Foundational Truths: Embracing Our Need for Jesus

There are basic principles of the Oracles of God that every Christian needs to grasp clearly and firmly and we need to have them settled in our minds and in our hearts. Basic principles, basic principles of the word of God, the Oracles of God, and we all need to grasp them and unless we grasp them, we're not really going to make progress in the Christian life. [00:14:35]

The writer lists, as you will see in chapter 6, six things that at first, when you look at them, seem a very strange list indeed. A foundation, so that's how basic this is, of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the Dead, and eternal judgment. [00:16:30]

It is not a description for us here about who Jesus is and all that he has done. It is rather a plain, vital, and compelling foundational basic statement of why it is that we need Jesus. And that's what needs to be absolutely clear, undisputed, and settled in the mind of every person who professes faith in Jesus Christ. [00:20:00]

We're talking here then about the basic principles of the Word of God, that is, the Oracles of God, chapter 5 and verse 12, or to put it another way, the elementary doctrine of Christ, literally that translated, that is the beginning of the word of Christ. [00:21:01]

The milk is why we need Jesus as revealed in the Old Testament. The solid food or the meat is who Jesus is and what he has done that's revealed for us in the new. And every Christian needs the milk. We need to be clear about why we need Jesus. That's basic, that's foundational to all faith and especially faith that lasts. [00:23:37]

Our best efforts are dead works, and we rely completely on the provision of God. That is the first basic principle of the Oracles of God, the first reason why we need Jesus, as it is laid out by the writer to the Hebrews. And he puts it this way, he says there's a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith towards God. [00:26:34]

Our best efforts to live a good life, our best works that we could ever hope of offering to God with the thought that perhaps when he looks at what I've done in this regard, he'll be impressed and pleased and I'll win his favor, that our best works are dead works and have absolutely no saving value at all. [00:27:49]

Our sins defile us and exclude us from the presence of God. Now notice what he says here about a foundation of instructions about washings and laying on of hands. I mean, you think now how can that be foundational? And this is where it seems to me that commentators who want to see this as a description of the Christian faith get into all kinds of problems. [00:31:49]

The Old Testament is full of ritual washings, and remember this is the letter to the Hebrews. They would have been very, very familiar with all of that world. And why was the Old Testament full of washings? Washing cups, washing bodies, washing hands, endless washings. Another reason that all these washings were prescribed in the law of God was as a constant reminder to people that sin defiles us. [00:33:34]

Our lives are eternal, and we will all face the judgment of God. Our lives are eternal, and we all face the judgment of God. He speaks about the resurrection of the Dead and the eternal judgment. Again, these truths are so basic to the Word of God. Look, your life is eternal. There was a time when you were not, but there never will be a time when you will not be. [00:38:58]

The ultimate thing that we must face, it is appointed for a man, for a woman, once to die, and after that comes the judgment. That's straight out of Hebrews 9 verse 27, and the writer says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the Living God. [00:39:31]

If these basic principles are clear, if they are established, if they are settled in your life, you will not only come to Christ, but you will cling to Christ. You go on to maturity in Christ, and your faith will be a faith that lasts. [00:44:24]