Does this mean If you fall away from God it's impossible to come back?

Question

Hebrews 6:4-8
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,
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
f they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame

Answer 1

NO!

Answer 2

This is a confusing verse (like many are). God knows we will sin. He knows we will stray from Him more than once in our lifetime. There are temptations around us all the time. He will forgive us if we are truly, truly, truly sorry and ask for His forgiveness. Not only His forgiveness but we should ask for His help and guidance and support to keep us on the right track. Without His forgiveness, our souls are stained and cannot enter Heaven. Only perfection can enter Heaven (that's in the bible also). Sins are our wrongdoings that we consciously know are wrong, against God's laws, yet we still choose to do them. Continue reading Hebrews 6. It's sometimes hard to figure out one or two verses. We need to read the entire chapterand the entire book. When we ask for forgiveness God knows in our hearts how we feel about what we did. Then He determines whether we are sorry or are just saying the words. Like a child quickly saying "sorry" so he can go back outside to play. Is he really sorry? Did he really think about his actions and how they effected people? Or does he just want to get away from his parents because they yelled at him? Personal thought- there are a lot of questions about forgiveness tonight (this morning). I wonder if people actually know what sin is. And how their actions and words affect the people around them.

Answer 3

This scripture speaks of the apostles. They were given a miraculous gift. Not only did they bear witness to the Christ but they were partakers in his deeds. They were given the miraculous powers to heal the sick, raise the dead, survive snake bites, and so on. These who had first hand knowledge and were given spiritual inspiration in all things could not fall back and be saved, for they would have crucified the Christ once more, causing many to fall away by their blaspheme. Today it is always possible to receive salvation except for a select few which are mentioned in II Thessalonians 2:8-12. God says that man can reach a point where He allows them to believe a lie.

Answer 4

Two possible answers. Once enlightened, tasted heavenly gifts, made partakers, tasted the good Word of God, and the powers to come. Not many reach that level. So, yes the normal Christian can come back. If Peter or Paul fell away, they probably could not come back.
Plus Jesus is always reaching out, offering salvation to those who repent. Don't assume you are un-save-able. Only God can judge that. Always go to Jesus.

Answer 5

In the Hebrew language, this portion of Scripture reads as a hypothetical. If a person who is saved could fall from salvation, it would be impossible for him to be renewed because Christ would have to die all over again. There is no salvation beyond what Christ has already done.

The audience that this author was addressing was a group of Jewish converts who were being highly persecuted for following Christ. The hardships were making it tempting for these people to leave Christianity behind and return to Judaism to alleviate their suffering. But the author warns that there is salvation in no other place. However, he knows that these people are saved.

Answer 6

One should keep in mind when reading the texts of Paul. Under the Law, Paul would be a 'false prophet'. False prophets are covered in Deut 13:2-5. Basically, anyone that preaches NOT to follow the LAW and advocates an OTHER god---like Paul does with 'jesus' under the Law, they are a 'false prophet'.

One can read the biblical gospels and find that 'jesus' continually repeats to obey and follow the Law.

Mat 5:18-19 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 19:17 “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”

In Matt 7:21-23, basically 'jesus' bars all sinners--which would include the chrisitan sinners from heaven

Answer 7

Some think this verse refers to believers who renounce their Christianity or else to un believers who come close to salvation, then turn away. Either way, those who reject Christ will not e saved. Christ died once for all. He will not be crucified again. Apart from His cross, there is no other possible way of salivations. However, the author does not indicate that his readers are in danger of renouncing Christ. He is warning against hardness of heart that would make repentance inconceivable for the sinner.

Answer 8

Does this mean that some books are apocrypha?

"The books of the Word are all those which have the internal sense; but those books which have not the internal sense, are not the Word. The books of the Word, in the Old Testament, are the five Books of Moses, the Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, the two Books of Samuel, the two Books of Kings, the Psalms of David, the Prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi: and in the New Testament, the four Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; and the Apocalypse. The rest have not the internal sense" (Arcana Coelestia n. 10325 or Heavenly Doctrine n. 266).

Answer 9

This answer is not to be used as an enticement for one to drift into the ocean of illusion and fall away or backslide, as many refer to it!

Gods Ocean of Grace is inestimable.

If man falls away from God where has he fallen?
The world is an ocean of illusion.
This is where man falls, into the ocean of illusion.

This is why Jesus (PBUH) said, "Be in the world, not of it!".
Gods grace never falls from man. Man fails to remember God and falls into a snare called the "desire of the world".

Enlightenment is a lower level of consciousness, than God Consciousness.
Many enlightened beings, have fallen away, and returned to the straight and narrow path.

Once a human reaches God Consciousness and surrenders to God it is not possible to fall away or backslide.
For in this stage of development mans will has been surrendered and Gods Will is in complete command.

If I have said anything in error, I ask Gods forgiveness.......

Answer 10

This scripture is talking about those who after learning the truth turn asgainst it and become worse than they were toward the truth berfore learning it, and it also shows that the Once Saved Always saved theory to be a false belief, yes it is possible to loose salvation

Answer 11

Faith is not logical. It is actually the opposite of logic. It gets itself into trouble when it tries to be logical. Faith comes from the heart, not the head. IMO, we need to balance the two.

Logic works best choosing between no more than two alternatives. It needs things to be true or false, black or white. Third options make it far too complex. An embryo is not dead, therefore, it must be alive. God told me the truth. You disagree with me. You must work for Satan.