THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE

TO THE

6:1-3

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this will we do, if God permit.

In this passage, Paul was telling the people, and us, to lay the foundation of the doctrines of Christ in our hearts. The Hebrews being written to had forgotten all that they had learned about Christ. They had drifted away. Having to keep going back and relearning can slow our work for the ministry.

We can loudly hear the exhortation for the Christian to continue forward unto "perfection." That means to keep growing in the Lord. Once the foundation is laid, it is time to start adding to the building. Christ does not want us to have to keep relaying the ground work. Once the ground work is finished, we should continue to perfect our selves in the word of God.

All of what a person knows is by the grace of God. It is God that works in us "both to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

6:4-6

For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

Now we come to one of the most misunderstood passages of the entire Bible. There are many who look at these verses, and then worry and hope that they never loose their salvation. If a true believer lays a proper foundation of the principles of the Word of God, then they never have to fear what is never meant to be feared in the first place. We must always allow the Word of God to speak on its own.

In chapter 5 we saw that those being written to were true believers that, at this point, should be teachers. However, through their dullness of hearing they became needy to be taught again.

Let’s build precept upon precept. First, we see in verse 4 that it states that something is impossible. What is impossible? As for now, let’s just remember that it is IMPOSSIBLE!

Next in the remainder of verse 4, and the entire part of verse 5, it says, "those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come." Who is this describing?

I want to examine these phrases. "Those who were once enlightened" is describing those who once were in darkness, but now have been made to see. John 1:9 teaches us that Jesus Christ is the true Light, that lighteth every man (makes man to see). I John 2:8 teaches us that when the darkness is past, then the true light now shines!

We see that, whoever this passage is describing, has not only been made to see, but they have also "tasted of the heavenly gift." The heavenly gift is The Gift of God; and The Gift of God is eternal life! God has a gift for "whosoever will," but not all will take it. The takers of the heavenly gift are those who have been made to see.

Now we see that those that have been made to see, and have taken the gift from God, have been made "partakers of the Holy Ghost." This means that they have been made associates of the Holy Ghost. We know, by what the Word of God says, that the Holy Ghost is also known as the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes several roles pertaining to man’s salvation.

The ministries of the Holy Spirit concerning the believer are: He regenerates them (Titus 3:5), He baptizes them (Romans 6:3, 4; I Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:27), He permanently indwells them (Romans 8:9, 10; I Corinthians 3:16; 6:19, 20; II Timothy 1:14; I John 4:4), He seals them (II Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30), He spiritually circumcises them (Colossians 2:11, 12), and He fills them (Acts 2:4).

Then we see that these people, in verse 5, "have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come." Not only have these people been made to see, tasted of the heavenly gift, and have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost; but now we see that they have been able to experience the Word of God, and the abundance of what they shall face throughout eternity. Wow!

Ok, after those brief explanations, who are those phrases describing? There is only one type of person they could have been referring to; the born again child of God (those that have been saved).

I do not believe in taking any words from the Bible, but just to prove a point, I must do so now. Let’s take all of the phrases from verses 4 and 5, and replace them with the phrase "those that have been saved." When doing so that passage reads as: "For it is impossible for those that have been saved, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame."

There are two very key words in these verses. First is the word "if." The Word of God IS NOT teaching that a child of God can lose their salvation. In fact, it is teaching just the opposite. The second key word is "impossible." God, here in these verses, wants us to learn that if a saved person can lose their salvation, then they CAN NEVER BE BORN AGAIN-AGAIN!

There are two reasons explaining this doctrine. Fist, it says, "seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh." IF it we possible for a child of God to lose their salvation, then there must be another sacrifice offered. Before Christ, the high priest had to make atonement each year, but His sacrifice was offered ONCE FOR ALL!

The second reason is IF one could lose their salvation, then Christ’s sacrifice puts Himself "to an open shame." IF a child of God could lose their salvation, then Christ’s sacrifice was not finished. When a person receives the gift of God, they are receiving it through Jesus Christ. They are in His hands, He is in the Father’s hands; and no one is stronger than the Father (John 10:27-30)!

6:7, 8

For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: 8 But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

The Word of God, here, is compared to rain. The purpose of rain is so that seed that is planted may bring forth its harvest. When a child of God has a strong foundation in the doctrines of Christ, then his soil will produce plentifully, and receive blessings from God. Herbs are then brought forth for meet, not for the dresser (man), but for God; the owner of the soil, for whom it is dressed. Man is the planter, and the one that waters the seed, but it is God that brings forth the increase (I Corinthians 3:6, 7).

If a Christian’s foundation is thorny and being chocked out, then his knowledge and soul shall be cursed. God just does not want to save us; He wants us to grow closer to Him. Just making it to heaven, and escaping the flames of hell should not be our goal as a child of God (I Corinthians 3:15); we should desire a rich and plentiful relationship with our Creator and Saviour! If God just wanted to save us, and had no desire for fellowship, then He would have taken us home the moment of our salvation.

Here we see that Paul was uplifting their spirits. After all the warnings he has given them, he still wanted to show his love for them. He wanted to verify the confidence he had for them, by stating: "we are persuaded better things of you." This uplifting spirit is a conformation that Paul is the author of this book. He writes something very similar in Romans 15:14, "And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another."

Even though he had strong words for these Hebrews, he states that he would rather speak harshly to them, then to see them suffer the consequences from an Almighty God.

For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: 12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

We are reminded here that all of the works and labor that the Hebrews did for the Lord, they were rewarded for. We serve a God that is faithful to reward those that are faithful to serve. We have a salvation that is eternal. We have a God that loved and cared for us so much that He bought us with His own blood (Acts 20:28; Hebrews 9:12, 13:12; Revelation 1:5). The acts that are done are for His name sake.

We are to be diligent in our Christian life to grow in the Lord, and closer to Him each and ever day. There are a lot of examples that we have from the Old Testament that we will study later in Chapter 11. God is not unfaithful to His own gracious promise. It is not that we have any just cause to claim any rewards.

There are several reasons for this. First, a servant has no merit, as he only does that which is his duty. Secondly, our greatest works bear no balance out to what we leave undone. The third reason is that all strength comes from God. However, God has promised of His own grace to reward the good works of His people. It is His promise, not our merits; which would make it unrighteous if He were not to reward His people's works.

6:13-18

For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

Here we see the confirming of the reasons of resting on "the promises" as infallible and sure. Resting, as they do, on the oath of God, through the example of Abraham. Abraham was the great example of what it was to trust God in all things, and to persevere to the end. But the focus here is not really on Abraham, but it is on the God who made the promise.

We have two immutable, or, unchangeable things confirming the promises of God. They are His promise, and His oath. Verse 13 tells us that when God made the promise to Abraham, He could sware by no greater thing than Himself. That is God putting His very own name at stake.

The oath is the very Word of God. An oath or a vow is always made by calling upon someone higher in authority or power. The ancient pagans would enter into agreements with one another. The way that they would bind their agreement is that they would call upon their gods as witnesses to their word. This obligated them to keep their word, lest their gods would punish them for going back on their word.

In many cases the Israelites would do the same as they called upon their God to witness their transaction. But who does God call upon, higher than Himself, when He enters into a promise with an oath? No one. He can only swear by Himself, which is one of the reasons He's not obligated to make any oaths.

Here in Hebrews it is in connection to faith and patience in the promises we receive from God. This is why we read in Hebrews 6:15, "And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." We must keep in mind that the patience of Abraham wasn't talking about being patient for just a few days, weeks, or months; but to the very end. According to Genesis chapter 17, Abraham was 100 years old when God made the promise that he and his 90 year old wife would bear their son Isaac.

We know that Abraham was 175 years old when he died. Abraham's perseverance was a great thing. For 75 years he looked forward to the fulfillment of the promise made to him by God. He stayed faithful to his course. He persevered to the end, but yet we know that he personally did not see the promise fulfilled.

We have received promises from God, just like Abraham, who received it by faith. In the same manner as Abraham we should realize that the fulfillment of the promises are not in this world, but when we see Christ face to face. With this great hope always set before us, we should find our patience and perseverance in our Savior, who is faithful to all of His promises to us.

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

Christ is our hope. The fact that He is our hope secures the promise that He has made to use in our inner most being, and makes it stedfast and sure. This anchor that we have in Christ will keep us secured, and will keep us from being tossed to and fro.

Our forerunner, Jesus Christ, has entered the Holiest of Holies. He knew that we could never enter such a sacred place on our own, so He went before us to prepare the way. It is only through Him that we can stand in the presence of an Holy God!