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 e have entered a war zone - Hebrews 6:4-8.
Charles H. Spurgeon introduced his sermon on this passage
with, “There are some spots in Europe which have been
the scenes of frequent warfare . . . the kingdom of Belgium,
which might be called the battle field of Europe. War has
raged over the whole of Europe, but in some unhappy spots,
battle after battle has been fought . . . This is one of the
texts which have been trodden under the feet of controversy;
and there are opinions upon it as adverse as the poles, some
asserting that it means one thing, and some declaring that
it means another.” He was correct. Hebrews 6:4-8 is probably
the battle zone, the Belgium of Hebrews. We have entered a
war zone.
In The Trench. In the early church, some church fathers even wanted the book of Hebrews removed form the Bible because it did not agree with what they believed. That is a sad commentary on the human heart. They were not willing to be open to scripture and change what they believed. So they attempted to remove the part of the Bible they did not like. The problem was not the Bible, but their understanding of it. Today, there are at least four major opinions about the meaning of this passage. The first one says that Hebrews 6:4-8 teaches that Christians can lose their salvation, but it will be difficult for them to accept Christ again. The second view says this passage is talking about apostates - Christians who have turned and completely rejected Jesus. Others say that Hebrews 6:4-6 is not about Christians but about people who claim to be Christians. Finally some say the passage is a divine scare tactic to motivate the readers to action. Someone may ask, “Why are there differences of opinion?” The answer is that some of the words and expressions in this passage are not completely clear. In the last study, “Warning - Part 1,” we started by explaining the meaning of the words “enlightened," "tasted," "partakers," "fallen away," and "renew," from the Greek. That was our hand-to-hand combat. We needed to know the meaning of the words first. Now we can step back and look at the battle field. This will enable us to gain a better understanding of what Hebrews 6:4-8 is all about.
Battle Field View. We will look at the battle field from five perspectives in order to gain an understanding of the passage. We will look at Jesus’ disciples, Matt. 7:22-23, the phrase “become partakers of the heavenly gift,” the word “impossible” and the illustration in verses 7-8. Jesus’ Disciples. Men and women down through history have left the faith, some who were even involved in ministry. Jesus’ disciples were involved in ministry also. The gospel of Luke reminds us that Jesus gave His disciples authority over demons and power to heal. They went out preaching and healing.
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