Falling Away. More Reasonable. What do you Think?

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
a. For it is impossible: The word impossible is put in a position of emphasis. The writer to the Hebrews is not saying it is just difficult, but truly without possibility.
i. Note the other uses of impossible in Hebrews: It is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18). It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats can take away sin (Hebrews 10:4). Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
ii. “This word *impossible stands immovable.” (Alford)
b. Who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come: Their experience is impressive. The big debate is whether this is the experience of salvation, or the experience of something short of salvation.
i. Enlightened: This ancient Greek word has the same meaning as the English word. These people have experienced the light of God shining upon them.
ii. Tasted: This word speaks of a full, real experience (as in how Jesus tasted death in Hebrews 2:9). The heavenly gift is probably salvation (Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8).
iii. Partakers of the Holy Spirit is an unique term, having to do with receiving the Holy Spirit and having fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
iv. Tasted the good word of God means they have experienced the goodness of God’s word, and have seen its work in their lives.
v. The powers of the age of come is a way to describe God’s supernatural power. The ones written of here have indeed tasted of these powers.
c. One of the most heated debates over any New Testament passage is focused on this text. The question is simple: Are these people who have had these impressive spiritual experiences in fact Christians? Are they God’s elect, chosen before the foundation of the world?
i. Commentators divide on this issue, each deciding the issue with great certainty but with no agreement.
ii. Remember that one can have great spiritual experiences and still not be saved (Matthew 7:21-23). One can even do many religious things and still not be saved. The perfect example of this are the Pharisees, who evangelized (Matthew 23:15), prayed impressively (Matthew 23:14), made religious commitments (Matthew 23:16), tithed rigorously (Matthew 23:23), honored religious traditions (Matthew 23:29-31) and who fasted (Luke 18:12).
iii. Yet, from a human perspective, who would call anyone who seemed to have the credentials mentioned in Hebrews 6:4-5 a non-Christian? We might make that person an elder! From all human observation, we must say these are Christians spoken of in Hebrews 6:4-5.
iv. It is possible to display some fruit or spiritual growth, then to die spiritually, showing that the “soil of the heart” was never right (Mark 4:16-19).
v. So are they Christians? From a human perspective we would say they are. Yet, from God’s perspective, it is impossible to say on this side of eternity.
d. For it is impossible . . . if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance: If these people are Christians or not, once they have come to this place, it is impossible for them to repent.
i. If these are just Christians who “lost their salvation,” the terrible fact is that they can never regain it. This passage was used by some in the early church (like Montanists and Novatianists) to say that there was no possibility of restoration if one sinned significantly after their baptism.
ii. Others have explained it by saying that this is all merely a hypothetical warning, in light of Hebrews 6:9. So, they say, no one can really lose their salvation. But what good is it to warn someone against something that can’t happen?
iii. Still others think that this penalty deals only with reward, not with salvation itself. They stress the idea that repentance is called impossible, not salvation.
iv. This difficult passage is best understood in the context of Hebrews 6:1-2. The writer to the Hebrews means that if they do retreat back to Judaism, all the religious “repentance” in the world will do them no good. Their forsaking of Jesus is tantamount to crucifying Him all over again, especially if they were to express their repentance in traditional Jewish forms: especially animal sacrifice, which denies the total work of Jesus for them on the cross.
e. If they fall away: Remember there is a great difference between falling and falling away. Falling away isn’t just falling into some sin, it is actually departing from Jesus Himself. For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity. (Proverbs 24:16) The difference is between a Peter and a Judas. If you depart from Jesus, there is no hope!
i. The message to these Christians who felt like giving up was clear: if you don’t continue on with Jesus, don’t suppose you will find salvation by just going on with the old basics that are common to Judaism; if you aren’t saved in Jesus, you aren’t saved!
ii. If one falls like this, does it mean they can’t repent? That God prohibits their repentance? Remember first that repentance itself is a gift from God; no one genuinely repents without God’s enabling. Second, if one does repent, that in itself is evidence that they have not truly fallen away.
iii. The idea is not that “if you fall away, you can’t come back to Jesus ever,” but that “if you turn your back on Jesus, don’t expect to find salvation anywhere else, especially in the foundations of Judaism apart from the fullness of Jesus.”
iv. “This passage has nothing to do with those who fear lest it condemns them. The presence of that anxiety, like the cry which betrayed the real mother in the days of Solomon, establishes beyond a doubt that you are not one that has fallen away beyond the possibility of renewal to repentance.” (Meyer)