The Wicket Gate

Introduction

Good morning! Please go ahead and open to the book of Hebrews. We are only covering 3 verses again this morning but I promise after this week we will start making some better progress through the letter. I really couldn’t see another way forward this morning than to dig into these “elementary doctrines” so that we can then leave them when we move on to the weightier things. So that is what we will do this morning covering verses 1-3 of chapter 6.

The author of Hebrews was a little tough on us last week wasn’t he? Chiding the reader for not moving on to maturity in Christ. As I mentioned last week, he is going to return again to encouragement and assurance but he is going to first warn us again of the grave consequences of not accepting these basic principles as the foundation of our salvation. That warning will come next week but we need to, not the lay the foundation because it has already been laid, rather to see it and accept it and then start building on it.

In that effort, the theme of our passage this morning is “Surveying the Foundation”. Like any good builder or inspector, after a foundation has been laid we do have a responsibility to survey its soundness before we begin construction but once that evaluation has been complete then the work of building must begin. To continually go back and redo the foundation or never build on it out of a mistrust of the foundation, fear of building, or laziness to build is to both deny the work of the foundation layer and our call to build upon that which has been laid.

This must not be us, Church. So we are going to survey the foundation, spoiler it’s built right. Next week we will hear the warning to those who don’t accept this foundation and then we will move on to the building project. With that said, please stand with me as we read our text this morning, Hebrews 6: 1-3

Hebrews 6:1–3ESV

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.

Leaving The Elementary

A vivid memory I have from my later youth is when we joined FBC Houston as a family after moving to Northwest Houston shortly after I graduated high school. I remember when we told them we wanted to join the church one Sunday we were somewhat whisked into this side room (I think they called is the connection room) where we were separated and sat down at an interrogation table. Each had a different person from the church sitting in front of them and we were then asked a series of questions. Looking back ,it was a bit overwhelming I suppose because it was unexpected, and maybe there are better ways to go about extracting the information they were after but nonetheless that is how they did it.

They asked questions like: Are you a Christian? How can you be sure that you are going to heaven? On what grounds will you be invited in? and Have you been baptized? I honestly don’t remember all the questions that we were asked but fortunately I did pass the interrogation as they released us from the connection room and let us back out among the general population.

The purpose of the line of questioning was not to trap me or test my theological knowledge but rather to answer the question, does this person know the foundations of the faith. Have I been captured by faith in Christ and as a result do I know these basic principals, do I accept these elementary doctrines such that I may be a part of the building project and not a part of some demolition or deconstruction project attempting to redo something that has already been settled. Am I grounded enough and ready to move on to the solid food, or do I still need to receive the gospel first? As potentially uncomfortable as that was, it was and is an extreme act of grace because as we will see next week, to allow someone to experience the goodness of God, the glory of the fellowship with the saints, and to receive the benefits that come from knowing Christ but to not actually know him is the recipe for apostasy.

This is precisely what the early church did as the building of the church began. Contrary to what you may see in the more revivalistic circles, the early church didn’t fill a large swimming pool and let anyone jump in off a diving board who raised their hand and said they wanted to go to heaven. To quote Richard Phillips, “The early church employed creedal formulations as a means of preparing for baptism.” We get confused at times when we look to days like Pentecost or some of the conversions mentioned in Acts like Phillip to the Ethiopian Eunuch, and assume that this is how conversion is suppose to happen. Certainly there were some incredible conversions but far more likely if you were a Christian in the first century, your experience looked much more like the connection room than it did the eunuch on his way back from Jerusalem. It almost certainly didn’t include Phillip instantly being carried away by the spirit to Azotus, which is about 40 miles away.

All that is to say, when the text tells us to leave these elementary doctrines of Christ it is not communicating that we are to disregard or abandon them but rather firmly establish them as the foundation upon which we will move on to the building project. It is also not telling us that we shouldn’t be reminded of these truths regularly or that such foundational principals are not still extremely valuable to us. We know that can’t be true because of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:2 “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” What could be more foundational than that?

What the text is saying is that we make absolutely sure that we shore up or survey the foundation with the expectation that from that sure footing we move on to the deeper knowledge and work that he has for us. We deeply trust in and then move past the endless debates and wrestling with fundamental truths. These truths don’t ever need to be reconstructed of re-imagined, they don’t need to be contextualized or made relevant. These are the fundamentals of the Christian faith. The one who continues to question or continues to upend and lay again these foundational truths is in grave danger.

So consider this the connection room interrogation, church. For those that have already been through the interrogation room, may this be a reminder of our foundations, i.e. Jesus Christ and him crucified and for those who have never been through the connection room, please make an honest survey of where you stand in light of this foundation. If these truths have not been laid in your heart then for the sake of your soul let us talk. We don’t have a connection room or and interrogation room but we do have some rooms and I promise Sam Waterston isn’t listening in.

Foundational Doctrines

We are going to look then at what these elementary doctrines, or foundational doctrines, are. I don’t want you to think simplistic, or childish when you hear the word elementary but rather essential or of first importance. The Greek word in the text that we translate as elementary in ESV or simply the principles in other translations, is the word “arche”. A familiar Greek word I’m sure as that is the word used in John 1, In the “beginning” was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Initial, first, start, origin, foundation, these are all the ideas that should be coming to mind.

There are some differing opinions among scholars with regards to whether or not this list constitutes a comprehensive list of the foundational doctrines or if this is just some of them but I would tend to lean on the thought that this is comprehensive list of those first, or foundational aspects of faith. There are certainly many other aspects to orthodox Christianity that can’t be denied or refuted by Christians, like the virgin birth, the dual natures or Christ, or the triune nature of God, but those topics do have some meat on them and certainly we would say someone like the thief on the cross, for instance, is still with the Lord in Paradise despite the fact that he didn’t articulate the virgin birth, the hypostatic union or grasp the doctrine of the trinity.

Again, don’t hear me say those are non-essential, because they are, but the word seemingly distinguishes between the elementary doctrines leading to salvation, and those other essential doctrines which are received when one starts building on the foundation. OK, enough rambling, let’s talk about these essential doctrines.

Justification

As you may have noticed, there are a total of six things mentioned here and they are grouped in sets of two. The first of those is repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. Let’s consider each individually first. Repentance from dead works is one of two things but more than likely both of these are intended by the author on some level. He could be emphasizing repentance from sin, i.e. dead works or works leading to death. This would be our confession that foundational to our salvation is understanding that we are dead in sin and have sinned against God in our works (actions and thoughts) and must repent from such things. “All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God” Paul says. All are lost, you are (or were) dead in your dead works and in order to receive salvation you must know you are a sinner and feel the guilt of that sin desiring to turn from it, this is repentance.

The other thing that could be in view here is that we must repent from our attempts to earn salvation by means of dead works. We must recognize and confess that all our attempts to work ourselves into heaven are dead works. Dead because they have no power or ability to actually do the thing we hope they would do. What is required though is our faith toward God. This is the second thing mentioned. We must grasp that faith is given apart from works and despite our dead works. Christ came to save sinners, dead men, and in doing that he makes us alive together with him by faith, which is his gift lest anyone should boast.

This faith, freely given, not only awakens us to new life in him but it spurs repentance both from our sins and our sinful attempts to earn his favor through our deeds and receives his righteous declaration given to us in the high court of God based solely on his marvelous and often overwhelming grace. Thank you Lord!

Those two taken together form what the bible calls, and what we confess as the doctrine of justification. This is the first of our elementary doctrines, the doctrine of justification. How is a sinner made right before a holy God. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, given to us by our great saviour and such faith brings us to repentance as we turn towards Christ trusting in his finished work on our behalf. Galatians 2:16ESV

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

This recognition of our sin and guilt, leads us to repentance. 2 Corinthians 7:10ESV

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

This doctrine of justification, that is how we understand how it is we are made right with God, is foundational. So much so that Thomas Watson says that “justification is the very hinge and pillar of Christianity.” If the means by which we are made right with God is flawed then certainly we are building on an unstable foundation.

Sanctification

The second set of doctrines that our text gives us is this: “instruction about washings and the laying on of hands”. There is some degree of debate as to what is meant by washings and perhaps baptism is in view and what about laying on of hands? Some of you may have a footnote in your bible referencing the word washing noting that it could also be translated as baptism. While it if true the Greek here is what we translate as baptism, it is a different form of the word baptism and would seem to convey not necessarily a one time act, like a baptism, but rather a general more broad washing.

We will come back to that but lets consider laying on of hands. What is the significance there? Well, laying on of hands is directly tied to the power and work of the holy spirit. Hands were laid to bless someone, think of all the Old Testament patriarchal blessings, carrying on the promise, work, blessing of God administered by the spirit. Hands were laid for healing, asking God by the spirit to heal someone or protect someone. Hands were laid to commission someone for ministry, as we did a few weeks ago, asking the spirit to empower and guide.

So then, when we consider those two things together, a washing of the person, that is making them clean and this washing being a continual spiritual act, coupled with the empowerment and work of the spirit in and through the life of person. Is there a foundational doctrine that could perhaps encompass those realities? I’ll give you hint.1 Corinthians 6:11ESV

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Ill give you another one to consider.Romans 6:2–4ESV

How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

This is what we consider as the doctrine of sanctification, our second foundational doctrine. That is that when we have been baptised into Christ we have been cleansed once for all (justified as signified in that singular act of baptism) but we are also continually washed that is continually transformed into his likeness. This is a work of the spirit, a laying on of hands if you will, empowering the believer. By the spirit of God we have been declared righteousness (justification) and just as Christ was raised from the dead we too have been raised and washed that we may walk in newness of life (sanctification). Sanctification, washed by the spirit, sealed for salvation, and empowered to be transformed into the likeness of Christ.

Glorification

We come then to the final set of two. “The resurrection of the dead and eternal judgement” Foundational to our faith is the confession that the grave will not hold us anymore than it held Christ. We will be raised bodily from the grace and will experience a complete and total transformation into the image of Christ. We will be resurrected, and you can even say transfigured into sinless perfection, bodily.

What is this glorious doctrine called church? Glorification! Foundational to the Christian faith is the answer to the most thought about and fussed over question we face, what lies beyond the grave. In fact the whole of our lives and certainly our faith is built upon the hope of what? The hope of glory. Colossians 1:27ESV

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

With that is our understanding that in glory the judgement that we receive on the basis of our justification and sanctification will be an eternal one. Meaning that 1000 years after we have been in glory we aren’t going to slip up and be cast back down into hell but rather this glory that awaits us is a forever glory. Sadly the judgement for those who do not know Christ is also an eternal judgement so while we rejoice in the glory that awaits us, let us also pause to make sure that we understand the urgency here. Today is the day of salvation but the doors to the ark do not stay open forever. Tell others of your hope of glory that by the grace of God they too may share in his glory. We are grateful that our God is a patient God not wishing any should perish, and we trust that according to his will all of his children will indeed come to him to receive his justification, his sanctification and his glorification.

God’s Permission

That brings us to the final point I need to make from these verses and that is that us receiving these doctrines as our foundation and then moving on to meatier, solid food of his word is solely upon the permission of God. “This we will do, if God permits.” What exactly will we do if God permits? We will go on to maturity in Christ. We will grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the aim of the author of Hebrews. To stir the readers to maturity that they may grow in Christ and that they may resist deception or backsliding or a return to all those things that can not save.

He is chiding us to press on toward the upward call of Christ but in doing that he is putting forth the sovereignty of God as a protection against our pride or despair. Similar to last week when I reminded us of the humility that Isaiah shows us in Isaiah 6 we see again here the reminder to trust in God alone. Build upon the foundation of the faith that has been given you Christian. Press on to maturity but when you do know that the only reason why you are a mature Christian, or even one at all for that matter, is because the grace of God has permitted it. We must never assume that we are mature Christians or that we have moved on past there elementary doctrines because of something inherently better or more worthy in us. Nor do we assume that we could never grow in Christ because we aren’t smart enough, wise enough, or faithful enough. No, we are in Christ and we grow in Christ because he permits it and by his spirit his empowers it. As we said last week, if you boast, boast in the Lord.

Conclusion

So those are the elementary doctrines or those of first or foundational importance. Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification. Get those right church. Lay that foundation in your heart and then get to work building or rather start loading up your plate with solid food. As we will continue to see, the key to our staying in Christ and our persevering in him is not chasing some emotional experience, or following some religious program, or checking all the right boxes. The person who grows and perseveres is the one who builds upon the rock, that is the truth of God’s words. Hear the words of Christ,

Matthew 7:24–25ESV

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

How do we withstand the storm? We build on the rock. How do we build on the rock? We know and do God’s word. That starts with the basics then moves out to the whole counsel of God. There is enough meat there to fill you and sustain you for a life time but you’ve got to dig in. My desire is not only that you all are Christians but that you are well nourished Christians, bursting with all the goodness and grace that his word has to offer. That you are well grounded Christians, able to withstand all this life will give you. For no other reason than that we all persevere and make together to glory. I trust that we will, if God permits. Amen.