Hebrews 6: Beware falling away

• v.1-12 Warning Against Falling Away
• v.13-20 The Certainty of God’s Promise brings Assurance

[Preliminary Note: Yet again the writer exhorts his readers not to fall away, this time because of lack of understanding. To that he adds the assurance that comes to us when we understand God’s promises, and the strength of a promise.]

v.1-12 Warning Against Falling Away

v.1-3 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.   And God permitting, we will do so.

v.4-6 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

v.7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God.

v.8 But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

v.9 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.

v.10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

v.11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.

v.12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

[Note: Let’s deepen our learning, now understand, the apostate cannot be brought back. Land that receives rain and brings fruit is obviously blessed by God but land that brings briers will be burned. We hope the former will be you. God will remember your good works and we want you to hold firm to the end so don’t fall back but press on.]

v.13-20 The Certainty of God’s Promise brings Assurance

v.13,14 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” [Gen 22:17]

v.15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

v.16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.

v.17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.

v.18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged.

v.19,20 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

[Note: God had promised Abraham He would bless him – and this He did. When people make promises, they do it on the basis of someone greater than them. God had made a promise to Abraham, in order to confirm His intent. Now God – Himself and His trustworthiness – brings us assurance and hope and this hope holds us, as it takes us into the inner sanctum with God where Jesus took us.]

 [Additional Note: The Flow of Writing: Recognizing, at the end of chapter 5, that we often struggle to understand some of these things, the writer exhorts us to grow in understanding, recognizing that if we don’t, we tend to go backwards and can fall away and if that falling away is complete there is no coming back from it. The first half of the chapter is an exhortation to overcome. In then bringing us reassurances, he reminds us that Abraham had to wait patiently, having to trust in God’s promises. We have hope for the future which is also built on God’s promises and to take hold of that we sometimes have to flee into the inner sanctum, so to speak, to seek God, which has been made possible by Jesus acting for us as our high priest. In the following chapter, he explains at length the nature of Jesus’ priesthood by comparing him to Melchizedek who Abraham encountered – see Gen 14:18-20]  

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: