Chapter Six

Exhortation to maturity (1–3). The futility of these exhortations for those who have fallen away (4–6). The sad fate of the latter (7–8). Hope for a better condition of the hearers (9–12). The immutability of God’s promises for faith and patient endurance (13–20).

Hebrews 6:1. Therefore, leaving behind the elementary teaching of Christ, let us press on to maturity; and let us not lay again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith in God, “Leaving behind the elementary teaching of Christ,” that is, not dwelling in detail on the rudiments of the teaching — on what is more or less known and understood — “let us press on to maturity,” that is, of knowledge of the teaching of Christ, which also leads to the moral perfection of people. — “Let us not lay again” — a thought that explains the first proposition (“leaving behind the rudiments”) in negative form. Among the questions that the apostle now considers unnecessary to dwell on, deferring them to another convenient time, he enumerates: repentance (“turning from dead works”), faith, baptism, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. — “Turning from dead works” — properly speaking, the abandonment of Hebrew ceremonialism or the fruitless works of the law (Rom 3:20), and then more broadly — the abandonment of sinful deeds in general, which deserve to be called dead because they lead to eternal death, removing one from true life (cf. Heb 9:14).

Hebrews 6:2. the teaching about baptisms, about the laying on of hands, about the resurrection of the dead, and about eternal judgment. “The teaching about baptisms.” The plural is used, probably with reference to the multitude of those being baptized, and perhaps also because the apostle has in mind here the Jewish purifications (βαπτισμοί) and the baptism of John, distinct from Christian baptism, the difference between these and the Christian sacrament being assumed to be known. By “the laying on of hands” — there is no doubt — is meant the sacrament of chrismation that followed baptism, then performed on all through the laying on of hands, with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon those being baptized. — The apostle finds it possible not to speak “about the resurrection of the dead and about eternal judgment,” because the teaching on this should be sufficiently known both from the oral preaching of the apostles and from their epistles, especially the Apostle Paul’s (1 Cor 15:1; 1 Thess 4 and others).

Hebrews 6:3. And this we will do if God permits. Hebrews 6:4. For it is impossible — for those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, In verse 3 the apostle promises to speak more fully about all that was mentioned, and he begins to fulfill this promise in part, speaking about repentance (in correspondence to Heb 6:1) after a supposed falling away, which he depicts as a terrible and dreadful thing in every respect. He apparently discerned some signs of this falling away in his readers, and therefore speaks with such force against it, expressing confidence that his audience are holding to the right path (Heb 6:9). — “Enlightened,” that is, by the grace of the Holy Spirit and by the Gospel teaching (cf. Heb 6:4; John 1:9; 2 Cor 4:4). — “Who have tasted of the heavenly gift...” — of the justification granted by God to those who believe in Christ, called by the apostle elsewhere an “inexpressible gift” (2 Cor 9:15; Rom 5:17; cf. Heb 2:4), and of the grace of the Holy Spirit in general.

Hebrews 6:5. and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, “Who have tasted the good word of God,” that is, who have experienced by their own immediate feeling the power and sweetness of the Gospel truth. — “The powers of the age to come.” Here are meant not only the extraordinary gifts of the apostolic age, but also all those powers of sanctification and glorification which even now give the Christian victory over death. Experiencing the action of these powers upon himself, the Christian foretastes the glory of eternal life, the life of the age to come.

Hebrews 6:6. and then have fallen away, to restore them again by repentance, when they crucify the Son of God afresh within themselves and hold him up to contempt. “Who have fallen away...” which is always accompanied by hardening against Christ and his Church (cf. Heb 10:29), making this falling away into a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which cannot be forgiven either in this age or in the age to come (Matt 12:31), because for people of such a kind reformation is impossible.

Hebrews 6:7. For the earth that has drunk the rain that has repeatedly fallen upon it and brings forth vegetation useful for those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God; Hebrews 6:8. but that which produces thorns and thistles is worthless and near to being cursed, whose end is burning. A comparison of people with the earth: the good with fruitful earth, and the evil with worthless earth. The first receives both human labor in cultivation and the blessing of God; the second receives neither the one nor the other, and even a curse and burning threatens it, because it produces “thorns and thistles” — harmful to man (cf. Matt 15:13; John 15:2; Matt 3:10).

Hebrews 6:9. But concerning you, beloved, we are convinced of better things and things that accompany salvation, even though we speak this way; Hebrews 6:10. for God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the labor of love that you have shown in his name, having served and continuing to serve the saints. “Beloved...” — cf. Rom 9:3. The apostle grounds his confidence that his hearers are not in danger of suffering the fate of those who have fallen away, just described, on the Christian love they have shown through works of mercy toward their brothers in the faith (the saints) (cf. Heb 13:24; Rom 15:25; 1 Cor 16:1; 2 Cor 8:4).

Hebrews 6:11. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the end, for the full assurance of your hope, Hebrews 6:12. so that you may not become sluggish, but may imitate those who through faith and patient endurance inherit the promises. By expressing the wish that his hearers should continue to advance in diligence toward virtue, the apostle clearly encourages them, pointing out that virtue is the indispensable condition for receiving God’s promises, as is, in general, the faith and patient endurance with which it is inseparably united.

Hebrews 6:13. For when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, Having mentioned faith and patient endurance, the apostle calls to the memory of his hearers the greatest example of these virtues — Abraham, the father of believers, who at the same time serves as an example of the immutability of the divine promises to those who believe (Gen 22:16-18).

Hebrews 6:14. saying: Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you. Hebrews 6:15. And so Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained what was promised. Hebrews 6:16. For men swear by what is greater, and an oath for confirmation puts an end to all their dispute. Hebrews 6:17. Therefore God, wishing still more to show to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his purpose, intervened with an oath, “To the heirs of the promise,” that is, to those who believe in Christ as the spiritual children of Abraham (Rom 9:7-8).

Hebrews 6:18. so that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us, “So that by two immutable things” — in the promise itself and in the oath, as immutable acts of God... — “We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us,” that is, so that not only without any doubt, but even with firm encouragement, we may await the fulfillment of God’s promises to those who believe.

Hebrews 6:19. which for the soul is as an anchor, sure and steadfast, and which enters within the veil, Hebrews 6:20. where Jesus as forerunner has entered for our sake, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. As one gripping a sure and steadfast anchor, holding fast to this hope, we pass safely through the stormy sea of life and arrive at our harbor, which extends into the heavenly Holy of Holies, where our High Priest — Jesus — has entered as our Forerunner. By this rhetorical turn the apostle returns once more to the most important subject of his epistle — the priesthood of Christ. — “As forerunner has entered for our sake” — entered as the first, in order to show us also the way there and to make it easier.