Hi all,
When I was in Bible school in 1979 there was a class about righteousness. There was also a class about the life of Christ. There were many other classes, but not one of them taught what the New Testament actually says is the foundation of our faith.
Years later, when I offered a ‘Foundations of our Faith’ class when I became a Bible school Director as a required course, the students didn’t have a clue what it was about. There was some moaning and groaning about being made to take that class because they thought they had moved beyond that.
In our day debates and arguments take place, friendships have been broken, people have left churches over them. I wonder if they were taught to a person shortly after a person is born again, would we have the arguments we see swirling around us? These doctrines are rarely heard in sermons anywhere. What are those foundational doctrines?
The Foundation: Hebrews 6: 1-3
“Therefore leaving the beginnings of the teachings of Christ, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of the doctrine of 1) repentance from dead works, 2) faith towards God, 3) the teaching of baptisms, 4) the laying on of hands, 5) the resurrection of the dead, 6) and of eternal judgement. And this we will do if God permit.”
Repentance from dead works, faith towards God, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgement. Notice the progression from repentance to judgment. Why aren’t these commonly taught in church?
One: Repentance from dead works
The Bible interprets the Bible, which means we must look at the phrase ‘dead works’ to understand what the author of Hebrews is talking about. A few verses later, in 9:13-15 he uses the same term to describe one who places their faith in their sacrificial efforts to approach God, versus coming to God through the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Dead works therefore is placing trust in a religious system rather than accepting the salvation of grace by Jesus. Repentance here is repenting from a life of religious works done to impress or gain access to God.
Two words for repentance
When we read the NT whether it be in English or another language, it merely uses ‘repent’ for all instances where someone changes their mind or has a change of heart. But the Greek is much more specific.
“Metanoian” is the root word used to speak of ‘repentance from dead works’. It is a true and heart-felt repentance. It is used when a person has a revelation that they have offended God, and they respond by having a change of heart and mind. It is used by John the Baptist in Matthew 3:2 when he urges people to repent from dead works to come to the Lord. It is used in II Corinthians 7: 10 to describe a ‘repentance that will not be repented of’.
There is another word for repentance, “metameletheis” which means repenting because they got caught, or their plan didn’t work, or some other sense of regret. It is used in Matthew 27:3 of Judas who ‘repented himself’ for betraying Jesus. Judas didn’t repent to God, he “repented himself”, sorry it didn’t work out. Regret. Remorse.
In a surprise, this is the word used of God in Romans 11:29: “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
It means God will never feel sorry He gifted you. He won’t have emotions or thoughts of regret He sent Jesus for you. The gifts and the calling He has for you – even if life happened while you were on the way to His highest and best – He will never feel sorry it didn’t work out. He will never regret having called you. From His point of view, in the ages to come He will still continue to show us the riches of His kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. He will never be sorry.
But it is the first word of repentance that is the foundation. Repentance from dead works. It has nothing to do with repenting of sin, other than the sin of trying to get to God on our own efforts. Sin is of course that very thing. But the issue is repentance from religious formulas. It is a total change of heart and direction away from man-made formula.
From what I’ve seen, many Christians who think themselves mature, are still guilty of the sin of dead works. They live by religious formula. They are modern examples of Cain, who offered to God things he had produced of his own effort and work. He wanted to come to God based on his own efforts – ‘See what I did for you!’ – and was rejected.
Religious works make our Father the adversary while at the same time trying to approach Him. It is a schizophrenic Christian existence as a result. Not able to trust God because they think their works are something He wants while in truth He does not want anyone to come to Him of their own works. Once we are born of His Spirit we are expected to live out of that Life in love towards our fellow man, but that has nothing to do with approaching God on our terms.
Repent of any effort based on your own strength, based on fear, to do this or that for God to get this or that from Him.
Repent of dead works. I had one lady tell me while her husband lay dying of a chronic condition that was progressing to its final outcome, she worked 65 hours a week volunteering in her church in the belief if she worked for God then He would heal her husband. Only after her husband died did she realize what she was doing, and repented.
“Repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God, and the doctrine of baptisms…” We’ll pick it up there next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
