Hebrews 5:11-6:3 "A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 1"

Hebrews 5:11-6:3

"A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 1"

This VERY challenging passage casts a clear a loud warning against those who fail to grow and develop in their faith.  In the context, this warning is about stopping at the point of Judaism.  The references to immature faith all point to shared teachings between Judaism and Christianity.  Don’t stay in that incomplete faith.  Enter the faith of Christ!  Otherwise, once having heard of Christ and turned away, back to Judaism, you will not find salvation. This message focuses only on the "First Barrel" directed at those in the room, the immature believer. Next time, we will focus on the other warning in vs 4-8.

1. 6:4-6 are often lifted out of context and used as proof-texts for a doctrine of apostasy.  
1. This is a sermon.  Context matters. Thoughts flow.
2. The phrase “You are a Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek” in 5:10 and again at the end of Ch 6 form parenthesis in the thought.  This whole section is one idea.
3. It begins with statements of their immaturity and inability to leave elementary doctrines shared by Christianity and Judaism,
4. Moves to warnings that such people, who have heard the truth of Christ but turned away from it, are not saved,
5. Then concludes with a long and strong encouragement to remain confident in the salvation that the believing Hebrews do have.
6. More space is given to the assurance of salvation in this passage than on the impossibility of a particular group to be saved, but we focus on the impossibility and forget about the context.
2. A statement about Systematizing theology:
1. Systems are good, because they allow you to quickly evaluate ideas against the system and judge them as valid or not.
2. Systems are good because they allow us to build consistent theologies by which to live our lives.  
3. Systems are dangerous when we come to a passage that seems not to fit.  We can’t decide before hand that the passage cannot mean what it clearly means.
4. We must not let the voice of the system be louder than the voice of the text.  
5. We must be okay with mystery.  
6. We must make room in our theologies for the carefully exposited meaning of every text.  
3. Note the pronouns in this passage.
1. Vs 11-1:  Us, we, you.  Clearly those in the room hearing the sermon.
2. 6:4-8: Those, they, a sense that these people are not in the room.
3. 6:9-20:  Us, we, you.  Back to inclusion.
4. Harder to see in English, but the verb tenses also change.  
1. 5:11-6:1 are mostly in the perfect tense.
2. 6:2-6:6 are all Aorist verbs
3. 6:9-6:20 are back to mostly perfect or present tenses.
5. There is a grammatical basis for setting the warning passage in 6:3-8 outside the present audience and in a different temporal sense.
6. C.f. Parable of the soils in Matt 13
1. Not every seed which springs up goes to maturity.  
2. Is the springing up salvation?  No.  
3. Salvation bears itself out into maturity and fruitfulness (Rom 8:30; eph 2:8-10)
4. Those who do not mature to fruitfulness are not saved (Jas 2:14-26; 1Jn 2:28-3:10)
5. Those who just hear and receive but then do not mature “die” in the parable.  Death is not eternal life.
7. 5:11-6:4 deals with immaturity in those who are attending church.  
8. 5:11 Immaturity limits what can be learned/Taught
1. The comparison of Jesus and Melchizedek is detailed and hard to comprehend, and the preacher isn’t sure that everyone will receive it.  
2. He does eventually get to it in Ch 7.
3. The audience has “become hard of hearing.”
1. Perfect tense.  A past event with ongoing consequences.
2. “Lazy of hearing.”
3. Difference between hearing and paying attention.
4. “He who has ears to hear”
9. 5:12 Immaturity limits what the body can do
1. It has been long enough that the audience ought to be mature, but they aren’t.
2. Arrested development.  Adolescence, but worse.
3. “Basic principles of the Oracles of God.”
1. These will be listed in 6:1-2.
2. Not “Christian” principles, but truths shared with Judaism and Christianity.
3. These Hebrew believers are still in the room (us, you, we), but are not passing through to the teachings of Christ.  These are curious Jews who are not maturing in Christ because they are still hanging on to the common ground.
10. 5:13:Immaturity limits what people understand the word to mean (from purpose of parables)
1. They need the basic teachings again and are “unskilled in the word of righteousness,”  the gospel.
2. They are spiritually children, unlearned, and not advancing.  
3. Milk and meat is a common Pauline analogy.  
11. 5:14
1. Solid food for the mature Teleion, Those who have reached the end.  
1. Even the young believer who puts their faith in christ is, in a sense, already mature (Rom 8:30; Col 1:3-6; 2:10) although it will still be worked out in time (Phil 1:6)
2. Men conduct experiments which may fail; God works out his declared plan, perfect and final from eternity past (Eph 1:11; 3:10-11)
3. Those who are sitting in church for years and are still not Christians are needing the gospel again and again.  Those who have embraced Christ in truth are in one day, ready for meat.
2. Conscience trained by constant use. The Holy Spirit constantly teaches us His will (John 16:8).  As we mature, we will learn His ways through the experience of His constant leadership as well as through His word.
12. Ch 6:1-4 The list of “elementary doctrines”
1. Not a list of explicitly Christian doctrines, shared doctrines with Judaism.
2. These “immature” believers are still Jews, but are interested in finding out about Jesus as Messiah or they are afraid of committing because of persecution at the time.
3. G: “The Beginnings of the Christ words”  
4. 3 sets of 2. Joined by “and.” No articles. The head of the list is “The Beginnings”
1. Repentance from dead works and faith toward God.
1. Works that lead to death (Ex 31:14, etc.)
2. Resting in faith (Gen 15:6; Hab 2:4)
2. Instructions about washings and the laying on of hands.
1. Washings, G: Baptismoi, plural, not Baptismos, sing.  In the NT Plural is always a reference to the OT Mikvah, not believer’s baptism.  Baptized once!
2. Laying on of hands for ordination (Lev 8) and Blessing (Gen 48:14; Lev 9)
3. The resurrection of the dead and judgment to come.
1. Resurrection: Job 19:25-26; Isa 26:19
2. Judgment to come: (Ex 34)
5. The problem is that these “baby” believers were still dabbling on the fence on the mid-ground and not committing to Jesus for real.