The One Year Bible Club with Teaching
Commentary by Nick Boork
 
November 4 – Hebrews 6:1-20
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, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.
7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

OKAY, HERE’S MY TEACHING COMMENTARY
 
In this portion of Scripture Paul begins by reminding these Hebrew Believers about the foundational teachings of Christ which are the essentials of the Christian faith and are things that the Lord Jesus himself taught during his ministry. He encourages them not to stop growing with the foundational teachings of Christ but should move on to perfection. What kind of perfection is he talking about? I mean, I know I’m not perfect in the sense that sometimes I sin and need God’s forgiveness. He’s not talking about sinless perfection here, there is only one human being that ever achieved that and he was God in the flesh, Jesus the divine Son of God. According to the Blue Letter Bible perfection here means; “ a) The state of the more intelligent b) moral and spiritual perfection. The word of God teaches us that we are to grow up in our salvation to become like Jesus Christ Ref; Luke 6:40, Ephesians 4:13

However, the foundation of any building is very important. If the foundation is not properly laid the building may collapse. In the news I saw the story about a house that was built upon a sinkhole. Half of the house collapsed into a sinkhole more than 50 feet deep. A man in a bedroom fell into that hole, was buried alive and died. This is how it is spiritually with Christian’s lives that do not have a strong foundation built upon Jesus Christ and His teachings. When too much pressure comes they collapse and fall away from Christ. In his classic “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus taught his disciples the importance of building a solid foundation through obedience to the word of God. He actually finished his sermon with a parable about building your house on the rock or building it upon the sand. Ref; Matthew 7:24-28

There are six foundational teachings of Christ listed in the book of Hebrews which are:
​
  • Repentance from dead works …….…….Mark 1:14-16, Luke 13:1-9
  • Faith in God ………………………………John 3:16, 5:24
  • Doctrine of baptisms…………………….. Matthew 28:18-20, John 7:37-39, Acts 1:8
  • Laying on of hands………………………. Mark 16:15-20, Luke 4:40
  • Resurrection from the dead…………….. John 2:19-22, 11:25-26, 1Cor. 15:1-8
  • Eternal judgment…………………….…….Matthew 25:41, 46, Rev.20:11-15

Understanding and believing these basic doctrines of Christ are like the foundation stones of the building. All of these teachings and their experiences are absolutely essential to what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. These basic teachings of Christ are of such importance that the Bible says that if we believe and live in this teaching we  have both the Father and the Son but if we do not believe the doctrine of Christ we do not have God.
I would encourage you to meditate upon these doctrines and really soak them in because they’re so important. These teachings also act as a measuring stick to discern any preaching or religious organization. Just ask a simple question what do they believe about these six doctrines that Christ taught? A believer can be ignorant and not understand them but once they are enlightened by the word and Spirit of God to turn away or deny them would be to become apostate or fall away from Christ.

WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
 
1) It’s important to have a strong foundation to build your Christian life upon.
 
2) The six basic teachings of Christ listed here are those foundation stones.
 
3) The Bible says if you believe and live these teachings you have the Father and the Son but if you do not then you do not have God. That’s a pretty powerful statement.
 
4) After we have this foundation laid in our lives we are to move forward to perfection.
 
5) This perfection is not sinless perfection because we all sin from time to time and need God’s cleansing and forgiveness. Becoming perfect here is spiritual maturity in the development of our character to become Christlike from the inside out and living to do the works of Christ and loving people according to the commandment of Christ.
 
6) These six foundational teachings of Christ serve as a measuring stick against anything that is preached, taught or any prophet, religious organization or church. Just ask, what do they believe about these six teachings of Christ?
 
7) If they deny one or all of these foundational teachings then beware, something is not right and they may be leading people into error going the wrong way.
 
PRAYER TO APPLY THE WORD OF GOD TO OUR LIVES
 
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