Hebrews Chapter 6
Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation
The writer is saying that he doesn't want to re-hash all the first things that a new Christian should know.
These things are:
of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
Realizing that everything we do in our flesh is not acceptable to God, being tainted by sin, and putting our full faith in God's sending His Son to have done all the work by being our personal Sacrifice to wash away our sins. He did all the work.
of the doctrine of baptisms and laying on of hands,
Baptisms refers to ceremonial washings, as well as the Baptism we are instructed to submit to as a picture of having died with Jesus and being buried with Him under the water, then rising to live a new lifestyle.
And the laying on of hands refers to the elders conferring spiritual gifts on the new believer. These are both Jewish customs, as this letter is to Hebrew Christians.
and of the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
The teachings of all of these are what new Christians should know as the first things they learn to understand and practice, as baby Christians.
And this we will do, if God permits.
Now the writer wants to get into more of the solid food of the Word.
But he wants to make sure that these Christians understand fully this framework upon which to build their lives and before he goes on to deeper teachings.
Because:
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,
To apparently be saved, to show forth the appearance of having become a Christian.
and then have fallen away,
Then to leave it all to go back to the World's ways and thinking processes.
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.
If it would be possible for someone to really be born into God's family by the Holy Spirit coming into his spirit to make it alive, to then become "unborn" again, returning to his past life; then it would take Jesus coming back to die again on the Cross to be able to save him again.
There are some who claim to be Christians who do this: their worship service requires a cross with an image of Jesus still on it, and they re-create His crucifixion. Because they believe that we must do good works to "earn" God's grace to save them again. And again. And again.
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 up.
The same water that nourishes the soil will bring up both food and weeds. The food is the spiritual nourishment for the children of God. But the weeds show that tares have been growing with the wheat, and their end is to be cast into the eternal fires.
But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany Salvation, though we are speaking this way.
This writer believes he is writing to true Christians, who have that relationship with God that He sent His Son for us to have, and not just nominal christians who only have a religion.
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.
He is saying that all appearances show that these people are true Christians, and that if they continue to do all the kinds of works and ministries they are doing, that will show that they have God's Spirit in them, enabling them to continue living this new lifestyle of service until the end, the same as those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
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.
Abraham trusted God to be faithful to His Word, through many years, until he finally had the son God promised to him.
For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.
When someone makes a legal contract, they invoke the powers of the government to hold them responsible to the terms of the agreement, having given the government the authority to do so.
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.
God promised with an oath to give, if possible, even more weight to His faithfulness to accomplish what He said He would do. So we have strong encouragement to hang on to our faith no matter how long it takes or what we will need to face.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast
This is where we get this image of Hope being an anchor. The World's idea of hope is a wish, but the hope we have in God is knowing the certainty of what we just don't see yet.
and one which enters within the veil,
This is the door into the holiest of holies, in the Temple of God in Heaven.
Where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the Order of Melchizedek.
And he goes back to this again, to tie together this whole section of his letter.
This High Priesthood of Christ is the linchpin to all the parts of Salvation and Redemption. We really need to get a grasp on how this all works out.
O my Father God, please help us as Your children to understand how much You Love us, and planned out this whole Opera! We are still here, acting out our parts, trying to perform on cue, struggling through all the directions and lines, interacting with one another as fellow actors in Your Story of Mankind.
As our Director and Producer, help us with all the parts of our performances, to be authentic and true to Your Truth, humble and submitting to one another, so they can also perform their roles.
Thank You for casting Your Son Jesus in the Starring Role. This script is all about Him and His heroism, rescuing us all out of the clutches of the dastardly villain and our own inbred waywardness.
And You have told us the End of the Story already, as You have written it, and are directing us all as we make our choices.
You are so wise and clever and smart and powerful that You have determined that all of our "free will" decisions only progress Your story along! Just as You have written it.
And at the final bow, You will receive all the accolades and every award! Every item in the Credits as they roll will name Your Name as the One who has filled every position and every part. Wonderfully and Beautifully and Entertainingly!
And every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. And Father, You receive all the glory.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
