A Warning For True Believers Who Lack FaithPosted by Warner Schwartz on March 30th, 2021 First of all, you must repent of dead works .Then you must be baptized as a symbol of your faith in Christ's precious blood, to blot out your past sins, burying your old self in a watery grave . Belief in Christ's blood — faith in His sacrifice for past sins — involves believing what Christ said. You cannot really believe in Jesus' sacrifice without believing His message — the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Since we have ruled out the possibility that these verses reference true believers, it must mean something else. It could mean they experienced Jesus’ ministry, which was done through the power of the Spirit. Or they may have experienced the apostles’ ministry, which was also done through the power of the Spirit. Or perhaps the church as a whole receives the Spirit and because they join the group, the “overflow” of the Spirit’s ministry touches their lives too. In the last passage in chapter five, the writer is encouraging his readers to wake up from their spiritual lethargy. They need to start paying attention, start obeying, and start passing on the things they have learned. Are you seeking to grow in the grace, knowledge, and love of God? It is living the love of God in your heart, words, and deeds. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we are able to escape the bonds of self-centered sin, and grow in a loving relationship with Christ as we press on towards maturity. In infancy there is selfishness, quarreling, arguments, divisions, unreconciled relationships, unforgiven memories, and all such sins. it would show the great sin of apostasy from God if it were to occur. It is proper to state the greatness of an act of sin, though it might never occur, in order to show how it would be regarded by God. because it would be a rejection of the only possible plan of salvation after they had had experience of its power and known its efficacy. And when we have evidence that he has promised us eternal life, we may open our hearts to the full influence of Christian consolation. It may be asked, perhaps, how we may have that evidence? Will God speak to us from heaven and assure us that we are his children? Will he reveal our names as written in his book? Will he come to us in the night watches and address us by name as his? Similarly, in the New Testament, hands were laid on people in a number of different instances. The context lends itself toward baptismas being the best understanding of the meaning, whichever the original Greek word was. Nevertheless, the writer of Hebrews did not wish to venture into discussing the foundation of faith in God. This has helped me as we have a g-son that was saved as a child and has gotten in and out of drugs and a bad lifestyle. And so we are urged to move on from the initial salvation message, where we are justified by faith, and are urged to grow in a knowledge of our Lord and Saviour - as we press on to spiritual maturity. Consistent Arminians deny the eternal security of the believer and the perseverance of the saints. The doctrine of eternal security teaches “once saved, always saved.” If a person believes in Jesus Christ as Savior, he receives eternal life at that instant and he cannot lose it. The Reformed doctrine of the perseverance of the saints agrees that if a person is truly saved, God will keep him saved unto eternity, be-cause salvation is from the Lord, not from men. The Sad Example of Harry Emerson Fosdick - There are many such people in the history of the Christian church . The most prominent liberal when I was growing up was Harry Emerson Fosdick. Only a life taken in judgment for sin satisfies the debt. Much has been written about this passage throughout the ages, but when considering the context, God is very clear as to what He intended to communicate. We are taught that it is impossible for a person who has enjoyed the enlightenment and fruit of salvation, tasted the Word of God and the power of God in their life to “fall away” and be renewed to repentance in certain situations. The preacher’s purpose is to warn, to caution, even to alarm, lest we fall away and find ourselves incapable of repenting. The warning here threatens us with the inseparable connection between failing to heed the gospel’s call and the impossibility of being restored to repentance if we forsake Christ. Advocates of this view unintentionally alter the function of the passage by converting the warning against falling away into a declaration that it’s possible to fall away. Against this view, I would argue the passage is a warning, and as a warning it alerts us to lurking dangers that entice us to forsake Jesus. That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto am I beyond repentance repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth thereon" - a state of final hopeless barrenness). Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and endurance. Consequently, believers must not “become sluggish” in the faith but must show spiritual diligence by becoming grounded in the truth of God’s Word (v. 12). In so doing, they will possess the hope, or assurance, of salvation; and that hope will carry them “until the end,” or to the day their spiritual pilgrimage on Earth has reached its goal. Again, faith is absolutely required for eternal salvation. Not a single person will enter God's family void of faith. And this is what the author of Hebrews wants to remind his readers. In other words, the "oath for confirmation" was to be the end of a matter between two people. It was also a word often used as a legal guarantee, as it was used here. In some sense, Abraham saw the fulfillment of the covenant promises, although he did not live here on earth for that length of time. However, while he was alive, he had long patience concerning God's promises. If He decides not to permit this progress I shall not be able to help you in the way that I wish. There will be nothing I can do if God decides to withhold the possibility of your further progress towards ‘perfection’. Week after week “I” gave God all that my flesh would allow me to. “I” tried it all, but I always felt distant from God, and while I believed in Jesus I never felt secure. I knew my struggles and I knew that God saw them too. Sometimes “I” drank one more beer than I should have. All of this hope will act as an "anchor of the soul." Just as a ship needs to be anchored soundly to remain steadfast in one position, so also do believers need something to believe which will act as an anchor of their soul. Jesus will rule and reign over this earth at some time in the future, which will be the finality of the promises made to the ancient fathers. After that, the ages of ages will be introduced, and the New Jerusalem will be the center of all worship.Like it? Share it! More by this author |