LEAVING THE FIRST PRINCIPLES -- Tomorrow:
"Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits." (Hebrews 6:1-4, NKJV).
Devotion 7 of 24
" . . . let us go on to perfection."
That type of perfection cannot be the point of this text, for we are admonished to leave the principles of the doctrine of Christ in order to go on to "perfection." The demand would be neither reasonable nor doable in such a case.
It is possible that a person could actually be deluded into believing moral perfection had been achieved. In such a case, the individual would no longer require an Intercessor, for the presence of an Intercessor suggests need, and need suggests imperfection. Neither, indeed, would the Holy Spirit be required, for He "helps our infirmities," and infirmities are conditions of imperfection. Forgiveness would no longer be necessary, nor would mercy, grace, or the keeping power of God, for they all are required by a state of imperfection.
In addition to these elementary observations, the Scriptures affirm, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and His word is not in us" (1 John 1:8-10). From the moral point of view, all of these conditions declare a state of imperfection, where forgiveness and cleansing are necessary.
Nowhere is it suggested that we are to move beyond the need of a faithful and just God! That is what we desire, to be sure. And, eventually, that is what we will be when we are delivered from "the body of this death" (Rom 7:24). Until that happens, and as long as we are "in the body" (2 Cor 5:6; Heb 13:3), we require support and forgiveness, grace and guidance.
The "perfection" of our text pertains chiefly to the conscience. This is something that could not be achieved by the Law. Under the first covenant, the conscience was contaminated WHEN the sacrifice of atonement was made. "For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach PERFECT. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more CONSCIOUSNESS of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins" (Heb 10:1-4, NKJV). Those sacrifice, though offered according to revealed procedures, could not "make him that did the service PERFECT, as pertaining to the CONSCIENCE" (Heb 9:9).
Thus, under the Law, the people were afraid to draw near to their God. Only in Christ can the conscience be purged in order that we may draw near to, and serve, the living God. As it is written, "the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your CONSCIENCE from dead works to serve the living God" (Heb 9:14). Approaching to God involves 'having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience" (Heb 10:22).
A defiled conscience constrains one to draw back from God. That drawing back is not necessarily into a state of deep immorality. It may be to empty religious observances. The point is that drawing back brings one to live without being in communion with the Spirit (2 Cor 13:14), and fellowship with the Father and the Son (1 John 1:3). Going on to perfection involves the persuasion of Divine acceptance--a persuasion that compels one to come confidently to the throne of all grace, to obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need (Heb 4:16). That is the secret to a life that glorifies God. It is what enables Divine employment of the individual. In drawing near to the Lord, we become teachable and leadable.
Leaving the first principles is not abandoning or despising them. Rather, it is building upon them. Life in the Spirit never leads us to repudiate these foundations, but to build for eternity upon them. They have not lost their utility, but no longer occupy the place of preeminence. We do not forget them, but we no longer emphasize them. We never reach the point in the faith life where principles are inconsequential or irrelevant. We are, however, to reach the point where they are not to be reestablished, and are no longer constant matters of discussion and emphasis.
PRAYER POINT: Father, through Jesus Christ, I thank You for the cleansing of the conscience. I well remember when I felt overcoming guilt in Your presence. I am thankful that now I can have a deep and abiding sense of being justified in Your sight.