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Hebrews 6:4a

Hebrews 6:4a Tasting the heavenly gift Let’s continue to deliberate on the “impossibilities” of verse 4 shall we? The first of these is enlightenment, a goal pursued by many of the world’s religions. The Bible talks about people who walk in darkness seeing a great light (Isaiah 9:2), it also says that Israel has been spiritually blinded, that God gives men a spirit of stupor, eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear. (Romans 11:8) Jesus came to open blind eyes and set captives free! (Luke 4:18) This life-changing encounter with Him is miraculous and unforgettable, there is no going back, once we have our eyes opened everything looks different and our hearts and minds are illuminated like never before. This may start with a simple prayer of repentance but if the ”light goes on” it will become an unrelenting torrent of love and joy and it’s irreversible. It does make me wonder about some of the “professions of faith” that I have witnessed! The verse goes on to talk about tasting th...
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Hebrews 6:4

Hebrews 6:4 It's impossible? We come now to a very challenging passage in this Epistle. Verses 4-6 seem to contests the genuine nature of some people’s faith and also question what happens if a believer falls away! As might be expected, numerous interpretations have been offered as to their meaning and the implications for those who turn their back on the Lord. At the heart of this is the age-old question, “Can a true believer lose their faith?” The usual answer to this is that it seems so but there must be genuine questions about the authenticity of those who have professed to follow Christ, and who then reject Him. Notice that this verse 4 gives us three indications as to the nature of genuine faith: - 1.       It is the result of spiritual enlightenment 2.       It is for those who have tasted the heavenly gift 3.       It embraces all who have shared in the Holy Spirit Verse 5 gives us two more evidences for ...
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Hebrews 6:3

Hebrews 6:3 God permitting, we will do so At first sight, the simple statement here in this short verse, seems to be rather inconsequential, just a statement of well-meant intent. It is anything but! The writer is affirming his personal commitment and that of all who teach younger believers, that we will endeavour to make the simple truths known and that the topics previously mentioned will feature in our teaching programmes. However, when we add  “and God permitting, we will do so”  we are effectively admitting our dependence on Him and that we can keep talking until “the cows come home” but unless the Lord brings enlightenment by His Holy Spirit the immature ones will never reach maturity.  All our endeavours for the Lord are shrouded in potential but also carry the possibility of disappointment, for we all need to recognise our vulnerabilities and that we never know the consequences of our own words and actions, let alone what the Lord might be planning! So, we may set...
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Hebrews 6:2c

Hebrews 6:2c Eternal Judgement This is the last of the  “elementary teachings”  that should be familiar to all believers, let alone the new or immature ones! The doctrine of  “eternal judgement”  was very much at the forefront of the Gospel message preached in times past and was regularly taught in the village chapel in which I grew up. Too often today, God is presented only as all-loving, and merciful and compassionate, which He is, but His righteousness and His judgement go hand in hand with His love for our world. We are commanded NOT to make God in our own image, to present Him exactly as people would like to see Him rather than who He really is. This God flooded the world in the time of Noah. He sent catastrophic judgements on Sodom and Gomorrah for their filthy and ignorant behaviour. He condemned the Egyptians to a night of horror as their firstborn sons were killed, in order to allow the Israelites to escape the land. Later, the entire Egyptian army was drown...
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Hebrews 6:2b

Hebrews 6:2b The resurrection of the dead You won’t find “ the resurrection of the dead”  amongst the “ elementary teachings”  in the Old Testament nor was it taught in the synagogues of the Jewish readers of Hebrews. This was a new doctrine, only possible and only understood once Jesus had come to earth and risen from the dead. It was already apparent to these new believers that resurrection was not just a phenomenon enjoyed by the Son of God but one that would enfold all who were genuinely saved by Him. Paul, of course, talks about this extensively, particularly in 1 Corinthians 15. There was no question in the minds of these early saints that they would enjoy the same victory over death as Jesus Himself had enjoyed. What evidence did they have? I think that the main reason is found in what we read in Matthew 27:51-53  “The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the Holy City and ap...
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Hebrews 6:2a

Hebrews 6:2a The laying on of hands The 4 th  of the 6 “elementary teachings” is the “laying on of hands.” Frankly, in the Christian circles that I grew up in, this was a phrase that was unheard of, even though the preachers and teachers prided themselves on their Biblical knowledge and application! This was seen to be an Old Testament ritual. When a man brought an animal offering to the Temple for a peace offering or sin offering, he laid his hands on its head to demonstrate his personal identification with the sacrifice. In other words, he was transferring his identity to the animal. Perhaps the main point of the writer of Hebrews is simply that you don’t have to worry any more about laying your hands on Temple sacrifices, just lay hold of Yeshua, He is your ultimate sacrifice once for all. In its time that would certainly be a valid form of teaching for young and immature believers. But what about us? In Acts 8:18 the Apostles laid hands on those who had believed, to outwardly s...
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Hebrews 6:2

Hebrews 6:2 Instruction about baptism So we come to the next of the  “elementary truths of God’s Word.”  In the NIV this is describes as  “instruction about cleansing rites”  although a footnote in some Bibles replaces this with  “baptisms.”  The English Standard Version talks about “washings”, the King James uses the word “baptisms” as does the New King James and the Amplified Version replaces this with “ritual purifications.” And so we go on. If the word is correctly translated “baptisms” it is probably embracing the baptism of John, the baptism of converts to Judaism, and the baptism in water sanctioned and taught by Jesus which is practiced by His church. He also talked about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit that still causes controversy in the church today! If, however, we are talking about ritual cleansing rites then we are into another whole ball game, the Jews had baptismal pools outside the Temple but also in their synagogues, these were called Mikve...
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