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 2^nd 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.