Romans – God’s Timeline XXXII: Returning to Hebrews

 

The Title is Self Explanatory

Thus far, a critically low number of uses of aionios could theoretically be translated as “eternal.” We have seen how the various uses of the phrase ‘eonian life’ refer to a future life, and how there are times eonian. There are two other major verses which a Christian will point at to proclaim that aionios sometimes means ‘eternal’ when it’s convenient for them (typically so that they may justify an eternal torment or annihilation, or simply deny the explicit goal of the universe stated in God’s word.)

We will not quite yet cover those verses!

Instead, let’s double down on this yet again by observing the uses of ‘eonian’ in Hebrews! There are a few instructive uses of the term in this letter which once again demonstrate how impossible it would be to translate the term aionios as anything other than what it literally is: the adjectival form of eon, which is an explicit length of time.

Starting in Hebrews 5:9–

Being perfected, [Christ] became the cause of eonian salvation to all who are obeying Him, being accosted by God “Chief Priest according to the order of Melchizedek.”

As we have studied the immediate context, we understand that Christ, in accord with the order of Melchizedek, plays the role of priest for the fourth eon, specifically (Heb. 5:6.) The eonian salvation in view, which is here contingent on obedience, is thus distinguished from the salvation which we read in Romans. One’s place in the coming kingdom of Christ is front and center; not yet to be justified by Christ, as Paul discloses.

Note that it would be impossible for “eonian” to be eternal, here (I mean, don’t get me wrong, the KJV, NASB, ESV, NIV, and many more say this, so, I guess it is literally possible to write such a phrase, but this goes to show, yet again, the lack of honesty and bias within the supposed ‘believers’ who enforced the translation.) If the salvation were eternal, then the salvation would have no beginning and no end. And if the salvation were everlasting, then the salvation would never be consummated, which means that God would continually be saving you from something. This would concede that there is an ever-present danger in the universe which God either couldn’t or doesn’t resolve. This would be a sleight on His character, and should be rectified.

The Hebraist writer ends chapter 5 thus:

For everyone who is partaking of milk is untried in the word of righteousness, for he is a minor. Now solid nourishment is for the mature, who, because of habit, have faculties exercised for discriminating between the ideal and the evil.

It is no secret that this study in Romans has sought to build you (and me) up into maturity in truth. The point of a mature faith is given, here: to have your faculties exercised for discriminating between the ideal, and destructive habits.

The passage itself is given its proper weight in light of the fact that Hebrews is the foundational epistle for the circumcision evangel, much like Romans is the foundational epistle for the uncircumcision evangel. The minor truths for the individual are intimated in Romans, and reach their proper climax by Romans 8 (not that the truths are themselves “minor” affairs, but that they are foundational for the mature truths to follow.) This is similarly true for Hebrews, though the Hebraist explains this more explicitly. See the beginning of chapter 6:

Wherefore, leaving the word dealing with the rudiments of Christ, we should be brought on to maturity, (not again disrupting the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith on God, of the teaching of baptizings, besides the imposition of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and of judgment eonian).

We read, then, of six foundational teachings of the circumcision evangel, which, even to the casual student, should be apparent from reading everything in the scriptures apart from Paul’s letters.

We are not here to cover all of these foundational teachings, but to dwell briefly on the sixth one – the judgment eonian. This statement, I posit, covers all judgment considered from the end of this eon to the end of the fourth eon. The third eon itself ends with a consummation of the fury of God (Rev. 15:1,) which could properly be called a “judgment” upon this wicked world. This is followed, at the beginning of the fourth eon, with the judgment of the nations, which we will consider in part 34 (spanning Matt. 25:31-46.) Any judgment conferred on one who breaks the law during the millennial kingdom may also be included in this phrase. Of course, we must not forget the great Judgment Day, in which all are presented in front of the great white throne, and are paid in accord with their acts.

Understanding this point is critical for the believer in the circumcision evangel. While it is not pertinent for the believer in Paul’s evangel, the information given is just as inspired as Paul’s letters, and are worthy of consideration, for the “maturing” in faith (thus being perfected through righteousness – Rom. 8:29, Eph. 4:13, 2 Tim. 3:16-17.)

Aionios next appears in Hebrews 9:11-12–

Now Christ, coming along a Chief Priest of the impending good things through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; not even through the blood of he-goats and calves, but through His own blood, entered once for all time into the holy places, finding eonian redemption.

In this passage, Christ is evidently treated as the Chief Priest, made so by His ultimate sacrifice, which does not cover temporary states, as the animals did in relation to the Levitical offerings (Lev. 1-8,) but with His blood.

We have read of the true value of this blood in relation to Paul’s evangel (cf. Rom. 3:24-25,) but in this passage, we read that this was an eonian redemption for the Hebrews. The term “redemption,” in Greek, is lutrosis, element “LOOSENing.” This is not as strong as our deliverance, our “FROM-LOOSENing,” but it carries its own weight in relation to the Jewish narrative. They are, literally, loosened from their old covenant made with Moses at the mountain, in favor of the new covenant made with Jeremiah (Heb. 8:6-13.)

Here We Go…

The writer continues:

For if the blood of he-goats and of bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the contaminated, is hallowing to the cleanness of the flesh, how much rather shall the blood of Christ, Who, through the eonian spirit offers Himself flawless to God, be cleansing your conscience from dead works to be offering divine service to the living and true God?

The only true weight of the Levitical offerings were to hallow the flesh. This was temporary, for the flesh inevitably sinned. This made the sin and guilt offerings mandatory for the sinner, an act which needed repeating over the course of an Israelite’s life. In contrast, Christ’s sacrifice, in which He offers His own spirit (Luke 23:46,) does far more. In this respect, the internal conscience is cleansed, as opposed to the flesh. This enables a proper divine service for the Jewish believer, which would have been impossible to perform apart from the cross.

…What? That’s not what you came to read about…?

Hmmm. Okay, yeah. Fine. “Eonian spirit.” Probably the most controversial verse. Not only is it automatically supposed that the “Holy Ghost” is the “third of God” in view here in this verse, but it is further supposed, from this verse and from another which we will observe in just a moment, that aionios is “eternal.” The argument, put as plainly as possible by this joke of a blog post, is simply that “The Holy Spirit is not for a period of time.” If the verse says “eonian,” here, then “spirit” is only for a limited time, see?

Such reasoning… I mean, gosh, how do I say in the nicest way possible that the claim is “one of the most insanely idiotic things I’ve ever heard?”

…I guess I’m not nice.

Seriously, though. What am I supposed to do?? What sounds more rational to you:

Option 1: By relating every other use of “eonian,” thus recognizing that, based on the object which the adjective is describing, multiple eons, or all of the eons, could be in view, consider a rational and thematic explanation for the verse which does not deny the context.

Option 2: What? Aionios describes ‘spirit?’ Guess we should strong-arm all the other uses of the word aionios by cramming eternal wherever we personally feel it must be!

Now, you could get hyper technical and call that a “false dilemma” by taking a stance that aionios “sometimes” means ‘eternity’ whenever it fits according to the individual. But the problem still invades any sound mind: who are we to decide when or where it “must be” eternal?? You can’t say it’s a “common sense” thing, because there are many instances where, to those who haven’t studied, it’s very difficult to discern whether “eonian” or “eternal” is in view, and we have thousands of sects judging for themselves which is which. It is far easier to simply conduct a word study, and then conform any “interpretation” to the word study, that we do not lift ourselves above what’s written.

With my preamble out of the way, let’s consider, for a moment, the practicality of eonian spirit. As we learned in considering eonian life, ‘eonian’ does not refer to a “limited” anything, but something that lasts through the eons. In the case of our eonian life as referenced in Romans 5:21, our life lasts through the fourth and fifth eons (hence: eonian life.) In the case of Christ and God’s glory for the eons, the ‘glory’ does not vanish, but is said to last through the eons.

Neither of these cases – life or glory – limits the recipient, but highlights their exclusive nature! Regarding life – as I’ve said many times now – all shall be made alive at the consummation, because death will be abolished, and all will be justified (1 Cor. 15:22-26, Rom. 5:18-19.) Regarding glory, we read in Paul’s later revelation that every knee will bow – celestial and terrestrial and subterranean – and every tongue will acclaim, that ‘Jesus is Lord,’ for the glory of God, the Father. Such an event can only truly occur when everyone is made alive, at the abolition of death.

So, at the end of the eons, life will become permanent for all, and glory to God will be a permanent thought throughout all creation. Thus eonian life is life for the eons. The eons end, but the life does not. And eonian glory is glory for the eons. The eons end, but the life does not. If it is true that, after the eons, life still exists, and glory still exists, then why would this be any different for an eonian spirit??

Right.

With this in mind, please consider the true import of an eonian spirit – a spirit which lasts through the eons. As we considered in the “purpose of the eons” series, Christ (Who is the Object of this passage, per Heb. 9:14,) has an eonian spirit. In His case, such a title takes on its fullest meaning. Christ’s spirit was in the prophets, testifiying beforehand concerning His sufferings (1 Pet. 1:10-11.) He gave up His ‘eonian spirit’ to His Father at the cross (Luke 23:46.) His spirit is the Channel through which God has created all (1 Cor. 8:6, Col. 1:16.) In the most powerful sense of the word, then, Christ’s spirit has existed through all five eons, making His spirit eonian.

But why call His spirit “eonian” in Hebrews 9:14, specifically? Because the Hebraist is following the train of thought from the prior verses. Christ is the Chief Priest of the impending good things through a tabernacle not made by hands. We may understand this best by considering the Greek elements of the words ‘eon’ and ‘eonian.’ For ‘eon,’ it is “UN-IF-BEING.” For ‘eonian,’ it is “UN-IF-BEINGed.” The Christian theologians, as we’ve discussed, look at the word aei and assume some permanent perpetuity in order to perplex the pupils. However, considering all of the elements together gives us a very different thought. The prefix “UN-IF,” a[e]i, gives the sense of time without fail – not time without end, as we’ve seen in multiple uses of both terms.

Now chase the train: if you removed the prefix “UN-” from the term, you’re left with “IF-BEING.” This would be, literally, a conditional time, contingent on creation in some way. The priests of old were conditionally allotted. They had to be of the tribe of Levi. They had to be cleansed before entering the holy place. Even then, only the chief priest was able to enter the holy of holies for the most intimate fellowship with God. All of this stands in stark contrast to Christ, Who was not of the tribe of Levi, was already cleansed, having no sin, and has had, collectively, a far greater and more intimate fellowship than any other with God for all of the eons.

This makes Him, unlike the other chief priests, the eonian spirit – the “UN-IF-BEING spirit” whose time as Chief Priest is not limited, but actually so effective, that He is remaining Priest to a finality (Heb. 7:3.) He does not “pass by,” “IF-BEING,” but stays. To paraphrase Martin Zender in a conversation he held with me, “An eonian spirit? God damn! That means a lasting spirit! We’re not only putting our trust in a Priest Who endures for the eons – unlike our priests now, who keep fuckin’ dying – but a Priest with an eonian spirit to fuel the whole enterprise, and restore the conscience of all through the divine service of the Hebrews.”

- GerudoKing