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,
if 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. For
the earth which drinketh in the rain
that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom
it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and
briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned (Heb.
6:4-8).
COMMON GRACE
ARGUMENT:
In the sphere of
the visible church, the understanding of some reprobate, who are said to be
“living under the administration of the gospel,” can be said to be
“enlightened” by the Spirit, so that they have a clear, natural understanding
of spiritual things (Heb. 6:4) and a sense or “taste” of the beauty of the
Scriptures, the glory of heaven and the power of God (vv. 4-5).
This passage is used
by proponents of common grace to suggest that the gifts which God especially
pours upon His church and for her benefit (i.e. the ministry of the gospel, the
sacraments, the Scriptures, and the communion of the saints, etc.) are said to
be “blessings” and “special privileges” bestowed upon all who are outwardly
members of the church institute, head for head, including the members who are
non-elect. These things are therefore thought to be proofs of a “common grace.”
To come to any
intellectual understanding of the truth is said to be “grace” in that such is a
fruit of the Spirit’s work, and is totally undeserved by the reprobate (the
popular idea being that ‘grace,’ per se,
is “getting what you don’t deserve”).
(I)
Rev. Angus Stewart
The erroneous notion of common grace is variously
understood. For most who hold this view, it means that Jehovah loves the
reprobate (those whom He has eternally ordained to destruction in the way of
their sins) and that by His love He makes them something less than totally
depraved, thus enabling them to do things ethically good in God’s sight in this
world.
Aside from the polemical aspect of the issue, it is
worthwhile to underscore that the Holy Spirit certainly does work upon
unbelievers, not just externally but also internally. This necessarily flows
from the universal scope of God’s providence and the truth of the Holy Trinity,
that the Father works all things through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.
We can distinguish three ways in which the Spirit
works upon and in all men, including the reprobate. First, the Spirit (being
equal with the Father and the Son) gives all men (including reprobate
unbelievers) physical life and strength, for it is only in
God—the Triune God—that we, both elect and non-elect, “live, and move, and have
our being” (Acts 17:28). Second, God by His Spirit gives the reprobate intellectual understanding
of natural things, for the good gift of knowledge in all spheres (reading,
writing, cooking, farming, construction, medicine, etc.) comes from the God of
all wisdom through His Son, the Word or Logos, and by the all-knowing Spirit.
Third, the Spirit even gives the reprobate a natural understanding
of spiritual things (though not a spiritual understanding of
spiritual things). Those not elected who are brought up in covenant homes or
attend church services or read Christian literature may have some intellectual
understanding of biblical truths. This cannot be apart from the Holy Spirit,
for all knowledge comes by Him.
In the sphere of the visible church, the
understanding of some reprobate can even be said to be “enlightened” by the
Spirit, so that they have a clear natural understanding of
spiritual things (Heb. 6:4) and a sense or “taste” of the beauty of the
Scriptures, the glory of heaven and the power of God (vv. 4-5). The ungodly
prophet Balaam (II Pet. 2:15-16) certainly experienced this, as one can see
from his four prophecies concerning Israel (Num. 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:3-9, 15-24)
and especially certain parts of them (e.g., 23:10, 23; 24:5, 9, 17, 23), for he
“knew the knowledge of the most High” (24:16) and spoke by “the spirit of God”
(v. 2). Through the preaching, the Spirit even gives some non-elect “joy” in
their natural understanding of spiritual things, before they fall away from
their (hypocritical) profession of faith (Matt. 13:20-21). After all, it is
only through the Spirit that unbelievers experience (an earthly) joy in the
pleasant things of God’s creation like a beautiful sunset or a good meal or
finally grasping a difficult concept. Even so, it is the Spirit who gives some
reprobate a natural understanding of spiritual things and a (temporary) natural
joy in spiritual things. Moreover, reprobate unbelievers, such as Judas
Iscariot, were given power to exorcise demons (7:22; 10:1, 4) of the Father,
through the Son and by the Holy Spirit (10:1; 12:28).
In connection with the three proof texts often
listed with Westminster Confession 10:4, we note, first, that
those who merely receive the “common operations of the Spirit,” such as, a
natural illumination in, and a natural taste of, spiritual things in Hebrews
6:4-5 are subject to God’s “cursing” (v. 8), which is His powerful, damning
wrath (Matt. 25:41). Second, sandwiched between the parable of the sower
(13:3-9) and its explanation (vv. 18-23), including its word about those who
experience natural joy over the mysteries of the kingdom for a time (vv.
20-21), is Christ’s affirmation of God’s election and reprobation as
determining man’s response to the gospel (vv. 14-15; cf. Isa. 6:9-10; John
12:39-40). Third, to those not elected to salvation who have uttered
prophecies, exorcised demons and performed miracles (Matt. 7:22), the Lord
states that He will say, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity” (v. 23). Since Christ, the incarnate Son of God, knows all men head
for head intellectually, and must know everybody in order to proclaim this
judgment upon many at the last day, “I never knew you” refers to His knowledge
of love: “I never loved you, not now, not before the foundation of the world,
not during your life on earth, never!” Thus all these good gifts to the reprobate
come to them not in God’s love and grace (Ps. 73; Prov. 3:33; Rom. 9:13;
11:7-10) but by His sovereign, all-controlling providence, which is of the
Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit.
These “operations of the Spirit” are “common” to the
elect and the reprobate in that some elect and some reprobate have performed
miracles (Matt. 7:22) and all elect and some reprobate have been enlightened
and given joy in, and a taste of, the mysteries of the gospel by the Spirit
(13:20; Heb. 6:4-5). There are especially three differences, however, with
regard to the “operations of the Spirit” in the elect and the non-elect. First,
the Spirit gives to some reprobate a natural understanding,
joy and taste of or in spiritual things, whereas the elect receive a spiritual understanding,
joy and taste of or in spiritual things (John 17:13; I Cor. 2:14). Second, the
“operations of the Spirit” come to the two groups of people with a different
divine motivation and in a different way: the elect receive them in God’s grace
but the reprobate receive them in providence and not grace.
------------------------------------------------
(II)
Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965)
Herman Hoeksema (1886-1965)
(a)
[Source:
A Power of God Unto Salvation, Or, Grace
Not An Offer]
It is true that those who abide under the gospel
and are not saved do, according to Hebrews 6:4ff. taste gifts of the Spirit,
enlightenment, heavenly gifts, etc. But it is also true that this same passage
teaches that all this does not serve as a blessing to them, but as a curse.
They reject that which they taste and their situation becomes hopeless, so that
they can never more come to conversion.
(b)
We
would almost think they were people who had actually received the grace of God
in their hearts, for here it is not a matter of food and raiment, of rain and
sunshine, but of the blessings of grace on the church. They have been
enlightened, they have tasted of the heavenly gift, they have become partakers
of the Holy Spirit, and they have tasted the good word of God and the powers of
the age to come. Yet they received no grace, for they are described as those
who have fallen away. They have fallen so deeply that it is impossible to renew
them again to repentance.
They
are therefore people who live very near the central current of God’s grace.
They live in the church. They are under the influence of the good word of God.
They understand it; they even see its beauty. They live in the sphere where the
Spirit of grace operates, and they partake of the sacraments. They even taste
some of these things. They are sometimes enraptured by the view of the age to
come. They are very near the central stream of God’s grace. Yet the result for
them is hardening. They become worse than heathen. They cannot come to
repentance. They evidently commit the sin against the Holy Spirit, doing
despite to him, trampling underfoot the blood of the New Testament, and
crucifying Christ afresh.
The
author of the epistle explains this phenomenon by the illustration of a field:
“For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth
forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
but that which beareth thorns and briars is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing;
whose end is to be burned” (vv. 7–8). Notice the significance of this
illustration. There is a field, and rain descends often on that field. There is
no question as to the quality of the rain; it is good. If under the influence
of rain the field brings forth good herbs, it receives blessing from God in
that rain. But if it bears thorns and thistles, the field is unable to stand
the test and is disapproved and rejected. It received the rain, but it brought
forth only thorns and thistles.
Through
the rain that came often upon it, the evil nature of the field was brought to
light and developed. Therefore, the rain is nigh unto a curse. Thus the author
explains that there are some upon whom the rain of God’s grace falls often, who
live under the continued influence of that rain, and who yet receive no
blessing.5 The accursed nature of their wickedness is brought out
and developed, and they fall so deeply that they cannot be brought to
repentance.
---------------
FOOTNOTE:
5. As the preceding
context makes abundantly clear, Hoeksema is not affirming that the grace of God
is actually bestowed on the reprobate ungodly. Rather, in keeping with the
figure in Hebrews 6 of rain falling on a field, Hoeksema acknowledges the close
contact that some reprobate unbelievers in the church institute have with the
grace of God. They live in the sphere of grace—under the preaching of the
gospel, using the sacraments, reading the Bible, and formally participating in
the fellowship of the saints. But by their own unbelief and according to God’s
predestination, gospel, sacraments, the Bible, and Christian fellowship are not
grace and blessing to them personally.—Ed.
------------------------------------------------
(III)
Philip Rainey
Philip Rainey
[Source: Calvinism Cast Out: The Reformed Presbyterian Church of
Ireland and the Free Offer of the Gospel]
These
verses teach a work of the Holy Spirit in some non-elect that “enlightens” them
and grants them a “taste” of heavenly things. It is clear that these verses
refer to the reprobate within the sphere of the visible church; it is there
that the gospel is preached and by it the things of heaven are brought near to
them, for they “have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world
to come” (v. 5). Such people receive a natural understanding of spiritual
things and a corresponding natural sense or taste of such things. However,
those who receive the “common operations of the Spirit” as described in these
verses are subject not to the common grace of God but to his curse. This is
clear from verse 8, where it is said of such persons that they are “nigh unto
cursing.”
------------------------------------------------
(IV)
Prof. Herman C. Hanko
Prof. Herman C. Hanko
[Source:
Another Look at Common Grace (2019
edition), pp. 96-97]
It
is more puzzling that Murray should refer to Hebrews 6:4-5 in support of his
views on common grace. He apparently means, by appealing to this text, that the
enlightenment of the wicked, the heavenly gift given to them especially in the
Holy Spirit, and the powers of the world to come which they taste, are all blessings.
But
this will never do.
In
the first place, the apostle is speaking, here, of people who are born and
raised in the church—for their sin is crucifying the Son of God afresh and
putting Him to open shame (v. 6). The good gifts which they receive are,
therefore, the outward good things of
the preaching of the gospel. These wicked even have a certain understanding of
the blessedness of the preaching and can appreciate the blessings of the world
to come. Nevertheless, they never receive these gifts in their hearts.
That
this is the meaning is evident from the fact that these gifts are compared to
the rain which falls upon the earth (v. 7). But that rain brings forth thorns
and briers.
If
an inward gift of these blessings were referred to in the text, then one can
only conclude that the text speaks of a falling away of saints. After all, if
these people who commit the unpardonable sin actually receive these blessings
inwardly, then they are actually saved. But we know that Scripture teaches
exactly the opposite: the preservation of the saints.
------------------------------------------------
(V)
More to come! (DV)
More to come! (DV)
ARMINIAN
ARGUMENT:
This passage is
used by Arminians to teach a falling away of saints, since it speaks of those
who were enlightened, tasted of the heavenly gift, were made partakers of the
Holy Spirit, tasted the good Word of God and the powers of the world to come,
and who yet fell away and cannot be renewed to repentance.
(I)
Ronald Hanko & Ronald Cammenga
We must remember that the Holy Spirit gives other
gifts and does other works than salvation, and that it is not impossible for an
unbelieving person to see, at least intellectually and emotionally, the
blessedness of salvation to the extent that he feigns faith and obedience
(Matt. 13:19-21; Acts 8:9-23; Acts 26:28). Also, it may not be forgotten that
this passage, rather than teaching that it is possible to be saved over and
over again, teaches instead the impossibility of renewing to repentance the
people described. Finally, if this passage does indeed teach a falling away of
saints, it contradicts the context, for in verses 9-19 the chapter teaches the
perseverance of saints, founding the hope of perseverance on the immutability
of God’s own counsel and oath.
We must conclude, therefore, that the text speaks
of those who come under the gospel and its call, are taught the Scriptures,
hear the promises, and perhaps even respond emotionally to the gospel, but who
are nevertheless spiritually dead and never bear true fruit. They are like the
barren earth of which Hebrews 6:8 speaks. Rather than teaching a falling away of
saints, the passage, then, speaks of the terrible judgment that shall come on
all those who hear the gospel and turn from it, and of their greater damnation.
It stands as a warning to all hearers of the Word.
------------------------------------------------
(II)
Prof. Herman C. Hanko
Prof. Herman C. Hanko
The Hebrew Christians, under some
persecution—though not unto blood (12:4)—were in danger of returning to
Judaistic beliefs in salvation by the works of the law rather than in the blood
of Jesus Christ. The epistle is a warning of the serious consequences of doing
that.
Both [Hebrews 6:4-6 and 10:26-29] speak of being a
member of a church and of what is implied in such membership. Chapter 6 speaks of them as enlightened,
tasting of the heavenly gift, partakers of the Holy Ghost, tasting the good
word of God and the powers of the world to come; Chapter 10 speaks of treading
under foot the Son of God, counting the blood of the covenant an unholy thing,
and doing despite to the Spirit. But,
quite clearly, both refer to the same thing.
And both texts speak of the terrible punishment
upon those who do this in terms of the impossibility of their ever being saved:
Chapter 6 speaks of the impossibility of their being renewed unto repentance;
Chapter 10 speaks of the fact that there is for them no more sacrifice for
sins. Thus both texts deal with what is sometimes called the unpardonable sin.
Both texts have been appealed to in support of the Arminian
doctrine of the falling away of saints. Do they actually teach that?
This conclusion is drawn from the strong and sharp
statements which the text uses to describe the condition of those who were once
in the church, but who wilfully reject what once they professed to believe. It
would seem that they were once saved people of God, but have, through their
great sin, fallen forever from grace.
Hebrews 10 speaks of them as sanctified by the
blood of the covenant. Hebrews 6 speaks of them as being enlightened and having
tasted heavenly things.
Our readers will recall that in our last article we
spoke of the false teachers, mentioned in II Peter 2:1, as those who at one
time, while they were members of the church, confessed that they were
bought with the blood of Christ.
The same idea is here in Hebrews 10. They were not
in fact sanctified by the blood of the covenant, but the text looks at it from the
viewpoint of their confession which now they deny. They confessed the truth
that the blood of Christ alone can sanctify; they confessed that they were, as
a part of the church, sanctified by that blood. Now they deny both. That sin of
denial is dreadful. They do not deny out of a measure of ignorance; they deny
out of hatred of Christ as His precious blood spilled on Calvary. They trod on
the Son of God and speak of His blood as an unholy thing.
Hebrews 6 looks at these same people, not from the
viewpoint of their confession so much, as from the viewpoint of their own life
in the church. They were so completely a part of the church and so committed to
it in their outward confession that certain benefits of God’s people were their
possession. This happens repeatedly in the church.
It is all outward, of course. But it is very real,
for all that. They are enlightened in that they understand clearly the truth.
There is no doubt about it at all that they know as well as anyone that
salvation comes only through the blood of Christ crucified.
They tasted the heavenly gift, were made partakers
of the Holy Ghost, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world
to come. That is, they could see and understand how good the Word of God
is and what blessed truths it brings to us. They could know all about the salvation
which the Holy Spirit works and they even became partakers of the Holy Spirit
in the sense that they had an idea of the blessedness of salvation. They even
knew all about the joys of heaven and the spectacular blessedness which comes
to those who are forever with Christ.
They are like those of whom Jesus speaks in the
parable of the four kinds of soil in Matthew 13. They even receive the Word
with joy and are very excited about it. But they turn their backs on it all,
not only, they even deny it. They deny Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross.
And they deny that salvation comes through the blood of atonement.
This is a terrible sin and for it there is no
pardon. These crucify the Son of God afresh and put Him to open shame. But they
never were saved. It was a matter of outward profession. “Let him that
thinketh he standeth beware lest he fall.”
------------------------------------------------
(III)
More to come! (DV)
More to come! (DV)
The footnote is an interesting clarification. :-)
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