In today’s Epistle reading …
6:1 Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do, if God permits. 4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
9 But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. 10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
“Beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you” … Crises often compel us to reexamine what is truly important, to return to what is essential, to discover renewed strength in our fundamental convictions. We may be experiencing some of this during this present crisis as we look for full assurance in our faith and hope … and perhaps we discover, to our surprise, that it has become difficult to rise above the din of this world’s chaos and confusion … the foundations of our faith seem shaky, and shaken. “We are convinced of better things concerning you” … Maturity in our faith never comes easily; there are always growing pains. Realizing the full assurance of hope until the end requires diligence, and struggle, on our part.
Convinced of better things … Hebrews 6 speaks of pressing on to maturity, leaving the elementary teaching or doctrines of Christ. This does not mean despising or forgetting the elementary teachings any more than a student having once learned his ABC’s can dispense with the alphabet in order to become a brilliant writer. The ABC’s of our faith are foundational to every stage of our spiritual development and are as essential to our spiritual maturity as they were to the beginnings of our faith. Having learned the elementary doctrines let us then become mature in our understanding and practice of them. As in the early Church let us continually devote ourselves to the Apostles’ doctrine, the Apostles’ communion, the Apostles’ sacraments and the Apostles’ prayer (worship) … Acts 2:42.
Convinced of better things … Let’s take stock of those elementary doctrines in Hebrews 6 and our knowledge of them:
Repentance and faith
Hebrews 9:14 … In Holy Baptism the newly baptized repents of dead works and raised to newness of life
Teachings on
Baptism
Romans 6; Colossians 2; Titus 3:5; Mark 16:16Laying on of hands
Acts 6:6; 13:3; II Tim 1:6; Acts 8:15-17, 19:6 (Confirmation); Luke 4:40 (for the sick); for Ordination (BCP 536ff Ordinal and cf. Deut 34:5)Resurrection of the dead
I Corinthians 15:12-19Eternal judgment
Matthew 12:41-42; 25:31ff; II Thessalonians 1:3-10; II Peter 3:12-13; Revelation 20:11-15
Convinced of better things … In these elementary doctrines of our faith God has been at work in us … we have been enlightened in Holy Baptism, have tasted of the heavenly gift sacramentally bestowed in blessings of the Eucharist, have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit in the gifts He imparts to us, have tasted the good word of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the powers of the age to come in Jesus’ Resurrection and newness of life. (Note: to taste here does not mean to have a taste or sip but to truly partake — cf. Hebrews 2:9 where Jesus “tasted,” death, that is truly died, for everyone.)
“Beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. … And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
JSH+