Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. and of instruction about washings,the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits. (ESV)
leave - "We now come to a careful study of the two Greek words translated 'leaving' [leave] and 'let us go on.' A correct understand of these is absolutely essential to the proper exegesis of the passage we are treating. The word translated 'leaving' is a verb meaning 'to put or place,' with a preposition implies separation and is used with a case in Greek which implies separation...To use the word 'leaving' in the sense that a superstructure of a house leaves the foundation and yet builds on it, as is done by some expositors, is a case of English eisegesis (reading into the text what is not there). But such a usage will not stand the scrutiny of the Greek exegesis of this word (taking out of the text what is there), nor is it in accord with the historical background and the analysis of the book.
"The word is an aorist participle. Greek grammar tells us that the action of the aorist participle precedes the action of the leading verb in the sentence, which in this case is 'let us go on.' The aorist tense speaks of a once for all action. We could translate, 'Therefore, having abandoned once for all the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us to on to perfection.' The act of abandoning is the pre-requisite to that of going on. One cannot go on without first separating one's self from that to which one is attached...We now come to the word translated 'let us go on.' The verb means 'to carry or bear,' (phero)...The word is in the passive voice, which means that the subject is passive or inactive itself and is being acted upon by some outside agent. Thus we could translate, 'abandoning once for all . . . let us be carried along.'
"Now what does the writer exhort these Hebrews to abandon, and to what does he urge them to allow themselves to be borne along?...An exegete...will consult the historical background and analysis of the book. And that is exactly what we will. We found that the writer proves twice over that the New Testament in Jesus' Blood is superior to and takes the place of the First Testament in animal blood. After proving this, he shows that faith is the only way of appropriating the salvation which the High Priest procured for sinners at the Cross. In the light of this demonstration, he warns them against falling away. He exhorts them to go on to faith in the New Testament Sacrifice. Having left the temple sacrifices, and having identified themselves with the visible Church, from what could they fall away but from their profession of Messiah as High Priest, and to what could they fall back to but First Testament sacrifices?
"Thus the words, 'the principles of the doctrine of Christ,' must refer to the First Testament sacrifices, for these Jews are exhorted to abandon them. Likewise, the word 'perfection' must speak of the New Testament Sacrifice to which they are exhorted to allow themselves to be borne along..." (Wuest)
elementary doctrine of Christ - "i.e., the basic teachings about Christ and the Christian religion" (Ryrie)
"These were 'the oracles of God' in 5:12. The exhortation is against continuing in the state which is content with mere repetition of things of an elementary character." (Vine)
maturity - "The exhortation to these people is for them to go on to Christian maturity and to stop wasting time and opportunities. They knew the first principles, or basics, of Christianity and are being exhorted to go on from there." (Ryrie)
"The perfection [maturity] consists in the full knowledge of Christ, as Paul says in Philippians 3:10, and hence the state of the full-grown man." (Vine)
dead works - "i.e., all that an unsaved person does, whether good or evil, since one who is dead in sin can only do dead works that can never gain saving merit before God." (Ryrie)
"The metaphor is that of a building work which consists of a foundation without any edifice, and which therefore is not really a building. These two doctrines and those which follow belonged to the period before Christ became manifested." (Vine)
"Repentance from dead works" is First Testament teaching, was preached by John the Baptist, and is in contrast to New Testament teach of repentance toward God (Acts 20:21)." (Wuest)
faith toward God - "'Faith toward God' is First Testament teaching, and is contrasted to the New Testament teaching of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21)." (Wuest)
instruction about washings (or, as in some versions, baptisms) - "The distinction between various baptisms is a necessary part of basic Christian doctrine (e.g., the baptism of Jewish proselytes, baptism by John the Baptist, Christian baptism)." (Ryrie)
"Not Christian baptism, but, as in the R.V. margin, "washings"; so this word is rendered everywhere else; see 9:10; Mark 7:4, 8. They were the ceremonial washing, e.g., of the Aaronic priests (10:22; Ex. 30:19-21; Lev. 16:4, 24), emblematic of the removal of defilement and the necessity of holiness." (Vine)
"'The doctrine of baptisms' (same Greek word translated 'washings' in 9:10) refers to the ceremonial ablutions or washings of Judaism, and is typical of the New Testament cleansing of the conscience from dead works to serve the living and true God by the washing of regeneration and renewings of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5)." (Wuest)
"The Hebrew reader of this epistle would have no difficulty understanding which of the baptisms could be left behind for that which was better, the Holy Spirit baptism of Pentecost [versus the Christian's baptism by God's Spirit into the Body of Christ - 1 Cor 12:13], of which they were partakers." (McLean)
the laying on of hands - "As by the priest on the sacrifice, Leviticus 16:21, and by the offerer, e.g., Leviticus 1:4; 3:2, etc." (Vine)
"The 'laying on of hands' refers to the imposition of the offerer's hand upon the sacrificial offerings of the Levitical system (Lev. 1:4), and is typical of the act of a sinner today laying his hand of faith upon the sacred head of the Lamb of God." (Wuest)
the resurrection of the dead - "This doctrine had been taught (Job 19:25-27, R.V.; Ps. 17:15; Is. 53:10, 12)." (Vine)
"'The resurrection of the dead,' an Old Testament doctrine, is more fully developed in the doctrine of the out-resurrection from among the dead (Phil. 3:11 Greek) which indicated that there are two resurrections, one of the saints, the other of the lost." (Wuest)
and eternal judgment - "See, e.g., Isaiah 66:24. The truths of these doctrines were none of them new to Jews before Christ came." (Vine)
"'Eternal judgment' of the old dispensation is in contrast to the 'no judgment for the believer in Christ' of the new. Thus, these Hebrews are exhorted not to return to First Testament teaching, but to go on to faith in the New Testament Sacrifice." (Wuest)
And this we will do if God permits - "But coupled with this exhortation is an ominous hint, as Vincent calls it. It is in the words, "And this will we do if God permit." Here are his words: "An ominous hint is conveyed that the spiritual dullness of the readers may prevent the writer from developing his theme, and them from receiving his higher instruction. The issue is dependent on the power which God may impart to his teaching, but His efforts may be thwarted by the impossibility of repentance on their part. No such impossibility is imposed by God, but it may reside in a moral condition which precludes the efficient action of the agencies which work for repentance, so that God cannot permit the desired consequence to follow the word of teaching." All of which goes to say that while there is such a thing as the sovereign grace of God, yet there is also such a thing as the free will of man. God never in the case of salvation violates man's free will. The choice must be made by these Hebrews between going back to the sacrifices or on to faith in Christ as High Priest. But their spiritual declension if persisted in, would result in their putting themselves beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit. This is implied in 3:7, 8 where they are warned that if they desire to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, they should not harden their hearts, the implication being clear that they could harden their hearts to the extent that they would have no more desire to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. This shows that the 'impossibility' of 6:4, 6 resides in the condition of their hearts, not in the grace of God." (Wuest)
"Some make the first six verses of [Hebrews 6] totally hypothetical while others attempt to retranslate the passage so as to escape what the words actually say. Armenians, believing salvation is performance and covenant related, love the passage as they tend to be evangelistic about getting people lost rather than seeing people saved. Calvinists, believing everything is predestined, turn the passage into an illustration that should not be taken literally. The beauty of...dispensational understanding is that we can believe our Bible as it stands and exposit the passage with very little difficult." (McLean)
**I'm not agreeing much with what Ryrie says; doesn't make sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment