Don't let anyone tell you differently; Hebrews 6 is a challenging chapter. The writer is both brutally honest in his exhortation and tenderly nurturing in his encouragement.
On an administrative note, I am finding the benefit of having an outline theme that is made up of more than one word. At first I tried hard to find a 13 letter word that somehow fit the theme of Hebrews (one letter for each chapter). Then I finally settled on 'SON IS SUPERIOR' as my theme because the letters added up to 13 and I could better capture the theme. And while I did a 'pre-study' over the entire book of Hebrews (for a brief description of the pre-study, find the entry for "2 John" in May of 2008 in the archive) I did not go through and determine outline titles for each chapter to see if SON IS SUPERIOR would work. So, now that I am on Hebrews 6 (what would be the 's' of superior) I feel led to change the last word. (I checked with the powers-that-be and determined that this is ok to do :) What I realized I should have done is work harder to find a combination of words whose letters add up to 13 but without duplicating any letters. With the existing outline I would have had 3 's', 2 'o', and 2 'r'. I just happened upon a book that attributed the main theme of Hebrews to be Christ as the Mediator. So here we are. I'm changing (at least for now :) the outline theme from SON IS SUPERIOR to SON IS MEDIATOR. I still have 2 Ss and Os, but I learned my lesson.
So, the 'M' of Mediator is up for Hebrews 6. The outline themes for the two main sections are:
- Maturity and apostasy (1)
- Made a promise to Abraham (13)
- Maturity and apostasy
Hebrews 6:11Therefore 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, - Made a promise to Abraham
Hebrews 6:1313For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,
The first section, Maturity and apostasy, covers verses 1 through 12 and deals with two main topics; the maturity level of the readers and a warning about apostasy. The writer challenges the readers to move on from the basic teaching and understanding of their walk with God. For some reason it seems that these believers were falling back into the 'dead works' of their previous life in Judaism. And while the resurrection from the dead and the end times are important doctrines, perhaps some placed an unnecessarily high or errant focus on them.
Then comes one of the most difficult passages I have ever had to wrestle with; Hebrews 6:4-6. I will spare you the meandering process I went through in my notes and give my summary. I believe that true faith endures. I also believe (and have seen) that believers can 'back-slide'; an interesting word, though not my favorite, used to describe the sinful decisions and patterns of a born-again Christ-follower. But this passage doesn't seem to focus on the ever-present sinful acts of committed Christ-followers (for no human can become sinless, even if they sin less). There is a more serious issue in mind. For those who participate in the life of the church and have the experience and knowledge of Christ but then fall away, there are grave consequences. This 'falling away' is not the 'losing of eternal life'. One of God's children cannot simply lose the fulfillment of God's promise to them. This view can paralyze people in fear and paranoia; 'if I mess up, I might not get into heaven'. This falling away seems to be a defection from the faith and a rejection of the Gospel. For those who have been enlightened by the Gospel, who have tasted the heavenly gift, shared in the experience of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the goodness and power of God but reject Him, the writer makes it clear that it is impossible to restore them. They become as the ones who rejected and crucified Christ in their own contempt.
The other side of this is that our Father earnestly desires all to 'reach repentance' (2 Pet 3:9) and there is no way for me to know who is beyond restoration. So, not knowing (in certainty) who has been born-again and who has not, we still must obey the Lord and attempt to bring them to repentance and restoration (Matt 18:15-20, Gal 6:1, James 5:19-20).
The writer follows this up with a metaphor and then encouragement. Seemingly having John 15 and Luke 8 in mind, the writer draws an agricultural connection; 'look at the fruit'! And then, as if to head off any unnecessary paranoia amongst the readers, the writer assures them that he sees in them the 'better things of salvation' (9).
This little passage (10-12) offers what could be another little sub-theme in Heb 6. In fact, I wonder if I need to reconfigure the outline to include the idea of true hope. In essence, it seems the writer is saying 'be careful what you think about God! He is not looking for any reason to throw you out! He has given you a promise, and on that promise you can place the fullness of your hope.' This theme serves as a perfect segue into the second section.
If at all possible, I try to include the exact wording of a verse in the thematic outline (which makes the memorizing easier). So, needing an 'm' for the title, I call this section 'Made a promise to Abraham'. The writer recounts God's covenant to Abraham and assures us of its validity. Since God could not swear on anyone higher than Himself (as was the custom when making a covenant between individuals), He swore by Himself. This promise is one-sided and not made between equal parties. God 'desired to show more convincingly...the unchangeable character of His purpose', and so made the covenant by Himself. Since, according to His own character, it is impossible for Him to lie and He is unchanging, we can have 'strong encouragement' and hold tightly to His promise; we have true hope!
This hope is as sure as an anchor that is set securely in the presence of God (beyond the curtain). Jesus is then pictured as a forerunner on our behalf. In ancient times, the forerunner was a boat that carried the anchor of a larger ship into the harbor and dropped it. If the sea was too dangerous for the ship to enter the harbor, placing its anchor inside the safe harbor provided hope and assurance of staying put. Jesus, as our perfectly qualified High Priest, is able to mediate the promise of God by anchoring our eternity with Him in heaven.
How does this affect my worship?
I praise the Lord that while there is still mystery about some of His Word and working, we can put our absolute hope and trust in Him because of His unchanging and just character. Praise God that I can know that I have eternal life. Praise Him that I am anchored within His presence. Praise Jesus that He continues to intercede for me in the presence of the Father. And thank You for restoring my soul and guiding me to walk with others You are restoring.
How does this affect my discipleship?
The walk of the Christ-follower is long and layered. In following the guildlines in Gal 6:1, we have a command to watch out for each other and to help restore each other after being found in transgression. The difference between someone caught in transgression and someone wrought with apostasy may not be immediately obvious. So, we must continue in our walk with God and His training of our 'powers of discernment'. If we are submitted to His process in our own lives, and if we are committed to His command to disciple other lives, He will shine through us with great mercy and grace as we live and work within the body of Christ.
May you walk in steadfast hope with the Father,
Ethan
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