Hebrews 6:1 ¶
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, 2 Of the
doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the
dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And
this will we do, if God permit. 4 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, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the
powers of the world to come, 6 If they
shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to
themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 7 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that
cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is
dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8
But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is
nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
After admonishing his readers with being
babes in their understanding Paul goes on to insist that at some point the
Christian or wannabe Christian needs to get past first things. Like the modern-day
Christian who only knows a few Bible stories and that they are to attend church
faithfully, pay their tithes, go door-knocking need to grow in the faith these
people are expected to mature and learn those first things and then move on to
a higher level of obedience.
Dead works here is a reference to the sins of
the flesh that the Old Testament priest offered sacrifices for and the natural
state of the unsaved man or woman.
Hebrews 9:11
But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a
greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not
of this building; 12 Neither by the
blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the
holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. 13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and
the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of
the flesh: 14 How much more shall the
blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to
God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
15 ¶
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by
means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the
first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance.
So, the principles of the doctrine of
Christ start with that turning away from the sins of the flesh and turning
to God.
Faith toward God is essential and it will be
noted later that without faith it is impossible to “get right” with God.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to
God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him.
While faith and belief can appear to be
synonymous it is said that faith is given to those that believe, requiring a
distinction.
Galatians 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under
sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that
believe.
We might imagine belief as believing the
chair will hold your weight while faith requires you to actually sit in it.
There are several type of baptisms mentioned
in the Bible. There is the baptism of the Holy Ghost where you received Him
when you are saved.
Acts 1:5
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the
Holy Ghost not many days hence.
For the Jews there was the baptism of John
the Baptist, an act of national repentance for sins preparing the way for the
Messiah.
Mark 1:1 ¶
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I
send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. 3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and
preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the land of
Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of
Jordan, confessing their sins.
Which, after the resurrection and acceptance
of the Messiah, resulted in the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost.
Christ commanded His followers to be baptized
but it was belief that saved them, not the baptism, which was a sign of that
belief.
Mark 16:16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned.
We are baptized today as a symbol of Christ’s
death, burial, and resurrection.
Romans 6:3
Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. 5 For if we have been
planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Being a believer in Christ is the
prerequisite for being baptized.
Acts 8:36
And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the
eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all
thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God.
The laying on of hands during the age
of the Apostles was used to give the Holy Ghost to believers.
Acts 8:17
Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of
the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on
whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
Paul tells Timothy not to neglect that gift
of the early church guided by the living Apostles.
1Timothy 4:14
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy,
with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.
We should also consider the laying on of
hands as imparting Apostolic authority, an ordination of office, consecrating
Timothy to be a Pastor.
Timothy
has had hands laid on him by the elders and Paul confirming the authority he
bears and the gifts that God has given him and he should not neglect these
gifts. We all have gifts to exercise for God. All of us have been given
something that we can use for God and we must not neglect that gift. The gift
that qualified Timothy for the ministry must not be forsaken but exercised
constantly.
The resurrection of the dead seems
obvious but look at the complete picture. The resurrection of the dead is an
important doctrine of both the Old and the New Testament.
Job 19:25 For
I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth: 26 And though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes
shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.
Job says he knows that his Redeemer
is alive and that He will stand on the earth in the last days. How is that for
a prophecy from close to two thousand years before Christ? Job goes on to say
that Job himself will see this redeemer with his own eyes even though, by then
his body will have decomposed into nothing. So, Job here speaks of a
resurrection from death, that he is fully expecting to happen so that he will
physically, not just spiritually, but physically see his Redeemer, who we know
is Christ, the Son of God, or the visible form of God. This is a physical
resurrection of a physical body. Without the resurrection Christianity is just
another religion created by man, a monstrosity of oppression and deceit.
Romans
8:23 And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Isaiah spoke of a resurrection a
thousand years after Job.
Isaiah
26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together
with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for
thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.
And Daniel a few hundred years
after Isaiah.
Daniel
12:2 And many of them that sleep in the
dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt.
Ezekiel also spoke of a physical
resurrection although many insist this is metaphorical, simply about the
restoration of Israel. I believe it is, on its literal level, physical
regarding flesh and blood.
Ezekiel
37:1 ¶ The hand of the LORD was upon me,
and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of
the valley which was full of bones, 2
And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very
many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these
bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these
bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones;
Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will
bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye
shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I
prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came
together, bone to his bone. 8 And when I
beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered
them above: but there was no breath in them. 9
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and
say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath,
and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the
breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an
exceeding great army. 11 Then he said
unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they
say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and
cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD,
when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your
graves, 14 And shall put my spirit in
you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye
know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
In the record of Paul’s debate with
the religious leaders of his day when he was first arrested the proof of the
belief in the resurrection is evident.
Acts
23:6 But when Paul perceived that the
one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council,
Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the hope and
resurrection of the dead I am called in question…8 For the Sadducees say that there is no
resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit: but the Pharisees confess both.
Acts
24:15 And have hope toward God, which
they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead,
both of the just and unjust…21 Except it
be for this one voice, that I cried standing among them, Touching the
resurrection of the dead I am called in question by you this day.
The Resurrection is the primary
doctrine of Christianity, for without it, saying that Jesus Christ was God
means nothing. Without the Resurrection, belief in the judgment of sin in
eternity is a stupid and vain oppression of the spirit of man. If we die and
cease to exist we have nothing but self-righteousness in this life if we are
religious.
Paul said it like this;
1Corinthians
15:12 ¶ Now if Christ be preached that
he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of
the dead? 13 But if there be no
resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our
preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. 15
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified
of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead
rise not. 16 For if the dead rise not,
then is not Christ raised: 17 And if
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in
Christ are perished. 19 If in this life
only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
As noted before, in Leon Macbeth’s The Baptist Heritage, early seventeenth
century Baptists held the resurrection of the dead as one of the six
fundamentals of the doctrine of Christ in Hebrews, chapter 6.[1]
It is primarily by belief in
Christ’s resurrection that we are saved from an eternity of destruction and
agony, the natural fate of all mankind.
Romans
10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
Eternal judgment
of both the saved and the unsaved is the final doctrine of Christ.
Where will you spend eternity. Will it be
with your Creator in Heaven?
John 10:27
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
2Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather
to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
1Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.
Or will you spend eternity in a lake of
unquenchable fire of the soul?
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in
it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were
judged every man according to their works. 14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. 15 And whosoever was not found
written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Isaiah 66:24
And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have
transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire
be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Paul then makes an astounding statement that
reverberates down through history. If you were saved and could then be lost you
could never be saved again as that would require crucifying Christ again. So,
the argument here is that you cannot lose your salvation because, if you could,
you could never be saved again.
What we will see in Hebrews is that many
people will claim to be saved but will not be because there is no truth in
their profession and once you are saved you cannot get unsaved, losing your
salvation. That a Christian can lose their salvation is not logical because to
get saved again would require crucifying Christ again. The only other answer
would be unthinkable, that if you sinned after you were saved or rejected
Christ after you had professed to be a Christian you would be hopelessly lost
forever. There would be no coming back. The very fact of Peter’s denial of
Christ at Christ’s trial and how he was forgiven denies this.
Look at verses 7 and 8. Have you really
received Christ? What evidence is there of that to others? Paul said in
Galatians;
Galatians
5:19 Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I
have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall
not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against
such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of
vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
What is the evidence of your faith? Are you
fooling yourself? Because you are not fooling God.
Hebrews 6:9 ¶
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we thus speak. 10
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of
love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the
saints, and do minister. 11 And we
desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance
of hope unto the end: 12 That ye be not
slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. 13 For when God made promise
to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee,
and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15
And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an
oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew
unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath: 18 That by two immutable
things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a
strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set
before us: 19 Which hope we have
as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that
within the veil; 20 Whither the
forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever
after the order of Melchisedec.
Paul here addresses these Hebrew believers,
these Jewish believers in Christ, as beloved, suggesting as John Gill
said a connection as the elect of God rather than simply the sons of Jacob.
Paul expects more of them than the questions they’ve apparently posed to him. He
expects more from them in the walk with Christ than they seem ready or able to
offer. Like a good preacher he now mends some of the flesh he tore with his
hard preaching to this point. God will not forget their good deeds for Christ through
their good deeds for Christ’s people, the church.
He encourages them to persist in their faith
and behavior resultant, in their hope and expectation of the end. They are
called to follow those who, like those who did make it to Canaan, and those who
will make it to Heaven, will inherit the promises of God. God has promised and
we trust in Him as there is none greater.
Genesis 22:15 ¶ And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham
out of heaven the second time, 16 And
said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this
thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in
multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the
sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his
enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
God has made absolute promises through
Himself in physical form, the Lord Jesus Christ, and we should trust in those
promises and reach for them.
Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that
cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Jesus here is likened to Melchizedek as was
mentioned in chapter 5 to prepare us for what comes next in Paul’s argument.
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