Slices
Prepare
Time for a spiritual health check! How much has your desire to know God deepened this past year? Ask him to unblock your ears to hear his voice.
Bible passage
Warning against falling away
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 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! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
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, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen 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. 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. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case – the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Explore
After a day at school, young children are physically and mentally too tired to learn anything more, though their curiosity is not dulled. The hardness of heart of God’s people in Psalm 95 was unlike this, for theirs was a deliberate refusal to listen or learn.
The dullness referred to in 5:11 is different again. The writer reassures readers that God remembers how they’ve shown their love for him (6:10), but also tells them that they’re not making any effort to understand more. They need to move beyond the basics to a deeper, mature faith (6:1). They’ve got teeth, so they need to learn to chew on solid spiritual food (5:14). This letter is packed with a rich, nourishing diet of truths about Jesus.
This comes with a warning of danger. It is still possible for someone who has tasted the wonder of belonging to God to then refuse to learn from the teachings about Christ (6:4–6). There is no way back for anyone remaining in a state of persistent, deliberate disobedience – no hope of repentance (10:26). This passage is describing hardened and fierce opponents of Christ, not sensitive believers struggling with occasional or even frequent spiritual failure (see Matthew 12:31,32).
Respond
How rich and varied is your spiritual diet? How determined are you to dig deeper, so that your faith continues to mature? God makes himself known to those who seek him.
Deeper Bible study
Ask God to strengthen the faith and hear the cries of those facing persecution for their faith in places where it is difficult to live as a follower of Jesus.
Today we come to a very difficult passage. The book of Hebrews is no mere dispassionate treatise on the theology of priesthood; rather, it is an urgent pastoral communication to people in danger of abandoning their faith. The writer has introduced Jesus as a high priest like Melchizedek. He wants to say more, but feels that he cannot because his readers are no longer trying to understand. He encourages them to progress from milky basics to solid food and does so with a strong warning.
The first three paragraphs (in the NIV) of chapter 6 use three different pronouns. The first paragraph is about ‘us’. He identifies with them and encourages them move forward with him to maturity. The second paragraph is about ‘those’ people who, from the descriptions in verses 4 and 5, appear to be believers in Jesus who are tempted to fall away. Should they do so, it is impossible, he says, to restore them to repentance, since what they are doing is tantamount to crucifying the Son of God again. The third paragraph is about ‘you’. He is confident that his readers are on the way to salvation, for he has seen their work in the past and their love for God’s people. Consequently, he encourages them to persevere diligently to the very end.
The Christian life can be difficult, especially for those experiencing persecution and harassment for their faith. There will be times when we are all tempted to give up. The writer stops short of saying that those addressed in Hebrews had given up and cannot be restored. He does, however, give a very strong warning about the impossibility of restoration for any who might.
This difficult text seems to contradict verses such as John 10:27–30. Hebrews 6 and John 10 are both part of Scripture. How can we hold them in tension?
Bible in a year
Bible in a year: Job 35,36; Philippians 1
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Mandy Hagon as she works with Richard Shaw, Mission Development Director, in various projects enabling regional mission, mission events and the Development Hub to work with and support Faith Guides in their mission to children and young people.
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