Chapter Seven

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What does “partakers of the Holy Ghost” mean?

Characteristic #3:  Having become partakers of the Holy Ghost

The translation, “partakers,” has caused great misunderstanding in rightly dividing this verse of Scripture. This translation makes it appear that those who “partake” actually divide up the person they “partake” of so that all “partakers” get a little piece of him. For each “partaker” to get a little piece of him reduces the whole thing to cannibalism. This is absolutely not what this word means, as we shall shortly see.

 “Partakers” translates the Greek word metochos, an adjective used as a noun. The verb form of this word (meteko) is composed of two Greek words. First, it combines the preposition meta (with) to the Greek verb eko (to have.) The combination, then, means “to have with.”

 This adjective-noun form of the word used here, means “to partner with, co-operate with, participate with, be an accomplice with, be a fellow with, join with, compact with, covenant with, share with or be a companion with.” This is what the word means. Yet, to translate it by “partaker” smacks of cannibalism.

 The choice of “partaker” is extremely unfortunate. Here are the guidelines concerning how this word should be translated.

1. This word should be translated partner with when the emphasis is upon co-operation with one or more persons.
2. It should be translated participant when the emphasis is upon sharing in an activity.
3. It should be translated partake when the emphasis is upon sharing a thing. Let us illustrate with the following Scriptures.

 This word primarily means to partner with or cooperate with one or more person(s). In other words, when the emphasis is upon the cooperation between one or more people, a more understandable translation of metochoi is “partner with.” See Luke 5:7 below.

Luke 5:7

7                    And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. (KJV) (Italics mine)

Notice, they did not beckon to their “partakers.” They beckoned to those they were “partnering with.” Nevertheless, when the emphasis is upon the thing shared, the most understandable translation is “partaker. See below.  

Heb 3:1

1                    Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; (KJV) (Italics mine)

Of course, the heavenly calling is a thing. They do not “partner” with a thing. They “partake” of a thing. On the other hand, when the emphasis is upon the activity shared between one or more people, a more understandable translation is “participant in.”  See below.

Heb 12:8

8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, (PARTICIPANTS) then are ye bastards, and not sons. (KJV) (Parenthesis, capitals, and italics mine)

Obviously, chastisement in the preceding verse is an activity. And yes, they are all “participants in it.” Otherwise, they are bastards. They are not saved. To be sure that you, Dear Reader, fully understand this misunderstood word, we enclose one more example and explanation of it below. Go over it carefully.

2 Cor 6:14

14            Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?   (KJV) (Italics mine)

In the verse above, “fellowship” is just another way to say “co-operation.” In other words, how can there be cooperation between righteousness unrighteousness? It cannot.

 Next, we show the remaining verses in Hebrews that uses this word. These verses clear it up: “partner with” expresses co-operation with people, “participate in” expresses the sharing of an activity, and “partake” describes the sharing of a thing.

Heb 1:9

9                    Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (KJV) (Italics mine)

In the above verse, “fellows” placed the emphasis upon the “co-operation” between one or more people. Of course, in this context, the angels are the “ones” who are “partnering with” and “co-operating with” the Lord to carry out God’s scheme of things for His Holy People.

Heb 3:14

14            For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;   (KJV) (Italics mine)

This is clearly misleading. We “partner with” a person. We “partake” of a thing. Christ is not a thing. He is the blessed Son of God. A. T. Robertson said that “partners with” Christ should have been the translation here. (ATR5 P358)

Heb 6:4

4                    For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of (PARTNERS WITH) the Holy Ghost,   (KJV) (Italics, capitals and parenthesis mine)

Again, “partners with” should have been the translation here. Actually, “associate, colleague or companion” (among many other word choices) would be accurate here. Nevertheless, the cannibalistic “partaker” is not only inaccurate, but also misleading. Remember: we “partner” with a person, we “participate in” an activity, and we “partake” of a thing. But The Holy Ghost is not a thing. He is the blessed Third Person of the Godhead.

You must understand this: we “partake” of a thing; we “co-operate with” our partners who are persons, and we “participate” in an activity. Until you fully understand this, you will make two serious mistakes that render Heb. 6:4 meaningless!

1. You will turn into cannibals those who are “partakers” of the Holy Ghost.

2. You will attempt to force Group 3A above into a Christian mold. You will try to view them as Christians. Why? Because you will interpret “partakers of the Holy Ghost” to mean that these people were Christians who were indwelt by Him. You will view them as Christians who were indwelt by the Holy Ghost because this is the only way you can understand how they could all possibly “partake of Him” at the same time. You will be totally mistaken and absolutely wrong on both counts. These Hebrews belong to Group 3A. The Holy Ghost did not indwell them as we Christians are indwelt.

Without printing out any more verses for you, let us just list the way this word, metochoi is translated in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament). Note that the KJV translates metochoi the same way in some of these same Old Testament verses.

1. 1 Kings 20:30 translates metochoi by accomplice with.
2. Ps. 44:7 translates it fellows. This is quoted in Heb. 1:9.
3. Ps. 118:63 translates it companion.
4. Ps. 121:3 translates it compact.
5. Hos. 4:7 translates it joined with.
6. Eccles. 4:10 translates it fellows.

Finally, we cite Moulton and Milligan’s Lexicon. They show how secular Greek writers translate metochoi. They use "associate, colleagues, joint-owner, take part and partakers” to translate it. (MM P406)

From the above discussion, we can see that the Hebrews as a nation did not “partake” of the Holy Ghost. They “co-operated with” the Holy Ghost. He led and they followed. As long as they  “co-operated with” Him, they always succeeded.

Nothing in this passage even hints that Group 3A possessed the Holy Ghost, either as a Christian indwelling, or as a Christian baptism of the Holy Ghost, or as any other Christian thing. To view any of this as Christian adds things into this Scripture that it does not contain. Group 3A had previously come up to the trough, but did not drink. They had previously, deliberately, finally and irrevocably refused to accept Jesus as God’s final sacrifice for their sins under Moses’ law.

Had they accepted Him, they would have maintained their Abrahamic blessings of healing, prosperity, family well being and salvation without interruption. Simultaneously with their acceptance of Jesus, they would have instantly been indwelt with the Holy Ghost. They could also have been baptized in the Holy Ghost. These people, however, did not accept Jesus. They were enlightened Hebrews who had come to the trough but did not drink from it. They had stepped up to it, but they had irrevocably refused it.

How, then, can we understand this “partnering with” the Holy Ghost? We can understand it by seeing how and where it began. This partnership, this co-operation began with Abraham himself in Genesis 12. When God made the covenant with him, He told him to get out of his homeland and go to a land that He would show him (Gen.12:3). Notice the co-operating partnership here. Abraham co-operated with the Holy Ghost by leaving home. The Holy Ghost partnered with Abraham by showing him, a step at a time, the way to that Promised Land. Abraham did not cannibalize the Holy Ghost. He followed the Holy Ghost as the Holy Ghost guided him. This is “partnering with” the Holy Ghost, who is a person.

This “partnering with” the Holy Ghost continued under Moses. When the time came to conquer the land God promised them in his covenant with Abraham, God told the people three things: (1) they must take the present occupants of the land, (2) they must smite them, (3) and they must destroy them. In a word, they were to take, smite and destroy the present occupants of the land.

They were to contend with these usurpers in battle. Nevertheless, the Lord would do the delivering. They must enter the battle before God can give victory. Read the following Scriptures very, very carefully.

Deut 2:24

24                Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. (KJV) (Italics mine)

The people had to start (begin) the fight. God did nothing until the people began to possess it. They had to start the fight. Then they had to continue the fight. They had to contend. Now see our comments below. Note it well: they had to begin and they had to contend.

Deut 2:31-34

31            And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.

32            Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

33        And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

34                And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: (KJV)

In verse 31 above, when the people started the fight, God also started giving the disputed land to them. They began to possess it. God began to give it to them. (This is the exact order God followed with Abraham). He had to start the process. He had to leave home. Then God guided him a step at a time toward the land.

Then, in verses 32-34 above, as they carried the battle into the front lines of those heathen trespassers, God delivered them completely into the hands of his people. They smote the heathen, they took their cities and they utterly destroyed them, of all ages and both sexes, leaving none to remain.

They “co-operated” or “partnered with” the Holy Ghost. He also “partnered with” them. He delivered the enemy into their hands as they engaged them in a fight to the death. They were “partners with” the Holy Ghost. They never possessed him as we do in the New Birth. He never indwelt them as he does us Christians. Nevertheless, they “partnered with” Him, but they did not cannibalize him.

From the above, we plainly see that we “partner with” someone, we “participate in” an activity, and we “partake of” a thing. We “partner with” Jesus in that he died for our sins and we accept what he did. We “participate in” the activity of healing since we lay hands on the sick and God, through the Holy Spirit, causes them to recover. We “partake of” a thing, as in the Lord’s Supper.

Understand this! “Partake of the Holy Ghost” does not mean that He indwelt them as He does us Christians in the Christian era.  But although He indwells us, we do not cannibalize the Holy Ghost.

Characteristic #4: Having tasted the good word of God,
and the powers of the world to come

The word for “tasted” here is geuo, the same word used, above, to describe their “experience” of the heavenly gift. It means to “experience” here also. Now, we learn that these Hebrews experienced the “good word of God and the powers of the world to come.”

Rehma translates “word” here. Rehma is in contrast to logos that also translates “word.” Logos means “the word of God in its entirety,” whereas rehma usually means “God’s specific word concerning a specific thing.”

What, then, are the specific rehma words these Hebrews had experienced. Both the Old and New Testaments tell us what they were. We shall cite only Four Examples to demonstrate this for you.

(1)   Consider their deliverance from Egyptian bondage through the power of the Holy Ghost. In the Abrahamic covenant, God told Abraham that his people would go into slavery in Egypt. He also promised him (Promise #21 in that same covenant) that He would deliver them. He did. This was good rehma.

Gen 15:13-14

13            And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;

14            And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. (KJV)

These Hebrews experienced this good rehma of God because He kept his word. He delivered them from slavery in Egypt. Simultaneously with this tasting, they also experienced the powers of the world to come. You see the power God exercised during their deliverance is the same power He will exercise in the next world.

You remember that God sent Moses to deliver them from this awful bondage. Moses had to “partner with” the Holy Ghost by following his lead. This meant he had to make God’s demands thunder in the ears of Pharaoh. Then God “partnered with” Moses by having the Holy Ghost bring the plagues down upon Pharaoh, forcing him to let his people go. (The power God exercised in Egypt is the same power he will exercise in the coming age.)  

In fact, every time they experienced God’s good rehma word, they “partnered with” the Holy Ghost who made the rehma word come to pass. As the Holy Ghost made the rehma words come to pass, they experienced God’s powers. What they experienced of God’s powers then--as God made his word come to pass--are the same powers God will exercise in the coming world or age.

(2) Look at how the Hebrews of old passed through the Red Sea. God told Moses to hold up his rod and he would open it up. Consequently, they could pass through it on dry land. This was also good rehma.

Heb 11:29

28                By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. (KJV)

They experienced God’s good rehma. Furthermore, this power that made the sea open and the land to instantly dry is the same power God will exercise in the coming world or age.

Moses “partnered with” the Holy Ghost. He held his hands up at His command. The Holy Ghost “partnered with” him by removing the water and drying up the seabed. The people “partnered with” the Holy Ghost as they followed Moses. God told Moses and his people what to do to get across this seabed on dry land. They did what he said. Then, He did what He said he would do for them. They started the process. God made it all happen. This is “partnering with” the Holy Ghost.

(3) Consider the saga of the fall of Jericho. God told them to march around the city and He would make it fall flat for them. Then He gave it into their hands. This, too, was good rehma.

Heb 11:30

29                By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. (KJV)

Again, they experienced his good rehma, because God turned His rehma into reality for them. They “partnered with” the Holy Ghost, because they marched. They followed--to the letter-- God’s instructions for them. Then, and not before, did God flatten the city of Jericho. Only the power of almighty God could make a city fall in this manner. He will exercise this same power in the coming age.

(4) Finally, consider the case of Jesus. He is the supreme Seed of Abraham to whom the covenant promises were made. This was really good rehma.

Gen 22:18

18            And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. (KJV)

Remember, there are 60 Promises in the Abrahamic covenant. Gen. 22: 18 above is Promise #60. This is the last promise God made to Abraham in His covenant with him. It is by far the most important. This promise speaks of the coming Jesus.

Gal 3:16

16            Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (KJV) (Italics mine)

Gal 3:19

19                Wherefore then serveth the Law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. (KJV) (Italics mine)

These Group 3A Hebrews that were alive when our Author wrote had been face to face with the greatest good rehma word of all time. Here, the good word was fulfilled right before their eyes. Jesus, the seed of Promise #60, had been with them. God not only exercised his mighty power to bring Jesus on the scene to fulfill his covenant, He also exercised his power in His virgin birth, His life, His miracles, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. To show the many ways God manifested His power in the first advent of Jesus would require too much space here. Nevertheless, we must make the point that the power God exercised in the Seed fulfillment is the same identical power he will exercise in the coming age.

Nevertheless, Group 3A--after considering the evidence--made the fatal decision to esteem Him as worthless. They still esteem Jesus, the Son of God, as worthless. They decided He was nothing but a fraud. He was a usurper. To them, He was a common criminal, a liar, a cheat, and a thief. Because of their low estimation of Him, they rejected God’s final sacrifice for their sins. When they rejected this final sacrifice, God had no other way to bring them to repentance.

Remember, when a Hebrew sinned under Moses’ law, he must show his repentance by sacrificing properly. These people in Group 3A rejected God’s final sacrifice for their sins. Now they can never show their repentance because there is no sacrifice left for them that God will accept. God have mercy on them. They lost their place in the covenant with Abraham. Group 3A is irrevocably lost.

Characteristic #5: Having fallen away

“Having fallen away” translates the Greek word parapipto. This word combines the Greek preposition para (parallel) with the verb pipto (to fall). The combination means “to fall aside,” hence “to fall away.”

 First, “if they shall fall away” seems to indicate that a future possibility exists for them “to fall away.” Furthermore, “if they shall fall away” indicates that they have not fallen away yet, but that they might fall away sometime in the future.

 But this is not the way the Greek text states it. Instead, the Greek text has “having fallen away.” The word “if” is not in the Greek text at all. In other words, having fallen away is a past tense statement that declares that these Group 3A Hebrews have already fallen away!!

 They have already fallen away! The Greek text declares that the Group 3A Hebrews in verse 4 have already fallen away! The Greek text does not say, “if they shall fall away.” . . . The Greek is emphatic! It says that they have already fallen away. Their fallen condition was an existing fact then. No future possibility was in view in this verse. They have already fallen away. This characteristic identified these people for us. Fallen away was not presented as a future possibility. It was declared as an established fact; they have already fallen away!

 Again, let us go over the only way these Hebrews could have already fallen away. Remember, when a Hebrew sinned under Moses’ law, he must sacrifice properly. Then the Abrahamic blessings continued for him with no interruption. If he did not sacrifice properly, he lost everything he had by birth. The proper sacrifice was Jesus. His blood was the only blood God accepted anymore. By refusing to accept Jesus as God’s final sacrifice for their sins, they fell away. They lost it all. They lost their Abrahamic blessings of salvation, healing, prosperity and family well being. This is Group 3A. Their rejection of Him seems to be irrevocable. There is no turning back for them. They have already fallen away. God have mercy upon them.

It is impossible

Now we come to this phrase in the order in which it should have appeared in the translation. “Impossible” translates the Greek adjective, adunaton, the combination of a plus dunaton. A is the Greek negative, roughly equivalent to our English “no.” Dunaton is akin to dunamis, which means “power.” (Our English word “dynamite” comes from dunamis.) The combination, then, means “impossible” or just simply “no power.” By rejecting Jesus, God’s final sacrifice for their sins, no power exists to enable them to keep their Abrahamic blessings--including salvation.

 To renew them again unto repentance

In other words, when a Hebrew refuses to accept Jesus as God’s last sacrifice for sin under Moses’ law, there was absolutely no power left on earth, under the earth or in heaven that could bring that Christ rejecting Hebrew to a place of repentance. Having fallen away, having rejected Jesus as the final sacrifice for their sin(s), placed them into an impossible position.

 It was a position where no other sacrifice for their sins existed, because God no longer accepted any other form of sacrifice. He would never again accept blood from bulls and goats. He would only accept the blood of his son Jesus. This was the only blood that contained the power necessary to maintain their birthright, the Abrahamic blessings of salvation, healing, prosperity and family well being. Truly, there was and is power in the blood of Jesus.

 All they had to do to maintain their Abrahamic blessings was accept Jesus’ blood as God’s last sacrifice. This blood had the power necessary to maintain their birthright blessings. Apart from Jesus’ blood, there was no power to maintain them. It had become impossible for these Group 3A Hebrews to maintain them apart from the powerful blood of Jesus.

 Impossible! No power! Compare their powerless impossibility to the powerful blood of the mighty Son of God. There is power in the blood of Jesus. There is power in the blood of Jesus. Hallelujah! There is power in the blood of Jesus!

 Remember, they must show their repentance by sacrificing properly. Apart from Jesus’ blood, though, there was no proper sacrifice. No proper sacrifice means no Abrahamic blessings. They have fallen aside, they have fallen out of, and they have fallen away from all they had by birth.

Seeing they crucify afresh the Son of God

“Crucify” translates the Greek word anastauroo, a regular word for “crucify.” Another regular word for “crucify” is just stauroo, without the ana prefix.

Is this significant? Perhaps. You see, ana has two primary meanings. It means “up’ and it also means “again.” Now this word, ana, is significant here because attached to stauroo it must be viewed as meaning “again.” Hence, the translation “they crucify afresh,” means “they crucify Jesus over again.”

Some commentators and teachers, however, maintain that in Classical Greek, there was no such meaning of “again” or “afresh” associated with anastauroo. They maintain that anastauroo simply meant, “crucify,” not crucify “afresh” or “again.” According to these commentators, anastauroo did not mean that these Group 3A Hebrews crucified Jesus over again and again and again.

I could not differ more completely with these commentators and teachers, since these Group 3A people absolutely did crucify Jesus over and over, again and again.

Look closer at anastauroo, the word translated “crucify.” This word is a “present participle” in the Greek text. In Greek grammar, the most common use of the present tense is “to describe continuous action occurring in present time.” Therefore, in this context, anastauroo (crucify) means that the Group 3A Hebrews who deliberately and finally rejected God’s final sacrifice, crucify and keep on keeping on, keeping on, keeping on crucifying the Son of God. Now you can see why the King James translators rightfully and accurately inserted “afresh” into their translation.

W.E. Vine said the word here does, in fact, mean to crucify again. (UVW P138) Furthermore, J. Schneider maintains that, by aligning themselves with the people who actually carried out Jesus’ crucifixion, they crucified him afresh.  (TDNT P1073)

To themselves

“To themselves” would be easier to understand had it been translated “for themselves.” In this context, “for themselves,” is in the “dative case.” The dative case in Greek is the device used to describe personal interest. Hence, it declares “to whom” or “for whom” something is done. In other words, Group 3A believed it was in their personal interest to continue crucifying Jesus again and again. They felt that continuously crucifying Him over and over again and continuously putting Him to an open shame personally benefited them.  

Put him to an open shame

“Put,” here, is another present participle. Remember, the most common use of the Greek present tense describes “continuous action in present time.” Our Author employs this common use here. Therefore, the translation should read, “continuously keeping on keeping on keeping on putting him to an open shame.”

“Open shame” here translates paradeigmatidzo, which combines two different Greek words. The first word of the combination is the Greek preposition para (by the side of). The second word in the combination is the Greek word deiknumi (to show). The combination means to “show openly or publicly.”

Paradeigmatidzo, then, means they openly showed Jesus as a public example of contempt, shame, infamy, and worthlessness. His person and his claims were worthless to them. To them, there was no value to Jesus at all. 

By continuously keeping on, keeping on, keeping on crucifying Jesus, these Christ rejecting Hebrews kept on keeping on, keeping on, keeping on putting Him to an open shame. By continuously keeping Him on the cross, they continuously exposed him to the shame of being a liar, a fraud, a deceiver, a cheat and a thief. To them, He was worthless.

Here is the verse (below) paraphrased according to its exact meaning.

Heb 6:6

Having already fallen away in the past, there is no power—impossible--on earth, under the earth, or in heaven, to renew them (Group 3A) again unto repentance; seeing they continuously keep on keeping on keeping on crucifying for themselves the Son of God afresh (again and again and again,) and continuously keep on keeping on keeping on keeping on putting him to an open, public shame. (KJV) Parentheses mine)

In the next chapter, we begin a series of chapters to straighten out another wild interpretation concerning the willful sin that begins in Heb. 10: 26. You will see for yourself that this willful sin is Old Testament Judaism to the very core. It has nothing to do with Gentile Christians. We are not in this section at all. Again, you will reach the shouting point quickly. Your faith will soar like an eagle. You will be in the upper realms, never to come down after reading this section.

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