August 26
“It is impossible for 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 powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame,” Hebrews 6:4-6.
The text quoted above must be considered carefully in the light of related statements in Holy Scripture. It is speaking of people who once were enlightened through the Word of God by the Holy Spirit. They once had a spiritual understanding of their redemption through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In his Epistle to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul addresses people who once were spiritually in darkness but were called into the light of the Gospel: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,” Ephesians 5:8. The apostle Peter also addresses such people: “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light,” 1 Peter 2:9.
By nature, all people are spiritually in the dark, and we remain in the dark until we are called by the Holy Spirit and enlightened through the Gospel. We are called by the Gospel to put our faith and trust in Jesus, the Savior of all people.
Now, the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews is writing about people who were once enlightened; they were Christians who had been called out of spiritual darkness into the marvelous light of the Gospel. They tasted the Good News and the promise of the blessings to come through faith in Jesus.
However, people through their own fault can listen to their sinful nature and the devil and reject the Lord Jesus who saved them. They fall away from the faith in Jesus as their Savior. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews says that it is impossible for those who were once enlightened to renew them again to repentance and faith, since they crucify Christ anew and openly put the Son of God to shame by willingly and deliberately denying Him as the Savior in whom they once trusted.
They harden their hearts against the call to repentance, and commit the sin against the Holy Spirit. They shut their ears and harden their hearts to the voice of the Holy Spirit calling, and thus the message of forgiveness falls on deaf ears and on hearts of stone, which reject the voice of the Holy Spirit. They deliberately, persistently, and stubbornly reject the message of forgiveness, and hence remain without forgiveness.
The evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke write about the sin against the Holy Spirit: “I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come,” Matthew 12:31-32.
Remember the words of the psalmist: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,” Psalm 95:7-8. Humbly and penitently bow before God, confessing your sins and trusting in Jesus, your Savior from sin, death, and the power of the devil.
“Our broken spirit pitying see,
True penitence impart;
Then let a kindling glance from Thee
Beam hope upon the heart.” Amen.