Stop Dumbing Down The Gospel

Last week, we continued in the study of Jesus who is our Great High Priest which was introduced in Hebrews 4:14-16. Chapter 5 teaches us that Jesus is High Priest as well as King and Prophet. Psalm 110:4 is quoted to show us that Jesus belonged to a priesthood of the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is a mysterious person who appears first in Genesis 14:18. But the writer of Hebrews takes pause at this point. He knows what he wants to tell the church about Melchizedek and how it relates to the priesthood of Jesus. But he seems to realize that his readers will not get the picture. They should know about Melchizedek but they don’t. Their hearing had become dull. So the writer of Hebrews puts the argument aside for a moment to deal with their ignorance. They should have been able to teach the subject at this time. In fact, they didn’t even have a firm understanding of the very basic tenets of the Christian faith. This foundation of the fundamental doctrines needed to be established. Using a well-known metaphor to describe these, he told his listeners that they needed to be weaned from the gospel milk so that they could eat the solid food. Just like all babies need to drink milk at first because they could not digest solid food, the hearers still needed to be weaned. It is alright for infants to drink milk. In fact, it is totally appropriate. But if one is still drinking milk instead of solid food several years after birth, that is a problem. It seems that the author of the sermon is frustrated over their lack of progress and lets them know it. Because they lacked understanding of the basics, they were not able to discern what was proper and what was not. this is more than just knowing right from wrong. It was the inability to discern between what is false doctrine and what is sound doctrine. This left them vulnerable to the wiles of the devil.

In Hebrews 6:1-2, we are told some basic doctrines which make up the milk of the gospel. The first of these is repentance from dead works. Repentance comes at the very beginning of the Gospel. John the Baptist called upon Israel to repent. Jesus called out: “Repent and believe the good news.” On the day of Pentecost, those who were cut to the heart by the sermon asked what they were supposed to do. Peter commanded them to repent. these are but a few examples. Repentance is the very first step required. But what is repentance? We need to be reminded of this. Many think is is feeling sorry for their sins. But that is not really repentance. In Hebrew, the word for repentance is “Shuv.” The idea is that of turning away from something toward something else. Those who accept the gospel must turn from their former way of life toward the Christian life. In the Greek, the word “metanoia” is translated “repentance. This Greek word has the meaning of “rethink.” One needs to think things over and this time make the correct choice. both of these ideas come into play. The one who would be a Christian must think rightly about their predicament, that they are on the road to destruction. They are now called to accept the new way of thinking and to go down the road to life. Leave the dead works and pursue living works.

The second doctrine Hebrews brings out is to have faith in God. We must understand that faith is not the same as intellectual assent. Their must be some action corresponding to this belief. One might believe that the ground in front of one’s feet is solid and not quicksand. This would be the faith of mental assent. But the faith we are talking about is actually stepping out on that ground. Christian faith is based upon believing the things about Jesus and demonstrating this by following Jesus, even if the way is filled with danger, toils, and snares. This is the faith that pleases God. The Christian understanding of God is not an abstraction. Neither is faith an abstraction. The God we believe in is the God who reveals Himself in Holy Scripture and affirmed by the Holy Spirit. The ultimate revelation of God in Scripture is centered around the person and work of Christ.

The next doctrine Hebrews mentions concerns baptisms. The use of the plural has caused some difficulties for theologians and interpreters of the Bible. Some think that because they believe that the book was written to Hebrew Christians, he is referring to the various washing rituals contained in the Book of the Law (Torah). However, it is not clear that Hebrews was written to Jewish believers in Christ, at least not exclusively. The previous “repentance from dead works” usually referred to the works of Gentiles. also the use of “departing from the living God” is set in contrast to “dead gods (the gods of the Gentiles. It must also be noted that the early church incorporated the Old Testament fully into their rule of faith. Believers coming from either the Jewish or the Gentiles were taught the Christian understanding of the Old Testament.