WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT JESUS
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, thank you for the ways you are at work in me and through me. Continue to teach me—build my faith and equip me to share it with others.
Read HEBREWS 5:11– 6:12
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Warning Against Falling Away
11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites,[b] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.
4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen[c] away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. 7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. 10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 6:1 Or from useless rituals
- Hebrews 6:2 Or about baptisms
- Hebrews 6:6 Or age, 6 if they fall
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Time for a spiritual health check! How much has your desire to know God deepened this past year?After a day at school, young children are physically and mentally too tired to learn anything more, though their curiosity is not dulled. The hardness of heart of God’s people in Psalm 95 was unlike this, for theirs was a deliberate refusal to listen or learn. The dullness related to in 5:11 is different again. The writer reassured readers that God remembered how they had shown their love for him (6:10), but also told them that they were not making any effort to understand more. They needed to move beyond the basics to a deeper, mature faith (6:1). They had teeth, so they needed to learn to chew on solid spiritual food (5:14). This letter is packed with a rich, nourishing diet of truths about Jesus.
This letter also comes with a warning of danger. It is still possible for someone who has tasted the wonder of belonging to God to then refuse to learn from the teachings about Christ (6:4–6). There is no way back for anyone remaining in a state of persistent, deliberate disobedience—no hope of repentance (10:26). This passage is describing hardened and fierce opponents of Christ, not sensitive believers struggling with occasional or even frequent spiritual failure (see Matthew 12:31, 32).
Apply
How rich and varied is your spiritual diet? How determined are you to dig deeper, so that your faith continues to mature? God makes himself known to those who seek him.
Closing prayer
Father, help me to listen to your voice and obey what I hear. Help me to understand more and more of you and use your words to keep me from straying from your truths.
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