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John N N Ng’ang’a Meditation of 28th October 2024, Hebrews 6 spiritually grow to avoid backsliding

John N N Ng’ang’a Meditation of 28th October 2024, Hebrews 6 spiritually grow to avoid backsliding

 

Day 1

Hebrews 6

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God,

 

We are still emphasizing Jesus’ Priesthood very clearly, that He is a special Priest. He is carrying the role of a priest as per the Old Testament. In fact, verse 1 of Hebrews 5 says, "Every high priest is selected from among the people and is appointed to represent the people in matters related to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness. This is why he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as for the sins of the people."

We learn that for Old Testament priests, one of the requirements is that they are human. He must be someone who understands other humans. Otherwise, he would get very offended every time somebody comes saying, "Oh, I have sinned!" He may even say, "I will not sacrifice for you. Why do you keep repeating the same sins?" But the Bible tells us that the priest is taken from among the people, so he understands what they are going through.

Remember, a priest is a person who represents God to man and man to God. Verse 2 says that he can deal gently with the weak, that is, the people who fall easily into sin because he is similar to them. When he sacrifices, he does not only sacrifice for these other people—he must sacrifice for himself also. So, the first qualification of a priest is that he must be someone who understands the people for whom he is sacrificing, and he must be someone who admits his sinfulness so that he also sacrifices for himself.

Additionally, verse 4 says, "No one takes this honour upon himself." He must be called by God, just as Aaron was. In other words, priests are appointed by God, not by man.

We can make someone a pastor, but if he hasn’t had the call of God, and God has not anointed or ordained him, our ordination is simply useless. That is why sometimes people think they receive an anointing when the bishop lays his hands on them. No! You got it when God appointed you, and even if the bishop did not, you could still continue to serve the Lord because the critical thing is the spiritual appointment. The reason we have an ordination service is to recognize that divine appointment. In other words, the Lord has already done it, and that is what we are recognizing, because we can already see what the Lord has done in you.

Day 2

Hebrews 6

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

Then now the discussion turns to Jesus as a Priest. He says, in the same way, "So Christ also did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high Priest." No, no, no! It is God who appointed Him! God said to Him, "You are my Son; today I have become Your Father." In verse 6, He says in another place, "You are a Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered, and once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him and was designated by God to be a high Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

So similarly, we learned about the Aaronic priesthood—that it is God who appointed the priests. Jesus did not choose to be a Priest; He was appointed by His Father. And in His days on earth, He suffered just like human beings suffer. He was tempted in the same way we are tempted. One time, He cried with tears. One of those moments was in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed with reverent submission to God, saying, "Although I am praying for this, not My will, but Your will be done." This is because that was the right thing for Him.

The third thing about this Priest, just like the Aaronic priest, is that He needed to obey His Father. That is why we are learning that He learned obedience. So, in the same way, if you call yourself God’s servant, you need to confirm: number one, has God called you? Number two, do you understand human weaknesses? Instead of condemning people, are you assisting them, praying for them, and directing them to Christ? Number three, do you live a life of obedience to God yourself? Then, do you represent people to God?

In verse 11 of Hebrews 5, the writer changes direction and says, “Wait a minute! There is a very important thing you need to understand.” He doubts that we will understand for several reasons. First, "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn." So, the first problem is that if you want to grow in the things of God, you must choose to understand them quickly. You must study, and you must be a permanent student of the Word. Just as lawyers refer to themselves as learned friends, Christians must also be dedicated to learning God’s Word! All the days of their lives, they must have this attitude of trying hard to understand quickly. The writer is saying that if you do not have that attitude, it will be hard for you to enjoy the things God has promised to teach you. "It is hard to make this clear to you because you are no longer trying to understand." For learning to happen, the teacher has to do his job, but even more importantly, the learner has to do his.

Verse 12 says, "In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!"

In other words, I can’t see much growth in you over time—not because of a lack of teaching, but because you do not seem to understand and obey. The first problem is attitude. You seem to be happy to be at the elementary level. Just as you know very well, a baby cannot be given hard things. He is given milk and light things. In the first six months, they are advised to stay on milk. Why? Because the baby’s body has not developed the ability to chew hard things. First of all, if you want to eat solid food, you must chew it, but the baby has no teeth! Number two, in the stomach, the digestive system must be strong enough to handle it, but the baby’s stomach cannot! Similarly, with the Word of God, you must grow progressively, learning it, practicing it, and so on. So do not be like a baby.

 

Day 3

Hebrews 6

13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Verse 13 says,

"Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness."

If you are still specializing in the elementary principles, you will not move on to the deeper issues because, as verse 14 says,

"But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

So why are we not growing? It’s because we have not passed class one. How can you now be taught class two? And how does God teach you class two? When you start practicing the lessons from class one! If you are already not obeying the little, He has told you, why would He give you more revelation at all? That is why He wants you to understand clearly that things need to progress. How do you progress? By practicing what He has already told you. In fact, verse 14 is saying, learning how to do the right things. You learn how to walk with God by practicing what He has already told you. I think that is an important piece of information to know.

So, the Christian must graduate from these elementary principles.

The problem we see is:

  • An attitude that is not willing to learn.
  • The lack of practicing what you already know is right and wrong.

But Chapter 6 continues with the same message. Verse 1 says:

"Therefore, let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment."

 

So, if you are a sluggish Saint, you are going to be taken through remedial training yet again. That is something you need to ask yourself why. And if God wills, disciples can mature, but they must put in the effort. In other words, Paul is saying it is terrible to remain a baby over time! If you ask any mother, if at the age of 5, the child is still crawling, she will be worried. She was very excited when the baby crawled for the first time, but if the baby refuses to stand up or is too afraid to stand, that parent will be concerned! And I think that is what Paul wants us to understand—that there is a necessity for moving on and growing in your faith.

Not growing is an apostasy. You know, the things we are learning are basic gospels, or what he is calling in Hebrews 6, elementary teachings.

 

The first elementary one is laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death. If you still do not understand that if you fall into sin, you do not wait to repent in the evening. Number two, repentance is not just saying you are sorry but turning 180 degrees away from that sin. You can’t say you have fallen into sexual sin, knowing it was because you invited a girl to your house, and tomorrow you are inviting her again! That is not repentance. Repentance is being sorry for your sins, yes, but it also involves committing never to repeat them. You move away from whatever is pushing you toward that sin. So, if you are still there, you are a baby! You are still on milk! It means the things you are doing are not right.

 

So that is the first stage: where you repent from acts that lead to death. These acts may refer to useless rituals. What are those useless rituals you think are helping you but are not? Maybe it’s the way you think. You believe you are a Christian because of how you dress, yet you are sinning, and you know it. Or you are proudly saying, “I am baptized,” thinking that’s enough—another ritual. No, no, no! These are basic things, and Paul says you need to move beyond them.

Day 4

Hebrews 6

instruction about cleansing rites,[b] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.

 

And then he says another basic elementary teaching is faith in God. Surely, if you are still debating whether to trust God or not, then you are still a baby in the things of God. Paul refers to this as the basis for baby Christians. You need to know who God is and trust Him so that you have no doubt that any other source of information or blessing compares with the blessing you get from Jehovah. So, having faith in God is elementary; you need to move beyond it.

Chapter 6, verse 2, continues, stating that the third elementary teaching is instruction about cleansing rites—another Bible version calls it baptisms. If you proudly say, “You know I was baptized by the Archbishop!” or “Oh, I was baptized in a lot of water!” then Paul is saying that if instruction about baptism is where you are, you are still a baby Christian. Remember, all these things are not bad—they are good—but he is calling them basic. If that’s where you are, you are not growing. You need the basics to grow in Him.

He goes on to say another basic teaching is the laying on of hands. I remind you that each of these things is important and should happen to you initially, but you need to go beyond them. “You know, so-and-so laid his hands on me!” Good! But where are you now? The laying on of hands is elementary. Like Derek Prince has discussed, these basic elementary doctrines need to be taught to every new believer: repentance, trust in God, faith in God, baptism, and the laying on of hands. Elders praying for you is important, but you need to go beyond thinking that the only way God can answer prayers is when the elders pray for you. You need to pray for yourself and ask God to answer your prayers directly.

The next elementary teaching is the resurrection of the dead. In other words, it is a basic doctrine. If you do not understand death—if you still fear dying or don’t understand that there is life beyond the grave, that even if you die, it’s not a big deal because you will be with the Lord and one day be resurrected—then you are still at the elementary level. Every new believer must be taught about the resurrection of the dead.

Finally, are you aware of eternal judgment? That one day, we will all be held to account by God, not man. All these are basic doctrines, and while we need to know and practice them, we also need to go beyond them.

Verse 3 finishes by saying, "And God permitting, we will do so." We need to commit to advancing beyond that point. If you refuse to grow, you will end up in apostasy, denying the truth. Verse 4 says:

"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss, they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace."

This ties into the debate on whether "once saved, always saved" is true. Paul is saying no. Some people have tasted the goodness of the Lord but have now fallen away. He warns that this is dangerous because once you fall off, it’s not just difficult to recover—you can’t return to the faith. Look at verse 4 again:

"It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God."

Then, in verses 5 and 6, he states that if they fall away, it’s impossible to bring them back to repentance. That’s why you cannot play around with your faith. If you truly backslide, it is impossible to bring you back. Do not think you can go away and then come back. “I’ll sin and then repent,” you might say. Paul is saying that if you truly fall away after knowing how good faith is, it is impossible to return. Do not play around with backsliding—God is warning you not to fall into apostasy.

 

Day 5

Hebrews 6

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss, they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end, it will be burned.

 

This is a very tough message. As our High Priest, He wants us to know we must grow. If you stay on the fence, you will fall back! Once you cross the fence and enter the new kingdom, go deep! Launch into the deep! Do not play around the periphery of the things of faith.

Verse 6 says that if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance is impossible. Why? If you know the truth that well and yet continue to sin, it’s like you are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace. What do you think you’re doing? It’s as if you’re putting the nail back through the same points the nails went into Christ’s hands the first time. You are crucifying Him a second time. Paul wants you to understand that to sin as a Christian is something terrible—something very terrible.

Look at verse 7:

"Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end, it will be burned."

Is that you? That you truly came to Christ, but you are not bearing the fruits of righteousness? To fall away from the faith is dangerous. Hmm! I do not understand how people think they can’t fall. Paul is saying you can. To fall away is to crucify Christ all over again—as if you want Him to die again. You are nullifying His death with your sin. You are harming Christ, but you are also harming yourself. When you choose apostasy, you are putting trouble upon yourself. Instead of being the land that brings blessings to the farmer, you become land that has been burned and destroyed because of the thistles it produces.

But there is hope! Look at verse 9:

"Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation."

In other words, do not get the impression that you are going to backslide. No, no! There is hope! God, we are learning, is interested in you enough. He is not unjust, and He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.

In other words, God will help you not to backslide. He knows you are interested in Him; He knows you are committed to serving Him. He has seen the work you have been doing for Him.

Then in verse 11:

"We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure."

In other words, you started well, and you have done many things with this elementary faith, but you can’t remain there. If you remain idle, you will soon fall away from the faith! He wants each of you to show this same diligence to the very end so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit what has been promised.

He wants you to know that while you can backslide and go rogue, that is not the path you should take. Why go in that direction? Christ has better things for you. Paul is saying yeah! We do not want you to head toward backsliding. Come to the Lord and stay away from apostasy.

 

Day 6

Hebrews 6

12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

 

How will you do it? By being earnest and not sluggish anymore. Do not agree to mark time or stay on the periphery of the things of God; always be at the centre. Then, verse 12 says, "Imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."

Imitate people who are serious about the things of God. Keep the company of those who are deeper in their walk with God than you. Look for opportunities to fellowship with people who do not tempt you to backslide, but instead, inspire you to say, “Oh God, how can I be like that? Make me deep in faith like them.” The company you keep matters.

Verse 11 first says, be serious and earnest. Verse 12 says, select people to fellowship with, those you can imitate. In other words, pick a mentor—someone who will help you grow spiritually and guide you to a higher level than you are now.

Do not play around with Christianity in a way that nobody even knows where your stand is, expecting that you won’t backslide. Paul says, be earnest and do not be sluggish! Do not expect that keeping the wrong company will be okay. No! Look for people to imitate, those who are serious with God themselves. In the end, you will have hope for a better future in Christ.

Isn’t that what Paul is saying? We better trust in God. God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown by helping His people. He is saying there is hope, and you should always hope because God will be with you. But He will only be with you if you allow Him. Our past faithful service to God is not ignored God is pleased with it! However, it will be useless if we do not continue to the end. He will not overlook what you have done, but you must remain faithful to the end.

So may the Lord help us to learn the importance of continuing in the things of God, continuing to trust in Him, and hoping in Him. Verses 13 to 18 remind us that God Himself is the best reason for believers to maintain hope. Yes, maintain hope and do not fall away.

The reason you will not backslide is because when God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” And after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all arguments. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which God cannot lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a High Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

 

Day 7

Hebrews 6

16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek

 

So, you can see that God Himself is the best reason for us to trust Him and not fall away. He loves us. We should be looking to Him because His promises are sure and unbreakable. What He has promised—to walk with us—He will indeed fulfil. This is illustrated by His promises to Abraham. God committed to Abraham, and though it took 400 years, because the children of Israel stayed 430 years in Egypt, He finally kept His word and brought them to Canaan.

Now, if that is the God who has promised us, then you can be sure He will keep His promise to us. He guaranteed them by swearing on oath. Abraham’s reaction is an example for us, and we need to have a similar response.

After waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Similarly, let us have that kind of faith. God has confirmed it Himself. His heirs are convinced of His unchanging purpose, and He is speaking of immutable things that assure us who believe.

First, God has promised; second, God confirmed it with an oath. Therefore, we are encouraged to hold fast, right to the end, for our hope is an anchor for the soul! What is this anchor? It is that we can go where our High Priest, in the order of Melchizedek, has gone—behind the veil. We know that when we die, we will join Him, because that is what He has promised.

May the Lord help us to walk faithfully and trust in Him to the very end.

 

 

 

 

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