This passage brings so pretty heavy things to heart: Let's look at it in sections. (This is me simply looking at the text w/o any study materials and drawing some basic conclusions."
Diving Deep: Grown-Up Teaching
Verses 1-3: Here the author of Hebrews, I take the stance that it was most likely Paul the Apostle, raises the idea that we should not go back to the basic fundamentals of the faith. Rather we should continue on to "grown-up teachings". Does this mean that we should stop teaching the fundamentals? At what point do we cease this teaching? When? I believe that here Paul is saying that there is more to God than simply the fundamentals. There is more to God than what we know. After we know and understand some of the basics we should dig deeper. We shouldn't just keep rehashing the same thing over and over again but rather we should dive deep into what God has for us. The kicker/reminder to all of this from Paul is that we can only go as deep as God allows. In verse 3 he says: "And we will go on to grown-up teaching if God allows."
Walking Out Of The Marvelous Light: Never To Return?
Verses 4-6: This verse hits hard for me. Paul is saying that there are those of us who have come to understand and accept the truth and life found in Jesus Christ and Him crucified and of those of us who believe this where there are those who "were once in God's light and enjoyed heaven's gift, and shared in the Holy Spirit." and then fell away or walked away from God. Paul quite plainly states that there are SOME of these people who cannot come back into God's light because by they walking away they are "nailing the Son of God to a cross again and are shaming him in front of others." I honestly don't have too much more to say on this beyond that I don't understand it all. How far does one walk away from God before it's too far? I've known friends who claimed to be followers of Christ only to walk away to complete Paganism only then to realize the error of their ways to turn back to Christ and now they follow Him whole heartedly. Were they not saved to begin with? The answer in my mind is not to see how close to the line we can tread but rather to turn away from the line and "press towards the prize".
Good Crop / Bad Crop
Verses 7-8: Here Paul is giving the comparison between the unbeliever and the Christ-follower. The believer who dives deep into the "grown-up teachings" and their relationship with God will produce good crops. They will be blessed and rewarded in their relationship with Christ for spending that time with Him. Those who don't know Christ and therefore also haven't spent time with him will dry up and due to their sin they will be "destroyed by fire." I believe verses 7-8 are a capstone ending and conclusion to the first two sections here. It addresses both sets of people as verse 7 addresses those who have been diving deep in the grown-up teaching while verse 8 addresses those who have either walked away from God or never accepted him in the first place.
Saw ur reply to the question on twitter - so figured I would add my two cents. (for what they are worth)
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you said you didnt understand the "impossibe to bring repentance" part....it really tweaks me when commentators, teachers and preachers have this theolgical box that they take verses like this and then try and squeeze them in - when they obviously dont fit.
Hebrews in general is a confusing book...but its been helpful to me to consider the following:
1- we dont really know who wrote it.
2- its a classic example of persuasive writing with its main goal focused on convincing Jews that the theology of Jesus is superior to the theology of Moses...He's better than the Law, better than the Prophets, better than the High Priest.
3- therefore its a letter with an agenda and a target audience who have preconveived notions that the author is going to use any and all means necessary to argue against.
my own personal interpretive guide to this passae and a lot of others like it is..."all" doesn't always mean "all". (My apologies to Dr. Fink).
Like when I say to my wife, "You NEVER cook my favorite meal!!!" What I really mean is, "You don't cook my favorite meal very often."
So when the writer says, "Its impossible" - I think he's using a bit of hyperbole to express the idea that those who once followed Christ and then fell away aren't likely to come back to faith in him and that we shouldn't waste too much time trying to woo them back.
I disagree with you, Micah, on your assesment of the last teo verses here because I think they speak to the previous 6. I think its saying (1) Lets "grow up" and get past these basic doctrines, (2) as for those who have fallen away - they have already made their faith vain so its "impossible" for them to come back, (3) besides, just like ground that takes in good rain, these folks are worthless and deserve to be burned anyway.
Now, I'm not saying I agree with that (I know, I'm a heretic) but I think thats the plain and simple reading of that passage if you take into account what I believe are the author's goals.
I think the REAL problem here is when we use words like "saved" or phrases like "going to heaven". Note that the author says nothing of the sort. Its about repentance - or as this version puts it "a changed life". So when this gets debated in Bible studies they get the QUESTION wrong right off the bat. People will say, "Does this mean I can lose my salvation?" when this passage never once says anything about going to heaven or "eternal security".
Its thinking like this that caused my wife to doubt her place in God's Kingdom for 20 years - wondering if she "did it right" or if she really meant it. How sad it must be for those who read passages like this and think "its impossible for me now - i give up. I have fallen away and now there is no hope for me." Of course, if you are honest with this passage and you think "all means all" (or impossible means impossible) then you are correct....turn your back on Jesus after tasting his goodness and you're worth nothing but to be burned.
"I disagree with you, Micah, on your assesment of the last teo verses here because I think they speak to the previous 6. I think its saying (1) Lets "grow up" and get past these basic doctrines, (2) as for those who have fallen away - they have already made their faith vain so its "impossible" for them to come back, (3) besides, just like ground that takes in good rain, these folks are worthless and deserve to be burned anyway."
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I disagree with any of this. Did I say I did in my post?
by bad - friend....
ReplyDeletei was just looking at your post and thought you were holding the last two verses as not really being metaphors that describe the previous ones.
i think i read that wrong.
plus - im in a disagreeable mood lately!
love u bro
I think that the writer of Hebrews is talking about the Jewish community as a whole who are not Christians. This passage does not have anything to do with Christians or losing your salvation.. I would give you all my reasons now but I am not done with all of my research and would not want to give you an incomplete commentary. I'll let you know when I finish my research for Percer's class.
ReplyDelete