[For the sake of comparison and study of the word "enlightened" within the book of Hebrews, I have provided several translations of the verses that I will be looking at. The verses are Heb 6:4-6 and Heb 10:32-34. The various translations are the English Standard Version (ESV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New International Version (NIV)*, and the Greek New Testament (GNT).]
For starters, I am a Calvinist. Anyone who knows me or reads my blog can figure that out. But like any good student of the bible, I have questions. One of the recent questions that has come up is whether a christian can "fall away" or not. This is a tough question because as a 5 pointer, perseverance of the saints is an extremely important and comforting point of doctrine within TULIP. But there is one thing that I do not want to be as a student of the bible and that is a person who ignores certain scriptures for the sake of my "comfort" or because of my theological presuppositions. The scriptures must be dealt with. Because of these convictions, I have undertaken the task of looking at the famous "lose your salvation" passage, Heb 6:4-6. This is not a Calvinistic defense against those who use this passage nor will it be a Calvinistic explanation of this passage. This is just a simple observation of the debated word "enlightened" and what it might have meant by the author of the book of Hebrews and to the audience of Hebrews.
Hebrews 6:4-6
4For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. (ESV)
4For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. (NASB)
4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. (NIV)
4᾿Αδύνατον γὰρ τοὺς ἅπαξ φωτισθέντας, γευσαμένους τε τῆς δωρεᾶς τῆς ἐπουρανίου καὶ μετόχους γενηθέντας Πνεύματος ῾Αγίου 5καὶ καλὸν γευσαμένους Θεοῦ ῥῆμα δυνάμεις τε μέλλοντος αἰῶνος, 6καὶ παραπεσόντας, πάλιν ἀνακαινίζειν εἰς μετάνοιαν, ἀνασταυροῦντας ἑαυτοῖς τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ παραδειγματίζοντας. (GNT)
The greek word for enlightened in this verse is φωτισθέντας (acc/pl/masc/aorist passive participle). Because it is an aorist passive participle, it is actually responsible for the english phrase "been enlightened" meaning the enlightening took place in the past. The lexical form for this greek word is φωτίζω which means: give light to, light, shine on; bring to light, reveal, make known; enlighten, illumine [inwardly] (definition taken from the United Bible Societies, Greek New Testament 4th Edition). Also, because the case of the participle is in the accusative, it means that the subject of the sentence (those "people" v.4) is the direct object (in this case reciever) of the enlightening.
Now that the greek word for enlightened has been established, what can it possibly mean? First, we must think back to the metaphoric meaning of light throughout the bible. When the bible speaks of illumining or being a light, what does that mean? Most would agree that the metaphorical meaning of light can be interpreted as (1) Christ himself. The Gospel of John specifically refers to Christ as the Light (Jn 1:4-5, 7-9/3:19-21/8:12/9:5/11:9-10/12:35-36,46) (2) Regenerated people. I say regenerated because it is Christ who is the light within His people. This can be seen in verses such as "You are the light of the world" (matt. 5:14-16), "the sons of light" (luke 16:8), to Paul: "I have made you a light for the Gentiles" (acts 13:47), "for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (eph 5:8-9), "that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world" (philippians 2:15), "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light" (col 1:12), "For you are all children of light" (1 thess 5:5),etc. (3) The revelation of the Truth of God (Gospel) but not necessarily salvific. "the people dwelling in darknesshave seen a great light" (matt 4:16), "to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,to guide our feet into the way of peace." (luke 1:79), "a light for revelation to the Gentiles" (luke 2:32), "to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God" (acts 26:18), "that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles." (acts 26:23), "to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God" (2 cor 4:4), etc.
Now that we have seen possible interpretations for the metaphorical meaning of light, I want to list a couple of arguments that come from us calvinists about the possible meaning of Heb 6:4-6. The first argument, that I myself have used, is that this verse is referring to those people without faith who were part of the visible church (non-elect churchgoer) but not the invisible church (elect). The argument for this is backed up by saying "tasted of the heavenly gift" (v.4) refers to the Lord's Supper and "who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age" (v.4-5) refers to the church in which the Holy Spirit operated through the Word and is the Kingdom of God here on earth (this second point I personally have argued for and may not be the general Reformed argument). The second argument that is used by us calvinists is that verse 6, taken to its logical conclusion, tells us that if a person does truly fall away, they will not be able to repent again. By saying this, we destroy the arguments of those people who say that one can lose their salvation and regain it again. There are whole other arguments about the meaning of repentance (v.6) that I will not go into. I find that the key to the verse lies in the word enlightened.
How then must the word enlightened be translated? The greek word φωτίζω by definition could also be translated illumine [inwardly] could it not? Hebrews 6:4 could rightly be interpreted "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been inwardly illumined," could it not? How could we accurately portray what the writer of Hebrews is trying to tell his readers through the word enlightened? Upon further research, I found that the writer of Hebrews gives us his definition a few chapters later in Heb 10:32. An english reader would not catch it if he were using the NIV (as will be shown below) but those with the ESV or NASB will be able to see it. Heb 10:32-34 is as follows...
Hebrews 10:32-34
32But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. (ESV)
32But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 34For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. (NASB)
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.(NIV)
32᾿Αναμιμνῄσκεσθε δὲ τὰς πρότερον ἡμέρας, ἐν αἷς φωτισθέντες πολλὴν ἄθλησιν ὑπεμείνατε παθημάτων, 33τοῦτο μὲν ὀνειδισμοῖς τε καὶ θλίψεσι θεατριζόμενοι, τοῦτο δὲ κοινωνοὶ τῶν οὕτως ἀναστρεφομένων γενηθέντες. 34καὶ γὰρ τοῖς δεσμίοις μου συνεπαθήσατε καὶ τὴν ἁρπαγὴν τῶν ὑπαρχόντων ὑμῶν μετὰ χαρᾶς προσεδέξασθε, γινώσκοντες ἔχειν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς κρείττονα ὕπαρξιν ἐν ουρανοῖς καὶ μένουσαν. (GNT)
Upon reading the greek, one can quickly see that the word for enlightened in v.32 is the same as in Heb 6:4. The word is φωτισθέντες (nom/pl/masc/aorist passive participle). The only thing that has changed is that the case in this word is in the nomitive instead of the accusative (Heb 6). That just means that this participle is attributive to the subject of the sentence. This participle is describing the audience as having already been enlightened. The NIV has interpreted this same word slightly different in ch. 10 than it did in ch.6. Be that as it may, the fact remains that this is the same word that the author is using and this time context seems to make it clear what the author has meant by the word enlightened. The author is talking about those who have been regenerated for why else would he say that they have endured all these hardships "since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one" (v.34). Anyone reading this verse would conclude that this "better" and "abiding possession" is talking about eternal life.
In conclusion, this poses a very hard question for us calvinists. Can a believer truly fall away from the faith? I still remain a calvinist because there are other passages that talk about a believers assurance but one cannot deny such biblical proof that seems to teach a falling away. Also, I am in no way saying that this entails synergistic sanctification for there is proof all throughout the NT of monergistic sanctification. This is just food for thought so feel free to reply :)
*I am aware that the English translations are all from the King James family.
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