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A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews

Don’t fall away!. Don’t Depart!. Don’t neglect your salvation!. Don’t cast away your confidence!. Don’t harden your heart!. Don’t drift away!. A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews. How can we neglect so great a salvation? ~ Hebrews 2:3 . Hebrews: Christ Is Superior!

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A Study Of The Apostle Paul’s Letter To The Hebrews

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  1. Don’t fall away! Don’t Depart! Don’t neglect your salvation! Don’t cast away your confidence! Don’t harden your heart! Don’t drift away! AStudyOf TheApostlePaul’s LetterTo The Hebrews How can we neglect so greata salvation? ~ Hebrews 2:3

  2. Hebrews: Christ Is Superior! Superior Person (1:1—4:13) Superior to Prophets (1:1-3) Superior to Angels (1:4—2:18) Superior to Moses (3:1-19) Superior to Joshua (4:1-13) Superior Priest (4:14—7:28) Superior to Aaron (4:14—6:12)but… We’ll only study 6:4-12 today. Superior to Melchizedek (6:13—7:10) Superior to Levi (7:11-28)

  3. Hebrews: Christ Is Superior! Superior Pact to Moses’ (8:1—10:18) Superior Promises (8:1-13) Superior Sanctuary (9:1-15) Superior Sacrifice (9:16-28) Superior Results (10:1-18) Superior Principle (Faith) to Moses’ (10:19—13:25) Superior Things (10:19-39) Superior Actions (11:1-40) Superior Relationship (12:1-29) Superior Way of Life (13:1-25)

  4. In our study of 5:11—6:3 we found Paul striving to wean a 30-year old congre-gation from the milk of the Old Testa-ment world of prophecies, types, and shadows of the coming Christ and push them forward … deeper into the New Testament world of their fulfillment in Jesus who would (and did) fulfill all things in the AD 70 destruction of Je-rusalem, Judaism, and its Temple (cf. Luke 21:22).

  5. He ended that section saying, And this we will do if God permits, indicating that he just hoped it wasn’t too late for them—that they weren’t already too far gone to get them turned around before the perfection or the end occurred, be-cause they’d be destroyed (lost) right along with the rest of the Jews if they didn’t get back on their previous course. After the statement of 6:3, Paul contin-ued with his warning by discussing the despair of apostasy. Let’s begin with the root statement in…   

  6. Hebrews 6:4a & 6    For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  7. The original term for this phrase means to deviate or turn aside from. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  8. This word is related to one Paul used in Gal. 5:4 when he told those Christians (who were having a similar problem), You have become es-tranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  9. In Hebrews Paul wasn’t talking about falling into a moral sin & not repenting of it (although that could perhaps be in-cluded); he was re-ferring to apostasy. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  10. To apostatize means to abandon one’s faith, which is what Paulspokeofin3:12:Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in de-parting from … God. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  11. The term for this word is interesting: There are two Greek words for new:neosrefers to something new in time, andkainosrefers to something new in condition—to some-thing that has been restored. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  12. The original word here is fromkainos with a prefix added for repetition. I.e., it refers to something which had already been reconditioned once; so to renew it was to recondition it again. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  13. Due to the way this word is used here (as a state or place), it brings to mind the reality that repent-ance is a gift of God, a gift in the sense that He chose to al-low repentance on the part of man in order to acquire sal-vation. E.g….   For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  14. In Acts 11:18 we read about how God has granted to the Gentiles repentance to life; and in 2 Tim. 2:25 Paul spoke of being patient with quarrelers in case God grants them re-pentance, fitting perfectly with 6:3:if God permits. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  15. God is the only One who perfectly knows the heart of a man concerning whether it’s possible to change him or not, so we’re just to do our duty, and let Him take care of the rest. (But let’s not for-get there are excep-tions to this rule, e.g., Mat. 7:6 & 18:15-17.) For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  16. According to the Greek scholars, the original word here cannot be toned down to mean diffi-cult; i.e., it really does mean impos-sible! But why?  For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  17. Since God rejects those who reject Him & His teachings (as we’ll see in 6:8-9); He cannot and will not save anyone against his/her will! For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  18. Yes, a person on his own can choose to reassociate himself with what he had previously rejected, but he will notbe forced; this is why Paul said we (v. 3) and why it’s impos-sible to renew him, implying that it can not be accomplished by someone else. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  19. The question arises, Why did Paul speak of the impossibility of a return? Haven’t we heard of people who fell away from the church & came back? Sure. So what is the deal here? Well…   For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  20. For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame. Paul said this sort of people would be im-possible to restore because…

  21. This phrase likely means to their de-triment; see, to return to Judaism would be to renege on Jesus being the Messiah, meaning that He was worthy of death. Besides that…   For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  22. The putting Him to an open shame idea seems to contrast the for themselves idea; i.e., they’d not only crucify Jesus to their own loss, but (by forsaking what they once professed) they’d also bring blasphemy & shame on Him in the eyes of others. So…  For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  23. Instead of glorying in the cross, they’d be encouraging people to see only the shame in it, for to be crucified as a criminal was an ex-tremely shameful way to die (Gal.3:13 & 5:11). Now… Let’s return to verse 4 to consider Paul’s description of this sort of people:  For it’s impossible … if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify for themselves the Son of God and put Him to an open shame.

  24. Hebrews 6:4b-5    …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  25. Before defining these, let me say that I believe these 5 subjects are not only in a staircase series, but the last 4 also simultaneously describe the first one. So let’s consid-er the first one, not just in the series, but alsoincontextu-al significance. …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  26. The term for en-lightened could re-fer to two things, either separately or simultaneously: It could refer to un-derstanding in gen-eral, bringing in the generic idea of this word being describ-ed by the following four subjects. Or… …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  27. It could refer to baptism, because this Greek word was used in the first few centuries to indicate the result of one who came to under-stand, bringing in the more specific staircase idea with the first step—bap-tism. Or…    …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  28. Itcouldrefertoboth of these ideas con-currently; this is what I believe be-cause the word once means once-for-all, bringing up some-thingdoneonlyonce —like baptism, while the last four usetheword having, con-necting them to the word enlightened. …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  29. Concerning under-standing, we’re re-minded of numerous passages, and here are a couple:   …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  30. Of Jesus, Zacharias said, To give light to those who sit in darkness(Luke1:79). And Paul wrote of the light of … know-ledge … in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 4:6). …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  31. …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come… Concerning baptism, notice a parallel passage later in Hebrews:   

  32. After speaking of receiving the know-ledge of the truth in 10:26,Paul then said in verse 32, Recall [that] after you were illuminated, you en- dured a great strug-gle. When did they begin having strug- gles?Aftertheircon-version, of course. …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  33. This phrase means that they hadex-perienced Christ and His salvation in their lives. We’re re-minded of numerous passages here as well, but only have time for a few:  …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  34. In John 4:10 Jesus said of Himself, If [only] you knew the gift of God. Then laterin6:51He said, Iamthelivingbread which came down fromHeaven.Ifany-one eats of this bread, he will live forever. And…   …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  35. Speaking of Jesus, Peter wrote, You have tasted that the Lord is gracious(1 Pet. 2:3). …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  36. This phrase pro-bably refers to the idea found in 1 Cor. 6:19: Do you not knowthatyourbody is the temple of the Holy Spirit?, remini-scent of Eph. 1:13-14 which applied solely to Christians of that initial gener-ation: …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  37. In Christ you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guar-antee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased posses-sion. How perfectly this passage parallels the one we’re studying today!

  38. This phrase is inter-esting because it’s suggestive of the various times just such a phrase was used in the OT, re-ferring to positive things. E.g….   …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have becomepartakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  39. In Jsh. 21:45 the promise of bringing the children of Isra-el into the land of Canaan was called a good word from God; and in Jer.29:10 the bringing of God’s people out of capti-vity was also called a good word. So it’s no wonder that…  …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have becomepartakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  40. When the writer of Psa. 45:1 wrote of the coming Messiah, he spoke of medi-tating on a good word,whichfitsper-fectlyherewithpeo-ple who were ex-periencing the good Word of God—the fulfilling of the plea-sant promises of the Messianic age. Lastly…   …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have becomepartakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  41. Let’s consider this phrase:Justaswhen we speak of … “the powers that be,” the Gk. term for powers here was used in reference to other things besides sup-ernatural interven-tion in the material universe (Mat. 24:29, Tts 3:1, & 1 Pet. 3:22). So…  …those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have becomepartakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come…

  42. Especially in the context of Hebrews in general (e.g. 11:35 & 12:22-28), and since he was referring to the following age—the new covenant age—about to (mello) come, it seems obvious that Paul was referring to those things which that dawning new age would re-sult in: reformation (Heb. 9:9-10), re-freshing restoration (Acts 3:19-21), re-demption (Eph. 1:13-14), & resurrection (Luke 20:35 & Php. 3:8-12 in which Paul even used the term power). Further… 

  43. Sincerevelation wouldbecompleteand Christ’senemieswouldbecrushed,Paul may have also been including the fu-ture of the Gospel’s increase (cf. Isa. 9:7 & Rev. 21—22, esp. 22:17). Remember…

  44. Thechurchwasinitsinfancyduringthe transition period, so if it had tasted the greatness of the dawning new age then (theywereintheprocessofreceivingitafter all, Heb.12:28), how great it’d be when it finally arrived with all of its glory(cf. 1 Cor. 13:8-12)! Now on to Paul’s illustration:   

  45. Hebrews 6:7-8  For the earth that drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it’s cultivated receives blessing from God; butifitbearsbriars& thorns it’s reject- ed & near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

  46. The term for earth means land, with primary reference to a piece of land. For the earth that drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it’s cultivated receives blessing from God; butifitbearsbriars& thorns it’s reject- ed & near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

  47. Thetermforherbsis thewordfromwhich we get botany,the study of plants. For the earth that drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it’s cultivated receives blessing from God; butifitbearsbriars& thorns it’s reject- ed & near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

  48. The term for culti-vatedis the word from which we get the name George, a name that refers to a worker of land, a farmer, one who nutures a piece of ground for edible produce. For the earth that drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it’s cultivated receives blessing from God; butifitbearsbriars& thorns it’s reject- ed & near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

  49. The term for reject-ed is the same word found in 1 Cor. 9:27 where, in the KJV, Paul spoke of being a castaway. For the earth that drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it’s cultivated receives blessing from God; butifitbearsbriars& thorns it’s reject- ed & near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

  50. The burning here is the curse, the result of being rejected. The question is, Why did he saynear to being cursed, when the normal thing to say would have been it’s re-jected and will be burned? For the earth that drinks in the rain that often comes upon it and bears herbs useful for those by whom it’s cultivated receives blessing from God; butifitbearsbriars& thorns it’s reject- ed & near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

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