LESSON 6 - Heb. 6:1-8 - LET US PRESS ON TO MATURITY (Third Warning)
INTRODUCTION: Last week, in Heb. 4:14-16; 5:1-6, we heard the writer of Hebrews explain how our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, ascended to heaven to become our ultimate High Priest, who is superior in every way to the human priests of Judaism. As our ultimate High Priest, we not only learned that Jesus is constantly interceding for us in heaven right now but will be our High Priest forever-in this life and in the next. Because Jesus in sinless and perfect in every way, He's always merciful towards us-not meting out the condemnation for sin that we really deserve-but instead, is gracious, extending to us the love and forgiveness we do not deserve. Our primary job-until He takes us to our forever home-is to hold fast to our confession of faith, the gospel of Jesus Christ as Lord.
This week, in Heb. 6:1-8, we'll hear the writer of Hebrews issue his third warning to his Jewish Christian audience, which can be summarized as the "Danger of Christian Maturity," specifically the dangers inherent to failing to mature in the faith. Scholars generally agree that this chapter of Hebrews comprises one of the most difficult and controversial writings in all of the New Testament, which has led to many differing interpretations and applications. In our lesson today, I will be following the majority, conservative view taught in Baptist and many other evangelical seminaries. The problem of spiritual immaturity-the failure of Christian believers to mature in faith and understanding, whether due to disinterest, carelessness, or sheer laziness-is as much a danger to churches today as it was to the writer's Jewish audience over 19 centuries ago. The people to whom this letter was addressed were being warned about the danger of falling back to OT practices; but, in the modern church, we've seen something similar: people who profess faith, even get baptized, only scratch the surface of Christianity and thereafter return to their pre-Christian, disobedient lifestyles.
Read Heb. 6:1-2 - LEAVING THE ELEMENTARY TEACHING
1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
v. 1a: "Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ," - The terminology of this phrase-"elementary teaching"-implies people who've become apathetic or lazy. This problem isn't time or intelligence, but simply a lack of self-motivation. Spiritual maturity doesn't happen merely by self-effort but by depending on God as we seek revelation through His Word and follow the guidance His Holy Spirit who leads and empowers us.
v. 1b: "let us press on to maturity," - The writer doesn't intend to go back and repeat the basics of what they should already know but plans to "press on" ahead and motivate them to catch up. Their need isn't knowledge, but to correctly use and apply the knowledge that they already have.
v. 1c: "not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God," -The "foundation" denoted here is OT Judaism and the "dead works" that they were "laying again" (falling back on) referred specifically to the OT Levitical rites and rituals specified under Mosaic Law. Thus, they didn't need further instruction about abandoning works for salvation and turning instead to faith in Christ. They already knew this (or should have).
v. 2: "of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment." - Here, the writer identifies a major source of the conflict between early Christianity and Judaism: the purpose of OT ritual works. The writer is making it clear to his Jewish audience that there is absolutely no practical value in re-teaching the OT ceremonial rituals-"washings and laying on of hands"-or the OT views on "resurrection and eternal judgment." All of theses things have been superseded by New Covenant Christianity.
APPLICATION 1: Spiritual immaturity is dangerous. The most common reason for spiritual immaturity in the life of a Christian believer isn't due to lack of time or intelligence but to a lack of personal self-motivation. Yes, a lot of the motivation should come from within our churches-preaching, teaching, and opportunities to serve in various church ministries-but the real impetus must come from within a believer's heart: a continuing personal commitment to "press on to maturity" by seeking and depending upon God's continued revelation through His word and the resulting empowerment of His Holy Spirit.
Read Heb. 6:3 - THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN MADE PARTAKERS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
3 And this we will do, if God permits. 4 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, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,
v. 3: "And this we will do, if God permits." - This goes back to v. 1: Our need to be completely dependent upon God and the empowering of His Spirit for our spiritual growth. Spiritual maturity will only take place when-by God's grace-a believer positively and increasingly responds to further revelation of God through His Word past the basics of what we already know. We can see evidence of what the writer is warning about all around us in churches today: Many Christians attend churches where they only hear the basics repeated over and over again. As a consequence, their ears become dull, they stop maturing, and many of them end up turning away from the faith. Some of them even end up in religious cults by following false teaching that claims to offer deeper spiritual truth. God, through His Spirit, His Word, and His church-has provided all the resources we need to attain spiritual maturity; we simply need to buckle down and apply them. Moreover, we Christians need to spiritually grow and keep on growing until such time as God decides to take us home!
NOTE: This and the next two verses is where we begin to get into the controversial areas of this text.
v. 4: "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," - First off, people who have "tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit" confirms that the writer is clearly referring to born-again Christian believers-people who have been saved by faith alone in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The conservative view of this passage is that it's impossible for a person to "taste the heavenly gift" and "partake of the Holy Spirit" without believing. The idea of being partly saved is simply not credible; a believer only needs to be "enlightened" once.
v. 5: "and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come," - The original readers had not only tasted the "word of God"-i.e., the gospel message of Jesus Christ-and found it to be "good," but they had also witnessed the "powers"-i.e., (1) the resurrection of Jesus Christ and (2) the miracles subsequently performed by the apostles, which all had confirmed that they were in "the age to come," the Messianic age of Jesus Christ, the New Covenant. So, once again, this warning isn't addressed to people who were almost but not quite saved, but intended for born-again Jewish believers who were in danger of renouncing their faith and returning to Judaism.
APPLICATION 2: Spiritual maturity occurs in the life of a believer when he or she increasingly responds to further revelation of God though His Word. We don't need to keep re-learning the ABCs of the Christian faith and service. God, through His Spirit, His Word, and His church-has provided all the spiritual resources we need to attain spiritual maturity and to keep growing; we simply need to buckle down and utilize all the resources that God so richly provides. This building process of moving and growing in spiritual maturity is the key to a vibrant and fruitful Christian life. We aren't finished-we keep on keeping on-until Jesus returns or God takes us home, whichever should occur first!
Read Heb. 6:6-8 - AND THEN HAVE FALLEN AWAY
6 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. 7 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; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
v. 6a: "and then have fallen away," - Connecting this phrase to v. 5, means we're still talking about saved Christians. The word used for "fallen away" (Gk. parapiptó [par-ap-ip'-to]) means much more than the spiritual neglect and less serious "drifting away" type of apostasy the writer warned about in Chapters 2 and 3; this is the complete repudiation of a former belief.
v. 6b: "it is impossible to renew them again to repentance" - This isn't simple backsliding due to laziness, but describes a worst case scenario: It envisions someone who has completely returned to Jewish practice and has made a public denial of faith in Christ before witnesses. In this extreme instance, the writer is saying that it is impossible to return such people to repentance. Once a person reaches this frame of mind, no earthly argument or encouragement can bring them back. Do they lose their salvation (even if they deserve it)? No, they don't. Jesus said, "and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand" (John 10:28).
Think back to the parallel of Psalm 95 we studied two weeks ago in Chapter 3: God didn't send the Israelites back to Egypt; He judged them by making them wander in the wilderness for 40 years. This is hard to understand from a purely human point of view, but God's sovereign will-His predestined choices are unfathomable, a mystery. But these people don't get off scot-free: They will lose all fellowship in this life (rest, peace, contentment, etc.), then, at the resurrection, he or she stands to lose heavenly rewards when they are required to give an account of their life when they face final judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10).
v. 6c: "since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame." - The implication raised by the phrase, "they again crucify," is appalling: a person who renounces Jesus Christ in this manner is, in effect, agreeing that the world was right to crucify Him as a common criminal! This describes a person so hardened by sin that they are beyond help. To add to the mystery, only God really knows whether or not they were truly saved in the first place.
v. 7: "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;" - This verse and the next are important in order to understand the correct interpretation of verses 4-6. Just as verses 1-3 explained why Christians need to move from 'elementary' faith to mature faith, verses 7 and 8 explain God's method for restoring believers whose spiritual immaturity could lead them to 'falling away.' The illustration contrasts two types of land: fertile (v.7) and unproductive (v. 8). In this verse, God brings forth the nourishing rain-a metaphor for the water of God's Word-and the fertile land bears much fruit as a result. This illustrates the process of moving from immature to faith in the life of a believer, with the result that he or she will receive multiple blessings from God as a reward for their fruitfulness. And when Christian believers are bearing fruit-maturing in faith-their fruit comes as a blessing to others. This is God's design for the Christian life.
v. 8: "but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned." - This verse is analogous to a believer who refuses to mature in faith and end up completely falling away. Unlike the fruitful land of the previous verse, this land-like an immature believer who has left the church and completely turned his back on the faith-only produces thorns and thistles, which is worthless-no good to anyone. God's remedy: Judgment. God will send a judgment which is like a fire that burns all the worthless foliage down to the bare soil. Just as the farmer, who burns off the weeds, does not destroy the field, God does not destroy the fallen believer.
APPLICATION 3: A Christian who fails to mature in faith runs the risk of falling away. This can be deadly serious. As the preceding verses explain, in extreme cases a fallen believer can become so hardened by sin that he or she is beyond all help. Even though fallen believers cannot lose their salvation, they are certain to experience God's "fire"-His judgment in this life and the next.
