Bishop Keith Butler
Jan 19
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1-2)
We aren’t called to be perfect; we are called to go on unto perfection. The word perfection means maturity. You and I are called to grow in our understanding and our application of the elements of faith. What are those elements? The writer of Hebrews clearly states them here:
BAPTISMS - You may have heard people say: “One God, One faith, One Baptism”. Well, that’s what the Bible says in Ephesians 4:5, but that’s not the whole story. Baptism here is plural because there are several. There is the baptism in water that represents being dead to sin and living the resurrection life. There is also the baptism into the body of Christ. This is the “one baptism” referred to in Ephesians.
LAYING ON OF HANDS - This isn’t just a ceremonial thing that we do in churches. It is an act of power, of a point of contact where we extend our faith to receive what God is giving through the vessel of a leader or another person.
RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD AND ETERNAL JUDGEMENT - This refers to mature believers standing in faith. They understand the reality of the life that is to come. It means living life with the knowledge and sensitivity of understanding the eternal implications of the choices we make while on earth.
We are called to go beyond base level Christianity and delve deeper into the things of the Spirit without losing the fundamentals. Study what the Bible says about these doctrines and ask the Holy Spirit to show you deeper revelation from the Word.