Hebrews 6:4-8

There is a scripture I came across yesterday that is still rolling around in my head. I just can't get past the implications.

Hebrews 6:4-8
"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.
"Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned." (emphasis mine)

Read it again. And again. Okay, maybe yet again. Each time I read this, it sets deeper into my soul. Do you understand what it's saying? Those who have accepted Jesus, live a life worthy of Him, have the rewards that come with this faith (like that peace that surpasses all understanding?), and know the word of God - if they fall away (ie turn their backs on Jesus and all they know and have held as truth) they cannot be brought back to repentance. They are crucifying Christ all over again!

I hesitated when I wrote, "they cannot be brought back to repentance," because I want to believe that isn't true. I want to believe that there is always another chance. But that is what scripture says. We've all messed up, sinned - again and again. Some of us have struggled with the same sin over and over again - each time promising God we wouldn't fall into that trap again only to hurl ourselves into it the next day. Sin sucks you in. Does that mean we are doomed, that we have condemned ourselves? No, that is not what this verse from Hebrews is saying. Sinning and messing up is not turning your back on God - it is being the weak humans in need of mercy that we are.

But, turning you back on God, that's another thing entirely. Turning your back on God takes forethought. It's saying, "I know God says I shouldn't ________, but I'm going to anyway." Turning you back on God is premeditated. It does not care about breaking God's heart. It's selfish, self-centered and self-seeking. It's not feeling sorry for what you've done, not caring that this choice will mean eternity without God. That is what hell is after all. Just look at the last verse. Land that drinks in the rain (God's love and obedience to Him) but produces thistles and thorns (unrepentant sin) is worthless. In the end it will be burned.

So how do we go from being repentant Christians to someone who will turn our back on God? I'm not really sure. But I have a guess. I think it comes from living a lie. We sin and then believe the lie that it's really not that bad. So we sin some more, after all, if the last sin wasn't so bad, this one won't be either. We dig a pit and then we crawl downward into it, soaking up lie after lie that it's okay to live for ourselves rather than for God - that it's okay to be happy, even if that means living a life that our Savior would be ashamed of. Eventually, if this goes unchecked we decide that our way is better than God's way and we turn our back on him and condemn ourselves.

I actually have a friend I see doing this right now. She has turned her life upside down even though she knows that the life she now lives is not one that God would bless. But she doesn't care. As her sister in Christ, it is my responsibility to try to help her see the lie she has believed. We can throw around, "judge not lest ye be judged" all we want, but we know that there are some things that are sin - God told us they were. Scripture also says that if you see your brother sinning, you are to take the matter to him. If he does not listen then you are to return with even more witnesses of the sin. If he still does not listen, then we are to wash our hands of him. Seems kind of un-Christian to "give up." But I would rather spend my short time on earth witnessing to a receptive soul, than to try to make a brother or sister see their sin after they had already turned their back on God making it, "impossible for those... if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance."