I’m guessing that for most people, most often, when they pause over Hebrews 6 it’s to have a debate. The question? Who, in these opening verses of this passage, has “fallen away” and cannot be restored again to repentance? Is it a believer the writer’s referring to? If so, then what about eternal security? Is it someone who looked like a believer but never was? If so, just how far can someone who is spiritually dead experience spiritual things without actually being spiritually alive? Theologians, start your engines! Let the debate begin!

But this morning, as I’m noodling on this passage, this I know, I am a believer. I am saved. And the signs of eternal life described in this passages are my vital signs. The taste described I’ve tasted. So, call me selfish, but rather than stew about who, I am going to rejoice in what is true of me.

. . . those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come . . .

(Hebrews 6:4-5 ESV)

Seen the light. Had a taste of the freely given riches of heaven. Have become a companion with the Holy Spirit. Experienced the sheer goodness of God’s word. Have had a sampling of the powers of a glorious age to come. Yup, that’s me! Praise God! Thank You, Lord!

How easy is it to take for granted water when you’re a fish? I’m guessing pretty easy (if a fish can think) given how little I think about breathing air. How dense I am to the wonder of atomic structures that flow into me unseen, do what they do as my body rhythmically keeps what it needs to keep and expels the rest.

Similarly, when’s the last time you looked in the mirror in the morning as you were getting ready and said to yourself, “Self, there’s the face of a divinely enlightened person?” As you brush your teeth and taste that minty freshness thought, “Nothing like the taste of the heavenly gift I’ve experienced and the goodness of the word of God I’ve known.” Looking deep into the eyes of the face staring back at you and whispering, “Wow! You are sharing in the Holy Spirit. Get ready for another day with an encounter of the divine kind as you are again graced with another appetizer-sized bite of the powers of the age to come.”

Okay, maybe it would be weird to have that kind of conversation with yourself as you look into the mirror with a toothbrush in your mouth. But have that conversation as you hover over your bible in the morning? Not so weird. Instead, wonderful . . . as in wonder full . . . as in worship evoking.

What a great salvation. What a jaw-dropping transformation. What a hope-securing expectation. All because — and no controversy about this — I am a child of God.

True of me. True of you?

By His grace. For His glory.