GUARANTEE
For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened--those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come--and then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting Him, holding Him up to public shame(Heb.6:4-6)
This passage of scripture has always caused me to stop and take notice. It causes me to bring to remembrance other scriptures about repentance and forgiveness. To say the least, I am always wanting enlightenment on this subject. There are so many questions that come to my mind.
I wonder if it means that once someone has come into to the kingdom and then gone their own way, if we are supposed to just forget about them? But scripture talks about retrieving people from the fire. Or I wonder if it means that once people have done this that they can no longer be forgiven. But God says that if we confess our sins He is faith to forgive them and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That is God’s guarantee, a promise that He cannot break.
The first conclusion that I have come to on this subject is that we just should not turn back from God. The next conclusion is that no matter what, God will do His part. These I realize, are kind of no-brainers, as they say, but still they figure into the next part. I believe the place where the guarantee runs out is with us. What do I mean by this?
Well, we know that God is faithful and that He will always do His part. We also know that this is not the case with us. You see, we have no guarantee that we will come back. Each time that we step out of Christ, quench the spirit, rebel against God, or what ever you prefer to call it, and then do not repent, we harden our hearts just a bit. We can become so good at rationalizing that we cease to see things as sin. If we do not see them as sin, then we see no need for repentance.
If we spend long enough in that state and then realize where we are, we may not have the faith to believe that God would forgive us again. If that is the case, we may go the way of Judas and just forget the relationship all together. So you see, the problem lies with us. No one else can turn us again if we turn away. The only one that can overcome our resistance to the spirit is us. Truly we must guard ourselves so that we do not end up in this sort of predicament.
If we read on through this chapter, we see that we are meant for better things. It is the Lords desire that we get a vision for the better things, so that we will not even consider those things which the devil sends to steal, kill, and destroy us. Remember, God will always forgive, but we have no guarantee that we will always repent.