Originally Posted by kclee4jc
Hebrews 6 mentions 'the laying on of hands' as a foundational doctrine of the Christian Church. I know that this practice is in abundance in Apostolic churches and rightfully so. My question is do we see it as a foundatinal doctrine as (presumaby) the Apostle Paul saw it? What are the implications of such a doctrine? What are we missing in our abundance of practice with possibly little understanding of such practice as a doctrine?
Hebrews 6:1-2 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, (2) Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
The "laying on of hands" is connected with "the doctrine of baptisms". The doctrine of baptisms is not so much about Christian water baptism and Holy spirit baptism, per se, but rather with the Christian understanding of "washings" or ablutions (baptizon). The laying on of hands likewise is not so much about a collection of Scripture examples of people laying hands on others for various purposes, as it is about the connection between ablutions and laying on of hands.
The apostle begins in verse 1 by speaking of "the foundation". The foundation is "Christ" (
1 Cor 3:11), that is, the entirety of doctrine concerning Christ, His work, the Gospel. This foundation centering on Christ has to do with several things: repentance from dead works and faith towards God, baptisms and laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. The
context is found in verses 4-8:
Hebrews 6:4-8 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (5) And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, (6) If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (7) For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: (8) But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
The context has to do with apostasy. Since the letter was written to "Hebrews" and concerns the superiority of Christ to Moses, that is to say, of the Gospel to the Law, or of the New Covenant to the Old, it follows that the apostasy warned about is of returning to the Law, to the Old Covenant, after having been a partaker of the New.
Both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant provide teaching concerning repentance and faith, washings and imposition of hands, resurrection and judgment. The recipients of the epistle were Christians familiar with the Old Covenant. They were therefore familiar with the Old Covenant provisions for these various things. They were also made partakers of the New, and should have been familiar with the Gospel provisions for these same things. But for some reason there was a danger that these Hebrews were liable to abandon the New for a return to the Old.
In regards to baptisms and laying on of hands, the Law provided for various washings (baptisms) that provided various cleansings. Offerings had to be washed, the priests had to be washed, the worshippers had to be washed (in the event of any uncleanness), and so forth. These washings and thus the cleansings associated with them were performed under the rules and regulations of the Law Covenant. But now that Messiah has come, the concept of washings has to be understood in a New Covenant sense. Washing and cleansing come via faith, adherance to the Gospel, faith in JESUS as Messiah, rather than the Sinaitic Covenant. People were being led into believing that Christ's washing is not enough, that they must return to the ablutions and purifications of the old rite in order to be truly cleansed. They were in danger of losing their faith in Jesus ONLY as the ground for their cleansing.
Under the Law, imposition of hands was primarily associated with the transference of sin-guilt from the worshipper to the sacrificial animal offered at the Temple. Sin simply could not be reliably transferred apart from the Levitical priesthood and the rites of the Law. This was especially true concerning the rite of the Day of Atonement, which was the prescribed method for atoning for the sins of the whole nation. But according to the doctrine of Christ, that is to say, the Gospel, sin and guilt has been transferred to Christ and there is no need for the Old Covenant methodologies and rites. That is to say,
one does not need to observe the rites of the Old Covenant in order to be justified and sanctified. Instead, these things are found in Christ.
Imposition of hands was also associated with the Levitical consecration (
Numbers 8:5-11) to the service of God. But we see that under the Gospel, as the elders in the church are ordained via laying on of hands, and as the Holy Ghost is (usually) given through the medium of laying on of hands, there is again no need for the Levitical system and its officers. The Gospel is replacing the Law, the New Covenant is replacing the Old, and this is a fundamental principle or part of the foundation of the doctrine of Christ. To abandon the Gospel understanding of ordination for service, consecration to God, transference of sin and guilt, atonement, etc, in favor of returning to the Old Covenant system, is to jeopardize the soul (
Heb. 6:6).
The understanding that Paul was trying to remind the readers of concerning laying on of hands was not so much about making sure they understand that the Spirit is given through laying of hands, and blessings are given by laying on of hands, and so forth. Rather, Paul is trying to remind the readers of the Gospel understanding of these clearly Jewish concepts, in a warning about falling away from their Christian, Gospel understanding and going back to a Jewish, Levitical understanding of these things.
As the listed items in the first two verses are said to be the "foundation", it follows that the Gospel understanding of these subjects is the foundation upon which the church is built. They constitute the basics of the "doctrine of Christ" (the Gospel). They are elsewhere referred to as the "foundation of the apostles and prophets" (
Eph 2:20) because they are the message delivered by the apostles and prophets upon which the church is built. That message is, as Paul points out in Romans, the difference between Law and Faith. Everything Jews thought the Law provided is actually provided by the Gospel: correct worship (repentance from dead works and faith towards God), cleansing and justification and sanctification and consecration (washings and imposition of hands), and eternal life in the world to come (resurrection and eternal judgment).
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