Hebrews
6:1-8
Steven R. Cook
Prior
to the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross, Jews had been observing the
Mosaic Law with its many rituals and sacrificial system for nearly fourteen
hundred years. Day after day, week after
week, and year after year, the religious Jew anticipated the coming of Christ;
which was reflected in the detailed sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law. If a Jew began observing the Mosaic Law at a
young age, and he lived to be seventy years old, those religious practices
would be heavily ingrained into the deepest fiber of his thinking. However, if Christ came and fulfilled all
that the Mosaic Law pointed to, and put to rest once and for all the
sacrificial practices of that system, it would perhaps be a struggle for the
religious Jew to forever set aside his religious observances.
Many
believing Jews, who formed the first Christian church in the early part of Acts,
had accepted the finished work of Christ and ceased from the sacrificial system
because they realized it had been fulfilled.
However, some were reluctant to give up their practices, either because
they were afraid to move away from what was familiar, or they thought that some
aspects of the Mosaic Law continued into the new age.
The
book of Hebrews is addressed to Jews who were confused about the place of
Christ in their newly developing theology, and subsequently were hindered from
advancing to maturity. The writer of
Hebrews seeks to demonstrate the superiority of Christ over against the now
fulfilled sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law.
In demonstrating the superiority of Christ, the writer of Hebrews hopes
to help his readers overcome any theological obstacles that may be hindering
them, and push them on to maturity.
Overall, the book of Hebrews is “is marked by a unique intermingling of
doctrine and exhortation. The rich theology of the epistle provides the basis
for urging Christians to live in faith and obedience.”1
The
purpose of this paper is to discuss some the preliminary matters related to the
book of Hebrews, such as the date of writing, authorship, audience, social
background, and purpose. Then, Hebrews
6:1-8 will be discussed in detail through exegesis, and consideration of
biblical scholarship.
Historical Context of Hebrews
Establishing
a date for the book of Hebrews rests largely on the content of the book. The author writes as though the Mosaic
sacrificial system was still in practice and this would seem to necessitate the
presence of the
The epistle can hardly be later than about a.d. 95 since it was known to Clement
of Rome and quoted by him in 1 Clement. In addition it can scarcely be dated
after a.d. 70, since there is no
reference to the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Had this event
already occurred, it would have given the author a definitive argument for the
cessation of the Old Testament sacrificial system. Instead he seems to regard
this system as still in operation (8:4, 13; 9:6-9; 10:1-3).2
So, a date no later than A.D. 95,
and probably before A.D. 70 fits best.
The
authorship of Hebrews is completely up in the air; however, educated guesses
abound. A sampling of candidates
includes the Apostle Paul, Barnabas, Apollos, Luke,
and Philip. Whoever the writer was, he
was familiar with the OT, and with the struggles of Jewish Christians. Regarding authorship Merrill C. Tenney states:
The vocabulary and style of Hebrews indicate that its writer
was a cultured Greek, who wrote with elegance and finesse. He was a student of
the Old Testament Scriptures, and at the same time was well acquainted with the
teaching concerning Christ that had already crystallized into a definite
theology. One would think that so able an author would not have been easily
overlooked, and that his name would have been permanently connected with his
production, yet the epistle remains strangely anonymous.3
From
the internal evidence, it would seem the audience was Jewish. The letter is written in such a way that
assumes the audience is very familiar with the OT, and particularly the Mosaic
sacrificial system. It seems “the
readers were chiefly of Jewish background. Though this has sometimes been
questioned, the contents of the epistle argue for it.”4 It would also appear that the readers
were “Jewish converts to the faith of the gospel, probably for the church at
The
social background of Jewish Christians in the first century was awkward. Their identity was perhaps more difficult to
define than their Gentile brothers and sisters.
Many saved Jews could no longer live under the sacrificial system which
their unsaved Jewish contemporaries continued; and at the same time, they
perhaps found it hard break the ties with that which was familiar to them. Merrill C. Tenney
states:
Hebrews, then, was written specifically to encourage a
church that had been torn from its spiritual moorings and cast adrift in the
uncertain political and social life of a chaotic age. Its members could no longer
class themselves as Jews, for the Jewish system of temple worship which was
about to perish offered them no refuge. Their faith in Christ was scorned by
those who adhered to the law as an ethical system, and was ridiculed by the
Gentiles who could discern no possibility of salvation in the crucified
Galilean prophet. These believers were committed by their initial confession to
the inescapable alternative of either renouncing Christ as a delusion or of
reaffirming their original decision by the persistence of faith at the risk of
ostracism and persecution. They were disoriented by the impending collapse of
the Jewish commonwealth, were doctrinally unstable, and were fearful of the
future.6
It
is this instability and vacillation that points to the purpose of the letter of
Hebrews. The writer musters all his
intellectual might and rhetorical skills under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit for the purpose of demonstrating “the superiority of Christ and
Christianity over Judaism.”7 The writer seeks to take his readers
to a fully committed Christian experience that will provide stability and
consistency in their thinking and actions.
The writer argues that nothing less than complete confidence in Christ
and His perfect sacrifice will be able to move the readers on to maturity.
Hebrews 6:1-8
In
the latter part of Hebrews chapter five, the writer addresses his readers
directly with the following rebuke:
Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to
explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you
ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the
elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and
not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed
to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the
mature, who because of practice have their senses
trained to discern good and evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14)8
The
writer makes clear that his readers had “become dull of hearing.” He goes on the state “for though by this time
you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the
elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and
not solid food.” No one likes to be
called a baby, and certainly the recipients of this rebuke would have been
challenged to evaluate themselves. A
rebuke is most effective when followed by instruction; and the writer of
Hebrews takes the opportunity to encourage his readers in order to coax them to
maturity.
Hebrews
6:1 starts with the inferential conjunction dio.
which seeks to move the readers away from the rebuke
and to bring their focus to the matter of advancing to maturity. The inferential conjunction is followed by avfe,ntej which appears to be an adverbial
participle of means, expressing how the readers are to move away from
immaturity. The readers are encouraged
to “leave the elementary teaching about the Christ,” and to “press on to
maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of
faith toward God.” Maturity can only be
obtained by those who already saved; so then, “the people under discussion are
fully initiated Christians.”9
The
writer has a clear objective for his readers, and that is that they might
“press on to maturity.” These Christians
had been saved for a while, and had enough Christian teaching that they could
have been teachers themselves. Yet, for
some reason, they had failed to advance to maturity and to get away from
foundational teaching. Warren Wiersbe
states:
No one can escape coming into the world as a baby because
that is the only way to get here! But it is tragic when a baby fails to mature.
No matter how much parents and grandparents love to hold and cuddle a baby, it
is their great desire that the baby grow up and enjoy
a full life as a mature adult. God has the same desire for His children.10
The
reference to “dead works” could be defined as “the external regulations
associated with the Levitical priesthood in the earthly sanctuary;”11
that is, the sacrificial system of the OT which was abrogated subsequent to the
superior sacrifice of Christ. Faith
toward God had permanently laid to rest any obligation from these Jewish
believers to the OT Levitical sacrificial system. “What, then, is the author of Hebrews saying?
He is refusing to return to basics on the grounds that there is no use in doing
so for people who have been accurately initiated into the Christian faith.”12
It would seem clear that the writer is encouraging this audience “to abandon any adherence they may
still have to the First Testament sacrificial system and to go on to faith in
the New Testament truth.”13
This does not mean the foundational truths are unnecessary, but
that the readers need to get beyond them if they are to advance to
maturity. “When the writer urges his
readers to ‘leave standing’ the elementary Christian teaching,
he is not dismissing it but regarding it as so well established that the urgent
need is for a fuller appreciation and application of that teaching.”14 The
writer wants the reader to move on “to maturity because there is no way to
start over in the Christian life.”15
In
Hebrews 6:2 the writer continues his list of fundamentals which include
“instruction about washings and laying on of hands,
and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.” The noun baptismw/n probably points to the ablutions
practiced by the Levitical Priests in the OT.
Although, the reference to “baptisms” could also refer to the several
baptisms which were now part of the Christian experience (i.e. Believer’s
baptism, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit).
Washings (or Baptisms), the laying on of hands, and the resurrection of
the dead were all teachings (didachv) that had already been communicated. There was no need for the writer to go over
old ground, but rather to move on to other matters.
In
verse three the writer states “and this we will do, if God permits.” He includes himself with the readers by his
use of the future active indicative 1st person plural of poie,w. This lets his readers know they are not alone
in their endeavor to advance to maturity, for the writer counts himself among
them. The writer wants to move his
audience into a more stable place in their thinking and actions, and he is willing
to lead them by the hand if necessary.
Hebrews 6:4-6 is the section of this
pericope that causes great consternation and doubt in the minds of many
believers. This section of Hebrews has
been construed four different ways:
1.
That the Christian is in real danger
of forfeiting his salvation.
2.
That these were not true Christians,
but merely professors of Christ.
3.
That the writer is setting forth a
hypothetical situation, which was to demonstrate the logical fallacy of the readers
aberrant thinking.
4.
That the writer is not talking about
loss of salvation, but loss of reward and service both in time and eternity.16
The
first point is very popular among those who think it possible for the Christian
to forfeit his salvation. The emphasis
is often placed on the writer’s comment in verse 6 about believers who have
“fallen away,” which is linked with verse 8 and the illustration to things
“burned.” “Fallen away” is taken to mean
forfeiture of salvation, and things “burned” is understood as a reference to
the
The
second point regards verses 4-6 as referring to those who merely profess faith
in Christ, without really possessing true salvation. That is, they only nibbled at Christianity
without fully consuming all that is offered to the one who comes in full
faith. That these are not Christians
mentioned in Hebrews 6:4-6 is held by Charles Hodge who states:
The Bible therefore speaks of men as partakers of the Spirit
who are not regenerated, and who finally come short of eternal life. It not
only speaks of men repenting, of their believing for a time, and of their
receiving the Word with joy, but still further of their being enlightened, of
their tasting of the heavenly gift, and of their being made partakers of the
Holy Ghost.17
And Kenneth Wuest agrees by
stating:
These Hebrews had made a contract with the Holy Spirit in
which they willingly allowed themselves to be led along in His presalvation work into the act of repentance. Now should
they refuse the proffered faith and turn back to the First Testament sacrifices
they would be breaking this contract . . . In falling away from their professed
faith in Messiah as high priest back to the sacrifices they would be falling
back upon their previous dependence upon them.18
According to Hodge and Wuest, the readers addressed on Hebrews 6:4-6 were not
saved, but had only “tasted” of the things Christianity offered.
What is interesting, is the Greek verb geu,omai appears in Hebrews 2:9 where the writer mentions
that Christ was able to “taste
death for everyone,” which He accomplished
through His suffering and death. Surely
Christ did not “nibble” at what was presented to Him on the cross, and neither
did the Christians mentioned in Hebrews 6. The readers in Hebrews 6:4-6 “are
people with a full Christian experience, defective in no way. In fact, this is
one of the clearest descriptions of Christian initiation in the New Testament.”19
The
third point regards Hebrews 6:4-6 as a hypothetical situation created by the
writer to bring the reader to the logical conclusion of his faulty
thinking. If the believer could fall away and forfeit his salvation, then the
only way to save that person would be for Christ to be crucified again, thus
declaring His first death as cheap and ineffective. Since Christ cannot ever be crucified again,
neither can the true believer ever completely fall away; yet, if the believer
could fall away, it would be impossible to save him a second time, since Christ
will never again be crucified. Unlike
the sacrifices under the Mosaic Law which were ongoing, Christ’s death was once
for all.
Under
this view, it would seem the readers had viewed Christ’s sacrifice as one among
many, in a succession of sacrifices beginning with the institution of the
Mosaic Law. To view Christ this way, and
then engage in sacrifices subsequent to the cross, is to put Him to open shame,
since it would cheapen His death by limiting its potency.
The fourth view regards Hebrews 6:4-6 not as a
warning which threatens loss of salvation, but rather loss of reward and
service. The believer should not resort
to previous sacrificial practices, since that would produce and unproductive
life which is contrary to God’s plan.
The illustration in Hebrews 6:6-8 supports this view, since what is
burned up is the production of the ground, not the ground itself. Regarding this view Zane Hodges states:
Their apostasy would be like stepping back over the line
again and once more expressing solidarity with their compatriots who wanted
Jesus put on the cross. That this was most serious was precisely the writer’s
point. Such persons could not be won back to the state of repentance which
marked their original conversion to Christianity. In affirming this, the
author’s words suggested a deep hardening of their hearts against all efforts
to win them back, not to Christian conversion, but to Christian commitment.20
So
then, the warning here is to believers who are in jeopardy of misunderstanding
the value of Christ’s sacrifice, and of resorting to a previous system that has
been fulfilled, with the result that future rewards are at risk. There is some merit to this view, since
verses 7-8 seem to refer to loss of production, not salvation. This is born out elsewhere in Scripture by
the apostle Paul who stated “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer
loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire” (1 Cor.
Whatever
view is taken, one thing clear, the audience is harming themselves if they seek
to promote a sacrificial system that has been laid to rest. In verse six the writer makes clear that
those who have reverted back to the old sacrificial system “crucify to
themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.” The Greek reflexive pronoun ἑαυτοῖς appears
to be a dative of disadvantage which would mean the readers are
harming themselves.21
“The force of the reflexive is frequently used to indicate
that the subject is also the object of the action of the verb. The pronoun thus
‘reflects back’ on the subject.”22 It is not Christ who is harming these
believers; rather, they are harming themselves.
The
crucifixion mentioned by the writer is not real, but figurative. Christ is in heaven, and cannot be brought
back to earth for a second or third crucifixion, since His death was once for
all (Heb.
In
Hebrews 6:7-8 the writer advances his argument with the use of a metaphor in
which he states:
For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and
brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled,
receives a blessing from God; but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is
worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned (Heb. 6:7-8).
The metaphor conjures up images of a
well watered field that produces useless things like “thorns and
thistles.” The emphasis in the metaphor
is on production, that is, what the ground produces. The fruit of the ground is to be compared
with the Christian’s spiritual production.
Regarding this, William Lane states:
6:7 There is a firm basis for confidence that the community
will share in further blessing from God. But if the Christian community should
become apostate, it would be like a field which was well watered and
cultivated, but which then produced only thorns and thistles (v 8). In the parable
all interest is concentrated on the harvest, rather than on preliminary stages
of growth. What is decisive is what is produced. The issue is usefulness or
worthlessness.24
The
idea of “burning” might lead some to think of the
Conclusion
The
book of Hebrews is powerfully packed with theology and practical doctrine to
aide a Christian in his understanding about the value of Christ and His death
on the cross. From the early church
until today Christians have wondered about what Christ accomplished, and if
there is anything else left for them to do with regard to their salvation and
growth. Hebrews 6:1-8 is a passage many
students linger over for some time, hoping to lay to rest any fears they may
have about whether it is possible to forfeit their salvation. The answer to that question is no! Christ has paid for sin once for all time,
and there is no other sacrifice that can paid; and
certainly Christ can never pay it again.
In the end, it would seem the weight of evidence would suggest that Hebrews
6:1-8 addresses Christians who were hung up on the value of Christ’s death, and
also the Old Testament sacrificial system of which they were coming out.
_________________________________________________________________
endnotes
1.
Roy B. Zuck,
Darrell L. Bock, A Biblical Theology of the New Testament (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1996), 405.
1.
Zane Hodges, Hebrews, The Bible Knowledge
Commentary, Vol. 2,
(Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 777.
2.
Merrill
C. Tenney, “A New Approach to the Book of Hebrews,” Bibliotheca
Sacra 123 (1988): 219.
3.
Zane Hodges, Hebrews, The Bible Knowledge
Commentary, Vol. 2, 778.
4.
M.G. Easton, Epistle to the Hebrews:
5.
Merrill
C. Tenney, “A New Approach to the Book of Hebrews,”
221.
6.
Paul P. Enns,
Hebrews: The Moody Handbook of
Theology (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1997), 118.
7.
All Scripture quotes are from the New
American Standard Bible Updated © 1995 by The Lockman
Foundation.
8.
Walter C. Kaiser, Hard Sayings of
the Bible, (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity,
1997), 682.
9.
Warren W. Wiersbe, Hebrews: The Bible Exposition Commentary (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor
Books, 1996), 44.
10.
11.
Walter C. Kaiser, Hard Sayings of
the Bible, 683.
12.
Kenneth Wuest, “Hebrews Six in the Greek New Testament,” Bibliotheca
Sacra 119 (1998), 51.
13.
14.
Charles Caldwell Ryrie, A Survey of Bible Doctrine (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1995), 159.
15.
Zane Hodges, Hebrews, The Bible Knowledge
Commentary, Vol. 2, 778.
16.
Charles Hodge, Systematic
Theology, Vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos, 1872, 1997) 669.
17.
Kenneth Wuest, “Hebrews Six in the Greek New Testament,” 52-53
18.
Walter C. Kaiser, Hard Sayings of
the Bible, 682.
19.
Zane C. Hodges, Hebrews, The Bible Knowledge
Commentary, Vol. 2,795.
20.
Daniel B. Wallace, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics - Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament
(Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing, 1996),
144.
21.
Ibid., 350,
22.
Johannes P. Louw,
and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of
the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains, Vol. 1, 2nd edition., (New
York: United Bible societies, 1996), 236
23.
24. Zane C. Hodges, Hebrews, The Bible Knowledge Commentary, Vol. 2, 795.
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