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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: Will wayward christians be forgiven? |
Bible Note: "So isn't it likely that He wanted them to acknowledge their guilt and confess their sin? Interesting that they didn't do it. But isn't that the pattern of so many?" Hi, Doc! You are correct! In Isaiah 1:18-19 we find a Loving Father who seeks not to Judge or reprimand but to offer us His Love, His Grace, and His generous nurturing Providence... but as we read on, verse 20, we also find that we are expected to remain loyal to His request (confess our sins and repent from our unrighteous lifestyles, turn back to our Loving Father, and submit to His Authority!)... Eve, Adam and Cain, as many of us today, quickly produced a rational to excuse their behavior and to circumvent both the guilt and the responsibility of depending on God for forgiveness and cleansing! We have become masters at avoidance while following the example of Pharisees and Sadducees who promoted their self-righteousness while augmenting any fault/error that they perceived (projected) on others... ...we disregard Jesus' command not to judge others and to look into our own faults before attempting to correct/educate others... we even become oblivious to the prayer Jesus taught His disciples which include both a direct command to forgive others and a direct command to ask God for forgiveness... Basically it is Pride, the ancient motivator, that creeps into us and slowly erodes away our dependency on God... Pride, when nurtured, boosts our egos and convinces many that God has automatically forgiven us all our trespasses and that we do not have to answer to Him for our "choices"--thusly, avoiding the pain of guilt, the shame of repentence, and the humiliation of recognizing that we are not autonomous but that we are eternally dependent on Christ! God Bless! Angel |