Welcome back to our study of the book of Hebrews, today we’ll be looking at Hebrews 6:1-8, a passage that mainly deals with the dangers and consequences of Spiritual immaturity. We saw in Hebrews 5:11-14 that the writer was warning his readers about their apathy when it came to the things of God. He said that they were still at the stage of an infant when it came to their spiritual growth because they still weren’t acquainted with the elementary principles of the doctrine/teaching about Jesus Christ. In verses 1-8 of chapter 6, he will be telling them and ultimately us about the implications of spiritual immaturity.
Dangers & Consequences Of Spiritual Immaturity
The Passage
Therefore 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, 2 and of instruction about washings,[a] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Notes
- Verse 1-2
Even though they had been saved for a lengthy period of time, they were still learning their ABC’s and couldn’t quite make full sentences yet, that’s the analogy. In verse 1, he is telling them that now that he has exposed what their problem is, he is exhorting them to grow in their walk. And this growth is characterized by a departure from the foundational pieces about the doctrine of Christ, provided they are fully understood. And he proceeds to define what those pieces are. Let’s look at those elementary principles in detail. The first one is repentance from dead works. According to the writer, as a seasoned believer, one should know that salvation begins by acknowledging one’s sins before God ( confessing our sins before God, recognizing how ugly they are in His sight). It’s one thing to feel remorse for one’s sins but another thing to ask God for strength to no longer indulge in those dead works. And dead works are the fruits of the flesh( things we did when we were being led by the sinful nature). We can go to Galatians 5 to see a list of those dead works. The next foundational element is faith toward God. As a seasoned believer, one should know that without faith in God it is impossible to please God. These two elements ( repentance and faith) are both gifts of God because it is God who grants us repentance, and it is also God who works in us both to will and act according to His good purpose ( Acts 11:18). Repentance and faith go hand in hand. First we must acknowledge our sins and change our minds ( this is granted by God who convicts us), next we put our trust in Christ. So the writer says that a seasoned believer should know this ABC.
The next set of foundational elements are washings/baptisms and the laying on of hands. These have to do with the person’s relationship with the local assembly of believers. After a person became saved ( repented and put their trust in Jesus), the next step was to publicly declare to the everybody else that they identified with Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection. The baptism was a declaration of a new life under the authority of Christ. The old man was dead with his dead works, the sins were washed away. Being immersed in water itself doesn’t wash away sins, but the blood of Christ washes away sins. 1 Peter 3:20-21
The laying on of hands symbolized the sharing of some blessing or the setting apart of a person for ministry. Once again, for the season believer, these second sets of ABC’s should be understood.
The last foundational elements were the resurrection from the dead and eternal judgement. So the writer was telling his readers that they needed to move on to maturity by leaving these foundational pieces behind. The idea here is that they should have been at this point acquainted with these elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ. And it was time move on to maturity. But he makes a very interesting remark in verse 3 and I purposely singled that out to make a point.
- Verse 3
The writer says, this we will do, if God permits. The question is, we will do what? We will move on to maturity , we will leave the elementary teachings about Christ behind. But one thing the writer communicates is that moving on to maturity and spiritual growth are a work of God through His Holy Spirit. It is God who enables us to grow in our walk, it is God who gives the green light to anyone as to when to move on to maturity or not. It isn’t the work of man, but only God who carries us through our walk. He knows when and how to stretch us to maturity.
- Verses 4-6
Before we tackle these verses, we need to recall what was going on with these Jewish believers. They were being persecuted because of their faith in Christ and were tempted to go back to Judaism and the old ways. The writer since the beginning of his letter had been giving proofs after proofs about the superiority of Jesus over the laws and the prophets. To understand verses 4-6, I wanted to see if there was remotely anything close to this in any other scriptures, because scriptures are harmonious, and I believe the parable of the sower will give us plenty of insight to correctly interpret verses 4 through 6. Let’s go to Mark 4:5-6 and Mark 4:16-17
The rocky ground’s main problem in the parable of the sower was the lack of root ( foundation). The people referred to in the parable as being rocky ground had no roots and only endured for a while, but when times of persecution and tribulation came because of the Word, they immediately fell away. This is the thought that is being conveyed in Verses 4-6. The writer just mentioned the importance of having a strong foundation, being spiritually mature. Because they were still in the stage of an infant in Christ, the people he was addressing were tempted to return to Judaism as a result of the persecution. And the parable of the sower shows the dangers of spiritual immaturity. Now let’s tackle verses 4-6
The writer is telling his readers that there is a reason for his warning to them about remaining spiritually immature. He is saying that those that have once professed to be believers and have enjoyed to some extent some of the benefits of being believers, if they fall away ( if they shrink back and turn away from the faith they once professed), there is no way to bring them back to repent again, because in their current state, they are basically crucifying Jesus again submitting him to open shame and hurting themselves. In the case of his hearers, because of immaturity they might have been tempted to go back to the Judaism. Basically forsaking the perfect for the imperfect, going back to the old system under which their sins couldn’t be atoned for, because under the old system, we saw that sins were only covered and not blotted out. So the writer is telling his readers that spiritual immaturity isn’t without consequences, it can as we saw in the parable of the sower leads someone who once professed to be a follower of Christ to turn away from the faith because of persecution. And in that state, that person cannot be restored to repentance because they are rejecting the very thing that is supposed to save them.
- Verses 7-8
In these verses, the writer gives his readers another illustration to make his previous point clear. The spiritually immature believer in his state is likened to a land that though watered by rain produces thorns and thistles instead of useful crops. That land according to the reader is near to being cursed by God and its produce will be burned ( the thorns and thistles will be burned, they will not be kept).A field proves its worth by bearing useful crops, and a true believer is authenticated by his Spiritual progress, bearing fruits for the glory of God.
Have you been a believer in Christ for a long season ?Where do you fall? Are you acquainted with the basic principles of the doctrine of Christ? Are you ashamed to stand for the Truth ? Do you make excuses for why you don’t want to speak the word of God boldly? Do you identify with Christ even if it means you will be going against the crowd? Do you use terms like I’m a private Christian?
Your answers to this question will inform where you stand when it comes to spiritual maturity.
PS: I started Tayibs.com for the sole purpose of exploring difficult questions about the Christian faith that most of us shy away from. All the content generated on this website is thoroughly analyzed prior to being shared. And the site is run solely by myself, your generous support is very much appreciated
My name is Tayib Salami and I started Tayibs.com for the sole purpose of exploring difficult questions about the Christian faith that most of us shy away from. In 2017, I entered a very dark time in my life and it’s only by the grace of the Living God that I’m still alive today. It led me to really go deeper in my faith and consider a myriad of questions that I never thought about asking myself or others before. Welcome and enjoy the ride with me.