Hebrews Chapter Six

(Continued from: "Chapter Five: The Role of the Priesthood")

Chapter five closed with a strong criticism. The Hebrews should have accepted God's word as fact and grown up –stopped nursing like infants.

Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14)

God's desire for them was to become mature, productive members of His house. For that to become a reality, they had to grasp the gravity of the Law which differentiated between good and evil. They had to recognize their guilt, understand the consequence for breaking even one command, and accept the death sentence they deserved. Then they would have comprehended the unique and ultimate importance of faith in God –trusted in the provision of His Lamb –looked forward to and rejoiced in His arrival –and entered a new and eternal life in the kingdom of God.

Instead, they remained tethered to the traditions of the Law. The Hebrews tripped and fell whenever they heard that the Messiah had already come, that He fulfilled the entire Law, and that He changed the priesthood forever.

Becoming Mature Requires Understanding the Basics

This passage below lists some stumbling blocks that the Hebrews had with Jesus being their Messiah. Isn't it curious that we Christians struggle with these same things today? We've even created divisions –denominations– within the body of Christ over them.

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ [Messiah], let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works [useless rituals] and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings [baptisms, cleansing rites] and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits. (Hebrews 6:1-3)

The very first word of this chapter is "therefore" indicating that the preceding chapters need to be reconsidered in order to put this passage into context. Those chapters declare that: Jesus is the Son of God and He is greater than Moses, the Law, the Prophets and the angels. Jesus is the eternal Head over God's house. He's the Messiah, the King, the Ruler and the Judge over all creation –and He is the new and final High Priest.

The six items identified by these verses form three issues. And all of them are described as elementary teachings about Jesus.

Repentance from Dead Works and Faith toward God:

"Repentance" is a change in what a person wholeheartedly believes and acts upon –from one thing to something that is exactly the opposite. Repentance is not something so trivial as a change of mind –or a change of heart– about specific sins.

Religion and its works instill a false sense of security about man's relationship with God. That's because works are solely dependent upon a person's ability and tenacity which are totally alien to a submissive "faith toward God." To live a life that is pleasing to God, a person must live by faith like Abraham. His righteousness was credited to him –not earned by religious works.

Repentance is ceasing all religious works that allegedly help a person to be righteous –blamelessness– before God. Those works don't lead to eternal life with Him. Instead, they keep a person on the path that leads to death –separated from Him forever. That's why they're called "dead works."

Hebrew life was steeped in the Law –it provided directions for doing good things and avoiding bad ones –for being righteous. Repentance necessitated that their old life of works had to come to an abrupt stop –a sudden death. A brand new life which trusted only in God's grace through faith in Yeshua, Joshua, Jesus– was to completely replace it –hence the term "born-again." (We read about being born-again in chapter five.)

Although this concept is familiar to many modern-day Christians, it required a radical change for the New Testament Hebrews. Their entire culture was based on heavenly ordained traditions that were practiced for centuries. To bring about this new life, an identity change was in order!

The New Testament Hebrews claimed to have faith toward God. But for that faith to be genuine, they had to lift Jesus above Moses and the Law, above the Prophets, above the Levitical Priesthood and above the angels. Else they could not received God's salvation (John 3 and Numbers 21).

Instruction about Washings (Baptisms) and Laying on of Hands:

Under the Old Testament, when a Hebrew became unclean –and there were many ordinary causes– he went to the Levitical priest for "instructions about washings" as contained in the Law. Nearly always, living water, or a sacrifice's blood, or both were required to be sprinkled on the people. (For some background, you may want to read Leviticus chapters 13-15.)

The Law differentiates between being truly clean and being ceremonially clean. The case of leprosy, described in Leviticus 14, provides an excellent insight. When a person noticed an abnormality on his skin, he went to the priest who used the Law to judge his condition. If he was determined to be unclean –and the abnormality later disappeared– the person returned to the priest for confirmation that healing had indeed occurred and then he began the cleansing ceremony. The point is that the ceremony used the healing as a teaching example of spiritual redemption and renewal. (By the way, if you read about this in Leviticus 14, look for the symbols of Jesus' human life, death and resurrection and His fulfillment of our redemption.)

The "laying on of hands" was also called out in the Law. It was performed by the high priest to transfer unintentional sins from the sinner to a totally innocent substitute that would be sacrificed. He laid his hands on a spotless bull (ceremonially transferring his sins to it) and then sacrificed it so that he could acceptably approach God in the Tabernacle (Leviticus 4:3-5). In the same way, the elders (as representatives of the people) laid their hands on another spotless bull (ceremonially transferring the sins of the entire community to it) and then the priest sacrificed it for their forgiveness (Leviticus 4:13-15). When a leader sinned, he brought a spotless animal to the priest who laid his hands on it and then killed it (Leviticus 4:22-26).

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest laid his hands on, and sacrificed, a bull for his own sins. He then laid his hands on, and sacrificed, a goat for the sins of the people. The blood of these substitutes was taken into the Holy of Holies and sprinkled on the mercy seat. Next, he laid his hands on a live goat (the scapegoat) which wandered condemned in the wilderness as a reminder of the people's condition (Leviticus 16:20-22).

If you've been wondering what happened for intentional sins, they had their own specific penalties. Offenses against other people required reconciliation. Offenses against God –as set down in the Ten Commandments– required death.

"Instructions about washings" (to remove sins) and the "laying on of hands" (to transfer sins) were only pictures of realities that were to come. When the Roman soldiers carried out the will of the people by laying their hands on Jesus, they carried out what the Law required. The sins of the world were truly transferred onto God's sacrificial Lamb. When He was on the cross and pierced, both water and blood flowed from His body to wash away all unrighteousness. This was the one-time payment for all sins.

Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment:

Foreshadows of the "resurrection of the dead" are found in many Old Testament Scriptures. David prophesied about Jesus' resurrection in the Psalms (Psalm 16:7-11, Psalm 17:14-15). And one of the most famous passages in the Bible is Isaiah's prophesy of Jesus' life, death and resurrection (Isaiah 53:10-11).

The believers' resurrection is vividly depicted by Isaiah (Isaiah 26:19), Daniel (Daniel 12:13), and Job (Job 14:13-17, Job 19:25-27). Also, Hosea talks about the testing of faith and the reward of eternal life that follows (Hosea 6:1-2).

"Eternal judgment" was the subject of Jesus' story in Luke 16:19-31. It's where He described the after-lives of Lazarus and a rich man. After the two died, angels carried Lazarus to Abraham's bosom (also known as Paradise); but the rich man went to the grave (also known as Hades, hell, or the place of torment). Upon seeing the hopelessness of his situation, the rich man asked for someone to go back and warn his Hebrew brothers so that they may escape the horror awaiting them.

Then Jesus clearly told His audience that Moses and the Prophets had already explained that a life of faith was required to enter God's rest. Even if someone returned from the dead –referring to His own resurrection– they would be too stubborn to believe (Luke 16:26-31).

On Judgment Day, everyone will appear before the Judge (Isaiah 45:21-25) –the Son of God (Psalm 2). At that time, everyone's destiny will be revealed (Isaiah 66:22-24, Daniel 12:1-3).

Let's put it together now.

The Hebrews should have repented –left their life of righteousness based on religious, dead works –and moved on to a life of faith toward God. The old life depended upon the Levitical Priesthood and its Law which was a set of pictures to describe the future accomplishments of their Messiah. The new life depends on God's grace through faith in what Jesus completed.

Washings (or baptisms) showed that the effects of sin on every person had to be removed in order to have a righteous relationship with God. The laying on of hands demonstrated that sin had to be punished –that punishment was death –but a totally innocent being could pay for the sins of another with its own death. That was sufficient to satisfy the Law. These were ceremonies that were called out in the Law so that each person would see and participate in a practical demonstration of what was required to be acceptable to God. Jesus' death fulfilled them –He provided that total, final washing –and that total, final sacrifice.

At the resurrection of the dead, all mankind will bow down and confess that Jesus is Lord. While Jesus –the Son of God– lived among the Hebrews as a Hebrew, He described that resurrection and then proved its reality with His own return. One day, all will be raised from the dead to appear before God on His great white throne and He will pronounce eternal judgment for each individual person. They will either enter eternal rest with Him –or eternal torment apart from Him.

These six items (repentance, faith, washings, laying on of hands, resurrection and judgment) are just what the verse says: elementary teachings about Jesus that need to be accepted in order to become mature, useful Christians. There's no deeper mystery imbedded within –and there's certainly no need for divisions in the body of Christ over them.

Been enlightened . . .   Tasted the heavenly gift . . .   Shared in the Holy Spirit . . .   Tasted the goodness of the word of God . . .   Powers of the coming age . . .

In the introduction to this study of Hebrews, I talked about church leaders who wrongly apply its passages to us Christians in order to manipulate our behavior. And I particularly dwelled on the words of Hebrews 6:4-8 to demonstrate how a typical Sunday sermon can be used to accomplish that goal.

Then we looked at Jesus' credentials using the Old Testament Scriptures quoted in chapters one through three. The crux of those passages is that there was sufficient evidence to take away all excuses that the New Testament Hebrews might use to claim ignorance about Jesus being the Son of God –the Messiah.

In chapter four, we read the Hebrews 6:4-8 passage and saw how each phrase was about the Hebrews' Exodus from Egypt and entrance to the Promised Land.

So finally, here we are at chapter six. I'm hopeful that since you have read the historical context –and since these verses are not being thrust upon you to bring about guilt and shame– that you will not be manipulated by their misapplication.

For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6)

Just in case it's been a while since you read those chapters, here's a short review.

Who was enlightened (saw the light) by the bright glory of God on the mountain and the column of light every night in the desert for forty years? Over six hundred thousand Hebrews saw "the light" and still perished because they refused to enter God's rest.

Who tasted the heavenly gift –the manna which was gathered every day except on the Sabbath day of rest? They were the same people who tested their Lord all along the way to the Promised Land.

Who were partakers (sharers) in the Holy Spirit –the One who gave Moses and the Hebrew elders insight into God's will? They were the same ones who cast a golden calf and angered God to the point of nearly destroying them.

Who tasted the goodness of the word of God –and ate the Passover Lamb? They were those who God led out of slavery to a land of milk and honey.

Who saw the powers of God that were yet to come –miracle after miracle from the time of their release from Pharaoh until their entry into Canaan? They were the Hebrews who praised God with their mouths; but denied Him with their hearts.

A Focus on Repentance

Earlier in this chapter, we read that repentance is a change from one thing to something that is exactly the opposite. The New Testament Hebrews, to which this letter was written, were supposed to change from faith in their ability to religiously keep the Law (with its traditions that foreshadowed Jesus) to faith in God's mercy and grace (which He had already provided through Jesus' life, death and resurrection).

They are consistently told to not do what their fathers did. Their fathers –the Old Testament Hebrews that Moses led– claimed that their lives were based on trusting God. When they said "We will do whatever God tells us!" they announced their change –their repentance– from being faithless Egyptian slaves to being faithful followers of God.

They supposedly changed their minds about the basis of life itself. But we know that didn't really happen. Their rejection of God's plea to "Enter My rest" was deliberate –a vote was taken –time elapsed –and the decision was made. They chose to not enter and that choice revealed the truth. They didn't trust God to preserve them at the start of their journey and they were a resolved, stubborn, unchanged, unrepentant people at their destination. This people was led up to the border of the Promised Land after seeing God's faithfulness every day. Nonetheless, they fell away from –they refused to enter– a new life. In fact, they had never become a people with faith toward God –they had never repented.

I realize that I'm being repetitive, but it's most important that to understand that the spiritual equivalent of crossing the River Jordan and entering the Promised Land is following Jesus into eternal life in the kingdom of God. With that being said, verse six brings up the hypothetical situation of additional repentance: "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame."

The message here is that God provided only one entryway into His kingdom –His Son had to be killed as payment for mankind's sins. Repenting again would require a person to totally change his belief system two (or more) times. The New Testament Hebrew started out lost –dead in his sins– because he was trusting in his religious works. At some point in time, he was saved –received new eternal life– because he trusted in God. That would be the first repentance. Repenting again would require a totally different entryway into the kingdom –totally different because repentance itself means a totally different way. This different entryway would have to be one other than what Jesus accomplished on the cross. It would demand the perfect Lamb of God to be crucified again.

There is no other use of the word "repentance" in the Bible –only changing from death to life –from darkness to light –from lost to saved –from religion to faith in God. That's even what John the Baptist's ministry was about –changing from a life of works to a life of faith. I'm jumping ahead in our reading with this next verse to state the obvious. Jesus isn't going to die again. –It's not going to happen. –He bore all the sins of the world and now it's finished.

Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28)

If repentance was some sort of repeatable cycle, then a person would transition from death –to life –to death –to life every time he sinned. However, we just read that Jesus was sacrificed once to take away sins. The next time He comes, we will be joined with Him forever.

Hebrews, Please Don't Ignore the Warning

Those who refused to enter the Promised Land were cursed and died in the desert –in their sin –in their unbelief –in their distrust of God. It was the next generation that followed Joshua by faith and was blessed with citizenship in the Promised Land. Both groups saw demonstrations of God's amazing, undeserved love.

For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. (Hebrews 6:7-8)

Throughout the Bible, land is a metaphor for the heart. This passage is a parallel to Jesus' parables of the sower (God sows His word in four different hearts) and of the wheat and tares (where lives are judged for their eternal destination).

But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:9-12)

This warning is stern. The Hebrews were God's ambassadors to the world for generations and through that role, they led many saints to salvation –the Promise. This is an appeal for the New Testament Hebrews to recognize that they are in the desert of legalistic obedience to the Law so they might repent and have softened, fertile hearts that bear useful vegetation for God. According to the passage, time is limited for making that choice.

Moses led the people, but he had to stop at the border. Only Joshua was allowed to take them across to the Promise Land. Moses represents the Law and Joshua represents God's grace extended to us through Jesus. "For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17)

For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, "I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU." And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. (Hebrews 6:13-15)

Abraham wasn't able to experience all that was promised, but he trusted that by a single sacrifice –the sacrifice provided by God Himself– there was a life to follow his physical existence. Of course this is referring to what Abraham did experience, as recorded in Genesis chapter 22. He saw what it would be like to give up the life of the one he loved most –that of his first-born child –his only son. However, another life was sacrificed in his place. It was the life of the lamb provided by God and that lamb was wearing a crown of thorns!

For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute. In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 6:16-20)

Men make promises that are often backed up with empty oaths –saying "may God strike me dead if . . ." or "I swear on the Bible (or on my mother's grave) to tell the truth." But God made His promise and then guaranteed it with an oath greater than anything mankind can actually follow through with. The two unchangeable things that God did to prove that He would not break His promise to Abraham were: He sacrificed His Son on the cross to remove the sins of the world, and He restored His Son's life to make a new eternal life available to all who trust in Him.

The first to inherit God's promise of new life was Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). Those who live by faith in Him are also heirs to the promise. That includes the Old Testament saints, such as those identified in Hebrews chapter 11, and the New Testament saints (Galatians 4:4-7). They are sons of God.

Those Hebrews who followed Joshua were obviously alive when they entered the Promised Land. In the same way, those who follow Jesus into the promise of eternal life in the kingdom of God do so while they are living. The essence is that eternal life –His Sabbath rest– begins while we are still alive. And the kingdom of God is wherever He reigns as King. Sure, it's in heaven after our death –but more importantly it's here on earth where we live and serve today.

Mans' greatest need in this life is emotional security and that's why God make His unbreakable promise: that He has prepared a place for all who trust in Him. Doubts about His faithfulness –and the certainty of our own unfaithfulness– come as the waves of life crash around us. But the anchor of the soul –that emotional security– is realized when we put our trust in Him instead of ourselves.

There is nothing more that a person can do to please God than trust that His Son's sacrifice removed all our sin and His resurrection has raised us to eternal life. Our fellowship with God has been made perfect by what Jesus did. No avoidance-of-bad-deeds can take away from it. And no doing-of-good-deeds can improve upon it.

Continue reading: "Chapter Seven: The Change of the Priesthood and Its Law"