2/1/20
Tom Lowe
Lesson #19 [ID3b] The Encouragement toward Maturity (Hebrews 6:1-3)
Scripture: Hebrews 6:1-3 (NIV)
1. Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death (Or from useless rituals) and of faith in God,
2. instruction about cleansing rites (Or about baptisms), the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
3. And God permitting, we will do so.
Introduction:
Just as our physical bodies have senses without which we could not function, so our inner “spiritual man” has “spiritual senses.” For example: “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8). “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear” (Matt. 13:16). As we feed on the Word of God and apply it in our daily life, our inner “spiritual senses” get their exercise and become strong and powerful. Paul called this process exercising ourselves unto godliness (1 Tim. 4:7-8).
No one can escape coming into the world as a baby because that is the only way to get here! But it is tragic when a baby fails to mature. No matter how much parents and grandparents love to cuddle and hold a baby, it is their greater desire that the baby grows up and experience full life as a mature adult. God has the same desire for his children. That is why he calls to us, “Go on to maturity” (Heb. 6:1).
The writer lists six foundational truths of the Christian faith, all of which, by the way, is also foundational to the Jewish faith. After all, our Christian faith is based on the Jewish faith and is a fulfillment of it. “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). If the readers of this epistle went back to Judaism in order to escape persecution, they would only be abandoning the perfect for the imperfect, the mature for the immature.
Commentary
(6:1) Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death (Or from useless rituals) and of faith in God,
“Move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ” is literally “leaving the word of the beginning concerning Christ.” This verse literally reads, “Therefore, having left [once and for all] the elementary lessons [the ABCs] of the teaching of Christ.” When I was in kindergarten, the teacher taught us our ABCs (We didn’t have television to teach us in those days.) You learn your ABCs so that you might read words, sentences, books- in fact, anything in literature. But you do not keep learning the basics. You use the basics to go on to better things. If we are going to make spiritual progress, we must leave the childhood things behind and go forward in spiritual growth.
The phrase, “Let us move beyond,” should be translated, “Let us be carried forward.” It is God who enables us to progress as we yield to Him, receive His Word, and act on it. A baby does not “grow himself.” He grows as he eats, sleeps, exercises, and permits his body to function. Nature, as ordained by God, carries the baby along day after day, and gradually he matures as an adult. It is normal for Christians to grow; it is abnormal for them to have arrested growth.
You remember those six foundational truths of the Christian life that were mentioned in the introduction to this lesson; two of them can be found in verse 1. One is repentance and the other is faith. Both are Godward and mark the initiation of the spiritual life. “Repentance from acts that lead to death” concerns the “works of the Mosaic Law.” They were continually trying to keep the law, then breaking it, then repent. That is baby stuff, the writer tells them.
To repent means to change one’s mind. It is not simply a “bad feeling about sin, because that could be regret or remorse. It is changing one’s mind about sin to the point of turning from it. Once a sinner has repented (and this itself is a gift from God (Acts 5:31; 11:18), then he is able to exercise faith in God. Repentance and faith belong together (Acts 20:21).
The Old Testament taught “faith in God” (Or “toward God”), so just to say you believe in God doesn’t mean you have come very far. The Old Testament ritual presented faith in God by approaching Him through the temple sacrifices, not through Christ as High Priest.
(6:2) instruction about cleansing rites (Or about baptisms), the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
The next two items (baptisms and laying on of hands) have to do with a person’s relationship to the local assembly of believers. In the New Testament, a person who repented and trusted Christ was baptized and became a member of a local church (Acts 2:41-47). The word baptisms in Hebrews 6:2 is plural and can be translated as “washings” (Heb. 9:10). The doctrine of Baptisms (“washings”) has nothing to do with New Testament baptism. They refer to the washings of the Old Testament rituals, and there were many of them. The Hebrew believers were wanting to return to these things which were only shadows; they were the negatives from which the spiritual pictures were developed. They prefigured Christ, the reality. While water alone can never remove sin (1 Pe. 3:21), baptism is a symbol of spiritual cleansing (Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name”- Acts 22:16), as well as our identification with Him in death, burial, and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-4). The laying on of hands (Heb. 6:2) symbolized the sharing of some blessing (Luke 24:50; Acts 19:6) or the setting apart of a person for ministry (1 Tim. 4:14).
“Laying on of hands” was also an Old Testament ritual. When a man brought an animal offering, he laid his hands on its head to signify his identification with it. The animal was taking his place on the altar of sacrifice.
The last two items, the resurrection of the dead (Acts 24:14-15) and eternal (final) Judgment (Acts 17:30-31), have to do with the future. Both Orthodox Jews and Christians believe in these doctrines. The Old Testament teaches a general resurrection but does not make the doctrine clear. The New Testament teaches a resurrection of the saved and a resurrection of the lost (John 5:24-29; Rev. 20:4-6, 22-15); but now, they needed to come up to the resurrection of Christ and to the living Christ.
The six foundational truths of the Christian faith:
1. Repentance from dead works. Dead works are works performed by men dead in trespasses and in sins, without any life or love in them, wrong often in the substance of them, and always wrong in the manner and purpose of them. The expression “dead works” refers to the works of the ceremonial law under the Levitical system. They were performed by men in the flesh and therefore could not satisfy the holiness and righteousness of God.
2. Faith in God. It is impossible to conceive of any but a heartless, hypocritical, profession of any form of piety unless it is accompanied by a firm and abiding belief in the existence, perfections, and government of God. He that cometh to God must believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Heb. 11:6). True faith in God always leads the soul to accept the Lord Jesus as He is faithfully offered in the gospel, and of the Holy Spirit as the Sanctifier, Comforter, and Guide. Faith also respects all that God has spoken. It practices no eclecticism respecting the truths of the Bible. It has hearty and real delight in learning, in doing, and in suffering the will of God. It is not dead but operative. Nothing imparts more energy to the soul.
3. The doctrine of baptism. There are two baptisms in the Christian church- one of water, and the other of the Spirit; one, emblematical, the other, the thing set forth by the emblem; the one, administered by man, the other by the Lord. The dictionary of New Testament words says that the usual word for baptism is not used here, but another form of the word is used, which elsewhere is rendered “washings.”
4. The doctrine of laying on of hands. In scripture, the phrase “laying on of hand or hands is used in three very diverse senses. Sometimes it indicates punishment or violence (Gen. 22:12; 37:22). Sometimes it denotes an act of confession over a victim, to which guilt is ceremonially or typically transferred (Lev. 4:24; 16:21). But neither of these pertains to the Christian doctrine spoken of here. And so the laying on of hands in this place must refer either to an act of blessing, an act of prayer, or an act of imparting a spiritual gift (Gen. 48:14; Num. 27:18; Mark 16:18). Since God the Father has laid on Christ the iniquities of us all, it is no longer necessary for the Jewish High Priest to “lay on hands.” They must look to Him who is the resurrection and the life, instead of believing in the doctrine of the resurrection as taught by Judaism.
5. The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead. The friends of Christianity do not hesitate to admit that this doctrine is still around and in all coming ages of the world will be vital and essential to those, who would be saved. Listen to what Paul had to say: “If there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen; then is our preaching futile, and your faith is also futile. Yea and we are found false witnesses of God,” (1 Cor 15:13-15).
6. The doctrine of eternal judgment. It is called eternal because its decisions will be called irreversible and their effects everlasting. Christian doctrine teaches eternal judgment for the wicked, but no judgment to those who are in Christ Jesus (John 5:24; Rom. 8:1).
These six foundational truths have nothing to do with the foundation of Christianity. At first glance, they seem to refer to the doctrine of Christianity, but closer examination will prove otherwise. It is important to see that these six things are parenthetical. They constitute an explanation of what the apostle meant by “having left the beginning of the Word of Christ.”
(6:3) And God permitting (God’s will be done), we will do so.
The first clause is clear enough; it expresses Paul’s desire to raise his Hebrews from their present low estate of attainment to completeness of Christian character, but he admits that neither he nor they could do this on their own and so he adds “And God permitting.” The dependence of good men upon God for grace and strength to make advances themselves or to be truly and largely helpful to others in their march to glory is absolute. It ought to be consistently kept in mind and adoringly declared.
The lesson of the three verses (Heb. 6:1-3) is clear: “You have laid the foundation. You know your ABCs. Now move forward! Let God carry you forward to maturity!”
Special Note
1. “Therefore” takes us back to that which is recorded in chapter 5, verses 11-14, where Paul rebuked the Hebrews for their spiritual laziness and compared them to children taking milk when they should have been eating meat. They still needed someone to teach them when they should have been teaching others.
