Hebrews 6:1:
“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, and of
instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the
dead, and eternal judgment.”
The key to understanding the intent is by knowing the
writer’s audience. He is speaking to Hebrews – Jewish people, who have not
truly believed in Christ. Notice the phrase to “leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.” What
on earth ? After all, the Apostle Paul is constantly returning to the basics of
Christianity in his letters, always reminding his audience of the gospel. Paul
even says elsewhere he was resolved to know nothing “but Christ crucified.”
Also, the 2nd phrase, “not
laying a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God”.
Sounds pretty Christian right?!
Maybe, but it’s not. Each of the 6 things listed by the
writer are Old Testament, Old Covenant, (whichever you prefer they are “old”). First
off, the “elementary doctrines of Christ,”
or better yet “Messiah”, is the Old Testament person’s conception of Christ. It’s
the Jewish vision of the Messiah which God had promised. Yet the writer is
pleading with his audience to abandon that vision. The word “leave” means to
completely separate. In essence, for all
his audience’s church going and hanging around Christians, they had missed the
current, updated Messiah and were half-heartedly clinging to the past. Tragic!
“Laying a foundation
of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” is the Old Testament
version of repentance. All they had was animal sacrifice and faith that God
would make things right. But that’s not good enough anymore. Now the Messiah
has come. The others listed, as well – instruction about washings, the laying
on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment, each had their
own place in the Old Testament, but now are known to get their definition and
meaning relative to the person of Jesus Christ.
