Hebrews 6:1-8
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.
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,
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.
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.
Keeping in mind what Paul had just said about going beyond milk and into meat, he said that Christians must go on from the basic teachings of Christ. We are to build on that foundation and not keep relaying the same foundation over and over. Its time to build on the foundation of Christ that has already been laid.
If they continued to question the basics or do nothing more than try to convince the skeptics that Jesus is the Messiah, they would never be able to build what God desired. Thus, the fruit of their faith would never come to fruition. If the enemy of our faith can keep us stuck on the basics, we will never fulfill our call. These basic principles Paul mentioned in verses 1 & 2 were considered by the Jewish believers to be elementary principles. They saw the significance in them fulfilling the old ceremonial laws, but while acknowledging that they were important, realized we must move on from there.1
Paul said we must build on these principles, not consider them to be all there is to the doctrine of Christ. He cautioned that those who had been enlightened, who had become partakers of the Holy Spirit, had tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come—that if they fell away, it would be impossible to bring them back to repentance. In that condition, they would bring Christ to shame.
This seemed to be the result of not building on the foundation of Christ. Where growth is not occurring, a falling back is inevitable. To those who drink the rain and produce vegetation—blessing will come. But those whose yield is thorns and thistles will not be useful and will be burned in the fire.
1 A commentary, critical, practical, and explanatory on the Old and New Testaments by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown (1882). Retrieved from biblehub.com August 5, 2021.
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Keeping in mind what Paul had just said about going beyond milk and into meat, he said that Christians must go on from the basic teachings of Christ. We are to build on that foundation and not keep relaying the same foundation over and over. Its time to build on the foundation of Christ that has already been laid.
If they continued to question the basics or do nothing more than try to convince the skeptics that Jesus is the Messiah, they would never be able to build what God desired. Thus, the fruit of their faith would never come to fruition. If the enemy of our faith can keep us stuck on the basics, we will never fulfill our call. These basic principles Paul mentioned in verses 1 & 2 were considered by the Jewish believers to be elementary principles. They saw the significance in them fulfilling the old ceremonial laws, but while acknowledging that they were important, realized we must move on from there.1
Paul said we must build on these principles, not consider them to be all there is to the doctrine of Christ. He cautioned that those who had been enlightened, who had become partakers of the Holy Spirit, had tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come—that if they fell away, it would be impossible to bring them back to repentance. In that condition, they would bring Christ to shame.
This seemed to be the result of not building on the foundation of Christ. Where growth is not occurring, a falling back is inevitable. To those who drink the rain and produce vegetation—blessing will come. But those whose yield is thorns and thistles will not be useful and will be burned in the fire.
1 A commentary, critical, practical, and explanatory on the Old and New Testaments by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown (1882). Retrieved from biblehub.com August 5, 2021.
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