the Israelites in the desert with the spiritually immature Hebrews the author wrote to.  Further, this illustration could well be a reference to the parable of the sower or soils found in Matthew, Mark and Luke.  Luke 8:14-15 says, “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.  But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in tan honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.”  Of the four soils mentioned in the parable, the first represent those who hear the word, or gospel, and do not believe. The second and third soils, which have rocks and thorns respectively, represent people who hear the word with joy and believe at least for a time, until affliction or temptation or worldliness cause them to fall away. These represent people who may think that they are Christians and even appear to be Christians, but later depart from their belief.  The Israelites likely reflect the first three soils, but the author has the third one in mind – the seed that fell among thorns – to represent the Israelites in the desert, with the Hebrews Christians representing the fourth soil that bore some fruit.

A final clue to rightly interpreting the passage can be found in Hebrews 6:9.  The NLT says “Dear friends, even though we are talking like this, we really don’t believe that it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.”  The passage clearly does not apply to the Christians in the author’s audience, and may not technically apply to the non-Christians who, while resembling the Israelites in the desert, had not fallen away.

Based upon the above, it should be clear that these verses are not talking about a Christian who, through ongoing sin, has lost his/her salvation, and now cannot become saved again through repentance. A Christian cannot lose his or her salvation because of committing sins after becoming saved.  If this were true, Jesus’ death and resurrection only paid for a person’s past sins or select future ones, rather than all of his sins. Technically, there is no type of sin or maximum number of sins a Christian can commit to lose his/her salvation, though a true Christian should sin less and less over time as the Holy Spirit helps guide that person. If a Christian could lose their salvation, then a whole series of spiritual “transactions” would have to be unwound.  The sins that were previously forgiven would need to become unforgiven, the Holy Spirit that had been received would need to be given up, the adoption as a child of God would need to be revoked, the new creation that took place would somehow need to be undone, and the appeased wrath between God and that person would need to be rekindled, etc..  The Bible simply does not say anything about these things taking place.

In summary, Hebrews 6:4-6 is a passage about non-Christians who have fallen away from an evil and unbelieving heart and will not repent even if given another opportunity to do so. As such, they will not enter God’s rest, or heaven.  The passage best describes the Israelites in the desert, but represents a warning to the non-believing Hebrews the author wrote to.  The author wants the Hebrew Christians to take the salvation message seriously and to grow in their faith rather than remain spiritually immature. Christians today should have the same goal.

Supporting Details

To understand this passage, I reviewed the context of the verses, looked up key terms and phrases, and read cross-referenced verses and definitions. From this, the meaning of the above passage became clear.

Context

This section is lengthy, as it summarizes my review of chapters 1-6, but it’s important to read through it for context.  Chapters 3, 4 and parts of 6 contain key information (see underlined areas) that directly relate to Hebrews 6:4-6.

Chapter 1 is all about Jesus, including His:

• Similarity with the Father – radiance of God’s glory, exact representation of His being
• Power – the Father, through Jesus, made the world; upholds all things by the word of his power
• Position – appointed heir of all things, sat down at right hand of the Father
• Role – made purification for sins
• Relationship to angels – far greater, angels worship Him; He is God (Heb. 1:8-9)

Chapter 2 transitions into salvation and how Jesus accomplished it.

• Pay close attention to the message of salvation given its importance
• Jesus was temporarily made a little lower than the angels
• Jesus took on human form to have flesh and blood and experience temptations
• Jesus tasted death for everyone so that he might render powerless the one who had control over death (Satan) and free people from the fear of death
• Jesus became a merciful and faithful high priest on earth who made propitiation (means by which God’s wrath against people can be appeased and how sinful man to be reconciled to Him; Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sins, faith in Him reconciles us to God) for the sins of people

In chapter 3, the author shows that Jesus was/is superior to Moses, and introduces the unbelief problem of the Israelites and why they could not enter God’s rest.  Interestingly, he appears to address two different audiences (one audience represents weak Christians; the other represents non-Christians), and uses the term “falling away” that will also be used, in varying forms, in Hebrews 4 and 6.

• Jesus was an apostle and high priest
• Jesus was faithful to who appointed Him; Moses was faithful too
• Jesus counted worthy of more glory than Moses
• In 3:1, the author refers to “holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling.” This audience would be Christians. However, in 3:12, he says, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.”  This audience would appear to be non-Christians (for you would not warn a Christian about having an evil, unbelieving heart).
• Verses 7-12 are very important to understand, as they directly relate to Hebrews 6:4-6.
• The Israelites heard God’s voice but
  • hardened their hearts (from ongoing sin and rebellion, Heb. 3:8)
  • provoked, tried and tested God even though they had seen God’s miracles for 40 years (Heb. 3:8-10),
  • went astray in their hearts (Heb. 3:10)
  • disobeyed God
• The author warns his audience to not become like the Israelites who had an evil and unbelieving heart (Heb. 3:12); one that had been hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13).
• The evil and unbelieving hearts of the Israelites is what caused them to “fall away” from God (Heb. 3:12. Thus, it is not a believing heart that falls away) and not enter God’s rest.
• The author associates unbelief with disobedience (Heb 3:18-19); because the Israelites did not truly believe in God, they disobeyed Him.

Chapter 4 is about entering God’s rest

• The author tells them to be fearful if they have fallen short of entering God’s rest
• The Hebrews people had heard the good news, just as the Israelites had.
• The Israelites did not enter God’s rest because of their lack of faith and belief in God, and their disobedience (Heb. 4:2, 3, 6).
• The author says to be diligent to enter God’s rest, else they might fall. It would appear that this comment was directed at the unbelieving Hebrews.
  • Entering God’s rest appears to be based upon hearing God’s word (Good News), having faith or belief in Him and being obedient (Heb. 4:2, 3, 12)

Chapter 5 is about Jesus’ role as high priest and the Hebrews’ spiritual immaturity

• Jesus was a priest forever
• While on earth, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears
• Jesus learned obedience from the things which He suffered
• Once made perfect, Jesus became the source of eternal salvation
• The Hebrews were still spiritually immature and needed to be told again about the elementary aspects of Jesus and salvation (which are mentioned in chapter 6). They were babies who needed milk and were not yet ready to eat food.

In Chapter 6 the author wants the spiritually immature Christians to grow spiritually and contrasts them with those in verses 4-6 who cannot.

• The author wants them to grow spiritually and not dwell on the elementary teachings about Jesus and salvation, which include repentance, faith, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment, etc.
• The author contrasts the spiritually immature Christians that should be growing with those who cannot grow in 6:4-6 (people who have been enlightened, tasted of the heavenly gift, been made partakers of the HS and tasted the word of God…if they fall away (e.g., unbelief) after these things, it will be impossible to renew them again to repentance).
• An illustration of two fields – one that bears a crop and the other thistles and thorns – is offered to explain the contrast between Christians who bear fruit and non-Christians who don’t (see the parable of the sower/soils for more details).
• The author specifically tells his audience in verse 9 that the warning in 4-6 does not apply to them (“Dear friends, eve though we are talking like this, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation.”). Nonetheless, the author prods these weak Christians to grow, otherwise they may become “spiritually dull and indifferent.”

Key Terms and Phrases

Enlightened

• This term is used 4 times in the OT and 4 times in the NT according to the NAS version.
• God, Jesus and the word can enlighten a person
• Enlightened is someone who has received spiritual light (which is good, pure), knowledge or wisdom. In the case of Hebrews 6:4-6, it likely means knowledge of God and His salvation through saving belief or faith in Him.
• This term can apply to non-believers or believers, though is likely more commonly associated with believers who, after becoming enlightened, become saved.

Tasted of the heavenly gift

• This phrase, and “heavenly gift,” are not used anywhere else in the Bible.
• Tasted would seem to mean experienced to some degree or received the benefits of
• It is not clear what “heavenly gift” refers to. Bible commentator Peter Pett speculates that it could be the Holy Spirit, gift of Christ, eternal life, gift of salvation, righteousness, the gospel, or the Lord’s Supper.

Shared in (or Partakers of) the Holy Spirit

• This phrase is not used anywhere else in the bible.
• Shared in the Holy Spirit would seem to mean that someone has received the benefits of being associated with others who have the Holy Spirit. Believers have received the Holy Spirit, are filled with the Holy Spirit and are to walk in the Spirit.

Tasted the goodness of the word (or Tasted the good word) of God

• This phrase is not used anywhere else in the Bible.
• Tasted would seem to mean experienced to some degree or received the benefits of, but not to the point of hearing, accepting and believing the word, which describes a Christian (see the fourth soil in the parable of the sower).
• The Israelites heard the word of God multiple times, but it was never “united by faith” to make them a believer (Heb. 4:2).

Fall away

• This phrase is used a half-dozen times in the Bible, primarily in the gospels and often in reference to Jesus or faith
• It means to depart from, reject or possibly not want to be associated with
• The context provides us with the answer to the meaning of this phrase. Hebrews 3:12 says, “Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” Thus, it is not a believing heart that falls away, but an evil, unbelieving heart.

Cross-referenced (and other) verses about the Israelites in the Wilderness

Because the author referenced the Israelites several times in these chapters, I looked up cross-referenced verses about them and summarized my observations below.  The verses include Exodus 17:2-7, Numbers 20:1-13, Deuteronomy 6:16, Psalm 78, Psalm 95:7-11, along with 1 Corinthians 10:6-10.