KennethBow's Blog

Fall away

Heb 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
Heb 6:5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

What does this passage mean? What is the essence of falling away?

In my years of study it appears there are various situations of people that stop serving God. These are some of the situations:

Prodigal~ Luke 15.11, This is someone who just gets tired or self willed. They do not deny God or deny their experience with God. They know they need to get right with God and return to Him. These people we refer to as backslider. These people simply need to return to church and renew their experience with God to be saved.

2. Reprobate~ 2 Timothy 3.8, these are people who return to a former religion and claim it is enough to be saved. It can be a form of christianity or another religion altogether. In the case of Hebrews 6, they were returning to Judaism. These people are in a serious condition. The only hope for salvation has been discarded and now a substitute is being trusted. Satan works mightily to convince them they are saved and this condition is very hard to recover from. In my opinion their only hope is for true children of God to intercede in their behalf and ask God to arrest their faith.

3. Enemies of the cross~ Philippians 3.18, These are people who once knew Christ but have turned away, or have fallen away, from Him. The greek word is for enemies is echthros: ekh-thros’ From a primary word ἔχθω echthō (to hate); hateful (passively odious, or actively hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (especially Satan): – enemy, foe. These people hate Jesus and all he stands for. As in the passage in Hebrews 6, they believe the Jews were right in crucifying Jesus. They hate the church. They openly try to pull people away from the church.

In this passage in Hebrews 6, to fall away means parapiptō: par-ap-ip’-to From G3844 and G4098; to fall aside, that is, (figuratively) to apostatize: – fall away. Apostasy is: 1 : renunciation of a religious faith 2 : abandonment of a previous loyalty : defection.

The word renew in the phrase “renew them again” to repentance is; anakainizō: an-ak-ahee-nid’-zo From G303 and a derivative of G2537; to restore: – renew. We cannot be born after the first time spiritually or physically. There are times we all wish we could go back and start over. It would be nice to have that first time initial experience again, but Paul is saying that is impossible to renew. It has already happened.

Paul is encouraging the Hebrew people to not go back to Judaism. He is writing to explain you can only be born of the water and Spirit once. After that you must pray though or get right with God but you cannot repeat the whole process. It is a fact and you are a child of God. You cannot go back and say I would like to start again and repent, get baptized, and get the Holy Ghost and start over.

Lastly, that is why Paul refers to crucifying Christ again. We all know He cannot be crucified again, He has already been crucified. To try and return to the original salvation we experienced is impossible, just as crucifying Christ is impossible. To try and renew our original repentance and conversion would be tantamount to asking Christ to be crucified again so we could have a fresh beginning.

Paul is making the strong statement that the cross, the crucifixion, and your repentance (conversion both water and spirit), are events that cannot be replicated. If you fall away you can never duplicate those again. You can never restore these things back to original condition, or cause them to happen again. They simply are.

The reprobate is not lost because he cannot be saved. The reprobate will be lost because he or she rejects the only answer for sin; Jesus Christ.

May God keep His hand on all of us so that we never fall away. Should that ever happen, may we be willing to humble ourselves and return to God for that is the only answer. We cannot go back and experience our original birth either natural or spiritual. We have been enlightened!

Thanks for reading today…

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There are times in the tides of life where philosophies drift in different directions. Somewhere on the road of life ideology diverges.

At times it is small and not quickly noticed until farther along the road it is obvious the trails are leading in different paths.

Sir William Edward Parry was an English naval officer and record-setting explorer of the Arctic. He made one of the first attempts to reach the North Pole. Parry made it farther than any previous explorer. His record stood for nearly 50 years.

On one of his trips he was pushing hard across the ice toward the pole. He stopped and calculated his position by the stars, then pushed on north. Hours later they stopped again. The men were exhausted. When he checked his position again he was stunned.

He was further away than he was hours ago. He discovered something unbelievable. Parry was an expert in navigation so he knew his calculations were correct. He had written a book on the subject of navigation. He discovered his problem.

He and his team had been on a gigantic ice flow that was moving south faster than he and his men were moving north. He was losing ground faster than they could move forward. It was the one step forward, two steps backward syndrome in real life and time.

The ice flow was so large and moving so slowly that Perry’s loss of position was imperceptible until he recalculated.

I truly believe all of us need to stop and recalculate at times and see if the direction we are headed is going to take us where we want to eventually go.

I am at one of those moments in my life and ministry.

As a young man I received local license with the United Pentecostal Church. I then applied for and was granted general license. A few years later I was ordained. I have been a supporting member for over 40 years now. It is all I have ever known.

The last few years I have reflected on the future final years of my ministry. So today I stop to recalculate my position and where I would like to be at the end of my ministry.

I am choosing to make a change and say goodby to the only organization I have ever been a part of. They have been so good to me through the years. The men of the UPCI have been friends and gentlemen, especially the last 16 years in Washington State. I sincerely say thank you for your kindness and christian friendship.

This is not an easy choice, nor a quick one. It is a long slow decision. The UPCI supported my family for two years in 1981-1982, while I established a church in Canada. I will ever be indebted and thankful.

I hope my body of work in return compensates. Many years I was a Home Missions director for two different districts I served as District Editor for seven years. I served on national boards and committees. I pray all this adds up to a balanced ledger. I have received and I have given in return.

So it is with a sense of finishing my race I decide to change my direction for my remaining years of my ministry.

I am choosing to become an independent minister of the gospel not affiliated with an organization.

My friends will tease me and say what’s new with that? You have always been independent 🙂 And there is truth to that 🙂

My doctrine, my way of life, my friends, my associations, will all remain the same.

As I move into the sunset years of my life and ministry I remember an old poem I have loved through the years….

~WE MET ON ROADS OF LAUGHTER~

We met on roads of laughter,
Both careless at the start,
But other roads came after
And wound around my heart.

There are roads a wise man misses
And roads where fools will try
To say farewell with kisses,
Touch love and say good-bye.

We met on roads of laughter;
Now wistful roads depart,
For I must hurry after,
To over take my heart.

~Charles Divine~

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