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Sam Brinks

Biblical Interpretation

Professor Parler

4 November 2008

Exegetical Paper on Hebrews

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.[1]  –Hebrews VI. 4-6

This is a very difficult passage to interpret because it seems to contradict God’s sovereignty in one’s salvation.  It seems to prove that once God has chosen a person to be saved, that person can still refuse God’s will to save that person.  Some people interpret it as a hypothetical text which no one should ever waste their time on.  Others interpret it as proof that one is in control of their own salvation.

Hebrews is written by an unknown author to the Christian Hebrews.  No one knows much of the history of the book of Hebrews.  “It has been disputed whether it is an epistle, an essay, or a homily; whether it was written by Paul, Apollos, Barnabas, Clement of Rome, or by some other person; and whether it was originally written in Hebrew or in Greek.  There has also been a difference of opinions as to the place where, and the time when, it was written.”[2]  There is very little knowledge of the historical context of this book; however, one can make several assumptions based on what the book says about what is going on.  There was probably an influence on the people being written to by the Judaisers as we can see the author encouraging the Hebrews to be strong in their faith in XIII. 9 “Do not be carried away by varied teachings…”[3] VII. 25 “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking…”  One may also assume that some are giving up meeting together in brotherly love as seen in X. 24-25 “…and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”  Also, in V. 12 we find that the Hebrews are not learning what they ought but acting as “casual Christians” “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”  One more important thing to note about the historical context of this note is in the end of it the author makes mention of Timothy being released from prison.  XIII. 23 “Take notice that our brother Timothy has been released, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.”  John MacArthur notes on this verse that:

The historical detail of Timothy’s imprisonment is unknown….Timothy seemed to be faltering in his faithfulness when Paul wrote his second epistle to him.  Thus, in 2 Timothy 1:6-2:12 and 3:12-14, the apostle encourages him to endure persecution and not to fear it.  It is likely that Hebrews was penned soon after 2 Timothy, and we see that this man of God responded well to Paul’s previous exhortation.[4]

Paul wrote Timothy somewhere between 66 and 67 AD while he was imprisoned by Nero.[5]  Hebrews was probably written within the next ten or twenty years after Paul wrote the second letter to Timothy in 66 or 67 AD.

In the literary context of this passage, we know that the author has just made a transition from fairly basic Christian doctrine to more complex doctrine.  The author has discussed basic doctrines of salvation up to this point and is now making a transition into detailed parallels from the Old Testament and the New Covenant, which gives the reader a better understanding of how God planned salvation from the beginning of time.

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.  And this we will do, if God permits.[6]—Hebrews VI. 1-3.

What does it mean to be enlightened?  Photizo, according to James Strong, means to shine, to shed rays, or to brighten up.[7]  Young translates photizo as to give light.[8]  Zondervan translates photizo as to give light, shine, to be enlightened, illuminated, bring to light, brought to light, give light, gives light, gives light to, make plain to, received light, or shines on.[9]  Thayer translates photizo in this context to be those who have been made Christians.[10]  The best interpretation of this word is “They had that Divine illuminating involved in the first operation of the Holy Spirit upon the soul of man.  The utter darkness and ignorance of nature was dispelled.”[11]  They realized that they were sinful beings who needed Christ, because Christ is the only way to be complete.

What does it mean to have tasted the heavenly gift?  Joseph Thayer translates geuomai as trying or sampling.[12]  The heavenly gift, according to Gouge, is “’faith towards God.’  For faith is an heavenly gift, and the means whereby we partake of such gifts such come from God who is in heaven.”[13]  Tasting is only a sample, it is not being used it is only being tasted.  This is like chewing gum, it tastes good and is enjoyable, but does not give energy or nutrition, and it can easily be spat out.  On the other hand eating is useful, it gives energy and nutrition, but it cannot be spat out, it has gone through a chemical change in the stomach and is being used as energy and nutrition all throughout the body.

The “heavenly gift” …is best understood as a general image for the gracious bestowal of salvation, with all that entails—the spirit, forgiveness, and sanctification.  This gift is “heavenly” because of its source and goal.  The partitive genitive used here contrasts with the accusative used with the same verb in the next verse.  The difference may well be significant, indicating that the Christians’ experience of this divine reality is as yet incomplete.[14]

To taste the heavenly gift is to sample or experience a small piece of salvation, which is the heavenly gift.  To taste the heavenly gift may be as small as only experiencing the conviction of the Holy Spirit, or it could be as close to a full experience as having already begun the progressive sanctification process, but not having the immediate sanctification of forgiveness of sins.  However far one has gotten in their salvation experience, they can still turn away at any point before experiencing the whole of salvation.

What does it mean to be made a partaker of the Holy Spirit?  “To ‘partake of the Holy Ghost,’ is to be a sharer of His gifts or influences.”[15]  “Since, then, we are made partakers of Christ and all His benefits by faith only, whence comes this faith?  From the Holy Spirit, who works it in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel, and confirms it by the use of the holy sacraments.”—Heidelberg Catechism question and answer 65.[16]  The Holy Spirit uses holy sacraments as a witness to God which many non-Christians may partake in.  In many instances in the Old Testament there were people filled with the Holy Spirit, but not saved.  Saul for example in 1Samuel X. 6 says “Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you [Saul] mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man.”[17]  He later became jealous of David and pursued him (1Samuel 23:25), and even forsook God and turned to mediums (1Samuel 28:7).  Saul shared in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which is only part of the salvation experience, and eventually forsook God and was never brought back to repentance.

What does it mean to taste the word of God?  Once again, to taste is only to experience partially, not in full. 

Then the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the land,”  So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book.  And he said to me “Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.”  I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.—Revelation X. 8-10.

To taste the word of God is to experience the joy of the word of God, the sweetness of it.  The word of God is useless if one does not digest it though.  When the word of God is digested it leaves one feeling sick, this is the application process of the word.  It is very painful and difficult to give up a life-style, but the word of God is useless without this change.  The Bible, before it is digested, is only head-knowledge which makes people feel intelligent and prideful; it feels good to be smarter than everyone else.  But there is no salvation for the man who only chews the word of God and never digests it.

What are the powers of the age to come?  The KJV translates this differently from the NASB referring to “the age to come”[18] as “the world to come.”[19]  Thayer depicts the Greek word,  aeon, as meaning eternity.[20]  One may notice that this word sounds a lot like the English word “eon” which is “an immeasurably long period of time” taken from the Greek word “aeon.”[21]  With this definition it is very possible that the age to come is eternal life.  “They may have tasted the powers of the world to come; they may have been under strong impressions concerning heaven and hell, may have felt some desires of heaven, and dread of going to hell.”[22]  Matthew Henry interprets this as heaven, God’s eternal reward to those whom He chooses, and hell, God’s eternal punishment to those whom He does not choose.

The age to come, or world to come, is heaven or hell, but what is the power?  The power is the ability which the age to come possesses and the current age lacks.

Everything that is striking and convincing in its evidence,--everything in its statements, as to the character of God, the person and work of Christ, the solemnities of the judgment-seat, the joys and miseries of eternity, which is calculated to persuade or alarm,--everything, in a work, which, in that economy, is fitted to exercise influence over men,--all this is included in the phrase, “the powers of the world to come.”[23]

This age, here on Earth, is flawed.  The next age will be perfect, everything will work together the way it ought.  The Hebrew word for this is “shalom,” which is often translated as “peace,” but actually means that everything will work the way it is meant to and everything will work together in harmony.  If everything worked in shalom, all sorts of possibilities would open up, this is a powerful thing.  Matthew XIX. 26 says “And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”[24]  Through God all things work together in shalom, which makes all things possible.  This is the wonderful power of God, who reigns from heaven; the ability to cause and use shalom.  God’s ability to cause and use shalom is the power of the age to come.

The power is also the holy sacraments which the Holy Spirit uses as a witness.

What are the sacraments?  The sacraments are holy, visible signs and seals, appointed of God for this end, that by the use thereof He may the more fully declare and seal to us the promise of the gospel; namely, that He of grace grants us the remission of sins and life eternal, for the sake of the one sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross.[25]—Heidelberg Catechism question and answer 66.

To taste this power is to have sampled God’s power.  They may have only seen God’s power in other people’s lives.  “They saw the apostles do signs and wonders like those that will be reproduced in the millennial kingdom of Jesus Christ.”[26]  They may also have experienced a miracle done to them but never had a change of heart. 

As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, Have mercy on us!”  When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.”  And as they were going, they were cleansed.  Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him.  And he was a Samaritan.  Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed?  But the nine—where are they?  Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”  And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”[27]—Luke XVII. 12-19.

These ten lepers were healed, but only one was saved.  The other nine only experienced part of the miracle of God’s healing power, but not the whole of God’s healing power.

Are, then, both the Word and the sacraments designed to direct our faith to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross as the only ground of our salvation?  Yes, indeed; for the Holy Spirit teaches us in the gospel and assures us by the sacraments that the whole of our salvation stands in the one sacrifice of Christ made for us on the cross.[28]—Heidelberg Catechism question and answer 67.

What does it mean to fall away?  Parapipto, which is only used in the Bible this one time, is to commit apostasy[29] or to turn aside from Christianity.[30]  This raises another question: How can one turn from Christianity having never been a Christian?  “’I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.  So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”[31]—Revelation III. 16.  One who is cold is a sinner, but one who is hot is a son of God.  To be in the middle, or lukewarm, is sometimes referred to as a “casual Christian.”  A casual Christian is still called a Christian, but with no inheritance. One who is a casual Christian may still fall away.

Who did Jesus die for?  Did Jesus die for these “casual Christians?”  “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”—Romans V. 6.  Christ died for the ungodly, but did He die for the ungodly who would one day be saved?  Or did He die for all ungodly that all may choose to accept His sacrifice or reject it?

This elect number, though by nature neither better nor more deserving than others, but with them involved in one common misery, God has decreed to give to Christ to be saved by Him, and effectually to call and draw them to His communion by His Word and Spirit; to bestow upon them true faith, justification, and sanctification; and having powerfully preserved them in the fellowship of His Son, finally to glorify them for the demonstration of His mercy, and for the praise of the riches of His glorious grace…[32]--Canons of Dort article 7.

This article explains that God gives His Son to the elect; thus, Jesus died only for those who are elected by the Father to be saved.

Why would they have to “again crucify to themselves the Son of God” (which is impossible) in order to be brought back to repentance?  Jesus died for the elect not for these people who have committed apostasy, so in order for them to be brought to repentance, Jesus would have to die again, but this time, for them.  Jesus would not do this, He has already graciously died for the ones He has elected and may justly send the rest to hell.  This is why it is impossible for one who has committed apostasy to be brought back to repentance; God’s plan is for Jesus to die once (which he already did) for the elect, not to die once for the elect and again for the rest.

Why does God allow people to experience these joys of verses four and five if they are not elect to partake in Christ’s offering?  It is God’s grace that allows them to even sample this joy.  Any further explanation of why God allows this is completely uncertain and unsupportable.  One of the most important things for a Christian to know is that God is not made up and one way that a Christian can prove this is by having unanswerable questions about God’s character.  If one were able to understand God, then that would be proof for Him being made up by humans, but as it is, no one can understand the character of God completely.  “Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; The number of His years is unsearchable.”[33]—Job XXXVI. 26.

[1] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.

[2] Stuart, Moses.  A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews.  William Tegg and Co. London.  1851.  Pg. v

[3] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.

[4] MacArthur, John.  Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.  1983.  Pg. 454

[5] NIV Study Bible.  The Zondervan Corporation.  2002.  Pg. 1882.

[6] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.

[7] Strong, James.  The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.  MacDonald Publishing Company.  Pg. 77.

[8] Young.  Analytical Concordance.  Funk & Wagnalls Co.  Pg. 301.

[9] Goodrick, Edward, Kohlenberger, James III, and Swanson, James.  Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance.  Zondervan Publishing House.  Grand Rapids, MI.  1999.  Pg. 1602.

[10] Thayer, Joseph.  Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.  Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.  Peabody, MA.  2005.  Pg. 663.

[11] Newell, William.  Hebrews Verse by Verse.  Moody Press.  Chicago, IL.  1947.  Pg. 184.

[12] Thayer, Joseph.  Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.  Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.  Peabody, MA.  2005.  Pg. 114.

[13] Gouge, William.  Commentary on Hebrews.  Kregel Publications.  Grand Rapids, MI.  1980.  Pg. 396.

[14] Attridge, Harold.  The Epistle to the Hebrews.  Fortress Press.  Phiadelphia, PA.  1989.  Pg. 170

[15] Brown, John.  Hebrews.  The Banner of Truth Trust.  London.  1961.  Pg. 286.

[16] Doctrinal Standards of the Christian Reformed Church.  Publication Committee of the Christian Reformed Church Publishers.  Grand Rapids, MI.  1959.  Pg. 32

[17] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.

[18] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.

[19] King James Version Holy Bible Concordance.  World.  Pg. 166.

[20] Thayer, Joseph.  Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.  Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.  Peabody, MA.  2005.  Pg. 19.

[21] The New Lexicon Webster’s Dictionary.  Lexicon Publications, Inc.  New York.  1988.  Pg. 13.

[22] Henry, Matthew.  Matthew Henry’s Commentary On The Whole Bible: Volume VI.  Fleming H. Revell Company.  London.  Pg. 912.

[23] Brown, John.  Hebrews.  The Banner of Truth Trust.  London.  1961.  Pg. 288.

[24] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.

[25] Doctrinal Standards of the Christian Reformed Church.  Publication Committee of the Christian Reformed Church Publishers.  Grand Rapids, MI.  1959.  Pg. 32.

[26] MacArthur, John.  Moody Bible Institute of Chicago.  1983.  Pg. 145.

[27] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.

[28] Doctrinal Standards of the Christian Reformed Church.  Publication Committee of the Christian Reformed Church Publishers.  Grand Rapids, MI.  1959.  Pg. 32.

[29] Goodrick, Edward, Kohlenberger, James III, and Swanson, James.  Zondervan NIV Exhaustive Concordance.  Zondervan Publishing House.  Grand Rapids, MI.  1999.  Pg. 1580

[30] Thayer, Joseph.  Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.  Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.  Peabody, MA.  2005.  Pg. 484.

[31] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.

[32] Doctrinal Standards of the Christian Reformed Church.  Publication Committee of the Christian Reformed Church Publishers.  Grand Rapids, MI.  1959.  Pg. 46.

[33] NASB Thinline Bible.  The Zondervan Company.  Grand Rapids, MI.  2002.