No standing still in religion.
This thought underlies the whole passage. To pass into God's kingdom means to move with it. It is impossible to maintain a halt in the Christian life; to stand still is to fall away.
I. THE DUTY OF PRESSING ON UNTO PERFECTION. (Hebrews 6:1-3) This perfection is twofold:
It is sinful to remain only a babe in Christ, and. to have no wish to grow. Note, that to "leave the first principles" does not mean to abandon them. Rather, we are to leave them as a tree leaves its root, and yet never lets it go; as a full-grown man leaves slops for solid food, and yet does not abjure the use of milk; as a building leaves its "foundation" (Hebrews 6:1), and yet rests its whole weight upon it. When the foundation-principles are once securely laid, that work should be regarded as settled and done with; what remains is, to proceed with the superstructure. The apostle instances, in Hebrews 6:1 and Hebrews 6:2, a few of the elementary principles, connecting them together in couples.
1. Two inward experiences. (Hebrews 6:1) Repentance and faith, being indispensable to the very beginning of the life of piety, occupy a primary place among the foundation-doctrines of Christianity.
2. Two outward ceremonies. (Hebrews 6:2) Rites and forms are merely the external framework of religion. Advanced piety uses them only as means and helps to spirituality.
3. Two future eyelets. (Hebrews 6:2) The doctrines of the resurrection and of the judgment, with its eternal issues, are rudimentary doctrines; because the idea of responsibility to the Supreme is one of the simplest conceptions connected with religion. Of such elements as these six was "the simple gospel" composed in the apostolic age. If to our minds these clauses savor of "strong meat" rather than of "mill" is not that an indication that Christians in these times are troubled with weak digestion? We need grace to appreciate the apostle's admonition (Hebrews 6:1) and to realize the hope which he expresses (Hebrews 6:3).
II. THE DANGER OF SHRINKING BACK UNTO PERDITION. (Hebrews 6:4-8) These verses drop from the apostle's pen like live thunderbolts. There is a solemnity in them which it is impossible to exaggerate. This passage is confessedly difficult—to all, at least, who accept the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. As we believe, however, that this doctrine is very clearly taught in Scripture, both by our Lord and his apostles, the declension here referred to must be that of professed believers who were never true believers. Notice, then:
1. The lofty privileges which apostates may enjoy. (Hebrews 6:4, Hebrews 6:5) An unrenewed man may be well instructed in the doctrines of grace, may enjoy the study of saving truth, may experience the operations of the Spirit, may be filled with the happiness which the gospel brings (Matthew 13:20), and may even obtain glimpses of the eternal glory. But these attainments will avail him nothing so long as he remains unrenewed. That faith is spurious and ephemeral which is based only upon the moral evidence of the truth, and which is not connected with genuine conversion to God.
2. The aggravated wickedness which apostates may commit. (Hebrews 6:6) They may "fail away" finally and irretrievably. "By their fruits ye shall know them." Sooner or later the unfruitful field will be covered with a harvest of "thorns and thistles" (Hebrews 6:8). False professors may abandon the gospel to return to Judaism, or to plunge into atheism, or to sink into immorality, or to degenerate into worldliness. And in the bitterness of their malice against the cross in which they once professed to glory, such persons take rank with the long succession of those who in their lives repeat spiritually the dreadful crime of Calvary.
3. The fearful destruction into which apostates may fall. (Hebrews 6:6, Hebrews 6:8) Deliberate apostasy from Christ, on the part of one who has known him intimately, destroys by a natural law the very capacity for repentance and spiritual life. Confirmed impenitence extinguishes the eyes of the soul, and makes the heart "past feeling." High-handed, malicious resistance of the Holy Spirit, culminating in outspoken blasphemy of himself and his work,—that is the unpardonable sin. Those who commit such wickedness are "rejected" even here; and their final doom shall resemble that of the barren land, "whose end is to be burned."
Learn, in conclusion, that—in spite of all appearances—only he is a Christian who has undergone the new birth, and who is living the new life of likeness to Christ, which flows from it.