Hebrews 10:26...and 6:4-6

[Selah]

"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins"

This verse has always confused me. Does this mean that, if a Christian turns his back on Jesus, they cannot come back? The verse says that there would be no more sacrifice for sin.

Here's another...

"For it is impossible to keep on restoring to repentance time and again people who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have become partners with the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the coming age, 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." Hebrews 6:4-6

Can you guys help me with this?

Selah

[Guest]

Hey whats up ?
Ive read this before and applied it to my own life. I fell away from the catholic church and lost complete faith in Christ. God then brought me back and restored my faith. To me that scripture is saying that if I were to fall away once again and lose my faith that there is nothing God could do for me. Since I was already enlightened to his truth and goodness. Thats how I take it. Godbless !

[Paddington]

I have a feeling there is more to be said here.

[CatherineM]

The enlightenment they are talking about here is actually baptism. Heavenly gift is the Eucharist. Apostasy was a recurring problem in the early church. Early on people would go back and forth between the church and the temple. I imagine that there were family pressure, society pressure. When the persecutions really began, some people just couldn't handle the idea of martyrdom. When things would settle down, they'd want to come back until the next round of persecutions. It was common for people facing martyrdom to ask for forgiveness of those who ran away. When the persecutions stopped, people who had endured it, kind of didn't want the fall aways taken back in to the church. That's where the whole "sack cloth and ashes" stuff comes from. Those who turned their backs rather than endure, had to go through a pretty difficult public humiliation. Granted, it wasn't anything like facing the lions, but you can imagine what kind of debates went on around this issue early on.

[thessalonian]

The first one I think implies mortal sin. When in mortal sin there is no more sacrifice for sin until we repent.

The second one I think is in the context of our not being able to restore one back to the faith if they fall away from Christ. But that does not mean God cannot. We also have to keep in mind Catholic theology regarding what is and isn't mortal sin. I.e. many may have left the Church without full knowledge and we leave it to God to judge these. They may not be in mortal sin for having left. I do see a very dark element to those who are anti-catholic who have studied the faith and have their heals dug in against the Church. It truly takes the grace of God to restore them to the fold as you can go around in circles all day and they will not listen. These to me make total sense out of the second passage.