the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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Hebrews 6:6
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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.
and having 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.
These cowboys have turned their backs on God and his grace and mercy. You just can't fix these boys. They are nailing him to the cross once again with their treachery.
And then let themselves be turned away, it is not possible for their hearts to be made new a second time; because they themselves put the Son of God on the cross again, openly shaming him.
and have fallen away, crucifying for themselves [as they do] the Son of God, and making a show of [him].
and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
And have fallen away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
it is impossible, I say, to keep bringing them back to a new repentance, for, to their own undoing, they are repeatedly crucifying the Son of God afresh and exposing Him to open shame.
If they shall fall away, to renue them againe vnto repentance: seeing they crucifie to themselues the Sonne of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
and having fallen away, it is impossible for them again to renew to repentance, crucifying again for themselves the Son of God, and putting Him to open shame.
yf they fall awaye (and concernynge them selues crucifye the sonne of God afresshe, and make a mocke off him) that they shulde be renued agayne vnto repentaunce.
if they shall fall away, to re-instate themselves by repentance: seeing, as far in them lies, they crucify the son of God afresh, and expose him to open shame.
and then have fallen away—it is impossible to bring them back again to repentance, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace.
and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt.
yf they faule shuld be renued agayne vnto repentaunce: for as moche as they have (as concerninge them selves) crucified the sonne of God a fresshe makynge a mocke of him.
and [then] fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
If they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put [him] to an open shame.
and having fallen away, again to renew [them] to reformation, having crucified again to themselves the Son of God, and exposed to public shame.
But they fell away from Christ. It is impossible to bring them back to a changed life again, because they are nailing the Son of God to a cross again and are shaming him in front of others.
and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt.
and then have fallen away-to be restored again to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.
and then have fallen away — it is impossible to renew them so that they turn from their sin, as long as for themselves they keep executing the Son of God on the stake all over again and keep holding him up to public contempt.
and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
If they fal away, should be renued againe by repentance: seeing they crucifie againe to themselues the Sonne of God, & make a mocke of him.
For, for them to sin again, and be renewed again by repentance, they crucify the Son of God a second time, and put him to open shame.
and who have fallen away, because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt.
and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
and who have fallen away, as long as they continue to crucify to themselves the Son of God and to expose him to public ridicule.Hebrews 10:29;">[xr]
(and) who again shall sin, cannot again be renewed unto conversion, who would afresh crucify and put to shame the Son of God.
â¡2 cannot again sin, and a second time be renewed to repentance; or a second time crucify and insult the Son of God.
if they fall away, [fn] to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
But if they turn away, they cannot be sorry for their sins and turn from them again. It is because they are nailing the Son of God on a cross again. They are holding Him up in shame in front of all people.
and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt.
And who have fallen away, again, to be remoulding them into repentance; seeing they are again crucifying unto themselves the Son of God, and holding him up as an example.
And are fallen away: to be renewed again to penance, crucifying again to themselves the Son of God and making him a mockery.
and having fallen away, to renew them again to repentance, because they have crucified again for themselves the Son of God and held him up to contempt.
And they fall away, shoulde be renued agayne into repentaunce, hauyng crucified to the selues the sonne of God a fresshe, and made a mocke of hym.
and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.
And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.
that thei be renewid eftsoone to penaunce. Whiche eftsones crucifien to hem silf the sone of God, and han to scorn.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
to renew: Hebrews 6:4, Psalms 51:10, Isaiah 1:28, 2 Timothy 2:25
they crucify: Hebrews 10:29, Zechariah 12:10-14, Matthew 23:31, Matthew 23:32, Luke 11:48
an open: Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 27:38-44, Mark 15:29-32, Luke 23:35-39
Reciprocal: Numbers 9:13 - forbeareth 1 Kings 12:19 - rebelled Isaiah 5:6 - also Zechariah 5:3 - the curse Matthew 7:6 - that Matthew 21:32 - repented Mark 4:12 - be converted Ephesians 4:5 - one baptism Philippians 3:19 - end Colossians 3:10 - renewed Titus 3:5 - renewing Titus 3:14 - that Hebrews 10:39 - we are 1 Peter 2:3 - General Revelation 1:7 - and they Revelation 11:8 - our Lord
Cross-References
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord .
And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.
But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.
And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
For the Lord shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.
It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
If they shall fall away,.... This is not supposed of true believers, as appears from Hebrews 6:9 nor is it to be supposed of them that they may fall totally and finally; they may indeed fall, not only into afflictions and temptations, but into sin; and from a lively and comfortable exercise of grace, and from a degree of steadfastness in the Gospel; but not irrecoverably: for they are held and secured by a threefold cord, which can never be broken; by God the Father, who has loved them with an everlasting love, has chosen them in Christ, secured them in the covenant of grace, keeps them by his power, has given them grace, and will give them glory; and by the Son, who has undertook for them, redeemed and purchased them, prays and makes preparations in heaven for them, they are built on him, united to him, and are his jewels, whom he will preserve; and by the Holy Ghost, whose grace is incorruptible, whose personal indwelling is for ever, who himself is the earnest and seal of the heavenly inheritance, and who having begun, will finish the good work of grace: but falling away, so as to perish, may be supposed, and is true of many professors of religion; who may fall from the profession of the Gospel they have made, and from the truth of it, and into an open denial of it; yea, into an hatred and persecution of what they once received the external knowledge of; and so shall fall short of heaven, and into condemnation: for,
to renew them again unto repentance, is a thing impossible: by "repentance" is meant, not baptism of repentance; nor admission to a solemn form of public repentance in the church; nor a legal repentance, but an evangelical one: and so to be "renewed" unto it is not to be baptized again, or to be restored anew to the church by repentance, and absolution; but must be understood either of renovation of the soul, in order to repentance; or of the reforming of the outward conversation, as an evidence of it; or of a renewing of the exercise of the grace of repentance and to be renewed "again" to repentance does not suppose that persons may have true repentance and lose it; for though truly penitent persons may lose the exercise of this grace for a time, yet the grace itself can never be lost: moreover, these apostates before described had only a show of repentance, a counterfeit one; such as Cain, Pharaoh, and Judas had; and consequently, the renewing of them again to repentance, is to that which they only seemed to have, and to make pretensions unto; now to renew them to a true repentance, which they once made a profession of, the apostle says is a thing "impossible": the meaning of which is not only that it is difficult; or that it is rare and unusual; or that it is unsuitable and improper; but it is absolutely impossible: it is impossible to these men to renew themselves to repentance; renovation is the work of the Holy Ghost, and not of man; and repentance is God's gift, and not in man's power; and it is impossible for ministers to renew them, to restore and bring them back, by true repentance; yea, it is impossible to God himself, not through any impotence in him, but from the nature of the sin these men are guilty of; for by the high, though outward attainments they arrive unto, according to the description of them, their sin is the sin against the Holy Ghost, for which no sacrifice can be offered up, and of which there is no remission, and so no repentance; for these two go together, and for which prayer is not to be made; see
Matthew 12:32 and chiefly because to renew such persons to repentance, is repugnant to the determined will of God, who cannot go against his own purposes and resolutions; and so the Jews l speak of repentance being withheld by God from Pharaoh, and, from the people of Israel; of which they understand Exodus 9:16 and say, that when the holy blessed God withholds repentance from a sinner, ××× × ×××× ×ש××, "he cannot repent"; but must die in his wickedness which he first committed of his own will; and they further observe m, that he that profanes the name of God has it not in his power to depend on repentance, nor can his iniquity be expiated on the day of atonement, or be removed by chastisement:
seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh; who is truly and properly God, begotten of the Father, and of the same nature with him, in whom he greatly delights; this is Christ's highest name and title; and it was for asserting himself to be the Son of God that he was crucified; and his being so puts an infinite virtue in his sufferings and death; and it heightens the sin of the Jews, and of these apostates, in crucifying him. He was once crucified, and it is both impossible and unnecessary that he should be, properly speaking, "crucified afresh", or "again"; it is impossible, because he is risen from the dead, and will never die more; it is unnecessary, because he has finished and completed what he suffered the death of the cross for; but men may be said to crucify him again, when, by denying him to be the Son of God, they justify the crucifixion of him on that account; and when they lessen and vilify the virtue of his blood and sacrifice; and when both by errors and immoralities they cause him to be blasphemed, and evil spoken of; and when they persecute him in his members: and this may be said to be done "to themselves afresh"; not that Christ was crucified for them before, but that they now crucify him again, as much as in them lies; or "with themselves", in their own breasts and minds, and to their own destruction. Now this being the case, it makes their renewal to repentance impossible; because, as before observed, the sin they commit is unpardonable; it is a denial of Christ, who gives repentance; and such who sin it must arrive to such hardness of heart as to admit of no repentance; and it is just with God to give up such to a final impenitence, as those, who knowingly and out of malice and envy crucified Christ, had neither pardon nor repentance; and besides, this sin of denying Christ to be the Son of God, and Saviour of men, after so much light and knowledge, precludes the way of salvation, unless Christ was to be crucified again, which is impossible; for so the Syriac version connects this clause with the word "impossible", as well as a foregoing one, rendering it, "it is impossible to crucify the Son of God again, and to put him to shame"; and so the Arabic version. Christ was put to open shame at the time of his apprehension, prosecution, and crucifixion; and so he is by such apostates, who, was he on earth, would treat him in the same manner the Jews did; and who do traduce him as an impostor and a deceiver, and give the lie to his doctrines, and expose him by their lives, and persecute him in his saints.
l Maimon. Hilchot. Teshuba, c. 6. sect. 3. m Vid. R. David Kimchi in Isa. xxii. 14.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
If they shall fall away - literally, âand having fallen away.â âThere is no if in the Greek in this place - âhaving fallen away.â Dr. John P. Wilson. It is not an affirmation that any had actually fallen away, or that in fact they would do it; but the statement is, that âon the supposition that they had fallen away,â it would be impossible to renew them again. It is the same as supposing a case which in fact might never occur: as if we should say, âhad a man fallen down a precipice it would be impossible to save him,â or âhad the child fallen into the stream he would certainly have been drowned.â But though this literally means, âhaving fallen away,â yet the sense in the connection in which it stands is not improperly expressed by our common translation. The Syriac has given a version which is remarkable, not as a correct translation, but as showing what was the prevailing belief in the time in which it was made, (probably the first or second century), in regard to the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. âFor it is impossible that they who have been baptized, and who have tasted the gift which is from heaven, and have received the spirit of holiness, and have tasted the good word of God, and the power of the coming age, should again sin, so that they should be renewed again to repentance, and again crucify the Son of God and put him to ignominy.â
The word rendered âfall awayâ means properly âto fall near by anyone;â âto fall in with or meet;â and thus to fall aside from, to swerve or deviate from; and here means undoubtedly to âapostatize from,â and implies an entire renunciation of Christianity, or a going back to a state of Judaism, paganism, or sin. The Greek word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is material to remark here that the apostle does not say that any true Christian ever had fallen away. He makes a statement of what would occur on the supposition that such a thing should happen - but a statement may be made of what would occur on the supposition that a certain thing should take place, and yet it be morally certain that the event never would happen. It would be easy to suppose what would happen if the ocean should overflow a continent, or if the sun should cease to rise, and still there be entire certainty that such an event never would occur.
To renew them again - Implying that they had been before renewed, or had been true Christians. The word âagainâ - ÏαÌλιν palin - supposes this; and this passage, therefore, confirms the considerations suggested above, showing that they were true Christians who were referred to. They had once repented, but it would be impossible to bring them to this state âagain.â This declaration of course is to be read in connection with the first clause of Hebrews 6:4, âIt is impossible to renew again to repentance those who once were true Christians should they fall away.â I know of no declaration more unambiguous than this. It is a positive declaration. It is not that it would be very difficult to do it; or that it would be impossible for man to do it, though it might be done by God; it is an unequivocal and absolute declaration that it would be utterly impracticable that it should be done by anyone, or by any means; and this, I have no doubt, is the meaning of the apostle. Should a Christian fall from grace, he âmust perish.â he never could be saved. The reason of this the apostle immediately adds.
Seeing - This word is not in the Greek, though the sense is expressed. The Greek literally is, âhaving again crucified to themselves the Son of God.â The âreasonâ here given is, that the crime would be so great, and they would so effectually exclude themselves from the only plan of salvation, that they could not be saved. There is but one way of salvation. Having tried that, and then renounced it, how could they then be saved? The case is like that of a drowning man. If there was but one plank by which he could be saved, and he should get on that and then push it away and plunge into the deep, he must die. Or if there was but one rope by which the shore could be reached from a wreck, and he should cut that and cast it off, he must die. Or if a man were sick, and there was but one kind of medicine that could possibly restore him, and he should deliberately dash that away, he must die. So in religion. There is âbut oneâ way of salvation. If a man deliberately rejects that, he must perish.
They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh - Our translators have rendered this as if the Greek were - αÌναÏÏÎ±Ï ÏÎ¿Ï ÍνÏÎ±Ï ÏαÌλιν anastaurountas palin - âcrucify again,â and so it is rendered by Chrysostom, by Tyndale, Coverdale, Beza, Luther, and others. But this is not properly the meaning of the Greek. The word αÌναÏÏÎ±Ï ÏοÌÏ anastaurooÌ - is an âintensiveâ word, and is employed instead of the usual word âto crucifyâ only to denote âemphasis.â It means that such an act of apostasy would be equivalent to crucifying him in an aggravated manner. Of course this is to be taken âfiguratively.â It could not be literally true that they would thus crucify the Redeemer. The meaning is, that their conduct would be âas ifâ they had crucified him; it would bear a strong resemblance to the act by which the Lord Jesus was publicly rejected and condemned to die. The act of crucifying the Son of God was the great crime which outpeers any other deed of human guilt. Yet the apostle says that should they who had been true Christians fall away and reject him, they would be guilty of a similar crime. It would be a public and solemn act of rejecting him. It would show that if they had been there they would have joined in the cry âcrucify him, crucify him.â The âintensity and aggravationâ of such a crime perhaps the apostle meant to indicate by the intensive or emphatic αÌÎ½Î±Ì ana in the word αÌναÏÏÎ±Ï ÏÎ¿Ï ÍνÏÎ±Ï anastaurountas. Such an act would render their salvation impossible, because:
(1) The crime would be aggravated beyond that of those who rejected him and put him to death - for they knew not what they did; and,
(2) Because it would be a rejection of the only possible plan of salvation after they had had experience of its power and known its efficacy.
The phrase âto themselves,â Tyndale readers, âas concerning themselves.â Others, âas far as in them lies,â or as far as they have ability to do. Others, âto their own heart.â Probably Grotius has suggested the true sense. âThey do it for themselves. They make the act their own. It is as if they did it themselves; and they are to he regarded as having done the deed.â So we make the act of another our own when we authorize it beforehand, or approve of it after it is done.
And put him to an open shame - Make him a public example; or hold him up as worthy of death on the cross; see the same word explained in the notes on Matthew 1:19, in the phrase âmake her a public example.â The word occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. Their apostasy and rejection of the Saviour would be like holding him up publicly as deserving the infamy and ignominy of the cross. A great part of the crime attending the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus, consisted in exhibiting him to the passing multitude as deserving the death of a malefactor. Of that sin they would partake who should reject him, for they would thus show that they regarded his religion as an imposture, and would in a public manner hold him up as worthy only of rejection and contempt. Such, it seems to me, is the fair meaning of this much-disputed passage - a passage which would never have given so much perplexity if it had not been supposed that the obvious interpretation would interfere with some prevalent articles of theology. The passage âprovesâ that if true Christians should apostatize, it would be impossible to renew and save them. If then it should be asked whether I believe that any true Christian ever did, or ever will fall from grace, and wholly lose his religion, I would answer unhesitatingly, no! (compare the John 10:27-28 notes; Romans 8:38-39 notes; Galatians 6:4 note.) If then it be asked what was the use of a warning like this, I answer:
(1) It would show the great sin of apostasy from God if it were to occur. It is proper to state the greatness of an act of sin, though it might never occur, in order to show how it would be regarded by God.
(2) Such a statement might be one of the most effectual means of preserving from apostasy. To state that a fall from a precipice would cause certain death, would be one of the most certain means of preserving one from falling; to affirm that arsenic would be certainly fatal, is one of the most effectual means of preventing its being taken; to know that fire certainly destroys, is one of the most sure checks from the danger. Thousands have been preserved from going over the Falls of Niagara by knowing that there would be no possibility of escape; and so effectual has been this knowledge that it has preserved all from such a catastrophe, except the very few who have gone over by accident. So in religion. The knowledge that apostasy would be fatal, and there could be no hope of being of the danger than all the other means that could be used. If a man believed that it would be an easy matter to be restored again should he apostatize, he would feel little solicitude in regard to it; and it has occurred in fact, that they who suppose that this may occur, have manifested little of the care to walk in the paths of strict religion, which should have been evinced.
(3) It may be added, that the means used by God to preserve his people from apostasy, have been entirely effectual. There is no evidence that one has ever fallen away who was a true Christian, (compare John 10:27-28, and 1 John 2:19); and to the end of the world it will be true that the means which he uses to keep his people from apostasy will not in a single instance fail.
(This view seems not opposed to the doctrine of the saintâs perseverance. It professes indeed, to meet the objection usually raised from the passage, if not in a new mode, yet in a mode different from that commonly adopted by orthodox expositors. Admitting that true Christians are intended, it is asserted only, that if they should fall, their recovery would be impossible, It is not said that they ever have fallen or will fall. âThe apostle in thus giving judgment on the case, if it should happen, does not declare that it actually does.â And as to the use of supposing a case which never can occur, it is argued that means are constantly used to bring about what the decree or determination of God had before rendered certain. These exhortations are the means by which perseverance is secured.
Yet it may be doubted, whether there be anything in the passage to convince us, that the apostle has introduced an âimpossibleâ case. He seems rather to speak of what âmightâ happen, of which there was âdanger.â If the reader incline to this view, he will apply the description to professors, and learn from it how far these may go, and yet fall short of the mark. But how would this suit the apostleâs design? Well. If âprofessorsâ may go âso far,â how much is this fact suited to arouse all to vigilance and inquiry. We, notwithstanding our gifts and âapparentâ graces, may not be âtrueâ Christians, may, therefore, not be âsecure,â may fall away and sink, under the doom of him whom it is impossible to renew. And he must be a very exalted Christian indeed, who does not occasionally find need of inquiry, and examination of evidences. Certainly, the whole passage may be explained in perfect consistency with this application of it.
Men may be enlightened, that is, well acquainted with the doctrines and duties of the Christian faith; may have tasted of the heavenly gift, and been made partakers of the Holy Spirit in his miraculous influences, which many in primitive times enjoyed, without any sanctifying virtue; may have tasted the good word of God, or experienced impressions of affection and joy under it, as in the case of the stony ground hearers; may have tasted the powers of the world to come, or been influenced by the doctrine of a future state, with its accompanying rewards and punishments; - and yet not be âtrueâ Christians. âAll these things, except miraculous gifts, often take place in the hearts and consciences of people in these days, who yet continue unregenerate. They have knowledge, convictions, fears, hope, joys, and seasons of apparent earnestness, and deep concern about eternal things; and they are endued with such gifts, as often make them acceptable and useful to others, but they are not truly âhumbled;â they are not âspiritually minded;â religion is not their element and delightâ - Scott.
It should be observed, moreover, that while there are many âinfallibleâ marks of the true Christian, none of these are mentioned in this place. The persons described are not said to have been elected, to have been regenerated, to have believed, or to have been sanctified. The apostle writes very differently when describing the character and privileges of the saints, Romans 8:27, Romans 8:30. The succeeding context, too, is supposed to favor this opinion.
âThey (the characters in question) are, in the following verses, compared to the ground on which the rain often falls, and beareth nothing but thorns and briars. But this is not so with true believers, for faith itself is an herb special to the enclosed garden of Christ. And the apostle afterward, discoursing of true belief, doth in many particulars distinguish them from such as may be apostates, which is supposed of the persons here intended. He ascribeth to them, in general, better things. and such as accompany salvation. He ascribes a work and labor of love, asserts their preservation, etc.â - Owen.
Our author, however, fortifies himself against the objection in the first part of this quotation, by repeating and applying at Romans 8:7, his principle of exposition. âThe design,â says he, âis to show, that if Christians should be come like the barren earth, they would be cast away and lost.â
Yet the attentive reader of this very ingenious exposition will observe, that the author has difficulty in carrying out his principles, and finds it necessary to introduce the âmereâ professor ere he has done with the passage. âIt is not supposed,â says he, commenting on the 8th verse, âthat a true Christian will fall away and be lost, but we may remark, that there are many professed Christians who seem to be in danger of such ruin. Corrupt desires are as certainly seen in their lives, as thorns on a bad soil. Such are nigh unto cursing. Unsanctified, etc., there is nothing else which can be done for them, and they must be lost. What a thought!â Yet that the case of the professor in danger cannot very consistently be introduced by him, appears from the fact, that such ruin as is here described is suspended on a condition which never occurs. It happens âonlyâ if the âChristianâ should fall. According to the author, it is not here denounced âon any other supposition.â As then true Christians cannot fall, the ruin never can occur âin any case whatever.â From these premises we âdare notâ draw the conclusion, that any class of professors will be given over to final impenitence.
As to what may be alleged concerning the âapparentâ sense of the passage, or the sense which would strike âthe mass of readers;â every one will judge according to the sense which himself thinks most obvious. Few perhaps would imagine that the apostle was introducing an impossible case. Nor does the âconnectionâ stand much in the way of the application to professors. In addition to what has already been stated, let it be further observed, that although the appropriate exhortation to awakened, yet unconverted persons would be, âto become converted; not to warn them of the danger of falling away;â yet the apostle is writing to the Hebrews at large, is addressing a body of professing Christians, concerning whom he could have no infallible assurance that âall of themâ were true Christians. Therefore, it was right that they should be warned in the way the apostle has adopted. The objection leaves out of sight the important fact that the âexhortations and warnings addressed to the saints in Scripture are addressed to mixed societies, in which there may be hypocrites as well as believers.â
Those who profess the faith, and associate with the church, are addressed without any decision regarding state. But the very existence of the warnings implies a fear that there may be some whose state is not safe. And âall,â therefore, have need to inquire whether this be their condition. How appropriate then such warnings. This consideration, too, will furnish an answer to what has been alleged by another celebrated transatlantic writer, namely, âthat whatever may be true in the divine purposes as to the final salvation of all those who are once truly regenerated. and this doctrine I feel constrained to admit, yet nothing can be plainer, than that the sacred writers have every where addressed saints in the same manner as they would address those whom they considered as constantly exposed to fall away and to perish forever.â Lastly. The phraseology of the passage does not appear to remove it out of all possible application to âmereâ professors.
It has already been briefly explained in consistency with such application. There is a difficulty, indeed, connected with the phrase, Ïαλιν ανακαινιζειν ÎµÎ¹Ï Î¼ÎµÏανοιαν palin anakainizein eis metanoian, âagainâ to renew to repentance; implying, as is said, that they, to whom reference is made, had been renewed âbefore.â But what should hinder this being understood of âreinstating in former condition,â or in possession of former privilege; Bloomfield supposes, there may be an allusion to the non-reiteration of baptism, and Owen explains the phrase of bringing them again into a state of profession by a second renovation, and a second baptism, as a pledge thereof. The renewing he understands here âexternallyâ of a solemn confession of faith and repentance, followed by baptism. This, says he, was their αÌνακαινιÏÎ¼Î¿Ï anakainismos, their renovation. It would seem then that there is nothing in the phrase to prevent its interpretation on the same principle that above has been applied to the passage generally.)
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Hebrews 6:6. If they shall fall away — και ÏαÏαÏεÏονÏÎ±Ï And having fallen away. I can express my own mind on this translation nearly in the words of Dr. Macknight: "The participles ÏÏÏιÏθενÏαÏ, who were enlightened, Î³ÎµÏ ÏÎ±Î¼ÎµÎ½Î¿Ï Ï, have tasted, and γενηθενÏαÏ, were made partakers, being aorists, are properly rendered by our translators in the past time; wherefore, ÏαÏαÏεÏονÏαÏ, being an aorist, ought likewise to have been translated in the past time, HAVE fallen away. Nevertheless, our translators, following Beza, who without any authority from ancient MSS. has inserted in his version the word si, if, have rendered this clause, IF they fall away, that this text might not appear to contradict the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. But as no translator should take upon him to add to or alter the Scriptures, for the sake of any favourite doctrine, I have translated ÏαÏαÏεÏονÏÎ±Ï in the past time, have fallen away, according to the true import of the word, as standing in connection with the other aorists in the preceding verses."
Dr. Macknight was a Calvinist, and he was a thorough scholar and an honest man; but, professing to give a translation of the epistle, he consulted not his creed but his candour. Had our translators, who were excellent and learned men, leaned less to their own peculiar creed in the present authorized version, the Church of Christ in this country would not have been agitated and torn as it has been with polemical divinity.
It appears from this, whatever sentiment may gain or lose by it, that there is a fearful possibility of falling away from the grace of God; and if this scripture did not say so, there are many that do say so. And were there no scripture express on this subject, the nature of the present state of man, which is a state of probation or trial, must necessarily imply it. Let him who most assuredly standeth, take heed lest he fall.
To renew them again unto repentance — As repentance is the first step that a sinner must take in order to return to God, and as sorrow for sin must be useless in itself unless there be a proper sacrificial offering, these having rejected the only available sacrifice, their repentance for sin, had they any, would be nugatory, and their salvation impossible on this simple account; and this is the very reason which the apostle immediately subjoins:-
Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God — They reject him on the ground that he was an impostor, and justly put to death. And thus they are said to crucify him to themselves-to do that in their present apostasy which the Jews did; and they show thereby that, had they been present when he was crucified, they would have joined with his murderers.
And put him to an open shame. — ÏαÏαδειγμαÏιζονÏαÏ. And have made him a public example; or, crucifying unto themselves and making the Son of God a public example. That is, they show openly that they judge Jesus Christ to have been worthy of the death which he suffered, and was justly made a public example by being crucified. This shows that it is final apostasy, by the total rejection of the Gospel, and blasphemy of the Saviour of men, that the apostle has in view. See the note on "Hebrews 6:4".
