Thomas Aquinas Commentary Hebrews 6:1-6

"Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit. For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, and [then] fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." — Hebrews 6:1-6 (ASV)

Having mentioned the priesthood of Christ according to the order of Melchizedek and scolded the slowness of those to whom he was writing, the Apostle now returns to his theme. In this regard, he does three things:

1. He discloses his intention.
2. He explains its difficulty (verse 4).
3. He declares his intention (verse 9).

Concerning the first point, he does two things:

1. He discloses his intention (verse 1a).
2. He explains what he says (verse 1b).

His intention is to move past the things that pertain to the beginning of Christian doctrine and go on to more advanced matters. Therefore, he says, "I have stated that strong meat is for the mature." Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrines of Christ, through which Christ begins to exist in us by the doctrine of faith: That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts (Ephesians 3:17). Let us go on to maturity, that is, to things that look toward the perfection of Christ’s doctrine: When I became a man, I put away the things of a child (1 Corinthians 13:11).

According to a gloss, this can refer to two things. It can refer to the intellect, so that as a person advances in age, he should put away childish things and devote himself to what is perfect: however, we speak wisdom among the perfect (1 Corinthians 2:6). Or, it can refer to the will, and then the meaning is that one should not remain a beginner but should press on to the state of the perfect: Walk before me and be perfect (Genesis 17:1).

Here two objections arise. The first is based on his saying, let us leave the elementary doctrines. For the beginning should never be abandoned: And I said, Now have I begun (Psalms 76:11); My justification, which I have begun to hold (Job 27:6). I answer that there are two ways of leaving a beginning. One is according to evaluation, and in this way a person should always be a beginner, tending to what is higher: Not as though I had already attained or were already perfect; but I follow after, if I may by any means apprehend (Philippians 3:12). The other is according to progress toward perfection, and in this way a person should always strive to pass on to the perfect state: Forgetting the things that are behind, and stretching forth myself to those that are before (Philippians 3:13). For, as Bernard says, not to progress in the way of God is to fall behind.

The other objection concerns the invitation, let us go on to maturity. For perfection consists in the counsels: If you would be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor (Matthew 19:21). But not all are bound by the counsels. I answer that there are two kinds of perfection. One is external and consists in external acts that are signs of what is internal, such as virginity and voluntary poverty. Not all are bound to this perfection. The other is internal and consists in the love of God and neighbor: Have charity which is the bond of perfection (Colossians 3:14). Not all are bound to achieve this perfection, but all are bound to strive toward it, because if a person no longer desired to love God more, he would not be doing what charity requires.

He says, let us go on, and this we do by following the impulse of the Holy Spirit: Whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God (Romans 8:14). Or we are carried, as it were, by God who bears our infirmities: Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who are carried by my bowels (Isaiah 46:3). Or we are carried by one another: Bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).

When he says, not laying again the foundation of repentance, he explains what he has said. Here he intends to show what things make for the beginning of Christ’s doctrine. For this, he uses an analogy. It is by faith that a soul is built into a spiritual edifice. Therefore, just as in a material building the foundation is laid first, so here the first rudiments of Christ’s doctrine are, as it were, the foundation. But this seems to conflict with what he teaches below in chapter 11, where faith is set down as the foundation, for faith is one: One Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). But here he mentions six foundations.

I answer that faith is the foundation of the virtues, but the things he mentions are the foundations of Christ’s doctrine. He says, not laying again the foundation of repentance, as though it were laid so firmly that there is no need to lay it again. Or, it is because you have just laid it, and it should not be laid again.

The Apostle lists these foundations quite clearly. Just as in the process of generation or any movement there is first of all a departure, so too here. Repentance is a departure from sin and is, as it were, the foundation of the new life. For, according to Augustine, no one who is master of his own will can begin a new life without repenting of the past. Hence, at the beginning of His preaching the Lord says: Do penance (Matthew 4:17). Therefore, he says, the foundation is repentance from dead works.

Works are called "dead" either because they are dead in themselves or because they become dead. A thing is said to be alive when it functions on its own power, so that wherever it fails, it is said to be dead. Our works are directed toward happiness, which is man’s end. Therefore, when they do not lead to happiness or cannot be directed toward it, they are said to be dead. These are works performed in mortal sin: The blood of Christ, who by the Holy Spirit offered himself unspotted to God, will cleanse our conscience from dead works (Hebrews 9:14). But works performed in charity are made dead by subsequent sin; hence, they do not have the power to merit eternal life: All the justices which he has done will not be remembered (Ezekiel 18:24). But repentance makes them revive; hence they are then once more counted for eternal life.

In approaching the desired goal, faith is first; hence, he says, the foundation of faith toward God. For it is proper to faith that a person believes and assents to things unseen by him, on the authority of another. This testimony is either from man alone, and then it does not pertain to the virtue of faith, because man can deceive and be deceived. Or, that testimony is from God’s judgment, and then it is most true and firm, because it comes from the Truth itself, which cannot deceive or be deceived. Hence, he says, toward God, meaning the assent is made to what God says: You believe in God; believe also in me (John 14:1).

The second element in this process involves the sacraments of faith. These are two sacraments for those who are entering the faith, for those are the only ones the Apostle is discussing here. The first is baptism, by which we are reborn; the second is confirmation, by which we are strengthened.

In regard to the first, he speaks of the doctrine of baptisms. But this seems contrary to what is stated in Ephesians 4:5: One faith, one baptism. Therefore, there are not several baptisms. I answer that there are three kinds of baptism: of water, of desire, and of blood. But the last two have no force unless they are referred to the first, because the baptism of water must be intended if it cannot be actually received by a person with the use of free will. Hence, there are not three sacraments, but one sacrament, by which we are reborn to salvation: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5).

Of the other two, the baptism of blood produces more of baptism’s effects, provided that the first is desired or its opposite is not present in the mind, as is clear in the case of the Holy Innocents, who were not of an opposite mind. For baptism has its power from the merit of Christ’s Passion: All we who are baptized in Christ Jesus are baptized in his death (Romans 6:3). Therefore, just as one who is baptized is conformed sacramentally to Christ’s death, so the martyr is conformed in reality. The baptism of blood, therefore, produces the total effect of baptism in the sense of washing away all guilt and punishment for sin, but it does not imprint a character. Therefore, if one who had undergone martyrdom without the baptism of water were to rise from the dead, he would have to be baptized.

Penance, however, does not produce as many of baptism’s effects, because it does not take away all punishment, although it takes away all guilt. But just as a martyr conforms himself to Christ’s Passion by external suffering, so a penitent conforms by internal suffering: They that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences (Galatians 5:24). Therefore, penance can be so great that it would remove all guilt and punishment, as happened to the good thief and to Magdalene. Hence, penance is called a baptism, inasmuch as it performs the function of baptism. And because baptism cannot be repeated, penance was instituted. The others are called baptisms because they produce the effect of baptism, but there is only one sacrament of baptism, because the others produce no effect unless the first is intended.

The second sacrament for new believers involves the laying on of hands. This is twofold. One is productive of miracles, as when Christ cured the sick by laying his hands on them: He, laying his hands on every one of them, cured them (Luke 4:40). This is not sacramental. The other is sacramental and is found in two sacraments: first, in the sacrament of Orders: Impose not hands lightly on anyone (1 Timothy 5:22); secondly, in the sacrament of confirmation for renewal: By the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). For in confirmation the Holy Spirit is given for strength to enable a person to boldly confess Christ’s name before others. For just as in the natural order a person is first born and then grows and becomes strong, so, too, in the order of grace.

Thirdly, there follows the end point of this spiritual movement. This is twofold. The first is the resurrection of the dead, which is the foundation of faith, because without it our faith is in vain (1 Corinthians 15:14). Secondly, we expect a reward, which is conferred by the judge: All things that are done, God will bring into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14). Therefore, he speaks of eternal judgment. This is not because that judgment will last a thousand years, as Lactantius taught, for it will last but a moment. It is called eternal because the sentence passed then will last forever: These shall go into eternal punishment, but the just into eternal life (Matthew 25:46). It should be noted that all the things he desires to treat here are, as it were, the rudiments of the faith; hence he preaches them to newcomers, as is recorded in Acts 17:18 and in other places.

Then, in verse 3, he shows how difficult it is to carry out his intention. For it is difficult both in itself and in relation to his hearers. Hence he does three things: first, he suggests that in this he especially needs divine help; secondly, he mentions their weakness (verse 4); thirdly, he proposes an analogy (verse 7).

He says, therefore: Let us go on to more perfect things, and this we shall do, if God permit. He says less than he means, for it is not only necessary that God permit, but He must do all things: In his hand are both we and our words . Therefore, he must place all things under the confidence of divine help: Without me you can do nothing (John 15:5); For you should say: If the Lord will, and if we shall live, we will do this or that (James 4:15).

Then when he says, it is impossible, he shows their weakness, for they were weak in hearing. Just as in material things no state is so dangerous as that of one who relapses, so in spiritual things one who falls into sin after receiving grace rises with more difficulty. In regard to this he does three things: first, he lists the good things they had received; secondly, he describes the difficulty caused in them from having relapsed (verse 6); thirdly, he assigns the reason (verse 6b).

Some of the goods are present and some are future. In the present, they had spiritual rebirth; in regard to this he says they were enlightened, namely by baptism. And baptism is fittingly called an enlightenment because it is the beginning of spiritual rebirth, in which the intellect is enlightened by faith: You were previously darkness, but now light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8). They are also sharers of God’s goods; hence he says, who have tasted the heavenly gift. That gift is grace and is called heavenly because God gave it from heaven: God gave gifts to men (Psalms 67:19); Every best gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17).

They are also sharers of the divine goodness: By whom he has given us most great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4). Therefore, he says, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit. For all gifts are given from love; therefore, he attributes that participation to the Holy Spirit. To participate is to take a part. But Christ alone had the Holy Spirit in fullness: God does not give the Spirit by measure (John 3:34). For the other saints received of His fullness and were made partakers not of His substance, but of His distributions: There are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4). Also in the present day they had instruction in His doctrine; hence, he says, and have tasted the good word of God. That word is called good because it is the word of eternal life: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (John 6:69); How sweet are your words to my palate (Psalms 119:103). But he says, tasted, because it not only enlightens the intellect but also refreshes the affections, in which there is a kind of spiritual taste: Taste and see that the Lord is sweet (Psalms 33:8).

We are saved by hope (Romans 8:24). Therefore, he speaks of the powers of the age to come. Some of these they have not only in hope but in a preliminary way, and these are the endowments of the soul: vision, possession, and fruition. These are possessed in an early stage inasmuch as faith, hope, and charity, which correspond to them, are possessed in the present. But the others are goods possessed only in hope, such as the endowments of the body: subtility, agility, impassibility, and clarity.

Then when he says, and then have fallen away, he shows the difficulty in rising after one has fallen. Here it should be noted that he does not say "fallen," but "fallen away," that is, completely fallen. If they had merely fallen, it would not be difficult to rise: A just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again (Proverbs 24:16). If the Apostle had said it is impossible for those who have fallen away to rise again, then it might be said that in this he was signifying how extremely difficult it is to rise, both because of sin and because of pride, as in the case of the devils. But because he says that those who have once fallen away cannot be renewed to repentance, and there is no sin in this world that a person cannot repent of, there must be another explanation.

It should be noted that a certain Novatian, who was a priest of the church in Rome, used this as a basis for his error. He declared that no one could come to repentance after baptism. But this opinion is false, as Athanasius says in a letter to Serapion, because Paul himself received the incestuous Corinthian, as shown in 2 Corinthians 2. Likewise, in Galatians 4:19, he says: My little children, of whom I am in labor again, until Christ be formed in you.

Therefore, it must be understood, as Augustine says, that he does not say that it is impossible to repent, but that it is impossible to be renewed again by baptism: By the laver of regeneration and renovation of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). For a person could never repent in such a way that he could be baptized again. The Apostle says this because according to the Law, the Jews were baptized frequently, as is shown in Mark 7. Consequently, it was in order to remove that error that the Apostle says this.

Then when he says, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account, he gives the reason why baptism cannot be repeated. Baptism is a configuration to Christ’s death, as is clear from Romans 6:3: all we who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death. But this death is not repeated, because Christ rising again from the dead, dies now no more (Romans 6:9). Therefore, those who are repeatedly baptized crucify Christ again.

Alternatively, it denotes that it is contrary to Christ’s grace for people to sin frequently and then be baptized again. In this view, the emphasis is not on the repetition of baptism, but on the falling away of the sinner, who, insofar as it depends on him, crucifies Christ again: Christ died once for our sins (1 Peter 3:18). Therefore, when you sin after baptism, then as far as it depends on you, you give occasion for Christ to be crucified again. In this way you hold him up to contempt and stain yourself, who were washed in His blood: He loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood (Revelation 1:5).