Hebrews 6

Robert Millogan Commentary On Hebrews 6 AN TO GO ON FROM THE STUDY OF THE OF , TO IN Heb_6:1-3 Heb 6:1 —Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, — The word therefore (dio) is illative, showing the connection of what precedes with what follows. In the last paragraph, the Apos­tle avers that none but the perfect (teleioi) are capable of receiv­ing, digesting, and duly appropriating the more abstruse and diffi­cult themes of the Gospel. And hence he exhorts his Hebrew brethren to become perfect; to be no longer babes in Christ, but to go on with him to perfection in the knowledge of Divine things. Hebrews 6:1 — But not laying again the foundation, etc.— The first thing neces­sary in building, is to lay a foundation, and to lay it well. And the man who neglects this, and who, without a proper foundation, be­gins to build an edifice, will never accomplish much in the way of churches, and communities. There are certain fundamental principles of architecture. But equally puerile and absurd is the course of the man who keeps forever laying the foundation, and proceeds no fur­ther. The foundation is of course necessary; but the superstruc­ture is equally necessary to complete the building. And just so it is with regard to the spiritual edification of individuals, families, belonging to the Religion of Christ, a clear and correct under­standing of which is essential to all future progress in the Divine life; just as a foundation is necessary to a building, or as a knowl­edge of the English alphabet is essential to the study of the higher branches of English literature. But having once properly under­stood these elementary principles of the Christian Religion, we should henceforth go on to perfection in the knowledge of Christ.

These elementary principles of Christianity, as here laid down by our author, are: (1) Repentance from dead works,— The word rendered re­pentance (metanoia) means properly a change of mind. It im­plies, therefore, that the sinner has obtained new views of Christ, of sin, and of holiness. He is made to realize that it was for him that Jesus wept, and bled, and died. And this conviction begets in his heart a godly sorrow for his sins. As he now looks on him who was pierced for his transgressions and bruised for his iniqui­ties, he is himself greatly grieved in spirit; and he resolves that with the help of God he will henceforth “ cease to do evil, and learn to do well.” The resolution is no sooner formed than the change of life begins. His simple inquiry now is, “ Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” And having obtained an answer to this question, he no longer confers with flesh and blood; but with an humble, loyal, loving, prayerful, and obedient heart, he at once takes upon him the yoke of Christ, and submits in all things to his will and government.

Here then we have (1) a change of the understanding, arising through Divine grace from the force of the testimony submitted; a change of feeling, a deep sense of conviction wrought in the heart, by the aforesaid change of the understanding; (3) a change of the will, effected by the antecedent change of the heart; and (4) a change of conduct, growing out of the change of the will. Which of these four elementary changes constitutes what is properly called true and genuine repentance ? They are all essential links in the same chain of causation; and it may therefore be conceded that they are all implied in the word repentance. But the question is, not what is implied in this word, but rather what is expressed by it in the inspired writings. That it denotes a change, subsequent to that which is effected in the understanding by means of testimony, and even to that which follows as an immediate effect of this in the region of the affections, is manifest from such passages as the fol­lowing: “ Now I rejoice,” says Paul, “ not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance (eis metanoian) ; for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

For behold this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you; yea, what clearing of yourselves; yea, what indignation; yea, what fear; yea, what vehe­ment desire; yea, what zeal; yea, what revenge. In all things, ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-11.) From this, it seems that Paul had, by a prudent and judi­cious presentation of facts and arguments in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, wrought a logical change in their understanding; and this change of judgment produced in turn a corresponding change in their feelings.

Their hearts were now filled with godly sorrow. But neither of these changes constitutes repentance. It is some­thing which follows after all this in the chain of causation. Fbr says Paul, “ Ye sorrowed to repentance” And again he says, “ Godly sorrow worketh repentanceGodly sorrow, then, is es­sential to repentance, as an antecedent cause is always necessary to an effect. But repentance follows godly sorrow, as godly sorrow itself follows a certain class of our moral judgments. Does repentance then consist in a change of the will, or in a change of conduct, or in both? Peter answers this question in Acts 3:19, where he says to the multitude, “ Repent then, and turn, in order that your sins may be blotted out, that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.” Here the word turn (epistrephate) expresses all that appertains to the required change of conduct; and as repentance is antecedent to this, it follows as a logical necessity from our premises that repent­ance consists essentially, in a change of the will. That the word repentance is often used in a more comprehensive sense, so as to include godly sorrow and also reformation of life is, I think, quite obvious from sundry passages of Scripture. The latter of these (reformation of life) is, indeed, clearly implied in the expression, “ repentance from dead works.” But the essential element of re­pentance, in every case, is a change of the will. It consists simply in a perfect and unreserved submission of the will of the sinner to the will of God. This change is always the legitimate effect of godly sorrow in the heart, and always leads to a change of conduct, or a reformation in the life of the penitent believer.

“ Dead works” are by many supposed to be the works of the Law. They are so called, it is alleged, because of their utter ineffi­ciency in the way of procuring life and salvation for the sinner. But is not this using the phrase in too limited a sense ? Are not all required to repent and turn from everything that is sinful and that leads to death, such as the works of the flesh enumerated in Galatians 5:19-21 ? The Apostle here seems to use the phrase “ repentance from dead works” in its widest sense, embracing everything from which the sinner is required to turn in his conversion from dark­ness to light, and from the service of Satan to the service of God.

(2) Faith toward God.—“ Faith,” we are told, “ comes by hear­ing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17.) And hence John says, “ These [things] are written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might have life through his name.” (John 20:31.) It is evident, there­fore, that the first element of Gospel faith is belief, a firm in­tellectual conviction, resting on the evidence submitted, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Son of the living God; and that there is, in fact, “ no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12.) Under favorable cir­cumstances, this conviction begets, as we have seen, godly sorrow in the heart; and, at the same time, some degree of confidence and trust in Christ, as the Son of God and Savior of sinners. But however strong may be the belief, or intellectual conviction of the sinner, touching the person and character of Jesus as the Son of God, his trust (which may be regarded as the second element of faith) both in God and in Christ will of necessity be comparatively weak until he repents. This arises necessarily out of the condi­tions of offered pardon. The promise of salvation is to those who believe, repent, and reform. How, then, can the impenitent sinner trust confidently in God or in Christ? Manifestly, this is impossi­ble.

He may indeed under the firm persuasion that Jesus has by the grace of God tasted death for every man, cherish some degree of hope, and repose some degree of trust in God, even before he fully repents of his sins, and resolves to reform his life; nay, in­deed, this he must do, if he ever repents. But it is not until the will of the sinner is wholly subjected to the will of God, that he can fully trust in God, and rely on him for every needed blessing. And hence it is that faith and repentance have a mutual and reflex influence on each other. Faith leads to repentance; while repent­ance again serves very greatly to increase our faith; and especially, that element of it which relates to the heart, and which we call trust in God. And hence it is perhaps, that in this summary of the rudiments of the Christian Religion, faith is placed after repent­ance; because it is the faith of the heart, to which the Apostle has here special, though not exclusive, reference— his main object in the whole Epistle being to persuade his brethren to repent from all dead works, and to trust in God through Christ for every needed blessing. As he says also in Rom. 10: 10, “ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation/’ And again he says in the same Epistle, “ But to him that worketh not but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Rom. 4:5.) It is scarcely necessary to add, that faith in God implies also faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit; for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God (Deut. 4: 4); so that he who honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father who sent him (John 5: 23); and he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit blasphemes against God (Matt. 12: 31, 32; Acts 5: 4). It is all folly to profess to believe in God, while we reject the claims of Christ as the Savior of the world. “ This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.” (John 17: 3.)

(3) Of the doctrine of baptisms,— This is given as the third elementary principle of the Christian Religion. But why does our author speak of baptisms (baptismoi) in the plural number? And how is this to be reconciled with what he says in Eph. 4:5: “ [There is] one Lord, one faith, one baptism” ? In answer to these queries, it is alleged (a) that the Apostle refers here not only to Christian baptism, as in Eph. 4: 5, but also to the baptism of John, the baptism of Jewish proselytes, and the divers Jewish washings referred to in 9: 10. (Bleek, Hofmann, Delitzsch, Alford). But with what propriety could all these be ranked under the head of Christian doctrine? Why should the baptism of John and the va­rious Jewish washings be treated as elementary principles of the Christian Religion?

On the same principle, it seems to me, we might arrange and classify all the rites and ceremonies of the Law, as elements of the doctrine of Christ, (b) Some think that the plural is used here for the singular; and that nothing more is really intended than the one ordinance of Christian baptism, as in Eph. 4: 5. (Syr. Version, Stuart.) But if so, why does our author use the plural number, when he might have so readily used the singu­lar? Such an arbitrary use of words is not in harmony with the usual accuracy of the inspired writers, (c) Others suppose that our author has reference to the several acts of baptism, three thou­sand of which were performed on the day of the opening of Christ’ s reign on Earth. (Theodoret, Storr.) But in reply to this, it is enough to say that it is not of any special acts of faith, re­pentance, baptism, etc., that our author is here speaking, but of certain elementary and fundamental principles and elements of the kingdom of Christ, (d) Others again think that the allusion is to trine-immersion, or the threefold dipping of confessing penitents. (DeWette, etc.) But of such an ordinance, the New Testament knows nothing. The practice of trine-immersion is post-apostolic, and has no sanction whatever in the word of God.

Is there then a plurality of baptisms under the reign and admin­istration of the Lord Jesus, and which may therefore be ranked with the rudiments of the doctrine of Christ? If so, what are they?

That every believing confessing penitent is required to be bap­tized, or immersed, in water, is manifest from such passages as the following: Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38 Acts 8:12 Acts 8:36-37 Acts 10:47-48, etc. This is always to be done, as appears from these Scriptures, in the name of the Lord Jesus; and the candidate is in all cases baptized into (eis) the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. It is therefore one baptism, and but one. And hence Paul argues from this the necessity of there being but one body, ani­mated by one Spirit, and governed by one supreme Head. (Ephesians 4:3-16.) There is then unquestionably one baptism in water, and but one, in which all penitent believers put on Christ (Galatians 3:27), and are all immersed into the one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). But is this all? Is there no other baptism to be administered under the reign of Christ?

In Matthew 3:12, we have the testimony of John the Baptist, that Christ would be a Baptizer, as well as himself. Speaking to the vast multitudes that came to be baptized by him, he said, “ I indeed baptize you in (en) water unto repentance; but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you in (en) the Holy Spirit and in fire; whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12.) John did not, and could not, unerringly know the hearts of the people. He was ever liable to be deceived; and he no doubt baptized some very un­worthy persons. But not so with the Baptizer who was to come after him. He would thoroughly separate the good from the bad; and the former, here represented by the wheat, he would baptize in the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39; Acts 2:38; Ephesians 5:18) ; but the latter, represented by the chaff, he would baptize in fire. See 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; 2 Peter 3:7 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 20:15.

We have then under the reign of Christ, as elementary ordi­nances of the New Economy (1) a baptism in water, in which all penitent believers who confess Christ are introduced into his body; (2) a baptism in the Holy Spirit, administered by Christ himself to all who are really begotten by the Spirit and born of water; and (3) a baptism in fire, by means of which the wicked will all be finally overwhelmed in sufferings. See references. Are not these, then, the baptisms of which our author here speaks? If so, it may be asked, Then why does he not use the word baptisma instead of baptismos? The former is the common term used for baptism in the New Testament; and the latter is used in both Mark 7:4 Mark 7:8, and Hebrews 9:10, for Jewish washings. There seems therefore to be some weight in this objection; but it is perhaps only in appearance, as these words are both derivatives from bap- tizo and each signifies a dipping or an immersion.

And besides, Josephus uses baptismos in speaking of John’ s baptism. (Ant. xviii. 5, 2). I am therefore, on the whole, inclined to the opinion, that it is to these three baptisms that our author here refers. If this is not his meaning, then I think we must accept the first hypothesis as advocated by Bleek, Hofmann, and others.

(4)And of laying on of hands,— The laying on of hands is a natural sign, indicating the bestowment of any gift, trust, or bless­ing. And hence we find that in the primitive Church, hands were imposed (a) in imparting spiritual gifts (Acts 8:17); (b) in healing the sick (Acts 28:8) ; and (c) in ordaining men to the work of the ministry (Acts 6:6 Acts 13:3 Acts 14:23; 1 Timothy 4:14 1 Timothy 5:22). The last only is an established ordinance of the Church. It is to be observed throughout the entire period of the regeneration, while the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, and while the Apostles shall sit on twelve thrones judging the redeemed Is­rael of God. And hence it is manifest that the doctrine of this or­dinance involves also the whole subject of ordination and church organization. For the command to lay hands suddenly on no man (1 Timothy 5:22), implies of necessity the consideration of the sev­eral classes of church officers, together with their prescribed func­tions and scriptural qualifications, as well as the condition of the Church itself, and the special fitness or unfitness of the individual for the work to which he is about to be consecrated. Most appro­priately therefore is this ordinance ranked among the rudiments of Christian doctrine. (5)And of resurrection of the dead,— In the original Greek, the word answering to resurrection (anastasis) is anarthrous, being sufficiently defined by the adjunct which follows. But the ar­ticle is required by our English idiom, and the whole phrase should be rendered, “ And of the resurrection of the dead.’’ This elemen­tary doctrine of the Christian Religion was denied by the Saddu- cees (Matthew 22:23), and by the heathen philosophers generally (Acts 17:32) ; but the Apostles often dwell on it as a fundamental doctrine of the Gospel, showing that through Christ all will be raised from the dead, to be judged for the deeds done in the body. See references. Hebrews 6:2 —And of eternal judgment.— Many of God’ s judgments are now of only temporary duration; because they are designed for our correction and discipline. (2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:6-11.) But not so with the final and general judgment. It will never be reversed; and hence it will in its effects and consequences endure forever. The decree of Jehovah touching the character and destiny of man­kind after the judgment, is given by the Holy Spirit as follows: “ He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still." (Revelation 22:11.) And accordingly, Christ closes his description of the general judg­ment, by saying that the wicked shall go away into everlasting (aionios) punishment; but the righteous, into everlasting (aion- ios) life. (Matthew 25:46.)

Hebrews 6:3 —And this will we do, etc.— That is, we will, with the help of God, go on to perfection. The Apostle well knew that without God’ s help, they could accomplish nothing. (John 15:5.) And hence while urging his brethren, by all the high motives of the Gospel, to greater diligence in making their calling and election sure, he is careful to remind them of the necessity of submitting to the will of God, and looking to him for help in all things.

Hebrews 6:4 —For it is impossible—The word “ /or” , like every other department of knowledge, has its elementary and its more advanced and recondite principles. (6: 1-3.) And hence care should always be taken to adapt our in­structions to the age and capacity of our readers, and also of our hearers, as the case may be. It is all folly to attempt to instruct in the principles of Grammar and Rhetoric children who have not studied even the alphabet, or to drill in the Calculus those who are ignorant of even the common rules of Arithmetic. And no less ab­surd is the practice of attempting to instruct in many things per­taining to the decrees of God, the priesthood of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit, such babes in Christ as have not mastered even the elementary lessons of Christianity relating to repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judg­ment. Much time and labor are vainly spent in attempting to feed the infants of God’ s family on the solid food of Christian doctrine rather than on the pure and simple milk of the word of truth. (1 Peter 2:2.) It is dangerous to rest satisfied with a knowledge of the mere rudiments of Christianity or to stop short of perfection in the knowledge of Christ. (6: 1-3.) Our course should be ever onward and upward in all that pertains to holiness and happiness. The time is short, the work is great, and the prize to be won or lost, is of infinite value. It becomes us, therefore, to give all diligence while life lasts, in adding to our faith knowledge, as well as tem­perance, patience, godliness, brotherly-kindness, and love. And after we shall have done this, to even the utmost extent of our abil­ity, how little we shall know of the length and breadth, the depth and height of the love of God which passes all understanding. But small as our attainments may be; we have nevertheless the satis­faction to know that they will be quite sufficient to prepare us for a joyful admission into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:11.) After that, when with Proph­ets and Apostles we stand on the heights of the everlasting Zion, we will be better qualified to make further and higher advances in the knowledge of Divine things. How very dreadful and alarming is the condition of the apos­tate (verses 4-8). Once enlightened and comforted by the good word of God, a partaker of the heavenly gift and of the Holy Spirit, but now fallen; dead in trespasses and in sins, without God and without hope; beyond the reach of mercy, even through the blood of the everlasting covenant wherewith he was once sancti­fied! “ Oh wretched state of deep despair!” What mind can fathom the abyss of woe that awaits such an abandoned reprobate ? And yet to think that such a doom may perchance be ours! The very thought of even such a possibility should constrain us to put forth every energy of body, soul, and spirit, to make our calling and election sure. To be banished from God as unfit for the society of Heaven; to have our portion with the devil and his angels; to weep forever, “ but not in Mercy’ s sight!” And all this for what? Simply because we would not accept of the great salvation, by ceasing to do evil, and learning to do well.

Because we would not humbly, and in reliance on Divine grace, even try to do the will of him who made us, preserved us, and gave his own Son to re­deem us. May God save us from such folly and madness by helping and enabling us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Any evidence of spiritual vitality is always encouraging (verses 9, 10). The sick may be revived, but the condition of the dead is hopeless. Every possible effort should therefore be made, and made speedily, to raise up the hands that hang down, and to strengthen the feeble knees. God never abandons any of his erring children while there is even a spark of spiritual life in their souls. It is only when they wholly apostatize from him, by going so far in sin as to sever the last cord of their spiritual union with him, that he gives them up to blindness of mind and hardness of heart. Till then he follows them with even more than a father’ s care and a mother’ s love. “ Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you.

For I am merci­ful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only ac­knowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you; and I will take you, one of a city and two of a family, and will bring you to Zion.” (Jeremiah 3:12-14.) While, then, God labors to reform and restore his backsliding children, we should feel en­couraged to do likewise, for God is not willing that any should per­ish, but that all should be brought to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9.) See also Matthew 18:12-15; Luke 15:4-7 Luke 22:32; Galatians 6:1; Hebrews 12:13; James 5:19-20; 1 John 5:16; Jude 1:22-23. The departed saints are now happy (verses 12, 15). They are inheriting the promises in a far higher and fuller sense than they did during their earthly pilgrimage (verse 12). True, indeed, it is said of Abraham, as well as of many of his children, that he was greatly blessed during his sojourn on earth. (Genesis 24:1 Genesis 24:35.) But all this was but as nothing in comparison with the blessing which he received after that he had patiently waited even to the end of his pilgrimage (verse 15). For “ he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise,” that is, of the same heavenly inheritance. (11: 16.) “ For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” (11: 9, 10.) And just so it was also with Isaac, and Jacob, and all the Prophets, Apostles, and other holy men of old, “ who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” (11:33, 34.) “ These all died in faith, not having re­ceived the promises, but having seen them afar off, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” (11: 13.) These have all entered into the rest of God (4: 10), and are now heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). The entire universe is now theirs, so far as they are now capable of enjoying it. (1 Corinthians 3:22-23.) Heaven is now their home, and the earth, when purified from sin, will be added to their possessions, and become the place of their abode. See notes on 2: 5-9.

There, invested as they will be with their glorified bodies, they will probably enter on still higher degrees of enjoyment. There God will lead them to fountains of living water, and there he will make all things abound to their everlasting felicity. Surely, then, it is better to depart and be with Christ (Philippians 1:23); for “ while we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:6). It is right to make oath on grave and momentous occasions (verses 13, 17). This, it seems, has ever been a custom among men, and God himself is here represented as having acted in har­mony with this custom. But surely he would not have done so had the custom been in itself sinful, as some allege. That the practice of swearing has been carried to very great excess, even in our civil courts, I readily grant; and that there is in our depraved hearts a lamentable tendency to take the name of God in vain, is, alas, but too evident. All such profane trifling with the name and attributes of God is sinful (Exodus 20:7) ; and so also is the habit of swearing by Heaven, or by the earth, or by any other creature. All such profanity is wholly inconsistent with the spirit of our holy religion, and is most emphatically forbidden by Christ (Matthew 5:33-37), and also by the Apostle James (James 5:12).

But to swear by God when the occasion requires it, that is, when nothing else would serve to remove doubt and give to society the necessary confidence, seems to be in harmony with the example of God himself on sun­dry occasions. See references. How wonderfully deep and profound are the counsels of Je­hovah (verses 13-18). Who without the aid of the Holy Spirit would ever have supposed that God’ s promise to Abraham compre­hended all that has been developed from it in the history of God’ s dealings with mankind? Who would have thought, for instance, that in that promise there was given to Abraham and to his seed a pledge that they should be the heirs of the world (Romans 4:13), and partakers of all the rights and privileges of the everlasting kingdom (Galatians 3:29) ? But it is even so. God’ s ways are not as our ways, nor are his thoughts as our thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9.) Well may we exclaim with Paul, in view of the whole plan of re­demption, “ Oh the depth of the riches, and of the wisdom, and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things; to whom be glory for­ever. Amen.” The hope of the Christian rests on a sure foundation (verse 19). Unlike the hopes of the world, it will never make us ashamed by disappointing us; for even now we have here a fore­taste of the joys and felicities of Heaven, through “ the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given to us.” (Romans 5:10.) This is a sure earnest of what is to follow. (Ephesians 1:14). And besides, Jesus as our forerunner has for us entered into that within the vail. There he has made an atonement for us with his own blood; there he has provided for us heavenly mansions, and there he ever lives and reigns to make intercession for us, and to supply all our wants. Surely this is sufficient ground of encouragement for those “ who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us.” For if when we were enemies to God by wicked works, we were reconciled to him by the death of his Son,, much more being now reconciled by his death, we shall be saved by his life. (Romans 5:10.) Hebrews Chapter SixVerse 1 ; ON UNTO ; TO FAITH AND ; THE HOPE THAT IS SET BEFORE USWherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.(Hebrews 6:1-2) Leaving … the first principles is not enjoined in the sense of departing from those fundamental things, but in the sense of progressing beyond them, the overwhelming importance of the things mentioned being inherent in the fact of their being called “first principles” and “a foundation.” Through use of a pronoun “us,” the writer identifies himself with his readers, as more emphatically in Hebrews 6:3 following; and from this it should not be presumed that the inspired author of this epistle was himself deficient in the manner of his readers, nor that he, like them, was guilty of serious fault of omission. Just why a similar identification of the author with his readers inHebrews 2:3 should be hailed as proof that the author was denying his own apostleship has never been explained. See under “authorship” in the introduction for note on this, also under Hebrews 2:3. What the writer surely did here, he may have done in Hebrews 2:3; and the basis of dogmatic affirmations to the contrary, far from being evident, appears forced and unnatural. The “perfection” in this place refers to a more extensive and thorough knowledge of Christian principles, as contrasted with the mere acquaintance with the basic fundamentals. The goal of all Christian endeavor is absolute perfection, even as God is perfect, for Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). Unattainable in the ultimate sense, perfection is nevertheless the goal of Christians. All should strive toward it. THE SIX Ironically, ours is an age that has indeed “gone on” to a very fanciful and indefinite kind of perfection so-called, categorically forsaking and denying the very principles outlined here as fundamental. For the generation that first received this letter to the Hebrews, a further stress of the fundamentals was not needed; but for this age, the opposite is true. Fundamental truth of the most basic nature is openly denied or presumptuously ignored by an age that seems to feel that it has outgrown such elementary things as these; and, therefore, we may be thankful indeed for the inspired outline of things which actually constitute fundamental Christian doctrine. Some study will be given to this extremely interesting list of the foundation principles of the Christian religion: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, the teaching of baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, the eternal judgment. There are two categories here, first the plan of salvation, as it has been called, including faith, repentance and baptism, and pertaining largely to alien individuals, and secondly, certain doctrines that concern all people collectively. Some make a triple division, grouping the three successive pairs to represent man’s personal relations, his social relations, and his connection with the unseen world.[1]Objection to the view that the primary steps of Christian obedience, faith, repentance and baptism, are intended here springs from two things: (1) the order of their being mentioned (repentance first), and (2) the mention of plural baptisms. We shall note each of these. The order of faith and repentance in the steps of obedience does not depend on any word list, even of the apostles, for it is impossible for them to be reversed. No unbeliever in the history of the world ever repented; and the mention of repentance first in this sequence cannot possibly imply any priority of its appearance in the sinner’s heart. The scriptures supply another example of clearly related actions being mentioned out of their natural sequence. Peter said of the crucifixion of Christ that it was he “whom they slew and hanged on a tree” (Acts 5:30), thus reversing the chronological sequence. The use of the plural “baptisms” doubtless sprang from the fact that no less than seven baptisms are mentioned in the New Testament, these being: (1) the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11); (2) the baptism of fire (Matthew 3:11); (3) the baptism of John (Matthew 3:16); (4) the baptism unto Moses (1 Corinthians 10:2); (5) the baptism of suffering (Luke 15:30); (6) the baptism for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29); and (7) the baptism of the great commission (Matthew 28:18-20). The seventh of these is beyond question the “one” baptism of Eph 4:5; and the knowledge of these things was most certainly part of the elementary things that one had to know in order to become a Christian. Able scholars have rejected this view, Bruce, for example, insisting that “baptisms” in this place has no reference whatever to that Christian ordinance that stands at the gateway of the church; but in matters of this kind, one must be on guard against the natural bias that flows from the theological position of the commentator. Just how anyone can rule out Christian baptism as being included in “baptisms,” especially when it stands in a list of fundamental Christian doctrines, must ever appear as a mystery indeed. Westcott, an incomparable master of the Greek text, allows the obvious meaning of the word to stand, stating that The plural and peculiar form (of the term “baptisms”) seems to be used to include Christian baptism with other lustral rites. The “teaching” would naturally be directed to show their essential difference.[2]Repentance from dead works. Repentance is basic to salvation, on the part of both aliens and Christians, being a constant duty of all who would enter into life. It is an invariable condition of forgiveness of any sin whatsoever (Luke 13:3). “From dead works” is a reference to the class of deeds from which the conscience requires to be cleansed, as evidenced by the same description of them in Hebrews 9:14. All works are dead, in the sense intended here, except the ones motivated by faith and love of God. The works of human righteousness, the works of the flesh, the works of mortal achievement, and even the works of the Law of Moses, must all be included in the “dead works” mentioned here. And faith toward God. Faith as a fundamental is affirmed not only here but in Hebrews 11:6, and throughout the New Testament (Mark 16:15-16). It is rather strange that faith which has been elevated to a super-status by most of Protestantism should be revealed here among the simplicities, a rudimentary, fundamental, basic thing, which one is admonished to leave and go on unto perfection! What a contrast is between this and the view of the creeds which make it the “sole” basis of salvation. Nevertheless, it would be difficult indeed to overstress the importance of faith, without which no man can please God. It is a “sine qua non” of redemption. And the teaching of baptisms. This was noted above, but a few more thoughts are in order. Plainly, baptism is made to be in this verse a part of the fundamental teaching of Christianity; and therefore, it simply cannot be that baptism is in any sense an optional, non-essential, elective, or superficial duty; but it is a genuine obligation, as should already have been expected from the proclamation of it on so many solemn occasions as a commandment to be heeded by all people. See the accounts of the great commission in Matthew 28:18 ff and Mark 16:15 ff, and also the first sermon of the gospel age (Acts 2:38 ff). As regards faith and baptism, the theology of the Protestant era has exaggerated faith and diminished baptism; but in the index of Christian fundamentals, one finds them securely embedded side by side in the foundation of the Christian theology. Seeing then that the Holy Spirit has made them to be among the coordinates, it must be sinful indeed to disturb the place that either of them has in God’s marvelous system of salvation. Let those who hail baptism as non-essential, or some superfluous accessory of the true faith, behold here its proper place in the foundation. Baptism is the burial in water of a believing, penitent candidate, and the raising up again to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12); only those who believe and repent can receive Christian baptism. The purpose of baptism is to bring the believer into Christ (Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 6:3). The necessity of baptism lies in the mandate of Christ who commanded all people of all nations of all times to receive it and submit to it (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38 ff). The responsibility for being baptized rests upon every individual ever born into the world. Peter commanded his hearers to “repent and have yourselves baptized."[3] Baptism is a precondition of forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38 Acts 22:16); it corresponds to the marriage ceremony as applied to Christ and his bride, the church (Ephesians 5:25-27); it is the initiatory rite by which one is admitted to the church which is the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). Although the scriptures declare that we are saved by baptism (1 Peter 3:21), it is not baptism alone that saves.

Baptism without faith, or without repentance, or without the newness of life following, is no baptism. Baptism is “for” the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), and for the purpose of being saved (Mark 16:15-16); and it is to be administered in the sacred name “of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18-20). Therefore, let every man ask himself if this sacred and holy commandment has anything to do with him! The laying on of hands would seem at first glance to be misplaced in this list, but not at all. Absolutely essential to an understanding of the limitation upon the appearance in the early history of the church of truly inspired men who could do miracles and speak with divine authority in the church is the knowledge of the fact that such abilities came to those men through the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 8:18), and from no other source whatsoever. Out of such knowledge flow epic deductions which are of the utmost consequence to Christianity. The cessation of miracles and of directly-inspired teachers, and the closing up of the sacred canon of the New Testament, and such information as refutes the notion of any so-called apostolic succession - all these and many other truths of a most crucial kind are directly dependent upon just one little fact, namely, that it was through laying on of “the apostles’ hands” that those wonderful gifts came to the church, and that that power was not hereditary, or transferable, by any other means whatever. Plenary power of a kind like that delegated to an ambassador is never transferable, but every new holder of it must be commissioned at the original source. Even the sorcerer understood this basic point (Acts 8:18 ff); and the possession of that information by such a person as Simon, after such a brief contact with the faith, proves both the fundamental or elementary nature of the doctrine, and its basic simplicity as well. It was in view of that knowledge that Simon tried to buy the gift, not from Philip who had baptized him and who also had the power, and who was personally known to Simon, but from Peter, an apostle! The resurrection of the dead is another fundamental sadly shunted aside in the materialistic age through which people are passing. This old fundamental doctrine should be hauled out of the cellar and presented anew to the secular and unbelieving society! An apostle once said, “If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most pitiable” (1 Corinthians 15:19). The whole teaching of Christ was founded squarely on the premise of a resurrection of the bad and good alike, indeed of all people. He said, Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29). Christianity’s most successful missionary, the apostle Paul, never failed to stress this doctrine. On land or on sea, at home or abroad, in villages or in great cities, his message was always and constantly that of the resurrection of the dead. The importance of this fundamental teaching to the onward sweep of Christianity in the early centuries was marked by Gibbon in his epic history of the decline and fall of the ancient Roman empire. He wrote, Our curiosity is naturally prompted to inquire by what means the Christian faith obtained so remarkable a victory over the established religions of earth. To this inquiry an obvious but satisfactory answer may be returned; that it was owing to the convincing evidence of the doctrine itself, and to the ruling providence of its great Author. Gibbon then went on to list the factors which he called “the five following causes” which favored the rapid spread of Christianity; and the second on the list is “the doctrine of a future life, improved by every additional circumstance which could give weight and efficacy to that important truth."[4] Without the doctrine of the resurrection, the whole fabric of Christian thought dissolves into emptiness and worthlessness. No marvel then that it is listed as fundamental. And of eternal judgment. This doctrine too, in these days, is more honored by its neglect than by its faithful proclamation. The whole concept of an eternal judgment, alas, has dropped out of the theological firmament, and from its rightful emphasis by gospel preachers. And why? Is not this also a part of the fundamental sub-structure of Christianity? Of course it is. The doctrine of the eternal judgment is taught in the Old Testament (Daniel 12:2); but it is in the New Testament that the magnificent scope and importance of it most vividly appear. Christ plainly stated that all nations would appear simultaneously before him in judgment, that he should sit upon the throne of God and separate the wicked from the righteous as the shepherd divides the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:31 ff).

He taught that all nations would appear simultaneously with that current generation in judgment, and that the citizens of Nineveh (Matthew 12:41) and the queen of the south (Matthew 12:42), separated by centuries of time, would appear in judgment with the contemporaries of Jesus. Efforts to spiritualize the resurrection and judgment (the two go together) by making “our age” the judgment day, or “the day of death” the judgment, or “every day” to be judgment day, or such things as “historical rejections of prior social wrongs” to be the judgment mentioned in scripture is nonsense. All such devices utterly fail in the light of the concise and dramatic statements in the word of God, one of them in this epistle. “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). And as for the delusion that the second coming of Christ, accompanied by the general resurrection and final judgment, will all be realized in some vague spiritual sense such as a glorious era of world peace, social justice, and universal felicity among people, forget it. To be sure, all people would delightfully hail such a “judgment day” and such a coming of Christ; but the word of God details the second advent of our Lord in terms of a cataclysmic event of worldwide terror and destruction, an event that will not be, in any sense, “good news” for the great majority of Adam’s race; for the Saviour himself said that “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (Matthew 24:30). Great and terrible as the concept of eternal judgment admittedly is, the most profound necessity for it is evident. Most of the truly difficult problems connected with the life of faith, and with reference to the entire system of Christianity, are directly related to the doctrine of eternal judgment. Heaven, hell, eternal punishment, eternal joy, Satan, and the problem of evil - all these things pivot in the last analysis upon the scriptural teaching of the judgment. All of the problems, great and small, eventually fade into insignificance before the pressing question, “Is this universe just?” The underlying assumption of revealed religion as set forth in both the Old Testament and the New Testament is the concept of a just universe; and time and time again it is unequivocably declared to be just (Psalms 45:6-7). The father of the faithful, Abraham, idiomatically inferred it when he asked, “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). The existence of laws in the natural realm, the moral law within people, and the sacred revelation all alike proclaim the justice of the universe; and if it is not so, life indeed becomes “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing” (Macbeth, Act V).

Sanity in any true sense turns upon the question of justice in the cosmos. If the righteousness and justice of God do indeed establish his throne and undergird all things, then WE ARE SAFE; and every man shall receive the reward of the deeds done in the body (2 Corinthians 5:10); if not, then any true security of the soul is a fool’s dream, and man himself is but an infant crying in the night with no language but a cry! But if the universe is just; if the righteous shall be rewarded and the wicked punished, AN ETERNAL IS , a judgment in which all inequities and injustices shall be corrected, an eternal judgment presided over by infinite justice, wisdom, mercy, and love - in short, the judgment revealed upon every page of the sacred scriptures, or if not revealed, then certainly implied. The widespread neglect and apparent disbelief of this doctrine suggests that it is true of our generation, as it was of those to whom this epistle was first addressed, that we “have need again that someone teach us the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God” (Hebrews 5:12) A foundation as applied to these six crucial teachings suggests some facts regarding foundations. No less than four foundations of Christianity are mentioned in the New Testament, and these are: (1) the foundation fact that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-19; 1 Corinthians 3:11); (2) the foundation authority, namely the sayings of Jesus Christ, called by him “these sayings of mine” (Matthew 7:24-27), “whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20); (3) the foundation personnel, the apostles and prophets of the New Testament (Ephesians 2:19); and (4) the foundation teachings as set forth in the place before us. The multiple nature of the foundation should not be confusing, since foundations, even of almost any building, are comprised of several different things. The eternal city that comes down from God out of heaven is said to have twelve foundations! (Revelation 21:19). [1] Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), p. 143. [2] Ibid., p. 146. [3] Vine’s Greek Dictionary (Westwood, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1962), p. 97. [4] Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Philadelphia: H. T. Coates and Company), Vol. I, p. 508. Verse 3 And this will we do, if God permit.The pledge of the writer, and he graciously includes his readers, is to go on unto perfection, with no attempt on his part to re-teach his addressees on the subject of the fundamentals, the reason for this being that it would do no good anyway. This was true because of the impossibility of rekindling the cold ashes of a dead faith after its life-giving flame had been extinguished. He does, however, devote some little space to an explanation of that reason. Verse 4 For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.It is astonishing to behold the lengths to which people have gone in their writings to diminish the plain import of these words. The Calvinistic concept of the impossibility of apostasy, or the final perseverance of the saints, has always been nothing but a delusion. All efforts to resolve the matter by the judgment upon apostates to the effect that they were never really converted fail in the light of this passage, where there can be no doubt of the true conversion of them that later fell away. As Bruce noted, the passage can be abused in two ways. He said, This warning has both been unduly minimized and unduly exaggerated … (as by them that say) the sin in question cannot be committed today … The warning of this passage is a real warning against a real danger … On the other hand, our author’s meaning can be exaggerated to the point of distortion when he is understood to say that for sins committed after baptism there can be no repentance.[5]The most difficult word in this passage is “impossible,” which seems to perplex most of the writers. Macknight wrote that “The apostle does not mean that it is impossible for God to renew a second time an apostate; but that it is impossible for the ministers of Christ (to do so)."[6] Allow that God might indeed do what is here called impossible does no violence to truth, since all things are possible with God, except that he should lie or deny himself; and if the renewing of an apostate is not an action included in that exception, it would, of course, be possible with God. But the practical impossibility still stands; and it appears likely that the state here described as “impossible” of renewal should be identified with the “eternal sin” of Mark 3:28. Barmby noted this, saying, The correspondence between the state here described and the consequence of “the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost” suggests itself at once; our Lord’s words, in speaking of that unpardonable sin, being rightly supposed to point to obduracy in spite of experience of the Holy Spirit’s power.[7]AN ETERNAL SINA careful reading of Mar 3:28 and context reveals that the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is designated as “an eternal sin,” thus one of a class of sins that are called eternal and which are without forgiveness. In addition to the scripture before us, there are other New Testament passages bearing upon this important matter. The Thessalonians were warned, “Quench not the Spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:19); the pleasure lover was described as “dead while she liveth” (1 Timothy 5:6); willful sin after knowledge of the truth results in there being “no more a sacrifice for sin” (Hebrews 10:26-27); “there is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:16) for which there is not even any need or commandment that people should pray; certain Corinthians were spoken of as being in a state of “sleep” (1 Corinthians 11:30); and Peter described a certain condition as being worse than lost (2 Peter 2:20-21); and the only condition that can answer to such a description is one from which recovery is impossible. All of these words of the Holy Spirit, and including the strong words of the Saviour (Mark 3:28), speak of a condition from which there is no recovery in this life or in the one to come. Yet in spite of terrible warning uttered here, no morbid fear should be allowed to fasten upon the soul as a result. What is spoken of may be simply stated as spiritual death, having its everyday counterpart in physical, or natural death.

Once a man is truly dead, life cannot be breathed again into his body, death being final. Just so, once a Christian quenches the sacred Spirit within his soul, that too is final, the destiny of that soul being then and there fully determined. What then is THE SIN that can cause so fatal and final a result? The answer is ANY SIN engaged in, loved, and preferred over fellowship with God. The sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit was the sin judged by Jesus to have been terminal with the Pharisees; but in making it “an eternal sin,” Jesus clearly made room for the view that other sins as well could be just as disastrous. The unpardonable or eternal sin is thus any sin that results in the death of the spiritual life; and therein lies the danger of all sin. The counterpart is in the physical world where the fatal disease is the one inscribed on the death certificate and which varies with all kinds of circumstances. The Christian attitude toward sin should therefore be like that of a mother’s concern over any threatened danger to a child.

What mother could be indifferent to a splinter in her child’s knee? She is aware that death is involved; and just so the Christian should move against the sin, no matter how slight or inconsequential it might appear. The paranoic fear that some feel in thinking that they might have committed such a sin is unjustified as revealed by the analogy in the natural realm. No person physically dead is concerned about his condition. Thus, no person whose life has already been severed eternally from God could have any feeling of guilt, remorse, or anxiety. “Dead while living” is the apt description. Fortunately for all people, the spiritual life is quite persistent and hardy; and it may be that relatively few even of those most hardened rebels against God, have actually gone so far as to reach the “impossible” state. Peter’s description of the condition, cited above, does not affirm that those “who are entangled” in sins are in that “worse” state, but those who “are again entangled and .” Then, O child of God, keep the holy fire alive. Just as the vestal virgins of the ancient Roman temple guarded the holy fire with their lives and constant vigilance, so Christians should alertly mind the sacred flame of the Holy Spirit within their hearts. And then fall away poses the question of the true conversion of those that fell; were they really and truly born again Christians, or were they in some vital manner deficient, either of true faith or of possession of the Holy Spirit? The more one studies this passage, the more it comes through as absolutely certain that those who, in this instance, are spoken of as falling away, were at first good Christians, genuinely converted, enlightened, partakers of the Holy Spirit, and having tasted of the good word of God and the powers of the age to come! If such a description as this does not indicate a truly converted Christian, as distinguished from one who is not really so, it would be impossible to imagine just how it could done at all. The only thing one needs to give up in order to understand this is Calvinism; and why should any concern be felt over such a speculation as that of Calvin? Angels of God sinned and were cast out of heaven (Jude 1:6; 2 Peter 2:4); Judas, an apostle, fell, and a genuine apostle at that, one who was commissioned to cast out evil spirits and raise the dead (Matthew 10:1-7); even THAT apostle “by transgression fell” (Acts 1:25); and all of the repeated warnings of the holy scriptures against falling - what are those, if they are not stern words designed to keep people back from real dangers? If not what could be their purpose? “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12). Despite the obvious truth, the bias of Calvinism is discernible in half the commentaries one may read on this passage. Hardly any passage of the New Testament having any bearing on the question has escaped some subtle distortion or outright contradiction. Thus, it is attempted to make out that Judas was never “truly” an apostle, overlooking the fact that one cannot possibly “fall” from an eminence that he has not attained. Again, Simon the sorcerer is usually represented as not having been actually converted; and to support it, the word of Peter to him are sometimes amended to read, “thou art STILL in the gall of bitterness” etc. (Acts 8:23), notwithstanding the colossal fact that the word “still” is not in the text; and not even the present tense is in it, as a glance at the Greek margin will show; for Peter’s words were actually, “thou WILT BECOME gall of bitterness,” etc. And as for the question of Simon’s being saved or not, Christ said, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved”; and the inspired writer of Acts said, “Simon also himself believed and being baptized,” etc. (Acts 8:13). Was he saved? If the word of God is true, he was saved. [5] F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), p. 122. [6] James Macknight, Apostolic Epistles (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1960), p. 532. [7] J. Barmby, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 21, Hebrews, p. 160. Verse 7 For the land which hath drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth blessing from God; but if it beareth thorns and thistles it is rejected and nigh unto a curse, whose end is to be burned.This is an appeal to the practice of burning thistle-infested fields and is an argument “ad hominem” to support what he had just said of apostates. If men burn the infested and unproductive field, then those persons who allow themselves to become spiritually infected and unproductive are likewise in danger of God’s judgment. There is a note of tenderness in the delicate reference to the infested field as being “nigh unto” cursing, and not as having fully arrived at such a dreadful state; and this may be interpreted as a tacit admission that none of the Hebrew Christians had actually gone that far; yet the severity of the warning appears in the fate of the field, which is “to be burned,” an analogy pointing to the final overthrow of the wicked. Verse 9 But beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.To prevent any possible discouragement from rising in the hearts of his readers the author here goes out of his way to convince them that he does not classify them in the category of apostates. “Better things” means that the condition of the readers was held superior to that of them that had fallen away. “Things that accompany salvation” is a hint of certain qualities and attainments on their part, which, far from projecting their apostasy, were evidences of their salvation. Verse 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which ye showed toward his name, in that ye minister unto the saints, and still do minister.Things done to the Lord’s servants are done to the Lord (Matthew 25:40); and by distinguishing themselves in ministering to the needs of the saints, which they had done and were continuing to do, they were showing their love for God’s name. From the things said here, it is plain, as Milligan pointed out, that “the Hebrew brethren had been culpably negligent in the study of God’s word; but notwithstanding this, they had been diligent in the works of benevolence."[8] The warning from this is pointed indeed. Wonderful as works of benevolence assuredly are, pure benevolence, however lavish, is no substitute for faithful adherence to the word and doctrine of Christ. In the present society, wherein social and charitable programs of every conceivable description are held to be the first priority of Christian faith, it is sobering to observe that the true priority lies with the word and doctrine. This was not a new principle introduced by the author of Hebrews, because all of the apostles held that it was “not fit” that they “should forsake the word of God and serve tables” (Acts 6:2). ENDNOTE: [8] R. Milligan, New Testament Commentary (Nashville: Gospel Advocate Company, 1962), Vol. IX, p. 181. Verse 11 And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fullness of hope even to the end: that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.Each one of you stresses God’s care of the individual and his concern that each and every one of the believers should continue firmly in the way of truth. “The same diligence” means that they were commanded to improve and expand their knowledge of the word of God and to give it an equal priority and diligence to that they had bestowed upon their works of benevolence. “Unto the fullness of hope” gives a glimpse of a subject that will receive a more definite emphasis a little later in the chapter (Hebrews 6:19). That ye be not sluggish is an exhortation against lethargy and laziness, a trait they had sadly demonstrated in their neglect of studies in the word and teaching of the Master. “Imitators of them” refers to the great patriarchs of the Old Testament, of whom the author would speak so extensively in Hebrews 11, a discussion which is anticipated by this reference to them. Other passages of the New Testament that counsel Christians to be “imitators” are: “Be ye imitators of me even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1); “And ye become imitators of us and of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 1:6); “For ye, brethren, become imitators of the churches” (1 Thessalonians 2:14); and “Be ye therefore imitators of God as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1). Faith and patience as joined here are actually twin virtues, because without patience, faith is likely to wither and fall. Jesus said, “In your patience ye shall possess your souls” (Luke 21:19). “The promises” include all the wonderful things that God will do for his redeemed; and what will he do? He will forgive people’s sins when they accept and obey him, bless them providentially in the present life, make all things work together for good on their behalf, provide the earnest of the Holy Spirit within them as a pledge of eternal life, comfort them in sorrows, strengthen them in weakness, illuminate them in darkness, make the way of escape in their temptations, attend them through the Dark Valley, raise them from the rottenness of the grave itself, cover their sins in judgment, and administer to them an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom! Surely such promises are worth the diligence and patience of faith as enjoined here. Verse 13 For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And thus having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.For notes regarding God’s swearing, see under Hebrews 3:10 and under Hebrews 6:16. The reference to Abraham is for the purpose of holding him up as an example. He was the most illustrious of the patriarchs and prophets, of whom the author had already said that his readers should imitate them. There seems also to be a special reason for singling out Abraham at this point, due to his importance in what happened with Melchizedek, and which events the author will more fully develop a little later in the epistle. The promise to Abraham mentioned here must be the one recorded in Genesis 22:16 ff, since that is the only occasion when God with an oath confirmed a promise to Abraham; and although the author of Hebrews mentions only a portion of the promise, the entire promise, especially the blessing for all nations, was undoubtedly in mind. The patience of Abraham was indeed exemplary for several reasons. The promise, it will be remembered (Genesis 12:1 ff), envisioned a great posterity for Abraham; but many years passed during which he had no son. Passing over the incident involving Hagar, Abraham waited patiently for that which, according to all human reckoning, was impossible. Then at last, when Isaac was born, and the patriarch’s hopes and affections were centered in him, his patience was further tested by the astounding command of God that Isaac should be offered as a sacrifice. The nearly superhuman response of Abraham to that commandment of God became the occasion for God’s confirming the promise with an oath. The statement here that Abraham “obtained” the promise has reference to his receiving in full faith the prospect of its ultimate fulfillment when Isaac was restored to him, which was like receiving him back from the dead (Hebrews 11:19). Supernatural power had been evident in the conception and birth of Isaac; and, after receiving him back from the dead, “in a figure,” Abraham had every reason to believe and know that God’s promise, together with all its implications, would most surely be fulfilled. There was a sense in which Abraham did not truly receive the promise (Hebrews 11:39), that is, “all” of the promise; nor will he do so until all the faithful of all times receive it all together in the eternal home of the soul. Verse 16 For men swear by the greater; and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.This appeal to the custom of people in requiring judicial oaths, even making it the reason for God’s doing so, would appear to give the most positive assurance that the taking of such oaths is not to be considered sinful. If so, our Saviour’s command to “swear not at all” (Matthew 4:34) could be understood as making an exception of the type of oath considered here; but this is far from certain. Even if the judicial oath should be allowed as an exception, Christ’s command still stands opposed to the vast majority of oaths which people continually swear, most of them utterly needless, and many of them profane as well as needless. The Christian community through the ages, out of regard to Christ’s word, have elected to “affirm” or “testify under the penalties of perjury”; and such is a safe course of action and one generally allowed by enlightened courts which take into account the requirement of absolute honesty in all their declarations, Christians being under a much stricter rule than that of any earthly court. On the reasons for God’s doing such a thing as “swearing,” see under Hebrews 4:10. The probable reason why the author of Hebrews stressed God’s oath to Abraham at this place was that he had the purpose of comparing it, a little later, with another oath God took regarding the “priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Such a comparison would be calculated to bear the greatest weight with Hebrew Christians. The matter of God’s oath would show that the Messiah’s being the antitype of Melchizedek was not a side issue at all but was on a parity with election of the chosen people themselves. Verse 17 Wherein God, being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.The two immutable things are the promise of God and the oath by which it was confirmed. Boatman noted the opinion of some that the two immutable things are the oath made to Abraham respecting a Son, the Messiah; and the second refers to Christ’s priesthood, recorded in Psalms 110:4 : “Jehovah hath sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.[9]It is only in an accommodative sense, however, that God’s oath could be understood as any way different from his word without an oath. It was the word only that God spoke when the worlds came into existence; and the mention of God’s oath does not reveal on the part of God any need whatever to make his word more sure through such a human device as an oath, but rather a heavenly regard for human opinions and practices in which God accommodated himself to the customs of people, not for his sake, but for theirs, that people might more fully and completely believe in the word of his power. This seems to be a valid deduction from the words “more abundantly” as used in the text here; and the meaning is that God went over and beyond what was necessary, and that his doing so sprang solely from his desire to demonstrate (“being minded to show”) what solid ground supported faith in his eternal designs. Who have fled for refuge refers to Christians who had sought and received refuge in Christ from all their sins and is a reference to the ancient cities of refuge in Canaan which appear in this place as a type of the refuge in Christ. Joshua 20 records the establishment of six cities of refuge: Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer, Ramoth-Gilead, and Golan, three west of the Jordan and three on the east. Collectively, these cities stand as a type of the church, in which safety from the avenger of blood (Satan) may be received only by entering into and remaining within the sanctuary; and, although the ancient refugee was required to remain within the haven only until the death of the high priest, no such termination of residence within the church is allowed, because the Christian’s High Priest lives forever. ENDNOTE: [9] Don Earl Boatman, Helps from Hebrews (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1960), p. 197. Verse 19 Which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and stedfast and which entereth into that which is within the veil.Hope is the great anchor, or stabilizer, of the human soul; and that hope for the Christian is Christ the Lord, who has entered into that which is beyond the veil, that is, into heaven itself; and this corresponds to the actions of the ancient high priest who was typical of Christ in that he went into the Holy of Holies, behind the veil, in the tabernacle. The aptness of the figure of an anchor appears in the fact that an anchor is not doing any good at all as long as it is visible. It is only when it disappears in the deep beneath that it stabilizes and protects the ship; how beautiful is the imagery of Christ’s also being out of sight from Christians, having disappeared into the unseen world, but who is nevertheless connected with Christians by the strong and effective cable of his love, just as the anchor, though unseen, is connected to the ship by a mighty chain. The absolutely necessary disappearance of the anchor, if it is to do any good, also suggests the necessity of Christ’s physical separation from his followers which was accomplished when he ascended into the unseen world. That this was truly necessary is plain in the light of Heb 8:4, where it is shown that Christ would have been no priest at all if he had remained upon the earth. Christ’s qualification as high priest was upon a higher level; on earth he could never have been any kind of priest, because he did not belong to the tribe of Levi; therefore, in order for him to function as the great High Priest of Christians, he of necessity entered that higher, unseen sphere.

Thus it is literally and gloriously true that the Christian’s hope is in heaven where the Lord has already entered; and, with that hope, all else that really matters is also there. For the Christian, his treasure is there (Matthew 6:19), his citizenship is there (Philippians 3:20), his name is written there (Luke 10:20;Philippians 4:3), his Lord is there (as here, and in John 14:1-6), and his affections should be there (Colossians 3:2 KJV). Verse 20 Whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.Of great interest is the word “forerunner,” the implications of which are so extensive. It means that where Christ has gone his disciples shall at last follow, that where he is there they may be; and the priority of his entrance into the upper and better country suggests the services that Christ is there and performing for them that shall in due time arrive to be with him. He is their intercessor, their advocate, their hope and redeemer. There is also the thought that Christ’s entry into that sphere makes possible the entry of all who shall follow him. It is because he has entered that they may enter. Macknight thought the term “forerunner” is an allusion “to one sent from a ship to fix its anchor in the place to which it is to be drawn."[10] Westcott believed that the word was used especially “of the men or troops which were sent to explore before the advance of an army."[11] One of the most interesting things said about the use of the word was written by Morgan, saying, It marks a difference between Christ passing in within the veil, and everything that had preceded it in the ritual of the Hebrew people. Aaron had entered within the veil once a year, but never as a forerunner. He entered as the representative of those who were left outside; but they were always left outside. No one followed Aaron when he entered within the veil to stand in the presence of the ark and the mercy seat. When Jesus passed within the veil, he entered as a forerunner, which at once suggested that the way was open for others to follow him.[12]Thus is laid the foundation for that more complete comparison of the high priesthood of Jesus with that of Melchizedek which next follows, and to which so much attention is given in the next chapter. The premise has already been established that the Messiah’s being the antitype of Melchizedek is of supreme importance, a thing witnessed and confirmed by the oath of Almighty God himself, and therefore something to which the strictest attention should be paid. [10] James Macknight, op. cit., p. 534. [11] Brooke Foss Westcott, op. cit., p. 164. [12] G. Campbell Morgan, God’s Last Word to Man (Westwood, New Jersey, Fleming H. Revell Company, 1936), p. 76. “THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS”

Chapter Six The interruption of the discussion regarding Jesus as High priest continues with a solemn warning regarding spiritual progress, and the need for diligence, faith and patience in order to inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:1-12). The certainty of God’ s promises upon which our hope is based serves as an anchor of the soul that reaches into heaven itself, where Christ is now our High Priest according the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:13-20).

POINTS TO PONDER

• Elementary principles in the doctrine of Christ

• The very real danger of crucifying again the Son of God

• The basis of our hope that serves as an anchor of the soul REVIEW

1. What are the main points of this chapter?

• The peril of not progressing - Hebrews 6:1-12- The certainty of God’ s promise - Hebrews 6:13-20

2. What six things are mentioned as elementary principles of Christ? (Hebrews 6:1-2)

• Repentance from dead works
• Faith toward God
• The doctrine of baptisms
• Laying on of hands
• Resurrection of the dead
• Eternal judgment

3. What five blessings were experienced by some who had fallen away? (Hebrews 6:4-5)

• Once enlightened
• Tasted the heavenly gift
• Partakers of the Holy Spirit
• Tasted the good word of God
• Tasted the powers of the age to come

4. As those once blessed persist in their sin, what is their condition? Why? (Hebrews 6:6)

• It is impossible (for others) to renew them again to repentance
• They crucify again the Son of God and put Him to open shame

5. What confidence did the author have for his original recipients? Why? (Hebrews 6:9-10)

• Better things that accompany salvation
• Because of their work and labor of love in ministering to the saints

6. Even so, what qualities did he desire of them? (Hebrews 6:11-12)

• Diligence, imitation of the faith and patience of those who inherit the promises

7. Upon what two immutable things does our hope lie? (Hebrews 6:13-18)

• God’ s promise and God’ s oath, both in which it is impossible for God to lie

8. As what does our hope serve? To where does it reach? (Hebrews 6:19-20)

• An anchor of the soul; into heaven itself where Jesus is our High Priest

Questions by E.M. Zerr For Hebrews 61. From what is “therefore” drawn? 2. In what sense must these things be left? 3. Why are they called principles of doctrine? 4. State meaning of perfection as used here. 5. What are the dead works from which they had turned ? 6. Why faith toward God only under the law ? See Deut. 6: 4. 7. State occasions of washings or baptisms before. 8. Was laying on of hands done in 0. T. times? 9. Tell if the resurrection was taught then. 10. What about eternal judgment? See Eccl. 12: 14. 11. Name some of above also taught by apostles. 12. What would Paul do God being his helper? 13. In what had some been enlightened? 14. Tasted of what? 15. Made partakers of what influence? 16. Had tasted of what word? 17. If such fall away would it be from ignorance? 18. If they fall away what will be impossible ? 19. To whom “those” refer in verse 4? 20. With whom is the impossibility? 21. What have “those” done to Christ? 22. State some fundamental truth they had not known. 23. Is this why they cannot be induced to repent? 24. Would this prevent their returning volutarily? 25. In the figure what portion of the earth is blessed ? 26. Point out the thorns and briars in this chapter. 27. Tell the fate of all such. 28. Had Paul lost all hope for these brethren? 29. What did God remember of them? 30. From what teachers are they in danger ? 31. State the exhortation given to them at this time. 32. What is mentioned that is opposite of sloth ? 33. To what persons do “them” verse 12 refer? 34. To whom did God reveal the promise ? 35. What did he do besides promise ? 36. By whom was this done and why? 37. Did Abraham see Christ? 38. What promise did he see fulfilled, verse 15 ? 39. By what degree of personage do men swear? 40. In what light is oath of confirmation considered ? 41. What did God first give the heirs? 42. By what was it confirmed ? 43. What are the promise and oath called in verse 18? 44. State what is impossible with God. 45. What is meaning of immutable? 46. This will make it so we might have what? 47. Give origin of expression “ fled for refuge.” 48. In this case what is sought in the refuge ? 49. How does this serve the soul? 50. To what place is it fastened ? 51. How does this contrast with vail of 0. T. ? 52. Who is within this second vail ? 53. What is he called besides high priest? 54. State what this word means for us. 55. Made high priest how?

Hebrews 6:1

Hebrews 6:1. Therefore signifies that a conclusion is being drawn from the truths set forth in the preceding chapter. Leaving does not mean to desert or disregard, but not to remain with the beginning steps thus making no advancement. A builder leaves the foundation and goes on with the building. He should not find it necessary to lay again the foundation, for that was done in the “beginning” of the project. Likewise Christians should advance beyond the principles (“beginning”) of their service to Christ and become perfect or full grown.

Not lay again the foundation. These Jewish disciples had begun their service to Christ (had laid the foundation) by turning from the things on which they had been relying all their lives. Some of those things consisted of items commanded by the law of Moses, while others were the erroneous notions taught by some of their leaders. These disciples had begun their new life–had laid the foundation–by no longer adhering to the former practices or observances. A number of these items are considered in this and the next verse. Dead works means the works of the old law which are no longer able to impart spiritual life; they have become dead works.

Faith toward God. Christians are not told to turn away from faith in God, for then they could not please Him (Hebrews 11:6). The Jews had faith in God only, not including Christ since they had not been taught concerning Him. This verse means that disciples must have faith in both the Father and the Son.

Hebrews 6:2

Hebrews 6:2. Baptisms is from the Greek word which Thayer defines “A washing, purification effected by means of water.” It refers to the washing of animals prescribed by the Mosaic law. (See Exodus 29:4 Exodus 29:17 : Leviticus 1:9 Leviticus 9:14.) The word is never used for the ordinance o f Christian baptism. Laying on o f hands. Under the Mosaic system the priests or others laid their hands on the animals that were to be offered in the service (Leviticus 3:2 Leviticus 4:4 Leviticus 4:13 Leviticus 16:21). Resurrection of the dead . . . eternal judgement. These p h r as e s must be considered together, for they are connected with one of the erroneous theories that were maintained in those days, and were shared in by the Jews.

The theory was false but Jesus never bothered about exposing it in His day. However, when the apostles came to induce the Jews to accept the Gospel, it was necessary to tell them they must give up such notions; that they must do “repentance from” such errors. The false theory referred to is known in historical literature as “Transmigration of sou1s,” T h e doctrine taught that when a man dies his soul passes into the body of another, thus enabling him to live again or experience a resurrection. If the person had been unrighteous, he would be punished by being sent into some other being who was afflicted, or into an abnormal child then being born. (See John 9:1-3.) If necessary this form of punishment or judgement would be repeated again and again. (a form of “eternal judgement”) as here expressed.

Hebrews 6:3

Hebrews 6:3. If God permit. No passage should be interpreted so as to contradict another in the Bible. 2 Peter 3:9 says that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” The italicized phrase, then, does not imply that God will prevent any man from doing what is right. The thought is as if Paul would say, “We who are determined to be right, will go on unto maturity in the spiritual life, God being our helper.”

Hebrews 6:4

Hebrews 6:4. It is impossible. The thing that is impossible and the reasons for it will require a number of lines of the text to explain. After the simple announcement of an impossibility, the apostle drops the subject and gives a description of the characters concerning whom it is said, then tells what it is that is impossible. We shall carefully study this description before attempting to state the conclusion. Enlightened is from PHOTIZO which Thayer defines, “To enlighten spiritually, imbue with saving knowledge.” Thayer defines the orginal for taste as follows: “To feel, make trial of, experience.” It means to have experienced enough of the heavenly gift of Christianity to know how precious it is. The Holy Ghost (or Spirit) was bestowed upon the church (Romans 5:5 Romans 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19), hence when people become Christians they are made partakers of the Holy Ghost.

Hebrews 6:5

Hebrews 6:5. Tasted the good word of God means to have “experienced” the help of that word enough to know what its benefits are. When a person knows by experience what effect for good the Gospel will have on one in preparing for the world to come, he may truly be said to have tasted of that coming power even in this life.

Hebrews 6:6

Hebrews 6:6. To fall away means to desert or purposely turn away from a thing. It here applies to those who have had all the experience just described, then deliberately pull away from such a manner of life. Now we are ready to see what it is that is impossible, namely, to renew such a person to repentance. The impossibility is upon the part of the would-be restorer and not on the one who falls away. It does not say he cannot repent, but it is impossible for anyone else to iduce him to.

The reason is that the apostate already knows as much about the subject as the one who wants to renew him, and hence the exhorter cannot offer any new arguments or reasons. On the basis of the foregoing statements of the apostle, it is proper to say that if persons fall away after all those experiences, then “It is impossible . . . to renew them again unto repentance.” If they ever come back to Christ it will be on their own change of heart, which will always be possible for them. Paul describes this falling away as another crucifying of the Son of God, since it puts them outside the church and in the class of the enemies who actually did crucify Him. It is an open shame because the radical turning from a life of righteousness is apparent to the world about the apostate.

Hebrews 6:7

Hebrews 6:7. Paul is making an illustration out of the earth and its products. Not all ground is desirable as the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 teaches. The blessing of moisture will fall on the earth regardless of the character of some particular spots. If any portion responds by producing useful herbs, it will be blessed of God and be worthy of additional showers.

Hebrews 6:8

Hebrews 6:8. On the same basis as the preceding verse, if some spot receives the rain but yields only the thorns, such products will be burned, and that spot will be rejected by the owner as unprofitable.

Hebrews 6:9

Hebrews 6:9. Paul expected his readers to understand the general lesson in the parable, but he does not mean for them to make a personal application of it as yet. Hence he makes the kindly remark that he is counting on a better showing from them than was indicated by the thorny ground. However, we are sure the apostle intended the illustration as an exhortation for them to be thoughtful and not fail at last. It is similar to the warning given in chapter 3:12 and 4:1.

Hebrews 6:10

Hebrews 6:10. This verse is consistent with the preceding one. The Hebrew brethen were given credit for the good work they had done. We are not told the particulars of what they were doing, but it has the highly commendable credit of being a labor of love. An important part of their motive for the work is indicated by the statement that it was toward his name. Such a motive corresponds with Matthew 25:40.

Hebrews 6:11

Hebrews 6:11. It is not enough to be doing one’s duty just at intervals and then stop, but it must be persisted in until the end of life.

Hebrews 6:12

Hebrews 6:12. To be slothful means to be sluggish or indolent. A follower is an imitator, but a person cannot, imitate those who are patient (persistent) if he is indolent.

Hebrews 6:13

Hebrews 6:13. Persistence was the outstanding characteristic of Abraham, and he manifested it because of his faith in the promises of God. Until the Christian Dispensation there was no command against taking oaths. God made use of an oath in the promise to Abraham, but it was necessary to swear by himself because He is the greatest Being in existence. In making such a personally-supported oath it was similar to the statement of a man who says, “I give you my word of honor.”

Hebrews 6:14

Hebrews 6:14. The particular blessing promised to Abraham meant in this verse was that he was to have a son with whom the covenant was to be established (Genesis 17:19).

Hebrews 6:15

Hebrews 6:15. He finally obtained that son as a reward for his patience (Genesis 21:1).

Hebrews 6:16

Hebrews 6:16. The usual practice of men as to oaths is cited by the apostle by way of illustration. If a contract is bound under an oath it will prevent any dispute.

Hebrews 6:17

Hebrews 6:17. God had no one greater by whom He could swear, yet he wished to provide some means of assurance to those interested in His counsel or promise. Immutability means that it is unchangeable–nothing can be done to change it. God accomplished the assurance by adding His oath to the promise thereby confirming it.

Hebrews 6:18

Hebrews 6:18. The two immutable (unchangeable) things were the promise and the oath of God. It was impossible for God to lie concerning either the promise or the oath, and hence by applying both for the sake of the heirs, it gave them the more abundant evidence. As a further result, the heirs of that promise (meaning all who believe in Christ as the seed of Abraham that was promised) have a strong consolation for the future, because that is the direction toward which hope must look. Fled for refuge. This phrase is based on a provision under the Mosaic system whereby persons accused of crime (whether guilty or not) could “flee” to a place called a city of refuge. (See Numbers 35.) Today men are all under accusation, justly, of being sinners and in danger of punishment at the hands of the avenger of sins.

But a city of refuge (the church) has been built and those who will hasten (flee) to enter this institution may be saved from their past sins. And if they will remain in that city as faithful citizens, they have the promise of salvation in the world to come.

Hebrews 6:19

Hebrews 6:19. This prospect of eternal salvation is the hope that stimulates Christians in this work for Christ. It is fastened, like an anchor, to Christ who is our High Priest. He has entered within the veil, the phrase being based on the veil in the temple that enclosed the most holy place, which was a type of Heaven.

Hebrews 6:20

Hebrews 6:20. Jesus is called the forerunner because he has gone on before us to be the intercessor for His people. For this purpose He was made a High Priest like the order of Melchisedec. The advantage of being after that order instead of the order of the Levitical form was predicted in the Old Testament (Psalms 110:4), and it will be discussed in the next chapter.