Now we arrive at the major application of all that we
have said and this is found in ch.5-9 where the writer says, "And being
made perfect, He became the author of ETERNAL SALVATION, to all that OBEY
HIM." We have explained that being made perfect, meant that He was
obedient to the Father's will and that HE learned obedience by the things
that He suffered. We learned that He was perfected on the third day
and that was the day that He rose from the dead and was glorified.
It was on that day that the Father said, "Thou art my Son, this day have
I begotten Thee." That day He became the author of eternal salvation
unto all that OBEY HIM because He was OBEDIENT Himself. The point
at issue is: If it was necessary for Christ to be OBEDIENT unto death,
to be the author of ETERNAL SALVATION, (glorification), unto all that OBEY
HIM; can we ever expect to be a partaker of that ETERNAL SALVATION, if
we DISOBEY HIM and do not HOLD FAST unto the END? If so where in
this book are we so informed? The fact is that nowhere in this book
are we so informed? The fact is that nowhere in the scriptures, has
the wilful disobedient any hope offered to him except repentance.
Jesus said in Lu.17,3-4, "If thy brother trespass against
thee, rebuke him, and IF HE REPENT, forgive him. And if he trespass
against thee seven times in one day and seven times in a day turn to thee
and say, "I repent"; thou shalt forgive him." This is the divine
law; no repentance; no forgiveness. There is no need to cry 'legality'
here for we will simply refer the reader to Mat.18,15-17 where we find
the discipline that Jesus gave for the future church. Would Christ
give us admonition on forgiveness contrary to His own divine principles?
This is inconsistent and also unbelievable. We will enlarge on this
discipline later on in this book.
Eternal Security tries to avoid this by referring to Eph.4-32 where
Paul said, "Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you." Let us all remember that the vilest sinner is already forgiven
provisionally, but unless he accepts Christ as His savior, he never will
be forgiven experimentally. Let us see how this works. On the
cross Jesus prayed for those that had Him condemned to death and said,
"Father forgive them, they know not what they do." Has this been
fulfilled? Many think it has but it emphatically has not and will
not be until Israel repents and says, "Blessed is He (Christ) that cometh
in the name of the Lord." In that day there shall be a fountain opened
in the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness,
Zech.,13-1. Forgiveness was obtained for Israel at Calvary provisionally
but not until they accept Him as Messiah, will they be forgiven experimentally.
And this forgiveness must first be preceded by repentance exactly as Jesus
said in Lu.17,3-4. Because Israel refused to repent before two or
three witnesses, John the Baptist, Christ and the apostles; therefore they
are as the heathens and publicans in God's sight at present, Mat.18,15-17.
If it was necessary for the Son of God to be obedient unto death, what
can we expect if we are wilfully disobedient? We are not referring
to those who sin thru weakness or ignorance. While they have sinned
indeed and lost their fellowship pro tem, they can be immediately restored
by repentance and confession. It is not occasional disobedience that
is in question here, but wilful permanent disobedience. Thus ETERNAL
SALVATION is only for ALL THAT OBEY HIM.
In Acts 5-29 Peter said, "We ought to OBEY GOD rather than man;" and
in Acts 5-32 he said, "We are His witnesses- and so is the Holy Ghost,
whom God hath given to them that OBEY HIM." Does God give the Holy
Ghost to them that DISOBEY HIM? The answer is, "NO!" Did not
Peter say in Acts 2-38, "Repent and be baptized - and ye shall receive
- the Holy Ghost?"
As DISOBEDIENT, they received reproof but as OBEDIENT, they received
the Holy Ghost. In Rom.6-16 Paul said, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield
yourselves servants to OBEY, HIS SERVANTS ye are to whom ye OBEY; whether
of sin unto death, or OBEDIENCE unto righteousness?" In John 8,34-35
Jesus said, "Whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin. And
the servant abideth not in the house forever; but the Son abideth ever."
It was OBEDIENCE that made Christ the author of ETERNAL SALVATION,
and it will require OBEDIENCE on our part to be a partaker of that ETERNAL
SALVATION. If it required OBEDIENCE on Christ's part to be GLORIFIED,
it will require the same on our part. He gives the Holy Ghost to
them that OBEY HIM and not to those that DISOBEY HIM. Likewise He
is the author of ETERNAL SALVATION to all that OBEY HIM and not to any
one else.
Let Eternal Security claim eternal life for the disobedient if they
so desire, but one thing is an unequivocal certainty: God will never give
the Holy Ghost to those disobedient ones. Since the Holy Ghost is
the earnest of our inheritance, II Cor.1-22; does Eternal Security think
that God will give them any part of the ETERNAL INHERITANCE in eternity,
when He will not give them the EARNEST NOW?
This word 'earnest' means a 'pledge or down payment.' In Eph.1,
13-14 we read, "Ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession."
The Holy Spirit is the very first thing promised to a believer, Acts 2-38.
If the believer disobeys God, and God will not give him the very first
thing promised while here on earth, how can such a wilful disobedient one,
ever expect one thing from God in eternity?
Christ is indeed the author of ETERNAL SALVATION to all that OBEY HIM,
ch. 5-9; but Eternal Security places the emphasis on the word 'eternal'
but the author places the emphasis on the words 'OBEY HIM'. This
is evidenced by the fact that the writer always emphasized THE END and
not the BEGINNING of the Hebrews' profession.
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v.11, "Of whom (Melchisedec) we have many things to say, and are hard to be understood, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
v.12, For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God: and are become such as have need of milk, and not strong meat.
v.13, For ever one that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
v.14, But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good
and evil."
In the preceding four verses, the writer accuses them of the following
charges: Were dull of hearing, were babes instead of teachers, needed
milk instead of meat, unskilled in the word and had not discerned evil
(slipping back) from good (going on to perfection).
In v.12 he said in part, "Ye have need that one teach you again which
be the first principles of God." Then in ch.6-1 he said, "Therefore
leaving the (first) principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on
to perfection." This then is the introduction to the sixth chapter
of which we quote v.4-6 herewith.
v.4, "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and
have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
v.5, And have tasted of the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come.
v.6, If they should fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;
seeing they crucify unto themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him
to an open shame."
The above quotation was advanced by the writer as a warning to those
waverers who were slipping back into Judaism even as others had done and
had become apostates. It was intended to show them the consequences
of their spiritual declension and what the result would be if they became
apostates like those who had already done so.
But Eternal Security with their carefully concocted misinterpretations
and misapplications, have perverted and diverted the truth so that the
word of God would not denounce their doctrine and expose their errors.
In the Scofield Bible there is a note on these verses which states
that these are Jewish professed believers who halt short of faith in Christ.
He claims that they came to the threshold of salvation and were convicted
and enlightened, John 16,8-10, and then did not have saving faith.
He makes it appear that they were like the ten spies who spied out the
land, had the fruit of it in their hands, and yet turned back, Deut.1,
19-36.
It is just such reasoning as the above note that makes void the word
of God. These spies were redeemed by the blood of the passover lamb,
had left Egypt, a type of the world, were circumcised, and were in covenant
relation with the Lord; and kept the sabbath which is a type of the FIRST
REST in Christ as explained in chapter four. They also ate manna
in the wilderness which is a type of Christ the bread of life, and also
drank of the water that came from the smitten rock which also was a type
of Christ giving us the water of life. Yet Scofield would have us
believe that they are typical of Jewish believers who halt short of faith
in Christ and never were saved.
In our comments on the fourth chapter, we showed that there were two
rests and not one. The ten spies had obtained the FIRST REST in the
wilderness but never obtained the SECOND REST in Canaan. When the
two spies came back with the fruit in their hands, they had the earnest
of their INHERITANCE which was the land of Canaan. The fruit had
nothing to do with salvation or their deliverance because the Red Sea typified
the door of salvation and not the River Jordan. They already had
the tabernacle, the priesthood and sacrifices to make atonement for their
sins; then how could they be typical of unsaved Jewish believers?
We are not so gullible as to accept such reasoning which beguiles the simple
and teaches them to believe in a false security.
In contrast to Scofield's note we quote a note from the Companion Bible
on the context under consideration as follows:
"The warning is that if, that after accepting Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah
and Lord, they go back to Judaism, they cut themselves off (Gal.5-4), as
there is no other Messiah to be looked for, and by rejecting Him they put
Him to open shame. Tho the interpretation is for APOSTATES who go
back to JUDAISM, the application remains a solemn warning to ALL WHO PROFESS
TO BELIEVE". (Caps ours). Thus the Companion Bible refutes the fallacious
teaching of Eternal Security at this point.
In connection with the above note, we next present an article from
Dickson's Analytical Bible for the reader's consideration.
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statement of verse 6, "to renew them unto repentance." The rendering
of the R.V. is better: "For as touching those who were once enlightened
and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit,
and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and
then fell away, it is impossible to renew them unto repentance."
The writer's position is that we should advance beyond the things we
learned at the beginning of the Christian life; to leave those first things,
these first principles, and to proceed to the things that make for the
full grown, matured Christian. He now states why he will not re-instruct
them in the rudiments of Christianity; that it is useless to repeat such
instructions in trying to restore to repentance those who have "fallen
away." He does not say it is impossible for them to return to Christ.
It is at this point the passage is frequently misread. He is speaking
of human agency in the attempt to restore these apostates by reiterating
these principles in which they have been instructed. He says it is
impossible (not for the apostates) for us to renew them again by such measures.
He is willing to do it again however, if it be the divine will: "And this
we will do if God permit." He is speaking in a popular manner when
he says there is no reason to believe that these apostates will be restored
by a constant reiteration of the rudiments of the gospel.
Thus we see here is another standard authority that refutes Eternal
Security. Our next quotation if from The Life and Epistles of St.
Paul, by Connebeare and Howson. This quotation is note no.6, p.863.
"A reason is here given by the writer why he will not attempt to teach
his readers the rudiments of Christianity over again; namely, that is useless
to attempt, by the repetition of such instruction, to recall those who
have renounced Christianity to repentance. The 'impossibility' that
he speaks of has reference (it should be observed) only to "human agents",
it is only said that all 'human' means of acting on the heart have been
exhausted in such a case. Of course no limit is placed on the Divine
power. Even in the passage 10, 26-31 (which is much stronger than the present
passage), it is not said that such apostates are never brought to repentance,
only that it cannot be 'expected' that they ever should be."
"AIM AND OBJECT." It must be clear to every careful reader that this
epistle was written with one definite aim in view... The author makes
straight for his goal from start to finish... The Christians addressed
are evidently in danger of falling away from their faith and apostatizing
altogether. So desperate does the condition appear to the author,
that he feels it necessary to expostulate in the gravest of terms.
It is no fascination of the world luring them away from their original
consecration that occasions the danger. The Hebrews are discouraged
almost to the point of despair because they do not see how the gospel can
offer them anything like compensation, for what they have lost in being
cast out of the synagogue on account of their confession of the Nazarene.
This is the condition that the epistle has to face."
Having produced these standard witnesses against Eternal Security,
we will proceed with our own evidence against this false doctrine.
In v.4 the writer speaks about those who were enlightened. Were these
Hebrews 'spiritually enlightened' or were they only 'intellectually enlightened."
We claim the former to be true while Eternal Security claims the latter
to be true. This word 'enlightened' is 'photizo' in the Greek and
it is quoted only three times in the New Testament. It is translated 'enlightened'
twice and 'illuminated' once. We quote all three passages herewith.
Heb.6-4, "For it is impossible for those who were once ENLIGHTENED,
and have tasted of the heavenly gift," etc.
Eph.1-18, "The eyes of your understanding being ENLIGHTENED; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance IN THE SAINTS."
Heb.10-32, "But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were ILLUMINATED, ye endured a great fight of afflictions."
Tho Eph.1-18, speaks about their 'understanding being enlightened',
it ends with the words 'in the saints', indicating that they were a saved
people. It cannot be denied that those referred to in Heb.10-32 were
saved and since the word 'enlightened' or 'illuminated' is 'photizo' in
all three cases, the evidence presented clinches the fact that this enlightment
was identical and that it was a 'spiritual enlightment' and not just a
'going along with' the believers, as Scofield puts it.
We next take up the expression "and have tasted of the heavenly gift."
It is both ridiculous and inconsistent the way Eternal Security attempts
to prove that these so-called unsaved Hebrews had tasted of the heavenly
gift. We know that this "heavenly gift" is none else than Christ
Himself. How a Christ rejecting Hebrew could taste of the heavenly gift
is more than we can comprehend. In Ps.34-8 David said, "O taste and
see that the Lord is Good," and he certainly was not referring to sinners.
In I Pet.2,2-3 he said, "As new born babes desire the sincere milk of the
word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the
Lord is gracious." He told them to desire-the word- "IF SO BE YE
HAVE TASTED-THE LORD." He meant that they could not grow until they
had tasted of Christ (the heavenly gift) experimentally. To taste
of the Lord is synonymous to being a partaker of Him. We list herewith
a number of scriptures with the word 'partaker' in them, which apply to
the expression now before us and the reader can readily discern that they
apply to saved people only.
Heb.3-1, "Wherefore brethren, PARTAKERS of the heavenly calling-."
Heb.3-14, "For we (not sinners) are PARTAKERS of Christ--."
Heb.12-10, "That we (not sinners) might be partakers of His holiness."
I Pet.5-1, "I--am--a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed."
II Pet.1-4, "That by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature."
The next thought for our consideration is the expression, "and were
made partakers of the Holy Ghost." We can readily see by the five
scriptures above, that to be a partaker of Christ or any of the above mentioned
things, it would be necessary for a person to be saved. The Holy
Ghost is a person and we either have Him or do not have Him. There
are two phases of His presence, 'with us' and 'in us' and neither one of
these is true of the unsaved, John 14-17. Jesus said in John 16-8,
"When He (the Comforter) is come, He will reprove the world of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment." Nowhere in the scriptures is this
work in any person referred to as being made partakers of the Holy Ghost.
When Ananias kept part of the money that he intended to give, he lied
about it to Peter. Peter said to him, "Why hath Satan filled thine
heart to lie to the Holy Ghost?" Ananias died for his sin immediately
and later, when Sapphire his wife came in, Peter said to her, "How is it
ye agreed to tempt the spirit of the Lord? "Then she also dropped
dead and they carried her out likewise. Just because they were smitten
down by the Holy Ghost, is no evidence that they were partakers of the
Holy Ghost in that incident, but rather they were partakers of the Devil
because Peter said to them, "Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to
the Holy Ghost?"
In Acts 8, 18-21, Simon the sorcerer professed to be saved and later
tried to buy the power of the Holy Ghost. But Peter said to him, "Thou
hast neither PART OR LOT in this matter: for thy heart is not right
in the sight of God." He had neither PART OR LOT in the matter and
that is proof that he was not a PARTAKER OF THE HOLY GHOST. In Rom.8-2
and Rev.11-11, the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of life, and if sinners
were a partaker of the Holy Ghost, they would be a partaker of life also,
but instead they are dead in sin, Eph.2-1; Col.3-3.
In God's plan of salvation, there are two gifts mentioned, the Son
of God is God's gift to the world, John 3-16; and the Holy Ghost is God's
gift to the church, Acts 2-38. Concerning this Spirit Jesus said, "Who
the world cannot receive," John 14-17." The world does not receive
Him in any sense whatsoever as He is the Spirit of holiness, Rom.1-4, and
they cannot be a partaker of Him in their defiled carnal nature.
When Jesus met the Samaritan woman at the well, He was not a partaker of
her water until He actually drank it, and He drank it because he desired
it. Seeing it or hearing of it, did not make him a partaker of it.
When Jesus fed the multitude, there was not one who was a partaker, until
he actually ate that bread; and the same thing is true of Christ the bread
of life. There is absolutely nothing imparted by the Holy Ghost to
sinners and neither are they partakers of God's Spirit in any sense until
the blood is applied at conversion. At the time of the new birth,
the soul receives it first partaking of the Holy Spirit and not at any
time before.
When Noah let the dove out of the ark, it didn't rest on anything until
the earth was dry. But the raven never came back because it was an
unclean bird and would rest on any dead carcass. The dove, a type
of the Holy Spirit, refused to rest on anything or eat anything on earth
until it was dried up and new life had sprung forth. When the dove
came back the second time, it had an olive leaf in it's mouth that it had
plucked off of an olive tree that had come to life again. This is
a type of the new life that we receive thru Christ and the dove is a type
of the Holy Spirit, Mat.3-16. So neither does the Holy Spirit rest
on sinners or impart any thing to them; nor are they partakers of Him in
any sense. Being convicted and convinced of sin by Him, is never
considered being a partaker of Him. That is just another instance
how Eternal Security perverts and diverts the truth.
We now come to v.5 where in the first part we read, "and have tasted
the good word of God." What we have said about "tasting the heavenly
gift," will apply to this expression also. To taste a thing one must
be a partaker of that thing; and to be a partaker of a thing, one must
receive that thing. In Jas.1-21 he says, "Receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." To receive God's
word, is to receive that thing that his word has promised to bestow.
In John 6-63 Jesus said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit
and they are life." Therefore to taste of that word, is to taste
of that Spirit, and of that life; nothing else.
Nowhere does God's word inform us that the unsaved tasted His word
or received it. Whenever it speaks of people receiving His word,
it is equal to saying that the word brought them Spirit and life, just
as Jesus said it would in John 6-63. As evidence of this consider
the following passages.
Acts 2-41, "Then they that GLADLY RECEIVED HIS WORD, were baptized--."
Acts 8-14, "When the apostles---heard that Samaria RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD, they sent unto them Peter and John. Who ---prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost." (So they must have been saved).
Acts 11-1, "The apostles--in Judea heard that the Gentiles had RECEIVED THE WORD OF GOD."
I Thess.1-6, "And ye became followers--of the Lord, having RECEIVED
THE WORD in much affliction."
We now come to the last part of v.5 which speaks of (have tasted) "the
powers of the world to come." Just what are we to understand by this
and in what respect can the unsaved be partakers of these "powers"?
First of all, the word 'world' should be 'age' and refers to the kingdom
age usually called the Millennium. The word 'powers' is 'dunamis'
in the Greek and it is the same word as in Acts 1-8 where Jesus said, "Ye
shall receive POWER after the Holy Ghost is come upon you." Jesus
referred to that age in Mat.12-32; Mat.19,27-28 and Mk.10,28-30; and was
seen by the three apostles at the transfiguration, Mat.17-10; II Pet.1,17-18.
It is those who have TASTED OF THE POWER OF THAT AGE, who are going to
LIVE WITH CHRIST IN THAT AGE.
Israel as a nation, was not a partaker of the power of that age to
come, but individuals as Simeon, Anna, Zecharias, John the Baptist, and
the twelve apostles were, and will live in that coming age. Paul
said he was as one born out of due season, I Cor.15-8, because he was blinded
by unbelief like the rest of his nation, but on the Damascus road he became
a partaker of Christ's divine nature and therefore became a partaker of
the POWERS OF THE AGE TO COME.
In Mk.9-1 Jesus said, "There be some that stand here, that shall not
taste death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power."
Six days later He took three apostles with Him and was transfigured before
them, and they saw the kingdom come in type. Elijah and Moses appeared
there with Him, Elijah representing the translated saints, Moses representing
the resurrected saints, and the three apostles represented the nation of
Israel. They were partakers of the AGE TO COME because they were
born of that power that is going to bring that coming age. There
are no Christ rejecting Hebrews that ever tasted of the power of that world
(age) to come regardless how Eternal Security endeavors to twist the word
to suit their doctrine.
On p.863 of Connebeare and Howson's Life and Epistles of St.Paul, there
is a note on this passage as follows: "The 'powers of the world to
come' appear to denote the miraculous operations of the spiritual gifts.
These properly belonged to the world to come."
It is comforting at this pint to know that this standard authority
rejects Eternal Security's false security here as well as elsewhere.
No Christ rejecting Hebrew could exercise any of these spiritual gifts
or be a partaker of their blessings. That this is what is meant is
quite evident for in chap.2-4, the writer of Hebrews said, "God also bearing
them witness both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and
gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will."
Carrying the first thought of v.4 to v.6, the writer said, "If they
fall away, (it is impossible) to renew them unto repentance:" This
word 'renew' is 'anakainizo' in the greek and this is the only place where
it is found in the New Testament. It means 'to make new again" and
it is quite evident that thing cannot be 'renewed' if it never was new.
Eternal Security claims these were unsaved, that these unconverted Hebrews
'went along with' the Holy Spirit in his work of enlightment and conviction.
Had they even done so, that is no proof that they had repented. The
four gospels and the Acts are the only five books that we have concerning
the ministry of Christ and the apostles with the nation of Israel.
But no where do we find any mention of any one who repented, but what they
became saved people. There are scores of sinners living today, who
at one time were under conviction, but who have never repented of their
sins. Since they never came to repentance, it would be impossible
to 'renew' them unto repentance; because if they had come to repentance,
repentance to them would be a 'new' experience. Should they fall
away after being converted, then it would be necessary to 'renew' them
unto repentance. A hardy plant raised from seed would have a 'new'
life but, the next spring it would have a 'renewed' life inasmuch as spring
is a type of resurrection anyway.
Concerning the word 'repentance', we can make no better statement than
that found in appendix No.111 of the Companion Bible. There are three
words listed there from the Greek which are translated 'repentance' which
are: Mentanoeo, to change one's mind; Metametomai, to regret; and Metanoia,
which is the word under consideration. The first two words are verbs
and the latter word is a noun, and concerning this word 'mentanoia', we
quote the following paragraph from the Companion Bible:
"METANOIA, A real change of mind and attitude towards sin itself, and the cause of it (not merely the consequences of it), which affects the whole life and not only a single act. It has been defined as a change in our principle of action (gr.nous) from what it is by nature, (to) the exact opposite. It occurs twenty-four times and - is a real 'repentance toward God.' It is associated with the work of the Holy Spirit, and is connected with the remission of sins and the promises of salvation."
What a tremendous contrast between the true meaning of this word 'repentance'
and its application; and what Eternal Security would have us to believe.
Paul uses this same word 'repentance' (gr. mentanoia) in 2 Cor.7,9-10 where
he says, "Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry after a godly manner,
that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For Godly sorrow worketh
repentance (gr. metanoia) to salvation, not to be repented of."
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