Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Thomas Hewitt on Hebrews 6:4

While a proponent of the perseverance of the saints/eternal security, Thomas Hewitt, when commenting on Heb 6:4, noted that John Calvin and John Owen were wrong in their understanding of “tasted of the heavenly gift”:

 

Both Calvin and Owen reject the idea that tasted of the heavenly gift means ‘experienced’ but in the light of ii. 9 and taking into account Psalm xxxiv. 8-10 (‘O taste and see that the Lord is good’), which was most probably in the mind of the writer, it seems that the persons so described had an actual experience of the heavenly gift. This gift has been variously taken to mean the Holy Spirit, the forgiveness of sins, the gift of redemption, and the gift of grace. Support for all these can be found from other parts of Scripture, but it seems better to refer it to Jesus Christ who more than once claimed to have come down from heaven (cf. Jn. Iii.13, 31, 32, vi. 32, 35). Tasted of the heavenly gift could then refer to those who, through repentance and faith, have had a definite spiritual experience of Jesus Christ. (Thomas Hewitt, The Epistle to the Hebrews [Tyndale New Testament Commentaries; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1960], 106-7)