And this will we do, if God permit.
και τουτο ποιησωμεν εανπερ 0 επιτρεπη ο θεος
7 Church Fathers comment on this verse
"This we will do." What is this? It is to go on to perfection, if God wills. He did not say this as though God did not command it. Rather, he spoke in the usual way, saying that if it is pleasing to God, this is what he himself wishes to do. At the same time he teaches us here to place everything in dependence on His will. Even in unquestionably good works, we must not trust our own judgment and powers. The Apostle Jude also clearly persuades us of this.
Having reproached them for wavering in the faith, for this is what the Apostle called "milk," he counsels them to strive for perfection.
They should build the rest upon the foundations already laid, and not lay another foundation again.
By "foundation" he means faith, and by "dead works" wickedness. Those who have believed loathe its stench and take refuge in repentance.
They draw near to divine Baptism, receive the grace of the Spirit from the priestly hand, and in divine Baptism receive the type of the Resurrection.
Then they await the general resurrection of all and the future judgment.
This is what the Apostle called the "letters of the oracles." As a teacher of letters first shows children the shapes of the letters, so teachers of piety instruct those approaching the faith in the first principles.
Therefore the divine Apostle says that one must desire what is more perfect, and not learn again from the beginning the letters of piety.
The words "and this we will do, if God permits" are connected by the Apostle with what was said above: "Therefore, leaving the elementary word of Christ, let us be led on to perfection."
"And this we will do, if God permits" means: we shall make every effort and desire to love every labor for the sake of perfection.
It is usual for the Apostle to make everything depend on God's providence. Therefore he added, "if God permits."
So also in the Epistle to the Corinthians he said, "I will come to you, if the Lord wills" (1 Cor 4:19).
The Apostle placed the word "Baptism" in the plural not to teach that there are many baptisms, but because many make use of the grace of Baptism.
That he preached one Baptism is taught by what follows.
"This," that is, what? The striving toward the more perfect teaching, as was said earlier. But lest any of the baptized suppose that, after sinning, he can be baptized again, the Apostle adds the following to forestall such a thought.
Since Christ's beginning was from Judaism, for He lived according to the Law, the Apostle says: leaving this, let us hasten to perfection.
We know that He Who is to be Priest without the Law must be Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:10; 6:20).
"Dead works, and faith toward God, Baptism." For Christians, dead works are earthly works.
Thus the Apostle says that it is absurd, after leaving this way of life grounded either in faith or in the mortification of all earthly works, to return again to washings according to the Law.
When the Lord came, He preached repentance, saying, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (Mt 3:2; 4:17). This was repentance from dead works.
This, then, is what he says: one must not return to the Law after leaving repentance from dead works, faith in God, and Baptism.
He spoke of Baptism in the plural because of the multitude of those counted worthy of it.
He spoke of baptisms, and of teaching, and of the laying on of hands, through which ordination takes place, and of the hope of resurrection, and of the rest.
He prepares this in advance because the priests in the Law defended the Law, while Melchizedek was outside the Law.
Although the Lord did not come from the tribe of Levi, He was Priest according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:10; 6:20).
The Apostle says that one must not leave the Priest according to the order of Melchizedek and defend the priests in the Law, so that the things written in the Law may be established.
Nevertheless, he calls these things a foundation, because they served as an introduction into piety for men.
Hearing that the Apostle urges them "not to lay the foundation" of the teaching about baptisms and the laying on of hands, the Shtundists explain this as a censure of the Orthodox sacrament of Baptism. They apply it also to the blessing by a priest's hand, and to similar rites and sacred actions.
But he also says not to lay the foundation of faith in God, the teaching about the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Does he censure these teachings too? By no means.
His thought is that these teachings, which he calls "the beginnings of the doctrine of Christ," should be left without dispute. Christians should have no doubt about them.
Here "to leave" does not mean to forget, since everything is built upon these truths. It means to leave them untouched. Once knowledge has been established on known foundations, it no longer handles them, lest it damage its own firmness.
It is good to build a building on a foundation. But it would be strange if someone kept building only the foundation and never proceeded to the upper parts of the building.
So too it would be strange if Christians did not extend their inquiry beyond the basic and initial truths of the faith.
This discussion of the beginnings includes the teaching about Baptism. Here baptisms are spoken of in the plural, because the superiority of Christ's Baptism over the then-existing baptism of John is meant (Acts 19:8).
Such discussion was all the more useless because they had already confessed faith in these truths when they entered the Church of Christ. "I confess one Baptism" are words of the Creed.
Now the time had come to bring forth the fruits of this faith, not to investigate its objects anew.
Thus the cited words contain no censure of the teaching about Baptism. On the contrary, they include it among the foundational truths of Christianity.
"Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us be led on to perfection" (Heb. 6:1), or, as in the Russian translation, "leaving the beginning of the doctrine of Christ, let us hasten on to perfection."
At first sight, the Apostle should have done the opposite. With infants in faith, he should have occupied himself precisely with the beginning of the doctrine of Christ. Yet the Apostle calls the Hebrews infants only by way of reproach. In fact, by his own words, they could understand even the more perfect Christian teaching.
For the Apostle, only one thing was beyond doubt. They would understand it with difficulty and heaviness because of their national prejudices. Therefore, persistent and detailed explanations would be required. Yet this was not an unconquerable obstacle, and the Apostle hoped to overcome it with God's help.
"And this we will do, if God permits," he says a little later (Heb. 6:3).
"Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment" (Heb. 6:2). Or, as in the Russian translation, "let us not again lay the foundation of turning from dead works and of faith in God, of teaching about baptisms, of the laying on of hands, of the resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment."
The subjects enumerated by the Apostle are, of course, those beginnings of Christian doctrine and those articles of faith which formed the brief symbol in apostolic times. These were taught to newly converted Christians, infants in the faith of Christ.
Now returning to his intention to hasten toward perfection, the Apostle says that he will attain this if God permits. That is, he will do so if God helps him overcome the obstacle, namely the unwillingness and inability to listen to his preaching, which he evidently notices in some of his readers from the words that follow.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 7 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS