| Hebrews 6 Previous Chapter | Next Chapter 1 Therefore, leaving the elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works,1 and of faith toward God, [Yet Christianity has forgotten the elementary principles and foundation of repentance and faith, which is to hear the word from within your heart and obey all commands you hear to repent. Instead the children of Christendom today search the scriptures looking for proof they that they already have eternal life and need do nothing but believe in Jesus. From the Word of the Lord within: "Do you agree with any who in their arrogance have stated that God excuses evil in believers? It's not fair, but they don't care. The perfection of man frees from death; repent of your evil." Dead works are decided to be done by the carnal mind and will of men who are dead to the life of God that Adam lost for all men. Works of obedient faith to God's orders are not dead works and are essential.] 2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this will we do, if God permits. 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they fall away, to renew them again to repentance; since they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame.2 7 For the earth that drinks in the rain that comes often upon it, and brings forth plants useful to those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and is near to cursing, whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, even though we speak like this, we are confident of better things concerning you, things that accompany salvation. 10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward his name, in that you have and do minister to the saints. 11 And we desire that every one of you show the same diligence in realizing the full assurance of hope to the end. [From the Word of the Lord within: "Be like the early Church, who for inexpressible joy endured to the end."] 12 So that you are not slothful, but followers of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.3 13 For when God made the promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, 14 Saying, "Surely in blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply you." 15 And so, after Abraham had patiently endured [in waiting on God and obeying His voice], he obtained the promise.4 [Abraham, the father of the Christian faith, did not receive instant salvation; and neither does anyone without patient endurance on the inward cross of self-denial — endurance to the death of your sinful nature, carnal mind, passions, pleasures, lusts, pride, and satanic spirit that all uncrucified men have. “Lo! This is our God, we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” Isa 25:9] 16 For men truly swear by something greater than themselves, and an oath for confirmation puts an end to all strife. 17 Thus God, willing to more abundantly show to the heirs of promise the immutability [unchangeableness] of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 That by two immutable things [the promise followed by the oath], 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. 19 We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters into the Presence within the veil; 20 Where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | |||||||||
1 leaving the elementary principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection. Yes, perfection. Everyone who names themselves a Christian is called to repent to perfection. Notice he says, let us lay aside the basics of repentance and faith, and go on to perfection. Yet Christendom not only ignores perfection as impossible, but also: 1) has no idea what faith really is, and 2) ignores repentance; both being the two fundamental building blocks before going on to perfection. Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48. Not be kind of perfect. Not as perfect as you can. Not as perfect as humanly possible while trying.
Perfect — as your heavenly Father is perfect — a definitive qualification of perfect.
Perfect that is impossible without divine grace: to change us, to purify us, to make us like Him — perfect.
not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. Dead works are works conceived by your carnal mind, which is enmity to God. Dead works are not living works, prompted by the Life of God (Christ) in a mature believer. Dead works count for nothing, but works prompted by loving obedience to God are essential. So to have repented from the works of the flesh is a prerequisite to going on to perfection. And yet, Christendom denies any works are necessary, and ridicules the possibility of perfection — clutching onto their handful of scriptures, ignoring the rest; thinking they have proof of their eternal life, with no need to repent — strive — seek — fear — or obey — just believe.
2 If they fall away, to renew them again to repentance; since they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame. John said, "If anyone sees his brother commit a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray and God will give him life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that he should pray about that." 1 John 5:16. Let's analyze scripture to understand the sin that leads to death.
After you have been purified, you will have real knowledge of the truth, and the pure see God; you will look into the face of Jesus.
If after purity, you willfully return to sin; not a sudden slip or an accident, but with pre-meditation sin, you are lost.
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins. Heb 10:26.
But this only applies after purity, after looking into the face of Jesus, and which is the knowledge of the glory of God, who is the truth. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Cor 4:6
In the past, after having been 'saved,' I stupidly committed some grievous sins; and I asked if there was still hope for me.
His exact words to me were: "Until you look me in the face, and then return to sin, you can come back to me."
To look Jesus in the face, you have to be pure: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Mat 5:8
Until you are purified, (and receive knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus, who is the truth), and then willfully go back to sin, your sins can be cleansed and forgiven. So you still have the hope of purity. You still have changing grace available to you. You still have the chance to attain salvation.
I can testify to wonderful and marvelous changes that he has made in me through his grace, since my sins; and the sins were committed after I had supposedly been saved.
I frequently hear from very depressed people who left their sect years ago, sinned, and now feel unworthy to seek again — not true!
These people had never been freed from sin. They had only supposedly been 'saved' and studied the Bible. You can't lose what you never had.
To be truly saved, is by the power of grace, to have your heart changed, cleansed, purified — so that He controls your words and deeds.
They had never received the changing, purifying grace of God. Their only defense against sin was willpower, which fails.
(If they go back to their deficit sect's ways, they will only fail again; for without divine help, they cannot walk without failure.)
As you are being purified, you are of course not pure, so you still sin, even if you think you have been 'saved.' Saved from what?
To be truly saved, is to be delivered from sin.
On this site, there are many examples of early Quakers, who had first been a part of one or more deficit sects without the formula for power over sin. After reading the Bible, being baptized, and supposedly being saved; they then returned to sin, with awareness of sinning. Then after hearing the true hope with the way of the cross, they conquered sin by the power of God, to become pure, holy, righteous, justified, and enter the Kingdom of God. Three of the many examples on this web site are: James Parnell, and Stephen Crisp, and Mary Penington, all available for your reading, (click on their names).
However, if after one has been touched by God with a wake up experience, and should they then continue to sin, they will gradually deaden their conscience until they no longer can be aroused to depart from sin; and in that process, they finally crucify the Son of God afresh. Their hearts become so calloused and hardened in their sins, they can no longer be reached by God's voice within, or man's voice without. (Gentle reader, if you have read with sincere interest this far, your heart has not been hardened so much that you cannot hear, and you can still return to the Lord to receive his changing grace; from the Word of the Lord within: "He will give root to those who seek him a third time.")
Let me illustrate why the false sects are so deadly: I was an agnostic until age 36. My moral code was very humanistic, believing that as long as I didn't harm others, everything was OK. My life was full of sin until I realized there was a God who was watching everything I did. I immediately reformed and stopped many, many practices of evil, knowing I was in his view at all times. Now compare that against a "believer in Jesus," who is told by his sect that all his sins are excused and paid for by Jesus; or in the case of Catholics and Orthodox sects their Eucharistic Sacrifice and confessions are made until they die, with never a hint as to how to stop sinning. Thus a man in Christendom is easily led into sin after sin, and in the process he deadens his conscience and the light of Christ within him, until finally he has crucified the Son of God afresh. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come; if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance; since they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame. Heb 6:4-6. So Christendom has become the synagogues of Satan, the killing ground of the seed of God, and the habitation of demons, filled with unclean birds; as William Penn said in No Cross No Crown: "they kiss him like Judas, call Him Master like Judas, sell Him to continue their lusts and pleasures of the world, and then drag him through the mire and dirt as they continue to sin; the deity they truly worship is the god of this world, the great lord of lusts," who is Satan; and also according to early Quaker, kingdom-dwelling Isaac Penington: "in the apostasy, men have not known God or Satan, the light or the darkness; but have mistook, taking the one for the other, worshipping the devil instead of God."
The Lord describes this repeat of sin—sacraments, sin again—sacraments again,...... as a conflagration: a great fire or great destruction. From the Word of the Lord within:
Until those in the sects of Christendom have killed their conscience through repeated sin, they can still hear and possibly be motivated to renew their efforts to exercise their faith; but after having been convicted of some particular sin in the light, for every act of disobedience they then commit, they must produce the same number of acts of obedience before that sin is taken out of their heart. From the Word of the Lord within: "When the light shows you something to do, every act of disobedience has to be carried away by an act of obedience."
3 show diligence [in realizing] the full assurance of hope to the end. What hope? The Christ in you, the hope of glory; the hope of having Christ revealed in you in glory, in ever increasing glory, until you enter union with him and are translated to the Kingdom of Heaven. Such hope purifies: every man who has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. 1 John 3:3. What end? To see Christ bring your salvation: to those who persistently and patiently wait for him he will appear the second time, not to bear sin, but to bring full salvation. Heb 9:28. Therefore be resolute of mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Pet 1:13. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Tit 2:11. And how do you receive this? Show diligence to attaining perfection by grace through repentance on the inward cross of self-denial.
not slothful, but followers of those who inherited the promises through faith — like Abraham, with faith enough to obey. Your souls are purified by obeying the truth. 1 Peter 1:22. Your hearts are purified by faith. Acts 15:9. So, therefore having these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Cor 7:1. Slothful is to do nothing, but believe in Jesus, go to sect services, and read your Bible.
4 after Abraham had patiently endured [in waiting on God and obeying His voice], he obtained the promise. Scriptures tell us that Abraham's faith is the model for obtaining the promise of God by faith, yet Abraham did not instantly receive the promise by believing in God. With persistence and patience Abraham enduringly walked in the steps of faith: he waited on God to listen for God's voice, he heard, he believed Him, he persisted in obeying God's voice, and then he received the promise. In your [Abraham's] offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice, Gen 22:18; and because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commands, My statutes, and My laws. Gen 26:5. Gentle reader: faith without obedience is lip service. Obedience is the evidence of faith; the result of persistent obedience is purity, holiness, cleanliness, and the fruit of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus said: Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and not do what I tell you? Luke 6:46. Faith without works of loving obedience to the commands of the Lord, is make-believe Christianity. Faith that doesn't purify is the hypocrites' faith [talking about God and walking in sin]. Salvation claimed while still sinning, is the devil's covenant of death, a lie: Your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with hell will not stand. Isa 28:18. For God has not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. 1 Thes 4:7. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Heb 12:14. By your steadfast endurance do you possess your soul. Luke 21:19. What steadfast endurance? Steadfast endurance on the cross, steadfast endurance in tribulation, steadfast endurance in obedience, steadfast endurance in seeking, steadfast endurance in self-denial.
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