Hebrews 6:2

Hebrews 6:2

The Peril of Not Progressing

1 Therefore, ^aleaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to¹ perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from ^bdead works and of faith toward God,

2 ^aof the doctrine of baptisms, ^bof laying on of hands, ^cof resurrection of the dead, ^dand of eternal judgment.

3 And this¹ we will do if God permits.

4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted ^athe heavenly gift, and ^bhave become partakers of the Holy Spirit,

5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come,

6 ¹if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, ^asince they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, ^areceives blessing from God;

8 ^abut if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

A Better Estimate

9 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.

10 For ^aGod is not unjust to forget ^byour work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ^cministered to the saints, and do minister.

11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence ^ato the full assurance of hope until the end,

12 that you do not become¹ sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience ^ainherit the promises.

God’s Infallible Purpose in Christ

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, ^aHe swore by Himself,

14 saying, ^a“Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.”

15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the ^apromise.

16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and ^aan oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.

17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to ^athe heirs of promise ^bthe immutability of His counsel,² confirmed it by an oath,

18 that by two¹ immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to ^alie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope ^bset before us.

19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, ^aand which enters the Presence behind the veil,

20 ^awhere the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, ^bhaving become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Commentaries:

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

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the doctrine of baptisms—paired with "laying on of hands," as the latter followed on Christian baptism, and answers to the rite of confirmation in Episcopal churches. Jewish believers passed, by an easy transition, from Jewish baptismal purifications (Hebrews 9:10, "washings"), baptism of proselytes, and John's baptism, and legal imposition of hands, to their Christian analogues, baptism, and the subsequent laying on of hands, accompanied by the gift of the Holy Ghost (compare Hebrews 6:4). Greek, "baptismoi," plural, including Jewish and Christian baptisms, are to be distinguished from baptisma, singular, restricted to Christian baptism. The six particulars here specified had been, as it were, the Christian Catechism of the Old Testament; and such Jews who had begun to recognize Jesus as the Christ immediately on the new light being shed on these fundamental particulars, were accounted as having the elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ [BENGEL]. The first and most obvious elementary instruction of Jews would be the teaching them the typical significance of their own ceremonial law in its Christian fulfilment [ALFORD].

resurrection, etc.—held already by the Jews from the Old Testament: confirmed with clearer light in Christian teaching or "doctrine."

eternal judgment—judgment fraught with eternal consequences either of joy or of woe.

**Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Hebrews 6:2:**

1 Corinthians 15:3
Hebrews 5:12
Hebrews 6:1
Hebrews 6:4
Hebrews 6:5
Hebrews 6:5

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Hebrews 6:3 >>

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