Hebrews 6:9-20: A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 3

A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 3

Hebrews 6:9-20

To my international friends: It is such a blessing to see these sermon notes and videos go out around the world each week.  God honors his word.  It's not my work or delivery.  It certainly isn't the polish and production.  There is none.  His word is effective and powerful.  Thank you to all of you checking in all around the globe.  I pray for you blindly, not knowing anything about you except for the electronic signature you leave behind having seen this blog.  If you'd like to leave a comment for me with some way of contacting you, I'd love to pray for you specifically. 

After warning those inside and those outside the church that only in persevering in the faith and bearing fruit can you find salvation, he now turns his intention from warning to encouraging.  This, most tender section of Hebrews, follows arguably the strongest section of warning.  It’s the “I love you” after the spanking. The reassurance after discipline. The video is below, and my notes follow.

1. 6:9
1. Although we speak in this way, yet in your case… persuaded.
1. Persuaded (Πεπείσμεθα) implies that a prior objection has been overcome, and now they are firmly attached to this conclusion.  
2. The speaker has been convinced by many proofs to the validity of what he says.
2. Beloved.  ἀγαπητός agapētos The most tender of addresses, lit “those upon whom the love of God has been set.”   Used 60 times in NT. First 9 times by Father of Christ. Only here in Hebrews.
3. Better things, things belonging to salvation.  This serves as the head to all that follows through verse 12.  
1. Belonging to… lit to attach oneself to.  
2. These things have become who you are since your salvation.
2. 6:10-12 The characteristics of a saved life.
1. God will not overlook the evidence of a saved life.  
1. The only assurance you have that you are being saved is the fruit in your life.  
2. This is also what God looks for as an external sign of what He is accomplishing internally.
2. Work and service
1. Works don’t save, but saved people work.
2. This is a very common word that can mean any accomplished work or action, but here, as many other places, it refers to good deeds done in accordance with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
1. Matt 5:16
2. Matt 11:2
3. Eph 2:10
3. Similar useage by Paul in Eph 4:12ff
4. Ongoing.  They were working before, and they still on.  The life of service never stops.
3. Love for his name
1. Love is the principal characteristic of a Christian’s life
1. 1 Cor 13:13
2. Gal 5:22
3. John 13:1; 15:13
2. “In his name” ἐνδείκνυμι endeiknymi This verb, awkward in English, means literally to show as part of yourself, to demonstrate a characteristic of oneself.  
1. Love is a fundamental aspect of God’s nature.
2. We show that we belong to him when we also show that characteristic as part of our nature (Jn 13:35)
4. Assurance of hope
1. Hope, not in a worldly sense.  For a Christian, hope is the expectation that what God has declared over our lives will come to be, since, from His perspective, it is already accomplished (Rom 4:21; 8:29-30)
2. However, even with this perspective, it is hard, in our own minds, to be confident in what we cannot yet see (Heb 11:1; Rom 8:24)
3. So it is the desire of the preacher that we don’t begin to doubt our salvation.  
4. πληροφορία plērophoria  
1. Col 2:2
2. 1 Thes 1:5
3. Heb 10:22 ← significant that the only other use of this word in Hebrews is also associated with a strong warning section of this sermon.  The preacher gives strong assurance both times he shakes us up.  The believer is not meant to be shaken.  The unconverted are meant to be given a clear picture of their condition before a Holy God.
5. This confidence is not only for some super-Christians but for “each one of you” who believe.
5. Not be sluggish
1. Same verb as in vs 11 “lazy hearers.”
2. Lit “might become not lazy.”  You have become lazy (5:11).  Now become not lazy!
3. Again, saved Christians work.
6. Imitators of those…
1. Christians are in community and under authority.
2. Not self-styled, setting our own standards and expectations.  The scriptures give us our standards in Christ (Phil 3:12-14) and examples to follow (Ch 11).
3. Danger of the emergent church. There needs to be leadership, discipline, accountability, and solid teaching.
7. Faith is the main ingredient in the formula for salvation
1. Required to begin the journey of the Christian life (Rom 10:9-10; Eph 2:8-9; John 3:16)
2. Required to continue in a life that pleases the Father (Heb 11:6)
3. This will be the main focus of the last portion of this sermon.
8. Patience, μακροθυμία makrothymia lit “Large-souled.” You have the ability in your character to endure for a long time without giving into violent emotions, despair, anger, or wrath.  
1. Used in only one work outside of scripture before the LXX to describe victims of a siege turning over all the stones in their city to look for every edible thing (roots, bugs, etc) in order to survive long enough to break the siege.  Also, in the same work, it describes sailors on a ship that sank a long-distance offshore swimming for days to get to land.  
2. Used in LXX many times to reflect the attribute of God that he puts up with much sin before he brings his final judgement (Ex. 34:6-7).  Long-suffering.
3. Used in the NT in the same way (Rom 9:22)
4. Usually an attribute of God.  Only attributed to men rarely. Here only in Hebrews.
9. Inherit the promises,
1. Present participle.  Rather, “Are inheriting the promises.”
2. We are all in process.  The promises will not be fulfilled in their fullness for us until we are in glory and the heavens and earth are recreated.
3. 6:13-18 Oaths of Men and God
1. Vs 16: Oaths of men
1. Less confident than the oaths of men, yet even these are sufficient for settling disputes.
2. Examples in scripture: Ex 22:10-11; Rom 1:9
2. The Promises of God:
1. Example of the oath to Abraham
1. First promise: Gen 12:1-3
2. Formal oath ceremony Gen 15.
1. The covenant is unilateral.  Abraham is put to sleep and only witnesses God make the covenant with him.  
2. Nothing about Abraham affects the efficacy of this covenant.
3. God swears by Himself in Gen 22:15-18.
1. Man swear by something greater (The temple, the altar, etc)
2. Told to swear by the name of the Lord (Deut 6:13; 10:20; Isa 19:18)
3. There is nothing higher by which to swear, so God swears by himself in Gen 22:16 (and Psalm 110:4).
2. Two things by which the promise is sure:
1. His original purpose/promise in Gen 12:1-3.  God cannot lie.
2. The self-witnessed oath in Gen 22:16
3. Connection to us and our salvation?
1. Not replacement theology.
2. The preacher is saying that if the Old covenant were that secure, surely the new covenant by His Son is more so.
4. Summation (6:18-20)
1. We who have fled for refuge καταφεύγω katapheugō
1. An intensified version of the verb “to flee.”
2. “For refuge” is implied from context and other usages in ancient literature.
2. God sacrificed bulls and goats to enact the old covenant.  He slew his Son to enact ours.  How much more confident can we be?
3. To where do we flee?  To the Holy of Holies!
1. Jesus has gone behind the veil as a forerunner.
1. Without precedent in scripture.
2. Never any expectation that “normal” people would enter the Holy of Holies
3. God is intimate with His people in being:
1. Initially, in their midst physically (Gen 3:8-9)
2. Among them in his temple/tabernacle (Ps63:1-11; Zeph 3:17; John 1:9)
3. Able to hear them (Isa 65:24; Jer 33:3)
4. Constantly thinking of them (Isa 49:15)
5. Aware of their troubles (Ps 23; 139)
6. Concerned with their future (Jer 29:11; Isa 55:1-6)
7. Yet far off (Jer 31:3; Ps 42:1-2; Isa 6:5)
2. High priest once a year with fear and trepidation (Lev 16).
3. We go continuously with courage and peace (4:16).
4. Even greater than if he had gone to intercede in the Earthly Holy of Holies, Jesus has gone into the real Holy of Holies and is seated at the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; 7:55-56; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; 1Pe 3:22; Rev 3:21)
4. Key verse (19).  Hope as an anchor for the soul.
1. Need for an anchor.  Life is full of storms:
1. James 1:6
2. Disciples in the boat Matt 8:23-27
3. Maturity in Christ brings stability. Eph 4:11-16
2. Sure: ἀσφαλής asphalēs a-negating sphales-to fail.
1. Unfailing.
2. In the NT 5 times.  Translations:
1. Facts (Acts 21:34)
2. Real, actual (Acts 22:30)
3. Definite (Acts 25:26)
4. Safeguard (Phil 3:1)
5. Here in Hebrews, Sure.
3. Is there any time when you feel that your actions have failed God and you, therefore, have no reason to hope?  You’re wrong.
4. Have there been times when you feel that God has forsaken you and you, therefore, have no reason to hope?  You’re wrong.
5. Jesus will never fail you. Neither should your hope in Him.
3. Stedfast: βέβαιος bebaios Bedrock, foundational, at the bottom of things.
1. Used 9 times in the NT
1. Guarantee (Rom 4:16)
2. Unshaken (2 Cor 1:7)
3. Reliable (Heb 2:2)
4. Firm (Heb 3:6, 14)
5. Certain (2Pe 1:10)
6. Confirmed (2Pe 1:19)
2. This is the “at bottom” thing in our life.  It, above all else, is worth of our unreserved trust.  Jesus loves you, has done everything to merit your salvation, and WILL follow through on what He has promised you. On this, you can rest, set your anchor, build your life, and return to when the storms of life try to toss you around.

Hebrews 6:4-8. A Double-Barrel of Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 2

Hebrews 6:4-8

A Double-Barrel Warning and a Boatload of Hope, Part 2

After warning those in the church to grow up in Christ, the preacher speaks a strong word against those who have left it and gone back to Judaism.  This passage, in its immediate context, does not readily apply to 21st-century American gentile Christians, but the warning holds in principle.  If you don’t commit to Christ and persevere, you are not saved. If you worship in another faith, you are not saved. It is impossible to find repentance anywhere other than in the cross of Christ. The video of our study is below, and the notes follow.

1. Difficulty of interpretation:

“And I will frankly confess to you I don't understand what it means. I'm sorry. I cannot give to you some glorious revelation that I have and this is what the text is saying.”  Chuck Smith study guide to Hebrews 5 and 6

2. Review of the context.
1. Jewish messianic congregation where several people had left the church to return to Temple or Synagogue worship.
2. Several calls not to harden your heart but to take hold of the gospel and make it your own (3:12ff)
3. He had just warned those who have sprung up in the faith but are not bearing fruit that they need to mature.
3. Separation and unity with preceding warning.
1. The pronouns change (review)
2. The tenses change.  
1. Before vs 3, perfect and present tenses.
2. After verse 7, perfect and present tenses
3. Verses 4 are adjectival aorist participles (supporting phrases that describe brief moments in time as a description of a dominant phrase.)
3. However, the presence of “For” as a connecting word keeps us from cutting completely free of the rest of the passage in its meaning.
4. This warning is the “second barrel” of the preacher’s shotgun in this section, and it is not aimed at those in the room.  Those who are the target of this had a brief encounter with body life and the community of believers, but they are no longer a part of it. The warning, however, to those who still attend in their immaturity is linked.  Take heed lest you immature become dead as well.
4. Review of the parable of the soils.  There are more who spring up (respond to a call) than are saved (persist in the faith to the end, bearing fruit).  You won’t be able to tell early on which shoots are saved and which are not.
5. Interpret difficult scriptures in light of clearer ones. Let’s get some boundaries to our interpretation.
1. James 5:19-20.  Matt 18:15.  Gal 6;1.  Those who are truly saved and fall away can come back, and we are to pursue doing so.
2. Matt 19:23-26. When it comes to salvation, it is always impossible for mankind, but nothing is impossible for God.  
3. John 6:39; John 17:6, 12; 2Tim 1:12.  It is Jesus who guards the salvation of those who are truly saved. It is not underwritten by their righteousness but by His faithfulness, and because of this, no saved person will be lost
4. Psalm 41:9; John 6:70, 13:18; 2Tim 4:10.  1Jn 2:19 It is possible for those in long time association with the church and with  ministry (even with Jesus and Paul) to leave their work and their association with the church.  Those who leave demonstrate that they were never really a part of it.   
6. Grammatical analysis of 6:4-6.  
1. The main verb is “to restore.”  All other verbal phrases are adjectival aorist prepositions and describe why it is “impossible to restore.”
1. This inflection focuses on a short temporary status.  “Punctiliar action.”  
2. Other uses of “tasted” apply to Christ’s experience of death (Heb 2:9).  It was a very real experience, but temporary.  He was resurrected. He is no longer dead.
3. The verbal change from the surrounding passage is significant.  Present and perfect verbal inflections still bear out in the present time.  They are ongoing. These actions were once true, but no longer are.
2. The second half of vs 6 is an explanatory phrase, also supporting why it is “impossible to restore.”
3. Impossible
1. Emphatic position.  This is the main point.
2. Occurs 4 times in Hebrews, and always seems to imply something that cannot be done.  Can’t soften the meaning to “hard” or “difficult.”
4. Literal translation: “Impossible it is for one who has been illuminated, has tasted of the heavenly bounty, having shared in the Holy Spirit and having tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the coming age, and having fallen away, again to restore them to repentance, since they crucify again the Son of God and hold Him in contempt.”
7. 6:4
1. “Enlightened,” or “illuminated” does not mean “saved.” It is a prelude to salvation.  We must be enlightened so that we can understand what the offer of the gospel is (Eph 1:18).  It is impossible for those who are not enlightened to understand, but the understanding is not synonymous with salvation.
2. “Tasted the Heavenly gift” is a short-term, momentary encounter with the gospel.  Reminiscent of the “springing up” in the parable of the soils.  It doesn’t last. They haven’t placed their whole faith and trust in Christ.  “Try Jesus.”
3. “Shared in the Holy Spirit” If the verbal tense were not what it is, this would imply that the Holy Spirit has become your “partner,” but the “partnership” was momentary and punctiliar. This is a short-lived association.
8. 6:5
1. “Tasted the goodness of the Word God” Same verb and inflection as above.  Short-term association. They have not poured over the scriptures, they’ve read a few passages and then moved on.
2. “And the powers of the world to come” same verb as the above phrase.  They have heard about the second coming of Christ and judgment and have dismissed the warning.
9. 6:6
1. “and have fallen away” is in the same tense.  This was a discrete moment in time.  An event, not a gradual slide.  
2. “restore them to repentance”
1. cf. 2Cor 4:13-16 The power of God and presence of the Spirit in our lives are constantly “renewing” us.  Same words.  The reason these people cannot be restored or renewed is because the Spirit is not there with the Power of God in His word to effect this renewal in the unbelieving.
2. 2Pe 2:21 Those who hear and reject are “worse off” because of their hardened hearts than those who never have heard (Rom 2:12-16)
3. 1John 5:16 The “sin that leads to death” is the rejection of the work of Jesus, saying “no” to the offer of the gospel.
4. Matt 12:31-32 Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the rejection of His work.  Same as above.
5. Crucifying again the son.  As a Jew, to step outside of the church of Jesus Christ and back into Judaism, you wold be adding your voice to the crowd which called for His execution and spit on him on the cross.
3. Historical help:  
1. During the time when this sermon was preached, the followers of Jesus were being persecuted, but the Jews were not.  This caused many jews to hesitate about joining “the way.”  
2. Also, starting in the early 60’s AD, the Sadducees began “evangelizing” Christians and inviting them back into Judaism overtly.  They simply had to come to Temple and participate in a sacrifice.
3. This would constitute a moment of apostasy where they rejected the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice.  
10. 6:7-8 Vineyard parable
1. Parallel to Isa 5. God has done all the work to save us.  Those who reject Him will suffer terrible consequences.
2. Obvious exceptions to “irresistible grace”
3. The Rain which falls on the field is the constant presentation of the word of God and the call to repentance which was present in the community to which they belonged.
4. Those who mature (a warning applicable to those inside and outside the church) and bear fruit will be blessed.  
5. Those who bear evil fruit, will be judged.  Gen 3:17 Thorns and Thistles.
6. “close to” and “in the end”  The judgment is coming, but we still get to live out our days in the common grace of God in this life.

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.