"Dull of hearing"(5:11) and "sluggish"(6:12, Gr. nothroiin both cases) form an inclusiothat frames this pericope and sets it off as a distinct textual segment.159The first two warnings in Hebrews were against drifting (2:1-4) and disbelief (3:7-19). All the warning passages in Hebrews involve actions toward the Word of God.
"It is commonly assumed on the basis of 5:11-6:3 that the community addressed had failed to mature in faith and understanding, and consequently required rudimentary instruction rather than the advanced exposition of Christ's priesthood and sacrifice presented in 7:1-10:18. The problem with this reconstruction of the situation is that it is not supported by the detail of the text. The biblical interpretation and the presentation of christology in 1:1-5:10 presuppose advanced Christian instruction and a level of understanding that corresponds to the adult consumption of solid food and not to a diet of milk. In addition, the writer shows no inclination to review with his hearers the foundational elements of the Christian faith [6:1]. He clearly regarded the hearers as mature. He reminds them that they have ingested over a considerable period of time the instruction that qualified them to be the teachers of others (5:12). Consequently, the portrayal of them as infants who have to be nurtured with milk is not an actual description of some or all of the members of the community. It is irony, calculated to shame them and to recall them to the stance of conviction and boldness consonant with their experience (6:4-5, 10) and hope (6:9-12). The community has deviated from its earlier course (cf. 10:32-34) by becoming sluggish in understanding (5:12). Their regression to infancy must represent a quite recent development. It was apparently an attempt to sidestep their responsibility in a world that persecuted them and held them in contempt, but it threatened their integrity. The purpose of 5:11-6:12 is to preserve the community from such aberration by reminding them of what they have experienced and what they possess through the gospel . . ."160
"If you keep in mind that the emphasis in this section is on making spiritual progress, you will steer safely through misinterpretations that could create problems."161
5:11 "Him"refers to Melchizedek (v. 10; cf. 6:20-10:18). Evidently the original readers had begun to let their minds wander as they heard the same things repeatedly. Rather than listening carefully, hearing completely, and comprehending clearly, they had become mentally and spiritually dull in their hearing. They were not slow learners but had allowed themselves to grow lazy. A spiritual callus was growing over their ears.
"Deafness or dullness in receptivity is a dangerous condition for those who have been called to radical obedience. The importance of responsible listening has been stressed repeatedly in the sermon (2:1 . . .; cf. 3:7b-8a, 15; 4:1-2, 7b)."162
"One of the first symptoms of spiritual regression, or backsliding, is a dullness toward the Bible. Sunday School class is dull, the preaching is dull, anything spiritual is dull. The problem is usually not with the Sunday School teacher or the pastor, but with the believer himself."163
5:12 Every Christian becomes capable of instructing others when he or she learns the elementary truths of the faith. This is true whether one has the gift of teaching (i.e., the ability to communicate with unusual clarity and effectiveness) or not. However when we fail to pass on what we know we begin to lose what we know. Eventually we may need to relearn the most basic teachings of Scripture. When we stop growing, we start shrinking. We do not just stay the same.
"Christians who have really progressed in the faith ought to be able to instruct others (as 1 Peter 3:15 shows; cf. Rom. 2:21)."164
5:13 Immature babies consume only milk. They cannot chew and assimilate sold food because they are immature. Similarly immature Christians take in only the basics of the gospel because they cannot receive and assimilate the more advanced aspects of the faith. They cannot do this because they have not tried repeatedly (practiced) to understand and apply these more advances truths. This is a pictureof Christians who have been content to know and practice only the most elementary lessons of their faith. They are too lazy to do what is necessary to grow. Of course, even mature adults continue to need milk, which is pre-digested food, but they can also eat solid food.
5:14 The writer's point in these verses is not just that spiritual babies lack information, which they do, but that they lack experience. A person becomes a mature Christian not only by gaining information, though that is foundational, but by using that information to make decisions that are in harmony with God's will. "The word of righteousness"(v. 13) is the solid food that results in righteous behavior. In this context the "solid food"must refer to instruction about the high priestly office of Jesus Christ (cf. 7:1-10:18). Practice is essential for maturity. Consequently a new Christian cannot be mature even though he or she follows the leading of the Spirit (i.e., is "spiritual,"cf. 1 Cor. 2:14-3:3). The readers were in danger of not comprehending what the writer had to tell them because they had not put what they did understand into practice in their lives. Instead, they were thinking of departing from the truth.
"As we grow in the Word, we learn to use it in daily life. As we apply the Word, we exercise our spiritual senses' and develop spiritual discernment. It is a characteristic of little children that they lack discernment. A baby will put anything into its mouth. An immature believe will listen to any preacher on the radio or television and not be able to identify whether or not he is true to the Scriptures."165
This section gives four marks of spiritual immaturity: laziness (dullness) toward the Word (v. 11), inability to teach the Word to others (v. 12), a diet of only elementary truths in the Word (vv. 12-13), and lack of skill in applying the Word (v. 14). As with the muscles in our bodies, if we do not use what we have gained spiritually we will lose it (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).
The writer proceeded to explain what the community of Christians that he addressed should do to rectify its dangerous condition.
6:1 Since they needed stretching mentally they should with the writer "press on to maturity."That is, they should not be content with their present condition. In this context spiritual maturity involves receiving and responding appropriately to revealed truth (5:14), zeal for the realization of hope (v. 11), and unwavering faith and steadfast endurance (v. 12).166
The verb translated "let us press on"(pherometha) is in the passive voice. We could render it, "Let us be carried on"(i.e., by God's Spirit). Spiritual maturity does not come by our striving in self-effort but by our cooperating with God as we do His will depending on His help. It comes as we follow the Holy Spirit who leads us (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:16).
". . . they are saved. They are genuine believers. Thus their need is not knowledge; rather, they need to use the knowledge they possess."167
The writer proposed that his readers leave elementary teaching concerning the Messiah in the past. They did not need to learn that again, presumably by catechetical instruction.168They did not need further instruction about abandoning confidence in works for salvation (either as part of the Levitical rituals or just as legalism) and turning to God in faith. This too was foundational truth they did not need to learn again.
6:2 They did not need further instruction in four other subjects either. "Washings"evidently refers to the doctrine of spiritual cleansing. The Greek word translated "washings"is baptismosthat refers to Jewish ceremonial washings whenever it occurs in the New Testament (Mark 7:4, 8; Heb. 9:10). A different Greek word (baptisma) describes Christian baptism. This means the writer here referred not to baptism but to spiritual cleansing.
The "laying on of hands"in Judaism was part of the sacrificial ritual (Lev. 1:4; 3:2; 4:4; 8:14; 16:21; et al.) and commissioning for public office (Num. 27:18, 23; Deut. 34:9; cf. Acts 6:6; 13:3). In the early church the imparting of the Holy Spirit sometimes accompanied this practice (Acts 8:17-18; 19:6; cf. v. 4, 2:4; 10:29).
The Old Testament taught the resurrection of the dead (Isa. 26:19; Dan. 12:2) and eternal judgment (Gen. 18:25; Isa. 33:22).
"We are responsible people, and one day we shall rise from the dead and give account of ourselves to God. This must have been of importance to new converts in a time when many people thought of death as the end of everything."169
The writer presented the six foundational teachings in verses 1 and 2 in three pairs.
1. Repentance from dead works, and faith toward God (v. 1)
2. Instruction about washings, and laying on of hands (v. 2a)
3. Instruction about the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment (v. 2b)
The structure of this sentence in Greek suggests that the last two pairs explain the first pair. Laying the foundation of repentance and faith consists of instruction regarding washings, sortilege (laying on hands), resurrection, and judgment. The first pair points Godward, the second manward, and the third forward into the future.
Each of these teachings was foundational in Judaism as well as in Christianity. Most of the original readers would have come to believe these truths even before they became Christians. They are very basic.
6:3 We will press on to maturity "if God permits."The writer again (v. 1) acknowledged dependence on God for spiritual growth. We can continue to grow only as He enables us to do so.
"It seems that the apostle here addresses true Christians, as non-Christians cannot grow in their ability to experientially apply the word of righteousness to daily life and have their spiritual senses trained in spiritual discernment."170
What does a stagnant, sour believer need? He or she needs to mature. How does growth toward maturity take place? It happens when, by God's grace, the believer responds positively to further revelation beyond the basics. We see examples of the danger the writer warned his readers about all around us. Many Christians attend churches where they only hear the gospel repeatedly. Their ears become dull, they stop growing, and many of them turn away from the faith. Those who put themselves under the challenge of more advanced teaching and respond properly to it grow more mature.
The writer pointed out the consequences of not pressing on to maturity to motivate his readers to pursue spiritual growth diligently.
Christians have interpreted this passage in many different ways. Some believe that those who fall away (v. 6) are believers who lose their salvation.171Others hold that those who fall away are people who have professed to be believers but really are not.172Still others take the whole situation as hypothetical. They believe that if a Christian could lose his salvation, which he cannot, it would be impossible for him to be saved again.173Another view is that only Hebrew Christians living before the destruction of the temple could commit this sin, whatever it is. The view that I believe harmonizes best with the writer's emphasis is that those who fall away are believers who turn away from God's truth and embrace error (i.e., apostates).174The vast majority of scholars view these people as genuine believers.175
"The transition from the first person (vv. 1-3) to the third person suggests that the author does not wish explicitly to identify the people described with the readers of the epistle. This may be partly out of tact; it is certainly (cf. v. 9) in part because he believes that his readers can still avoid apostasy."176
6:4 The writer could describe Christians fairly as those who were once "enlightened"(cf. 10:32; 2 Cor. 4:3-6). The "heavenly gift"of which they have "tasted"(cf. 2:9) at conversion seems to refer to salvation (cf. John 4:10; Rom. 6:23; James 1:17-18). Any attempt to interpret tasting as only partial appropriation (i.e., the idea that they tasted it but did not swallow it) is not credible.177
"This is not to explain Scripture, [but] to explain it away in favour of some preconceived doctrine."178
Elsewhere the same Greek word refers to complete appropriation (e.g., Jesus Christ tasted death for everyone, 2:9; cf. 1 Pet. 2:1-3; Ps. 34:8). Christians become "partakers"(cf. 1:9, "companions"; and 3:1, 14, "partakers") of the Holy Spirit through Spirit baptism.
6:5 Every true Christian has tasted the Word of God and found it to be good to some extent. The original readers had also tasted the powers (lit. miracles) of the coming messianic age. They had observed the apostles perform miracles (cf. 2:4). The five events listed in verses 4 and 5 view salvation from different aspects and manifestations; they do not present a succession of salvific events.179
"Together, the clauses describe vividly the reality of the experience of personal salvation enjoyed by the Christians addressed."180
"The warnings are clearly not addressed to nominal Christians, but to those who have shared, as fully as it is possible to share in the present time, in the blessings which accompany and follow entry into the Christian life (6:4f.)."181
6:6 Earlier in this letter the writer warned his Christian readers about drifting away from the truth through negligence (2:1-4). He also warned them about failing to keep trusting God and walking by faith (3:7-19). Now he referred to the same apostasy as "falling away."
"The aorist tense indicates a decisive moment of commitment to apostasy. In the LXX, the term parapipteinhas reference to the expression of a total attitude reflecting deliberate and calculated renunciation of God (Ezek 20:27; 22:4; Wis 6:9; 12:2; cf. Michaelis, TDNT6:171 . . .).182In Hebrews it is equivalent to the expression apostenai apo theou zontos, to fall away from the living God,' in 3:12. Apostasy entailed a decisive rejection of God's gifts, similar to the rejection of the divine promise by the Exodus generation at Kadesh (3:7-4:2 . . .). . . . What is visualized by the expressions in v 6 is every form of departure from faith in the crucified Son of God. This could entail a return to Jewish convictions and practices as well as the public denial of faith in Christ under pressure from a magistrate or a hostile crowd, simply for personal advantage (cf. Mark 8:34-38 . . ."183
Falling away from the truth is no hypothetical possibility but a tragic reality in too many cases among believers (cf. Num. 14:27-32; Gen. 25:29-34; Heb. 3:7-19; 10:23-25, 35-39).184Christians departed from the faith in the first century (e.g., 2 Tim. 2:17-18) and they do so today (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1).
"The author repeatedly urges his readers to maintain their Christian profession and confidence (cf. 3:6, 12-15; 6:11, 12; 10:23-25). The man who falls away is evidently the one who casts that confidence, and its attendant reward, aside (10:25)."185
To what is it impossible for an apostate to be renewed? The writer said it is repentance, not forgiveness or salvation. Immediately the question arises whether this explanation is realistic since some believers who have departed from the truth have repented and returned to the fold of the faithful. I believe the writer meant that in the case of apostates, the really hard cases who are persistently hostile to Christ, it is impossible to restore such people to repentance (cf. vv. 1, 3, 7-8).186This inability to repent is the result of sin's hardening effect about which the writer had sounded a warning earlier (3:13). It is also the result of divine judgment (cf. Pharaoh, Exod. 9:12; 10:20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17).
"God has pledged Himself to pardon all who truly repent, but Scripture and experience alike suggest that it is possible for human beings to arrive at a state of heart and life where they can no longer repent."187
Even God cannot renew these apostates to repentance because He has chosen not to do so.
". . . the author does recognize the possibility that one may have regressed so far that it is impossible to again make progress toward maturity. He therefore states in verses 4-6 that it may be impossible to renew certain believers so that they can progress toward maturity."188
Would it not glorify God more for apostates to repent? Evidently by making it impossible for them to repent God will bring greater glory to Himself than if they did repent. Consider the glory that came to God because the Pharaoh of the Exodus did not repent.
God allows this hard condition because by their repudiating Jesus Christ these apostates dishonor Him. The writer spoke of this dishonor as taking the side of Jesus' enemies who crucified Him and publicly humiliated Him. The apostates in view crucify Him in the sense of passing judgment against Him again, by repudiating Him and His work, as those who literally crucified Jesus did. Evidently these "hard cases"are not those who turn away from just any aspect of God's will but specifically the doctrine of Jesus Christ.
". . . once Christ and his sacrifice have been rejected, there is nowhere else to turn. . . . The impossibility' of a second repentance is thus not psychological or more generally related to the human condition; it is in the strict sense theological, related to God's saving action in Christ."189
"Just as the Hebrew spies who returned from their expedition carrying visible tokens of the good land of Canaan nevertheless failed to enter the land because of their unbelief, so those who had come to know the blessings of the new covenant might nevertheless in a spiritual sense turn back in heart to Egypt and so forfeit the saints' everlasting rest."190
Two examples of these "hard cases"may be Hymenaeus and Alexander. Paul said he had turned them over to Satan that they might learn not to blaspheme because they had apostatized (1 Tim. 1:18-20).
6:7 "A double illustration forms a transition between the negative and positive realities described in vv. 4-6 and vv. 9-12:
In the illustration in this verse the ground represents believers who drink in the water of God's Word and bear fruit as a result. This kind of response leads to God bestowing a blessing on those individuals who by their fruit-bearing have been a blessing to others (cf. Matt. 13:23).
6:8 If no good fruit results, however, only dangerous and destructive thorns, God will bring judgment on this ground rather than blessing it (cf. John 15:2, 6).
"Worthless"literally means disapproved (Gr. adokimos). It does not mean totally rejected but failing to gain God's blessing (cf. 1 Cor. 9:27). It is "in danger of being cursed"but is not cursed as unbelievers are. "Burned"does not mean burned in hell (cf. 1 Cor. 3:13-15). In ancient times as well as today farmers often burned their fields to removed unwanted vegetation, not to destroy the field itself. This is evidently a judgment on a believer that God allows because of his or her apostasy (cf. Isa. 9:18-19; 10:17; John 15:6; Heb. 10:17). The judgment might result in premature death in some cases (cf. 1 John 5:16-17). However the text does not warrant concluding that this fate will befall every apostate. Some "fields"once burned turn out to be more productive in the future, and that might be what God's judgment would lead to in the case of some apostates (cf. 1 Tim. 1:19-20). The purpose of the burning (chastening) is restoration to fruitfulness (cf. 13:1-9, 18-23).
The history of the interpretation I have offered in this passage, and in Hebrews generally, is as follows. Robert Govett was one of the earliest modern authors who wrote on the theme of the Christian's rewards.192He was also a leading figure in the school of thought that took the warnings of Hebrews as being addressed to Christians who were eternally saved and secure. However some in this school also believed that unfaithful Christians would miss the Millennium and spend 1, 000 years in a kind of "purgatory."Those in this school include G. H. Lang,193R. E. Neighbor,194and probably Philip Mauro.195
Among the standard commentators B. F. Westcott, James Moffatt, and I. Howard Marshall, as well as most others, took the view that the writer addressed true Christians in the warning passages. These three men took what we would call an Arminian stance believing true Christians can lose their salvation, but they believed the writer addressed Christians in these passages.
Students sometimes assume that the view that the writer addressed only false professors (i.e., not genuine Christians) is the majority view, but it is not. It is, however, the most popular Calvinistic interpretation.
Another modern writer who takes this passage as I do is R. T. Kendall.196He also discussed briefly the history of this interpretation in the church fathers.197Hodges also holds this view198as do Oberholtzer,199Dillow,200Gleason,201and others.
Even though the danger his readers faced was great, the writer believed they could avoid it. Consequently he concluded this warning as he did the ones in 2:1-4 and 3:1-4:16 with a word of hope to encourage his audience.
6:9 The "better things"in view reflect the writer's confidence that his readers would not turn away from the truth. He based his confidence on their realizing the dreadful consequences of apostasy that he had just explained. "Salvation"refers to the full salvation ahead of them about which he had been speaking throughout this epistle (cf. 1:14).
"The things to which he refers are defined in the following verses (6:10-12): work and love, diligence to the end, and faith and patience. Salvation is the victorious participation with Christ in the coming kingdom as it is in Heb. 1:14, which only those who persevere as companions of the King will inherit. The writer obviously expects that his readers will persevere to the end, enter into rest, and obtain these blessings."202
This is the only place in the epistle where the writer referred to his readers as "beloved"(dear friends). This affectionate address softens the severity of the warning just given (vv. 4-8). Verses 9-12 provide strong evidence, I believe, that genuine Christians are in view throughout this warning passage.
6:10 God had taken note of the readers' commendable Christian conduct and would justly reward them for it. Therefore they should persevere in it and not turn aside from it (i.e., apostatize). "Not unjust"is understatement; God is eminently just.203
6:11-12 "Hope is important. Probably no movement has ever gripped the hearts of people if it did not give them hope."204
Earlier the writer had described his readers as being sluggish (lit. lazy, 5:11). Now he urged them to be diligent and to stop being lazy (v. 12; cf. Prov. 24:30-34). The same Greek word (nothroi) occurs in both places. He wanted them to remain faithful to God while waiting patiently for Him to fulfill His promises to them regarding their future inheritance.
"The theme of imitation recurs in 13:7, and in both instances faith is seen as steadfast persistence that pursues the divine promise . . ."205
Some commentators have used this verse to support the unbiblical idea that believers should look to their good works as evidence of their election and as the basis for their assurance of salvation. This verse is not saying that. The Greek word plerophoriaalways means "fullness"in the passive sense, not "fulfilling."The writer was saying that we need to be diligent regarding something we have already obtained, not to obtain something, namely, assurance.206
Note the linking of love (v. 10), hope (v. 11), and faith (v.12) here (cf. 10:22-24). This triad occurs often in the New Testament epistles (cf. Rom. 5:2-5; 1 Cor. 13:13; Gal. 5:5-6; Col. 1:4-5; 1 Thess. 1:3; 5:8; 1 Pet. 1:21-22).
