HEBREWS 6:4

The Bible says in Hebrews 6:4-6, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good Word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Are these verses talking about believers or unbelievers? That question seems easy to answer in that we are looking at these verses in the context in which they are found. In Hebrews 6:1-3 the writer had been speaking of the fact that all believers should already be grounded in certain doctrines. A teacher should not have to teach on these doctrines, assuming that the Christians to whom he is speaking have had enough time since they were saved to read and study the Word of God.

We see that Hebrews 6:4 is tied back to what was being said in Hebrews 6:1-3 because Hebrews 6:4 starts with the word “For.” Hebrews 6:1-3 is talking about believers and how much they can learn or should have already learned from the Word. The verses that come after Hebrews 6:4-6 are also talking about believers. Hebrews 6:9 starts with the phrase, “But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you.”

Of course, the phrases that are used in Hebrews 6:4-6 are phrases that only apply to people who have truly been saved: “enlightened,” “tasted of the heavenly gift,” “partakers of the Holy Ghost,” “tasted the good Word of God,” tasted “the powers of the world to come.” The principle is this: A Christian can turn away from God, and become a totally unspiritual person. It happens. A Christian can have certain important spiritual truths revealed to them, but they turn away from those truths. They live as though they had never heard those truths. Other passages in the New Testament point out that a Christian can wander so far from God, that God decides to take them off the earth: to kill them. We should be living in a way that brings glory to the name of Christ. Christians who wander away, “put him to an open shame.” Why should they be left on the earth? First Corinthians 11:30 says, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” It also says in First John 5:16, “There is a sin unto death.”

Hebrews 6:4 says “it is impossible.” What is impossible? Hebrews 6:6 says, “If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance.” This is an important spiritual principle to understand. God never promises more than one opportunity to go His way. Out of His grace He may give more than one opportunity, but there is no guarantee. A person might turn out of the right path just one time, but that one time can have disastrous consequences. Do not underestimate the power of the will of man. This principle is found in the book of Proverbs. It says in Proverbs 1:23-29, “Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. Because I have called and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.”

Notice the phrase “to renew them again unto repentance” in Hebrews 6:6. This is referring to Christians who need to repent to stay in fellowship with Christ. The day that you are born-again you repent in order to be saved. From that point on you must live a life of repentance in order to stay in fellowship with Christ. Speaking to Christians, the Bible says in First John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” True confession involves repentance.

An illustration is used in Hebrews 6:7-8 to explain this spiritual principle. It says, “For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.” The will of God is for Christians to bear fruit. Jesus said in John 15:8, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

This is the will of God for every Christian: to bear fruit, but God will not wait forever for a Christian to get to that point. Everything in this life is limited, including opportunities to serve the Lord and bear fruit for His glory. That is why Jesus said in John 15:2, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” Notice that Jesus said, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away.” A person can only be “in” Christ by being a true Christian. But if one does not bear fruit, one will be taken away. To be taken away probably means to be taken off the earth through death and to be taken away from an opportunity to gain rewards. These things that Jesus taught are perfectly consistent with what we are reading about in Hebrews chapter six.

When Hebrews 6:8 says that someone is “nigh unto cursing,” it means that they are “near” being cursed, but that they did not become cursed. They only got near to it. That shows how displeased God is with a Christian who does not bear fruit. When Hebrews 6:8 says, “whose end is to be burned,” it is obviously talking about the results of one’s earthy life. This has the same emphasis as First Corinthians 3:14-15 that says, “If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

There are three ways that these verses in Hebrews chapter six are interpreted, but only one of them is valid. The three ways are: 1. That these were people who never were saved in the first place. 2. That these were people who were saved, but who eventually lose their salvation. (To believe this interpretation, you must believe that a person can lose his salvation. The Scriptures are clear that no one can lose his salvation, and thus this interpretation is not scriptural.) 3. That these were people who were truly saved, but who fell away and who suffered a terrible judgment in this life including the loss of their rewards. This third interpretation is the best because of the context and because of the previous points that have been made.

Hebrews chapter six started out by making it clear that all believers should already be at the point of understanding at least eight Bible doctrines (Hebrews 6:1-3). Then Hebrews 6:4-8 speaks of people who have gone further away from God instead of growing in the knowledge of Him. An important question to ask is this: How can a believer make sure that he does not fall away and fall into the condition that is so sadly spoken of in Hebrews 6:4-8? The answer is found in Hebrews 6:7. It says, “For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God.” The phrase “bringeth forth herbs” is the same thing as the bearing of fruit. It only happens if the rain comes “oft upon it.” The rain is the life-giving sustenance. And the rain must come “oft” which means “often.”

I once passed by a field of soy beans every day on my way to work. Early in the growing season, there was a good amount of rain and by early June the soy bean field was full, vibrant, and healthy. But then a severe drought hit the region. There was very little rain for the rest of the summer. By the time that August came around the soy bean field that had once been so healthy and so promising had dried up and withered up. Before long the farmer was mowing it down and plowing it under. The same thing happens in the hearts and the lives of Christians who stop taking in the life-giving sustenance. Jesus is the water of life. A Christian must be constantly watered and nourished by the Word as it reveals Jesus Christ to Him. Without the constant influence of Jesus Christ through His Word, a Christian will not grow and will not bear fruit. When Christians become lazy and stay away from the Word of God, they start withering.

In Hebrews 6:12 it says that these believers who were being written to were not “slothful.” They made the effort that had to be made to stay in God’s Word. Some Christians fall by the wayside, and stop bearing fruit. It says in Hebrews 6:9, “But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.” Some Christians do not grow in Christ and do not bear fruit. The writer of the book of Hebrews had just spoken of them, but he turns his attention back to the believers to whom he is writing. He says that these believers do have “things that accompany salvation.” Two things are important: first that a person gets saved, and second that a person bears fruit. God is not pleased if a person gets saved and then does not bear fruit.

In Hebrews 6:10 we are told exactly what kind of good works should accompany salvation. It says, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” We are told both in a general way and in a specific way what these believers had that accompanied their salvation. They had “work” and they had a “labor of love.” You are saved by faith in Christ. But your faith is of no value in a needy world unless you also have work that comes after the faith. “Faith without works is dead.”

The work that these Christians had was called a “labor of love.” There is no work more important than love. God is love. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” The Bible says in First Corinthians 13:2-3, “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries. And all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing.”

Notice that these Christians had love for other Christians. After love for God, the most important love to have is love for other Christians. Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have love you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” Jesus said in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have love you.” Jesus also said in John 15:17, “These things I command you, that ye love one another.” The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:10, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love: in honor preferring one another.” Paul also wrote in First Thessalonians 4:9, “But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.” The Holy Spirit declares by the hand of Peter in First Peter 1:22, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.” The one who leaned against Jesus’ bosom wrote in First John 3:23, “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

You must not compromise, and you must not join any unholy alliances. But you must love your fellow Christians: all of them. If you cannot do that, you might have salvation, but you will not have the things that accompany salvation. And you will not be obeying the great commandment that Christ gave to His followers.

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