Impartation

The writer of Hebrews admonishes people to leave the elementary teachings about Christ and then proceeds to identify what these are (6:1-2). These foundational Christian principles are repentance from sin, faith in God, baptism, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Out of these six basics, five of them are very familiar to most believers. The salvation message is that we must believe in God (Jesus), repent from our sins, and get baptized so that when we die we will be resurrected and avoid eternal judgment. Unfortunately, many churches provide little to no teaching or experience on the laying on of hands.

This passage in Hebrews is not necessarily referring to the laying on of hands to pray for the sick. It is about impartation. Paul refers to this principle in Romans 1:11 when he tells the believers in Rome that he desires to see them in order to impart some spiritual gift. The Church must restore this elementary teaching of Christ in order to maintain a strong foundation for higher level truths. I will talk more about this idea in the next post.

"You are to bring the Levites before the LORD, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them." Numbers 8:10