A new series on the ‘elementary principles’ of Hebrews 6:1-2.

We begin a series about the basic requirements of the Christian life, as set out by the writer to the Hebrews. It is a timely reminder of the necessity for a proper grounding in the principles of life in Christ.

True Salvation

One of the reasons why there are unnecessary problems in the life of some Christians is because certain foundational truths have not been established. If the foundation of a building is weak those weaknesses affect the superstructure. Cracks will appear and things will come out of alignment, all detracting from the strength of the building. So it is in a Christian’s life.

Some years ago after living and ministering in New Zealand, we returned to England. My son, who was then 12 years of age, soon discovered there was a difference in the standard of education between New Zealand and England. For example, he had done no language study, apart from English, and found himself in a class where the students had already had about two years teaching of French and Latin.

Three years later we attended a parent-teacher evening and in conversation with the French master, he said, “I cannot understand your son, Stuart. He is clever and does well in his exams, but from time to time he makes the most elementary mistakes.” We reminded him that he had missed the initial teaching of the basics of the language. Although he had learned much, because the foundational teaching of the language had not been properly laid, the defects were manifested.

Before foundational truths can be established it is important to ensure that a person is a true Christian. Many people call themselves Christians, but are not. Therefore, it may be a good investment of a few minutes to check up on the reality of our profession of faith. Although this may seem a strange introduction to this series, I believe there is a precedent for it. At the end of Paul’s second letter to the church in Corinth, in which he had encouraged. taught, and corrected, he asks them to do something: “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; text yourselves. Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test” (2 Cor 13:5).

One of the reasons why there are unnecessary problems in the life of some Christians is because certain foundational truths have not been established.

He gives a clear definition of what a Christian is; someone with Christ in them. So the first question to ask ourselves is, ‘am I in the faith? Is Christ in me?’ He did not ask others to examine us, but made it personal. Here is a check-list of biblical references to help in this self-examination.

A person who has a right relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ knows it without any shadow of doubt. This assurance is given by the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children” (Rom 8:16) and as John puts it, “Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart” (1 John 5:10).

John Wesley, the great preacher, used to say to his congregations, ‘make sure you have the witness'. You are not a Christian because someone says that you are, but because you have that inner knowledge given by the Holy Spirit. Sometimes people have come to me and said, ‘can you help me, I have never been sure whether I am a Christian or not.’ My response has been, ‘yes, I do want to help you, you are not.’ A true Christian knows.

Another proof is that there has been a change in your life. Something has happened. Paul puts it this way, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17). A true Christian has a desire to obey God. John puts it bluntly but clearly, “We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, ‘I know him’, but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:3, 4). The Lord Jesus made this challenging statement, “Not everyone who says, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 7:21).

Another evidence of the reality of Christian experience is that we love other Christians. Before one becomes a Christian there is little or no desire to be with people who want to worship God, read the Bible, pray and talk about Jesus. They are not, ‘one of us’, and we are not ‘one of them’. However, when the miracle of salvation takes place there is a change of attitude which leads to a change of company! Again John says, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:14).

The Apostle Paul gives a clear definition of what a Christian is: someone with Christ in them.

So, what is the result of the examination? Do you have the assurance of the Holy Spirit? Has there been a change in your life? Do you live to do the will of God? Do you love other Christians? Every true Christian will be able to say with Paul, “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day” (2 Tim 1:12).

If, however, you failed the test and sincerely desire to know God as your Father and Jesus Christ as your Lord, obey the word of God. Acknowledge your need. Agree with the Bible when it says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6) and, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23).

Remember the cry of the tax collector in Luke 18:13, “God have mercy on me, a sinner”. If we have one good word to say for ourselves we are not candidates for God's salvation, because he is only the Saviour of sinners. Look to the Lord Jesus. He is the only Saviour. He is the only way to God. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The first step to salvation is to believe in the Lord Jesus. Believe what is true, that Jesus is the Son of God, who loves you, died for you and took the punishment for your sins at the Cross. Jesus who, “died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3). Receive him as your Saviour.

Having acknowledged your sin and repented, believing he died for you and rose again, ask Jesus to come in to your life, yielding it totally to his Lordship, knowing, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God. Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husbands will, but born of God” (John 1:12). Now confess him as Lord, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom 10:9).

Now look at the record, “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11,12). We move on now to the foundational truths.

The first step to salvation is to believe in the Lord Jesus. Then, having acknowledged your sin and repented, believing he died for you and rose again, ask Jesus to come in to your life, yielding it totally to his Lordship.

Foundational Truths

The Lord Jesus told a story about two house builders. One built his house on a rock and when the storms and floods came his house stood firm. The other built his house on sand and his house was completely demolished when the deluge came.

As the storms and winds of adversity face the church of God it is imperative that Christian lives are solidly laid on the foundation of Jesus Christ, and on the truth of God's word. It is a sad fact of life that many Christians remain in the kindergarten of faith and never move on to maturity.

The writer to the Hebrews emphasises this point. He was writing to Christians who had just come through severe times of persecution and were on the threshold of even greater opposition. After declaring the glorious wonders of the Lord Jesus Christ, greater than angels, greater than Moses, “the apostle and High Priest of our confession. Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him who appointed him”, he pauses to express a certain fear. That fear was that some who had been truly born again would fail to go on to maturity.

One of the reasons for their immaturity was a failure to have certain truths established in their lives. He wants them to get beyond the ‘milk bottle’ stage. He complains that instead of their being able to teach others they themselves still need to be taught the elementary truths. In chapter 6 of Hebrews these truths are described in the New King James Version as repentance from dead works; faith toward God; the doctrine of baptisms; of laying on of hands; of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

The purpose of this short series is to teach these basic truths to ensure that they have been established in your life so that you can go on to maturity.

First published as a mini-book in 1992 by PWM Ministries, entitled ‘The Biblical Basis of First Principles’. Edited for online publication May 2018.

It doesn’t take much serious Bible study to understand that Israel was chosen by Almighty God to be his Covenant Nation. But what should our relationship with Israel be? Clifford Denton opens up a new study series...

The Tanakh (Old Testament) bears witness to Israel's chosen status, and follows its history through all of its phases. When the Nation was divided after the time of King Solomon (2 Chron 10), and following the exile of the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 17), Judah, just one of the Twelve Tribes, came into prominence.

Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah) came from this Tribe of Judah, and thus from the background of both Israel and Judah. When the Gospel went out across the whole world, Gentiles were called by faith into the Covenant family.

Parting of the Ways

For nearly 2000 years, since the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Jews have been dispersed across the world, but have not lost their national identity. Meanwhile, however, various Christian theologies have emerged which have re-positioned the Christian Church as a distinct entity from the Jewish world, severing links between them.

The faith of Jesus and the Apostles was solidly based on the Hebrew Scriptures and Second Temple Judaism. Earliest Christianity was one among the many Judaisms of the first century. Neither Jesus nor the apostles attempted to break away from their heritage and form a new, different, religion. Indeed, the break of the Church from its true roots has had immense consequences, as we shall see in future studies.

"Neither Jesus nor his apostles attempted to break away from their heritage and form a new, different, religion."

The end of the 20th Century and beginning of the 21st have marked a new era of re-discovery. Israel has become a territorial nation again and so Christianity’s roots are being re-assessed. Was the break from the Jewish world unnecessary? If so, in what way is the Church linked to Israel and the Jews?

It is the purpose of this study series to explore this issue, considering some of the reasons for the break and opening up the agenda for re-considering the relationship between Christians and the Jewish world.

Many Topics to Consider

The list of topics to study on this subject is wide-ranging. They include aspects of history, theology, inter-faith dialogue, Hebrew background to Scripture, Judaism through history, the history and consequences of anti-Semitism, the Jewish background to the times of Jesus and the Apostles, and the relevance of Christianity’s Hebraic heritage to family and community life.

God has preserved the Jewish people despite the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and all the pogroms, anti-Semitism and even the Holocaust of recent history. God has been faithful to his Covenant promises, and biblical prophecies relating to Israel and the Tribe of Judah are being fulfilled before us today.

Now more than ever, we have both the need and the opportunity for Christianity to restore its true roots.

The Church was never intended to divorce itself from its roots, which go down deep into the biblical soil of Israel’s history and formative influences on its culture.

Return to Roots

In our weekly studies, the intention is to open out foundational issues relating to the restoration of the Christian Church to its true roots.

The departure of the Church from these roots has had serious consequences over the years. One is that distance has grown between Christians and Jews, so much so that, whether by default or design, Christians have contributed to the anguish of Jews over the centuries. One consequence of the Christian Church restoring its true roots is that Jewish/Christian relationships will be strengthened again. This is not the only reason for this course of study but it could be a major fruit.

When we study the separation of the Church from the Synagogue and enter into the issue of Jewish/Christian relations, many will find that their old assumptions and pre-conceptions suddenly need to be reconsidered.

For some it is a wake-up call, for others a prompt to repentance, but chiefly it is an opportunity to go forward more securely to the time of the Messiah’s return, conscious of our place in the Olive Tree of Romans 11 and the One New Man of Ephesians 2.

Next week we will look more fully at the metaphor of the Olive Tree.

For study and discussion: read Romans 11 and consider ways in which the Christian Church might be better identified with Israel.

These studies are developed from the course 'Christianity’s Relationship with Israel and the Jews', first prepared for Tishrei Bible School.