02. CHAPTER 1.

CHAPTER 1. THE NATURE OF APOSTASY FROM THE GOSPEL DECLARED, IN AN EXPOSITION OF Hebrews 6:4-6.

INTENDING an inquiry into the nature, causes, and occasions of the present defection that is in the world from the truth, holiness, and worship of the gospel, I shall lay the foundation of my whole discourse in an exposition of that passage in the Epistle of Paul the apostle unto the Hebrews, wherein he gives an account both of the nature of apostasy and of the punishment due unto apostates; By examining and clarifying this context, I hope to address the perceived difficulties and shed light on the intended meaning conveyed by the Holy Spirit. The specific passage I will focus on is found in chapter 6, verses 4-6. Here are the words of the passage:

"For 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 and who fall away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace." This passage in our apostle’s discourse has been widely recognized as accompanied with great difficulties, and there have been many differences about its interpretation, both doctrinally and practically. Sundry have stumbled and miscarried here. It is almost generally agreed upon that these words, and the colorable but indeed perverse interpretation and application made of them by some in the primitive times, occasioned by the then present circumstances of things, to be mentioned afterwards, caused the Latin church to be so slow in receiving the epistle itself, that it had not absolutely prevailed therein in the days of Jerome, as we have elsewhere declared. Therefore, it is necessary that we should inquire into the occasion of the great contests which have been in the church, almost in all ages, about the sense of this passage.

It is known that the early church was very careful about the holiness and upright conduct of those who were part of it. If someone was found to have committed a known and visible fault, they were required to publicly repent before they could participate in the sacred ceremonies. For more egregious sins such as murder, adultery, or idolatry, many churches would never allow the guilty party back into the communion. The most significant issue they faced was with those who, in the face of persecution, complied with the Gentiles and their idolatrous worship. There was no set rule to deal with such situations, and each church exercised leniency or severity based on their own interpretation. The Church of Rome was seen as more lenient than others in their treatment of offenders. This was criticized by Novatus and Novatianus, who denied forgiveness to those who had fallen into open sin after baptism, including those who had outwardly complied with idolatrous worship during persecution. Novatianus went so far as to exclude these individuals from all expectation of forgiveness from God himself. His followers, however, were more moderate, denying only those individuals re-entry into the church’s communion. They believed that, although God would ultimately forgive those who repented, the church should not allow those who had committed these sins to return to the community. The Novatians believed that this view was supported by the use of baptism, which was not to be repeated, and that no pardon should be granted to those who had committed sins that they had been cleansed of at their baptism. They believed that the words of our apostle confirmed this view. Unfortunately, people often interpret a specific text of scripture according to their own beliefs, without considering the context of the passage or the Bible as a whole. The Church of Rome, although it believed that the Novatians were too severe in their discipline, was unable to answer their objection from this passage. They chose to suspend their assent to the authority of the entire epistle, rather than risk the church being damaged by its admission. Fortunately, some learned men later explained the words in a way that did not support the Novatians’ views. Otherwise, the authority of the epistle would have been jeopardized.

Today, the controversy is long forgotten, and many churches allow repentant sinners to participate in their communion. Some argue that the individuals described by the apostle were true believers who fell from grace and perished eternally. Others believe that this is not possible according to the covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. The debate continues among scholars.

Once again, there have been various errors in the practical application of the meaning of these words to people’s consciences, mostly made by the individuals themselves who are concerned. Because of their sins, they have been overwhelmed with fears and troubles of conscience. In their darkness and distress, they have assumed that they have fallen into the condition described by our apostle, and as a result, they are irrecoverably lost. These apprehensions typically happen to people in two situations. Some individuals, after they have made a profession of the gospel, have committed a serious actual sin against the second table. Their consciences are tormented by their guilt (as long as they are not greatly hardened through the deceitfulness of sin). They believe that they have fallen under the sentence denounced in this Scripture against such sinners and consider themselves to be irrecoverable. Others make the same judgment of themselves because they have strayed from their former strict performance of duties, despite having always followed their convictions.

However, it is certain that the apostle, in this discourse, does not condone the severity of the Novatians, who permanently excluded offenders from the peace and communion of the church. Nor does he support the idea of true believers experiencing final apostasy, which he denounces in this same chapter, in line with numerous other biblical passages to the same effect. Moreover, he does not teach anything that would discourage or dishearten the conscience of any sinner who desires to return to God and find acceptance with Him. Therefore, we must first focus on the explanation of these words so as not to interfere with the boundaries of other truths or transgress against the analogy of faith. When we examine this entire discourse in conjunction with other scriptures and free it from any prejudices that people may have, we will see that it does not give any legitimate reasons for the errors mentioned earlier. Instead, it is a necessary and wholesome warning that all gospel adherents should consider.

Concerning these words, we will discuss 1) how they are connected to the preceding text, indicating the reason for the introduction of this entire discourse; 2) the subject being discussed, or the persons being spoken of, under different qualifications, which we may investigate individually or collectively; 3) what is assumed about them; and 4) what is affirmed of them based on that assumption. The connection of the words is made through the causal conjunction "for." It serves as a reason for what was previously discussed and also emphasizes the limitation which the apostle added to his plan of further instruction, "If God permit." The apostle does not express his judgment that the recipients of his letter were such as he described, as he later declares that he "hoped better things" concerning them. It was necessary to caution them so that they might avoid falling into such a state. He had previously noted their slow progress in knowledge and practice, and here he warns them of the danger of continuing in a state of slothfulness. Failure to progress in the gospel and obedience leads to a complete abandonment of both. The most severe warnings are not only useful but necessary towards those who are seen to be lazy in their profession. The description of the subject of discussion is given through five instances of the evangelical privileges they received, despite which they may completely forsake the gospel. We can observe a few things about this description in general: (1) The apostle, in an attempt to express the terrible state and judgment of these individuals, describes them using things that fully evidence their unavoidable and righteous destruction. These things must be eminent privileges and advantages that they received through the gospel. Their rejection of these in their apostasy proclaims their deserved destruction from God. (2) All these privileges consist of certain special operations of the Holy Spirit that were unique to the dispensation of the gospel, which they could neither participate in nor receive under Judaism. The Spirit was not received in this sense by "the works of the law, but by the hearing of faith," as noted in Galatians 3:2. This was a testimony to them that they were delivered from the bondage of the law, namely, by a participation of that Spirit, which was the great privilege of the gospel. (3) There is no express mention of any covenant grace or mercy towards them, nor of any duty of faith or obedience they had performed. Nothing regarding justification, sanctification, or adoption is expressly assigned to them. Later on, the apostle declares his hope and persuasion concerning these Hebrews that they were not the same as those he had previously described and would not fall away unto perdition. He does so on three grounds that differentiate them from the former group: (1) They had things that accompany salvation, which are inseparable from it. None of these things were assigned to those described in this passage. If they had, they would not have been an argument or evidence of a different end than the others. Thus, nothing here is ascribed to these individuals that peculiarly "accompanies salvation" (verse 9). (2) They are described by their obedience and fruits of faith. Their "work and labor of love" towards the name of God is mentioned in verse 10. This is also what differentiates them from those in the text, who the apostle supposes may perish eternally. These fruits of saving faith and sincere love cannot do so. (3) The faithfulness of God was involved in the preservation of the previously mentioned group. "God is not unrighteous to forget" them because they were individuals who were interested in the covenant of grace. There is an engagement on the faithfulness or righteousness of God to preserve men from apostasy and ruin with respect to this covenant. There is equal respect for all those taken into that covenant. But the individuals in the text do not fall into this category, and thus the apostle does not suggest that the righteousness or faithfulness of God is in any way engaged in their preservation, but rather the opposite. This entire description refers to some special gospel privileges that were shared by professors in those days, and we must inquire The FIRST thing in the description is that they were "once enlightened." The Syriac translation says "once baptized." It is certain that baptism was called "illumination" early in the church, and "enlighten" was used for "baptize." Baptism was only to be celebrated once, according to the constant faith of the church in all ages. Baptism was called "illumination" because it was one ordinance of the initiation of persons into a participation of all the mysteries of the church. They were thereby translated out of the kingdom of darkness into that of light and grace. Baptism was the beginning and foundation of a participation of all the other spiritual privileges that are mentioned afterwards. Upon the baptizing of persons, the Holy Spirit came upon them and endowed them with extraordinary gifts peculiar to the days of the gospel. This opinion has much probability in it, and I would embrace it if the word itself, as used here, did not require another interpretation. The word "once" is not to be restrained to this particular but refers equally to all the instances that follow, signifying no more than that those mentioned were truly partakers of them. To be "enlightened" in this place means to be instructed in the doctrine of the gospel so as to have a spiritual apprehension thereof, and this is so termed for two reasons: Of the objects, or the things known or apprehended, "life and immortality are brought to light through the gospel." Hence it is called "light," such as "the inheritance of the saints in light." The state which men are brought into is called "light" in opposition to the darkness that is in the world without it. The world without the gospel is the kingdom of Satan, the whole world, and all that belongs to it in distinction from and opposition to the new creation, is under the power of the wicked one, the prince of the power of darkness. This is called "walking in darkness," and "walking in the light" is opposed to it. Of the means or manner of the knowledge communicated, the word fwti,zomai is used to give light or knowledge by teaching, the same as hr"wOh. The meaning of fwtismo,j is knowledge upon instruction. The instruction in the knowledge of the gospel is called "illumination" because the gospel itself is light. The first characteristic of the people being described is that they were "once enlightened," which in the Syriac translation is rendered as "once baptized." In the early church, baptism was often called "illumination," and the times of the administration of the sacrament were known as "the days of light." It was believed that through baptism, individuals were initiated into the mysteries of the church and were translated from darkness into light and grace. Additionally, baptism was often accompanied by the Holy Spirit bestowing gifts upon those who received it. However, in this particular passage, the word "enlightened" refers not to baptism but to spiritual instruction in the gospel, which brings knowledge and understanding. The objects of this knowledge are the doctrines of the gospel, including the person of Christ, God’s reconciliation of the world to himself through Christ, and the work of Christ as mediator. This knowledge illuminates the mind and dispels the darkness of ignorance and confusion. While the degree of understanding may vary, a basic knowledge of these fundamental principles is required for someone to be considered illuminated. This property is the first characteristic of those being described, and it indicates that they have received spiritual instruction in the gospel and have been influenced by the Holy Spirit. The apostle emphasizes that being illuminated is a great privilege and mercy, but he also warns that this privilege can be lost and can lead to condemnation for those who have received it but do not continue to pursue it. Moreover, the neglect of this privilege can lead to a hazardous condition that may incline towards apostasy. The text reveals some important aspects regarding the nature of the illumination and knowledge ascribed to the apostates. In order to help those who may be concerned about their own situation, let us examine this first part of their character more closely, and also how this illumination is lost in apostasy.

It should be noted that there is a knowledge of spiritual things that can be purely natural and disciplinary, which can be attained without any special aid or assistance from the Holy Spirit. This is evident in common experience, especially among those who dedicate themselves to the study of spiritual things, yet remain strangers to all spiritual gifts. Some knowledge of the Scripture and its contents is attainable by the same amount of effort and study as any other art or science. The illumination referred to here, being a gift of the Holy Spirit, differs from and is superior to this purely natural knowledge. It allows for closer access to the light of spiritual things in their own nature than natural knowledge does. Even with the utmost development of purely natural scientific notions, the things of the gospel in their own nature are not only unsuitable for the wills and affections of persons endowed with them but are also considered foolishness to their minds. However, this spiritual illumination gives the mind some satisfaction, with delight and joy in the things that are known. Although it is not fully comprehended, it represents the way of the gospel as a "way of righteousness," as reflected in 2 Peter 2:21, which gives it a unique significance in the mind.

Additionally, the knowledge that is merely natural has little or no power over the soul, either to keep it from sin or to constrain it to obedience. There is no generation of sinners in the world more secure and profligate than those who are solely guided by natural knowledge. However, the illumination referred to here is accompanied by efficacy in such a way that it effectively presses the conscience and the whole soul to abstain from sin and perform all known duties. Therefore, individuals under the power of this illumination and its convictions often walk blamelessly and uprightly in the world, so as not to contribute to the contempt of Christianity, unlike those guided solely by natural knowledge. Furthermore, there is such an alliance between spiritual gifts that wherever one of them resides, it has others accompanying it, or one way or another, belongs to its train. As is evident in this place, even a single talent is made up of many pounds. However, the light and knowledge that come through mere natural acquisition are solitary and lack the company and support of any spiritual gift.

Finally, it should be noted that this spiritual illumination does not lead to a saving, sanctifying light and knowledge. Although it momentarily affects the mind with glimpses of the beauty, glory, and excellence of spiritual things, it does not provide that direct, steady, intuitive insight into them, which is obtained by grace. This illumination does not renew, change, or transform the soul into a conformity with the things known by planting them in the will and affections, as a gracious, saving light does, as described in 2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:6, Romans 6:17; Romans 12:2.

I believe it’s necessary to clarify the nature of the first part of the character of apostates. The second characteristic mentioned in their description is that they have "tasted of the heavenly gift," which is emphasized by the doubling of the article. We need to understand what is meant by the "heavenly gift" and what it means to "taste" it. The term "dwrea," (δωρεά) meaning "gift" or "donation," carries different nuances depending on its context. Sometimes, it refers to the act of giving itself, while other times it denotes the thing that is given. For instance, in 2 Corinthians 9:15, "Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift," it refers to God’s bestowal of a generous and benevolent spirit upon the Corinthians in their ministry to the needy believers. This generous spirit is referred to as "God’s gift." The gift of Christ is also mentioned in Ephesians 4:7, where it states, "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it." This means that Christ grants and distributes the fruits of the Spirit according to His own pleasure. Similar examples can be found in Romans 5:15-17 and Ephesians 3:7. At times, "dwrea" can also refer to the thing given, which is properly expressed as "dwron" or "dworhma," as seen in James 1:17. In John 4:10, it is used to signify "The gift of God," referring to the thing bestowed by God or to be bestowed by Him. Some people interpret this passage as referring to the person of Christ Himself, but the context clarifies that it is the Holy Spirit who is symbolized as the "living water" that Jesus promises to bestow. From what I can gather, "dwrea" only signifies the Holy Spirit when referring to the thing given, and it is never used with any other meaning in relation to God. The Holy Spirit is particularly recognized as the gift of God in the context of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit is called "heavenly" or "from heaven," which may refer to His work and effect, which is heavenly as opposed to carnal and earthly. However, it mainly relates to His mission by Christ after His ascension into heaven, as in Acts 2:33, where He is exalted and receives the promise of the Father and is then sent by Christ from heaven. The promise of the Holy Spirit was that He would be sent from heaven, which is also the same as "heavenly," as in Deuteronomy 4:39, 2 Chronicles 6:23, Job 31:28, Isaiah 32:15, and Isaiah 24:18. When the Holy Spirit came upon the Lord Christ to anoint Him for His work, "the heavens were opened," and He came from above, as in Matthew 3:16. Similarly, in Acts 2:2, at His first coming on the apostles, there was "a sound from heaven." Therefore, in 1 Peter 1:12, the Holy Spirit is said to be "sent from heaven," which is also referred to as "the gift of God." Hence, although there are other reasons why the Holy Spirit can be considered "heavenly," we can see that His being sent from heaven by Christ after His ascension and exaltation there is the main reason for His being referred to as the "heavenly gift" in this passage, although it’s not an absolute exclusion but with respect to a particular work.

Regarding the objection raised about the mention of the Holy Spirit in the next clause, it is important to consider the following points:

It is not uncommon in Scripture to express the same idea using different words to emphasize its significance or to provide various aspects of the same truth. This is done to reinforce the meaning and ensure clarity when dealing with complex concepts. The subsequent clause may serve as an explanation or elaboration on the preceding statement. This is a common practice in biblical writing, where a general statement is followed by specific details to enhance understanding. Therefore, the mention of the Holy Spirit in the next clause does not necessarily invalidate the interpretation that includes the Holy Spirit as the gift referred to earlier. In this context, the Holy Spirit is mentioned not in terms of his person, but in relation to a specific work or function. The focus is on the role of the Holy Spirit in transforming the worship practices of the Church. The Holy Spirit is presented as the promised heavenly gift of the new covenant era, through whom God establishes a new way of worship based on the revelation of Christ. The Holy Spirit is entrusted with reforming and renewing all aspects of worship in the Church. This aligns with the broader theme of the passage, which emphasizes the superiority and effectiveness of the new covenant over the old. When Jesus ascended into heaven, he left the existing religious practices intact until the Holy Spirit was sent to enable the disciples to make the necessary changes. The Holy Spirit, as the great gift of God promised under the new covenant, brought about a transformation in worship, abolishing the external and ceremonial elements of the Mosaic law and establishing the new, spiritual worship of the gospel. This understanding aligns with the overall message of Hebrews and the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the context of the new covenant era.

Therefore, the Spirit of God, given for the introduction of the new gospel era in truth and worship, is the "heavenly gift" referred to in this passage. The author of Hebrews warns his readers not to turn away from Jesus Christ speaking in the gospel era through the "Holy Spirit sent down from heaven" (Hebrews 12:25). This includes an antithesis between the law and the gospel, with the former given on earth and the latter given immediately from heaven. While God used angels to give the law on earth, the gospel church-state was given by the Spirit who, although he works in men on earth and is sent from heaven in every act or work, is still in heaven and always speaks from there, as Jesus himself said of his divine nature (John 3:13).

We can explore what it means to "taste" of this heavenly gift. The expression "tasting" is metaphorical and means no more than making a trial or experiment. We taste things naturally and properly by using our senses to discern our food, and then we either accept or refuse it based on our experience. It does not include eating, much less digestion and turning into nourishment, because its nature is only discerned by tasting, and it may be refused even if we like its taste, for other reasons. Some have argued that "to taste is as much as to eat," as in 2 Samuel 3:35, "I will not taste bread, or anything else." But the meaning is "I will not even taste it," so he would not be able to eat it. And when Jonathan says he only tasted a little honey in 1 Samuel 14:29, it was an excuse and a way to diminish what he had done. However, it is undoubtedly used for some kind of experience of the nature of things, as in Proverbs 31:18, "She tastes that her merchandise is good," or has experience of it, from its increase. Psalms 34:8 says, "O taste and see that the LORD is good," which Peter refers to in 1 Peter 2:3, "If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious," or found it so by experience. Therefore, to taste means to make an experiment or trial of something, whether to receive or refuse it, and is sometimes opposed to eating and digestion, as in Matthew 27:34. The individuals mentioned in the passage had indeed experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, which is referred to as the gift of God in the context of the gospel dispensation. They had tasted and experienced the excellence of the spiritual worship and revelation of truth that came through the Holy Spirit. This experience was a privilege and a spiritual advantage that not everyone had. It was a recognition that the gospel surpassed their previous religious practices and traditions. The term "tasting" used here implies a limited or partial experience compared to the fullness of spiritual nourishment and understanding that true believers receive. Nonetheless, it signifies an apprehension and personal encounter with the excellence of the gospel as it is administered through the work of the Holy Spirit. This privilege should not be disregarded or despised, as doing so would be a grave offense and lead to irreparable ruin for apostates.

It is important to note that this characterization of the apostates in the passage does not directly relate to faith or the claim that Christ is the gift of God. Instead, it specifically focuses on the apostates’ prior experience of the power and efficacy of the Holy Spirit in the context of gospel administrations and worship. To further clarify the apostle’s intention in this warning, we can make the following observations:

I. The gifts bestowed by God under the gospel are distinctively heavenly, contrasting with earthly and carnal things. Those who despise these gifts should be cautious and take heed.

II. The Holy Spirit is the prominent gift of God under the new covenant, facilitating the understanding of the gospel’s mysteries and the establishment of spiritual worship practices.

III. There is a goodness and excellence in this heavenly gift that can be tasted or experienced to some degree, even by those who do not fully receive it in its life-transforming power and efficacy. They may have a superficial encounter with the truth of God’s word without experiencing its life-changing impact, observe the outward order of the church without embracing its inward beauty, or witness the manifestation of spiritual gifts without displaying the accompanying graces.

IV. Rejecting the gospel, its truth, and its worship after having personally tasted and recognized their value and excellence is a grievous sin. It serves as a clear indication of impending destruction and a dire consequence. By understanding these points, we can grasp the seriousness of turning away from the gospel after having experienced its truth and the spiritual blessings it offers. The third characteristic of these individuals is described by the phrase "And were made partakers of the Holy Spirit." This privilege holds a central position among the other enumerated benefits, with two preceding it and two following it. This placement signifies that it is the foundational and animating principle from which all the other benefits derive, as they are dependent on participation in the Holy Spirit. The act of partaking in the Holy Spirit can occur through receiving Him, either in the form of personal inhabitation or spiritual operations. The former is impossible for the world, which stands in opposition to true believers, and therefore the individuals in question were not partakers of Him in this sense. The latter refers to the bestowal of His gifts, and to partake in Him in this manner is to receive a portion of what He distributes through spiritual gifts. Thus, being a partaker of the Holy Spirit involves sharing in and benefiting from His spiritual operations.

However, since the other mentioned benefits are also gifts or operations of the Holy Spirit, why is this particular privilege emphasized in such a significant way?

Firstly, it is not uncommon for the Scriptures to express the same concept using different terms in order to impress upon us a deep consideration and understanding of it. This is especially true when an expression carries a particular emphasis, as is the case here. It serves as a severe indictment of the sins of these apostates that they were "partakers of the Holy Spirit" in these ways.

Additionally, placing the participation of the Holy Spirit in the middle of the various aspects mentioned serves to highlight its foundational nature. It is the underlying basis upon which all the other experiences depend. These individuals were not just partakers of the Holy Spirit in isolation; rather, their participation in Him intertwined with being enlightened, tasting the heavenly gift, sharing in the Holy Spirit, and tasting the good word of God and the powers of the age to come.

Furthermore, this emphasis on being partakers of the Holy Spirit underscores their personal involvement and interest in these matters. It goes beyond a mere objective presentation of these spiritual realities within the church; they themselves had a personal stake in them. They experienced the Holy Spirit’s workings and were actively involved in the manifestation of His gifts.

Lastly, emphasizing their participation in the Holy Spirit reminds them of the privilege they enjoyed under the gospel, which far exceeded what they had known in Judaism. In their previous religious system, they were unfamiliar with the concept of the Holy Spirit, but now, as participants in Him, they had entered a greater realm of spiritual blessings. This further underscores the seriousness of their apostasy. It is important to note that many may experience the powerful workings of the Holy Spirit without receiving His gracious indwelling, and many may partake in His spiritual gifts without experiencing His saving graces.

FOURTHLY, the description includes their tasting of "the good word of God." We need to address the following questions: 1) What is meant by "the word of God"? 2) How is it considered "good"? 3) In what way did they "taste" it?

Rh/ma means "spoken word," and although its usage by the apostle differs in Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 11:3, where it denotes the effective active power of God, its typical meaning elsewhere is "spoken words." When applied to God, it refers to His word as preached and declared. Examples of this can be seen in Romans 10:17 and John 6:68. The "word of God" mentioned here refers to the gospel as preached. It could be argued that they had some experience of the word of God in their Judaistic state. They certainly had the written word, as "the oracles of God were entrusted to them" (Romans 3:2). However, the specific reference here is to the word of God as preached in the gospel dispensation, which is praised elsewhere, such as in Romans 1:16, Acts 20:32, and James 1:21. This word is described as "kalo,n," meaning "good," desirable, and lovely, as implied by the term. The reasons for its goodness will soon be revealed. The word of God as preached in the gospel dispensation can be understood in two ways: 1) In a general sense, encompassing the entire system of truths contained within it, and 2) In a specific sense, regarding the fulfillment of the promise through the sending of Jesus Christ for the redemption of the church. It is this latter sense that is intended here. It is emphatically referred to as "r`h/ma Kuri,ou," or "the word of the Lord," in 1 Peter 1:25. Likewise, the promise of God, specifically, is referred to as His "good word" in Jeremiah 29:10, which states, "After seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill my good promise to you by bringing you back to this place." Jeremiah 33:14 also describes it as "the good thing that I promised." The gospel is the "good news" of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ (Isaiah 52:7).

They are said to have "tasted" this word, as they had done before with the heavenly gift. The apostle seems to deliberately use this expression to show that he isn’t referring to those who, by faith, actually receive, feed on, and live through Jesus Christ as presented in the gospel word (John 6:35; John 6:49-51; John 6:54-56). In essence, he’s saying, "I’m not talking about those who have truly received and digested the spiritual food of their souls, turning it into spiritual nourishment, but those who have tasted it enough to crave it like newborn infants crave milk, so they can grow by it. They had received a taste of its divine truth and power, which had a variety of effects on them." We can further explain these words and the description of the state of these supposed apostates by considering the following observations, which explain the meaning of the words.

I. There is a goodness and excellence in the word of God that can draw and affect people’s minds, even if they don’t arrive at genuine obedience to it.

II. There is a special goodness in the word of the promise concerning Jesus Christ and the declaration of its fulfillment. To understand the first proposition, we must examine what is meant by the goodness of the word of God and how apostates can experience it. These things help explain the apostle’s meaning. The goodness and excellence of the word of God lies in its spiritual and heavenly truth. All truth is beautiful and desirable, and the perfection of the human mind consists in accepting and conforming to it. While "true" and "good" are distinct concepts, they are inseparable properties of the same subject. The apostle combines them in Php 4:8. Truth is beneficial because it brings peace, satisfaction, and contentment to the mind. Conversely, darkness, errors, and falsehoods are evils that fill the mind with vanity, uncertainty, superstition, fear, and bondage. It is truth that sets the soul free, as stated in John 8:32. The word of God is the only pure, unmixed, and solid truth, as affirmed in John 17:17. In most other matters, men wander aimlessly in the wilderness of endless conjectures. The truth of God’s word is firm, stable, and infallible, giving rest to the soul. God is a "God of truth" (Deuteronomy 32:4), the "only true God" (John 17:3), and the eternal source of truth for all things. Thus, the word of God is the only revelation of this truth. Therefore, it is excellent and desirable, and its goodness is to be preferred above all other things. As it is infallible truth that gives light to the eyes and rest to the soul, it is the "good word of God." The word of God is good in its matter or the doctrines it contains, such as:

[1.] The revelation of God’s nature and attributes, which reflects a singular goodness on the word of God since God is the only good, the only source and cause of all goodness, and in whose enjoyment all rest and blessedness is found. Knowing God is incomparably better than enjoying the whole world and everything in it (Jeremiah 9:23-24). [2.] The revelation of the glorious mystery of the Trinity, which is unique to the word of God. The knowledge of this mystery is the only means of having a correct understanding of all other sacred truths, and without it, none of them can be correctly understood or used for the right purpose. This mystery alone gives true rest and peace to the soul. Every true believer, no matter how humble, has this truth’s power on their mind, even if they cannot explain it well. All grace and truth are built on this foundation and centre around it, deriving their first power and effectiveness from it. The word that reveals this mystery is a "good word." [3.] The word of God is good in the revelation of the entire mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God and all the effects of infinite wisdom and grace that accompany it. This is the most important aspect of the word of God that I must inquire and declare in this world. [4.] The word of God is good in the declaration of all the benefits of Christ’s mediation, such as mercy, grace, pardon, justification, adoption, and so on. The word of God is a good word concerning its blessed effects (Psalms 19:7-9; Acts 20:32; James 1:21). The psalmist assures us that it is "more desirable than gold, even much fine gold" and "sweeter than honey and the honeycomb." This means that it has incomparable excellence, worth, and goodness. Those who do not see the goodness in the word of God are strangers to all The experience of apostatizing persons with the good word of God can be explained briefly. And their experience is related to the three properties of the word that make it "good": (1) its truth, (2) its subject matter, and (3) its effects. And (1) they experience the truth of the word through their convictions, knowledge, and acknowledgement of it. This brings some peace and satisfaction to their minds, as truth often does, even though it does not renew them. Those who heard John preach the truth rejoiced in his light, finding much satisfaction in it (John 5:35). This was also true of many who heard our Savior preach (Luke 4:22, John 7:46) and countless others who have been convicted by the truth of the gospel. When people escape the corrupting influences of the world through lust and error by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they experience the goodness and sweetness of the rest and peace it brings to their minds.

(2) With respect to the content of the word, they experience its goodness through the hope of future enjoyment. The "good word of God" promises mercy, pardon, life, immortality, and glory. Even though their hopes may be based on faulty grounds, they find great satisfaction in them, especially when they provide relief from their fears and convictions. Although they deceive themselves, they still experience the goodness and sweetness of these things as they are enjoyed by others. Those who truly believe in and receive Jesus Christ through the word experience "joy unspeakable and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8), but those who only taste the word still feel a great satisfaction in their emotions (Matthew 13:20).

(3) By this taste, they may experience many effects of the word on their minds and consciences, and therefore experience the power and efficacy of the word. To explain this further and to distinguish this tasting from the receiving and feeding on the word by faith that is unique to true believers, requires an exposition of the text. The experience of apostatizing individuals with the good word of God can be explained briefly, and this experience is related to the three properties that give the word its name "good": (1) its truth; (2) its subject matter; and (3) its effects.

(1) These individuals taste the word as true through their convictions, knowledge, and acknowledgement of it, which brings some calm and satisfaction to their minds, as it is the nature of truth to do, even though they are not renewed by it. Just as those who heard John preach the truth rejoiced in his light and found much satisfaction in it (John 5:35), so it was with others who heard Jesus preach (Luke 4:22, John 7:46). Those who escape the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of Jesus Christ taste the goodness and sweetness of the rest and satisfaction of their minds, as if they are truly in possession of those things.

(2) They also taste the goodness of the word through the hopes they have for their future enjoyment of mercy, pardon, life, immortality, and glory, which are all proposed in the "good word of God." These individuals have hopes to partake of these things, which will ultimately fail them, but they still find great relish and satisfaction in them, especially when they have relief from their fears and convictions. Even those who deceive themselves in these ways have a taste of the sweetness and goodness of these things for those who enjoy them. Those who truly believe and receive Jesus Christ in the word rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8), while those who only taste of the word feel great complacency in their affections (Matthew 13:20).

(3) Through this taste, individuals may receive many effects of the word on their minds and consciences, and they may experience the word as to its power and efficacy. More will be said about this in the exposition of the text and the difference between this taste and the receiving and feeding on the word by faith, which is unique to true believers.

(1) This taste is accompanied by delight, pleasure, and satisfaction in hearing the word preached, especially when it is dispensed by a skilled "master of assemblies" who finds "acceptable words" or "words of delight" that are also "upright and true" (Ecclesiastes 12:10-11). The naughty Jews (Ezekiel 33:31-32) and Herod, who heard John the Baptist gladly, found delight and pleasure in his preaching, as did the multitudes who pressed after Christ to hear the word. Unfortunately, this is also likely the case for many in our present day.

(2) This taste not only brings delight in hearing but also some joy in the things heard. These individuals are like the hearers of the word who our Savior compared to the stony ground, receiving it with joy (Matthew 13:20), as it was with the hearers of John the Baptist (John 5:35). The word, as tasted only, has this effect on their minds, causing them to rejoice in the things they hear but not with abiding solid joy or joy unspeakable and full of glory, but rather with something temporary and fleeting. This arises from the satisfaction they find in hearing about good things such as mercy, pardon, grace, immortality, and glory, but they will not go to the trouble of obtaining an interest in them.

(3) The word, as only tasted of, will work a change and reformation of their lives, with a readiness to perform many duties (2 Peter 2:18; 2 Peter 2:20; Mark 6:20).

[4.] I have discussed elsewhere the inward effects that the word may have on the minds and affections of people, including illumination, conviction, and humiliation. However, even with these effects, it is only a taste of the word. The gospel and Christ preached therein are the food of our souls, and true faith not only tastes it but also feeds on it. Through this, it is transformed into grace and spiritual nourishment in our hearts. To achieve this, there are a few requirements:

First, we need to lay up and treasure the word in our hearts, as in Luke 1:66; Luke 2:19. Food cannot nourish us unless it is received into our stomachs, where the means and causes of digestion and communication are located. Similarly, the word needs to be placed in our hearts through fixed meditation and delight. Otherwise, it may please us for a while but will not nourish our souls.

Secondly, food must be mixed and incorporated with the digestive humor, power, and faculty of the stomach, or it will not nourish us. Even if a person eats a lot of food, if there is any noxious humor in their stomach hindering it from mixing itself with the means of digestion, it will not benefit them. Similarly, until the word in our hearts is mixed and incorporated with faith, it will not benefit us, as in Hebrews 4:2. There is nothing of this sort when we only have a taste of the word.

Thirdly, when we feed on the word, it is turned into a principle of life, spiritual strength, and growth within. A mere taste of it will not give us these benefits. Just as food, when digested, turns into flesh, blood, and spirits, the word and Christ in it do the same spiritually for our souls. Thus, Christ becomes "our life" and "lives in us" as the efficient cause of our spiritual life, as in Galatians 2:20 and Colossians 3:3. We grow and increase through the word, as in 1 Peter 2:2. A mere taste of the word may provide temporary refreshment but not lasting strength. Many people enjoy the word when it is preached, but they never gain life, strength, or growth from it.

Fourthly, when the word is received as it should be, it transforms the soul into the likeness of God, who sends us this food to change our whole spiritual constitution and to make us more like Him, in "righteousness and true holiness," as in Ephesians 4:21-24 and 2 Corinthians 3:18. A mere taste of the word will not accomplish this, nor will it give us the love of the truth necessary to abide by it in trials or temptations, as in 2 Thessalonians 2:10. It also will not produce universal obedience or the fruits of the spirit. Many people satisfy themselves with mere notions of the truth and empty speculations about it without even attaining a taste of the goodness of the word. There are many such people in the world. All hearers of the word must scrutinize their own souls severely to determine whether they rest only in a taste of the word and come short of feeding upon it and Christ therein. I must not divert from the text, but I hope that what I have discussed here was necessary to declare the true state and condition of the people spoken of. The second proposition mentioned has been treated elsewhere.

Lastly, the passage adds, "And the powers of the world to come." The term "dunamis" refers to the mighty, great, miraculous operations and works of the Holy Spirit. We have discussed what these are and how they were experienced by the Hebrews in our exposition on chapter 2:4. Such powers are recorded in the Acts of the Apostles. As we have shown in that chapter, the "world to come" mentioned in this epistle refers to the days of the Messiah, which was the common name for the new world that God had promised to create at that time. Therefore, the "powers of the world to come" refer to the gifts that were used to perform signs, wonders, and mighty works by the Holy Spirit, as foretold by the prophets. See Joel 2:28-32 compared with Acts 2:16-21. The people mentioned in the passage are supposed to have experienced these powers, either by witnessing them performed by others or by themselves. They had an encounter with the glorious and powerful workings of the Holy Spirit in confirming the gospel. It is even likely that they themselves were partakers of these powers, particularly the gift of tongues and other miraculous operations. This heightened their apostasy and made their recovery impossible, as nothing in Scripture suggests that anyone can recover from such sin except those who particularly sin against the Holy Spirit. Although it is possible to contract guilt in other ways, none are as significant as rejecting truth that was confirmed by the Holy Spirit’s mighty operations. Such rejection ascribes divine power to the devil, making it impossible to return to the faith. Nevertheless, I would not exclusively limit extraordinary gifts to those that are ordinary. They also belong to the "powers of the world to come," as does everything that contributes to the establishment or preservation of the new world or Christ’s kingdom. Setting up a new kingdom requires great and mighty power, but once established, it can be maintained with the ordinary dispensation of power. The extraordinary miraculous gifts of the Spirit were used to set up Christ’s kingdom, but it is continued by ordinary gifts, which also belong to the "powers of the world to come." From considering this description in all its parts, we can understand the kind of people that the apostle intends here. It is evident that: The people referred to are not true and sincere believers, at least not described as such, so nothing can be concluded about the possibility of total and final apostasy for those who are true believers. For, (1.) Faith or belief is not mentioned in their description, either directly or in equivalent terms. And in no other part of Scripture are they intended unless by what belongs essentially to their state. (2.) Nothing is ascribed to these persons that is unique to them as believers, taken either from their special relationship to God in Christ or any property of their own that is not communicable to others. (3.) They are compared to the ground on which the rain often falls, and beareth nothing but thorns and briers, unlike true believers. (4.) The apostle distinguishes true believers from those who might be apostates in many particulars. The apostle refers to those who recently converted from Judaism to Christianity based on the truth of its doctrine and miraculous operations. (2.) He refers not to the common people but to those who had obtained special privileges, such as extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit, speaking with tongues or working of miracles. (3.) They had convincing evidence that the kingdom of God and the Messiah, which they called "The world to come," had come unto them. (4.) Such persons could have undergone a change in their affections and behaviour, making them highly respected among the believers.

It takes a horrible frame of mind, a malicious enmity against the truth and holiness of Christ and the gospel, and a violent love of sin and the world, to turn such persons away from faith and blot out all the light and conviction of truth that they had received. However, even the smallest grace is a better security for heaven than the greatest privileges.

These are the people whom our apostle is discussing; and it is supposed by him that they may "fall away," kai. parapeso,ntaj. The particular nature of the sin here referred to is subsequently explained in two instances or aggravating circumstances. This word expresses how the sin is related to the state and condition of the sinners themselves; they "fall away," doing that which causes them to do so. We could say "If they shall fall away," as a good expression of the word. Our old translations only rendered it as "If they shall fall," which did not convey the sense of the word and was susceptible to an interpretation not at all intended; for the apostle does not say, "If they shall fall into sin," whether it be this or that sin, or any sin that can be named, even the greatest sin imaginable, namely the denial of Christ in the time of danger and persecution. This was the sin about which so many contests were raised of old, and so many canons were established concerning the ordering of those who had contracted the guilt of it. But Peter fell into this sin and yet was renewed again to repentance, and that speedily. Therefore, we may state that firstly, with respect to the sense of the words, there is no specific sin that any person may occasionally fall into through the power of temptation that can place the sinner under this condemnation, so that it should be impossible to renew them to repentance. It must, therefore, secondly, be a course of sin or sinning that is meant. But there are different degrees in this, and indeed there are various kinds of such sinful courses. A person may fall into a way of sin while still retaining in their mind a principle of light and conviction that may be conducive to their recovery. To exclude such people from all hope of repentance is expressly contrary to Ezekiel 18:21 and Isaiah 55:7, and indeed to the entire meaning of Scripture. Therefore, men may fall into corrupt and wicked courses after some conviction and reformation of life, and continue in them for a long time. We see examples of this every day, though perhaps none that can parallel that of Manasseh. Consider the nature of his upbringing under his father Hezekiah, the enormity of his sins, the duration of his continuation in them, and his subsequent recovery; he is a great instance in this case. As long as there is in such people any seed of light or conviction of truth that is capable of being awakened or revived, so as to put forth its power and efficacy in their souls, they cannot be considered to be in the condition intended, even though their situation is perilous. The apostle makes a distinction between stumbling and falling in Romans 11:11, and he did not believe that the unbelieving Jews of that time had fallen absolutely or irrecoverably. The word "piptein" means falling absolutely in this context, and "parapiptw" increases the meaning, either as to the perverseness in the way of falling or the violence of the fall itself.

Based on this discussion, it is clear that the apostle is referring to a specific type of falling away.

(1.) Falling away does not refer to committing a specific sin, regardless of its nature.

(2.) It is not falling into sin due to temptation or surprise, as there are different rules given for such falls in various places of scripture.

(3.) It is not falling by rejecting or abandoning certain fundamental Christian beliefs due to error or seduction, such as the Corinthians denying the resurrection or the Galatians denying justification by faith in Christ alone.

(4.) Falling away consists of a complete renunciation of all the essential principles and doctrines of Christianity, which is why it is named as such. This is the sin of those who abandon the gospel to return to Judaism as it was then practiced, out of opposition and hatred toward Christianity.

(5.) To fully complete this falling away, the renunciation must be professed and openly declared, such as when someone forsakes the gospel and adopts Judaism, Mohammedanism, or Gentilism in both belief and practice. The apostle discusses faith and obedience as professed, and thus also their opposites. Renouncing the gospel publicly has many aggravating factors that make it a particularly heinous act. However, even those who inwardly reject the gospel but do not profess it due to external reasons are still considered apostates in the sight of God. Their outward compliance with Christian religion only serves to mock God and aggravate their sin. The "falling away" intended by the apostle is a voluntary and deliberate abandonment of the gospel, its faith, rules, and obedience, which would cast the highest reproach and contempt on Christ himself, as explained later in the text.

Regarding these individuals and their "falling away," two things are to be considered:

What is asserted about them; The reason for that assertion. The first point is that it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance. The meaning is negative, denying the possibility of renewing them again unto repentance. However, the qualification of that negation turns it into an affirmation that "it is impossible to do so." The word "impossible" ἀδύνατον (adunaton) is ambiguous in its import, with some suggesting that an absolute impossibility is intended, while others propose only a moral impossibility. The latter interpretation is more commonly accepted, implying that it is rare, difficult, and unlikely to be expected but not an absolute impossibility. There are significant reasons and examples to support both interpretations, but further investigation is necessary to understand its meaning fully.

All future events depend on God, who alone necessarily exists. Other things may or may not be, depending on how they relate to him and his will. Therefore, things that are future may be considered impossible either because they contradict God’s nature, his decrees, or his moral order and law. Things may be impossible because they contradict God’s nature either absolutely or on some supposition. For example, God cannot lie or forgive sin without satisfaction. In this sense, it is uncertain whether the repentance of these apostates is impossible. It may not be contrary to any essential properties of God’s nature, but their actions of "crucifying the Son of God afresh and putting him to open shame" might be incompatible with God’s holiness, righteousness, and glory as the supreme ruler of the world. However, this is not a definite interpretation of the passage.

Things that are possible in themselves and with respect to God’s nature may be rendered impossible by God’s decree and purpose. For instance, God had decreed that Saul and his posterity would not be preserved in the kingdom of Israel, although it was not contrary to his nature. However, God’s decrees regarding particular persons, not their qualifications, cannot be what the author is discussing. These decrees are sovereign acts of God’s will, not revealed in particular or by any general rule, and create distinctions between individuals in similar circumstances. Therefore, we can have some knowledge about what is possible or impossible with respect to God’s nature and essential properties. Still, we cannot know what is possible or impossible with respect to his decrees and purposes, which are free, sovereign acts of his will that even the angels in heaven cannot understand.

(3.) Things can be possible or impossible based on the rules and order that God has set in place. If God has not commanded or given us the means to perform a certain duty, then we should consider it impossible. This is the primary meaning of the impossibility mentioned here. God has neither commanded us to strive for nor appointed any means to achieve the renewal of such people to repentance. Therefore, we have no reason to attempt or expect it, as it is not possible according to any law or rule established by God. The apostle instructs us only insofar as it pertains to our duty in future events. We should not look, hope, pray for, or strive for the renewal of such individuals to repentance. It is not God’s law for us to do so. It may be possible with God, but he does not want us to expect such things from him nor has he provided us with a means to achieve it. We should accept whatever he does, but our duty toward such individuals has ended, as they have put themselves beyond our reach. The impossibility spoken of with respect to these individuals is to "renew them again unto repentance." In the New Testament, "repentance" refers to a "gracious change of mind" based on gospel principles and promises that leads the entire soul to conversion to God. This change of mind is the beginning of our turning to God. Without it, neither the will nor the affections will be engaged with God, and sinners cannot find acceptance with him.

It is impossible to renew, to renew themselves, or to renew them. The construction of the words is defective, and must be supplied. It is not possible for them to do so themselves, and any attempt by others to renew them is in vain, no matter what means are used. We must now inquire what it means to be "renewed" and what it means to be "renewed again."

Renewal or renovation means the restoration of the image of God in our nature, which results in our dedication to Him. We lost the image of God through sin and became separated from Him, but renewal consists of both the restoration of our nature and the dedication of our persons to God. There are two types of renewal:

(1.) The first type of renewal mentioned is real and internal, which occurs through regeneration and effective sanctification. It is described as "the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). However, this is not what is meant in the context of these apostates, as they never experienced this kind of renewal. Therefore, they cannot be said to be renewed again in something they never had.

(2.) The second type of renewal is outward in the profession and commitment to it. In this sense, renewal consists of making a solemn confession of faith and repentance in Jesus Christ, accompanied by the act of baptism as a sign of this renewal. This was the case for all those who converted to the gospel. They received the outward symbol of an inward renewal when they professed repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, even though they did not actually partake in it. However, this outward profession and pledge of renewal was what they had. By renouncing Him who is the source of this renewal, His grace that brings about this renewal, and the ordinance that symbolizes it, they completely fell away from this state of renewal.

Therefore, it is clear that the phrase "to renew them again," which is "πάλιν ἀνακαινίζειν" (palin anakainizein) in Greek, means to restore them to their previous state of faith through a second renewal and baptism as a symbolic representation of it. This is considered impossible and therefore not to be attempted. In fact, those who make such attempts often engage in blasphemies and persecute the truth, providing sufficient reason for others to avoid them. This is the essence of what is being asserted regarding these apostates: "it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance," indicating that it is impossible to take any action towards them that would bring them back to their former state of faith. From this, several observations can be made to clarify the apostle’s intention in this discourse:

(1.) There is no mention of the church’s acceptance or rejection of anyone who repents or makes a profession of repentance after committing a sin. Such judgments are to be determined by other rules and circumstances. Therefore, the Novatians cannot use this passage to exclude from church communion those who denied their faith during times of persecution, but expressed a repentance that could not be proven sincere. This passage only refers to those who cannot repent or make a profession of it, with whom the church has nothing to do. It is not stated that those who fell away in this manner can never be readmitted to their previous state in the church upon repentance, but that God’s severity against them is such that he will not grant them repentance unto life again.

(2.) There is nothing in this passage that prevents anyone who has committed a great sin or engaged in a course of sinning after receiving light, convictions, and gifts from repenting and striving for sincerity in their faith. In fact, such a desire and effort exempts anyone from the judgment threatened in this passage.

Therefore, this passage can greatly encourage sinners, as it is declared that those who are rejected by God and deemed impossible to renew are those who never endeavor to turn by repentance. Those who are sincerely seeking to repent have the door of mercy still open to them. It is only against those who never seek to turn by repentance that the door is shut. Even if the sinners rejected by God may fall under the conviction of their sins and despair of their future condition, they never rise up to attempt repentance on the terms of the gospel. The impossibility that is intended here, of whatever sort it may be, refers to the severity of God in giving up such sinners to their obdurateness and obstinacy in sinning. They become so blind and hard-hearted that they neither will nor shall ever sincerely seek after repentance, and no means can bring them to it according to the mind of God. The righteousness of this severity is taken from the nature of this sin, as the apostle explains in the following instances. In passing, we may observe that: In preaching the gospel, it’s necessary to emphasize the severity of God in dealing with sinners who provoke Him. Indeed, God’s severity is primarily exercised in relation to sins against the gospel, as the apostle reminds us in the case of the unbelieving Jews in Romans 11:22 : "Behold the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell (those in the text), severity. "vApotomi,a" (βαπτομία). refers to a sharp direction or cutting off. Therefore, I don’t believe it’s an essential property of God’s nature, unlike His holiness, righteousness, or vindictive justice, which are essential properties of the divine nature. This is why God cannot and will not allow people to sin and go unpunished without satisfaction or atonement for their sins. This is something we have discussed elsewhere.

God’s "severity" is his free act of will, which operates according to these essential properties of his nature in an extraordinary way, whenever and however He chooses. When the apostle wants to remind us of this severity, to instil in us a holy fear and reverence for God in our worship, he adds, "For our God is a consuming fire," in Hebrews 12:29. This means that God is infinitely pure, holy, and righteous, and He will deal with us accordingly. Therefore, if we do not work for "grace to serve him acceptably with reverence and godly fear," He may unexpectedly unleash His severity upon us.

God’s severity is His exemplary way of dealing with sinners who provoke Him, according to the demands of His holiness and wisdom, without any further patience or forbearance. There are certain sins, or degrees of sinning, that God’s holiness, majesty, and wisdom cannot tolerate without punishment or attention in this world. In these cases, God is said to exercise His severity, and He does so in a way that is just and fitting.

(1.) When preaching the gospel, it is necessary to emphasise the severity of God’s punishment towards those who sin against it, particularly those who commit sins against the gospel. The Apostle Paul directs us to consider this when speaking of the unbelieving Jews in Romans 11:22, "Behold the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity." The word "severity" here means a sharp direction or cutting off. I do not understand it to be an essential property of God’s nature like his holiness, righteousness, or vindictive justice, which are essential properties of God’s nature. He will not and cannot allow sin to go unpunished without any satisfaction or atonement being made for them, which we have previously discussed. "Severity" is God’s free act of will, acting according to these properties of His nature when and how He pleases. Therefore, it is resolved into them. Our Apostle, when trying to illustrate this severity to us, adds as his motive, "For our God is a consuming fire" (Hebrews 12:29), meaning that God is of an infinitely pure, holy, righteous nature, and will deal with us accordingly. If we do not labour for "grace to serve him acceptably with reverence and godly fear," then He may unexpectedly break forth upon us in severity. This severity is God’s exemplary dealing with sinners who provoke Him, according to the exigence of His holiness and wisdom, without any longer patience or forbearance. There are some sins, or degrees of sinning, that God cannot tolerate and so, they will not go unpunished or unnoticed in this world. In such cases, God is said to exercise His severity, which can be seen in two ways:

[1.] Extraordinary, outward judgments on open, profligate sinners, particularly His enemies. When God acts towards His adversaries according to the description given of Himself in Nahum 1:2, He deals with them in severity. There must be something extraordinary in those judgments wherein God will exercise and manifest severity. This is shown in sudden destructions of persecutors or people with flagitious wickedness, great desolations of provoking families, cities, and nations, fire from heaven, inundations, plagues, earthquakes, and such sudden, extraordinary, consuming judgments that God gives instances of His severity in the world, Romans 1:18.

[2.] Open, visible, and manifest judgments that are required to be seen by those who are being punished and those who consider them wisely. So, God speaks of himself in Deuteronomy 7:10, "God that re-payeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face," meaning He will do it openly and visibly, so that they and others will take notice of His severity in the punishment. This is how God pours everlasting contempt upon the security of His proudest and haughtiest adversaries. When they think they have sufficiently provided for their own safety, stopped all avenues of evil, and given themselves up to their lusts and pleasures, God breaks in upon them with an example of His severity to their utter destruction. This will be the state one day of the whole Babylonish interest in the world (Revelation 18:7-10), but it is not directly intended in this passage, although this effect of God’s severity overtook these apostates afterward.

(2.) In spiritual judgments. Through these, God in his severity leaves unprofitable, provoking, and apostate believers in a state of impenitence where it is impossible for them to be renewed. This is the harshest of all God’s judgments, as it carries with it a sentence of eternal damnation. As our apostle tells us, "Some men’s sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment," 1 Timothy 5:24. God passes judgment concerning them in this world in such a way that their state and condition will never change for all eternity. The severity of God towards sinners under the gospel, shutting them up under final impenitency, consists of four things:

[1.] God puts an end to all his expectation concerning them; he expects nothing more from them, and therefore does not exercise any more care about them. When God is pleased to offer the use of means for conversion and repentance to anyone, he is said to expect corresponding fruits: "I did," says he, "so and so to my vineyard; and I looked that it should bring forth grapes," Isaiah 5:2; Isaiah 5:4. Therefore, when God takes away all means of grace and repentance from anyone, he puts an end to his own expectation of any fruits. For if a man cannot have any fruit from his vineyard while he tends it, or from his field while he cultivates it, he will never expect any after he has given them up and left them to waste. And on the other hand, when he completely stops looking for any fruit from them, he will not tend to them anymore. Why should he put himself to trouble or expense for no reason? Woe to the souls of men when God in this sense expects no more from them! That is when he puts an end to his patience or long-suffering towards them, from which all supplies of the means of conversion and repentance arise and spring. God does this in some cases, and that in ways we shall discuss later.

[2.] God will actually punish them with hardness of heart and blindness of mind, so that they will never repent or believe: John 12:39-40, "Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." God will now judicially blind them and harden them, and everything that befalls them will promote their hardening. So it was with these Jews; the doctrine of Christ filled them with envy, his holiness with malice, and his miracles with rage and madness. Their table was a snare to them, and that which should have been for their good turned to their hurt. So it is with all those whom God hardens in his severity. Whether the external means are continued to them or not, it does not matter; everything will drive them farther from God and increase their obstinacy against him. From here, they become scoffers and persecutors, openly scorning and hating the truth. Herein, they may please themselves until they are swallowed up in despair or the grave.

[3.] God usually, in his severity, abandons them to sensual desires. He did the same to the idolaters of old, "giving them over to shameful lusts," as described by the apostle in Romans 1:26. Pursuing these lusts, they were "filled with every kind of wickedness" (Romans 1:29). In the same way, God often deals with apostates from the gospel or its core tenets, leading them to idolatry and superstition. When they become involved in such pursuits, especially when they are given over to them by God, they are certainly held under cords and chains until they reach final impenitency.

[4.] God gave such individuals over to Satan to be blinded and led by him into pernicious delusions. "Because they refused to love the truth and so be saved, God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness," states 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12. This was the condition of those prophesied about in this passage. The gospel truth was preached to them, and for a time, they professed it. They accepted the truth but did not love it, so they did not comply with it or improve it for its intended purpose. This kept them unproductive under their profession. If the truth is not loved in addition to being believed, it will not bear fruit. However, this was not the end of their problems. They took pleasure in their sins, desires, and unrighteousness, resolved not to abandon them for any reason. As all of these are judged and condemned by the gospel truth without exception, they began to dislike and secretly hate the truth itself. However, since they found themselves needing religion or at least the pretense of one to oppose the truth they had rejected, they were ready to accept anything that offered itself to them. As punishment and revenge for their contempt of his gospel and ingratitude, God gave them up to Satan’s power. He blinded, deceived, and deluded them so effectively that they not only embraced but obstinately believed and clung to the lies, errors, and falsehoods he suggested to them. This is the path that many carnal preachers take to turn towards Roman idolatry every day.

More examples of God’s severity in dealing with those described in the text could be given, but these are enough to demonstrate the way in which he treats such people. As a result, it follows that their restoration to repentance is impossible, because what hope or expectation can there be for those whom God has completely abandoned, whom he has struck with blindness and hardness of heart, and whom he has given over not only to the power of their own lusts and vile affections, but also directly to Satan, to be deceived and led captive as he pleases? It would be futile to attempt to make such people repent. This severity of God should be preached and emphasised in the proclamation of the gospel. The reader can refer to what has already been said about the use of gospel threats and comminations in chapters three and four. Human nature is prone to "despise the riches of the goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering of God, not knowing that the goodness of God leads to repentance." And as a result of this, "after their hardness and impenitent heart, they store up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath," as our apostle says in Romans 2:4-5. By considering nothing in God but his mercy and long-suffering, and in the gospel but grace and forgiveness, people are ready to despise and pervert them, either turning them into licentiousness or using them to justify their sins. This is how many people, under the preaching of the gospel, harden themselves daily to destruction, being deceived by their own lusts and corrupt inclinations, heightened by Satan’s cunning.

Others are not willing to indulge in their carnal desires on such wicked pretexts, but because of their lack of constant vigilance and watchfulness, they are prone to sloth and negligence, as well as many other negative states of mind. Both types of people must be reminded of God’s severity, which can serve to motivate them. They must be taught that there are hidden forces that accompany the dispensation of the gospel, which are always "ready to avenge all disobedience" (2 Corinthians 10:6), and that "God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life" (Galatians 6:7-8). But I have already demonstrated elsewhere the necessity of arming the gospel with threats as well as promises, so I will not repeat it here. From what has been discussed, it is clear how necessary and beneficial the warning or threat expressed by the apostle is. It is the incorrect interpretation of men that has caused confusion around it; in itself, it is both straightforward and essential. Should we be afraid to say that God will not renew such sinners as those previously described unto repentance? Or to declare to sinners that without repentance, they cannot be saved? Or shall we preach to people that, no matter how much light they have had, whatever gifts or privileges they have received, or whatever profession they have made, if they fall totally and unrepentantly from the gospel into that which is the most opposed to its truth and holiness, there is no doubt that they may repent again and be saved? God forbid such wickedness should come from our mouths! Instead, we are to warn all those in danger of such apostasy that "if anyone draws back, God’s soul shall have no pleasure in him," and that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." He will harden such sinners and "give them up to strong delusions, that they may be damned," and he is not under any obligation to give them repentance, but instead has given many severe warnings to the contrary. He has told us that such people are "trees twice dead, uprooted from the ground," of which there is no hope, and that "denying the Lord who bought them, they bring on themselves swift destruction, whose damnation slumbers not," along with countless other declarations of severity against them. But what can be said of those who, having renounced the gospel for a time through great temptations, fears, or surprises, or those who, due to great sins against light and backsliding in profession, believe themselves to have fallen into this condition, yet greatly desire recovery and cry out to God for repentance and acceptance? I answer as before: they are not at all concerned with this text. Nothing here excludes them from acceptance with God and eternal salvation, no matter who they are or what they have done, as long as they seek it through repentance. Only those who obstinately shut themselves off from all efforts towards repentance are excluded by God, and we have nothing to do with them.

It is true that the primary and direct recipients referred to in this passage were those who had received extraordinary or miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit during those times. However, by analogy, this may also be extended to others, now that those gifts have ceased in the church. For the gifts and privileges that are still bestowed upon individuals in present circumstances lay the same obligation on them to persevere in their profession and carry the same severity of consequences if they fall away, just as those extraordinary gifts did in the past. Therefore, let us not be overconfident, but instead fear falling away. Unproductive listeners and those who backslide in heart and behaviour should be awakened, lest they come under God’s judgment without realizing it.

Returning to our apostle, we must now give an account of the nature of this sin that is accompanied by such a severe judgment. This is done by him in two instances. The first instance is "crucifying again to themselves the Son of God." Beza affirms that the words "to themselves" are absent from some copies, and therefore, the words may have a different sense from what is commonly understood. For "crucifying again" may refer to anyone who would renew them. However, it is impossible to renew them to repentance, for this cannot be done without crucifying the Son of God again. This is because these apostates have completely rejected any interest in or benefit from his death, which was once given for sinners. No one should, nor could, crucify Christ again for them to be renewed and saved. It is unthinkable to even entertain such a thought. This sense is plainly expressed by the apostle in chapter 10:26-27, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." Christ cannot be offered again, and therefore, cannot be crucified again. Without this sacrifice, the sins of these individuals cannot be expiated. The unbloody sacrifice of Christ every day in the mass was not yet invented and is a relief only for those who have no interest in that one sacrifice that he offered for all. The allusion to the sacrifices under the law is made in the other passage. Under the law, the sacrifices could only legally expiate sins that had been committed before their offering. Therefore, they had to be repeated frequently upon repeated sinning. However, this cannot be done anymore. Christ was offered once for sin, and whoever loses their interest in that one offering and forfeits the benefit of it, there is no more sacrifice for them. "Christ henceforth dieth no more." We cannot assume that the grace of the gospel is restricted as it was all confined to that one sacrifice, as represented in the multiple sacrifices of the law.

(1.) The sacrifice of Christ extends farther, both in terms of sins and persons, than all the sacrifices of the law put together: "Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses," Acts 13:39. Under the law, there were sins for which no sacrifice was provided, and those who committed them were to be put to death without mercy, as in cases of murder and adultery, in which David says, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings," Psalms 51:16. However,

(2.) If someone were to apostatize from either the law or the gospel, the outcome would be the same. Under the law, no sacrifice was appointed for those who had completely abandoned its fundamental principles or sinned "presumptuously" with a high and stubborn hand. This is what is meant by "despising Moses’ law," and those who are guilty of it were to "die without mercy," Hebrews 10:28. The same is true under the gospel. Willful apostates who forfeit all their interest in Christ’s sacrifice have no relief appointed for them, and God will cut them off and destroy them, as will be explained in that place. This may be the meaning of the words, assuming that "to themselves" does not originally belong to this passage. God has confined all hope of mercy, grace, and salvation to the one single offering and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Our apostle emphasizes and urges this in chapters 9:25-28 and 10:12, 14. Infinite wisdom and sovereign pleasure have centered all grace, mercy, and blessedness in him alone, John 1:14; John 1:16-17; Acts 4:12; Colossians 1:19. His "one offering" is so sufficient and powerfully effective for all who seek an interest in it by faith that this restraint is not a hindrance, and no sinner has any cause to complain about it. If they reject and despise it, it is their own fault, and at their own peril; and the repeated sacrifice of the mass or anything else they may turn to will not provide them any relief.

However, the word is consistent enough in ancient copies to maintain its position, and the context requires its continuation. This makes the act of "crucifying again" the responsibility of the apostates themselves, and it is asserted as belonging to their sin, rather than denied as a means of relief from their sin: "They crucify him again to themselves." They do not do it literally, as it is impossible; but they do it to themselves morally. This is part of their sin of falling away, making it unforgivable. They crucify the Son of God again, not literally, but within themselves.

We must investigate how they did it, or in what sense it is charged upon them by the apostle. This was primarily done by endorsing and supporting those who had already crucified him. By doing this, they followed the same path and committed the same act. They justified the Jews’ crucifixion of Jesus as a criminal, and in doing so, they approved and validated the act. There is no middle ground in this matter. Either Jesus must be recognised as the Son of God, and his gospel must be obeyed, or he must be seen as a criminal and rejected. By going over to the Jews, these apostates endorsed what they had done in crucifying him as a criminal.

They did it by declaring that they had tried and tested Christ, his gospel, and his ways, and found nothing substantial, truthful, or good in them, which would justify them to continue with their faith. Julian the emperor, a famous or infamous apostate, even made this his motto for apostasy, "I have read, known, and condemned" your Gospel. This has been the way of apostates in all ages. During the primitive times, they acted as spies for the Gentiles and brought false reports about the land, not satisfied to merely disapprove of what was truly taught, believed, and practiced among Christians. They invidiously represented and odiously traduced what was really professed and invented lies and calumnies about conspiracies, seditions, and inconsistencies with public peace among them. This was done in the hopes of ruining the entire Christian interest and everything associated with it. Such actions are to "crucify Christ afresh and put him to an open shame." This is still the way of apostates today. Those who have made progress in more intimate religious duties, such as prayer and preaching, by virtue of spiritual gifts, and other acts of mutual spiritual communion that the majority of people do not concern themselves with, when they fall from these duties and renounce them in compliance with their own temptations, they aim at nothing more than exposing them to open shame and ignominy through malicious and scurrilous representations of them and false additions of things perverse or ridiculous. Their language is "We have known and tried these things, and declare their folly," hoping to be believed because of their pretended experience. This alone is sufficient to render them suspected with all persons of wisdom and sobriety. No living person can dishonor Jesus Christ more in his person or in any of his ways than to openly profess that they find nothing desirable in them upon trial. "It would have been better for such people not to have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them." And this is the first aggravation of the sin mentioned, taken from the act attributed to the sinners, "they crucify him again;" they do it as much as they can, and declare that they would actually do it if they had the power. He adds another from the consideration of the person who was thus treated by them. It was the "Son of God" whom they dealt with in this way. They did not do it when he had "emptied himself, and made himself of no reputation," so that it was not easy to see through all the veils of his outward weakness and condition in this world, to "see his glory, as the glory of the only-begotten of the Father" (in which state he was crucified by the Jews); but now, when he had been "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead," and when his divinity was variously attested to in the world and among themselves. And this is the great aggravation of sin against the gospel, namely, unbelief, that it is immediately against the "Son of God." His person is despised in it, both absolutely and in the discharge of all his offices; and therefore, God himself is also despised, because he has nothing to do with us but through his Son. Thirdly, the apostle adds, as another aggravation of their sin, kai paradeigmatizontas" (καὶ παραδειγματίζοντας), "exposing him again to public ignominy," or "shame." Paradeigmati,zw means to bring any supposed offenders to such open punishment as is shameful in the eyes of people, and renders them vile who are so accused and punished. The word is only used once more in the New Testament, namely, in Matthew 1:19, where it is spoken of Joseph in reference to his espoused wife, the holy Virgin: Mh. qe,lwn auvth.n paradeigmati,sai, — "Not willing to make her a public example;" that is, by bringing her forth to a shameful punishment for the terror of others.

According to the apostle, who expressed the death of Christ as inflicted by men, the evils that accompanied it can be reduced to two: (1) the pain of it and (2) the shame. In Hebrews 12:2, it is said that "He endured the cross and despised the shame." The death of the cross was both painful and shameful in all its circumstances of time, place, and person. Christ was ignominiously traduced or put to open shame, and his crucifixion was particularly shameful among all people. When calling over his death in this place, the apostle refers to the same heads of suffering and shame, namely "crucifying him" and "putting him to an open shame." These apostates did not spare Christ in the latter aspect any more than in the former, so far as it lay in their power.

Therefore, we can raise a sufficient answer to an objection of no small importance that arises against our exposition of this place. The objection may be: "If those who actually and really crucified the Son of God in his own person, and put him to open shame, did yet obtain mercy and pardon of that and all other sins, as it is confessed they did, why is it that those who renounce him and do so crucify him and put him to shame only metaphorically and to themselves should be excluded from all hopes of repentance and pardon?" The answer is that the sin of those who forsake Christ and the gospel, after their conviction of its truth and profession of it, is on many accounts far greater than that of those who crucified him in the days of his flesh. There are several reasons why God will exercise more severity towards this latter sort of sinners than towards the former. The sin is greater because it cannot be excused by ignorance. This is widely accepted as the reason why the sin of crucifying Christ was forgivable upon repentance, and why repentance was possible. Peter laid this out as the foundation for his exhortation to repentance in his sermon to the people: "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders," (Acts 3:17). "If they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory," (1 Corinthians 2:8), which our apostle also cites in his own case (1 Timothy 1:13). This put their sin in the category of those for which sacrifices were allowed in the past and which fell under the care of God, who knows how to have "compassion on the ignorant and on those who are out of the way." But one might ask, "How could they be excused by ignorance when they had so many means and evidences of conviction about the truth of his person as the Messiah and of his doctrine from heaven? Besides the consistent testimony of Moses and the prophets, his personal holiness and life, the effectiveness of his teaching, and the evidence of his miracles, all demonstrated and confirmed the truth of these things, such that they could only have been ignorant through willful obstinacy."

Response: First, these were indeed such means of conviction that their sin and unbelief against them had no real excuse, as the Lord himself expressed (John 15:22; John 12:47-48; John 10:36-38). Secondly, this ignorance only allowed for their repentance to be possible and their sin to be pardonable. Thirdly, this is only true until God has used all the means of conviction that he intends, and no longer. He had not yet done so. He had yet to provide two more testimonies to the truth which he would graciously afford: firstly, his resurrection from the dead, which was always afterward cited as the principal evidence of God’s approval of him (Romans 1:4); and secondly, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in his miraculous operations (Acts 2:32-33; Acts 5:32, 1 Timothy 3:16). But wherever and whenever God has granted all the means of conviction that he desires, be they ordinary or extraordinary, if they are rejected, there is no hope (Luke 16:29-31). On the other hand, the sin of rejecting Christ and the gospel after professing them is absolutely willful and done with a high hand, against all the light and conviction that God will give of the truth to anyone in this world.

These individuals had experienced the truth, goodness, and excellence of the gospel, which those others had not and could not have. They had "tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come" and had received great satisfaction in the things they were convinced of, as was explained previously. Therefore, in their rejection of Him and His teachings, an unconquerable hatred and malice must be acknowledged to be prevalent. People must be cautious when they begin to sin against their own experiences, as evil lies at the door.

During the crucifixion of the Lord Christ, God still had a plan for mercy and grace, which He would communicate to mankind through the dispensation of His Spirit. Therefore, there was a way set open for those who were guilty of that sin to repent and receive pardon. However, now that this opportunity has been taken away, only severity remains.

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was present in the sin of these individuals, for they had either experienced or witnessed the mighty operations of the Holy Spirit giving testimony to Christ and the gospel. Therefore, they could not renounce the Lord Christ without ascribing these works of the Holy Spirit to the devil, who acted them out. Our apostle says, "No one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus anathema," or "accursed," in 1 Corinthians 12:3. To call Him anathema is to declare and avow that He was justly crucified as an accursed person and a public pest. These individuals who went over to the Jews, in support of what they had done against Him, did just that. No one can do this while speaking by the Holy Spirit, and whoever does so is influenced by the spirit of the devil. If they have known the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the contrary, they do it in spite of Him, which makes the sin irremissible.