Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (Hebrews 6:1, 2 ESV)
It seems the author of Hebrews feels his readers have not progressed in their faith. In the last chapter he said that by now they should be teachers.
So here he encourages them to move on in their faith. It's like they were stuck and couldn't get past the idea that they do not have to work for their salvation.
If we are constantly trying to measure our salvation by our works and how righteous we are then either we will have no assurance of our salvation because we are not trusting Christ's work on our behalf or we will become self righteous and critical of others and their walk with God.
If we are trusting in the work of Christ alone for salvation then we will be humbled and thankful by his sacrifice on our behalf and we will see our own sin in contrast to his righteousness. It should help us to be more patient and merciful to other Christians who struggle and not so quick to self-righteously criticize them for not meeting our standard of righteousness.
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