Hebrews 6:1
The following is a short study on the foundational doctrines mentioned by the Holy Spirit in Hebrews 6:1-2. Many Baptists have long forgotten what a Baptist is. The fundamentalist movement, which is an "inter-faith" movement, and therefore in contravention to Biblical separation, has stolen the whole counsel of God--the faith once delivered to the saints--and replaced it with the five fundamentals.
It is interesting that in Hebrews 5 and 6 the author is rebuking Christians that are supposed to be teachers for their lack of elementary knowledge of the Scriptures. How many reading this will say in your hearts, I do not know what these foundational doctrines listed in Hebrews 6 are. Well, there is a perfect remedy for that, study! Praise God.
Hebrews 9:14, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
Purge: means, cleanse by expelling from the depths; to purify is the result of purging; to make free of something unwanted.
Conscience: means, 'with knowledge.' Our conscience is our internal sense, based upon knowledge, of things moral. The conscience is not infallible--a flawless instructor. The knowledge that your conscience possesses may be true (truth) or it may be false (error). Your conscience prompts you to act according to the knowledge you have. [Obviously, it is essential to get your conscience instructed by the truth, and remove/correct all error.]
Dead: separated from God, who is life.
Works: deeds.
Regarding dead works, consider Proverbs 21:4, "An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin." One might ask, How can the plowing of a field be sin? The answer, it is a dead work. It is a work done in separation from God. The lost/wicked man lives his life in either passive resistance (ignoring) God, or in active resistance (scorning) to God. To plow the soil without due and proper reference to the Creator and giver of life and substance is sin.
More on dead works. Isaiah 64:6, "...all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags..." Galatians 5:19-21, lists the works of the flesh. Romans 7:18 tells us that in our flesh is NO good thing. And Romans 11:6 and Ephesians 2:8-9 tell us that man's works and God's grace are diametrically opposed--polar opposites.
The Bible commands men to repent of their dead works--self reliance. Laying a foundation of truth in people's hearts is done by preaching and teaching lost people that the prideful human heart of self-sufficiency before Gd is sin and must be turned from. Pride is a deep affront to God and denies that God is who He is. Pride is a usurpation of God's rightful rule in my heart and life. Pride is a declaration of godhood by a man.
The foundation is laid by public preaching and private teaching.
It is by the Law of God that man comes to a true knowledge of sin--Romans3:20. The Law is called our schoolmaster--Galatians 3:24. Notice, that in Romans 3:20, the knowledge of sin that is given by the Law of God is not the knowledge of a particular sin committed, although this will obviously happen. The knowledge is the knowledge of sin, not sins. The definition of sin is given in Romans 3:10-18, and is a description of man's unrighteous, corrupt, nature. This is an essential truth which must be understood for without understanding this truth the lost sinner will not know what he needs to be saved from, neither will he know the nature of true repentance. More on repentance in a moment. Men need to be saved from who they are. If God only ever provided a way for us to be saved from what we do that would be reformation of behaviour. Jesus Christ is the Saviour of men's souls through His blood atonement and the new birth.
Now for a word on repentance. Let's read Luke 16:30-31, "And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. (31) And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." God, in His Bible, always gives words of explanation, shedding light on key words. Repent is a key word. Persuaded is the word God has used here to shed light on persuaded. The unregenerate man (lost) thinks and believes in the direction of man's nature and wisdom. This is, of course, the ways of death (Proverbs 14:12). Then along comes God and through the hearing of God's Word (through preachers/witnesses) and the operation of the Holy Spirit becomes persuaded of the truth of his sinful condition, coming judgment, etc. All too many reject the truth and will not be persuaded--persuaded means, to be moved by argument, entreaty from where you are to another place. You see how persuaded sheds light on repentance? Men can hear and understand the Word of God, but not allow themselves to be persuaded. A persuaded man will act accordingly. Repentance has everything to do with a man turning from who he is to God. The desire to turn from particular sins will follow. The danger with much preaching on repentance today is that it is all about leaving particular sin to be saved and that is a works salvation.
Acts 26:20: repentance is from sin to God.
Man's Works: --from a deceitful and wicked heart (Jeremiah 17:9). --from a prideful heart. --from a rebellious heart. --denies God, even when in the name of religion. --man hates God.
God's Grace: --from His mercy. --by Christ's blood atonement. --man utterly dependent. --God utterly glorified. --God loves us.
Without repentance it is IMPOSSIBLE to get saved--Luke 13:3, 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment