Hebrews Chapter 6 Verses 1 – 3

• Hebrews Chapters 1 through 5 have walked us through some pretty deep stuff, right? Heavenly discussions, an analysis of angels, expositions of the Old Testament, lessons on the world to come and eternal illustrations such as the office of the high priest being unlocked not only in the hearts and minds of the readers, but simply in the Person of Jesus Christ! (Boss level!) And for the most part, it’s been pretty clear, especially for us. Well compared to what we’re about to tread toward…those things, elementary. We’ve been looking at addition and subtraction, and now the writer says, “Get ready for a little Quantum Mechanics.”

• I had one class in Grad School that whipped me up and down, left and right. All other courses, I could come to class, do my work, pay attention, complete my assignments and projects and papers, and walk away with an “A.” But this class presented mathematics turned on its ear. The first test, (there were only two), everyone failed. It was like mass panic. Half the class dropped. I went to the teacher.
• Do you know what I learned? Something I’d never done before, never considered before, never even heard…he said to me, “These calculations are so intricate and difficult not only to do but to understand enough of the mechanics to even set them up…if you don’t get ahead of me, if you don’t teach yourself first, no lecture, no in class exercise will ever help you.” I was stunned. “So what you’re saying is, “do the homework for the class before even coming to the class…?” He looked at me with a nerdy glimmer in his eye. “Why do you think I handed out all of the homework assignments on the first day of class….”
• I really didn’t like him. J “Why not just tell us that from the get-go Peabody!” I thought to myself…and I tell you what, today I certainly would say that…but at the time I was just a kid…so I walked out…and guess what…I started to do my homework at least a class ahead. So that when I went to class and was lectured on the mechanics, I already had a working knowledge of what I was doing and everything clicked. I ended with the highest grade in that class…an “A-.” That class actually blew my 4.0 since an “A-“ is a 3.8. I graduated Grad school with a 3.95 GPA.
• But you know what, that’s just like what we deal with in corporate Bible studies. The foundations of doctrine, the milk, we can handle that without too much effort. But to ace the class that most fail…that will take some pressing in and pressing ahead on your own. And if you’ve done that, my take on this, Hebrews 6 is a walk in the park.
• Why? Because we have not only done our diligence to understand context together in the past weeks but we’ve also done our homework ahead of time and so as we tread into the next few verses and discuss their meaning, what they’re saying practically. Let’s start with what we know they are not saying…

Hebrews Chapter 6 Verses 4 – 6

• There are many takes on this set of scripture especially when one consults the great prophet Google but out of all the ideas, three main positions emerge. The first that we’ll cover, I simply reject based on doctrine. The Bible cannot say one thing in one place and then the exact opposite in another. This is where we will start. With what we KNOW the passage is NOT saying. The second one I have problems with and the third one we’ll cover is what I believe is the correct interpretation of this passage.
• There are some that say this is black and white, easy peasy, “folks are losing their salvation.” Remember though, this is not easy peasy, this is not addition and subtraction, this is Quantum Mechanics…so you cannot read this, conclude and walk away. This must be carefully considered. First, we have done our homework. We cannot deny in the dark what we know to be true in the light. In other words, when confusion sets in and things are hard to understand, you never abandon what has already been proven…what has been studied and what has been made known.
• I cannot accept that this passage is about losing your salvation or walking away from your salvation or being saved and then becoming unsaved or being born again and then being un-born again…Why? Because biblical doctrine is clear and comprehensive…if you are saved then you have assurance of that salvation. 1 Thessalonians 1:5 actually says that the assurance of salvation, the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, is the power of the gospel! How are we to walk in the power of salvation if it is something held securely by our own perfection…no one would be saved!
• I have discovered 23 scriptural passages that speak to the security of salvation. 23! Here we have 1 that has a possible interpretation to the opposite. Weighing the evidence alone, just pure weight, we can throw out this idea that Hebrews 6 is going Maverick…(Tower this is Ghost Rider requesting a flyby. Negative, Ghost Rider, the scriptures are clear! HA) This scripture isn’t going rogue against a stack of other scriptures! Let me give you just a few…

• 2 Corinthians 1:21-21, “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”

• 2 Corinthians 5:5, “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing (speaking of eternal life) is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.”

• Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance..”

• Isaiah 43:13, “Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”

• John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”

• 1 Timothy 4:8, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness (doing your homework and then mixing the word with faith) is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.”

• Ok so that is Isaiah, John, Paul, Jesus…anyone else? Titus 3:7, “Having been justified by His grace we become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Heirs! Un-son your son. Un-heir him? Can’t happen! He is your son whether you kick him out or not. If he is the last living relative, he’s getting your car!

• Anyone else? How about Moses? Let’s invite Noah to the party. Genesis 7:16, “So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in…” The Lord seals. The Lord guarantees. The Lord promises. The Lord commands, works, holds in His hand and the Lord sustains.

• That’s only 8 scriptures. I have 15 more! Almost twice over more that provide and reveal the same awesome truth. That salvation is a work of God, through the sufficient blood of His Son Jesus Christ and is wholly sustained through Him as evidenced by His indwelling Holy Spirit and with that, FRUIT! And with that, good days, bad days, sad days, happy days, we can rejoice in that He has worked and the reversal? Impractical, in accessible, inconceivable! (in my best Princess Bride voice!)
• Now what about run-aways? Folks have said and brilliant Bible scholars teach that God won’t force anyone into eternity and so can’t people walk away? Leave their salvation behind? That is a misapplication of that principal.

• True! God will not force Himself upon anyone…that would violate the laws of love and relationship…but God has even made this clear and made provision for this question in His Word. 1 John 2:18-19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”

• And so is Hebrews 6 contradicting the entirety of God’s Word? Absolutely not. The interpretation that one can lose their salvation or walk away from their salvation when reading these verses must be rejected. And so we move forward.
• The second thought that is quite popular is that these folks were never saved in the first place. That’s how they can “fall away.” I mean we just read that in 1 John, didn’t we? Here’s my problem with that…the writer uses words like “enlightened,” “partakers,” and “tasted.” In the preceding points of this book we read that Jesus “tasted death for everyone.” Chapter 2 verse 9. Does that mean that Jesus just sampled death or did He actually die…right, of course, He actually died…and so I don’t think we are thinking about non-believers here…in fact I think we are talking about believers…and so I have problems with the second mainstream (if you will) perspective.
• I believe the writer is staying true to context here. Jewish believers falling back into religious works and continual sacrifices for some sort of further forgiveness and repetitive restoration with God and the writer is delivering the message, what’s the point? How can you who are brand new, new creation continually, be renewed? FUTILE! Brand new needs not be renewed! You have been enlightened, you have tasted the heavenly gift, you have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, you have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come so quit wasting time and walk in that!
• What does religion lead to? Rebellion! Can completely saved Christians, born again and alive everlasting, can they fall away? Yes! Does that mean they lost their salvation? No! That means they fall man and then what remains for them to be renewed? Nothing but consequence and guilt in my opinion. A Christian falls away and goes back into some heinous sin and is miserable after the pleasure passes and then what? Carnage! You ever see those old movies of the battle fields after a battle? Tragic and littered with trash and with broken equipment and dead bodies…
• What’s left? You cannot be saved twice. You’re already saved and so before you were so set free when you realized that Jesus had taken all of your sin and you walked in that and you worshipped in that and yet now there’s so much more sin that you’ve committed…what’s left? You cannot crucify again for yourself the Son of God, you cannot offer the blood of bulls and goats…all that is left is to face what has happened and again receive the grace of God…which when that is really received, will drive us to our knees in pure worship.
• At the conclusion of the matter, this word renew holds the key for us…repentance is a gift and it is something we will do continually until we are free of this flesh. Not over the same specific sins because through Jesus we can be delivered from each as they come…but simply because we remain imperfect and remain sinners…this word renew is only used once in the entire Bible. It is an odd thought. A peculiar idea. And it can be translated “renovate.”
• This is what the Jews had always done. This is what religion seeks to do. To go into sins house and clean it up, move the furniture around. Replace the broken lamps and wipe the dust off of the furnishings. Religion seeks to renovate sin. And renovation never brings about true repentance. To the Jews and to us this morning who have received the Holy Spirit and man we know it…it is impossible to walk in sin…and then think we’re just going to renovate again unto repentance. We must walk in the grace of God. Receive the fact that He secures us even when we deny Him, He forebears with us…and that will drive us to tears in His goodness…
• Renovation of sin…Christians can be caught in the fall. Not away from salvation but away from what God has for us. God is not in to renovation, He is in to redemption and release and reward.

Hebrews Chapter 6 Verses 7 – 8

• Can you burn out and resemble even the cursed as a Christian? Absolutely…but God’s heart is that you would receive blessing…by doing your homework…by cultivating that fruit that He has placed in you and upon you…His love…