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Emphatic Negations in Hebrews 6: The meaning of the four soils

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If you are joining us for the first time, please be sure to read the previous posts in this series:

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Thus, what is being described by an “honest and good heart” are those believers who tend to remain in an attitude of openness, brokenness, and submission to the will of God as they continue to choose to walk in Luke 9:23-24. However, do these believers sin and fail in their walk with the Lord as do all believers—both inadvertently, as well as conscious, volitional sin? Without any equivocation they do! However, they also repent and return in brokenness to the Lord, and through His loving “discipline” in their lives, they begin to “share His holiness” and experience the “peaceful fruit of His righteousness” in their lives (Hebrews 12:10-11). The reason this attitude of brokenness, repentance, and submission to the Lordship of Jesus occurs in the lives of these believers is because they “continue to hold fast and continue to retain and possess God’s Word in their hearts!

(NOTE: the Greek word for “hold fast and possess” is κατέχουσιν [katechousin], and it is a present tense verb, indicating continuous and ongoing action.)

In addition, the word for “perseverance” in Greek is ὑπομονῇ (hupomonę̄ ), and it comes from two Greek words: the Greek preposition ὑπό (hupo), which means “by means of”; and the Greek noun μονή (monē), which refers to “a place where one remains or dwells.” Thus, together, the meaning is “by means of staying or abiding, so as to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty, patience, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, perseverance,” and this ability is because these individuals have truly been born again and have a real, genuine, and eternal relationship with the Lord. Furthermore, they choose daily, by the enabling power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, to walk in Luke 9:23-24 and “continue to hold fast and possess” God’s Word in their hearts in the face of all that they encounter, which includes their own sin and failure, along with difficult trials and tragedies in their lives.

It has always been interesting for me to note that as Paul grew in the Lord, rather than seeing himself as some ‘great one’, he saw the sin in his life as being immense, and—in turn—he saw God’s grace as always being greater. The more he was aware of his sin, the more he knew God’s grace was the only thing he could appeal to. Please understand, as we grow in Christ, we develop a deeper sense of sin than simply “drinking, cussing, smoking and sexual doing,” which indeed can be self-destructive in our lives if not addressed and dealt with; rather, we penetrate further into the attitude of our hearts with regard to “pride, jealously, self-promotion, versus promoting Christ, doing what we do to be seen by men for our ego’s sake, and not really trusting God in all things, but substituting being ‘religious’ in place of truly walking by faith, etc.” Thus, as Paul grew in Christ, he humbly grew beyond the beginning stages of the do’s and don’ts of his Christian life. After all, if one does not grow in spiritual brokenness beyond this stage, it can result in a pseudo-spirituality of an immature, external, hypocritical, prideful, self-righteous, and self-deceived legalism. Instead, Paul continued to go to the depth and core of his own being, wherein he saw the depth of his own depravity, but the far greater depth of God’s plummet-less grace and mercy for His children (Ephesians 3:14-19):

  1. I Corinthians 15:9: “For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called anapostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” Written ca. 57 AD.
  2. Ephesians 3:8-10: “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach tothe Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, 9 and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God, who created all things; 10 in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” Written either ca. 50 or 57 AD.
  3. Titus: 1:15: “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.” Written ca. 65 AD.

What is interesting to note is that in all of the above examples, Paul is not saying “I was a great sinner,” but rather, “I am” a great sinner, saved and kept only by the grace of God, not my own goodness because I have none. Thus, as we genuinely grow in Christ, we realize every day that our relationship with the Lord is based on His great grace and mercy, and it is that grace and mercy that transforms us, placing a supernatural desire and disposition within us to want to serve, submit to, and follow Him by means of the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit, which results in His “holiness” being developed within us as a result of the brokenness He brings in our lives:

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:4-12)

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves; 8 we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. (II Corinthians 4:7-11)

Therefore, when we now look at Hebrews 6:7-8, it becomes clearer as to what is being said: “For ground that drinks the rain which often falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned” (Hebrews 6:7-8). Verse 7, therefore, is clearly talking about those who are truly born again and bear the “fruit” of the indwelling Holy Spirit, while on the other hand, verse 8 is describing those who “have no firm root” as depicted in Luke 8:13, as well as Hebrews 6:4-6. In other words, they have never come into a true, genuine, and eternal relationship with Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but rather only an emotionally superficial one that cannot last and will eventually manifest itself as being just that when these individuals completely turn away from and utterly deny Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Comments

  2. Its nice to see greek taught,

    Eph. talks about being rooted and grounded in LOVE(agape)

    And when a believer is rooted and grounded, he or she or they, they walk in love, Light, and circumspectly.

    That walk also leads you to UNITY, but we cant have unity with out having (Eph.4:2) Humility, then Meekness, then longsuffering, then forebaring one another in love.

    Then the goal comes into play, endeavoring to keep the unity of bond and peace. That’s the goal, that bond of unity of peace isn’t it?

    It’s really cool to see this, connect with the article referring to the ground.

    Walking Ephesians is an elevated walk and a strong walk, so lets help those who haven’t understood how it’s vary important to be rooted and grounded in love.

    This is the key to power, agape = The Love of God in the renewed mind with in the household.

    Good Day
    Jim Schultz

    • I can understand and agree with the word civility, but I’ve learned the word “unity” is one of those words that often have underlying meaning because of ecumenicalism and the Unitarian Universalist Church and the like. Scripture teaches the way to the GOD of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has only one path which is thru the Hebrew Messiah and HIS blood shed as a sacrifice for all, Jhn 14:6 HNV. Unity can lead to an open door for any and all faiths and beliefs which can in turn lead to a Peoples Temple and in turn a Jonestown. I’m not one to shy away from discussion, debate, argument or even disunity because truth is derived from it. Doing so does not necessarily mean incivility, Yeshua did plenty of it while with us 2000 years ago Mat 10:12-14 HNV, Mat 10:34-37 HNV, Mat 15:1-14 HNV, etc., etc.. HE will have a sword when HE returns, Rev 1:16 HNV, Rev 2:16 HNV, Rev 19:15 HNV, Rev 19:21 HNV. This will result in the goal, Justice.
      J.

      • Jerry~

        I very much agree with you that the word “unity” can sometimes be used to strong arm people, if you will, into agreeing about something just for the sake of “unity.” We can, as I understand what you are saying, be civil even if there is disunity of thought. You also wrote, “I’m not one to shy away from discussion, debate, argument or even disunity because truth is derived from it.” If, then, you believe that people can discuss differences of opinion in a civil manner, and if it is true that you are not one to “shy away from discussion [and] debate,” then I would once again like to bring up the topic of whether a true, born-again believer can lose his or her salvation with my four examples being the starting point for discussion. I am open to hearing any Scripture and reason that disprove my conclusions as long as the Scripture and explanations that I have given are included in the discussion. If you can’t find the four examples, I will gladly repost them or direct you to them.

        Barbara

  3. Justin at BLB~

    I have reread your posts on this topic, and I just have a few questions and comments because, as you know, I don’t believe the Bible teaches eternal security. I will try to be brief as well as very clear so that we don’t have a repeat of our last discussion!!

    On the October 17 blog, you wrote, “The verbs ‘crucify’ and ‘put to open shame’ [describe] an ongoing, continuous lifestyle of someone who is constantly and indefatigably renouncing, denying, and mocking Christ in an incessant manner.” You also wrote, “The consequence of all this occurring is that “it is impossible…to “continually renew” such a person to a rear [sic], genuine, and life-changing “repentance…because they are continually and incessantly “crucifying…and putting to an open…the Son of God.” Your conclusion is, “Consequently, it is saying that for those who ‘have been enlightened, tasted, and been made a partaker of the Holy Spirit’ at some point in the past, ‘after they have fallen away’ from any pretense of believing in or following Jesus at a subsequent point of time, ‘it is impossible to continue to renew them again to…true, genuine, and permanent repentance.’”

    I agree with what you have said above, but where I disagree is in the reasoning in which you stop short of saying that this person has lost his or her salvation. While I don’t believe that every person who has backslidden automatically loses his or her salvation (e.g. the prodigal son), neither is it excluded from consideration because no distinction is being made in this passage as to why a person has failed grow beyond the “principles of the doctrine of Christ” (Heb. 6:1), merely that he or she did, and wouldn’t you agree that it could be because of one of many reasons, including unrepentant backsliding?

    One problem I have in discussing whether believers can lose their salvation is in the definitions of people’s statuses put forth, which I think is what you have done by giving the two categories of people, but correct me if I’m wrong. You have defined the first as “a true, born again believer who has backsliden [sic] into a compromising situation with some type of sin, but who is also constantly believing in and trusting Jesus as His Savior while under the constant conviction of the Holy Spirit concerning his sin….” The second is a person “…who is exhibiting a lifestyle of an absolute and constant denial of Jesus in every way as his or her Lord and Savior, with no pretense of any conviction of his or her sin as being wrong and a need for [repentance].” It is the second definition that is of concern to me, and here’s what I think you are saying. Because, according to your way of thinking, a true believer cannot lose his salvation, the second person couldn’t have been saved because his behavior revealed “absolute and constant denial of Jesus in every way….” While I agree that this mindset, at some point in time, can be the result of not growing beyond the fundamentals, where is the scriptural support that eliminates this person from having been a “true believer” at one time? As I see it, the Hebrews’ passage opposes this view. In verses 1-2, these people are spoken of as not growing beyond the fundamentals, meaning that they had, at least, grown in them, implying salvation. Verse 6 begins with the phrase, “If they shall fall away,” and a person cannot fall away from something he hasn’t been a part of. In verse 4, these people experienced things that only believers would, that of being “enlightened,” having “tasted the heavenly gift,” and being “made partakers of the Holy Ghost.” I’m not sure whether the comments about the time frame (“hour,…a month,…a decade”) were included because of relevance to the point you are trying to make or if you were just clarifying the Greek.

    I think where I am experiencing confusion is that it seems that you are simultaneously saying two things, that this person was, at one time, a true believer (bottom of second paragraph) as well as that he never was a true believer because, as I understand your theology, a true believer cannot lose his or her salvation. Just as an added thought, I don’t believe that every person who claims to be a Christian truly is. The Bible clearly says, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us” (I Jn. 2:19). However, this verse cannot be used to support a theology that states that everyone who has left Christianity wasn’t really saved to begin with, which, unfortunately, it often times is.

    On October 24, you discussed the third soil. As you know, I commented on it, and rather than repost it here, I will just refer you back to it because there are some important points that weren’t covered in your series. Yes, we are very blessed that God does, indeed, administer His “loving ‘discipline’” in His “own way, time, and method.” However, where is the scriptural evidence that supports the idea that the only consequence to befall “these true and genuine believers [who] have not grown beyond the metaphorical ‘breast milk’ of spiritual truth in their lives” is that “they will continue in their bilateral walk with the Lord and the world, producing ‘immature fruit’ that will not only adversely affect them, but also their families, friends, working associates…”? Doesn’t the parable in Luke 13:6-9 and the analogy in John 15:1-6 say something entirely different, that those people who do not bear godly fruit will perish?

    On November 7, you discussed the importance of growing “beyond the beginning stages of the do’s and don’ts of his Christian life” and to “remain in an attitude of openness, brokenness, and submission to the will of God as [we] continue to choose to walk in Luke 9:23-24.” This is wise and beautiful advice. It isn’t, as you wrote, just about moving beyond “drinking, cussing, smoking and sexual doing.” There are two things that caught my eye, here. The first is that we have to “continue to choose” a life of submission because Christ is coming for a people “without spot, and blameless” (II Pet. 3:19), a “chaste virgin” (II Cor. 11:2), and if our lives don’t reflect that submission, based upon an ongoing faith in the Holy Spirit’s sanctifying work within us, we will not enter into God’s final rest (Heb. 3:7-19). The glaring truth behind Deuteronomy 30:19 is that God’s covenant people have been given the absolute free will to choose, either life and blessing or death and cursing, and this applies to both earthly and spiritual matters, including salvation. God does discipline His covenant people, but that doesn’t mean they have to subject themselves to it as so many stories in the OT illustrate, stories in which we read that God’s people were cut off; they did lose their salvation. The second idea that stood out was in your comment, “After all, if one does not grow in spiritual brokenness beyond this stage, it can result in a pseudo-spirituality of an immature, external, hypocritical, prideful, self-righteous, and self-deceived legalism.” You are right about the results of not growing in “spiritual brokenness,” but if we take this truth and reconcile it to the doctrine of eternal security, the logical conclusion is that those who produce fruits of the flesh rather than fruits of the Spirit will inherit the kingdom of God, and we know that isn’t scriptural. Again, we have to choose, and we have to do so continually, which means that true believers can, at any time in their walk, choose to leave God, either through rebellion or apathy. This truth, in part, is the reason why believers were given the warnings as written in the “If” verses that I have given.

    Thank you, again, for your time. I realize that this issue has caused great division in the body, which has not only hurt our growth in the Lord but has hurt our witness to the world. As I’ve written before, the topic whether a true believer can lose his or her salvation is second only to the salvation message itself. If a person believes that he cannot lose his salvation, and it turns out that the Bible supports this position, then nobody is worse for the wear, and all people who were born again will be with God. However, if it turns out that a person, who was truly born again according to Scripture, can lose his or her salvation, then it very much matters how all the verses are understood together because, then, many believers who thought they were ‘once-saved, always-saved’ are now standing before God in judgment rather than in salvation because they failed to interpret and act upon Scripture correctly. To that, then, I would respectfully ask you to address the explanations and the four examples that I gave in the September 19 blog. I’m not asking that people believe me just because I’ve said something. I’m just asking that my examples be given their rightful consideration, when formulating doctrine, because they are a part of Scripture (II Tim. 3:16).

    God bless you, and thank you for all that you bring to this site.
    Your sister in Christ~
    Barbara

    • Justin~

      I got confused and wrote, “It isn’t, as you wrote, just about moving beyond “drinking, cussing, smoking and sexual doing.” The phrase “moving beyond” shouldn’t have been included. I’m very sorry.

      Barbara

    • Dear Barbara:

      Thank you so very much for delineating your responses to the different Blogs, as that is helpful to me in responding to you. And as I said, I am going to respond to you, along with others, in a detailed fashion, and it will be a summation after we finish looking at Hebrews 6:4-20. Your questions in particular are very important as they represent quite inclusively the perspectives of those who believe that a true, born again believer can indeed lose his or her salvation and spend eternity separated from God in hell. Therefore, I will unequivocally respond to your comments, but the time factor has been my constant opponent in all that I do, as I am doing quite a lot. But I want to answere your questions and comments quite clearly and thoroughly because others have the same perspective as you do.

      God bless you,

      Justin T. Alfred

      • Justin~

        Thank you for your response. I hope it didn’t sound like I was nagging. I know that you had said that you were going to address my comments, but I think I got it into my head that it was going to be in the conclusion of the four types of soil, and when it wasn’t there, I wrote another post. Sorry!

        Barbara

  4. Justin,

    Hebrews was written to the Hebrews the same as Galatians was written to Galatians, Corinthians, Timothy, Romans, etc. When I read Hebrews with this perspective the LORD shows me a different perspective. Try it.

    J.

    • Dear Jerry:

      Thank you for your advice and counsel on how to read the Bible. And indeed, you are correct with regard to each of the epistles being written to different bodies of believers or different individuals, such as Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. However, as a suggestion, you might want to consider the fact that in the process the early church went through in determining those New Testament writings that were inspired by the Holy Spirit and those that were not, they, being led and directed by the Holy Spirit, chose those writings that contained God’s eternal, living truth from the foundation of the world, that is consistent from Genesis through Revelation. Therefore, regardless of to whom they may have been written initially, or the particular focus each writing had (e.g., the three synopotics and the Gospel of John, etc.), they all contain God’s living and eternal truth that is applicable for us today in all areas of our lives. That is what I have discovered in my 47 years of being a believer and walking with the Lord through all manner of events in my life.

      God bless you,

      Justin T. Alfred

      • I wouldn’t want to think you’re beyond being taught anything, no matter who it comes thru.

        I never even implied that scripture is not applicable for all who believe in Yeshua in what I wrote no matter what year it is read, so I see no need to reply to your argument there. Just suggesting you try a different perspective other than the traditional Replacement Theology and help in the way you interpret Hbr 6:4-6 HNV. I too can take the traditional understanding away from it as I was taught in the past, but try keeping it in context with what is written before and after in the book.

        Here is my attempt at Hbr 6:4-6 HNV –
        For concerning those who were once enlightened (Exd 13:21 HNV, Exd 25:37) and tasted of the heavenly gift (Exd 16:31-32 HNV), and were made partakers of the Ruach HaKodesh (Job 33:4 HNV), and tasted the good word of God (Pro 30:5 HNV), and the powers (Exd 15:6 HNV) of the age to come, and then fell away (Lev 16:3 HNV), 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.

        Eternal or temporary salvation was not the issue here – sacrifice was.

        By the term “early church” do you mean the one from Acts? Or the church that (form)ed centuries later that needed re(form)ation? And just what about the process that was used – puff of white smoke? Were there any Jews involved, since we worship their Messiah? Just asking.

        Speaking purely as a linguist, I’m sure you don’t totally discount all the uninspired biblical and secular writings that help in forming backdrop, context, intent, framework, understanding and use of any particular word as used by contemporary authors in any given period of time of history that is critical if not essential in search of an author’s original intent when translation scripture. Do you agree?

        J.