Hebrews 6 holds one of the Bible’s most sobering warnings and one of its most comforting promises side by side. The warning is against falling away after having tasted the goodness of God. The promise is God’s own oath, confirming a hope that is “an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast,” fastened “within the veil,” where Jesus has gone before us as our High Priest.
A study in Hebrews 6 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 16 min read
Let Us Go On Unto Perfection
“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, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit.”
Hebrews 6:1-3
Chapter 5 ended with a rebuke: the believers were still on milk. Now the writer urges them forward. “Leaving” the first principles does not mean abandoning them. It means building on them, the way a builder leaves the foundation behind as the walls go up. You do not keep pouring the same foundation over and over.
He lists six foundation stones, in three pairs. Two concern how we begin: “repentance from dead works” and “faith toward God.” Two concern the church’s practices: “baptisms” (the plural probably includes the Jewish ceremonial washings as well as Christian baptism) and “laying on of hands.” And two concern the future: “resurrection of the dead” and “eternal judgment.” Every one of these is essential. But a Christian who never moves beyond them will never grow up. “Perfection” here means maturity, the full growth God intends.
If They Shall Fall Away
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”
Hebrews 6:4-6
These are among the most solemn verses in the Bible. They describe real believers: people who were “enlightened,” who “tasted of the heavenly gift,” who shared in the Holy Spirit, who experienced the goodness of God’s word and the power of the world to come. And they warn that such people can “fall away.”
Two things must be said. First, this passage flatly contradicts the idea that once a person is saved he can never be lost. Scripture warns genuine believers against apostasy because apostasy is possible. The whole generation that came out of Egypt, having seen God’s works, fell in the wilderness (3:16-19).
Second, the passage is not describing a believer who stumbles and sins, or even one who fails badly. Peter denied Christ three times with curses, and was restored. The falling away described here is a deliberate, settled rejection of Christ after knowing Him. The verbs “crucify” and “put him to an open shame” describe an ongoing attitude: as long as a person keeps treating Christ with contempt, siding with those who crucified Him, there is nothing more that can bring him to repentance. He has rejected the only remedy there is.
“Of all sinners, those are most guilty who cast contempt upon the means that Heaven has provided for man’s redemption—who ‘crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.’ Hebrews 6:6.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 580
Anyone who is worried that he may have fallen this far almost certainly has not. The very fact that a person grieves over his sin and longs to return to God is evidence that the Holy Spirit is still at work in his heart.
“For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.”
Hebrews 6:7-8
A farming picture makes the point. Two fields receive the same rain. One produces a useful crop; the other produces only thorns. The difference is not in the rain but in the ground. God pours out His blessings on all alike. What we produce in response shows what kind of ground we are.
God Is Not Unrighteous To Forget
“But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Hebrews 6:9-12
“But, beloved.” After the warning comes encouragement. The writer does not believe his readers have fallen away. He sees evidence of real faith in them: their “work and labour of love” in caring for fellow believers. And God has not forgotten a single act of it.
What he wants is for them to keep going “unto the end,” not to become “slothful” (the same word translated “dull” in 5:11). The examples to follow are those “who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Faith trusts the promise; patience waits for it. And the greatest example of both is Abraham.
Two Immutable Things
“For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”
Hebrews 6:13-18
After Abraham offered Isaac on Mount Moriah, God confirmed His promise with an oath: “By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD” (Genesis 22:16). People swear by something greater than themselves to settle a dispute. God has nothing greater to swear by, so He swore by Himself.
Why would God need to swear at all? His word alone is enough. He did it for our sake, “willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel.” He gave us “two immutable things”: His promise and His oath. Both are unchangeable, and “it was impossible for God to lie” in either one. And we are “the heirs of promise.” The oath made to Abraham covers every believer.
“The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the ‘second,’ or ‘new,’ covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. That the new covenant was valid in the days of Abraham is evident from the fact that it was then confirmed both by the promise and by the oath of God—the ‘two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie.’ Hebrews 6:18.”
Ellen G. White · Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 371
“Who have fled for refuge.” The picture is of the cities of refuge in Israel, where a person fleeing from the avenger could find safety (Numbers 35). We have fled to Christ, and He is our refuge.
An Anchor Of The Soul
“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”
Hebrews 6:19-20
The anchor became one of the earliest Christian symbols. It is carved on tombs in the Roman catacombs, often beside a fish, as a sign of hope in Christ. An anchor holds a ship steady in the storm. It does not stop the wind or the waves, but it keeps the ship from being driven onto the rocks.
Our anchor is “sure and stedfast,” and it is fastened in the most secure place in the universe: “within the veil,” in the heavenly sanctuary, in the very presence of God. That is where our hope is anchored, because that is where Jesus is. He went there as our “forerunner” — one who runs ahead to prepare the way for others to follow. The Aaronic high priest went into the sanctuary alone, and no one could follow him. Jesus went ahead “for us,” so that we can follow.
Ellen White pictured the disciples’ faith following Jesus there as He ascended:
“Thither the faith of Christ’s disciples followed Him as He ascended from their sight. Here their hopes centered, ‘which hope we have,’ said Paul, ‘as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest forever.’”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 421
She saw in His ministry there something as necessary to our salvation as the cross itself:
“The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to complete in heaven. We must by faith enter within the veil, ‘whither the forerunner is for us entered.’ Hebrews 6:20. There the light from the cross of Calvary is reflected.”
Ellen G. White · The Great Controversy, p. 489
And with the final words of the chapter, “made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec,” the writer is back where he paused in 5:10. Now his readers are ready for the “strong meat.” Chapter 7 will explain who Melchisedec was, and why a priest after his order is greater than any priest who ever served in Aaron’s line.
