"Isn't this an example of our Lord welcoming us home after falling away? Is this a contradiction to Hebrews 6:4-6?"
I think both interpretation you have of these passages would lead you to that conclusion. It did for me. I grappled with Hebrews 6 for a long time, but the Holy Spirit in His mercy, showed me that these passages don't contradict but rather compliment each other. There are only 2 logical conclusions to Hebrews 6. One is that once you fall away you can never come back. Never be saved again. Which we all know is not true. Even you guys believe that you can restore yourself to salvation. The other logical conclusion is that falling away is impossible and this is why, becuase Christ cannot die again on the Cross. His sacrifice is perfect. If you could fall away, then you are saying that what Christ did on the Cross was insufficient, so why goes through this vicious cycle of falling away and re-sacrificing Christ on the Cross, or as Hebrews so wonderfully puts it "Since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."
JM
There are only 2 logical conclusions to Hebrews 6. One is that once you fall away you can never come back. Never be saved again. Which we all know is not true. Even you guys believe that you can restore yourself to salvation. The other logical conclusion is that falling away is impossible and this is why, becuase Christ cannot die again on the Cross. His sacrifice is perfect. If you could fall away, then you are saying that what Christ did on the Cross was insufficient, so why goes through this vicious cycle of falling away and re-sacrificing Christ on the Cross, or as Hebrews so wonderfully puts it "Since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."Interesting. I was thinking about this last night and did some reading on this. What you use as proof that we can't fall from God's grace, the Catholic uses as proof that we can. In the footnotes in one of my bibles (NAB) I found this regarding Hb. 6:4-6 ...
4. "... enlightened ant tasted the heavenly gift ..." - This may refer to baptism & the Eucharist, but more probably means our enlightenment by faith and our experience of salvation.
5. "... tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, ..." - The proclamation of the "word of God" was accompanied by signs of the Spirit's power.
And here's the kicker ... 6. "... recrucifying the Son of God, putting Him to shame." - A colorful description of the malice of apostasy which is portrayed as again crucifying and deriding the Son of God.
Taking this approach, this passage is speaking of those that are in apostasy. They have abandoned God and Jesus.
Thoughts?