Hey Joe,

I wanted to add a couple of thoughts since I did not have time yesterday to address them. The first is the idea that people receiving the warnings are supposedly not to engage in self-examination:

In reply to:
[color:"blue"]Nothing in the text calls those warned to engage in a process of self-examination...In fact, the writer never calls into question whether or not he and his readers have experienced the grace of God. That is taken for granted.



The author does indeed write earlier, "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God (Hebrews 3:12). I suppose Pastor Lusk may claim that the recipients were not actually to examine themselves for such an evil heart of unbelief, only to beware of it, but that would seem rather silly.

At the same time, the author does exhort and treat the recipients as fellow Christians, and for this observation by Lusk and the others I am in agreement and appreciative of that. But the fact that the author regards them this way does not mean he is going to tell them to assume he is absolutely correct in that! This is one of the problems with the Auburn theology that I find. Namely, that since the covenant is objective, and since it provides a basis by which I am to comprehend other people as Christians, it means that I am to apply these same rules to myself without any "self-examination." I simply find it to be a false dillema. Just because I am not to try and figure out all the really converted people in my church and only treat them as fellow church members does not mean I am supposed to cease and desist all such examination of my own heart.

Finally, I just wanted to share a few thoughts about this passage in terms of what the writer is doing. I think it is important to remember that Hebrews 6:4 and following are an explanation as to why he has chosen not to go over the elementary principles again, but has decided to go on "to perfection." The reason for this is that they fully know the Gospel. They ought to be teachers by this time. The writer knows that their behavior is a reflection of one of two possibilities then. Either they have understood the Gospel and consciously rejected it or they are still immature in their thinking. The remainder of the book weaves in warnings about being in the first category, but proceeds upon the optimisim that they are in the second. Hence, after explaining that there is nothing more to say to someone who has been fully acquainted with the Gospel but rejected it, and that he is optimistic this is not the case for them, he "moves on to perfection" in chapter 7.

My $.02,

~Jason