Hebrews 6

July 3  

Reading: Hebrews 6 

¹ 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, ² and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.    

⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things-- things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.    

¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." ¹⁵ And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. 

I think of Hebrews and Revelation as the two most challenging books in the New Testament. They both require a thorough understanding of the Old Testament and they both strike fear into the heart of the true Christian. Revelation reveals the coming wrath of God on the world and the reality of a coming persecution of the saints. Hebrews is full of warnings so that we do not fall away. 

In my twenties I became committed to the Biblical doctrine of the complete sovereignty of God. I still am. God is in complete control of our salvation and once He saves us, He will never let us go. (John 10:27-30) But as soon as I was convinced of this teaching in the Bible, I was confronted by the warnings of the letter to the Hebrews. Almost every chapter contains stern warnings to believers to beware of the very real danger of falling into sin and destruction. 

Verses 1-3 continue the teaching at the end of chapter 5, urging us to grow in the Word and in faith. But now the reason we are given for doing so in verses 4-8 is frightening. There are people who really thought that they trusted in Jesus Christ and were saved. Everyone else probably thought they were saved as well. They had the light of the Gospel, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, and spiritual power. But they have turned away from the truth. We do not want to become like them. 

Then, beginning in verse 9 the author gives his reader comfort and assurance of God’s faithfulness to His promise to those who have believed. Jesus goes before us and will bring us all the way home. 

How are we to reconcile these two teachings? I think the text tells us. To heed the warning not to fall away is how we hold fast to this hope set before us. Think of it like this. You are adrift in the great ocean and someone in a rescue boat throws you a line and shouts, “Don’t let go!” It is the sure hope of rescue that makes you hang on. Trustworthy Jesus, who holds the other end, will never let go. Of course, you could decide to let go of the rope, but because you know the truth you would never even think of doing so.