06. If an Individual Commits Apostacy

Tin a Genuine Christian Commit Betrayment?
What Does Hebrews 6:4-6 Teach?

past Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

Several suicidal people have asked me in all seriousness, "If I were to kill myself, would I go to heaven?" I hedge. Only people who are emotionally sound also struggle with the question: Can a genuine Christian lose his¹ salvation or even commit betrayment?

On the one mitt, the "eternal security" camp argues that a person cannot become "unborn" and suggests that any seeming Christian who falls away clearly "did non really belong to us" (one John 2:19). On the other mitt, some Arminians go and so far to suggest that losing ane's salvation is exceedingly easy, and that a person may demand to get saved once again -- tonight!²

This text, Hebrews six:iv-vi, provides an opportunity for us to let the Scripture speak directly to us on this result. Instead of starting with our doctrine, we brainstorm past looking at the sitz im leben or "life setting" of the letter itself, then to the context of this particular passage.

The Purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews

No thing who the author of the Hebrews was, it is clear that he expected his readers to be thoroughly acquainted with One-time Testament persons, institutions, and texts, and with the Mosaic police. While the church building to which he wrote was undergoing persecution, it had not yet experienced martyrdom (12:4).

It was probably not an exclusively Jewish church building -- there were probably Gentile believers present -- but the arguments in the alphabetic character are intended to urge Jewish Christians non to turn away from Christ to their old Jewish faith. The author argues the superiority of Jesus over angels, the Mosaic law, the Levitical priesthood, the Sabbath, the temple, and the Quondam Testament sacrificial system. To turn back from Christ to these, he argues, is to "harden your hearts" (3:8), to "shrink back" (10:38), to lack the faith of the heroes of Judaism (chapter 11), and of Jesus himself, who braved persecution and expiry for the "hope that was set up before him" (12:two).

This alarm in half dozen:four-6, then, is intended to shock Jewish Christians into persevering in their faith, and to exhort them to resist the temptation of returning to their old Jewish conventionalities and community in gild to escape persecution. The danger the whole alphabetic character seeks to combat is apostasy. Betrayment is the specific sin facing the readers in this passage.

Context of 6:4-6

In 6:i-three the writer exhorts his readers to get out the unproblematic teachings because apostates -- or those in danger of apostasy -- cannot exist restored to repentance by going back to the foundational teachings. Instead, he seeks to encourage and steady them by educational activity them some of the deeper truths of how Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant and its institutions.

Verses 4-half-dozen (as well as vii-12) are parenthetical to the author'south argument, but of import. Christ being superior to the Old Covenant is an appeal to their minds. But in the warnings of verses four-half-dozen he appeals to fearfulness. The readers are rational beings, but the writer knows they are also emotional beings, and decisions are oft made at the emotional, not just at the rational, level.

Were the Tempted Persons Genuine Christians?

One of the well-nigh important questions modern readers ask of this passage is: Were the people who are described in verses iv-5 genuine Christians? To answer that nosotros demand to examine the rather full description the author gives the states, phrase by phrase. Here is the text:

"^fourIt is impossible for those who accept one time been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ^fivewho accept tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to exist brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over once more and subjecting him to public disgrace." (Hebrews 6:4-6)

Enlightened (4:4a)

The author commencement describes them as "enlightened." The Greek root, phōtizō is used figuratively of heavenly lite, and means to "enlighten, give light to, shed calorie-free upon."³ Grammatically, this and the following descriptive verbs are Aorist participles, which probably refer to activeness prior to the present,⁴ indicating the background of the people to whom the warning concerns. F.F. Bruce believes that the term "enlightened" may refer to baptism -- a sense it diameter amidst Christians in Rome in the middle of the second century.⁵ If so, the author of Hebrews sees the objects of the alert as having intimate knowledge of Christ and having been baptized.

Tasted the heavenly souvenir (4:4b)

Next, the ones being warned are said to have "tasted the heavenly gift." "Taste" is from the root geuomai and means to "gustation, partake of, enjoy," and and then in a figurative sense, equally in this text, to "come up to know something, obtain a souvenir"^half-dozen Ellingworth says the discussion ways to "'eat' (or 'drink'), not only 'gustation,' hence figuratively, 'feel (to the total).'"^vii Later on, this idea was used of the Eucharist,⁸ though, I look instead to the thought of the "souvenir of the Holy Spirit" promised to believers (Acts 2:38), which is referred to in the next clause. Any the exact reference of dorea, "souvenir," the subjects hither had eaten or drunk of that gift (1 Corinthians 12:13b), and were not outsiders to the key blessings of Christianity.

Shared in the Holy Spirit (4:4c)

Those being warned were also "sharing" or "participating in"^ix (metochos) the Holy Spirit. Metochos is likewise used of business organisation partners and companions. In other words, they had received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38), and could even have been used in miraculous spiritual gifts (Matthew 7:21-22). They were not mere observers, but total sharers in the Christian feel.

Tasted the goodness of the Give-and-take of God (4:5a)

That they were non just onlookers is confirmed hither by their interest in God's words. The word here is rhēma, which emphasizes the immediacy of "that which is said," too equally "word, proverb, expression."^x They had fed on the teaching of the congregation and may have heard words of prophecy in the congregation (cf. 1 Corinthians 14).

And the powers of the Age to come (4:5b)

The word "powers" (dunamis) here refer to outward expressions of power: "human activity of power, miracle, wonder," though as well refer to the more basic definition: "power, might, strength, strength."¹¹ In other words, they had experienced God'south power in their own spiritual lives and had probably witnessed miracles in the congregation as well (two:4).

Is this description clear enough to identify a 18-carat Christian? Gerald F. Hawthorne isn't so certain. He finds it

"... Necessary to point out ... that these descriptive expressions are susceptible of more than 1 interpretation, and, in their less than 'ultimate' meaning, may be applied to 'professing' Christians as well as to 'genuine' believers... The writer ... may have intended to describe ane who has all the ear-marks of Christianity and who yet is non a real Christian. The one proof of genuineness is a continuing loyalty which keeps faith to the very cease. "¹²

I find Hawthorne'due south rationalization difficult to reconcile our author's words. Information technology seems that the writer of Hebrews has taken pains to describe an insider, one who has experienced the wonder and joy of the Lord. If Hawthorne isn't satisfied with the writer'southward clarification, what evangelical buzz-words would satisfy him? I await that since this passage doesn't fit his theology, he can't meet conspicuously.

If they then commit apostasy (4:6a)

Later on describing real Christians, the author of Hebrews then introduces the fatal condition, committing betrayment. The discussion used is the Aorist participle of parapiptō. In the Greek Old Testament, parapiptō means "to offend, to fall, to sin,"¹³ simply here it probably carries the idea of to "fall away, commit apostasy."¹⁴ A.M. Stibbs characterizes this equally "nothing less than a conscious, deliberate and persistent abandonment of the Christian mode of salvation, an abandonment which involves cypher less than apostasy from the living God."¹⁵

On a pastoral annotation, Christians who read this passage sometimes fear that they themselves accept fallen away. Some are petrified that they accept somehow committed this sin. What kind of sin qualifies? F.F. Bruce observes,

"The writer to the Hebrews himself distinguishes between inadvertent sin and willful sin (2:2; five:two), and the context here shows obviously that the willful sin which he has in listen is deliberate apostasy..."¹⁶

Impossible to restore (iv:6b)

The Greek sentence construction of verse 4, places the give-and-take "incommunicable" (adunatos) in first position, several lines abroad from the verbs which it modifies, thus drawing potent attending to the impossibility of the state of affairs.¹⁷ Just why is restoration to repentance incommunicable? Commentators do not agree.

Donald Guthrie examines the psychological and spiritual barriers.

"Since repentance is an human activity involving the cocky-humbling of the sinner before a holy God, it is evident why a human being with a cynical attitude towards Christ has no possibility of repentance. The hardening process provides an impenetrable casing which removes all sensitivity to the pleadings of the Spirit. There comes a indicate of no return, when restoration is incommunicable."¹⁸

Discussing this passage'due south utilise of anakainizō, "renew, restore," Johannes Behm sees the connotation "to bring to conversion again."

"The seriousness of the distinctive pedagogy of Hebrews that at that place is no second repentance is hither shown from the standpoint of the Christian instructor who is speaking. He and his boyfriend-teachers cannot bring complete apostates to a new beginning which volition lead to conversion. The miracle of condign a kaine ktisis ["new creation"] occurs only once."¹⁹

Ellingworth concludes,

"Once Christ and his cede have been rejected, there is nowhere else to turn. The 'impossibility' of a 2nd repentance is thus not psychological, or more generally related to the human condition; it is in the strict sense theological, related to God'south saving activity in Christ."²⁰

Since they crucify the Son of God on their ain account (four:6c)

The real reason that repentance is impossible in the case of Christian Jews returning to their Judaism, is brought out in all its horror by the author -- crucifixion. While anastauroō sometimes means simply "crucify" (with the prefix ana signifying "up"), here the context requires "excruciate again" (ana = "once more").²¹ Heatois, with the dative of advantage, makes the crucifixion even more personal, "they crucify the Son of God on their own account" (RSV) or "to their own hurt."²²

Past adjustment themselves with those who brought Christ to the cross, they thus commit the same sin every bit these did. Alford quotes the High german commentator F. Bleek, who puts it strikingly:

"They tear Him out of the recesses of their hearts where He had stock-still his abode, and exhibit Him to the open scoffs and reproach of the world, equally something powerless and common."²³

Past their turning against Jesus, they hold him up to contempt (paradeigmatiz ō), merely equally he had been "made a public example of"²⁴ when he had been crucified. Ellingworth comments, "The backslider causes the shame of the cantankerous to be re-enacted."²⁵

Is the Example Hypothetical?

Now that nosotros accept examined what the words of the text seems to hateful, we demand to ask what the writer intended the readers to make out of it. Granted, he assures his readers that "we are confident of better things in your case -- things that accompany conservancy" (6:9). Were they to take it seriously? Are we?

Bruce quotes Kenneth Wuest as saying that "having fallen away" is "a conditional participle here presenting a hypothetical instance, a straw man," and that the sin in question "cannot exist committed today since no temple and no sacrifices are in existence, and no transition menses obtains." Bruce is not impressed. "Biblical writers ... are non given to the setting up of men of harbinger," he responds. "The alert of this passage was a existent alert confronting a existent danger, a danger which is still nowadays so long as 'an evil heart of unbelief' can result in 'deserting the living God' (3:12)."²⁶

Hebrews scholar Lincoln Hurst sees the author as a pastor at heart, fifty-fifty amid the crawly threats in this letter. He doesn't desire to discourage them beyond the indicate of no return, says Hurst, and so he pulls his punches, alternating warnings with encouragement.²⁷ Perhaps the writer of Hebrews took the attitude of Chrysostom, who said, "It is better that I should scare you with words than that you lot should sorrow in deeds."²⁸

Conclusion

Then tin a genuine Christian commit betrayment? If the person in danger of apostasy described in this passage was not a existent Christian, and then existent Christians don't exist! This is non to say that all suicides necessarily result in eternal damnation; our merciful God is the gauge of the troubled soul. However, the whole tone of the Letter of Hebrews is a rational merely passionate exhortation to Jewish Christians to persevere in their faith, and not turn dorsum to their old way. Nosotros must believe that he was in earnest, that his warnings were real.

Footnotes

This newspaper was written in July 1993 as part of a class on Hebrews.

1. Rest assured that the utilize of the male pronoun in this paper is in no way intended to advise that women cannot also lose their salvation. The male pronoun is used generically, and "his/her" is avoided for the sake of simplicity.
2. When I was in college I attended a meeting at Kenny Forman's church building in San Jose where a chorus was sung with the words, "... I'thou saved today, no evil have I done..."
3. Ph ōtizō, Walter Bauer and Frederick William Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, (3rd Edition, abridgement BDAG; based on previous English editions by W.F. Arndt, F.W. Gingrich, and F.W. Danker; Academy of Chicago Press, 1957, 1979, 2000), p. 873.
4. H.E. Dana and Julius R. Mantey, A Manual Grammer of the Greek New Testament (Macmillan Co., 1927, 1955), sec. 202(1); and F. Blass, A. Debrunner, and Robert West. Funk, A Greek Grammar of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Academy of Chicago Printing, 1961), sec. 339.
5. F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (The New International Commentary on the New Testament; revised edition; Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), p. 145. Bruce notes that Justin (First Apology 61:12f; 65:1) uses the verb phōtizō and the substantive phōtismos to depict baptism (footnote 39). On the Hebrews passage, he also says, "The use of 'enlightenment' in the sense of baptism need non be a borrowing from the linguistic communication of the mysteries; it is quite in line with New Attestation teaching," and supports this from John'south teachings about Christ as the Light, and Ephesians 5:xiv as a possible extract from a baptismal hymn.
6. Geuomai, BDAG 195.
7. Paul Ellingworth, Commentary on Hebrews (New International Greek Testament Commentary; Thou Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1993), p. 320.
8. Bruce, p. 146.
9. Metochos, BDAG 643.
10. Rhēma, BDAG 905.
11. Dunamis, BDAG 262-263.
12. Gerald F. Hawthorne, "Hebrews" in New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1969), pp. 549-550.
13. Wilhelm Michaelis, "piptō, ktl.," in Theological Lexicon of the New Testament [Abbreviation: TDNT], Gerhard Kittel and Gerhard Friedrich (editors), Geoffrey W. Bromiley (translator and editor), (Eerdmans, 1964-1976; translated from Theologisches Due west�rterbuch zum Neuen Attestation, ten volume edition) six:161-173, especially pp. 170-171.
14. Parapipt ō, BDAG, p. 621.
15. A.One thousand. Stibbs, "Hebrews," in The New Bible Commentary: Revised (3rd edition; One thousand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), Appendix 3: "The Warning Passages", p. 1220.
16. Bruce, pp. 148-149. William Barclay offers a helpful insight on apostasy. "It was written in an historic period of persecution: and in whatsoever age of persecution betrayment is the supreme sin. In whatsoever age of persecution a man can salvage his life by denying Christ; simply every person who, to salvage his life or comfort, denies Christ, aims a body-blow at the Church, for it means that his life and condolement are dearer to him than his religion; it means that Jesus Christ is not really his Lord; information technology means that there is something more precious to him than Jesus Christ... What it is meant to bear witness is the terrible seriousness of choosing existence instead of Christ." The Letter to the Hebrews (The Daily Study Bible; Edinburgh: St Andrew Press, 1955), pp. 57-58.
17. Bishop Westcott calls its position "singularly impressive." Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970, reprinted from the 1892 Macmillan edition), loc. cit.
18. Donald Guthrie, Hebrews (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries; Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1983), p. 145.
19. Johannes Behm, "kainos, ktl.," TDNT iii:447-454, esp. 451.
20. Ellingworth, p. 323.
21. Bauer, Gingrich, and Danker, p. 61, who notation that "the ancient translators and Greek fathers understood it so." So also Johannes Schneider, "stauros, ktl.," TDNT seven:572-584, specially p. 584; Ellingworth, p. 324.
22. Ellingworth, p. 325; Wescott, p. 151.
23. F. Bleek, Der Brief an die Hebraer erlautert u.s.a.west., iii vols., Berlin 1828-1840, quoted in Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (with revision by Everett F. Harrison; Chicago: Moody Press, 1958, reprinted from the fifth edition), 4:112.
24. Paradeigmatiz ō, BDAG 761, "to disgrace someone publicly, expose, brand an example of."
25. Ellingworth, p. 325.
26. K.Due south. Wuest, "Hebrews Six in the Greek New Attestation," Bibliotheca Sacra 119 (1962), pp. 45-53, quoted by Bruce, p. 52.
27. Lincoln Hurst, lecture on Hebrews, Fuller Theological Seminary, Sacramento extension, 15 July 1993.
28. Quoted by Barclay, p. 60.

More Disciple Lessons from Hebrews

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