Hebrews questions

One of the best things about working in an office full of Christians is the oppotunity to spend time kicking around questions. We were talking about Hebrews 6 and assurance yesterday afternoon. I was too busy peeling tape off a freshly painted wall to think about it properly, but this would have been my answer otherwise!

I'm sometimes slow to answer questions about scripture from scripture, which is a bit silly really since the best way to understand the Bible is under its own terms. I guess it also fails to understand that the Bible is a harmony, not 66 different songs.

I guess the key to the Hebrews 6:4-6 question is: 'what does it mean to crucify again the Son of God, what does it mean to hold Him up to contempt. The writer to the Hebrews is dealing with old Jewish laws which must now be done away with. These have a link to the problem of 6:8 (hence the 'for at the start of v4, but you can read, so you know that!). So perhaps in that context crucifying the son of God again means to go back to elementry Jewish practice. From there it is not possible to come again to repentance. Why? I guess because hearts become lazy, complacent and hardened, and sinful indulgence will always win over against a life of self denial. Our spiritual senses get so dimmed that even the thought of repentance is far from our minds.

What about 1 John 3:6? No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning. This might be the key. To keep on sinning could very well mean the same as crucifying the Son of God again, since it was for our sins He died. i take it that keep on sinning means habitual non repented of sin. So if we continue to sin our hope is gone, and Christs advocacy over us is lost. This is God giving us up to our sins.

He will not be mocked. He did not have His Son killed on the cross that people might sin their lives away, but that we might know Him. If we see Christs death on our behalf as just a reason to keep sinning we may well be 'crucifying the Son of God again'. If we heed the Hebrews 6 warnings and flee to Christ with repentance, He will receive us forever.