In this chapter we are going to be discussing probably the toughest scripture in all of the Bible to interpret for those who would potentially argue AGAINST loss of salvation and FOR eternal security. Without further ado let’s go ahead and read Hebrews 6:4-6 through the LENS OF LOVE, AND THE LENS OF GOD’S GRACE.
Hebrews 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,
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age
And then who fall away (into unbelief),
to be brought back to repentance.
This scripture says, “It is impossible for those who have been enlightened, those who have heard the word of God,” and have even realized that Jesus was the way, and “who have TASTED the heavenly gift…” NOW, it doesn’t say they drank the heavenly gift. It says they TASTED IT. This word TASTE MEANS EXPERIENCE. It means to basically have an experience with or experience the presence of God and his movements.
In other words these were people who had come to church and even FELT the presence of God had FELT a change in the atmosphere and FELT that there was something about Christianity. They literally may have been TOUCHED and even REALIZED that there was something to this thing, called Christianity AND they may have even actually EXPERIENCED God’s Presence, and can even tell you about their GOOSEBUMPS, that is, what we call the Holy Ghost goosebumps. However this does not mean that they received and believed in Jesus and were born again! Let’s go on…
This scripture says, they SHARED in the Holy Spirit. This means they had they had TASTED of the Holy Spirit and might have even been TOUCHED by His Presence. They could have even been healed, who knows, they might have been somebody who actually was healed. And it says who have TASTED the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the coming age. In other words they had TASTED the truthfulness of God’s word. But this is a far cry from receiving the heavenly gift of the Holy Spirit and as a result being made a new creation and being born again. TASTE does not mean drink! Taste does not mean swallow, and receive. It only means TASTE or in the greek, it literally means to EXPERIENCE, yet NOT become born again. But let’s go on…
The Apostle Paul continues to write, “and the powers of the coming of age and then who fall away,” into unbelief and literally do not receive the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. These are believers who do not buy in and do not take of the heavenly gift, but only taste and experience. They JUST TASTE but they do not “drink” of the Holy Spirit. They do not receive the Son and all that He’s done. They go into a service or a gathering and they get the goosebumps, and they see what’s going on only. They even can see the good things that are happening in taking place in God’s Presence. But in the end they NEVER RECEIVE the gift of salvation! This scripture is not speaking about Born-Again children of God who have not only thirsted BUT HAVE DRANK OF THE HEAVENLY GIFT. There’s a difference between being born again and being made a new creation, and only tasting and experiencing goosebumps from the Presence of the Holy Spirit.
In this context, it is obvious that these are people who are saying in their hearts, “I don’t need Jesus. I have a form of my own righteousness. I can stand before God without Jesus. In fact I’m a spiritualist. In fact I consider myself a believer in God and I believe this and I believe that…” But this group are believers in their own ability to save themselves. I believe that God accepts me just the way that I am. They are of the type that believe that because they live a certain way that God will accept them.
They have a form of righteousness and a form of right standing with God based on their own righteousness. In other words they have made up their own righteousness and their own religion, and because they haven’t hardened their hearts to the sacrifice provided by God, then the Lord says it’s, “impossible… for them to be brought back to repentance.” But the context of this scripture is written to the Jews, those struggling between the sacrifices of bulls and goats, or the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Lamb who TRULY takes away the sins of the World!
Now, the danger here, is that if a person goes and receive and experiences the presence of God, and experiences the Word of God and then in turn rejects Christ and says I don’t need him, and says I don’t need the Bible I don’t need the word of God and I don’t need all of that, then they harden their hearts toward God and that hardening makes it impossible to be renewed and softened enough to receive Christ. It’s like the Lord knows that if He poured out His presence and showed them before, then if after all of that grace given them they don’t’ receive, then they won’t’ receive even if he did even more. But this is not a born again child of God in this context! This is not thew new creation who is made new in his spirit and heart! This scripture DOES NOT apply to born again children of God who WILL OVERCOME THE WORLD!
And the moment they harden their heart they are crucifying in themselves the Son of God over again. In other words they saying I know he was crucified but I don’t need his crucifixion. When they say I don’t need Him, and what God has done through him, they literally are crucifying him all over again and they’re saying I don’t really need him. It does not matter. So Hebrews 6:4 was not about Christians but about those like a Judas for example that were close to had tasted but not drink of the the Word of God. It’s time we stop allowing people to sow Radioactive Fears in our hearts by abusing scriptures that are warnings to “UNSAVED” people and applying them TO BORN AGAIN CHILDREN OF GOD!
But let’s read this scripture in context! Don’t’ just take my word for it! Don’t’ just hang on to just the idea of them only experiencing God’s Presence, let’s read this scripture in context! Here’s the very NEXT VERSE.
Hebrews 6:7-8
7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.
8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed.
In the end it will be burned.
So let’s look at this closer! Now in the very next verse, it says, “Land that DRINKS the rain often falling on it, PRODUCES A CROP useful for those whom it is farmed and RECEIVES THE BLESSING OF GOD.” Conversely, it says “But land that produces thorns and thistles…” It doesn’t say but land that drinks and produces thorns and thistles. I submit to you today that CANNOT DRINK and produce thorns and thistles. It could have said, “but the land that TASTES will produce thorns and thistles.” But it doesn’t say, “the land that DRINKS produces thorns and thistles.” Absolutely it DOESN’T! HOWEVER IT DOES SAY, “THAT THE LAND that DRINKS produces and RECEIVES.” “So what are you trying to say Pastor Craig?” you might be asking. My point is, in the context of this scripture Paul makes a CLEAR and DECISIVE choice in his analogy and his CHOICE of words. Here he compares land that “DRINKS” vs land that is hardened and only “TASTES.”
In other words, those who receive the blessing are those who DRINK, not TASTE. Those who have hardened hearts cannot receive the water because their “land”(hearts) are too hard! They cannot receive the water, they reject it, and NEVER DRINK IT! The water could not come in, BUT the water could not be received and the water could not be DRUNK it only fell externally on the heart and never entered into the heart. Therefore, the people who are never ARE BORN AGAIN, are those who have hearts/land that never receives THE WATER OF GOD, which comes by the Holy Spirit, and are never truly BORN AGAIN. The time has come for all radioactive fears to be removed and DEMOLISHED with the Promises of God, over your life, you who are Born Again! Rebirth requires water! Don’t’ believe me? Look at this Scripture,
Titus 3:5
He saved us through the WASHING OF REBIRTH and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
I don’t want to live by my own standards and my own righteousness, I want to receive from the heavens above, that is, the rain of righteousness that only comes from above AND BE WASHED BY THESE RAINS! I want to DRINK OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, that is, the Righteousness that comes from God above. For the bible speaks of this Righteousness prophetically in the book of Isaiah.
Isa 45:8
You heavens above,
rain down righteousness;
let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth OPEN WIDE (AND DRINK),
let salvation spring up,
let righteousness grow with it;
I, the Lord, have created it.
Let the clouds shower down let the earth OPEN WIDE!! Let your heart DRINK IN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT and let salvation spring up because when you DRINK FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT and not just taste externally or by experience you will be born again, and salvation through a born again spirit will spring up! It’s all about receiving Jesus and what he has done and receiving His sacrifice! When you receive Jesus He then pours out into your spirit the WATER YOU NEED! You just have to OPEN WIDE, AND RECEIVE JESUS, because when you receive Jesus and His Sacrifice, you receive the Holy Spirit and the power of that sacrifice!! Therefore it’s not those who merely taste or experience the Holy Spirit, but those who receive the gift that only comes by Faith in what Christ has done! Amen. Still not convinced?? Well, fine, let’s look at another scripture…
John 4:14
but whoever DRINKS!!! the water I give them
will NEVER thirst.
Indeed, the water I give them
will become in them a spring of water
welling up to ETERNAL life.”
Notice how it says, “whoever DRINKS… will NEVER thirst.” It doesn’t say, “might possibly thirst in the future.” It doesn’t say, “they might possibly thirst down the road or might thirst and then will have to keep drinking.” No it doesn’t say that. It says “Whoever, DRINKS the water that I give he will NEVER thirst.” NEVER means NEVER. So you can’t say, that in Hebrews 6:4, tasting is the same as drinking, CAUSE IT’S NOT!! Cause if you DRINK of the heavenly gift, YOU WILL NEVER thirst, and you will receive ETERNAL LIFE! Therefore those who DRINK, are completely different in scripture than those who only TASTE, AND EXPERIENCE EXTERNALLY. This means that those who merely TASTE are UNSAVED and those who DRINK become saved and BORN AGAIN! Hebrews 6:4-6 is NOT A THREAT TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN. Let’s look at how this works…
John 1:12
Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God–
John 3:6
Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
There it is! Receive Jesus and His Sacrifice for your sins by GRACE, through FAITH, and you will receive the Holy Spirit and He, the Spirit, will give you new life! ETERNAL LIFE!! Those who OPEN WIDE, AND RECEIVE JESUS, in turn, RECEIVE HIS BLESSING WHICH IS THE SPIRIT, AND THE SPIRIT BRINGS ETERNAL BIRTH AND LIFE!!! This gift, will KEEP ON GIVING, and will well up! I submit to you today, if you will receive the atoning sacrifice of the Father, which is His Son Jesus, and trust what God has done through Jesus, by faith, YOU TOO will receive and OPEN WIDE, and will receive the GRACE AND WATER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT and this GRACE will become in you a SPRING welling up to ETERNAL LIFE, AND you will NEVER THIRST!!! Amen.
In conclusion, Heb 6:4-6 DOES NOT APPLY to the children of God who received and DRANK the Rain of His Righteousness that only comes by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, yet DOES APPLY TO people who have trusted in themselves and have rejected the sacrifice of Jesus. This group is an UNSAVED LOT, that has never truly DRANK, but only tasted and experienced externally the free gift that comes by grace through faith, yet are of those who boast about how and what they have done for the Lord, and how they can save themselves, thus remaining unsaved, and never truly becoming born of god!
Be free children of God, for it is Jesus who said, “Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed!” AND WILL REMAIN FREE!!! You who trust in HIS SACRIFICE and not yourselves to save yourselves, RECEIVE THE WATER AND DRINK FROM THE WELL of HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, and not from the well of SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS!! AMEN.
and then