Thoughts on Meat and milk; meat of course leans toward eternal salvation, a teaching that was in opposition to what I learned. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

Paul tells us in Hebrews 6: 4-6, that it is impossible to fall away and then be brought back to repentance.

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” (Hebrews 6: 4-6, NIV)

Impossible is a very rare word in God's vocabulary, for there is nothing impossible with God.

Where then does the impossibility come from?

Let's look at the passage and see if it interprets itself.

"for those who have once been enlightened,"

Enlightened is the Greek word photizo, which means to shed light upon, or to be illuminated.

The obvious point here is that the people referenced in Hebrews 6:4-6 were instructed and furnished with a clear view of God's life. Hopefully that life was an integral part of their life. Something to keep in mind. This letter to the Hebrews is just another way of referring to those who held the Torah and Tenach as a way of life.

What changed for them?

Someone, and many think it was Paul, a former Sadducee, preached the good news that Jesus, the Messiah, had come, and we now have hope in Him.

Having experienced the heavenly gift, been enlightened, shared in the Holy Spirit, and tasted the goodness of the Word of God, we now have eternal salvation.

Jesus declared these words.

John 3:14-15 NAS95 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15) so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."

That serpent represented the curse and death, and all who looked upon the serpent did not die from the serpent's bite 

(Obviously it was not the bronze serpent on the pole that was going to bite you; it was those serpents, crawling around your feet, there in the wilderness, that were biting and killing people. While I am on the subject, did you notice that it did not protect them from getting bit? This has to say something about the lives we live and the tribulations that are part of this life we live in Christ.)

 Since Jesus alluded to His own death upon that pole, we are to understand that Jesus became our relief from the curse and its payment of death. Since we placed our belief in Him, we too have eternal life.

I often remind myself that the Disciples, such as Matthew and John, heard these words firsthand.

John 10:27-28 NAS95 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28) and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

I have followed Him, and He has given eternal life to me. To sweeten the deal, NO ONE will ever snatch me out of His hand.

It seems that you cannot talk about “eternal salvation” without Judas Iscariot coming up. The assumption is that Judas had close contact with Jesus and would have surely belonged to God. In a sense, we all do (I base this assertion on the fact that we humans, formed in God's image, all have His moral code built into us), and we will all answer to him some day for what we did with that moral code.

• Judas was not the only one to put Jesus on that cross; we did too.

• Judas was not the only man to betray Jesus; we do that also when we refuse His voice and deny Him access to our lives.

Jesus said, "Did not I choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil." (John 6:70)

It would be wise to grasp the truth that we are nothing more than mere tools; the sad part is we think we are in control, and that we control the tool.

Scripture tells us, "that the heart of the king is guided by the hand of the Lord, and he guides him like a river, wherever the Lord wants him to go."(Proverbs 21:1)

It is obvious to me that God chose Judas for a purpose; it is not yours to question why. You can try to understand, but you will be limited at best because you are a mere human. Consider this in light of Judas Iscariot.

Jesus goes into the synagogue.

There was a man, a Jew, among the religious.

Mark 1:21-25 NKJV: “Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. 22) And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23) Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24) saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!" 25) But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"

We presume this man is learned or learning just as the others, and he is known among them. In other words, he blends in and seems to be accepted. Almost immediately this man screams out, "Let us alone; what have we to do with you, you Jesus of Nazareth? are you come to destroy us? I know you who you are, the Holy one of God."

"Let us alone,".
Assuming that Jesus was known to some degree, and that he was, in the religious mind, contrary to their system. It would not have been surprising to hear several espouse their agreement with the man that is now disrupting the meeting.

(Remember the leprous man that asked Jesus to cleanse him. That action was over and above merely healing the man. He asked Jesus to circumvent the religious system. Jesus hesitated at that one because he knew the wrath that would come upon him prematurely, and it was not His time yet.)

If you choose not to believe this, then why did Jesus instruct the man to tell no one? (Which, by the way, the man did not pay attention to.)

Why wouldn't God have wanted the world to know that he could not only heal, but restore a man to his community?

That seems odd to say, for it implies an obsession with stature. God is not interested in your position within the community as much as he is in the impact upon your mental well-being. For the priest to reintroduce a banished man back into the community would mean the community had to accept him once again. No more exclusion, and a restoration of the freedom to communicate and be accepted. Another way of looking at it is the restoration of fellowship.

"What have we to do with you?"
Assuming that you are familiar with this story, I might expect that you have given some thought to something that the Jewish community may have run through their minds.

1. This particular guy is always uptight like that.

2. Who is this guy, and why is he speaking as though we need him defending us?

3. How did Jesus perceive, so quickly, that He was dealing with demons?
   Note: the demons referred to themselves as “we.”

So when the demon possessed man blurts out, “what have we to do with you?” It may not have as much to do with demons, as it would have been the community's required treatment of a Mumzer.

In John chapter six we see Jesus feeding thousands and then “escaping” across the Sea of Galilee. Once again the crowds found Him, but in reality they wanted signs and more free food. The evidence that they disrespected Him really starts to come on strong here.

John 6:40-44 NKJV And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." 41) The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." 42) And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?" 43) Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. 44) No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.

When Matthew, who most likely was standing right there beside Him when this abuse started to ramp up, said this:

Matthew 13:55-57 NKJV:  "Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56) And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?" 57) So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house."

Here is where it gets complicated, primarily because we, the audience, do not apply effort and look up that simplistic word, carpenter. We are dealing with the Greek word tektōn, which means an artisan. The Word Study dictionary conveys the idea of a person who “fabricates, produces, or brings forth.” It goes on to give examples that include wood, iron, and brass.

Only in the last few years did we learn of a quarry, about a quarter mile outside of Nazareth. There is a high probability that Jesus had become a craftsman lathing granite vessels, not so dissimilar to the ones that happened to be at the wedding in Cana, where He turned the water into wine. (Read John chapter two.)

What we witness in Matthew 13:55 is an attempt at belittling Joseph, who is now dead, in hopes of harming Jesus' lineage and social standing.

Later, I assume that it is the same crowd that we just witnessed in Matthew 13. Jesus responds to them by saying:

John 8:43-45 NAS95:  "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44) "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45) "But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me."

On that note: Mary, who is only a few months pregnant, stood her ground. If she had said Joseph was the father of the child, there would have been the usual grumblings about sexual improprieties, but they would have subsided. Instead, Mary stood her ground, saying that the baby was God's. That was impossible in their minds, and she was deemed a prostitute; a marked woman, and Jesus had the potential of being a marked man. The term that would have been applied to Jesus was Mumzer (for as far as they knew, he was a bastard child). He would not have been allowed in the synagogues or the temple, nor to be trained by any of the respected teachers from Bethlehem or Nazareth. He would never have been called a Rabbi by members of that community.

This is speculation only because Scripture does not speak specifically to it, but it is based upon known customs of the day, so I am probably not that far off. If those in the synagogues that day had any knowledge of Jesus as a youth, this would have been one of the weapons they used against him.

"You Jesus of Nazareth".

As I said, this would have been the tie-in with the questionable heritage.

You think that is not true?

Jesus, in his 30's, challenges the Pharisees by saying you are of your father the devil.

John 8:44 NKJV: “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

They responded with "we know who our father is". This was a rude and direct shot implying that Jesus was a bastard child. No doubt many grumbled in agreement.

"Are you come to destroy us?"
The word the demon(s) used was apollumi, which meant to destroy fully; even the demons understand that there will be an end to all things, and their reign of terror will be over.

The Jewish mind would not have declared this, for they knew they were the chosen people. Even though God had punished them throughout the years, God had always promised to leave them a remnant; this man used the term for utter destruction.

This comment brought all eyes back on the speaker, for how could he think that this one man could bring a stronghold of religion down; besides that, Jesus had been around them long enough for them to know that he was not running around with swords trying to bring anarchy.

The unspiritual ear would not have perceived the demonic nature of the comment. Jesus knew exactly what he was dealing with, not a religious man with a big mouth, but multiple demons.

Those demons had reacted immediately to his presence. The Jewish mind is very much in tune with the concept of Angels, but that does not mean that they are perceptive of demonic activity; they merely acknowledge their existence.

"I know you who you are, the Holy One of God."
This was the comment that Jesus had to do something about.
None of those men would have made that statement. This statement” You are the Holy One of God,” was the truth, and truth was something that they would not have admitted.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus, he said, "we know that you are come from God", but yet we know of only two Pharisees who chose to believe in Him. These men in the Synagogue did not believe, but we know that the demons did, and that was who was addressing Jesus now.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, declared:

"You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that, and shudder." (James 2:19).

Jesus was keenly aware of the timing that would put Him on the cross.
Daniel had prophesied a precise day, and no demon was going to force his hand. (All of this is spelled out in Daniel 9.)

Much to the surprise of the religious people in that room, Jesus cast the demons out of the man. (They rarely go quietly) Surprisingly, those who witnessed this event changed in the way they thought of Jesus; if anything, their level of fear probably rose, and some clearly felt that Jesus operated out of the devil's power, because they later accused him of operating in Satan's power.

Now let's bring it home.

Suppose this is us, as it could well be. We could be playing either of these roles, the religious community or the demon-possessed man.

How often do we sit in bible study or a church service, surrounded by what we assume are people of a like mind?

No doubt there are those among us who appear to be like us, and yet you do not know their hearts.

We all sin daily; Paul was brave enough to say that he was the chiefest of sinners.

Did that make him demon-possessed?

Not hardly; it made him aware of his need for a savior, and that on a daily basis.
So how far do we have to step away from God to be considered a person who was once enlightened? A few feet, or miles; perhaps it does not matter; perhaps the only person that has put any distance between God and you is you.

"and have tasted of the heavenly gift,"
Merely having Jesus as part of your life could well be what the writer is talking about. No scripture is of private interpretation, but some things are relatively obvious.
How many different things could the heavenly gift encompass? How many of those aspects lead you to the throne of grace? There, you will find your answer.


The short answer to what the gift is is eternal life, but in truth you sort of have that already.
Read your scriptures, and you will find that your soul will never die. You will find that death in reality means separation from the one who loves you with an everlasting love. When you experience a moment of what that love feels like, then you have tasted. How does one taste fine cuisine and choose to go back to eating a meal out of a box? That is what we do when we turn our backs on the heavenly gift.


A gift is free, often handed to you for you to unwrap. A good deal of the time, the person giving you the gift is just as excited about your reaction as you might be to see what it is. Why would you choose to put that precious gift in the closet awaiting the right moment in time to open it? One of the things about this gift is that we know what some aspects of that gift are. Why do we know that? People have gone on before us and explored it. They have spent time experiencing the gift and have related to us how that gift impacts their life. What we do not know is how magnificent any of the rest of it will be. If you have tasted the gift, that certainly does not mean you have sat down and eaten the meal. Scripture tells us that no eye has seen what God has in store for us. Beyond the wildest imagination, and anything Star Trek could ever dream up.


"who have shared in the Holy Spirit," (NIV)
Merely to taste only whets your appetite for more. These have been under the fountain, but they are not there now. Why not? We all have our excuses. The primary one would have to be our own desire to serve ourselves.


"who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age,"
I was involved in an outpouring of the Spirit that lasted about two years, almost 16 years ago. People came from everywhere, stood under the fountain of God, and tasted the goodness of the word of God, and experienced the powers of the kingdom. Where are they now? I could not get enough; my heart has always longed for more. I long for his face, his voice, and his touch upon my body.
Many of those who came were merely spectators, just like people who chase ambulances. They come to see the drama and how God affects people, but to be involved is not part of their intent. Watching others get blessed can make you feel good or make you jealous. The only way to have a lasting impact is to allow God to have his way and let him flow through you.

"if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace."
You come to the Lord, and for a moment life is good, but you got married, and their heart was not where yours was. Perhaps you got that great job, or you found yourself stuck in a lousy one, and you either turned your back on God because money became a good substitute for God, or you became disgruntled at God and life because of the sorry situation life put you in.

Jesus is not going back on the cross for you. He already did all that he needed to do, and for him to have to be re-crucified for you would mean that his actions upon that cross were not enough. It was enough. That is exactly what the letter to the Hebrews is all about. The writer is declaring that Jesus is superior in every way, and because of what he did (you are going to have to find that out), you can have a confidence that will not allow you to be shaken.
That pretty much puts the ball back in your court. Sure, we have to live in a place where we keep ourselves in constant communication with Him by turning to him and repenting of the sins we commit against him, but nothing you have done has ever changed His heart toward you.

So, can you be brought back to a place of repentance, the type necessary for the first-timer? No. The concept that you can do that comes from your lack of understanding about God's love toward you, and what you did to receive him.
God sent his Son to die for a world filled with people who could do nothing to deserve his love, and yet he, out of love, gave himself regardless of your condition.
His death upon the cross secured your forgiveness and made you able to become his son through adoption. Did you choose to become his by accepting the fact that he did all this for you? Then you are his, and always will be.

"to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame."
You might soil the family name with your antics, but you will never put God to shame.
You might make a fool out of yourself, but you will never make a fool out of
God. 

So this statement is purely conjecture. There is no way to validate such a claim. Moses used a line like this about God when God was about to destroy Israel for their rebellion and lack of faith. What Moses's statement seemed to accomplish was God withholding his judgment against many. God will not allow anyone to put him to shame. Satan tried that trick; read the end of the book and you will see what becomes of him and those who choose to follow him.
The objective is to live in a state of forgiveness, covered by his precious blood. If you find yourself away from him, merely run to him.

An example for us is the story that we call the Prodigal Son. 

When he returned to his senses and chose to come back home, where he had determined that he would take the job as a servant, the Father saw him coming from a long way off and ran to his son who had returned. There was no room for repentance; the fact that he had returned demonstrated the humbleness of the young man's heart. 

Come back to the Father's arms.