Therefore Let Us Leave the Elementary Teachings About Christ and Go on to Maturity, Not

HEBREWS

Chapter 6

6:1Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God,

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,

6:1-2 Certain elementary teachings are essential for all believers to understand. Those basics include the importance of faith, the foolishness of trying to be saved by good deeds, the meaning of baptism and spiritual gifts, and the facts of resurrection and eternal life. To go on to maturity in our understanding, we need to move beyond (but not away from) the elementary teachings to a more complete understanding of the faith. And this is what the author intends for them to do (Hebrews 6:3). Mature Christians should be teaching new Christians the basics. Then, acting on what they know, the mature will learn even more from God’s Word.

C. H. Spurgeon

Let us go from the school to the university, let us have done with our firstspelling-books, and advance into the higher classics of the kingdom.

Let us make sure that the foundation is laid, but let us not have continuallyto lay it again. Let us go on believing and repenting, as we have done; butlet us not have to begin believing and begin repenting, let us go on tosomething beyond that stage ofexperience.

C. H. Spurgeon

In the previous chapter, Paul was writing to some who ought to have beenteachers, but who needed still to be taught the first principles of the gospel;they were such babes in grace that they needed the milk of the Word, —the very simplest elements of gospel truth, — and not the strong meat ofsolid doctrine. The apostle, however, desires that the Hebrew believersshould understand the sublime doctrines of the gospel, and so be like menof full age who can eat strong meat. In this chapter he exhorts them to seekto attain to this standard.

Let Us:

• Let us fear

(cautious believer)

• Let us labor

(diligent pilgrim)

• Let us hold fast

(cleaving spirit)

• Let us come boldly

(earnest suppliant)

• Let us go on

(progressive people)

• Let us draw near

(holy priest)

• Let us consider

(thoughtful brother)

• Let us lay aside

(wise athlete)

• Let us run

(enduring runner)

• Let us have grace

(possessing saint)

• Let us go forth

(separated son)

• Let us offer sacrifice

(grateful worshiper)

R. C. Sproul

We have seen how the author of the epistle to the Hebrews had to deal with a congregation that was stalled with regard to its spiritual growth. Many of them should have been mature enough to teach, but because they had made themselves hard of heart, they wee still infants in Christ. These “infants” were unskilled in the handling of the Word, not able to discern good from evil.

Having expressed his dismay at the immature state of the readers, the author of Hebrews now begins admonishing them to grow up. The first way he does this is to encourage them to “leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.” Two things should be noted about this part of the verse. First of all, the author does not approach his audience as one who lords his maturity over the babe s in Christ. Rather, he invites the immature to journey together with him into maturity in Christ. This is an important point for us to remember. We should encourage immature believers to journey with us and not lord our knowledge of doctrine over them.

Secondly, by not lording his maturity over the audience, the author creates a sense of community. It is not that it is the author who is carrying his audience forward into maturity. Rather, it is implied that both the author and the audience are carried forward into maturity by God. God, especially as the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, is thus implicitly portrayed as the agent of spiritual growth. This is important because of the warning against apostasy the author gives. Though the author knows some might fall away, he is also confident that some will not fall away completely. The author knows that the Holy Spirit truly has regenerated some, if not all, of the audience, and he knows that those who have been truly regenerated will never fall away finally. Rather, those who have been regenerated will persevere.

Finally, going on to maturity means leaving the elementary doctrine of Christ. This does not mean we abandon the basic truths of Christianity, for indeed all Gospel truth is built on these fundamental principles. Rather, it means “not laying again a foundation of repentance,” which includes “repentance from dead works and faith toward God,” as well as other doctrines that we will examine as we study the following verses.

On:

• Believe onName of Son
• Build onHoly faith
• Put onHoly habit
• Go onEnable Spirit
• MediateLord’s things
• Wait onPower

Matthew Henry

In order to keep growing, Christians must leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ. They must not despise them and they must not forget them. They must lay them up as the foundation of all their profession. But they must not stay in them. They must build upon the foundation. There must be a superstructure, for the foundation is laid on purpose to support the building. Then why did the author resolve to set strong meat before the Hebrews, when he knew they were only babes? Though some of them were weak, others had gained more strength, and they must be provided for suitably. As those who are more mature Christians must be willing to hear the plainest truths preached for the sake of the weak, so the weak must be willing to hear the more difficult truths preached for the sake of those who are strong. He hoped they would be growing in their spiritual strength and stature, and thus be able to digest stronger meat.

6:2of instruction about washings, and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

C. H. Spurgeon

Let us take these things for granted, and never dispute about them anymore, but go on to still higher matters.

The Googol

No matter how large a number is, it is finite: it is always possible to mention a number that is larger. Scientists speak of the "googol." It is a one, followed by 100 zeros. The googol is inconceivably large. But then think of the "googolplexes" which we believe is the googol raised to the googol-th power. It is said, that if this number were written out, there would not be space on earth to contain the pages required. In fact, they would more than fill our galaxy!

6:3And this we shall do, if God permits.

And God permitting, we will do so.

And this will we do, if God permit.

6:3 These Christians needed to move beyond the basics of their faith to an understanding of Christ as the perfect high priest and the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophecies. Rather than arguing about the respective merits of Judaism and Christianity, they needed to depend on Christ and live effectively for him.

C. H. Spurgeon

We must keep on going forward; there is no such thing in the Christian lifeas standing still, and we dare not turn back.

R. C. Sproul

We examined how the author of Hebrews encourages his audience to press on to maturity in the faith. This maturity is something that the original audience should have possessed, and it is a maturity that many of us should also possess. If we have been Christians for some time, we should not have to lay again the foundation of our faith, that is, the basic and elementary doctrines that all of our beliefs are built upon.

The author now proceeds to list these elementary doctrines of the faith. Though we will be studying verses 2-3, the first of these doctrines is found in 6:1: “repentance from dead works and faith toward God.
” This refers to our resolve to leave the works of the flesh and place our faith in Christ alone for salvation. This resolve is present for the first time at our conversation and continues daily throughout the rest of our lives. Note that faith and repentance belong together. You cannot truly have one without the other.

In 6:2, the author also lists “washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” as being part of the elementary doctrines of Christ. The reference to resurrection and eternal judgment refers to the doctrines of physical resurrection and conscious eternal punishment of the wicked that were a part of the faith of the Old Testament church. The reference to washings and the laying on of hands is somewhat more obscure. John Owen says that the reference to washings refers to the idea that there is only one baptism. Though many baptisms occur because more than one person needs to be baptized, ultimately there is only one baptism, the baptism into Christ. The laying on of hands, according to Owen, refers to the laying on of hands that occurs during, or right after baptism. Just as the Spirit seals salvation to us in baptism, so too does He grant gifts to us through the laying on of hands that occurs at baptism.”

Finally, note in 6:3 the strong affirmation of God’s sovereignty. In 6:1, the author declares his desire to move the audience forward into maturity and repeats it by saying “we will do” in verse 3. Yet the author concludes the verse saying “if God permits,” demonstrating that though he wants to lead his audience into maturity, he will only be able to do so if God is willing.

6:4For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit,

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,

6:4-6 In the first century, a pagan who investigated Christianity and then went back to paganism made a clean break with the church. But for Jewish Christians who decided to return to Judaism, the break was less obvious. Their life-style remained relatively unchanged. But by deliberately turning away from Christ, they were cutting themselves off from God’s forgiveness. Those who persevere in believing are true saints; those who continue to reject Christ are unbelievers, no matter how well they behave.

TODAY IN THE WORD

You can usually tell when motorists spot a police officer enforcing the speed limit–all the cars ahead of you apply their brakes and slow down. Sometimes fear of consequences like a speeding ticket can be a powerful motivator to do the right thing. We may think that Christians shouldn’t be motivated by fear, but at times we can grow so lazy in our spiritual walk that only a good dose of the fear of the Lord can rouse us from our near comatose state.

In the case of these Christians to whom Hebrews was originally written, the temptation was to turn away from Jesus and their church and return to worship in the synagogues and observance of the Mosaic Law. They knew the basics of the Christian faith, but instead of making progress in their commitment to Jesus, they were in danger of moving backwards and falling away.

In order to awaken them from their lethargic and lackadaisical mood with respect to Jesus, the author emphasizes the radical break implied by leaving Jesus. Those who know what has been promised in Christ, who have seen the glory of Jesus and His superiority to all that has come before, and yet turn away from Him demonstrate that they never really shared in Christ (Heb. 3:6, 14; cf. 1 John 2:19).

We may well ask, then, how we really know that we share in Christ? We know we share in Christ by persevering in the faith. We “make our hope sure” by remaining committed to Jesus (Heb. 6:11). This is the central message of the book of Hebrews–stick with Jesus!

C. H. Spurgeon

Note that Paul does not say, “If they shall fall;” but, “If they shall fallaway,” — if the religion which they have professed shall cease to have anypower over them, — then, it shall be impossible

R. C. Sproul

We saw the resolve that the author of Hebrews had to lead his audience into maturity. Yet this resolve was tempered by an awareness that his plan would only be actualized if God was so willing.

At this point we must ask the question as to why the author made reference to God’s permission being necessary if he was to guide his audience into maturity. The first answer is the simple fact that God is sovereign and has foreordained whatever comes to pass. The second answer is to be found in Hebrews 6:4-6. Only those who have not fallen away, who have not held the Son of God up to contempt, can be restored to repentance and thus led on to maturity. Those who have fallen away are impossible to restore, and God will not permit those who have committed such apostasy to come to maturity.

Today we come to one of the most difficult passages in all of Scripture. Hebrews 6:4-6 has often been used with the attempt to prove that genuine Christians can lose their salvation. Because of this text, the Novatians and Donatists in the early church denied readmission to the church to those who had fallen into idolatry under persecution, even when some of these lapsed people repented and later died for the Gospel. Armenians believe this passage destroys any confidence that the saints will persevere. Calvinists deny that the passage should be understood in this way but sometimes have trouble articulating the reasons why.

And so we must ask: Does Hebrews 6:4-6 refer to genuine believers who once really believed in Christ but then later fall away? At first glance we might answer yes. The person described in these verses has done many things that might lead us to believe he once was at true Christian. He has professed repentance, been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, and has tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come.

But before we decide that these verses refer to genuine believers, let us conclude today with some comments by John Calvin. He says that there is not any good reason why the Lord should not grant to the reprobate “some taste of his grace,” or “irradiate their minds with some sparks of his light.” These verses to do refer to genuine believers and we will study the reasons why over the next few days.

R. C. Sproul

Hebrews 6 is one of the most difficult passages of Scripture to understand, mainly because we don’t know who wrote the book or the circumstances surrounding its writing. If we knew, for instance, that the author was writing to people who had fallen in among the Judaizers like those in Galatia, he would be making an argument against salvation by the law. For someone to turn again to the law would be to reject everything he had received under the Gospel. The grace he had received in the Spirit would have no meaning. And not only that, once he returned to the law, there would be no redemption left for him; what the Cross could not do for him, the law certainly could not do. This may be what the writer meant by saying such a person would crucify again for himself the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. By turning to the law, he would make a sham of the Cross, and no redemption would be available under the works Gospel.

This is a possible interpretation of the text. However, the writer also could be referring to apostates, to those who were members of the visible church but fell away from the faith and, thus, proved they never were part of the true church, as 1 John 2:19 says. If this is the right interpretation, we need to deal with the language of verses 4 and 5 in connection with an unbeliever. Let’s see if this can be done.

First, the text describes these apostates as those who have understood the Gospel and believed it to be true, which is possible for an unbeliever. Second, they have tasted the heavenly gift. This could mean partaking of the Lord’s Supper, something else an unbeliever can do. Third, they have become partakers of the Holy Spirit. This could mean they have some experience with the gifts of the Spirit, which can occur in unbelievers, or they were simply part of the Christian community living in the Spirit’s presence. Fourth, they have witnessed the signs and wonders that accompanied the Gospel, another action that is possible for unbelievers. Last, it says that they could not be renewed to repentance, implying that they once had repented. We know from the case of Esau that a person can have false repentance.