Hebrews 6:1-3 "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, (2) Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (3) And this will we do, if God permit."
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on
unto perfection." May the Lord open our hearts and understanding to
the next verses. The writer has spent the first four chapters of this
book in giving proof that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the Living
God. He has shown Christ to be our Great High Priest in Whom we are able to
come to a point of peace and comfort. He has laid down the foundation upon
which we can build our relationship and daily walk with the Lord. He is saying,
we have seen Who Jesus is, now let us look at the perfect work of our High
Priest, Jesus.
The Hebrews were very familiar with the rituals of the law. They knew what took
place each day and ultimately each year. We will think, in a very simple
manner, upon the work of atonement which was done once a year. The people were
required to bring an offering to be slain and the blood offered unto God as an
atonement for their sin. First, the high priest would make an offering for
himself. He would take two goats. On one, he would lay his hands upon the goat
and release it. This was symbolic of repentance and the sins of the people
being released. He would wash his hands in the laver (which was a large vessel
filled with water). He would slay the other goat and take the blood thereof and
sprinkle upon the altar. When he came back out, the people would know that God
had accepted their offering for that year and they were forgiven. The
writer understands the mindset of the people in that, their tradition was to
make this offering once a year, every year. The terms in verses 1-3 are
referring to the work of the earthly high priest on an annual basis.
If we cannot understand the absolute perfection of the work of Jesus, we go
through the motions of putting Him to shame again and nailing Him back to the
cross. That is very hard to read, isn't it? Jesus completed every
action that was required of the high priest under the law. He fulfilled all
that was required. But in addition to doing the work of the priest, He offered
Himself as the perfect sacrifice. There remains no more sacrifices under the
law to complete our relationship with God. But for today, let me finish
with some of Jesus' final words on the cross. "It is finished."
There is nothing we need to add to those words. The doctrine of
repentance does not complete the work of Jesus. The doctrine of faith towards
God does not make the work of Jesus more compete. The doctrine of water baptism
does not make the work of Jesus more complete. The doctrine of laying on of
hands did not add to the work of Jesus. And the doctrine of the resurrection of
the dead does not add to the work of Jesus. Though those doctrines are important,
they do not make the work of Jesus more complete than when He declared those
words on the cross. "It is finished." Salvation is complete and
secure through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, plus nothing.