Epaggelia

The goal our God gives us is maturity. 6:1, is direction for Christians. The Greek Christians in Corinth are shown what kind of goal God wants for them as well, see 1st Corinthians 2:6, the kind of wisdom Christians are to grow up within is Godly wisdom. The following subjects are basics for Hebrew Christians, but not necessarily for foreign Christians, but even in these elementary subjects like repentance, faith, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection and the judgment, there is wisdom to gain. Simply knowing facts about these fundamentals is not enough. If all we have are facts, we leave ourselves vulnerable to apostasy and false doctrine, because anyone can do various things with facts, but with wisdom, we can do what is right with these facts.

Jesus proclaims in Matthew 19:26, that “WITH” God, all things are possible, but here in 6:3-6, the Hebrews writer states the impossibility for a Christian to repent if they are currently busy “crucifying Christ again”. If a Christian is actively living this kind of life, the Christian can’t be “WITH” God., What is possible is the following: Simply Stop SInning! This cease & desist in sin, or the arresting of sin, is not repentance. If a Christian simply puts the brakes on morally, that is not repentance. Repentance is sorrowfully making the turn around and journeying back to God, to get WITH him. Once you have the brakes on and stop sinning, that will stop us from  living a life that crucifies the Lord all over again. THEN we can possibly find the grace, strength and wisdom to start repenting. For this, we need to pray that God will grant us repentance. 1st Timothy 2:4 & 2nd Timothy 2:25 are great truths for teaching us that we are not expected to repent all on our own! Repentance is not simply a one off act, but rather an entire lifestyle which everyone needs help with. Prayerful effort needed to be put into Simon’s repentance in order for it to be real and effective, Acts 8:22. If we do pray for God to grant people repentance, God might ask us to help them, see Galatians 6:1. Be ready!

The farming illustration in 6:9-12 is a strict warning with no exceptions. If we do not take repentance seriously, Christians can ultimately resign ourselves to hell. This passage makes the phrase “fall away” very literally true for us spiritually, 6:6. God’s commentary on this in Galatians 5:1-4 is showing Christians that once stood firm, loose their stance and drift away from God’s grace. 

Between Genesis 12:2 thru 21:5, there are 25 years in Abraham’s life of searching for a promise to be fulfilled. God is faithful, no matter what happens in your life, rejoice in his faithfulness. God’s true to his word and he explains in 6:18, the two things which prove it: firstly the promise of His Rest (3:1-4:1) and secondly the promise of a mediator in Christ the High Priest, 6:13-20. We can also see the two things as clarifying between a Promise and/or vow, (as in personally from God to Abraham) 6:14 and an Oath (as in globally from Christ to the World) 6:19-20. Some people should learn the difference between a vow (marriage) and an oath (governmental court). Do you trust God to help you stay strong in faithfulness?