Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 7
Chrysostom says Hebrews 6 is not teaching “repentance is done away with,” but that “being renewed again by baptism” is what’s impossible; how does that difference change the emotional force of Hebrews 6 for someone who has fallen badly, and what does it imply God is (and is not) withholding?
Another way to ask: Chrysostom says Hebrews 6 doesn’t mean repentance is gone, but that being renewed again by baptism is impossible. How would that change how someone feels after a major fall, and what does it suggest God is—and is not—refusing to give?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
This reading turns Hebrews 6 from a despair text (“God won’t take you back”) into a sobriety text (“you can’t reset baptism”), while still preserving real hope through repentance. It implies God is not withholding repentance and restoration, but he is withholding a second baptism as a way of “washing it all away” again.
- Chrysostom asks, “Are you trying to say that repentance is done away with? God forbid, no. Not repentance.”
- The speaker states plainly: “What is being done away with is… being renewed again by baptism… talking about a second baptism.”
- He says Hebrews 6 must be read to the end: it’s “impossible… to bring him to repentance by crucifying Christ again,” tying the impossibility to the meaning of baptism.
- Hope is emphasized at the end: “If a man sins after his baptism… Is he permanently lost?… The answer is absolutely not… There is repentance… and it has great force.”
- Repentance can reach even extreme cases: it can “set a man free… even if he has gone to the very depths of wickedness,” and “it is possible… that Christ should be formed in us again.”