Hebrews 6:1-3: The Principles of the Doctrine of Christ
2022-11-18
Hebrews 6:1
Previously, we saw how the Hebrews still needed to have the basics of the faith explained to them. That discussion continues here.
They had heard the “principles of the doctrine of Christ” many times. It is good to remember these fundamentals, but there are more things to learn, and there is much to build on these basics. The apostle said, “let us go on unto perfection.” Remember that “perfection” also carries the connotation of completion. They should be more complete on their understanding of the Faith and not fumbling over the fundamentals.
Paul did not want to lay again the foundational material again. He them enumerated examples of these foundations:
Repentance from dead works: Repentance means a change of mind. The Hebrews once did works, but these works were from their own fleshly resources. They were “dead works.” They were done to fulfill the law, but these works were to find acceptance with the Lord. “Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:5). “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
The phrase “dead works” shows up later in the epistle: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14). The opposite of dead works is service to God. Service to God cannot happen without the purging of conscience from these dead works.
Therefore, sin is more comprehensive than just doing evil. It is also doing “good” without the Lord. Sin is the position and nature of every son born to Adam.
Faith toward God: Notice that the repentance is twofold: From dead works to God. Turning to God is done in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is trusting in Christ. You are not partially trusting in your own works to be saved; you fully trust that Christ has saved you from sin, Satan, and hell. His blood procured your pardon. You were on death row, but the Judge pardoned you because Christ took the penalty for you. He bore the wrath of God for your sin. Being the Son of God, He could not stay dead. He rose again.
Faith rests on facts. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). There is evidence that whom we trust is trustworthy. We are convinced of the death and resurrection of Christ by the Spirit, convicting us of sin, and causing faith because of the incorruptible seed of the Word of God planted within us.
Hebrews 6:2
Doctrine of Baptisms: There is a lot to say about baptism. There is water baptism, but there is also the baptism that Jesus gives us. This latter baptism is the one that saves, not the water baptism, which is a picture of the heavenly reality. He associated and identified us with Himself. More discussion here.
Laying on of hands: The laying on of hands implies a transaction from the Lord to us. Consider the discussion here. After we are saved and He baptized us into Himself, God gave us power to live the Christian life. This is done through the Holy Spirit. A person may never lay his hands on you, but the Lord did, and gave you power to live the Christian life.
Resurrection of the dead: This is a literal resurrection of the dead. Christ literally rose from the dead nearly 2,000 years ago. Consider Luke 24:36-43. Jesus intentionally showed the disciples His physical body once He rose from the dead. They saw the holes in His hands and feet. Elsewhere, Thomas touched His physical body: His hands, feet, and side.
We were risen with Him in the spiritual sense with Him at that time. “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:5-7). We have the position and nature of resurrection in Him, with our life source from Him. “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
We will rise again physically at His coming. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection” (Romans 6:5). “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
The resurrection is therefore in two parts. We were risen with Christ in the past; it is a done deal. This was the spiritual aspect. But our physical resurrection remains to be seen; it will happen in the future.
Eternal judgment: As we have discussed before (see the discussion we had in 1 Timothy 6:13), there are three waves of resurrection: Christ the firstfruits, the resurrection of the righteous at the judgment seat of Christ, and the resurrection of the unjust at the great white throne. I believe this is speaking mainly of the resurrection of the just because all the previous fundamentals speak of believers.
Every believer will stand before judgment seat of Christ. After Christ returns, He condemns Satan to the bottomless pit for 1,000 years. Then the saved are judged, and presumably rewarded. There we also give an account to God: “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10-12).
There is a reckoning there that takes place “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). Though rewards are given, it is a scary time (“terror of the Lord”). Many will receive no reward at all (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).
Some of this reward comes in the form of ruling over others in the coming kingdom: “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father” (Revelation 2:26-27). Those who do not deny the Lord to avoid persecution are rewarded: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us” (2 Timothy 2:12). This is affirmed again here: “And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities” (Luke 19:17).
Here is the summary of these foundational principles. Notice there is a progression of these principles. We were sinners condemned in “dead works,” we trusted Christ and therefore turned from dead works to God, we were baptized into Christ and identified with Him, we received power from on high from the Lord, we can now walk in the resurrection life and look forward to our physical resurrection, and then we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ on His throne. These are the foundations of the faith.
From here, we are “not laying again the foundation” completely, as if we moved on to bigger and better things. Everything else builds on these fundamentals. They apply these basic truths. We have moved on past the fundamentals of arithmetic when we study trigonometry and calculus, but those subjects definitely utilize those fundamentals! Dr. Seuss precedes Shakespeare, but those simple words of the former appear in the latter.
Hebrews 6:3
What will they do if God permits? Move on past the fundamentals. Why only if God permits? Because He will lead based on the readiness of the hearers of the teaching. There is much further teaching in this epistle, but who knows if their instruction stopped after this epistle because they were not ready?
We cannot receive what we are not ready to receive. We can’t jump on the trigonometry when we are still working on the multiplication tables. God will promote us to the next level in His time, when we are ready.