Hebrews 6:1-12 Press on to Maturity pt1

Introduction

Text Read

Hebrews 6:1–12“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do.  And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ”

Text Explained

Last week we looked at 5:11-14. In that passage we saw that the author of Hebrews desires to share greater information about their great High Priest Jesus. Jesus is a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. Yet, the author of Hebrews had to address a deficiency in the readers. That deficiency had nothing to do with their natural abilities nor with the amount of time they had been Christians. It had to do with a deficiency of character. Namely they were immature in the Word because they had chosen to be “dull of hearing”. Remember, that phrase is an idiom meaning “you don’t listen.” In fact, he tells his readers that they are babies who can only take the milk/basic teachings of the Word because they are dull of hearing and their, ultimately prideful, refusal to listen doesn’t allow them to distinguish/discern anything more than the basic things of the faith. Last week we discussed how this regression/halting of spiritual growth is grounded in the sin of pride. The idea that “I know enough/I know don’t need to listen to others.” This brings us to our text for today. The author has laid out what he desires to teach them, he has identified their problem as an unwillingness to listen (which I would say is rooted in pride), and based upon this situation, the author of Hebrews says...

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, in other words, you are behaving like children, it is time for you to grow up. You need to press on to spiritual maturity. not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. The author of Hebrews is not saying that the foundational things are unimportant. by no means. Foundational teachings are vitally important. Everything is built upon a foundation. Illustration: Learning to read is a vital part of a person’s education. In fact, I still sing the ABCs to myself when I’m looking something up in the dictionary. Yet I don’t sing through the ABCs and go “Wow, I sang through the ABCs. Guess I am good now.” No, learning the ABC’s is not the end of what a person must learn, rather it is the beginning. Upon the foundation of the alphabet we learn to read and are able to continue to grow in knowledge. A different illustration may help. For many years, this church and another church would team up and go down to Mexico to build a house. A local church would set up the details of who needed a house etc, and we would go down and build it in a week. However, a requirement for having the house built was that the people needed to have a foundation laid before we got there. If they did not have a foundation laid, we could not build the house. The foundation was vital because everything else was built upon it. However, the foundation was only the beginning. In a similar way, the author of Hebrews is telling the people don’t keep going back looking at the foundation and being happy that you have a foundation. Build upon it. Now what were these foundational pieces the author is referring to?

The first pair refers to salvation. They are repentance from dead works and of faith toward God This is two sides of the same coin. We repent and we believe. Our works cannot save. We repent and we believe.

The second pair is instruction about washings, the laying on of hands. This pair may require a little more explanation. Now remember the audience. It is to Jewish Christians. In Jewish culture there were many types of ritualistic washings. For the Jew, it is hard to understate the importance of those ritual washings. In Mark 7:4 the pharisees take these washings so seriously that we read “and when they/Pharisees come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.)” Later in Hebrews 9:10, the author will state that these various washings were simply symbols until the time the Messiah comes. So I believe the instructions about washings given to Jewish Christians is referring to the difference between Christian Baptism and the more common Jewish washings. Tie this with the laying on of hands which was done for all sorts of things, from blessing someone, to praying for them, to commissioning for service, to, in the early church, even the giving of the Holy Spirit. In other words, this second pair is baptism and basic Christian interactions.

The third pair is the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment which point to the end of life. There will be a resurrection from the dead and there will be a day of judgement.

So these three pairs form the foundational elements of Christian belief. Salvation, first step of baptism and basic Christian interaction, and the future hope that Christians have. These are the things that the author of Hebrews says are foundational. Again a solid foundation is vital, but there is an entire structure to be built upon this foundation, so stop staring at the foundation and build upon it. And this we will do if God permits. Here we will put a pin in our text and take a look at the foundation that we will build upon in the following weeks.

Text Applied

Salvation. In order for a person to press on to spiritual maturity, you must be saved. Our text tells us that this foundational element is a repentance from dead works and faith toward God. As I said earlier, this is two-sides of the same coin. Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Dear one, it is not possible for the good things you do to get you into heaven. If you are relying upon being a nice person, if you are relying upon giving money to a charitable organization, if you are saying “well I am not as bad as…” then you need to repent of the dead works you are trying to use to earn favor with God. Last week we sang the song Jesus, Your Mercy in which it states: “The best of my works pierced Your hands and Your feet.” This song echoes the words of the prophet Isaiah 64:6 “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” You see, if you are trusting that your works, the things you do will earn you a place in Heaven with the Lord, then you need to repent of those dead works. Salvation is not achieved by your works, it is by Christ’ perfect work on the Cross. Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,” Salvation occurs when we come to Christ with open empty hands and ask for Him to save us. In this we express faith in the word of God. We leave our works and simply trust in the Word of God. Repent of dead works and we trust in the word and work of God. In the words of the hymn writer, Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress, Helpless, look to Thee for grace: Foul, I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Savior, or I die. We repent and believe. This is what brings salvation.

Baptism: When a person repents of dead works and believes, the practice of the early church was that they would be baptized/immersed. So what was once a Jewish practice took on a fuller meaning. Immersion being the outward picture of what Christ has done on the inside. Just as every part of a person is immersed into Christ, so to does baptism/immersion into water publicly proclaim that spiritual reality. Water baptism demonstrates the truth we read in Romans 6:4 “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism/immersion into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” So water baptism/immersion is that complete picture that we are dead in Christ and thus raised to walk in new life in Him.

Laying on of Hands/Christian Interaction: The laying on of hands was a common practice for all sorts of Christian interactions and it is something we are to continue. We read of the early church laying on hands to pray for one another, to bless one another, and many other things. It is not a magical formula, but rather an outward expression of the connection we have. This basic christian interaction is done for all sorts of reasons. We do so when we have commissioned a missionary. We lay our hands upon them and pray. When a pastor is ordained, the elders, as representatives of the Church, lay their hands upon him and pray. When someone is sick, we lay hands upon that person and pray. And this is not for only the Elders or spiritually mature people to do. It is for Christians. Last week, I looked over and saw a group of people with hands upon one another’s shoulders praying. This is the essence of Laying on of Hands.

Resurrection of the Dead: The Blessed hope we have that one day we will rise again. 1 Thessalonians 4:14–18 “For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” There is coming a day that all those who have died in Christ will rise again. This blessed hope is foundational to our faith. The dead in Christ will rise.

Eternal Judgement: Finally, there is coming an eternal judgement for all. All will be judged. For those who are in Christ, our debt is paid and we stand clothed in His perfect righteousness. Yet for those who have never repented of dead works, they will stand and be judged according to their works and scripture makes it clear that their works cannot cover the debt of sin they owe.

So let all of us take a look at these foundational elements: Salvation, baptism, laying on of hands, the hope of the resurrection, and the knowledge of eternal judgement, and may we build upon this foundation.