JEAN'S BIBLE STUDY
| KJV WEB
| Endtime Prophecy
| Parallel Gospels
Page Numbers | Plywood Canoe
OT Commentary | Books
Contact | Gospel Tract

HEBREWS CHAPTER 6 KJV WEB See previous page Heb 6,1-3 (103e) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God’s cleansing power >> cleansing of baptism Heb 6-1,2 (38d) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death (Satan) >> Resurrection brings about judgment (47j) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Eternal judgment against unbelief toward Christ (103g) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Spirit like water >> Anointing cleanses you from the practice of sin (115h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Laying on of hands >> Bestowing the Holy Spirit (137k) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Stages of maturity are levels of accountability >> It is our responsibility to be mature – The writer of Hebrews threw the subjects of the resurrection and eternal judgment into the category of elementary teachings about the Christ, suggesting that everyone in the days of the early Church understood these things. However, 2000 years later we routinely conduct seminars on such topics, often struggling to comprehend them. It seems we have muddied the waters of theology with our ideas. For example, people nowadays don’t want to believe in hell, probably because they suspect they are going there. In our day when we don’t want to believe something, we just manipulate our mind to accommodate our updated version of the truth, but denying the truth accomplishes nothing, in that God's Truth remains unedited. We are not living in reality anymore; everything is a facsimile of something else. Like our computers, one thing represents another, until the substance is buried under layers of symbolism. The computer is a tangible thing, but when we turn it on, it switches to virtual reality. For example, the letters we type in the word processor become 0s and 1s, and they in turn become electrical impulses that represent either on or off. We live in a very nebulous world; if we don’t want to believe something, we just fabricate ideas in our minds and then assign truth to it, knowing it is merely a figment of our imagination, yet we still go on believing it, because the truth seems no longer relevant. We think we are so smart, but the fact is we are spiritually in the Stone Age. If the Holy Spirit actually dwells in us, then why does truth come so hard to us? If these are the elementary teachings about the Christ and we are struggling to understand them, how will we understand the weightier things that the writer of Hebrews is about to discuss? See also: See also: Comparing computers to faith; Heb 4-14; 150ca (173k) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Man’s Religion >> Deeds that are not initiated by God >> Traditions of men – Instruction about washing goes back to the Old Testament. God commanded Israel to wash their food and wash their hands, etc. long before germs were discovered. The Pharisees and other zealots took it too far and said that if they observed the doctrine on washing, they were righteous, but if they didn’t, they are sinners. At the time washing evolved to became a condition of God’s favor, and this was one of the fronts that Paul and the other early apostles fought to free the Church, yet we of the new covenant believe things just as stupid as this. (239k) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Let not many of you become teachers >> Dividing accurately the word of truth Heb 6-1 (26f) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death is the fruit of the world – Dead works refer to our sins, but it also refers to works God has not called us to do. Some things we do can be helpful to others, referring to the general will of God, but by comparison, doing the specific will of God bears more fruit than doing the general will of God. We may not be violating the Law of Moses, but neither are we fulfilling God’s purpose and calling that He has prepared for us from all eternity. (137f) Maturity (Key verse) (193b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Turn from your evil ways >> Turn from sin – The writer of Hebrews is saying, 'Now that we have covered some of the elementary teachings about the Christ and our future in heaven, let’s press on to weightier things,' such as our Great High Priest, who gives occasion to both rejoice and fear. We know that repentance is not a complicated subject; in fact, there is really nothing to learn about repentance; we simply stop sinning, turn in the direction of Christ and follow Him instead. Sin is dead works that do not bear fruit, because they are not initiated by the Holy Spirit. Paul also spoke of this in Romans chapters six and seven. Heb 6-3 (216j) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God Is Independent Of His Creation >> You cannot control God’s desire for you >> man is not in control of his own destiny Heb 6,4-9 (207a) Salvation >> God makes promises on His terms >> Eternal security? >> Perish by losing your faith >> The apostasy (walking out the same door you came in) – The writer of Hebrews said, “We are convinced of better things concerning you,” referring to those who throw away their faith (1Tim 5-8). We have all seen people bear fruit for God and then later fall away, bringing up the question, ‘were they really saved?’ If they weren’t saved, then how hard is it to get saved? Some people want unbelievers to recite the sinner's prayer, thinking that if they do, they will be saved. In their mind salvation is just that easy, and ironically these are the same people who claim we cannot lose our salvation. Therefore, if the person in this passage is not saved, then those who believe in eternal security must admit that salvation is far more complicated than simply reciting the sinner's prayer. However, salvation is not complicated, which exposes a very serious contradiction in their theology. God is not an ogre, and those in question were indeed saved before they walked away from their faith. Salvation is a one way street; once we venture down this road, there is no turning back without losing our soul to some of the deepest pits of hell. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6,4-8 (2n) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Do not abuse His grace (26k) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Curse >> Deeds that return to the doer >> God’s blessings are a curse if you don’t walk in them (45i) Judgment >> Of believer’s sin >> God will judge us for trampling on His son (51d) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> Warned to heed the word of God (51g) Judgment >> Judging the Church with the world >> No partiality between saved and unsaved (55k) Paradox >> Gain the world to lose your soul >> He who saves his life shall lose it (96l) Thy kingdom come >> Having a negative attitude about sin >> Having an attitude of unbelief (110m) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spiritual substance and truth >> Spiritual substance follows obedience (157i) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of being hell-bound >> Having a reprobate mind (161b) Works of the devil >> Wandering from the character of God >> Wander from the faith (172d) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Communion between the world and the Church >> Worldliness in the Church (185d) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Mystery of lawlessness >> Denying Christ in spite of His proven identity – The type of rebellion that the writer of Hebrews is addressing is on par with the angels who rebelled in the presence of God, and is a type of Adam's sin. Although Adam fellowshipped with God in the garden in the cool of the day, still he decided that it would be better to eat the forbidden fruit and learn the mystery of sin at the cost of his relationship with God. Adam had the choice to either know God or to experientially know sin. Therefore, the test in the Garden was about knowledge. God has created us with the capacity for knowledge, which is part of what it means to be created in the image of God. The temptation apparently was too great for Adam, and from curiosity he jumped at the chance to know God's opposite. It is impossible to fully understand a man with Adam’s intelligence, having been made perfect, to then turn against his Creator by doing the one thing God said he shouldn’t do. Sin was the only thing God also did not know on an experiential level, so God Himself jumped at the chance to know sin by sending His Son to the cross to become sin for us. Adam knew sin as a sinner, and Christ knows sin as the Savior of sinners, who never committed a sin, yet knows more about sin than anyone. A person who would turn his back on God like Adam did exhibits the mystery of lawlessness in all of its depravity. Adam did not invent the mystery of lawlessness; Satan did, meaning Adam entered Satan's rebellion. The one who walks away from God the way Adam did made a thoughtful decision, premeditated, which increased his sin, and multiplied the mystery of lawlessness. See also: Adam's knowledge of evil; Rev 16-15; 92d (186a) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven >> Unwilling to walk in God’s ability (196e) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to die to self >> Unable to obey God (197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom -- These verses go with verse 12 (199e) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Rejecting Christ >> Throwing God away >> Renouncing your faith – How do we understand someone who was saved and then walked away from his faith? To the degree that it is impossible to renew him to repentance is the degree to which it is impossible for us to understand his decision to abandon his faith. The mystery of lawlessness was certainly at work in helping him reach his conclusion to dispose of God. He was a born-again believer in Jesus; that is very much different from a worldly person's rejection of God, having never known Him. (201b) Denying Christ >> Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> You are against Christ when your unbelief materializes >> Our disobedience is against Christ (203b) Denying Christ >> Dishonor God >> Dishonor God by your unbelief (204a) Denying Christ >> Man chooses his own destiny apart from God >> Back-slider >> Practicing sin >> Dying in sin (217e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God gives up on you >> After you are no longer able to repent (221k) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Kingdom hidden behind the veil from the world >> God hides from sin >> He hides behind unbelief (222b) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Do not give what is holy to dogs >> God does not entrust his treasures to dogs >> God retrieves his treasures when sheep revert to dogs (223f) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the point >> Miss the meaning of the truth KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6,4-6 (64f) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot directly violate the will of man (64g) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot save the reprobate – A person who has been saved, and then fallen away is impossible to renew him again to repentance. It didn’t say it was difficult, or that it would take long hours of fasting and prayer, and it didn’t say we could take him aside and coax him back to the faith. It said, “It is impossible to renew him again.” It didn’t say it was impossible for men; it said it was impossible… even for God to renew him to repentance. (99j) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance >> Enduring circumstances >> Endurance that fails (109b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelations of the Holy Spirit >> Revelation of the gift of God (111f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the power (meaning) of God >> Word in obedience cannot evade the power of God -- These verses go with verses 17&18. This passage of Scripture is talking about someone who had been saved and then lost his salvation. In fact it gives an advanced definition of salivation. The phrase “tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” is one concept. We are not talking about the Bible we can hold in our hand, for though the Bible is the word of God, yet it is in written form, which is different from the living and active word of God, the form to which this passage is referring. For example, in the beginning when God said “Let there be light” and the stars suddenly appeared, He wasn’t reading out of a book, but He spoke the living and active word of God, which created the heavens and the earth. This is different from inkblots on a page. We can quote the Scriptures, and it is powerful, but when the Holy Spirit speaks through the Scriptures, He sets us free in ways that we could not become free without Him. The Bible is powerful only if we believe it, which gives the Holy Spirit opportunity to reveal the truth to us, for without Him we cannot significantly believe the truth. We should not talk about the word of God and the Holy Spirit apart from each other but together like Jesus did, when He called Him "the Spirit of Truth". This term shows that the Holy Spirit and the word of God are one, operating together to create the substance of God in us. It is the Holy Spirit who is the power of the age to come. The writer of Hebrews is saying that this individual knew God in this way and then fell away from the faith. Finishing, he said that it is impossible to renew him to repentance. (132g) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> Filled with the Spirit >> Filled with the power of God (220c) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> Predestination >> Predestined according to His foreknowledge – Predestination is often seen as a gray area, i.e. the person in this passage was saved and now he isn’t. If the person were genuinely saved and then walked away from his faith, does that mean God knew He would do that, so he really wasn’t chosen? No, the person was actually born-again! This is one example of where the argument of predestination breaks-down according to our understanding of it, but that is not to say predestination isn’t real. The difference between predestination and foreknowledge is that with predestination God causes things to happen, whereas with foreknowledge He merely knows the future. The Old Testament story of punishing the Pharaoh of Egypt for enslaving Israel is an example of predestination, that is, God worked to ensure His judgments were executed. In His foreknowledge, though, God does not cause anything to happen, any more than He forces us to be Christians. Another example of predestination is the Church; Jesus said that the gates of hell will not overpower it (Mat 16-18). Paul said that God predestined each of us for glory (Rom 8,28-30), but until we get to heaven we don't know if this applies to us or not. Going one step further, if God knew that nobody would come to know the Lord through His efforts, He simply would not have sent His Son to die for our sins in the first place, but He did go to the cross, because He did know that many people would respond to His love, and for this reason Paul said we were predestined. Heb 6-4,5 (36c) Gift of God >> Gifts from the Holy Spirit >> Spiritual food (230d) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >> Partaking of the ministry of the Holy Spirit Heb 6-5 (132e) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holy Spirit is in God’s people >> God gives his spirit as a pledge >> Spirit pledges the presence of God (255b) Trinity >> Holy Spirit’s relationship between Father and Son >> God’s word is Spirit >> Spirit of the word >> Words of His Spirit are truth – The word of God and the powers of the age to come are spoken together in this verse to show the relationship between them: God reveals His power through His word. Heb 1-3 also says that God “upholds all things by the word of His power.” People frequently transpose this statement to say that God does all things by ‘the power of His word,’ but the Bible doesn’t have power; if it did, people would have annihilated themselves with it long ago. Rather, God has power, and He never exerts His power apart from His word. To believe God’s word has power indicates they don’t understand the gospel. God speaks things into existence, yet it is not His word that brings the creation to the fore; rather, God does it through His word. That is how we should see Jesus. God exercises His power in subtle ways that require us to continue believing in Him. For example, He reveals His word to people through the Spirit, so that we understand Him by revelation. They are not just words; to the contrary, they tower over mere doctrines, making His word truer than anything we know. The believer should understand what is happening to him; he is not being affected by God’s word but by God Himself through His word. He establishes His kingdom in His people and creates a ministry in us we use to help others believe the truth. Heb 6-6 (16ab) Sin >> The sin nature is instinctively evil >> Man’s flesh is related to the devil >> Man's flesh is tempted to deny God (94p) Thy kingdom come >> Perspective >> False perspective in the Church (153f) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> God bears witness against the world >> Shame >> Hiding under a cloud of guilt >> Opposing the truth (173c) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Catholic doctrine versus the Bible (241h) Kingdom of God >> Opposition toward the Kingdom of God >> Persecuting the kingdom >> Persecution to the death >> Kill Jesus >> Kill Jesus because of who He is Heb 6,7-12 (101h) Thy kingdom come >> Ambition >> Be an ambitious businessman for God >> Managing God’s business KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6-7,8 (4g) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> He who is faithful in little is also faithful in much (47b) Judgment >> God Judges the world >> Hell is a place of sorrow >> It is a great fire prepared for the devil and his angels >> burning site where people are thrown away – Farmers periodically let their fields go fallow regenerating the soil, and sometimes after a field has been allowed to grow whatever it wants for too long, larger plants get established so the farmer cannot turn the soil with a spade, and so he burns the field. There are many so-called Christians who never cultivate their hearts, but allow whatever seed to grow that falls in their field. This concept of burning the field is in reference to hell. People who fit this description may have never been Christians, but there is a case where the person was truly born-again as in the parable of the sower (Lk 8,4-8), where the seed fell on the road, on the rocky ground, among weeds and on the good soil. The seed yielded fruit that landed on good soil; this is the only Christian that went to heaven in this parable. The seed that fell on the road represents a person who was never saved, and the seed that fell on rocky ground and among the weeds represent Christians whose faith died. These are the ones who never cultivated their hearts, and their field was burned... in hell. If we don’t cultivate our heart mainly through the word of God and prayer, eventually we will quit bearing fruit and then we will die. Jn 15-6 says, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.” This is an example of a Christian (branch) that didn't bear fruit, so it was cut off the vine and burned with the other fruitless branches. Every person who believes in eternal security does so against the current of many passages of Scripture in the Bible, thinking that serving God is optional since we are not saved by works by faith, thinking they need only believe in a set of doctrines. Good luck with that. (58i) Paradox >> Opposites >> More it rains the less productive the ground – A field that has received rain after it has been tilled should bring forth fruit. The rain obviously represents the Holy Spirit, and tilling the ground represents Christians preparing their hearts to receive the seed of God’s word. The Holy Spirit is like a dove; the anointing rests on the believer as it did at Jesus' baptism; a sudden jerk will scare it, so we need to be on our best behavior to make Him feel comfortable. If we do all the necessary preliminaries, tilling the ground to prepare our heart for the seed, when it rains, our field will produce fruit if we are committed to the faith, but there are other so-called Christians whose fields yield thorns and thistles, because they never cultivated their soil, so it is close to being cursed and end up being burned. These are nominal Christians; they live as though Christianity were supposed to work for them, instead of working for Him; they receive the grace of God and do nothing with it; and when things go wrong, they blame Him. (97g) Thy kingdom come >> Attention >> Facing the direction of God’s will >> Focusing your attention on finishing the course (103f) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Spirit like water >> Cleanses you from the desire to sin (171e) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Vanity >> Vanity lacks worth (175a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Trying to bend kingdom principles (197g) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Man withers when he is in control >> Distracted from a fruitful life – People often fraudulently regard themselves as Christians. They join a church, get involved and do all the things Christians do, including develop the lingo of Christendom, yet they still don’t have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, and they are not on the road to heaven. They are counterfeit Christians, and there are many believers who can’t tell the difference. We can tell Christians from non-Christians through the gift of discernment. It is fine to trust the gifts; we can develop and hone them so when someone opens his mouth, he exposes himself, but Jesus taught us an easier way; we are to become fruit inspectors. Mat 7-16 says, “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?” Non-Christians have thorns and thistles, meaning they are prickly and painful if we get too close. We need to keep our distance, because they can draw blood. Apples and thorns have nothing in common, so when we see a person resembling thistles instead of oranges, we should be suspicious. Christians who bear the fruit of the kingdom don’t mind people pulling apples off their tree and eating them, but weeds have nothing to offer. (218i) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> Reaping the harvest >> Reaping the harvest of obedience >> Principle of sowing and reaping (225d) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Parables >> Parables about wealth >> Parables about a land owner and his farm – There are fruit bearing plants that have thorns such as raspberry bushes, but they don’t fit Jesus’ analogy. He didn’t use plants in His parable that have both fruit and thorns. There are Christians who seem to bear fruit and are also thorny, yet the fact that Jesus didn’t use this kind of plant in His parables suggests it doesn’t accurately reflect the kingdom that He is trying to build. Are there Christians like raspberry bushes that bear fruit and also have thorns? Not according to Scripture! Often, a field that was allowed to go fallow produces brambles and briar bushes, some with berries on them, but the owner sees the field as “worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.” There are harvesters who pick them, tearing up their clothes, getting needled and scratched for a bucket of berries, but this verse does not value plants with thorns that bear fruit, nor did Jesus, meaning that according to the Bible there are no thorny Christians. “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit” (Mat 12-33). (229e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Kingdom grows by itself >> God causes the growth >> Kingdom grows like crops in a farmer’s field Heb 6-7 (76o) Thy kingdom come >> Desires >> Word is food >> Harvesting the word of God (87a) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> God blesses us for doing His word, not for knowing it (101b) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal >> For the manifestation of God’s kingdom >> Zealous for good works -- This verse goes with verses 9-12 (115k) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through obedience of faith >> Through diligence (128m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Bearing fruit >> Evidence of your fruit >> Good fruit is proof that God is working in you (215b) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God Has Good Timing >> God’s time is sufficient (226i) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> Levels of reward >> God rewards us to the degree of our labors -- This verse goes with verse 10 (234f) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> Seeking the fruit of the ministry – This analogy is about the Church planting a garden and eating its fruit, so everyone is involved in planting, cultivating and harvesting, a concerted effort, and those who participate partake of its fruit. This could also refer to the garden of an individual’s heart, who plants good seeds and weeds out the menacing plants, harvests and partakes of his own efforts, having enough left over to offer those around him. Whether it is an individual or a group, each person is expected to do his part. If somebody doesn’t maintain his own heart and has nothing to offer; he gets hungry and eats from someone else's garden, which he did not participate. The less people contribute, the more they drive down the overall health of the church, until they drive out the fruit-bearing Christians, and the church becomes weak and sick and useless for any good thing. The purpose of the pastor is to weed out people like this, telling them that they must either get saved or they can no longer be partakers of the body. In the first century there was much interaction between the members of the body, and that interaction was defined as spiritual fellowship, based on faith toward God and love toward one another, so those who were quick to bear fruit did their part in boosting the health of the ministry. (235k) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> All things are for your sake >> We are fighting for you >> Our effort is for your sake KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6-8 (104a) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Purified by circumstances >> Purified through judgment (159h) Works of the devil >> Essential characteristics >> Counterfeit >> Counterfeit godliness >> Counterfeit fruit – There are some people who consider themselves Christians who think they are bearing the fruit of the kingdom when all they produce are thorns and thistles. They try to fool the true believers, but we know they don’t belong to God, because they bear the wrong fruit. They are counterfeit Christians, and they are actually more dangerous than worldly people, because they attempt to infiltrate the Church, and their motive could only be evil. We need to keep our eye on them (Rom 16-17,18) and protect the flock and ourselves. We are not to let them harm God’s sheep. We cannot sit on our hands and passively let them have their way. There is old saying, “A bird in hand is worth two in the bush;” in this case it means that one Christian in hand is worth many whom we try to save in our churches who are battering the saints, swindling them, seducing them and doing harm to their faith, leading them to the conclusion that church is not a safe place, when it should be a harbor for the righteous. If we cater to the wicked in our churches, we will lose the righteous. We cannot assume that the wicked will get saved if we minister to them at the cost of those who already believe and have entrusted their souls to the ministry. (167i) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil (Conspiracy) >> Carnality/Secularism (mindset of the world) >> The carnal mind does not receive the things of God >> It rejects God Heb 6,9-12 (95k) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an obedient attitude >> Ready to do good (101b) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal >> For the manifestation of God’s kingdom >> Zealous for good works -- These verses go with verse 7 (156e) Witness >> Validity of the believer >> Evidence of salvation >> You will know them by their endurance (232a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Count the cost >> Don’t look back >> Don’t look back to the past (236e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Invest your strength into the kingdom >> Invest your labors Heb 6,9-11 (31b) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> He favors you as a servant (122e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Confidence in yourself as you die to sin >> Confident in your salvation – The one who believes in God ought to know whether he was going to heaven, for Paul said as much in Rom 8-16, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God.” We who have the Spirit of God dwelling in us know we belong to Him, but those who do not have the indwelling Holy Spirit but concur with a type of faith that is more in line with mental ascent assume they believe in Jesus just because they affirm certain doctrines to be true. Jesus said we must be born-again (Jn 3-3). That is, we must have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us or we can't go to heaven. Salvation to a little child is simple; someone tells her to believe in Jesus, so she does, but adults are complicated; they massage their minds to believe whatever they want. When we look at the Pharisees and Scribes and the religious leaders of Israel in Jesus’ day, He exposed them as hypocrites. They really thought they believed in God, and no one could convince them otherwise, not even Jesus. Heb 6-9 (102i) Thy kingdom come >> Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Consistency >> Faithfulness KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6-10,11 (15a) Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Helpers are hard workers (130g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Committed to caring for the needs of the body >> Caring for spiritual needs – God will not forget the kindness we show to the saints in the good works we do for His namesake. Our first ministry beyond our personal families is to the saints. Too often we think that reaching the lost world with the gospel is our top priority as Christians; these are good intensions, but ministering to the saints is even more important. If we don't nurture a healthy church, the people we have saved will soon walk out the same door they entered. Moreover, our efforts in reaching the lost are mostly in vain, but the work we show each other always bears fruit. Godliness multiplies when we see it in others; faith and love are contagious, encouraging others to model after us. In this way the Church will spiritually grow in the likeness of Christ toward maturity, making it possible to reach the lost world for Christ. God would rather see us growing in heart than in numbers, in that pound for pound, calorie for calorie, our ministry toward each other bears more fruit than our efforts in evangelism. Therefore, we should focus on those in our care and make evangelism secondary. Jesus charged us with the great commission in a few verses, but he charged us with perfecting unity in entire chapters! The world will be more receptive to our message if they see us taking care of each other, so in that sense unity is our greatest evangelism tool. Heb 6-10 (13g) Servant >> Serve the body >> Promoting its health >> Be a blessing – Does Christ intend to reward us for all the good we do in His name? Yes! The person who tries to rise above rewards and live altruistically is being self-delusional. Even God does all things in hope of a reward. For example, He created the heavens and the earth for His enjoyment, and Jesus suffered on the cross in hope of receiving the Church (Heb 12-2). Therefore, God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11-6), beginning with His approval. (67j) Authority >> Jesus delegates authority >> Glorifying the name of Jesus (125a) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love is the action of faith >> Love is the response of receiving from God (226i) Kingdom of God >> Illustrating the kingdom >> Rewards of heaven >> Levels of reward >> God rewards us to the degree of our labors -- This verse goes with verse 7 Heb 6-11,12 (98k) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Endurance invites the Holy Spirit into your life >> The salvation of God >> Endure to the end – God wants us to be diligent in our faith to realize the full assurance of our hope firm until the “end”, referring to the end of our natural lives. God doesn’t want us giving up on Him or quitting. We can fall a hundred times a day, get up, continue on the path that He ordered for our feet and suffer no loss in terms of the covenant God made with us through the blood of His Son, but if we quit on Him, God is offended and the covenant is breached. God wants to see us showing diligence; He doesn’t want us coasting through our last fifty years, but wants to see our faith steadily growing and bearing fruit in every good work. Sluggishness is guaranteed to keep us from experiencing all that God promises. (197c) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling against where God wants you to go >> Refuse to walk in freedom -- This verse goes with verses 4-8. The word "sluggish" refers to spiritual laziness and was used in proverbs 6-6, “Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!” Another word that is often used in this context is complacent. There is complacency in the Church these days that is so thick we could cut it with a knife. Why is the Church so complacent? It is acting on the doctrines it believes! Most people in the Church these days believe that salvation is about affirming certain doctrines, and then going on with their lives as though they didn’t believe in Jesus at all. Well, maybe they believe and maybe they don’t. They think that if they get involved in the Church it won’t change their salvation, so why bother? If they read their Bible it won’t make them more saved, so why bother. If they pray it won't change anything, so why bother. A sluggard refuses to develop a relationship with Jesus. He may get saved, but he will never come to know the Lord like he should. If we are sluggish, we are not being diligent, and without diligence we cannot fully realize our assurance. The sluggard is risking becoming a statistic of the apostasy. The sluggard is a candidate to be absorbed by the darkness. Similar to the sluggard, darkness is where the dead don’t move. The sluggard may move faster than the dead, but maybe not fast enough. The diligent are always serving the Lord, but the sluggard moves at a snail's pace in his faith, and if he stops altogether, the darkness will assimilate him. Is there room to fear God as a Christian? Yes there is! Heb 6-11 (76i) Thy kingdom come >> Desires of your heart >> Your interests -- This verse goes with verse 17 (100f) Thy kingdom come >> Diligence >> Diligence in working the grace of God (109e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of the word of God >> Revelation of the meaning of God’s word (118d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit >> Real-eyes (121i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope Based On Faithfulness >> Hope based on perseverance KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6,12-20 (2g) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Keep your commitments with those who are committed to you Heb 6,12-19 (151b) Witness >> Validity of the Father >> New Testament bears witness of the Old >> The Patriarchs >> Abraham >> Promises to Abraham – Isn’t it good that we have the Old Testament that bears witness with the New, so we don’t have to apply our faith to a story that has no roots, as though it sprang from nowhere, like so many other religions? The story of God’s plan of redemption starts with Israel, and the story of Israel starts with Abraham in genesis chapter 11. Faith in God has been a step-by-step process over the millennia. All God did was spoke to Abraham, and His plan of redemption was born. He gave Abraham an errand to take his wife and travel to a foreign land, and from there He made promises. If it weren’t for God calling him, Abraham would have been childless, because Sarah was barren, and she gave birth to a son in her old age, which was a two-fold miracle, (1) that she gave birth at all, (2) and that she gave birth beyond her years. The likelihood of her giving birth without the Lord’s help was zero as a young woman and kept decreasing over the years. Therefore, Isaac was a miracle upon a miracle, and this set precedence for everything God did for Israel. His Son Isaac married Rebecca, who gave birth to Jacob, and he had twelve sons, which became the twelve tribes of Israel, and through Israel Messiah was born to take away our sins. See also: Abraham; Heb 6,12-15; 93c / History of Israel; Heb 11-11,12; 225j Heb 6,12-18 (5c) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Disciples finish the course Heb 6,12-15 (93c) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> You will find your ministry along the narrow way – Abraham’s faith faltered on occasion but it did not fail. We have an account of God blessing Abraham even after he acted deceitfully, suggesting that when we are walking on the Lord’s path that He prepared for our feet, He will happily forgive us, unless we are willfully sinning, but then we wouldn't be walking on His trail of Good works. He will bless us even when we screw-up, how much more when we obey Him? It is interesting that the writer of Hebrews did not criticize Abraham one iota, and there was plenty he could have said. He often screwed-up, not just with Hagar but also offering his own wife, Sarah, to foreigners more than once. Abraham gave his wife to King Abimelech of Gerar, a district of the land of Canaan for fear of being killed (Genesis 20). The people gave his wife back to him saying, ‘Why did you deceive us?’ This proves that the people were God-fearing at the time. Note that by the time God was ready to rescue Abraham’s descendents from the slavery of Egypt, the land of Canaan had become filled with sin and idolatry, a little over four hundred years later, which is roughly fourteen generations. This indicates how long it takes for a godly nation to become corrupt, which by the way is about how long America has been a nation. Abraham pulled the same shenanigans on pharaoh, and God sent plagues on him until he returned Sarah to her husband (Genesis 12,10-20). The moral of the story is: so long as we are walking on God's narrow way, he winks at our mistakes, but if we refuse to walk on His designated trail, our sins become magnified in His eyes. In the long run, Abraham’s mistakes did not matter to the writer of Hebrews, so long as he continued obeying the Lord to receive the promises, indicating that his mistakes didn't matter to God either. These screw-ups did not change His relationship with God, which was based on faith and obedience, not based on being devoid of mistakes or being perfect. Abraham disobeyed the Lord on occasion, though he still believed the promises; he was just trying to find His way through the maze of problems both in his head and on the ground that stood between he and the word that God spoke to him. The same applies to us. When God calls us to do a specific thing, He doesn’t take into account our blunders along the way. He only cares that we accomplish what He commanded us to do. That doesn’t give us a license to sin, but it does mean that when we make mistakes, it doesn’t matter, so long as they don’t derail us from God’s plan and purpose for our lives. See also: Abraham; 126m (106b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearin g from God >> Attaining the hearing ear >> Knowing the sound of His voice >> Having confidence in His voice (126m) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Patience >> Be patient in your circumstances – God made promises to Abraham that he would receive in this life, yet the writer of Hebrews was talking about those promises pertaining to us and to the life to come. Abraham was patient and waited; his heart was fixed on God, whom Paul called the Father of our faith. When it says that God will not “forget the work and the love which you have shown toward His name in ministering and in still ministering to the saints” (v10), he was calling us to be diligent. Abraham continued believing what God said would come to pass, as it says also in (Heb 11-8), “When he was called… he went.” He abandoned his family inheritance and everyone he knew and loved and sojourned into a foreign land with his wife Sarah, not knowing where he was going or what He would do there, just that he was looking for a land that God promised him that he could call his own and a son who would receive his inheritance. See also: Abraham; Heb 6-12; 12a Heb 6-12 (12a) Servant >> Examples of God’s people >> Good examples – When God called Abraham from the land of his birth to leave all that he knew and loved, taking his wife and possessions and made his home among strangers, he did what God said, not knowing where he was going. He was convinced that God was speaking to Him, and that He was great enough to fulfill every promise. Abraham knew that He was the creator of heaven earth, who spoke with Him and knew that He was worthy of obedience. It didn’t matter what God demanded of him; He was prepared to give it. His perseverance led him to the land of Canaan where his descendants would one day live, where King David, his descendant, would establish a city, Jerusalem, and where His son Solomon would build Him a house. See also: Abraham; 36g (36g) Gift >> God opens His home to us >> Inheritance >> We heirs through faith -- This verse goes with verses 17&18. “Faith” and patience are two separate things in that Patience corresponds with “endurance”, whereas faith is in line with “perseverance”. The Faith chapter, in Hebrews 11-8 says, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed….” This denotes action, which was attributed to his faith, and we know that Abraham had to endure many things, so we find that salvation is based on both perseverance and endurance. It would be accurate to say that the level of our perseverance marks the ceiling of our endurance. Perseverance is always observable, whereas endurance is apparent only when we are forced to believe in God against adversity. Do we blame God when things go wrong or do we rise to the challenge and trust Him that He cares for us and will reward us for working through our problems by His strength? God doesn’t care how mad we get at Him, so long as we don’t give up on Him. He’s testing us for reasons of His own, and we need to let Him, because He has the right to do what He wants, for we are His property; He bought us (1Cor 6-19,20). See also: Abraham; Heb 6,13-20; 102g (43f) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to me as I conform to Christ (93i) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Through men >> Follow the example of others KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6,13-20 (102g) Thy kingdom come >> Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Trustworthy >> Faithfulness – The writer of Hebrews gives an example of perseverance in Abraham, who walked with God, and the fact that he waited his whole life exemplified his endurance. He had both perseverance and endurance; if one fails, the other does too. Abraham’s faith was not perfect, for he tried to fulfill the promise through Hagar, his wife’s maid, and she bore him a son, Ishmael, yet through continued patience his faith was perfected. However, the descendants of Ishmael have become the inhabitants of the Middle East, who continually rival with Israel for God's promise to this day, and they terrorize the whole world from jealousy. God will honor our obedience, but He will not neutralize the sins we commit along the way. See also: Abraham; Heb 6-17,18; 111f (107a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Hearing from God >> Word creates faith >> Receiving unction from God Heb 6,16-20 (28a) Gift of God >> God is our advocate >> The protector of our faith (97j) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> Rooted deeply >> Standing firm in the faith >> Immovable (137d) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Jesus is the foundation of God’s favor in our lives – The Father made His oath through His Son who said, “I know that His commandment is eternal life” (Jn 12-50). Isn’t it interesting that eternal life is a commandment? It is not appended to the Ten Commandments or related to the law in any way; rather, it is a new commandment. Jesus said “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (Jn 13-34). There is therefore a link between these two commandments: one acts as a condition for the other. That is, the person who does not walk in love does not have eternal life abiding in him. His promise to mankind is eternal life to anybody who will obey Him. If we love one another, we will live forever with Him apart from the destructive power of sin. There is big reason to be confident in His oath, for the foundation of God’s favor in our lives is His word, and Jesus is the manifestation of God's word. We can take refuge in His promises and be confident that what He said He will do. We can take hold of the hope set before us, for God is in absolute control of the forces that resist His word. When Jesus said that His Father’s commandment is eternal life, we have all confidence that we will live forever with Him in paradise, because we love the brethren. (232i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the kingdom >> Embrace (Jesus during the storm) >> Take hold of the hope of His purpose Heb 6,16-18 (85d) Thy kingdom come >> Words that are spoken in faith >> Powerful when spoken by the Spirit >> The spoken word of God Heb 6-16 (44b) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Complete >> It is finished >> God has spoken KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6,17-20 (31k) Gift of God >> Gift of His grace >> Grace is the work of God – Every Christian has felt hypersensitivity to God's Holy Spirit after he has committed a grievous sin. This is a very real thing, "where sin increased, grace abounded all the more" (Rom 5-20). He wants us to understand that we are forgiven. He doesn’t wait for weeks to console us but immediately after we’ve sinned, and in that love and mercy embeds a desire to repent. No matter how many times we fall, we get up; He does not count how many times we fall; He only notices when we give up on Him; He wants us to keep fighting the good fight. Remember Cain who committed the first recorded murder, after he became jealous that his brother’s sacrifice was better than his, God immediately consoled him and warned Him not to continue down the road of jealousy. He wants us to know that we haven’t lost anything, but that repentance fixes everything by His mercy and grace that we access through faith. We are immediately restored to fellowship without any need to afflict ourselves with any familiar sensations of guilt. (80h) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to minister to God >> In your inner man (116e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through worship >> Entering His hiding place – The promises of God escort us into the Most Holy Place, where we have fellowship with Him, where He lives in the essence of our being, the human soul, the dwelling place of God. We believe He will fulfill every promise He has made to us. Jesus entered the Most Holy Place into heaven itself to make atonement for sin in the presence of the Father, and at the same time sent the Holy Spirit in His place to come live in our heart by Faith, so that our spirit has become the new heaven. Our body is the outer court; our soul is the holy place, and the indwelling Holy Spirit is the Holy of Holies, and we Christians enter the innermost room where we have true fellowship with Him through the word of God and prayer. We must go to Him in our heart to make supplication, where He has taken up residence. (140a) Temple >> Temple made without hands >> Hiding place >> The doorway (189i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Jesus was a martyr (227j) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> Dependence on Jesus >> Depending on Jesus to fulfill His purpose in us (230e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of the power of God >> Partaking of the word of God – The writer of Hebrews refers to two unchangeable things: His promise and His purpose. Once the promise has been made, all disputes have ended, yet all we do is dispute about the promises of God. We can hardly find two people who agree on anything, so it seems that the promises themselves have created disputes, yet the more they argue the more they expose their insincerity. The promises of God do not create disputes; on the contrary, they end them. (247c) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> God is interested in our freedom Heb 6-17,18 (36g) Gift >> God opens His home to us >> Inheritance >> We heirs through faith -- These verses go with verse 12 (91b) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s purpose is an inherent component of His calling >> God’s eternal purpose (111f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Word and the power (meaning) of God >> Word in obedience cannot evade the power of God -- These verses go with verses 4-6. God's word to Abraham was, “I will bless you, and multiply your descendants” (Genesis 26-24). Where there were two unchangeable things: the word of God and the Holy Spirit, there were His promise and His purpose. The Spirit and the word are cited together many times in Scripture. He made a promise to Abraham (v13) that we find in Genesis 12-2,3, “I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” God's fulfilled promise was Isaac, Abraham’s son, who would carry on his bloodline to produce the Messiah, who would save the nations from their sins. It was the Spirit of God who opened Sarah’s womb to fulfill the immediate promise to Abraham and it was the Spirit of God who overshadowed Mary, who conceived the Christ child to fulfill the promise to Abraham to bless the whole world. See also: Abraham; Heb 6,12-19; 151b (139e) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Encouragement >> Encouraged by the word of God (205a) Salvation >> Salvation is based on God’s promises >> According to promise >> God never changes – God’s primary purpose was to send the Holy Spirit, who would dwell in His people. He interposed His promise with an oath, which anchored our souls in the bedrock of God's word, who set His unchangeable promise into the rich soil of our heart, so we have reason to believe in Jesus and take refuge in Him. He leads us into the Most Holy Place, where He teaches us about our hope of eternal life. We are no longer strangers and aliens but are of God's household, having become His children. The purpose of God’s promise is for us to follow Jesus, who entered the most holy place as a forerunner for us, into heaven itself with His own blood, where He made propitiation for the sins of the people. Heaven is the literal Holy of Holies; though we cannot now physically go there, He has given us authority to visit Him as often as we want through the word of God and prayer. Heb 6-17 (76i) Thy kingdom come >> Desires of your heart >> Your interests -- This verse goes with verse 11 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 6,18-20 (121g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Hope >> Expecting good things based on God’s character >> Expectation based on His word – God made an oath, and we can be sure He will keep it, because He is trustworthy. In fact, God places His word above His name (Psalm 138-2 NKJV). God spoke and created the universe from nothing. He said, “Let there be light,” and suddenly the stars appeared. This shows the immense creativity of God, who cannot lie. He made an oath, and it is certain to materialize, since there are no circumstances big enough to impede its fulfillment. He has the power to control the circumstances, as He protected His Son as an infant from Herod, and He is unwilling to change His mind. When God says He will do something, it is more absolute than the things that have already happened. The past can be interpreted and so can the Bible, but God is doing a work that His children understand, though the world is in darkness. History has been misinterpreted, but we know what God said, because it was preserved throughout the ages. What the Bible said in the first century is what it still says today. Although many misinterpret the Bible, those who love Him and His children know the truth. Heb 6-18 (64e) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Limits of God >> God cannot lie (97e) Thy kingdom come >> Attention >> Facing in the direction of the Lord >> Focusing your attention on the word of God (194c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Running to meet Jesus prior to His visitation Heb 6-19,20 (133g) Temple >> Your body is the temple of God >> Holiness >> The body of Christ is holy >> We have made ourselves holy through Christ Heb 6-20 (80l) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Jesus ministered to people through His ministry toward God – That which goes up must come down, and that which begins must also end; that is a principle of this natural world, but God will break that principle by giving us eternal life. Jesus has become a Great High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, who had no past. To have no past is to have no beginning, and One who has no beginning has no end. We may have had a beginning, but we will have no end, because we have His promise, and His oath is steadfast. It cannot be fulfilled according to the natural laws that govern our flesh, and we know that "His commandment is eternal life" (Jn 12-50). (215f) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> God’s timing >> God views time in eternity >> God’s time is forever (243o) Kingdom of God >> The eternal kingdom >> There shall be no end to His increase >> He shall reign forever and ever (248e) Priorities >> God’ s preeminence >> Jesus is first >> Jesus has first place in everything See next page