Spiritual Israelite
Well-Known Member
I don't know what you are intending to say here. What do you think he said is impossible? He said it is impossible to be renewed again to repentance if someone falls away. Do you have a different understanding of what he said than that?You're assuming Paul implies something he did not. He begins saying "it is IMPOSSIBLE", not that it might be possible.
I believe the description in Hebrews 6:4-5 is of someone who is beyond just having "every appearance of being eternally secure in Christ". That description only fits someone who is actually in Christ, just like we see in Hebrews 3:1.Some who have every appearance of being eternally secure in Christ have and shall fall away.
To fall away is not a case of the Spirit abandoning someone, it's a case of someone abandoning God.Not because the Spirit abandoned them, but because they never possessed the Spirit.
Of course we can't give ourselves spiritual life. But, we don't receive the Spirit until after we have first put our faith in Christ.Remember, it is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh profits nothing.
John 6:63 (KJV) It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
1 Peter 3:18 (KJV) For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
Ephesians 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
He won't leave us, but scripture indicates that we can leave Him, which explains why the warnings in passages like Hebrews 3:12-14 and Hebrews 6:4-6 are given to believers.Once the Spirit has been given, we are promised the Spirit will never leave us.
You're not understanding what falling away means. It's not the Spirit falling away from a person, it's a person falling away from God.If the life-giving Spirit shall never leave us, how could we who have truly been eternally born again of the Spirit ever fall away from Christ?
You're only looking at half of the story here. Notice it says "that he MAY abide with you forever". Why do you think that man has no responsibility even though scripture repeatedly talks about man's responsibility before God? What do you think is the point of judgment day if man has no responsibility?The Spirit sent from Christ will be with us until we are physically raised to immortality and incorruption.
John 14:16 (KJV) And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Again, you are not including man's responsibility into the equation. You're only looking at half of the picture.Ephesians 1:13-14 (KJV) In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
In Calvinism those warnings are pointless because in that belief system God alone determines whether someone will repent and believe or not.There are both wheat and tares, sheep and goats, believers and unbelievers, Scripture is replete with warnings.
In Calvinism, those people will have never known Him because God made it that way. So, it has God punishing them for no reason.In addition we read of the many who shall be standing before the judgment throne of God believing they were of Christ because of how good they appeared. Sadly, they will hear, "I never knew you."
Why do we need to examine ourselves if it's completely up to God as to whether we are saved or not? There is no point in having any concern about our spiritual status if we have no say in the matter, as Calvinism teaches.No, we must not be presumptuous with our inheritance in Christ, which is why we are warned to examine ourselves, and to try the spirits that seem to be of Christ not being deceived or deceiving ourselves.