Hebrews Chapter Six, Elementary Lessons

 

Hebrews 6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

 

Therefore, in context with the passage, indicates the writer’s interest in pressing past the comparison between solid food and milk. Having made his point that solid food belongs to the mature or to those who exercise Biblical discernment, he wants to lead his readership onward. He moves away from the elementary principles of Christ to perfection. In the New Testament the term “perfection” is often (but not always) synonymous with “maturity.”

Back in Hebrews 5:12 he referred to these teachings (the elementary principles) as the “first principles.” The Jewish Christians needed to be retaught the oracles of God, and the most rudimentary truths at that. After explaining the difference between spiritual infancy and maturity, as well as maturity’s necessity in a believer’s life, he wants to move beyond elementary lessons.

 

The foundation, or first of these first principles, is, “repentance from dead works.” James struck a similar tone when contrasting faith that lacked works. “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead,” James 2:17. The writer of Hebrews focuses his lens on works performed in lieu of faith, whereas James focuses on a sterile, intellectual faith professors have, but never exercise. The issues described in our verse may stem from zeal divorced from knowledge, as Paul explained in Romans 10:2, 3. When we do not understand God’s requirement for effective service we substitute our own variation, based upon our own evaluation. The works then performed are offered to the wrong person. Works are not for God, or directed at God. God doesn‘t need our work. He requires us to believe in Him who justifies the ungodly. If you perform religious works in ANY way to attain or retain God’s favor as though paying an installment plan for Paradise, you work in vain. This qualifies as “dead works,” because they are not done in faith, or for the right reason.

 

Later in Hebrews the author writes, “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:14. Christ paid with His own blood to sanctify us, to cleanse our conscience, the seat of our moral government, from the burden of work’s endless obligation. Think of it this way. Many times salvation is preceded by the adjectives “eternal” or “everlasting” in the New Testament. How long must one work then to pay off something that is eternal? The answer is forever; you would never be able to stop working in an effort to attain, by virtue of its very nature, what you are seeking to earn. The life Christ gives is eternal and priceless; which is why it is given as a gift or not received at all. Instead, eternal separation is the alternative, because the nature of life following this brief one on earth lacks cessation. We insult Christ our Lord by implying or claiming that we can in total or in part, or in any way, merit eternal life. This life is in Christ and He dispenses it to whom He will by indwelling that person through His Spirit. When the Holy Spirit indwells and seals us we have life, because God Himself has made His abode in us, and this happens only through the vehicle of faith.

 

The dead works the author references hearken back to Judaism and the temple sacrifices that could ceremonially cleanse, but never make those who approached perfect. That was why the sacrifices never stopped, and had Christ our Lord not come, they would go on forever anticipating the Coming One who would do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The issue lies in a fundamental misunderstanding of what works constitute, which is why the writer scolds these Christians for needing to relearn the first principles of Christ. Returning briefly to James we see Abraham and Rahab held up as examples of works fitting congruently into the life of faith. Works demonstrate a living faith, not the dead one James condemns as demonic, James 2:19. Works do not merit or confer grace: rather, they manifest faith and through them the saint witnesses to men and angels that they believe in the Savior God. That is why Abraham was justified in the sight of men; and it was from a human perspective that James 2:14-26 is written, see James 2:18. Elsewhere Paul very clearly writes that Abraham was not justified by God through works, but through faith, Romans 4:2-5.

 

Opposed to dead works, the writer also will later touch upon “good works,” Hebrews 10:24. How do the two compare in terms of purpose? We read: “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” Since we’ll touch on this verse again I will only briefly expound it. First, we are told to consider one another, in other words, fellow Christians. We know this because the next verse tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves, Hebrews 10:25. Why consider each other? In order, or for the purpose of, stirring up love (first and most importantly) and good works, love’s byproduct. We know from John that love is not, “in word and tongue, but in deed and truth,” 1 John 3:18. James shares that viewpoint, which is why he impressed the necessity of faith engaging real life for fear that professing faith is intellectual assent rather than transformative power. Love is the motivator for good works. Yes, we do good works out of a love for God, but these works are not FOR God. They are for “one another,” Hebrews 10:24.

 

We learn the same lesson in Titus. Paul writes, “To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled,” Titus 1:15. Note the similarity in language when we read Hebrews 9:14 again? Christ’s blood cleanses our conscience from dead works, a thing produced by, “those who are defiled and unbelieving.” Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 dealt with this exchanges of unbelief/disobedience verses faith/obedience thoroughly. Dead works come from the mind of one who has rejected God’s revealed will and substituted their own, again Romans 10:2, 3. Later in Titus Paul explains, “those who have believed in God (past tense) should be careful to maintain (present tense) good works. These things are good and profitable to men,” Titus 3:8. Christianity is a selfless faith. Works performed are NEVER for our personal gain. Works done to earn salvation are not selfless, but entirely selfish and therefore disqualified. Salvation is not an installment plan or a job you earn wages at to continue employment. Good works reverence the royal law, “love your neighbor as yourself,” James 2:8, Leviticus 19:18. Dead works reject Christ’s atonement and seek to contribute or replace it with human effort, insulting the Spirit of grace.

 

To repent from dead works means simply to change your mind about it. The Jewish Christians, awash in their Judaist upbringing, needed to change their view of the position works held in our faith, trusting instead in God’s saving power. So we reach the summit of verse 1: “and of faith toward God.” The idea here is redirection. Formerly, before we know Jesus Christ and are saved by Him, our faith is in ourselves, i.e., our works. We trust (a simple definition of faith) in our effort, our goodness, in achieving the results we desire. This is why repentance comes first in this list. We can’t lay hold of what God offers until we let go of what we’re currently clinging to. In this case, we proudly hold up our dead works as an offering to God, only to have them rejected. The very works we offer, these are more reasons why Jesus died in our stead. We repent, or change our mind, and the object of our faith shifts. Now we trust in the living God after releasing dead works. There is no vitality in them; they confer no life and merit no grace. They will make us like them if we refuse to let go. These believers did let go, and now their faith rests in the One who cannot fail, and has already provided for us by the work in which He did. Where our faith resides determines everything about our spiritual life. If we have repented of dead works and turned to God in faith we find peace, comfort, and joy. If we retain said works and mingle them with what Christ offers the sacrifice becomes blemished and is unacceptable. One or the other is the verdict. This is elementary lesson number one.