Not Laying Again the Foundation of Repentance From Acts That Lead to Deatha and of Faith in God
Laying the Foundation
In Ezra, we can read about the foundation being laid for the second Temple,
When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
"He is good;
His love to Israel endures forever."And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid (Ezra 3:10-11).
This was a major moment for Israel and was the first sign of hope they'd had for 70 years. Not all were joyous though,
But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy (Ezra 3:12).
The new Temple wasn't like Solomon's and, though it was the best they could do, it was disappointing to the elders of the community. But the Lord was not disappointed. The Bible records his response,
"Now give careful thought to this from this day on – consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord's temple. When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not turn to me," declares the Lord. "From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid. Give careful thought: Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.
From this day on I will bless you" (Haggai 2:15-19).
According to him, things were about to turn around for the Israelites. So today the Holy Spirit wants us to re-lay the foundation of understanding and make sure we're building on something solid.
In a rather sobering reminder we're told, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder" (James 2:19). A lot of people think that acknowledgement of God is the foundation of Christianity. It is not. God exists and if you refuse to acknowledge that then you're already way behind. Paul put it like this,
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened (Romans 1:20-21).
Our foundation starts with Christ. More specifically, the understanding of who Jesus is exactly. On the subject of who Jesus is we find a conversation in the Gospel highlighting it,
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (Matthew 16:16-18).
The bedrock for our faith's foundation is that Jesus is the Son of God and our Christ (that is, our anointed savior). This is where your old life ends and the new begins. Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God and the savior? Paul agreed with this sentiment; he wrote,
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:10-11)
Jesus is our starting point when it comes to faith.
So you've acknowledged Jesus as your savior and the son of God? Great. The foundation isn't done yet. Hebrews 6:1-2 explains the rest,
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instructions about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
All of the things listed are important issues for Christians to understand. Therefore, why don't we quickly look at them and some Scripture accompanying them to help establish a little base of information?
- Repentance: That is to say, turning away from your old way of life as you come closer to Jesus. The Bible tells us,
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24).
- Faith in God: What is faith? That's really what we need to know isn't it? Hebrews 11:1-3 answers that question,
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
- Baptism: What does baptism mean? At its surface it is the physical representation of our repentance and forgiveness. But there's a lot to it. I go into more detail on baptism in the article Member-ship Part 2; I suggest you check that out.
- The Laying on of Hands: We find this coming up in the Bible in several places. In Mark 16:18 we find, "…they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well." And in Acts 8:17 the Bible says, "Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit." Conveying the power and Spirit of God through the laying on of hands seems to hold importance in the Scriptures and is something we should be aware of as we live the Christian life.
- Resurrection: If you don't know resurrection (that is the raising of the dead), then you don't know much of the Christian doctrine at all. We're told,
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith (1 Corinthians 15:12-14).
Understanding and trusting in the resurrection is a cornerstone of our faith. Jesus was raised from the dead after he died on the cross and we too will one day be raised to join him in heaven. We read,
It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence (2 Corinthians 4:13-14).
- Eternal Judgment: Here's a topic nobody wants to talk about. But whether we want to discuss it or not, the facts don't change. Jesus taught,
Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned (John 5:28-29).
There will come a time when we are all judged by our beliefs and our actions. The Bible does a pretty good job painting a picture of what that will be like:
Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15).
Although that sounds absolutely terrifying; remember that those whose names are in the book of life- that is those who gave their lives to Christ- will go on to heaven.
These are considered- by the Bible- to be the foundational doctrines we need to understand as we enter into our new life in Jesus Christ.
We are called to build our lives upon the foundation of Christ, a rock that will not leave us homeless; for it is written,
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock (Matthew 7:24-25).
We are supposed to center our lives on the Word of God and put what we read into action. You can take heart that, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Therefore, build your temple on Christ; and adorn it as you read the whole Bible; and come to know God better. As you do this, do not be surprised if God's words through Haggai ring true in your life: "From this day on I will bless you."
- Haggai in Focus (laymansbible.wordpress.com)
Source: https://laymansbible.wordpress.com/2019/01/19/laying-the-foundation/