Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
2 and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,
5 and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,
6 and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.
7 For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.
8 But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.
Instructions about baptisms…or washings. These had a place in Judaism, but now the deeper significance of what was going on, has been revealed in Jesus Christ.
It reminds us of how Jews had been taught the gospel. The evangelists started with what Jews already knew and with what was familiar to them… things that were pointing
to and now fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Repentance from sin, faith, baptism, the laying on of hands, resurrection and judgment were all part of the Jewish religious worldview…and these were taking them somewhere…namely to the feet of the Christ.
But this was lost to many of them…they didn’t understand redemptive history and all of these sacraments and gifts in this manner. By the way, “baptisms,” or “washings,”
in this context, refers to OT ceremonial washings. One of these washings, the ritual of the red heifer from Numbers 19 will be mentioned in 9:13.
Few, if any of these was an immersion, but here they are called “baptisms.” It is an argument against the view that the word “baptism” means and always means “immersion.”
It clearly does not always mean immersion.
Even the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment has been clouded in our day. There are many preachers and teachers who say things like the minister
who on Easter wrote to his local paper:
The body is nothing but an earth-suit and Christianity believes that we will leave this earth suit behind and be in heaven with the Lord forever…that is what Jesus
has promised us.
Well, to be candid…Jesus has promised no such thing. And that teaching is not the Bible’s as it is covered in Gnosticism. Our hope is not that we get rid of our bodies
in eternity, but that they are resurrected in perfection and joined to our perfect souls, to live in a physical place called the New Heavens and the New Earth.
And let’s not even get started with judgment. Far too many Christians do not believe and even more do not live as though they believe that God will judge the righteous
and the unrighteous and that what a man has sown he will be sure to reap on the great day.
So, the author is telling us to leave these things behind, by which he means to say, “Surely we understand these elementary issues…let’s build on them.”
But sadly, I am not sure the modern church is in any way prepared to move on to other things. But what of us? That is always the question to ask. Are we deeply given
to the foundation of repentance so that our lives are filled with its fruit? Are we filled with faith, trusting the Lord in these perilous times? Do we understand the sacraments and all of redemptive history as having Christ at its heart, so that we see Him
on every page and at every turn?
And are we, you and I, rejoicing in hope at the promise of the resurrection of the body, so that our lives are lived reflecting that we live in the realization that
we will give answer…for every action…every word…to the judge of the world…who just happens to be our Father?
Well, whether or not we are ready to move on…we are going to. And if all that we have mentioned so far is the shallow water…get ready…we are going to plunge in deep.
Verses 4-6 cause some to panic…others to begin exegetical gymnastics so as to make the text NOT say what it seems to be saying. What happens if you come to a text
with your theological presuppositions leading the way…you might miss or short change what a text is saying.
If a text is supposed to sting…even sober us up…then let it be…don’t qualify to death and take away the Holy Spirit’s purpose in saying what He says, just the way
He says it. “But pastor, you are destroying my assurance with such passages.” If your assurance, your security is in the Christ, His work and His promise…not your ability to articulate His work and His promise, but in His work and promise, then you
have nothing to fear.
Let me say this, if you want an argument against allowing your faith to become lackluster…an argument against dabbling with the idea of turning away from Christ and
making peace with our godless culture or even with your own favorite sin…Well, here is a show-stopper to such temptation. Once you turn back, the author says…there is no changing your mind. There will be no possibility of righting this wrong. No chance to
undo what will turn out to be the gigantic mistake of all mistakes.
Apostasy, and that is what we are talking about, is the one sin that is not and will not be forgiven. Elsewhere this sin is called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, or
the sin that leads to death, in the OT it is called the high-handed sin, the defiant in your face God, kind of sin. The point is always made that there is no possible recovery from this sin.
Two issues that we must try and deal with; First, the question or the fear that many, wonderful and godly Christians have, that perhaps I have committed this sin. And
second, we need to talk about the overly simplistic answer that the folks who committed this were never really Christians…they never had any of the things listed, only “seemed” like they had them.
Throughout Christian history and still today sensitive Christian consciences have wondered and even agonized over the thought that perhaps you have committed this
sin from which there is not return.
John Bunyan in his book Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners tells the story that when he was a young Christian he came to think that he had committed the
unpardonable sin and, in fact, was told by an older Christian that he, Bunyan, probably had committed it! He went into a deep and dark spiritual period wanting peace with God and thinking that he may have forever cut himself off from that peace.
But, and this is very important, that is not what happens to someone who has committed this sin. The man or woman who commits the sin from which there is no return,
does not worry afterward that he might have done so, he does not worry about it for he has rejected the very basis of such a concern and he couldn’t care less!
I have spoken with a number of Christians over the years who fear they have committed this sin. I have seen the fear and the confusion in their faces. They don’t doubt
their guilt but they are terrified that now there may be no way to remove it.
They know there is a judgment and they are frightened because they think they may have forever cut themselves off from the only way a man or woman can stand in that
judgment, namely by the grace of God through faith in Christ. But I can tell you and very confidently; If you are frightened, if you are terrified that you may have committed this sin that leads to death,
in the nature of the case this means that you have not committed it.
People who commit this sin don’t worry about it afterward because the sin itself is the rejection of the very idea that it is only by a living connection to Jesus
Christ that we can be at peace with God. It is fair to say that when the text says they cannot repent, it is the same as saying, they WILL not repent. They will not see their error…they will not come back to the Lord begging mercy…they will remain in the state
of having a hard heart and only seek its hardening all the more. The person in this state, seeks no repentance, isn’t interested in repentance and doesn’t believe IN repentance.
Prayer: Father, forgive my wanderings and my seeking for a happiness that is as a vapor instead of seeking my life in the Savior of my soul. I confess that there
is no happiness, joy, rest or peace apart from Him and I want this day to rejoice in the seeking…to find my happiness in the knowledge that You will lead me to the green pastures and the still waters, and that true and unending happiness will be mine in fullness
when You bring me to Your home and mine, when I find the fullness of my Savior as the city of refuge for my soul, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Psalm 46 God is Our Refuge and Strength
