TITLE: You Can’t Go Back TEXT: Hebrews 6:1-6 THEME: The believer should mature beyond the basics of his faith.

Can a person, once saved, lose his salvation?

Ephesians 1:4-5 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—

I Corinthians 1: But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 5:24 Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

John 6:3 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.

John 10:28-29 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.

Romans 8:33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died— more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Romans 8:33 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,

Romans 8:33 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Why should the believer move forward to maturity?

I. God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3)

Hebrews 6:1-3 6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so.

I. God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A. You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation.

I. God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A.You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation. The author names six elementary teachings we must move beyond.

I. God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A.You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation. – Repentance from acts that lead to spiritual death.

I. God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A.You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation. – Repentance from acts that lead to spiritual death. – Faith in God.

I. God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A.You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation. – Repentance from acts that lead to spiritual death. – Faith in God. – Instructions about cleansing rites.

I. God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A.You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation. – Repentance from acts that lead to spiritual death. – Faith in God. – Instructions about cleansing rites. – The laying on of hands.

I. God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A.You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation. – Repentance from acts that lead to spiritual death. – Faith in God. – Instructions about cleansing rites. – The laying on of hands. – The resurrection of the dead.

God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A.You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation. – Repentance from acts that lead to spiritual death. – Faith in God. – Instructions about cleansing rites. – The laying on of hands. – The resurrection of the dead. – Eternal judgment.

God desires you to move beyond the elementary teachings. (1-3) A.You don’t lead to keep laying the foundation. B.B. God wants you to build on these foundational teachings

APPLLY Even after experiencing the grace of God and being freed from our enslavement to sin when things get tough we want to return to what we know- even if it is a dead end and will destroy us.

Why should the believer move forward to maturity?

II. Going back rejects the efficacy of Christ’s finished work. (4-6a)

Hebrews 6:4-6a 4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance.

II.Going back rejects the efficacy of Christ’s finished work. (4-6a) A. We have already enjoyed to benefits of Christ’s finished work.

II.Going back rejects the efficacy of Christ’s finished work. (4-6a) A. We have already enjoyed to benefits of Christ’s finished work. – You have already been enlightened.

II.Going back rejects the efficacy of Christ’s finished work. (4-6a) A. We have already enjoyed to benefits of Christ’s finished work. – You have already been enlightened. – You have already been saved through grace.

II.Going back rejects the efficacy of Christ’s finished work. (4-6a) A. We have already enjoyed to benefits of Christ’s finished work. – You have already been enlightened. – You have already been saved through grace. – You have already received the Holy Spirit.

II.Going back rejects the efficacy of Christ’s finished work. (4-6a) A. We have already enjoyed to benefits of Christ’s finished work. – You have already been enlightened. – You have already been saved through grace. – You have already received the Holy Spirit. – You have already tasted the goodness of God.

II.Going back rejects the efficacy of Christ’s finished work. (4-6a) A. We have already enjoyed to benefits of Christ’s finished work. – You have already been enlightened. – You have already been saved through grace. – You have already received the Holy Spirit. – You have already tasted the goodness of God. – You have already seen the power of the coming age.

II.Going back rejects the efficacy of Christ’s finished work. (4-6a) A. We have already enjoyed to benefits of Christ’s finished work. B. It is impossible to enjoy these benefits go back and try to return again.

Why should the believer move forward to maturity?

III. There is nothing left to go back to. (6b)

Hebrews 6:6a “To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.”

III. There is nothing left to go back to. (6b) A. The Old Covenant looked forward to finished work of Christ.

III. There is nothing left to go back to. (6b) A. The Old Covenant looked forward to finished work of Christ. B. The finished work of Christ makes the Old Covenant obsolete.

III. There is nothing left to go back to. (6b) A. The Old Covenant looked forward to finished work of Christ. B. The finished work of Christ makes the Old Covenant obsolete. C. In trying to do so you negate the all that Christ has done.

Ephesians 1: In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1: And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

APPLICATION 1. God has done everything necessary for us to be able to come into His presence and enjoy a relationship with Him.

APPLICATION 1. God has done everything necessary for us to be able to come into His presence and enjoy a relationship with Him. 2. Don’t life out your faith in constant doubt about your salvation. You are secure in Jesus. You have been made his child and will remain his child.

APPLICATION 1. God has done everything necessary for us to be able to come into His presence and enjoy a relationship with Him. 2. Don’t life out your faith in constant doubt about your salvation. You are secure in Jesus. You have been made his child and will remain his child. 3. As a child God may discipline you when you stay but that does not mean he has abandoned or rejected you.

Hebrews 12: Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live

Hebrews 12: They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

APPLICATION 1. God has done everything necessary for us to be able to come into His presence and enjoy a relationship with Him. 2. Don’t life out your faith in constant doubt about your salvation. You are secure in Jesus. You have been made his child and will remain his child. 3. As a child God may discipline you when you stay but that does not mean he has abandoned or rejected you. 4. Some believers who disobey God may even find He will take them home.

I Corinthians 11:28-30 Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

CONCLUSION This is the kind of love our heavenly Father has for us. We are secure in the fact that he will do whatever is necessary to keep us near his heart. He will wrap himself around us and never let go. We are safe in him.