Dr. Paul Manuel--2021

Text:

Heb 6:1 Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

Heb 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Outline:

I. Embrace maturity, which is redeeming (vv. 1-3).

A. Profess the right doctrine.

1. Faith in God

2. Raising the dead

B. Practice the right deeds.

1. Instruction about baptisms

2. Laying on hands[1]

Application: Every Christian possesses at least one spiritual gift, which he must exercise “for the common good” (1 Cor 12:7),

II. Eschew apostacy, which is condemning (vv. 4-6).

A. Do not reject the Holy Spirit.

1. The believer’s contact with God is secure.

2. The believer’s connection to God is certain.

B. Do not fall away from Christ.

1. The believer’s fate without God is lonely.

2. The believer’s future apart from God is condemning.

Application: God lays out two options for man, two ways he can conduct his life, only one of which ends well (Matt 7:13-14).

Introduction: Sometimes the solution to a problem is not really a solution at all but only creates a bigger problem.

Jeff’s teen-age daughter had just received her learner’s permit and was eager to drive the car. She got in the driver’s side, adjusted her seat and shoulder belt. After glancing at all the mirrors, she turned to her father with a puzzled look and complained, “I can’t see myself in any of these!”

Sometimes the solution to a problem is not really a solution at all but only creates a bigger problem. Adjusting what you think mirrors should reflect does not necessarily make for greater safety, just as adjusting what you think salvation should require does not necessarily accord with God’s requirements for salvation.

Background: Some biblical passages deal exclusively with historical events while other passages are more theological. The text for the message this morning treats the particularly difficult issue of eternal security—Is a person once saved always saved, or can a person lose his salvation? Does Heb 6:1-6 answer that question?

The author is writing to Jewish believers, extolling the virtue of Jesus’ sacrifice and reminding them about its benefits, as well as counseling them to make wise choices as they grow in Christ.

I. Embrace maturity, which is a redeeming (vv. 1-3).

Heb 6:1 Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[2] and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

A. Profess the right doctrine.

1. Faith in God

This is the most basic doctrine, the one tenant that unites all children of God regardless of denomination. Both Jews and Christians in every age hold this belief in common (Manuel 2007). They may differ on the details, but both agree on this central tenant: It is necessary to believe in God, to have a relationship with Him and reap the benefits that relationship brings.

One of God’s great abilities is counteracting the inexorable trend of what every human being must face: the eventual end of his existence, which God reverses by…

2. Raising the dead

This is something God has been doing for centuries, as numerous examples in scripture illustrate:

a. He raised the widow of Zerephath’s son

He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing…. [Elijah] cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. (1 Kgs 17:17, 21-22)

b. He raised the Shunammite woman’s son

The boy sat on [his mother’s] lap until noon, and then he died…. Elisha…stretched out upon him…. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. (2 Kgs 4:20, 35)

c. He raised an unidentified Israelite man

Elisha died and was buried…. Once while some Israelites were burying a man…they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. (2 Kgs 13:20-21)

d. He raised the widow of Nain’s son

As [Jesus] approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out…. He went up and touched the coffin…. The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. (Luke 7:12, 14-15)

e. He raised the daughter of Jairus

Someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. …[Jesus] took her by the hand and said, “My child, get up!” Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. (Luke 8:49, 54-55)

f. He raised a good friend of Jesus

He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.” ….Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out. (John 1114, 43-44)

These were all preludes to the main event of raising His own son, but there was even more to come:

g. He raised numerous saints in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection

The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. (Matt 27:52)

h. He raised a woman at Joppa

Dorcas had made [clothing for the saints] while she was still with them…. Turning toward the dead woman, [Peter] said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. (Acts 9:39-40)

i. He raised a man at Troas

Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. ¹⁰ Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” (Acts 20:9-10)

These are all examples of God’s raising people from the dead, only to be culminated by His raising all saints when Jesus returns to reign and when “each one [will] receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad” (2 Cor 5:10). In light of this future, it behooves you to…

B. Practice the right deeds.

Baptism and laying on hands were not Christian innovations. Both were common practices in Judaism long before the followers of Jesus used them. In fact, they were already common Jewish practices when Jesus’ followers observed them, as their mention in this book written to Jews illustrates.

1. Instruction about baptisms

Baptism has always been a means of ceremonial ablution in Judaism (Manuel 2014) and only later became a mark of initiation into the church as many Christians now practice it. Baptism was never a means of salvation as Catholics interpret it. Even today in the absence of a temple baptism retains its ceremonial function, although to a lessor extent than when God’s house still occupied a central place among God’s people (and will again in the Messianic Age).

Reference to “baptisms” (plural) affirms that this function as ablution has always had application to human and non-human use.[3] Baptism retains its broad application in Judaism, in the ceremonial washing of hands and utensils before a meal,[4] for cleansing menstruating women, and in the addition of new converts.

2. Laying on hands[5]

Laying on hands is also a practice from ancient Judaism that continues today, primarily in ordination to the rabbinate (smikhah).

Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD instructed through Moses. (Num 27:22-23)

Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses. (Deut 34:9)

Laying on hands was and is also part of commissioning, blessing, and healing:

[Moses] laid his hands on [Joshua] and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed. (Num 27:23)

When [Jesus] had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. (Luke 24:50)

[Jairus requested Jesus’ help] “Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” (Mark 5:23)

Laying on hands was a common practice in early Judaism and remains so today. A special use of laying on hands in the NT was to accompany the impartation of the Holy Spirit, although transmission is not automatic, as Simon discovered:

Peter and John placed their hands on [believers in Samaria], and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.” (Acts 8:17-22)

This early impartation was perhaps the only example of the Spirit’s being refused. Nevertheless, this incident illustrates that the Spirit is not a commodity man can summon as he sees fit. The Holy Spirit is an autonomous member of the godhead able to make decisions on his own volition, which he does (see the Pneumatology unit in Manuel 2013b).

Application: There is a belief among some Charismatic Christians that possessing the Holy Spirit is the domain of only a select few, and that they will manifest his presence through the gift of tongues (glossalalia). There are few NT passages that support that idea:

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:4)

When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues. (Acts 19:6)

There are other passages, however, especially in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian church which deal extensively with this gift and that indicate tongues is not ubiquitous:[6]

To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. ⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues. (12:7-10)

Among the most important gifts tongues is not prominent.

In the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues. (12:28)

He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues. (14:5)

In fact, contrary to what some assume, not everyone possesses the same gift:

Do all have gifts of healing? [The implied answer is “No.”] Do all speak in tongues? [Again, the implied answer is “No.”] Do all interpret? [Yet again, the implied answer is “No.”] (12:30)

Paul indicates his preference, noting that the gift of tongues has severe limitations:

He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues. If I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? (14:5-6)

If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. (14:14)

In the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. (14:19)

He also states the intended audience for tongues:

Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? (14:22-23)

All in all, the gift of tongues has restrictions that do not make it appropriate for all believers. Every Christian possesses at least one spiritual gift, and it is not necessarily tongues, but one he must exercise “for the common good” (12:7), and he must “excel in gifts that build up the church” (14:12). In other words, you ultimately determine how effective your gift is for the body of Christ.

You must embrace maturity, which is redeeming. But you must also…

II. Eschew apostacy, which is condemning (vv. 4-6).

Heb 6:4 It is impossible[7] for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

A. Do not reject the Holy Spirit.

1. Contact with God is secure.

The Biblical author states that it is impossible to reject one’s salvation for a person who has experienced its perks, by then pursuing his own interests instead of God’s interests.[8] But apostacy is not merely a theoretical problem. “What…would be the point of warning them of the dangers of apostacy and then assuring them that, after all, they are in no danger of falling into apostacy” (Hughes 1977:212)?[9] The difficulty in such a case is not with God’s ability to secure that man’s position but with man’s willingness to remain with God’s program. Barring his willful departure from God, the redeemed person’s position with God is secure:

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. (John 10:29)

No one can remove the believer from God’s care, not even the devil. The man himself, however, can step away from God and proceed on his own. Their relationship is purely voluntary (as it is with the devil, Manuel 2000). Even a person who makes a commitment to God is sometimes unwilling to cede the ultimate control of his life. Rather, he insists on going his own way instead of God’s way. That man’s behavior is bad; it is as if he expects Jesus to experience the cross again, “subjecting him to public disgrace” (v. 6).

Nevertheless, there was a limit to Jesus’ sacrifice, not in its efficacy but in its frequency:

The death he died, he died to sin once for all. (Rom 6:10)

Christ died for sins once for all. (1 Pet 3:18)

This same phrase, “once for all,” the author of Hebrews uses several times in his letter:

[Jesus] sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. (7:27)

He entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. (9:12)

He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (9:26)

We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (10:10)

This infrequency sets Jesus’ sacrifice apart from those of the Aaronic priesthood, whose clergy had to “offer sacrifices day after day” (7:27).

One of the perks of receiving God’s pardon is also to receive God’s indwelling Spirit, a privilege the psalmist fears might be temporary. Hence, he expresses concern that God not renege by removing it:

Do not…take your Holy Spirit from me. (Ps 5:11)

This fear of abandonment is not groundless for one who has rejected God. By removing himself from the realm of God’s care, a man is on his own, without the benefit of God’s guidance and protection, both of which the Holy Spirit provides. To be without these perks is not an enviable position.

Rejecting God’s Spirit is only part of the problem for these apostates;[10] they also reject God’s Son and the pardon he brings. So, the writer warns his readers…

B. Do not fall away from Christ.

1. The believer’s fate without God is lonely.

Knowing and serving Jesus is the closest you will ever get to God, so do not allow anything or anyone to come between you. Unfortunately, these apostates have done just that. They have let something turn their attention and devotion from the one they should be serving, focusing instead on something else, most often themselves. As a result, they are by themselves.

2. The believer’s future apart from God is condemning.

Although no one is truly self-sufficient, a person can try to live as if he is. James warns about the folly of any decision to be separate from God:

Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. (Jms 4:4)

There are only two sides to any argument or situation. Do not allow anyone muddy the waters by suggesting there are more. There is, however, only one right side and, thus, only one proper response.

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. (Matt 6:24)

The challenge is to choose the right side, because:

Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness. (2 Tim 2:19)

If you choose the wrong side, the consequences will be dire:

Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit () will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matt 12:31-32)

You will not “be brought back to repentance” (v. 6), and you will be lost forever.

The topic the author begins to treat in chapter six he raises again in chapter ten, where he gives the final destiny for the recalcitrant, and it is not good:

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?[11] For we know Him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” [Deut 32:35][12] and again, “The Lord will judge His people.” [Deut 32:36] It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. (Heb 10:26-31)

…as all men will one day. Thankfully, he will not treat all men the same. Some men He will welcome into glory.

The individual who rejects God’s most generous offer of salvation has nowhere to turn.[13] “The sinner should not regard the judgment of God calmly” (Morris 1981:108). No one else can provide escape from certain and eternal damnation. By his sinful behavior, a man has insulted both the Son and the Spirit.

Application: God lays out two options for man, two ends for how he conducts his life:

Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some [the righteous] to everlasting life, others [the unrighteous] to shame and everlasting contempt. (Dan 12:2)

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt 7:13-14)

This was a limited choice God set before man in the very beginning, and it continues to challenge and restrict him today:

You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die. (Gen 2:17)

No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. (Luke 16:1

Man must choose between these two options while he can, for “man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Heb 9:27). There will come a time for everyone when deciding is no longer possible (i.e., postmortem), when the matter is in someone else’s hands, and man can only accept his fate. So, let him “speak now or forever hold [his] peace.” As Paul writes, “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2).

Apparently, it is not true, as some assume, that a simple profession of faith guarantees a person’s eternally secure fate (Manuel 2013a). God also expects a consistent life of obedience to Him.

Conclusion: Can a person early in life turn to God receiving His offer of salvation, then later in life turn from God rejecting that same offer of salvation? According to these passages, he can, thereby losing his previously held right standing with God and altering the trajectory of his life as well as his final destination, from heaven to hell.

The author of Hebrews describes two pathways for those who claim to be Christian, only one of which ends well. The choice is between “Maturity versus Apostacy,” and the decision one makes now will determine his permanent status later, whether eternally with God or apart from God.

Bibliography

Delitzsch, Franz

1978 A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Reprint ed. 2 vols. Translated by Thomas L. Kingsbury. Limited Classical Reprint Library (current series). Minneapolis: Klock & Klock Christian Publishers.

Hughes, Philip Edgcumbe

1977 A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Manuel, Paul http://paulwmanuel.blogspot.com

2000 “Does the Devil Really Make You Do It?” Angelology Excursus 6 in A Reader’s Digest Approach to Theology.

2007 “An Equal-Accessibility Deity.” Soteriology Excursus 3 in A Reader’s Digest Approach to Theology.

2013a “Can a person lose his salvation?” An excerpt from the Soteriology unit of A Reader’s Digest Approach to Theology.

2013b A Reader’s Digest Approach to Theology.

2014 Ablution in Biblical and Extra-Biblical Sources.

Morris, Leon

1981 “Hebrews.” The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 12. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House.

[1]In the NT, laying of hands usually associates with ordination and/or receiving the Spirit:

Acts 6:6 They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

Acts 8:17 Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. 18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 …“Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 9:17 [Ananias] said, “Jesus…has sent me so that you may…be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 13:3 After they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Acts 19:6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them.

Acts 28:8 Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.

1 Tim 4:14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you…when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

1 Tim 5:22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, and do not share in the sins of others.

2 Tim 1:6 Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

[2]These are “works that have not their source or motive power in a life from God, and are consequently destitute of any true worth before Him. They have no power to act for good on the world without, nor to react for good on the doer himself, and are therefore fruitless: they bear no abiding fruit in the kingdom of God” (Delitzsch 1978 1:270-271).

[3]Baptism retains remnants of its non-human use in the christening of ships to invoke divine blessing, although that practice may have pagan origins.

[4]The ceremonial washing of hands was common in Jesus’ day:

Matt 15:2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”

Matt 15:20 These are what make a man ‘unclean’; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’”

Mark 7:1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and ² saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed. ³ (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

Even pagans practiced it, albeit to signify non-culpability:

Matt 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

[5]In the NT, laying of hands usually associates with ordination and/or receiving the Spirit: