Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 6
6:1 Therefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ,
let us press on to completion- The "us" would refer to Paul and his
team. He wants to press on beyond teaching or re-teaching ["doctrine" =
teaching] of the "first lessons" of Christ (GNB). They had heard those
"first lessons" from Peter and the apostles when the Gospel was first
preached to the Hebrews in Jerusalem. Paul felt that "completion" or
"perfection" was to be pushed on towards after the first teachings had
been believed. 1 Cor. 13 and Eph. 4 likewise envisage a point of
"perfection" or completion. It seems Paul expected the Lord's return in
the first century, and saw it is as coming when the fruit was ripe to
harvest, i.e. when the believers had spiritually matured into the image of
Christ.
We must not see the learning of the basic doctrines and baptism as an end
rather than a beginning. It is a tragedy if a man dies knowing and
appreciating little more than he did at his baptism. Sunday School
Christianity isn't the stuff of the Kingdom of God. We must go on unto
perfection. "Let us cease to speak of the first principles of Christ, and
press on unto full growth" (Heb. 6:1 RV). It almost implies that the
Hebrews were so busy talking about the first principles that they
had omitted to use them as the springboard to growth. See on Heb.
5:12.
Not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, faith toward
God- "Dead works" could
refer to the idea that works of legalistic obedience could bring
salvation, without the life of the Spirit. Their "repentance" would have
been a re-thinking about such justification by works. Likewise "faith
toward God" does not imply that previously the Hebrews were atheists, but
rather that the first principle of Christ was of faith in God's
justification through His Son, rather than by works.
6:2 The teaching of baptisms and of laying on of hands, the
resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment- These "first lessons
of Christ" which they had forgotten were perhaps taught to the Hebrew
Christians during Peter's sermon, the account of which in Acts 2 is
certainly abbreviated (it can be spoken out loud in just a few minutes).
Or it could be that the regular gatherings of the newly baptized believers
in the temple afterwards included this kind of instruction. That judgment
will be "eternal", that there is an eternity we may miss, was a first
lesson in the faith in Christ. The serious consequence of faith and
unbelief were to be accepted and seen clearly.
6:3 And if God permits, this will we do- Not in the rest of the
letter, but through a visit to Jerusalem to teach them these things again.
Paul's last recorded visit to Jerusalem led to his rejection by the Hebrew
Christians, betrayal by those he came to give aid to, and his imprisonment
and subsequent exile in Rome. So God's will or permission for this was
apparently not granted.
6:4 For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted the
heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit-
Enlightenment is something done to another; we do not make ourselves see,
for we are helpless as spiritually blind persons. The light comes through
grace, through having our mental eyes opened by God's initiative upon our
hearts. We likewise are "made" to partake in the Spirit, the gift from God
to us, the power of change and transformation unto salvation which is
placed in the heart of each believer. They were all "partakers" of the
heavenly calling (3:1), "the heavenly gift", but would only be "partakers
in Christ" if they remained firm in their faith in salvation (3:14). The
Corinthians likewise received the Spirit, but were "not spiritual" (1 Cor.
3:1).
6:5 Who tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come-
As in John 6, the manna, the heavenly gift of :4, is seen as
representing the word of God's goodness, His assurance of salvation. The
allusions to the historical Israel are again clear, as we saw on :4. In
this case, to Josh. 21:45; 23:15, where entry into Canaan was "all the
good words which the Lord spoke to the children of Israel". They did not
however totally possess Canaan at that point; the idea was rather that all
God's good words to them had come true potentially. And so it was true for
the new Israel. Israel at the Exodus witnessed miraculous workings of the
Holy Spirit in order to back up the word of God spoke by Moses and Aaron.
So often we encounter this: "Moses announced to Aaron all the words
of the Lord... and all the signs. .. . Moses and Aaron went
and Aaron spoke all these words .. . and Moses performed the
signs before the people" (Ex. 4:28-30). Signs / miracles likewise
back up the word spoken to Pharaoh (Ex. 3:18-20), and the subsequent
reminiscences of these events likewise connect the miracles / signs to the
word of God which was spoken (Neh. 9:10-17; Ps. 78:10-11, 32; 105:27-28;
106:7-12, 21-25). Likewise in the first century, the miraculous gifts of
the Spirit backed up the spoken word of God. And the Hebrew Christians,
many of them baptized around the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, had witnessed
this. But again, miracles didn't inculcate real faith. Just as at
Kadesh-Barnea the people decided to return to Egypt, so the Hebrew
Christians were returning to Judaism. Which was effectively Egypt, with
Jerusalem, the city where the Lord was crucified, being termed the city
spiritually called Sodom and Egypt (Rev. 11:8). Just as the Hebrew
Christians 'threw away your confidence' (Heb. 10:35).
The tasting of the Spirit (:4) is related to but not totally identical
with tasting the goodness of God's word. These were the things promised in
the word of God's goodness, and they had tasted them as real; and thus had
had a foretaste of the Kingdom age. For the current experience of the
Spirit is an earnest, a foretaste given "in our hearts", of our future
salvation in the Kingdom (2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5). It is by the Spirit now in us
that we shall be immortalized in the age to come (Rom. 8:11).
6:6- see on Mk. 15:15; 1 Jn. 2:28.
But then fell away- I suggested on :5 that the connection is with how at Kadesh-Barnea the people decided to return to Egypt; and so the Hebrew Christians were returning to Judaism, giving up on the Kingdom journey- at least in their hearts. The Hebrew Christians were tempted to "rebel... sin... disobey... disbelieve" (Heb. 3:16-18), which are the very words used of the rebellion at Kadesh-Barnea. It was there that God gave up with that generation: "When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying Go up and possess the land which I have given you, then you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you didn’t believe Him, nor listen to His voice. You have been rebellious against Yahweh" (Dt. 9:23,24).
The 'falling [away]' is the same word for how the bodies of the rejected Israelites 'fell' in the wilderness ("whose carcases fell in the wilderness", Heb. 3:17). The Hebrew Christians were not to "fall after the same pattern of unbelief" (Heb. 4:11). The same argument and the same word is used by Paul in 1 Cor. 10:8,12: In the wilderness rebellion, 23,000 Israelites "fell in one day" and Christians are to beware lest they likewise "fall". So the 'falling away' here refers to death by Divine judgment. Otherwise there would arise the endless fear that our temporal failure, of 5 minutes or 5 years, was a 'falling away' from which there can be no repentance. It is only death which is the point of no further repentance. In the next verses, we will read that it is the land which bears thorns which is to be burnt in the rejection of the last day. Rejection only comes when the fruit is finally seen- whether it is thorns or fruit. The Lord taught that unless we repent, we will perish; or "die in our sins". This of itself implies that whilst there is life, there is the possibility of repentance. It cannot be that in mortal life, a man can cross a line to a point whereby there is no repentance. Once we understand the continual allusions to Israel's experience in the wilderness, then we will see that 'falling away' refers to falling down dead in condemnation; because like Israel, we have stated we do not wish to enter the promised land, and have set our hearts upon returning to Egypt. We note that the argument here is not that some of the Hebrews had at this point fallen away, indeed the rest of this chapter is quite positive about the audience. He writes in :4 of "those..." who fell away, i.e. the dead Israelites in the desert- not any still living Hebrew Christian. Because the falling away is ultimately in death.
It is impossible to renew them again to repentance,
seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an
open shame- It is not impossible
for anyone to repent. But a person cannot be spiritually renewed to
repentance whilst they are crucifying the Lord afresh. Paul is addressing
the Hebrews who have fallen away and is urging their repentance. So he
clearly means that they cannot be renewed again whilst they are
re-crucifying the Lord. He uses a related word in saying that how the
Hebrews 'fell' in the wilderness is a warning to the Hebrews of his day
(3:17; 4:11). It could be that by "then fell away" Paul is speaking from
the perspective of judgment day; those who fall condemned in that day
cannot be renewed again to repentance. We noted on Acts 3:26 that the gift
of the Spirit involved not only forgiveness but repentance itself; they
were led to repentance, renewed to it. Repentance us a gift from God,
granted by Him (Acts 11:18) and also not granted by Him to some (Is.
6:9,10 "lest they should turn again / repent", as with 1 Sam. 2:25 and the
hardening of Pharaoah's heart not to repent). But whilst the giving of the Spirit
is not just at baptism and can continue throughout mortal life, it cannot
operate on those who were once enlightened but refuse to stop crucifying
the Son of God and shaming Him. They had been once renewed- the new life
of the Spirit had been given them, they had become a new creation, the
gift of the Spirit after baptism had been for them "the washing of
regeneration" by the Spirit; but that regeneration / renewing could not
again happen whilst they were shaming the crucified Christ.
In the Lord's death we see the heart that bleeds, bared before our eyes in
the cross. It is written of Him in His time of dying that He "poured out
his soul unto death" (Is. 53:12). The Hebrew translated "poured out" means
to make naked- it is rendered as "make thyself naked" in Lam. 4:21 (see
too Lev. 20:18,19; Is. 3:17). The Lord' sensitivity was what led Him to
His death- He made His soul naked, bare and sensitive, until the stress
almost killed Him quite apart from the physical torture. To be sensitive
to others makes us open and at risk ourselves. A heart that bleeds
really bleeds and hurts within itself. And this was the essence of the
cross. It seems to me that the Lord was crucified naked- hence those who
turn away put Him to “an open [Gk. ‘naked’] shame”. In being sensitive to
others, we make ourselves naked. The heart that bleeds is itself in great
risk of hurt and pain. The Lord Jesus is not passive in Heaven; He has
sensitivity and pain, He can be shamed and crucified afresh by those who
turn away to legalism and Judaism. This of itself opens a window onto what
it may mean to have Divine nature.
It was this same category who in 10:29 trod underfoot the Lord's blood and
treated it as unholy. These one time Christians had become so
influenced by Judaism that they considered Him unholy and despised
His sacrifice, supporting the same Jewish authorities and mentalities
which had crucified Him. They re-crucified Him by coming to agree that
what the Sanhedrin had done was correct. It was as if by such an attitude,
they too were guilty of His crucifixion. This falling away was all a
matter of the heart; for no man or human organization can pluck us from
the Lord's hand; we shall "never perish" because of that, but only from
our own internal lack of faith (Jn. 10:28)
6:7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it,
and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives
blessing from God- The land which has drunk in the rain gives forth
“herbs meet for them by whom it is tended” (Heb. 6:7 RV). The parallel is
intended with "those who have tasted the good word of God" (Heb. 6:5). If
the land represents those who respond to the Gospel, as in the sower
parable, who are those who tend it? Surely the preachers and pastoral
carers. They benefit, they are encouraged, by those whom they have cared
for and converted. I've seen this so very often- one goes to exhort, and
comes back home exhorted. But this is all part of the intended upward
spiral in functional ecclesial life. But the cultivation still depends
upon the rain of blessing from God, which has been defined in 6:4,5 as the
gift of the Spirit in our hearts. The Spirit is given not just once at
baptism, but "often". For our fruitfulness is God's intention; He gives us
the Spirit in order to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit. The
husbandman produces fruit which is appropriate to his labours, and so our
eternal future and being will be a reflection of our labours now (Heb.
6:7). Not that salvation depends upon our works: it is the free, gracious
gift of God. But the nature of our eternity will be a reflection of our
present efforts and the efforts of others for us. The ground brings forth
fruit appropriate to those who have worked on it. Does this not suggest
that we each bring forth a unique and personally appropriate form of
spiritual fruit?
6:8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and in danger
of being cursed, whose end is to be burned- The parable of the wheat
and weeds teaches that at the time of Christ's coming, there will be weeds
actively growing in the ecclesia. Those are the "thorns and briers" of
Heb. 6:8, the 'thorns' who crucify Christ again (2 Sam. 23:6,7; Heb.
6:6-8). Yet we will, in some sense, rub shoulders with this category if we
are in the latter day ecclesia (Mt. 13:27-30). In the last days, the true
Christian community simply won't be (isn't?) the spiritually safe place,
where error is impossible, which we may have felt it to be in the past.
The man of sin, the wicked one, will sit in the very temple of God,
the ecclesia. The "end" of the rejected is to be later "burnt", as if
rejection occurs in the mind of God now, but will articulate the
punishment later, at the judgment. There is a play on ideas here, in that
"thorns and thistles" were part of the curse; but if we bear them instead
of spiritual fruit, then we shall be cursed. If we act as sinners, as the
cursed, rather than seeing our potential to rise above- then we shall
remain cursed.
6:9 But beloved, though we speak in this manner, we are confident of
better things for you; things that accompany salvation- This is the
kind of positivism Paul employs to the Corinthians. He convicts them of
serious failure and tendencies towards condemnation, and then states that
he has every confidence in them and rejoices over them (2 Cor. 2:3; 7:16).
"Better" is a common word in Hebrews, used of how the new covenant in the
Lord Jesus is "better" than the Mosaic system (1:4; 7:7,19,22; 8:6; 9;23;
10:34; 12:24). Paul wishes to be persuaded that they are going to be
saved; he uses the same term "better things" of our final salvation in
11:40. We too cannot condemn our brethren, so we are to assume that all
baptized believers shall be eternally saved.
6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work- They were
tempted to think that God did not notice the great love which the Hebrew
Christians had shown to their fellow believers in selling their
possessions and giving to the poor. Perhaps now in later life they were
regretting their past generosity. But Paul encourages them that God would
not forget what they did; to think that would be to suggest He is
unrighteous.
And the love which you have shown toward His Name, in that you serve the
saints and still do-
Serving other believers is love toward the Lord's name in that these who
needed help were baptized into His Name. Our attitude towards those in
Christ is our attitude to Him. "Serve the saints" is a Greek phrase used
only elsewhere in Rom. 15:25, again specifically concerning serving the
poor believers in Jerusalem. The generosity of the Hebrew Christians
towards their poor had been significant and perhaps the greatest ever
display of Christian financial generosity.
6:11 And we desire that each one of you may show the same zeal to have
the full assurance of hope until the end- The great devotion and
generosity of the Hebrew believers (see on :10) was zeal indeed; but it
was not works of generosity to the poor which would save. They needed to
show the same zeal as they had in giving their wealth to the poor in
maintaining their assurance of salvation, their "hope" in the sense of
utter assurance. The joy they had once had in that assurance was waning,
because their faith in Jesus as their saviour was fading and being
replaced by dependence upon their own works. Their great works of
generosity had earlier been motivated by faith and joy in an assured
salvation, but now their works were motivated by a fear they were not
saved and thinking that works could bring them salvation.
6:12 Do not be lazy, but imitators of those who through faith and
patience inherit the promises-The laziness in view is not regarding
works, for they are commended for continuing to care practically for "the
saints" (:10). See on 5:11. Paul's concern was that they would continue to
totally believe that the promise of eternity in the Kingdom would be
fulfilled to them. To maintain a real faith and confident assurance in
future salvation, that if the Lord returns now or I die now, I shall be
saved... this requires huge mental effort. For it requires our all. If I
am sure of my salvation, this takes all my passion, thinking and living.
It would be fair to say that this is demanding, so much so that the human
tendency to laziness kicks in; we want a quieter, less mentally and
practically demanding life, and so laziness can lead to a lack of faith in
our future salvation. We must take for live templates those others who
believed the promises of salvation and patiently endured in that faith.
6:13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He could swear by
none greater, He swore by Himself- We are to be followers of Abraham's
example (:12) because in essence, the very same promises have been made to
us. The good news of eternal salvation in the Kingdom was preached to
Abraham as much as to us (Gal. 3:8). We ought to believe that we will be
saved because God made the promise of salvation "by Himself". the whole of
God is as it were staked on our being saved. To doubt it is to doubt God
and all God stands for.
6:14 Saying: Surely blessing I will bless you and multiplying I will
multiply you- The emphasis is upon "Surely". The blessing is that of
eternal salvation, and that a multitude of men and women would become in
Christ and be saved in Him, thus bringing about the multiplication of
Abraham's seed. The program, the plan and purpose, was "surely" going to
work out; and we should be "sure" of this great salvation for ourselves.
6:15 And thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise-
See on :12. This patient endurance was not just a waiting, a sitting it
out. Abraham's life was active, and motivated by his belief that the
promises of future salvation and inheritance really would come true for
him. Abraham received the promise in a limited sense in this life, just as
the Holy Spirit is our foretaste of the future inheritance (2 Cor. 1:22;
5:5). Abraham is our example in that he received in his lifetime the
promise, to an extent. We have been saved, we should be able to rejoice at
this "today" that we will eternally live if the Lord comes for us today.
In this sense Abraham is our example of obtaining the promise in this
life. Indeed all the faithful "obtained promises" (11:33 s.w.). Abraham's
patient endurance is that of :12, he kept on and on believing that the
salvation promises would come true; and they did.
6:16 For men swear by something greater, and in every dispute of
theirs, the oath is final for confirmation- The fact God has promised
our salvation on oath should end any dispute within our own minds, or
theologically with others such as Judaists, that we really can be saved by
faith through grace. Romans 3 however presents the "dispute" as a
legal challenge by doubting man against God, putting Him in the dock,
judging Him as to whether He really can bring us to the Kingdom. And out
of this showdown, every such doubting man is declared a liar. The greatest possible assurance has been given; oaths
have to be made upon some higher source entity, and that entity is God.
The confirmation should therefore be seen as "final", all our wonderings
and hopping between certainty and uncertainty should be no more; the
assurance is total and final. This oath is "an end of all strife" (AV),
what cannot be contradicted (s.w. 7:7 "without contradiction"). There can
be no argument against the proposition that we are saved in Christ right
now. The confirmation is in the Lord's death (Rom. 15:8) and the gift of
the Spirit in our hearts (2 Cor. 1:21,22; Heb. 13:9 s.w.). But His word of
promise is itself confirmed. The arguments every way are for our total
assurance that His promise of salvation shall come true for me, today.
6:17 Therefore God, determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of
the promise the immutability of His purpose, confirmed with an oath-
The word of promise was enough, seeing it came from God; but God confirmed
it with an oath, because He was "determined" to show us the certainty of
the promise. Despite having promised us eternal inheritance, as promised
to Abraham, God is eager for us to accept it. He has not just made
promises and left us to do our part by believing them. He comes to meet
us, using every logical, intellectual and spiritual instrument to do so,
and crowning them all with the death of His Son to confirm the word of
promise to Abraham which comprised the new covenant. God discerned that we
fear His promise might change; the oath showed it was immutable. Perhaps
our wide experience of failed promises and agreements is the psychological
root of our difficulty in accepting the most simple truth- that we really
shall be saved if we have said 'Yes' to God's purpose of salvation for us.
The Galatians like the Hebrews had been "removed" from the Christian
Gospel to another (Gal. 1:6); and "immutable" here translates the negative
of this word, the 'not-removable' nature of God's promise. The priesthood
was "changed" (7:12), but the new covenant promises of God to Abraham of
our salvation will not be "changed" as they are not-changeable,
"immutable".
6:18 So that by two immutable things- The promise of God and the
oath confirming it.
In which it is impossible for God to lie-
To doubt our salvation is to effectively accuse God
of being a liar. But that is impossible.
We may have a strong encouragement-
God not only promised our salvation but confirmed
the promise with an oath. Paul says the same in different terms in Rom.
5:8: "God commends His love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for the ungodly".
Who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us- The allusion is to how
the person who found they had committed a sin worthy of death, yet without
as it were wishing to have done so, could flee to a city of refuge and be
saved there by the death of the high priest. The curse upon Levi was that
the members of this tribe were to be scattered in Israel (Gen. 49:7).
However, this resulted in the cities of the Levites being scattered
throughout the land, thus providing accessible cities of refuge to all who
wished to escape the consequences of sin. Those cities were evidently
symbolic of the refuge we have in Christ (Heb. 6:18). Again and again, the
curses and consequences of human sin are used by the Father to mediate
blessing. It is the sure hope before us which is our refuge. "Hope",
elpis, is a confident knowledge of a future reality, rather than a
hoping for the best. We should be confident in our salvation.
6:19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and
steadfast and passing into the presence beyond the veil- The certainty
that we shall be saved is what give us spiritual and personal stability,
as an anchor. But the "anchor" in view is not simply that of a moored
boat. This anchor enables us to pass beyond the veil into the most holy
place, the very presence of God. The allusion is to how the high priest
entered the most holy each year to make atonement for Israel with a rope
attached to him in case he were to die there and need to be pulled back
out of the most holy, so that no man needed to enter the most holy to
retrieve the body. The height of the challenge for first century Hebrews
is hard to appreciate; we are called not simply to salvation but to the
very status of the high priest on the day of atonement. For we are in
Christ. We are to go into God's very presence, in Christ, to do the work
of atonement for others. This is the spirit in which we should pray for
others. And we need no human anchor- for our sure knowledge of future
salvation is our anchor.
6:20 Into which as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a
high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek- As noted on :19,
it is us who are called to enter the holiest place and God's presence. The
Lord Jesus has entered there, but He has done so as a forerunner, whose
steps we are to follow. Priestly work is therefore to be our eternal
occupation- seeking salvation and blessing for others. He is like the boy
who brings the ship's line to shore ("forerunner"), and then guides the
ship to dock. But that dock for us is the most holy place, the presence of
God personally, when God Himself shall dwell amongst us in the Kingdom of
God on earth.
Here in Hebrews alone in the New Testament is the Lord's simple, human
name “Jesus” used so baldly- not ‘Jesus Christ’, ‘the Lord Jesus’, just
plain ‘Jesus’ (Heb. 2:9; 3:1; 4:14; 6:20; 7:22; 10:19; 12:2,24; 13:12).
And yet it’s Hebrews that emphasizes how He can be called ‘God’, and is
the full and express image of God Himself. I observe that in each of
the ten places where Hebrews uses the name ‘Jesus’, it is as it were used
as a climax of adoration and respect. For example: “… whither the
forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus” (Heb. 6:20). “But you are come
unto… unto… to… to… to… to… and to Jesus the mediator” (Heb. 12:22-24).
The bald title ‘Jesus’, one of the most common male names in first century
Palestine, as common as Dave or Steve or John in the UK today, speaking as
it did of the Lord’s utter humanity, is therefore used as a climax of
honour for Him. The honour due to Him is exactly due to the fact of His
humanity. The juxtaposition of the Lord’s humanity and His exaltation is
what is so unique about Him. And it’s what is so hard for people to
accept, because it demands so much faith in a man, that He could be really
so God-like. The juxtaposition of ideas is seen in Hebrews so powerfully.
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