“A WARNING TO DISCOURAGED BELIEVERS
A. The essential nature of maturity.
1. (Heb_6:1 a) Going beyond the basics.
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection,
a. Therefore: The writer has just rebuked his readers for their spiritual immaturity; but he knows that nothing is gained by treating them as immature. So he moves on to other ideas.
b. Elementary principles: This has the idea of “rudiments” or “ABCs.” They are basic building blocks that are necessary, but must be built upon – otherwise you just have a foundation and no structure.
c. Perfection: This is the ancient Greek word teleiotes, which is much better understood as “maturity.” The writer to the Hebrews is not trying to tell us that we can reach perfection on this side of eternity, but we can and should reach a place of maturity in Jesus. So the call is plain: let us go on to perfection.
2. (Heb_6:1-2) Some of the “basics” to go beyond.
Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
a. These “basics” are given in three pairs: repentance and faith go together. Baptisms and laying on of hands go together. Resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment go together.
b. Not laying again the foundation: Many people regard this as a Biblical list of important “foundations” for the Christian life. Bible study series have been taught developing each one of these topics, out of the thought that this is good list of basic doctrines. But that isn’t the writer’s point here at all. To understand this list, you must ask a basic question: What is distinctively Christian about this list? Where is the specific mention of Jesus or salvation by grace alone? Can you believe or practice these things and not be a follower of Jesus Christ, believing Him to be the Messiah?
i. “When we consider the ‘rudiments’ one by one, it is remarkable how little in the list is distinctive of Christianity, for practically every item could have its place in a fairly orthodox Jewish community. . . . Each of them, indeed, acquires a new significance in a Christian context; but the impression we get is that existing Jewish beliefs and practices were used as a foundation on which to build Christian truth.” (Bruce)
c. Not even baptisms, as it is used in this passage, is necessarily Christian. The specific ancient Greek word translated baptisms is not the word regularly used in the New Testament to describe Christian baptism. It is the word used on two other specific occasions (Heb_9:10 and Mar_7:4) to refer to Jewish ceremonial washings.
i. The New English Bible translation reflects this, translating doctrine of baptisms as “instruction about cleansing rites.”
d. In this case, the elementary principles to move beyond are all items in the “common ground” between Christianity and Judaism. This was a “safe” common ground these Jewish Christians retreated to.
i. Because Christianity did grow out of Judaism, it was a more subtle temptation for a Jewish Christian to slip back into Judaism than it was for a formerly pagan Christian to go back to his pagan ways.
ii. Of course, these Jewish Christians did not want to abandon religion, but they did want to make it less distinctively Christian. Therefore, they went back to this “common ground” to avoid persecution. Living in this comfortable common ground, you would not stick out so much. A Jew and a Christian together could say, “Let’s repent, let’s have faith, let’s perform ceremonial washings,” and so forth. But this was a subtle denial of Jesus.
iii. This is entirely characteristic of those who feel discouraged, and wish to give up. There is always the temptation to still be religious, but not so “fanatical” about Jesus.”