Heb 6:4-6 | KingComments | STEP | . The writer continues in the first part of this chapter his exhortations of the concluding verses of the previous chapter. He would like his readers to realize that they should not get “stuck” in “the elementary teaching about Christ”. By that he means everything that was said about and by Christ in relation to His coming to the earth. You may think of the announcement by John the baptist and also of the preaching of Christ Himself. Of course, everything about this in the Bible is God’s Word and therefore important, but it is all connected to the Old Testament and to Christ’s reign over His earthly people. However, because of the rejection of Christ, a completely different situation emerged and to this the writer wants to focus the hearts of the believers. He wants them to “press on to maturity” or, as it also can be translated ‘to press on to perfection’. ‘Perfection’ is the knowledge of Christ in relation with the place He now takes, glorified in heaven. The words “press on to” refer to the spiritual growth of the believer to that ‘perfection’. That means that you make Him in glory the object of your faith and the goal of your life. Then you will certainly not be willing to go back to the tangible religion, but you will surely want to go on, with the desire to learn to know more of Him and the wonderful results of His work. Therefore, what you read in the second part of and in does not refer to Christendom but to Judaism. The writer doesn’t want to go into detail again about this issue, for they knew that from their past as Jews. They indeed knew about “repentance from dead works”. That implies the repentance from works that were done by their own will, independent of God. Also about “faith toward God” they did not have to be taught again anymore. They are familiar with that from an early age. Repentance and faith are not specifically Christian truths. They were and are needed in all ages in case a sinful man wants to come into connection with a holy God. . The “instruction about washings” – and definitely not, as it is translated in the NKJV: the doctrine of baptisms – indicates the statutes that God gave to Israel concerning washing with water. That concerned matters or people who were defiled through contact with sin, that they may be used again in the service of God (e.g. ). The instruction about “laying on of hands” refers to what they had to do, for example, in offering. The laying on of hands means identification, in this case with the sacrifice (e.g. ). The Jews are also familiar with “the resurrection of the dead” ( ) as well as with “eternal judgment” ( ). All the characteristics mentioned are thus not specifically Christian, but on the contrary typical Jewish. Therefore the writer wants to leave all that. . When he says “and this we will do”, he doesn’t mean by that that he will come back on this later. No, ‘this’ refers to ‘to press on to maturity’ of . “If God permits” he wants to take the readers with him in spirit to heaven, to the Lord Jesus in glory. . He consciously expresses himself like that to be dependent on God’s strength because the spiritual condition of some Hebrews did not allow him to carry out his plan at this moment. That’s because there were people among his readers – and there are also today – who accepted Christendom only outwardly, while inwardly they have not changed at all. They exerted a wrong influence on the true believers, who, due to that, also became dull in following the rejected, though glorified Messiah. Therefore the writer addresses all of them in general terms. Thereby I underline that the impossibility to be renewed again to repentance, only refers to those who only outwardly partook of the privileges of the , but inwardly had no new life. All characteristics that are mentioned in the are outward characteristics. They apply to all professing Christians, thus both to the true Christians and to the Christians who are Christians only in name. With Christians who are Christians only in name there is knowledge, joy, enlightenment, privileges and power, but no spiritual life. Those are people 1. who have tears like Esau ( ), 2. who are willing to die the death of the upright like Balaam ( ), 3. who want God fearing people praying for them like Pharaoh ( ) and Simon the magician ( ), 4. who prophesy like Caiaphas ( ), 5. who love to hear the Word of God like Herod ( ) and who are still no more than sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. “Have once been enlightened” means that they received light about the Person of Christ, His work, His glorification, but that it only refers to an intellectual enlightenment, while the light had not enlightened their conscience. “Have tasted of the heavenly gift” means that they have received a certain taste of what God gave in Christ, possibly also from the heavenly position that Christ, the Messiah now takes. However, they have not eaten of it and they did not identify themselves with it. “Have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit” are those who find themselves on the territory where the Holy Spirit works. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the Holy Spirit also dwells in the person. . ”Have tasted the good word of God” means that they understood how precious the Word is, though it doesn’t have to mean that through that they were made alive. “The powers of the age to come” are the works of power that will take place in the coming age, when the triumphing Messiah, the Son of God, will completely destroy all powers of the enemy. The Hebrews did see such works of power when the Lord Jesus was on earth and also during the early days of Christendom. . Each Christian shared in all these characteristics because he lived in a circle where these things were found. Even if there was no spiritual life, still each person experienced these influences. But it only applies to a person who has no spiritual life that he will fall away from that circle with those characteristics. He could turn his back on that circle and return to his former circle of confession. The people concerned here first belonged to God’s people who crucified the Son of God. Then they confessed this as a sin and became confessors of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah. But now they were willfully and knowingly committing the same crime again by returning to those people, while they turned their back on Christendom with its glorified Lord. It is not about people that were acting in ignorance. For these people the Lord Jesus indeed prayed: “They do not know what they are doing” ( ). Fallen away people or apostates are those who were once enlightened and who acknowledged Christ as the Son of God, who also confessed His crucifixion as sin, but returned to it and still held Him for a traitor Who was rightly crucified. Those are not ignorant. Some people in professing Christianity find themselves in the same position. They were made familiar with the truths about Christ, but come to deny, against their better judgment, His virgin birth, His perfect life, His Godhead, His atoning death and His bodily resurrection. For such people it is impossible to be renewed again to repentance, which means to repent again from their current error. They knew the truth, they confessed it, but then rejected it again and now they were dull of it. This rebellion reveals a hardened heart that can never possibly repent. . The writer clarifies with an example from nature what it means to have life of God or when this is missing. The life of the confessor is compared with “the ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it”. In the rain you see the ministry of the Word, which is compared with water ( ). The condition of the earth becomes visible through the rain that often falls on it. The ‘rain’, that means the blessing from heaven, falls on the soul of the confessor in the form of Divine light, the heavenly gift, the Holy Spirit, the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. In the case of a true Christian the result of this ‘rain’ will be producing fruit for God in bringing praise offerings and the following of the Lord Jesus. In the case of the Christian only in name, the apostate, it appears that the rain doesn’t produce fruit in his life. That’s because the earth contains nothing what could bring fruit: there is no new life, no indwelling Holy Spirit. . The nominal Christian never brings forth useful vegetation because the soil is no good. Out of him only thorns and thistles come forth, the results of the fall of man ( ). That which is in connection with sin is under the curse and will eventually end up in an eternal curse and burning. Now read Hebrews 6:1-8 again. Reflection: What similarities and differences are there between the true and the false Christian?

‏ Hebrews 6:4-6

True or False

Heb 6:1. The writer continues in the first part of this chapter his exhortations of the concluding verses of the previous chapter. He would like his readers to realize that they should not get “stuck” in “the elementary teaching about Christ”. By that he means everything that was said about and by Christ in relation to His coming to the earth. You may think of the announcement by John the baptist and also of the preaching of Christ Himself. Of course, everything about this in the Bible is God’s Word and therefore important, but it is all connected to the Old Testament and to Christ’s reign over His earthly people.

However, because of the rejection of Christ, a completely different situation emerged and to this the writer wants to focus the hearts of the believers. He wants them to “press on to maturity” or, as it also can be translated ‘to press on to perfection’. ‘Perfection’ is the knowledge of Christ in relation with the place He now takes, glorified in heaven.

The words “press on to” refer to the spiritual growth of the believer to that ‘perfection’. That means that you make Him in glory the object of your faith and the goal of your life. Then you will certainly not be willing to go back to the tangible religion, but you will surely want to go on, with the desire to learn to know more of Him and the wonderful results of His work.

Therefore, what you read in the second part of Heb 6:1 and in Heb 6:2 does not refer to Christendom but to Judaism. The writer doesn’t want to go into detail again about this issue, for they knew that from their past as Jews.

They indeed knew about “repentance from dead works”. That implies the repentance from works that were done by their own will, independent of God. Also about “faith toward God” they did not have to be taught again anymore. They are familiar with that from an early age. Repentance and faith are not specifically Christian truths. They were and are needed in all ages in case a sinful man wants to come into connection with a holy God.

Heb 6:2. The “instruction about washings” – and definitely not, as it is translated in the NKJV: the doctrine of baptisms – indicates the statutes that God gave to Israel concerning washing with water. That concerned matters or people who were defiled through contact with sin, that they may be used again in the service of God (e.g. Num 19:18).

The instruction about “laying on of hands” refers to what they had to do, for example, in offering. The laying on of hands means identification, in this case with the sacrifice (e.g. Lev 1:4 ; Lev 4:15).

The Jews are also familiar with “the resurrection of the dead” (Jn 11:24) as well as with “eternal judgment” (Isa 14:9-11 ; Isa 38:18 ; Isa 66:24).

All the characteristics mentioned are thus not specifically Christian, but on the contrary typical Jewish. Therefore the writer wants to leave all that.

Heb 6:3. When he says “and this we will do”, he doesn’t mean by that that he will come back on this later. No, ‘this’ refers to ‘to press on to maturity’ of Heb 6:1. “If God permits” he wants to take the readers with him in spirit to heaven, to the Lord Jesus in glory.

Heb 6:4. He consciously expresses himself like that to be dependent on God’s strength because the spiritual condition of some Hebrews did not allow him to carry out his plan at this moment. That’s because there were people among his readers – and there are also today – who accepted Christendom only outwardly, while inwardly they have not changed at all.

They exerted a wrong influence on the true believers, who, due to that, also became dull in following the rejected, though glorified Messiah. Therefore the writer addresses all of them in general terms. Thereby I underline that the impossibility to be renewed again to repentance, only refers to those who only outwardly partook of the privileges of the Heb 6:4-5, but inwardly had no new life.

All characteristics that are mentioned in the Heb 6:4-5 are outward characteristics. They apply to all professing Christians, thus both to the true Christians and to the Christians who are Christians only in name. With Christians who are Christians only in name there is knowledge, joy, enlightenment, privileges and power, but no spiritual life. Those are people

1. who have tears like Esau (Heb 12:17),

2. who are willing to die the death of the upright like Balaam (Num 23:10b),

3. who want God fearing people praying for them like Pharaoh (Exo 8:8) and Simon the magician (Acts 8:24),

4. who prophesy like Caiaphas (Jn 11:49-52),

5. who love to hear the Word of God like Herod (Mk 6:20)

and who are still no more than sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

“Have once been enlightened” means that they received light about the Person of Christ, His work, His glorification, but that it only refers to an intellectual enlightenment, while the light had not enlightened their conscience.

“Have tasted of the heavenly gift” means that they have received a certain taste of what God gave in Christ, possibly also from the heavenly position that Christ, the Messiah now takes. However, they have not eaten of it and they did not identify themselves with it.

“Have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit” are those who find themselves on the territory where the Holy Spirit works. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the Holy Spirit also dwells in the person.

Heb 6:5. ”Have tasted the good word of God” means that they understood how precious the Word is, though it doesn’t have to mean that through that they were made alive.

“The powers of the age to come” are the works of power that will take place in the coming age, when the triumphing Messiah, the Son of God, will completely destroy all powers of the enemy. The Hebrews did see such works of power when the Lord Jesus was on earth and also during the early days of Christendom.

Heb 6:6. Each Christian shared in all these characteristics because he lived in a circle where these things were found. Even if there was no spiritual life, still each person experienced these influences. But it only applies to a person who has no spiritual life that he will fall away from that circle with those characteristics. He could turn his back on that circle and return to his former circle of confession.

The people concerned here first belonged to God’s people who crucified the Son of God. Then they confessed this as a sin and became confessors of the Lord Jesus as the Messiah. But now they were willfully and knowingly committing the same crime again by returning to those people, while they turned their back on Christendom with its glorified Lord. It is not about people that were acting in ignorance. For these people the Lord Jesus indeed prayed: “They do not know what they are doing” (Lk 23:34).

Fallen away people or apostates are those who were once enlightened and who acknowledged Christ as the Son of God, who also confessed His crucifixion as sin, but returned to it and still held Him for a traitor Who was rightly crucified. Those are not ignorant.

Some people in professing Christianity find themselves in the same position. They were made familiar with the truths about Christ, but come to deny, against their better judgment, His virgin birth, His perfect life, His Godhead, His atoning death and His bodily resurrection. For such people it is impossible to be renewed again to repentance, which means to repent again from their current error. They knew the truth, they confessed it, but then rejected it again and now they were dull of it. This rebellion reveals a hardened heart that can never possibly repent.

Heb 6:7. The writer clarifies with an example from nature what it means to have life of God or when this is missing. The life of the confessor is compared with “the ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it”. In the rain you see the ministry of the Word, which is compared with water (Eph 5:26). The condition of the earth becomes visible through the rain that often falls on it.

The ‘rain’, that means the blessing from heaven, falls on the soul of the confessor in the form of Divine light, the heavenly gift, the Holy Spirit, the good Word of God and the powers of the age to come. In the case of a true Christian the result of this ‘rain’ will be producing fruit for God in bringing praise offerings and the following of the Lord Jesus. In the case of the Christian only in name, the apostate, it appears that the rain doesn’t produce fruit in his life. That’s because the earth contains nothing what could bring fruit: there is no new life, no indwelling Holy Spirit.

Heb 6:8. The nominal Christian never brings forth useful vegetation because the soil is no good. Out of him only thorns and thistles come forth, the results of the fall of man (Gen 3:17-18). That which is in connection with sin is under the curse and will eventually end up in an eternal curse and burning.

Now read Hebrews 6:1-8 again.

Reflection: What similarities and differences are there between the true and the false Christian?