At first, Christianity was available only to the Jews...
I always thought it peculiar that Jesus sent the 12 apostles to the Jews but sent the apostle Paul to the Gentiles...We have no idea what Jesus instructed those 12 apostles to teach the Jews...
And when Jesus is done with the Gentile church in Romans 11 he will then turn back to his people, the Jews and what exactly he will tell them then we don't know either...
If someone chooses to reject Christ, they will be damned. Just like 2 Tim 2 says, “If we deny him, he also will deny us.”
And yet Peter denied Jesus 3 times but was still accepted by Jesus...So apparently when it says Jesus will deny us it doesn't mean we will be damned...And of course denying Jesus doesn't mean we no longer believe in Jesus...
Hebrews 6 is notorious for being one of the toughest bits of scripture in the entire bible...No one can be certain what it really means and agreement on what it means has evaded bible scholars since the beginning of bible scholars...
One possibly skewed way to look at the verses is that it says a person can't come back to Jesus by repenting again...But the fact that you can come back to Jesus after denying him was proven by Peter...I don't know...Perhaps a 2nd repentance is out of the picture...
In my opinion, Hebrews was written for Jews who were expected to go into the Tribulation right after the Crucifixion and when that didn't pan out, it now pertains to the Jews who will go thru the Tribulation after the Rapture...In which case there are things in there that haven't fully been revealed to us...Because they don't pertain to us...
And yet Peter denied Jesus 3 times but was still accepted by Jesus.
A very careful scrutinizing of the four gospels will show that on that night after Jesus was arrested, Simon denied Jesus in 6 instances. 3 before the first cockcrow, and 3 more after the second cockcrow; two different times to one of the accusers, to 5 different people in all. But remember, at this moment Peter was still under the Old Mosaic/Davidic Covenant of the Law. At this point, he was not indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Throughout this period of the Law, the Spirit could come and rest ON an individual, and after a while not stay but go away (Saul, 1 Sam. 10:6, 15:26, 16:13-14; Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter, Luke 9:1, 12:9 & Mt. 10:33, Lk. 22:3,61). Satan entered Judas' heart, but not that of Simon Peter.
After Jesus' resurrection, He did confer the Spirit UPON ten of His disciples for the time He walked with them (Jn. 20:22) during forty days; and also restored Simon back to his position among the other 10 (Jn. 21:15-18). Finally, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirt came to dwell IN each of the. From then on, Peter did not/could not ever deny Christ.
But the fact that you can come back to Jesus after denying him was proven by Peter...I don't know...Perhaps a 2nd repentance is out of the picture...
No, that is not proven for the time of the Age of Grace, the Church Age that started on the day of Pentecost. If you are really indwelt by theHoly Spirit, you cannot deny Jesus. You cannot come under judgment/condemnation again (Jn. 5:26).
Remember, Peter was one of the Jews from whom the Old Covenant was removed when it was fulfilled by Jesus at the Cross, and to whom the New Covenant was presented for their continuing access to God. Anyone not willing to give up the now-dead Old one and accept Jesus as God and Master, rejecting Him, had no other way to be saved, reborn spiritually, and receive God's favor as His people. The old way of repenting from one's sins and blood-letting of bulls and goats and doves could no longer achieve atonement and forgiveness. And that's what Hebrews 6:4-6 is all about.
Capisce?