Hebrews 6:1 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.
In this chapter God gives us some “strong meat”. Most professing Christians are not able to digest this strong meat. Hebrews 6 is a favourite passage for the many professing Christians who want to believe and promote the lie that a saved person can lose their salvation. There are even certain words in this passage that they like to take out of context to support their heresy.
Let me be clear that no born again Christian would ever dare to call God a liar. Those who promote the lie that a saved person can lose their salvation are indeed calling God a liar. One of the important rules of Bible study is to begin where God begins to teach a doctrine and build the doctrine according to God’s Word, not man’s whims. There is only one ‘person’ who wants us to believe that saved people can lose their salvation and that is the devil. He is the leader in casting doubt and trying to remove the landmark.
God is the Author of the Bible and we would be wise to humble ourselves and acknowledge that He is God. He created the heaven and the earth. He is the Author of the entire Word of God. God is not like man. He never forgets anything and He never contradicts Himself.
Verse 1 begins with the word “therefore”. This tells us that this passage is building on that which was declared previously. In the closing words of chapter 5, God was rebuking the saints for their lack of growth. They had enough facts to be past the baby stage of sucking on a milk bottle. They should have been eating meat — the weightier matters, but they were not willing to go there.
God is very patient but He is not slothful. He expects and yes, He demands growth from His children. He provides all that is needed for His child to grow. He is not at all pleased when one of His children pushes the truth aside and wants to follow a lie.
Good parents prepare good food for their children. They do not appreciate when their child(ren) complain about the food and want something else. Every child has their preferences. However, it is very disrespectful for a child to push aside what the father has worked hard to provide and the mother has worked hard at preparing.
In a much more serious matter, God never makes a mistake. He never puts too many spices into His “meat”. He never leaves anything that is needed, out. In Proverbs 30:5 we read:
Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
In our text, God tells us to go on to perfection. There is a need for continual growth in the Christian life. I just read of a Christian leader who is working on his masters degree. If he follows the path that most people do in that pursuit, he will be much less effective with the Word of God when he is done than he was before he started. Learning is important and necessary. You do not need a degree to prove you are learning. It is important to be careful what you are learning.
In our text we are reminded not to lay again the foundation of repentance from dead works. Every born again Christian is aware of the importance of repentance. In Biblical repentance the person turns to God and in so doing, he leaves behind the past. He realizes that is rubbish and he desires truth. The longer a person is saved, the more he or she should understand that the past was dead works. There are thousands of hours spent chasing after things that will not leave this earth. They also do not last very long. Moth and rust corrupt the things of this earth.
Notice as well that we should not need to be reminded of the need for faith toward God. That is key to salvation. That is also key to the Christian life. We know that Jesus had to remind the disciples of this many times. That was prior to the completion of the Word of God and also prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit to indwell every born again Christian. The Christian life is lived by faith in God. The longer a Christian lives, the more he or she should be recognizing the hand of God in his life; not by manufacturing things, but by walking humbly with the Lord and seeing Him open a way for His child.
In verse 2 we see as well that we do not need to be constantly reminded of the doctrine of baptisms. The Bible speaks of the saint being baptized after salvation. The Bible is clear that Biblical baptism is always by immersion upon confession of faith. If a person is truly saved, then they need to be Scripturally baptized once and that is it. They do not seek another baptism. The Bible also speaks of the baptism of the Spirit. The Charismatics love to distort that teaching. They preach many baptisms of the Spirit. They claim tongues is an evidence of that baptism. They are liars and many people have willingly bought into that lie.
Acts 1:5 For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
The faithful student of the Lord understands that in this passage Jesus was speaking to the eleven apostles. They lived during a time of transition. They were chosen to be apostles by the Lord Jesus Christ while He was on this earth. They walked with Him and were taught by Him for 3 1/2 years. Just prior to His ascension He reminded them that He was not going to leave them alone. He would send another “Comforter”. That Comforter is the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2 we read that the apostles were filled/baptized with the Holy Ghost/Spirit. This was a unique event that happened only once in the entire Bible and only once in the history of the church age. During the early days of Christianity, some saved Jews like Peter doubted the fact that Gentiles could be saved just as Jews are saved. God momentarily delayed the baptism of the Holy Spirit on a couple of occasions to help “unbelieving” Jews like Peter to see that salvation is the same for Gentiles as it is for Jews.
Since that time, God has declared that every born again Christian receives the gift of the Holy Spirit at the moment of salvation. There is no praying for or waiting for the “baptism” of the Spirit. No human being is involved in causing some other person to receive the Holy Spirit. That is heresy.
I Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Jesus also spoke of being baptized with the baptism that He was baptized with. Every born again Christian is called to submit to the will of God in his or her life. That is not an option. It is a requirement of the Christian life. Many preachers are not teaching this doctrine and many professing Christians did not “sign up” for that. They protest vehemently against submission to God in all things. That shows where their hearts are truly at.
God also spoke of the doctrine of “laying on of hands”. Paul was directed to caution Timothy not to lay hands suddenly on any man. Laying on of hands did not inject some spiritual power into the recipient. The laying on of hands was a symbolic gesture used to express support for the recipient. Godly men need to be careful to examine the man and to pray and seek God’s face as to whether the man is actually fit for the service of the Lord.
The resurrection of the dead is another doctrine of God. It is a fact that all the dead will be raised up. I Corinthians 15 covers the necessity of Jesus’ resurrection in order for true, Biblical faith to even exist. If Jesus Christ is dead in a tomb somewhere, there is no salvation for anyone. The Biblical fact is that the resurrection is not just for those who turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. All people will be resurrected.
Together with that is the next doctrine mentioned which is eternal judgment. The Bible is clear that the saved will stand at the judgment seat of Christ. There they will be judged as to the reward or lack of reward received for all eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. The lost, those who reject Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord will be resurrected to meet the Lord Jesus Christ at the great white throne judgment. There the books will be opened, including the book of life. None of their names will be in the book of life and the other books will contain their dead works. They will be exposed for their unbelief and they will be doomed to eternity in the lake of fire. There is no Catholic purgatory. There is no pleading and demanding of a different verdict.
Salvation is the gift of God. It must be received during this earthly lifetime. It is extremely dangerous to put this important decision off for another day. I just heard recently of a young 21 year old man who was just married a year ago. He was riding his motorcycle on a highway in Manitoba and another couple decided to pull a u-turn on the highway in front of him and he did not have time to stop and hit them and was killed. He was only 21 years old. Was he saved? I do not know. Will he be given another opportunity to consider the most important matter in life? No. He made his choice during those few years on earth. Whatever that choice was, it is sealed now. This is the reality. I hope he was saved, but if he was not, there is nothing that can be done for him now. He has a grieving wife and there are grieving parents on both sides and other siblings. However, there is nothing that can bring that person back to this earth. However, there is a resurrection coming for him. Where will that be? That depends on what he did with Jesus Christ during his short time on this earth.
There will be those who will suggest his life was taken too soon. There will be those who will suggest that this is not fair. God never makes any mistakes. We make many. God knows the time each of us has on this earth. He provides all the opportunity needed for each person to know Him. The important fact is to take the opportunity God has given us. Don’t put off the most important decision in life.
Pastor Bartel
