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NASB | Hebrews 6:4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Hebrews 6:4 For [it is impossible to restore to repentance] those who have once been enlightened [spiritually] and who have tasted and consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit, |
Subject: Hebrews 6:4 |
Bible Note: Greetings CDBJ! Your explanation of the conditional clauses was excellent. However, there is one small problem. There is no conditional conjunction in Heb. 6:4-6. So, the different types of conditional clauses don't apply to this passage. Rather, Heb. 6:4-6 lists five aorist participles which describe the condition of those being discussed. They have: 1) ...been enlighted - v. 4. 2) ...tasted the heavenly gift - v. 4. 3) ...shared in the Holy Spirit - v. 4. 4) ...tasted the goodness of the Word and the powers of the coming age - v. 5. 5) ....fallen away - v. 6. I don't know why some translations put an "if" here, since it simply is not in the Greek. The phrase "bring them back to repentance" refers to all five of these statements, not just the "fallen away." This doesn't mean that your interpretation is necessarily wrong. This is a very difficult passage and there are four ways of looking at it. 1) That is is describing the danger of "losing" one's salvation. 2) That is is describing individuals who have never really accepted Christ, but merely made a profession and then turned away. 3) That it is a hypothetical statement which describes a situation that cannot happen. 4) That "fallen away" refers to becoming disqualified for service, not "losing" one's salvation. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |