On to Perfection - Hebrews 6:1-3

Is there such a thing as human perfection in this life? How then do we ever get to it?

Author: Randy Pritts

(⇓)

Today's Text

"Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ" v1

"Leaving" is not the best word that could be used here perhaps. Our modern use of the word suggests the picture of leaving something behind; one leaves Denver on I25 south to get to Colorado Springs. Christians should never ever leave the doctrine of Christ behind. The better picture is one of sending forth because of; because of the doctrine of Christ we are sent forth onward to Colorado Springs. Let me suggest that the doctrine of Christ is the both the starting point and the inspiration to move forward, it also is the transport mechanism lifting us there. But on our part there has to be a willing motion.

More than anything, what I believe this passage is saying to us is to not get stuck, don't keep circling over the same initial starting point, don't remain crawling babes in your new found freedom. It is saying lift now to your knees and to your feet, force yourself to learn to walk, from couch to table at first maybe but soon from lowly plain to mountain top to behold God's earthly splendor in it's entirety. That is what I think this passage is saying.

You see, too many of us stay close to home, safe at play in our crib joyously singing. Our life in Christ is to be much more than this. As important as this time is, we shouldn't get too comfortable in it, thinking that there is nothing better or more than this. This is a time when connections are being made in our brains, eyes and attentions becoming more focused, body grown and tremendously strengthened, coordination between hands and eye sharpened, identity stepped into and made familiar to us. Ah, but there is so much more that is soon to result because of all this. The Holy Spirit is seeking to guide us out into so much more than the small and comfy religious confines that we seek for ourselves.

"Unto Perfection" v1

"Perfection" is not the best word that could be used here either perhaps. It might better be described as completeness. Here too modern readers would view this as a jumping off point, leaving Denver as John Doe who and where we've all this time been, hopping on a southbound bus, another hour arriving at the base of Pike's Peak an entirely new outlook as an entirely new person. Understand that perfection in this sense is not having the old nature erased, it is quickening something once dead and missing within that nature and having it rule that nature back into shape, taking that corrected nature then and setting it on a task to grow it and stretch it until which point the growth and stretching are complete.

If there is anything to be said about true perfection, it can only be said to be found in the person of God and Spirit and Christ Jesus. It is only the image of their one true perfection that we humans are to be conformed. Think of this like a mirror that has been polished enough to accurately reflect the image being projected upon it. That accurate reflection should be our only pursuit of obtaining perfection. When mankind fell from grace initially, it was because of their change of mind to pursue such perfection in their own right; it was self saying "hey I could be this..." "I could be this godlike perfect". Hopefully we can now see the mistake made in attempting to be self perfect and accurately reflecting a much more perfect than ourselves heavenly light above.

Then be it said that because of the principals contained in the doctrine (logos) of Christ we are sent onward (not static) toward the complete (though not completely there yet) accurate reflection of God and Savior's true perfection. That is saying quite a mouthful. Hopefully we now better understand and can make better use out of this. WHat then are the principals of the doctrine of Christ.

"The principles of the doctrine of Christ" v1

There are six foundations listed v1-2 for our attention to consider. Though it is probably not a complete list of the many foundational aspects of Christ, there is enough to each of these items to point us to the myriad of other qualities and qualifications revealed to us in Christ. The object is to have these items become so much an influence upon us and our daily living not to need having to return to them again and again as would suckling children. Listed here are the foundations of :

1. repentance from dead works
2. faith toward God
3. the doctrine of baptisms
4. laying on of hands
5. resurrection of the dead
6. eternal judgment

Though many of these items are common to all religions, it is only in Christ that any of these elements truly can be lived out and fulfilled.

Take for instance the topic of repentance. Repentance involves the turning from one course or direction to one completely different. In this case it is the reversal from dead works to live. Men that have been spiritually dead since the time of Adam can not produce spiritually alive works. No matter how good those works or careers of good works are to us on a relative man to man scale, those works are still only dead works. It is not until the spirit within the soul of man has been quickened that there becomes the opportunity to do living good works. Opportunity I suggest knowing full well that it is up to us to choose and know how to produce these spiritually good works without resorting back to our dead to God old resources and ways. Therefore, in order to truly repent from dead works, the work of Christ towards regeneration is required to be performed upon us. Other religions might repent and repent over and over again, but they are not really replacing dead works with anything the opposite, not in the spiritual sense, other than making some slight personal improvements some of the time.

Take faith toward God as another important foundation. Every religion purports to have faith toward God, their God, God as they make HIM. Which of these is the true God, unless it is the God of God's own revealing? Jesus once claimed that no one knows the Father but the Son except to whom the Son reveal HIM. He also said that no one knows the Son except to whom the Father reveal Him. The Son is revealed by the Father by means the Law and the Prophets and Holy Spirit and the necessary confirmations of miracles and the glorification of resurrection. That is how the Son has divinely been revealed to us like no other. As far as the Father being revealed, we now know a whole lot more than we once did having seen HIM revealed in the person and work of Christ Jesus; a two fold revelation Father of Son and then Son of Father. We can add a third fold to this as well in the canonized testimony of the Holy Spirit. No other religion can say that either.

As for the doctrine of baptisms (plural). Doctrine here is not the word logos, which it was before this in verse, this word is didachē meaning formalized instruction. Here too, many other religions have formalized their instructions for ceremonial cleansing. Ceremonial is the key word here, what good can the outward sprinkling or immersion do in cleansing the dirty soul; after all, it is only ceremonial? It is like saying "if I could clean the filth from my soul right now God I would be willing... but I can't, not for long... so let me do this ceremonially for you for now". It is like watching a toddler smear jelly all over its' face and watch it with sticky jelly hands try to clean itself back off again. I guess that it is good that the child is aware enough to sense that it has made a mess of things and at least try to make an immediate effort to resolve all of this. But if that is all the cleansing that there is ever meant to be, well that is precisely where the other religions leave you off to being. These other religions have not the baptism that Christ preformed from life, dipped into death, up into resurrection; nor do they have the cleansing blood of Christ; nor the literal surrender of our lives to pickup where His earthly life left off.

The laying on of hands also is carried through by the rest of the world, be it in blessing, the symbolic transfer of power and authority, prayer, or attempts at healing. Jesus laid His hands on many others, it was a gesture perhaps or language that the people could relate to from their own cultures with one major difference from the hand laying of all the rest - when He laid hands on another person the core of that person was forevermore touched. That alone might be cause enough for most people to say "no Lord, I am afraid, don't touch me" knowing that once He were to do so the rest of your life would never be the same. Later, His apostles laid their hands on many others as well. The hand that had been laid upon these followers of Christ now was being laid out by them upon the shoulders of the next band of followers; on and on.

Resurrection of the dead follows similar suit. Those religions that believe in it believe in it just because, it is their just reward for living this mortal life so well. As Christians, we believe that it will happen to us not because of who we were or how good we ended up being, but for precisely the opposite reason, it's rather because of Christ resurrection from the dead that we hope for the merciful promise of resurrection of His many adopted - helpless sinners that we all are.

Finally, the last mention in this list is the foundation of eternal judgment. It is interesting to note here that Jesus claims that because of what has been done by the Father through Him, the Father now has given over the authority of judgment and the power to exercise it to the Son ( kjv@John:5). In the same breath He says that though one might claim to love the Father, the Father cannot be loved without loving also the Son whom the Father has sent. There is no such thing as a half right love in Christ's authorized judgment, it would be like honoring the land owner without honoring his direct heir.

So often we think of the judgment as some future and far off thing, when in fact for all intensive purposes the judgment has already been decreed upon all the sons of man. We are all guilty, sentenced to death, unable to work or pay our way back out of this; the verdict has been set long before Adam's descendants had even been born. So what use considering this judgment unless we are at the same time to consider that what we are really talking about is the opportunity by God's good grace to be a recipient of judgment altering mercy. Mercy is the judge's self initiated prerogative and His alone. Yes, we deserve nothing but this, but we lay ourselves prostrate begging for some merciful suspension of the wholly just verdict; no excuses made. We can rightly do that because of the exception that the Father has made for us in Christ (promise yourself to be Christs' possession and He will have been punished in your stead and redeemed you).

Again, no other religion can claim this.

"And this will we do, if God permit" v3

Shall we conclude this consideration by restating that the Christian Faith is nothing static, it requires constant commitment and movement. One does not simply choose Christ to be his savior and spend the rest of his days sitting at the bus stop waiting for the Christ bus to stop back by and pick him up. Faith is not a "get of jail free" card one hangs on to till one lands on the "proceed directly to jail" square indicated by the roll of the dice. The true Christian faith is the planting of a promised seed in composting and mostly dying but fertile soil. From kjv@Genesis:3:15 onward in the bible Christ is that promise seed. All that Christ is, all that Christ has done, all that Christ is now set about in doing, that is what the "doctrine of Christ" is to mean to us.

God only allows for this mercy to take place one certain way. There are not multiple ways that God legally can permit for mercy to do this for us, it has to be attached in every sense of the word to Christ not our own self will and imaginations. The acceptance on our part of HIS judicious mercy involves there being core changes in our hearts and behaviors, not changes as perfection all at once, but changes little by little with constant trail and error and movement forward towards completion. These are the terms of the agreement with which we must comply. Not that this is at all overly difficult, but that it requires our devotion and our diligence.

If you have been stuck in a holding pattern in your faith, you know now that it is time to get to moving, not back to where you've been over and over, on toward Christ and the accurate reflection. From Christ (or because of) to Christ in His kingdom, where we will see Him as He actually is/has always been/will ever be, alongside the Father in eternal and unimaginable glory.

Praise God!

Comment Board: Tags: t[Tags:],

Further Resources:

Child Threads: