Contributor: Peter Folikwe

INTRODUCTION
The verses we are studying today will be better understood by reviewing the first eight verses of Chapter 6; besides it is a continuation.
Summary of Heb. 6:1-8:
We learnt from our erudite teacher last week that the writer of Hebrews warns the readers against dwelling on:
Elementary doctrines - the milk and not the meat of the gospel.
They were charged to grow beyond taking the milk of faith, repentance, baptism, laying on of hands & resurrection of the dead and move on to maturity.
The writer then gave us the readers a taste of the hard meat in Heb. 6:4 AMP saying “For [it is impossible to restore to repentance] those who have once been enlightened [spiritually] and who have tasted and consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit,”
It was noted that the letter of Hebrews was written to Jewish Hebrew Christians/believers of persecution & pressures who were at the verge of abandoning the Christian faith for fear Christians at the time; mixing and matching their Christian faith with the Mosaic -from non laws (Judaism).
In these first eight verses, the writer warns against compromising our faith in the gospel, by focusing on the cross as the only means of salvation.
Today’s bible passage review transited from warning to encouragement of the readers to diligently take care of their spirit man; avoiding spiritual slumber/sleep.
If care is not taken of the spirit man in us, the devil could explore our vulnerability to cause havoc.

Verse 9
“But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner.” (NKJV)

The Writer here gives Comforting Assurance:
The writer here gives comforting assurance to the readers, referring to them as “beloved”, believers in Christ, confirming the confidence he had in the Hebrew believers that they are sure beneficiaries of salvation through Jesus Christ.
The earlier warnings were given was not to scare but to exude confidence in believers in order to navigate through the journey of life and experience Jesus and things that accompany salvation.
These warnings also help us to avoid those things that will drift us away from the benefits of salvation. As parents we keep warning our children against misbehaviour because we love them. Same is the case with God.
He gave us His only begotten Son as an assurance of His love for us.
Matt 7: 9-11 says “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

These warnings help us stabilize and sustain our faith in Jesus Christ.
It behooves on us to be assured confidently that despite our faults, we will experience what God has provided for us in Jesus Christ as our high Priest. Therefore, salvation as we know it is not about being born in a Christian home, not about baptism, not professing that you are a Christian. Salvation comes to you when you confess Jesus as Lord and personal savior and that He died for your sins, yet He was without sin. Our trust in the price He paid for our sins and confessing Him as Lord and Saviour gives us the confidence that God will accept us as His children.
Galatians 3:29 assures us "And if you belong to Christ [if you are in Him], then you are “ ndants, and [spiritual] heirs according to [God’s] promise.”Abraham’s descendants, and [spiritual] heirs according to [God’s] promise.”

Verse 10
“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (NIV)

God is indeed not an Unjust God.
This verse reassures is that God is not unjust to neglect our service in the faith, the works we do to propagate His kingdom here on earth; irrespective of our calling. It may be that all you do is to clean His sanctuary or feed the poor for instance. He will reward our labor of love.
Though we struggle in the faith God does not despise our struggle in the faith. Rather, God puts all our shortfalls on Jesus’ shoulder, and recognizes those good deeds we do for the edification of the body of Christ.
Even when we struggle in the faith, as is common to every believer, God does not despise our efforts in the faith.
Some of us may probably feel that our current struggles in faith disqualify us from the benefits that accompany salvation. However, God is not unjust in recognizing your efforts of faith. We are encouraged to keep striving in faith as God continues to lead us, never giving up. The writer encourages us to support the people of God. It could be in area of mission support, evangelism, giving towards church growth.

Verse 11
“But we very much want each of you to continue to trust God to the end. Show that you really want to serve him. Be sure that, in the end, you will receive all the good things that you hope for.” (Easy to Read Version)

Key words here are:
Trust God to the end. Unwavering despite struggles with our faith.
Sow service in His vineyard. Don’t be an onlooker/church-goer. Be involved in His service irrespective of your assigned role. Humbly accept it and be diligent, consistent and improve on it over time.
Have the assurance that you will receive what you had hoped for. Our service should not be targeted at the benefits; however, we should be confident that we would be rewarded for our service.

Verse 12
“We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” NIV

In the final verse for our review today, the writer urges readers not to lax in faith, but zealous for God. Key words are faith and patience.
Imitate/copy characters of those who persevered in the faith, patiently endured challenges therein. Then will we have an assurance that we will reap the benefits that accompany salvation. A good example of those who persevered through faith and patience were the younger generation of Israelites who persevered in the desert for 40yrs and made it to the promise land. They were not embittered by the errors of the generation before them, yet they partook in their sufferings, but saw the wilderness as opportunity to grow their faith and skills before entering into the promise land. The question is how long are we willing to wait by faith, patiently on God to inherit the benefits of salvation. I bet you it is worth waiting a lifetime for it, irrespective of circumstances that challenges our faith from time to time.
1Cor 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the writer of Hebrews tells us that God is not interested in our failures/weaknesses, rather as a father He warns us against such things that will deprive us of the benefits of salvation, thereby encouraging us to have a taste of the goodness of God.

Contributor: Hilary Ikpe

INTRODUCTION
The normal Christian life is supposed to be one of spiritual growth and progression. Starting out as "babes in Christ," we feed on the "milk of the word." Then as our spiritual senses are exercised to discern good and evil, we are able to progress to "solid food" (or meat). In this way we are able to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2Pet. 3:18). But not all of us grow as we should. And some of the indications of spiritual immaturity are: dullness of hearing, the inability to teach others, a diet of "milk" only, and the inability to discern between good and evil (5:11-14).
But if we do not grow spiritually as we should, so what? Is spiritual growth really that essential? 
Is there a "danger" in not progressing spiritually? Well, in Heb. 6:1- 8 we find that indeed there is "The Peril of Not Progressing," and that it is possible  for Christians to find themselves in a very precarious situation.

"1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits. 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since 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, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.” (NKJV)

I. VERSES 1-3 DISCUSSION
Questions
• What is the connection between this passage and the last passage?
• Does he review the elementary teachings? Does the writer lay again this foundation?
• What are some of the foundational principles of the gospel that are mentioned in verses 2-4?
• What do you think the author meant by “dead works?” What does the washings and laying on of hands refer to?
Cross-references
Matthew 23:25-28 – The Pharisees appeared clean on the outsides, but were full of sin on the inside.
On maturity:
1 Corinthians 14:20 and Ephesians 4:13-15

Teaching Points
In the last passage in chapter five, the writer is encouraging his readers to wake up from their spiritual lethargy. They need to start paying attention, start obeying, and start passing
on the things they have learned. Here is yet another encouragement for them to move forward, to press on for maturity. No matter what spiritual level we are at, either a newborn Christian, or a believer for decades, we must always be pushing on for a closer relationship with Christ. Do not be satisfied with your current spiritual level or allow yourselves to become complacent. Perhaps last year you read through the whole Bible, last week memorized a chapter, or today have already shared the gospel with 5 people. Still, do not rest in last accomplishment.
Be quick to forget the successes of the past so that you don’t get stuck reliving them over and over.
Elementary teaching/foundation – The readers have been exposed to the core principles of the gospel many times, especially some principles from the Old Testament. The writer doesn’t want them to get stuck on those same points and never move forward. When will a teacher review a lesson? When will a parent repeat an instruction? When the student/child doesn’t do what they were supposed to. When growing up, there were several instructions my father repeated many times. One was to turn out the electricity when we left a room. I probably heard that several hundred times growing up. Why? Every time I heard it because one of us had “forgotten” and not done it. He had to keep reviewing the “elementary” teaching because we weren’t listening/obeying. In verses 1b-2, the writer briefly summarizes some of those basic teachings they should have mastered by now. These include:

Repentance from dead works – This could include empty religious rituals which had become commonplace in New Testament times. The Pharisees had compiled instruction books with thousands of rules governing every area of life. There were rules on keeping the Sabbath, rules on giving, rules on vowing, and basically everything else. As we see in Matthew 23:25-28, they looked very respectable on the outside. They took great care to be honored by people. What are some things they did in the gospels to obtain honor? They stopped combing and washing their hair when fasting so that others would see them. They tried to sit at the place of honor at banquets. They showed others how much they gave. They prayed loudly on street corners to get attention. And so on. These could be some of the dead works which are referenced here. In general, dead works, would include anything good we do with ulterior motives or anything good we do to try to earn salvation by ourselves.

Faith toward God – In fact, as we have learned in James, faith toward God is proven to be genuine faith if it is accompanied by works. These are not the dead works just discussed but a natural outpouring of our love and appreciation for what God has done for us (Eph. 2:10).
Washings and laying on of hands – This could refer to the Old Testament Levitical rules for washing (Leviticus 16:4, 24,26,28). Laying on of hands may refer to a person who made a sacrifice. He would lay his hands on the animal being sacrificed to symbolically pass his sin to the animal (Leviticus 1:4, 3:8, 13, 16:21). In the New Testament washing could be the spiritual regeneration in the heart of the believer (Titus 3:5). Laying on of hands could be for prayer or to receive the Holy Spirit. Because these were topics that had recently been
covered with this group, it is hard for us to tell whether it is a reference to the Old or New Testament.

Resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment (these two are linked)– In Acts 23:8 we see that the Pharisees believed this. This teaching comes from the Old Testament in Daniel 12:1-2
There are two possible ways to interpret this passage in Hebrews 6. One is that they were already believers having heard and believed these elementary principles. But they were not growing. The other is that they believed all of these things like most Jews did, but were not saved yet because they didn’t embrace Christ. A good Pharisee would actually believe all that we saw in verse 1b-2. But he wouldn’t be saved because he rejected Christ. It is possible that this group of Hebrews or at least some of them were in a similar boat. They believe in the Old Testament, but they have yet to fully embrace Christ (which is why the author would spend a lot of time on the superiority of Christ and warnings about apostasy). Most likely there were both real believers in the group/church as well as some who were on the fence who didn’t fully commit themselves to Jesus yet.

3. A statement of hope and dependence on God.
And this we will do if God permits.
a. If God permits: This should not be taken as implying that God may not want them to go on to maturity, past those basics common to Christianity and Judaism.
b. If God permits: Instead, this expresses the believers’ complete dependence on God. If we do press on to maturity, we realize that it only happens at God’s pleasure.
B. The danger of falling away
C. Preface:
Satan knows Scripture, and this passage has rightly been called “one of the Devil’s favorite passages” for the way it can (out of context) condemn the struggling believer. Many Christians feel like giving up after hearing Satan “preach a sermon” on this text.

II. VERSES (4-6) The impossibility of repentance for those who fall away after receiving blessing from God.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.

a. For it is impossible:
The word impossible is put in a position of emphasis. The writer to the Hebrews does not say this is merely difficult, but that it is without possibility.
i. Note the other uses of impossible in Hebrews:
• It is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18).
• It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats can take away sin (Hebrews 10:4).
• It is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6).

ii. “This word impossible stands immovable.” (Alford)

b.Who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come:
The writer to the Hebrews speaks of people with impressive spiritual experiences. The big debate is whether this is the experience of salvation or the experience of something short of salvation. Looking at each descriptive word helps see what kind of experience this describes.
i. Enlightened: This ancient Greek word has the same meaning as the English word. It described the experience of light shining on someone, of a “new light” shining on the mind and spirit.
ii. Tasted: The idea of “tasting” may mean to “test” something. But other uses of this word indicate a full, real experience as in how Jesus tasted death in Hebrews 2:9. The heavenly gift is probably salvation (as in Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8).
iii. Partakers of the Holy Spirit: This is a unique term in the New Testament. Since it means “sharing” the Holy Spirit, it has to do with receiving and having fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
iv. Tasted the good word of God: This means they experienced the goodness of God’s word, and saw its goodness at work in them.
v. The powers of the age of come: This is a way to describe God’s supernatural power. The writer to the Hebrews describes those who experienced God’s supernatural power.

c. If they fall away, to renew them again to repentance: One of the most heated debates over any New Testament passage is focused on this text. The question is simple: Are these people with these impressive spiritual experiences in fact Christians? Are they God’s elect, chosen before the foundation of the world?
i. Commentators divide on this issue, usually deciding the issue with great certainty but with no agreement.
ii. One the one side we see clearly that someone can have great spiritual experiences and still not be saved (Matthew 7:21-23). One can even do many religious things and still not be saved. The Pharisees of New Testament times are a good example of this principle. These men did many religious things but were not saved or submitted to God.

These ancient Pharisees:
• Energetically evangelized (Matthew 23:15).
• Impressively prayed (Matthew 23:14).
• Made rigorous religious commitments (Matthew 23:16).
• Strictly and carefully tithed (Matthew 23:23).
• Honored religious traditions (Matthew 23:29-31).
• Practiced fasting regularly (Luke 18:12).
• Yet Jesus called them sons of Hell (Matthew 23:15).

iii. Yet, from a human perspective, it is doubtful that anyone who seemed to have the credentials mentioned in Hebrews 6:4-5 would not be regarded a true Christian. God knows their ultimate destiny and hopefully the individual does also – yet from all outward appearance, such Christian experience might qualify a man to be an elder in many churches. Yet beyond the knowledge hidden in the mind of God and the individual in question, from all human observation, we must say these are Christians spoken of in Hebrews 6:4-5. A good example of this is Demas.
· Paul warmly greeted other Christians on his behalf (Colossians 4:14).
· Demas is called a fellow worker with Paul (Philemon 24).
· Yet Paul condemned Demas, at least hinting at apostasy (2 Timothy 4:10).

iv. Taking all this together, we see that it is possible to display some fruit or spiritual growth – then to die spiritually, showing that the “soil of the heart” was never right (Mark 4:16-19).

v. Therefore, eternal standing of those written of in Hebrews 6:4-6 is a question with two answers. We may safely say that from a human perspective, they had all appearance of salvation. Nevertheless, from the perspective of God’s perfect wisdom it is impossible to say on this side of eternity.

d. For it is impossible…if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance: Despite their impressive spiritual experience – or at least the appearance of it – these are in grave danger. If they fall away, it is impossible for them to repent.
i. If these are genuine Christians who “lost their salvation,” the terrible fact is that they can never regain it. In the early church some groups (such as the Montanists and the Novatianists) used this passage to teach there was no possibility of restoration if someone sinned significantly after their baptism.

ii. Others explain it by saying that this is all merely a hypothetical warning (in light of the statement in Hebrews 6:9). In this thinking, the writer to the Hebrews never intended to say that his readers were really in danger of damnation. He only used
a hypothetical danger to motivate them. However, one must say that there is questionable value in warning someone against something that can’t happen.

iii. Still others think that this penalty deals only with reward, not with salvation itself. They stress the idea that it says repentance is impossible, not salvation. Therefore, these are Christians of low commitment and experience who risk a loss of all heavenly reward, saved only “by the skin of their teeth.”

iv. This difficult passage is best understood in the context of Hebrews 6:1-2. The writer to
the Hebrewsmeans that if they retreat back to Judaism, all the religious “repentance” in the world will do them no good. Retreating from distinctive Christianity into the “safe” ideas and customs of their former religious experience is to forsake Jesus, and to essentially crucify Him again. This is especially true for these ancient Christians from a Jewish background, since the religious customs they took up again likely included animal sacrifice for atonement, denying the total work of Jesus for them on the cross.

e. If they fall away: There is a necessary distinction between falling and falling away. Falling away is more than falling into sin; it is actually departing from Jesus Himself. For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity (Proverbs 24:16). The difference is between a Peter and a Judas. If you depart from Jesus (fall away) there is no hope.

i. The message to these Christians who felt like giving up was clear: if you don’t continue on with Jesus, don’t suppose you will find salvation by just going on with the ideas and experience that Christianity and Judaism share. If you aren’t saved in Jesus, you aren’t saved at all. There is no salvation in a safe “common ground” that is not distinctively Christian.

ii. If someone falls away, we must understand why he or she can’t repent – it is because they don’t want to. It is not as if God prohibits their repentance. Since repentance itself is a work of God (Romans 2:4), the desire to repent is evidence that he or she has not truly fallen away.

iii. The idea is not that “if you fall away, you can’t ever come back to Jesus.” Instead, the idea is “if you turn your back on Jesus, don’t expect to find salvation anywhere else, especially in the practice of religion apart from the fullness of Jesus.”

iv. “This passage has nothing to do with those who fear lest it condemns them. The presence of that anxiety, like the cry which betrayed the real mother in the days of Solomon, establishes beyond a doubt that you are not one that has fallen away beyond the possibility of renewal to repentance.” (Meyer)

Contributor: Clem Roberts

INTRODUCTION

We have seen in our past study of the book of Hebrews that Christ better than the angels. We have also seen and established that Christ is a better prophet Moses, Leader Joshua and the entire prophets put together. That as a good priest He knows exactly what you and I are going through. Today we will be looking at the third day warning in the book of Hebrews.

Verse 11
“of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.”

We can see the same references as quote by Jesus in the following scriptures:
John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now”.

Matthew 13:15

“For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”
As believers it is our duty to develop our:
• Sensitive and discerning abilities
• Understanding heavenly things.
• Grow daily in order to handle the deep things of Bible

Verse 12
“For though by this time, you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

• We must not fail to progress.
• We need to develop spiritually in order to
• Teach rather than be taught. – (1 Cor. 3:1,2, 1 Pet 2:1,2).

Verse 13
“For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.”

• Stronger food aid growth.
• We must go beyond the basics

Verse 14
“But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”

As believers we are all supposed to make good of what we read, learn and know
• We need to be complete.
• We need to be mature.

CONCLUSION
3 John 2
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”

Contributor: Dolapo Olaoye

INTRODUCTION: Hebrews 5:1-10 talks about the basic identity of Jesus as the heavenly High Priest. Christ was first identified as High Priest in 2:17, and 4:14-16, (studied in the past bible study) where we saw the basic idea and implications of Jesus being High Priest. However, it is only here in chapter 5 that Hebrews begins to go into details with making the case for Jesus being High Priest.

Our study today has two sections to it:
 Verses 1-4: Give the meaning of and criteria for being a priest; and
 Verses 5-10 show how Christ meets these criteria.

1. The Nature of the Priestly Office – Verses 1-3

“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can [a]have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins.”

The first verse gives the essential function of a High Priest (offering sacrifices for sin). This function seems to be the only one of real concern in Hebrews.
The next 2 verses then go on to highlight that a High Priest must have compassion with sinners. It gives the positive side that a high priest can sympathize with sinners because he himself has experienced weakness. We see this in Jesus’ character in Hebrew 2:17-18 also mentioned again in Hebrew 4:15-16.
It goes on to gives the flip side, that because a high priest is himself a sinner he must atone “for his own sins as well as for those of the people”.

2.  The Proper Call There Must Be to This Office – Verses 4-6

“4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” 6 As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”

In vs 4 we see how the high priest must be called of God. He must have both an internal and external - call to office. The office of the priesthood is a very great honor.
The individual is basically employed to stand between God and man (Representing God and his will to men and Representing man and his case to God), dealing between them about matters of the high importance on both sides.
He goes on to explain Christ’s divine appointment to the high priesthood and vs 6 mentions “Melchizedek” but who is Melchizedek? – Melchizedek appears in the story of Abraham in Genesis 14:18-20. He is said to be both a king and a “priest of God Most High.” He now appears here.

3. The Mandatory Qualifications for The Work – Verses 7-10

“7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,”

Verses 7-9 move on to talk about Jesus and how He met the requirement of the High Priest to be able to empathize with those He represents. Jesus’ suffering described in verse 7 puts Him in solidarity with those He represents by sharing their own experiences of weakness and suffering.
The prayers, cries, and tears clearly highlight this. He took to him flesh, became a mortal man, and counted his life by days, thereby setting us an example how we should live ours. The prayers that Christ offered up were joined with strong cries and tears, therefore setting us an example not only to pray, but to be fervent and importunate in prayer. How many dry prayers, how few wet ones, do we offer up to God?
Note that by these his sufferings he learned obedience. Christ! - He was a Son; the only begotten of the Father!! I would have thought this might have exempted him from ANY suffering, but it did not?! So why should we then who are the children of God by adoption expect an absolute freedom from suffering? Through obedience, He left us an example, that we should learn by all our afflictions a humble obedience to the will of God. We need affliction, to teach us submission. By these His sufferings He was made perfect and became the Author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. Christ by His sufferings was consecrated to His “office” – Eternal source of salvation (The shed blood of Jesus Christ opened the door of salvation). He was appointed by God.

Summary – Hebrew 5:10
Hebrews 5:1–10 explains how Jesus fits the requirements of a High Priest. Earlier verses showed that humanity allows Christ to sympathize with our temptations and weaknesses. Here, the writer of Hebrews points out that this also makes Jesus qualified to be our ultimate High Priest. Because of His humanity, His prayers, His sacrifice for sin, and His appointment by God, Jesus' status is far superior to any other figure.