Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 1
The speaker emphasizes that Hebrews 6:4–6 says “impossible,” not merely “unlawful” or “not expedient”; how does that word choice shape Chrysostom’s reading, and what does it suggest about God’s seriousness regarding baptism, repentance, and spiritual drift?
Another way to ask: Hebrews 6:4–6 says it is “impossible,” not just “not allowed.” How does that shape how Chrysostom reads the passage, and what does it say about how serious God is about baptism, repentance, and slowly drifting away?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Chrysostom takes “impossible” as a hard boundary: not that something is discouraged, but that a certain route back—being “renewed again” by a second baptism—cannot happen. That intensity underscores how serious baptism is as a once-for-all entrance into forgiveness, and how dangerous it is to drift back into willful, defiling sin.
- Chrysostom stresses the wording: he “did not say, ‘It is not seemly… or not lawful.’ No, he said, ‘It is impossible.’”
- He argues the “impossible” is not repentance itself: “God forbid, no. Not repentance… What is being done away with is… being renewed again by baptism.”
- The speaker links the warning to vigilance: eternal judgment is mentioned so believers won’t think “after the cleansing of baptism… they can… be washed clean… a second time.”
- The drift described is concrete: “fallen away refers to a man… abandon his repentance and return to his sin… returned to his vomit.”
- The seriousness is tied to Christ’s once-for-all work: “Christ… dies no more… the death that he died, he died… once for all,” so treating baptism as repeatable makes the gospel a “fairy tale… and a mockery.”