The Letter to the Hebrews
Strengthen Your Foundation
Hebrews 6:1-9
Let’s turn to Hebrews 6. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we will bring one to you. Hebrews 6 is on page 1003 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Last week we saw that this letter was written to believers who had started off with passionate, joyful faith in Christ. And in ch.10 the author gives us an illustration of this. Some of their members had been arrested and thrown in prison for being followers of Christ. But that raised a problem.
Back then if someone went to prison, he would only eat if people brought him food. But if these believers brought food to their fellow-believers in prison, they themselves would be identified as believers – and could lose their jobs, and have their property stolen, since the government let people persecute Christians.
So what did they do? They took food to their brothers and sisters, identified themselves as Christians, and were full of joy even when their property was plundered – because they knew they had an better possession and an abiding one in Christ.
So they started off with passionate, joyful faith in Christ. But this letter shows that something terrible had happened to many of them. Ch.2 vs.1 says some were drifting from the faith. And ch.3 v.12 says some were on the brink of falling away from Christ.
What could cause someone to move from passionate, joyful faith in Christ – to being on the brink of falling away? Last week we saw the answer in Hebrews 5:11-14. What happened was that over the years they became dull of hearing.
They still heard the word of God. They still read the Bible regularly and listened to sermons. But their hearing was dull. It was not earnest. So their problem was that they were dull of hearing.
So – what should they do? The author tells them in this week’s passage – let’s start with v.1 – which sounds puzzling --
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity…
That’s puzzling, isn’t it. It sounds like maturity means moving away from the doctrine of Christ. But that can’t be what this verse means, because it goes against everything else in this book --
Like 2:1 – “pay much closer attention to what we have heard [about Christ]”
And 3:1 – “therefore, holy brothers, consider Jesus”
And 12:1 – “look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith”
So what does he mean when he calls us to leave the elementary doctrine of Christ? I think it becomes more clear as we keep reading – start at the beginning of v.1 again --
1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
The author is saying that when you first become a Christian, you lay a foundation. And here he lists things that are part of that foundation –
Repentance from dead works – which means you sincerely turn from sin; you turn from those other things you trusted to satisfy you
Faith toward God – you turn from those other things and trust God in Christ to forgive, change, direct, and satisfy you
Instructions about washings – washings is the word baptism, so this means teaching about water-baptism where you go public with your turning from sin to God through Jesus
The laying on of hands – this is where when you are saved you can have people lay hands on you and pray for God to pour His Spirit upon you
The resurrection of the dead – this is the foundational hope that because you are repenting and trusting Christ that he will raise you from the dead
And eternal judgment – this motivates the whole thing – you are turning from everything else to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior, Lord, and Treasure – so you will avoid eternal judgment.
So when you first become a Christian, you lay a foundation of repentance from sin and of faith in God. You hear the milk of the word – not with dull hearing – but with earnestness. You hear that there is a God. That he created you to find your heart-satisfaction in knowing him, beholding him, worshiping him. That you have turned your back on him and sinned by seeking your satisfaction in other puny tiny joys – and so you face his judgment forever.
But you also hear that he sent Christ to die on the Cross so you could be forgiven, changed, and filled with the joy of knowing Him. And so because you heard this milk earnestly you laid a foundation of repentance and faith. You turned from everything else to trust Jesus Christ alone as your Savior, your Lord, your Treasure.
And once that foundation is laid – you leave that foundation in the sense that you build on it. That’s what I think he means by “leaving the elementary doctrine of Christ.” He means we build on it. The fact that we have laid a foundation of repentance and faith doesn’t mean we never repent again – we repent every day. But it means that we have genuinely turned from everything else to trust Christ as our Lord, Savior, and Treasure.
That’s how it’s supposed to work. But some of them had something wrong. So what was the problem? You could think the problem was that their foundation was fine but they needed to build on it to maturity.
But that does not fit what we saw in ch.5:12 – they needed to hear the basics over again; they needed to hear the milk. So I don’t think their foundation was fine.
So what was the problem? Notice that he says “don’t lay this foundation again.” Think about that. If you have to lay a foundation again – then something was wrong with your foundation. Let’s say you pour a cement foundation. Now if you have to do that again then something was wrong with your foundation. Maybe you did not put enough cement in the foundation. Or maybe there was not enough rebar in the foundation.
So some of them had a problem with their foundation – and that’s why they were not moving ahead to maturity. And that might be true of some of us. Is there a problem with your foundation – which is why you are not moving on to maturity?
Maybe you don’t have the cement of faith – you are not trusting that Christ really can forgive you – or that He really can change you – or that He really will guide you – or that He really is your all-satisfying Treasure.
Or maybe you don’t have the rebar of repentance. Maybe you never turned from sexual sin, or love of money, or self-righteousness. Not that this means being perfect – but it means that in your heart you are turning from these things and saying – Jesus I turn from everything else to you to be my all-satisfying Treasure.
If you don’t have the cement of faith, or the rebar of repentance, your foundation will crumble. So stop re-laying a weak foundation. Lay a strong foundation. See Jesus Christ as your Savior, Lord, and Treasure. And turn your heart from everything else – and trust Him to forgive you, change you, direct, and satisfy you.
And then with that foundation in place, go on to maturity – continue to repent over sin, to grow in faith, to hear God’s Word with earnestness, to love Jesus, forgive your enemies, serve your spouse, teach your kids, work hard at your job, and advance the Gospel.
And why is this so urgent? The author tells us in vv.3-6 – and it’s sobering --
3 And this we will do if God permits.
What does that mean? It means that because of our sin nature, we cannot repent whenever we want to. We can only repent if God permits us to.
Some of them were maybe saying – I’m definitely going to fully repent and trust Christ, after make enough money, or after one more trip with the guys to Vegas, or after I have this fling with someone at work.
But he wants them to understand that they need God’s power to enable them to repent – and if they continue in sin God might withdraw his power so they are never again able to repent. That’s the point of vv.4-6 --
4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
Here’s the point. God is slow to anger. And abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, so much so that he delivered up his own Son to suffer for our sins on the Cross. God is amazingly loving.
But God is also just. And because he loves us so much – he gives us this warning. Namely – repent right now. Don’t put it off. Because if you put it off, if you continue in sin without repentance, then you are in danger of crucifying once again the Son of God and holding him up to contempt.
What does that mean? It’s like seeing Jesus in agony on the Cross for hours, and then dying. But we want that fling with someone at work. So we say – “Jesus, can I nail you to the Cross one more time? Can I crucify you once again to pay for this sin?” If we do that – then we are saying Jesus’ suffering means nothing to us. We are holding him up to contempt.
And if we do that – we can come to the point where God says – no more grace. Which means you would never be able to repent.
And why would that be so serious? Look at vv.7-8 –
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Verse 7 talks about land that drinks the rain and produces a useful crop – that’s a picture of someone who hears God’s Word not with dullness – but with earnestness. And so he has a foundation of repentance and faith and brings forth a crop of maturity, love for others, forgiving others, fighting against sin, repenting when stumbling, sharing the Gospel. And as a result he receives a blessing from God.
But verse 8 talks about land that drinks the rain but bears thorns and thistles – that’s a picture of someone who hears God’s Word with dullness – no earnestness. And so he has no foundation of repentance and faith and doesn’t bear a useful crop but just the thorns and thistles of bitterness, greed, prayerlessness, lust, harshness.
And notice that this land is near to being cursed by God – which means being punished by God forever. So these people are near to being cursed. Which means that if nothing changes, if they don’t fully repent, then they will end up being burned, which means facing God’s judgment forever.
Now don’t misunderstand. The reason God had the author write vv.7-8 is because He loves us so much. He loves you. And if you don’t have a foundation of true repentance and faith – He wants you shake you up and wake you up so that you will see how eternity is at stake. Because this morning He is calling you to lay a true foundation of repentance and faith.
But now this raises another question –
Can this judgment happen to someone who has been saved? You could think so. After all, doesn’t v.4 describe saved people – people who have been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the Holy Spirit, tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come? Doesn’t that describe salvation?
And if so, doesn’t that mean saved people can reach a point where God lifts His grace from them so they won’t repent which means they will face God’s judgment forever?
The answer is NO, because of what the author says in v.9 --
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things -- things that belong to salvation.
Think about this. In vv.4-6 he describes a group of people. But then he says – but we are convinced of better things about you – things that belong to salvation. So the people of vv.4-6 didn’t have salvation.
So this judgment cannot happen to someone who has been saved. When God saves you he changes your heart so you truly repent and trust Christ – you have a rock-solid foundation. And he will keep you repenting and trusting Christ all the way to the end, not sinlessly, but persistently.
So these people in vv.4-6 were not saved.
But then why does the author say they were enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, and so forth? It’s to help us understand that you can have these and not be genuinely saved.
- You can be enlightened – know lots of Bible knowledge – but not be genuinely saved.
- You can taste the heavenly gift – have felt the quickening of the Spirit, the conviction of the Spirit – but not be genuinely saved.
- You can taste the goodness of the word of God – have heard it from your parents or from preachers or from friends – but not be genuinely saved.
- You can taste the powers of the age to come –Matt 7:22 says you can prophesy and cast out demons and do mighty works in Jesus’ name – but not be genuinely saved.
So then the final question we have to ask is – How can I know I am genuinely saved?
By turning to Jesus Christ as you are – and trusting Him. Turn from your sin. That doesn’t mean become perfect. But it means you turn from it and want to be rid of it. And then you trust Jesus to forgive you, change you, and to satisfy you.
As you do that, you can be fully assured that you are saved – that your foundation is solid, that God’s grace is at work in your life, and that God will never take His grace from you.
So let’s do that as we celebrate Communion this morning. Let’s turn from everything else and trust Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord, and all-satisfying Treasure.