In our study of Hebrews chapter six, we will look at the assurance that we are saved and it cannot be lost. How do you respond to someone who says that you can lose your salvation? We will find out through the words that Paul shared with the Jewish believers.
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Therefore, leaving behind the initial lessons about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of turning from works that lead to death, trusting God, and instruction about washings, s'mikhah, the resurrection of the dead and eternal punishment. And, God willing, this is what we will do.
"Therefore" lets us know that this chapter is connected to what Paul was saying in the previous chapter. He ended chapter 5 by telling us the purpose of growing and maturing in the faith which was so that we can tell good from evil. Now, he gives us a list of some of the basic teachings of the faith and calls them the foundation. The purpose of any foundation is to support what is built upon it and it implies that something will be built.
For when people have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become sharers in the Ruach HaKodesh, and tasted the goodness of God's Word and the powers of the 'olam haba - and then have fallen away - it is impossible to renew them so that they turn from their sin, as long as for themselves they keep executing the Son of God on the stake all over again and keep holding him up to public contempt.
Paul jumps right into building on that foundation by looking at the question of losing your salvation. This passage has been misused and abused to beat down Christians and to stop them from living in the victory that is Jesus Christ. There are many people who use this passage to say that you can lose your salvation if you don't do these things or if you do other things but it is not even talking about salvation. He is talking to people that have accepted the grace of God through Jesus Christ and so are saved as he speaks of tasting "the heavenly gift". He mentions the fact that they "have shared in the Holy Spirit" which reminds us that one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to give us the comfort and assurance that we are saved. So, what does he mean by "if they fall away"? We have to remember that Paul was writing this to Jews that had accepted Christ but were struggling with the grace that they had experienced and the laws and rituals of their past. He is reminding them that grace is a gift and, if you pay for a gift, then it can no longer be considered a gift.
For the land that soaks up frequent rains and then brings forth a crop useful to its owners receives a blessing from God; but if it keeps producing thorns and thistles, it fails the test and is close to being cursed;w in the end, it will be burned.
Now, Paul compares the Christian life to farming and they are closely related. Throughout the Bible, water is associated with the Spirit of God and, here, we see that a Christian that has received that Spirit (rain) should produce a crop. If farmland does not produce a crop over an extended period of time, then, it is no longer consider farm land.
Now even though we speak this way, dear friends, we are confident that you have the better things that come with being delivered. For God is not so unfair as to forget your work and the love you showed for him in your past service to his people - and in your present service too.
Paul encourages his readers that they are saved and bases his confidence on the fact that their actions back up their words. He reminds them that God sees their work for Him and will remember it. We see from this, that the falling away that he mentioned before was not losing salvation but basically being what is known as a pew sitter. So why do we not want to be a "pew sitter"? There are two reasons and the first is our love for God. Paul equates our love for God with our helping His people. If we love God, then we will serve people because He loves them. The second reason is that the loss that Paul is talking about is a loss of rewards. When we get to see Jesus, we will give an account of our lives after we accepted His grace. This is not a judgment with punishment but a sort of paying of wages. We will receive rewards from Jesus based on our service to Him on this earth.
However, we want each one of you to keep showing the same diligence right up to the end, when your hope will be realized; so that you will not become sluggish, but will be imitators of those who by their trust and patience are receiving what has been promised.
The hope that Paul speaks of is our rewards and he urges us to continue in the work of the Lord. People get lazy and want to kick back and wait for Jesus to return. Although we can do that, we will be missing out on some of the rewards that God has set for us.
For when God made his promise to Avraham, he swore an oath to do what he had promised; and since there was no one greater than himself for him to swear by, he swore by himself and said, "I will certainly bless you, and I will certainly give you many descendants"; and so, after waiting patiently, Avraham saw the promise fulfilled.
We all are familiar with the practice of swearing by something greater than oneself to prove its truth. What do you do if you are the Creator of all things and there is nothing greater? That is how it was and is with God and His promises. There is no one greater for Him to swear by so the promise is simply based on His character and the fact that He keeps His promises. God is the same today as He has always been and so we can have that same patient assurance that what He has promised us will be received.
Now people swear oaths by someone greater than themselves, and confirmation by an oath puts an end to all dispute. Therefore, when God wanted to demonstrate still more convincingly the unchangeable character of his intentions to those who were to receive what he had promised, he added an oath to the promise; so that through two unchangeable things, in neither of which God could lie, we, who have fled to take a firm hold on the hope set before us, would be strongly encouraged.
God made this oath to give the children of Abraham the assurance of truth. Abraham held onto the truth of God by faith and it is easier for us to hold on as we see that God kept this oath to him.
We have this hope as a sure and safe anchor for ourselves, a hope that goes right on through to what is inside the parokhet, where a forerunner has entered on our behalf, namely, Yeshua, who has become a cohen gadol forever, to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.
Our hope is in Christ as our High Priest and it is sure as we see that "He has become a high priest forever". We do not have to worry about doing something that will cause us to lose our salvation. If our soul holds onto that like an anchor for a ship, we will not be tossed about by all the latest teachings and religious theories. We truly will have a blessed assurance!
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