Hebrews 6 - Live Hungry
Want to grow strong and make good decisions? Dig in!
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11 About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain,
since you have become dull of hearing.
12 For though by this time
you ought to be teachers,
you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God.
You need milk, not solid food,
13 for everyone who lives on milk
is unskilled in the word of righteousness,
since he is a child.
14 But solid food is for the mature,
for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 6 (ESV)
1 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.
9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved,
we feel sure
of better things—
things that belong to salvation.
10 For God is not unjust
so as to overlook
your work
and the love
that you have shown for his name
in serving the saints,
as you still do.
11 And we desire each one of you
to show the same earnestness
to have the full assurance of hope
until the end,
12 so that you
may not be sluggish,
but imitators of those
who through faith and patience
inherit the promises.
Hebrews 6 Summary
CHAPTER SHIFT: Remember our chapter shift is still on. Chapter 6 really ought to begin in 5:11 and chapter 7 should begin at 6:13. Thankfully things will be back to normal by chapter 8.
The writer here expresses frustration with his audience; they have a need to be digging into deeper and deeper truth but yet all they want to do is scratch the surface.
Yet this chapter once again makes clear the unsurpassed value that knowing God conveys, and lovingly encourages those who read it to persevere.
Dig Deeper
We've come to expect that since the knowledge we need will be available when we need it, there's no point in developing it ahead of time. Why memorize something you can easily google?
But our theology - our knowledge of God communicated in the Bible - isn't just something to use to win a trivia game or reference some obscure fact in a conversation. Rather it's practical and continually useful! Here's how it's described in 5:14 -
Theologians have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
In other words, theologians are often able to discern the right thing to do when others can't.
This theology must be trained by constant practice. It's not just something you google when you face crisis. Making yourself a mature theologian takes hard work: reading the Bible, hearing it preached & explained, praying the Bible and thinking deeply about what it says.
God makes it clear the kind of theologian He desires you to be:
We desire... that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (6:12)
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: God is just and will bless your efforts as you work hard to grow in your faith (v10)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will give you an appetite for solid doctrinal food (6:12)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
