Hebrews
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Lets revisit the text starting from-
Hebrews 5:11-14. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Paul is urging them towards maturity.
Now lets take up Hebrews 6:7-9.
For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
Verse 8: But that which ""beareth thorns and briers"" is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.
THE KEY IS IN VERSE 9.
Verse 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and ( things that accompany salvation,) though we thus speak. WHAT ACCOMPANIES SALVATION? FRUIT AND REWARDS.
Verse 8 parallels with
Isaiah 5:6-7. And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.
Also. Link
You see the whole concept here. Link
You see these verses can not be about salvation, if so we're all in trouble.
Its about what accompany salvation.
I hope that helps.
Lets start with Hebrews 6:4-6 with the view you can loose your salvation.
4: For it is ""impossible"" for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5: And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6: If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
That sounds like they're saved right? Right.
So if you read that verse carefully with the mind you can loose your salvation "you got one shot at it!!" ( For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened....) ( If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;...)
You can take this passage and say if you were saved and some how stumbled "a small lie, got angry, ect.." it is impossible to renew you to repentance!! your forever Lost!! Read it again with the view you can loose your salvation.
That does not sound right so now take the passage with the view you cant loose your salvation and say these people was not really saved, "The Calvinist view"
It seems they suffer the same fate! Whether professors or not 'they were once enlightened'.
It is "Impossible" ( for those who were once ""enlightened,"" and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance;...)
The unsaved premise seems to also fails. they also got one shot!
I believe the writer is writing to believers, he addresses them that way in Ch 3:1. "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling",
I don't think this is talking about salvation at all, it don't say renew them again to salvation, it say repentance. The writer is writing to the Hebrews and urging them to maturity, the burden of the writer is not to return to Judaism. Legalism, them becoming fruitless.
As Adam has stated in another post I cannot see ALL being saved in the end as how many Scriptures there are about people going to eternal damnation or "Hell". Some can't see a loving God be like this to people for say only sinning in the span of their physical life. Though I don't think anyone can perceive how serious sin is to a Perfect, Pure, Almighty God. Also in that it is not the pleasure of God that any should perish. The Lord will not turn away any that truly come to Him. Then on the day of Judgement when the books are opened. People may be shown how many times in their lives God has tried to lead them to Salvation in Jesus Christ and repentance of sins. Maybe just repentance before the Lord came to earth. All up to Him as He is fair.
So here are a couple more Scriptures I find that solidify this. Even at the end of Isaiah 66:23-24. Speaking of all flesh coming to worship Him though just the next verse it speaks of how bad it will be for those who are against Him. Daniel 12:2, Psalms 9:17, 2 Timothy 2:12, Hebrews 6:8, 1 Peter 4:17-19, 2 Peter 3:7. Our names written in Heaven which does not seem to be for all Luke 10:20.
How Jesus Christ spake of a "Hell" and tried to warn people of it a lot. A place of "wailing and gnashing of teeth". Eternal punishment as those who are saved eternal life. The same Greek word used "aionios" for "everlasting or without beginning or end".
The story of Lazarus and there being two places separate from each other after death. Luke 16:20-31.
Weather it be sheol, hades, gehenna, tartarus, or just hell I want nothing to do with any of those places. I believe God loves us so much He sent us these warnings in that we do not have to go there. Though if any reject Him He will not force anyone to be with Him.
A good saying. "If you are born twice(born again in the Spirit) you die once, born once die twice".
Just for a couple other Scriptures with some things that are "above", of God, and "agathos" is not used:
Matthew 5:16 and Matthew 13:37-38. About letting your light shine before men of your "good" works to glorify our Father. That the "good" seed are the children of the Kingdom sowed by the Son of Man.
John 10:11. Jesus Christ stating He is the "good" Shepherd.
1 Timothy 2:3. Things being "good" and acceptable in the sight of God.
Titus 2:14. That we who are redeemed by the Lord be zealous of "good" works.
Hebrews 6:5. How the Word of God is "good".
James 2:7. The "worthy" name by which we were called.
To end I liked this one. Galatians 5:22. Both "agathos.." and "chrestotes" are fruits of the Spirit.
As I really can't differentiate that only "agathos.." is of the Spirit of God. That being the word Jesus used in Mark 10:18 does not mean to me this is only for Him. As other words like "excellence, righteous, honorable, wonderful, amazing, almighty, glorious, holy, beautiful, perfect, integrity, etc". To me this does not mean we would have to pick only one of these words for God. All of them fit Him perfectly. As I believe in the Greek, and most other languages, they have different words with somewhat of the same meaning.
God Bless.
If I may add a little more to the truth you have shared, I believe there are only two types of people in this world, saved and unsaved. A person is either a slave to Jesus Christ or a slave to sin, no in-between. I believe that salvation is a present-tense condition of everyone who has been born of God's Spirit. A true believer who is being led by God's Spirit would never think it is okay to commit sin or to live a sinful lifestyle.
There are many who claim to be Christians but have never been born of the Spirit of Christ. They may go to church religiously and participate with the believers and give the appearance of being a believer, but still be void of God's Spirit dwelling within. Those are the ones who eventually walk away. To the others in the church who assumed that person was saved, they will say "See, he walked away and denounced the whole thing, so he lost his salvation.
This was the same with Judas Iscariot. He was part of the twelve but he was evil from the start. Judas was never saved and then lost his salvation. Jesus chose an evil man to fulfil the scripture saying that He would be betrayed. When Jesus said have not I chosen you all, and one of you is a devil, none of the other 11 knew that it was Judas. But Jesus knew, and that is why He chose Judas.
I shared earlier about the people in the book of Hebrews who were being "enlighted" to the truth, but later on turned and walked away. Those were Hebrew/Jewish people. They were never saved, but people want to use verses in Hebrews to show that salvation can be lost. I know of a couple of verses in Hebrews that are being used to show that salvation can be lost, Hebrews 6:4 and Hebrews 10:26, and also one in Peter's writings, but none of them is talking about saved people losing their salvation.
The bible speaks about those who profess to be Christian and later on walk away from it all. That's given to us in ( 1 John 2:19). They walk away because they were never saved to begin with!
Naturally, I disagree with your interpretation of the scripture and the assumptions made.
I believe the argument of once saved always saved contradicts itself. Here's how:
1. Someone believes God gave them freewill.
2. Someone believes all Christians are already 'saved' and that status never changes.
3. Then they are asked about Luke 12:10 blasphemy of the holy ghost.
4. They then claim it doesn't apply to Christians, that Christians can't, that they don't even have the freewill to sin, despite many documented cases of Christians doing exactly that both in the Bible and in the world today. Isaiah 14:12-14 shows that even angels in heaven have freewill to sin and blaspheme.
Christians still need to face judgment day like everyone else. Only after can someone be actually saved. If we genuinely follow Christ we can be assured of salvation, but the Bible warns us plenty of times to obey, to run the race, to persevere, to abide in the doctrine of Christ 2 John 1:8-9, it paints a much different picture than that I get from others who claim its ok to sin, that you can't sin, that you can be in the world and do whatever you want with zero penalty, and don't even have to worry about turning your back on Christ or blaspheming, because you can't do that. That's the opposite message of what Jesus said. Hebrews 6:4, John 14:15, Matthew 5:13, MATTHEW 7:23.
If once saved always saved is true, does that mean Christians can commit mass murder and still go to heaven? violence? rape? blasphemy? Or that their freewill is restricted so it's impossible for that to happen? Judas betrayed Jesus, and many Christians leave the faith and reject Jesus, unfortunately. There's a forum on Reddit called ex-Christian if you don't believe it. So, are all ex-Christians who reject Jesus still saved then?
Which is more likely: that satan, the father of lies is deceiving Christians into obeying God more than necessary, or that committing unlimited sin is ok?
You will not find the phrase "Once saved, always saved" in the bible. But that does not mean that salvation is not permanent. There are a couple of verses in Hebrews that seem to indicate that salvation can be lost, but if you understand who the book was written to and what was taking place at that time, you can better understand that it's not talking about saved individuals losing their salvation.
I would encourage you to do some research on what it would cost a Hebrew/Jewish person to denounce Judaism and surrender their life to Christ. It would cost them everything. They would be disowned by their own family, they would be kicked out of their temple, society would not accept them, and they wouldn't be allowed to get a job. It's still the same today.
Hebrews 6:4 seems to indicate that a person can lose their salvation, but that's not the case. It's not talking about saved believers losing their salvation. It's talking about Jews who were part of the crowd that were following along with the teachings and being enlightened to the truth, but never taking that next step in surrendering to Christ. An enlightened person does not mean they are saved. We have many people in our churches today that are being enlightened to the truth, but still haven't surrendered their lives to Christ. They are in church every week but they are not saved. And many of them do eventually walk away. They are not losing their salvation because they never were saved.
You see, there were many Hebrew people following along with the teaching. They were being "enlightened" to the truth. The problem is they never surrendered their life to Christ because of what it would cost them.
I believe in the permanency of salvation because I know that salvation is a work of God, not man. It is God who saves us, and it is God who keeps us saved. If we say we have eternal life, but also believe it can be lost, is it really eternal?
No where in the Bible does it say "once saved always saved". It does say those who have been "partakers" of the gift of the Holy Ghost "if they shall fall away". Hebrews 6:4-6. In numerous places it speaks of those who have heard the truth, of our Lord Jesus Christ, or "escaped the pollutions of the world" and then are entangled again. 2 Peter 2:20-22. Is as the Proverb 26:11 As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
Repenting of the sins of this world is one of the most important messages throughout the entire Holy Bible. 1 Peter 1:14-16. The devil is the only one who wants people to keep sinning in their worldly lifestyles. Which keeps you separated from God. We are to do our best to follow in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ did not die so we could live a life of willful sin and not care. That is what the devil wants people to think so they keep on sinning. This is not a joke or a free pass to sin. God hates sin. Though he loves the sinner and wants them to repent and turn to the Lord.
There is nothing wrong with good works. That is what makes God happy. Love. What is in your heart? It is not good works that save us. The grace, mercy, and love of God saved us as He sent us His Son. To live a perfect life for us. Good works, and repenting from sin and iniquity, is what shows our faith in the Lord that we are walking in newness of life and are His children. To live by His Will.
Don't let anyone tell you repenting and good works are taking something away from Jesus Christ. We must follow our Lord, with a pure heart, till the end.
God Bless.
Remember he told Mary not to touch him until he had ascended to the Father in heaven? It would have defiled Him.
Jesus is our High Priest seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for all saints.
As I would like to give you my aspect of this unforgivable sin. There are many that believe "once saved always saved" which is not in the Bible but a made up interpretation of picking verses. There is Scripture to prove that someone can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and lose that gift. Hebrews 6:4-6, Hebrews 10:26-29, 1 Timothy 4:1 etc. Now I would only have to see one verse like that for it to touch my heart and know this is not a game. And there are more.
This to me does not mean one cannot fall away and then not return to the Lord as there have been instances like this. His mercy, forgiveness, and longsuffering is endless. He will have mercy and forgiveness to whom He want's Exodus 33:19. As He knows who it will help to prosper and those it will not help and be a waste for Him. As some who were once saved now curse God and the Lord etc. It is all up to God, as he reads hearts, and knows who shall endure till the end and who shall be saved. As He knows the end before the beginning.
As this, detail, also just came to me today as I was outside. Now I see why. Some may say "why would God give His Holy Spirit to someone when knows they will not make it". What came to me was that this is a way to justify us, His chosen people, His children, to show that He did not just give His Holy Spirit to His children. But to all types of people. Of coarse God does not need to do anything to answer questions of men. He is Almighty and does what He pleases. This will make those who fell away inexcusable even on their own terms. As He is fair and just.
I hope that helps and this is from me what I have come to learn. Letting the Holy Ghost guide and teach me.
All thanks be to our Lord Jesus Christ and our Father in heaven.
God Bless.
God shall never allow His Son to be crucified afresh...
Matt 12:30...
Tom
I agree with most of what you say. "Shall we continues to sin that grace may abound? God forbid!" And, yes. Progressives want to cherry pick, redefine reality and justify sinful behavior.
Remember, though, that although written by some 40 different authors across 1500 years, there is ONE timeless Author. The Bible CANNOT support opposing views as being true. The writer of Hebrews was addressing Hebrew believers who were being tempted to return to the old sacrificial system. He was arguing that Jesus was better than angels, better hope, better covenant, better promises, better sacrifice.
In Hebrews 6:4, he is warning about Jewish people going back to the old system. There is no sacrifice for sin there. Jesus' sacrifice is better. The ones that did leave and go back were never really saved to begin with. That's why he says in vs 9, although I'm talking like this, in your case I'm confident of better things about your salvation. Gotta read the whole passage.
In Hebrews 10:26, he's again saying that in the old sacrifice systems, "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." The Law was an instrument of judgement and death. There's no hope in The Law! Our only hope is in Jesus Christ!
Anyhow, I think that we are in agreement about much more than you think.
So, who will I listen to? Man, satan, or Jesus? Easy decision for me. It's good to do good, despite what 'progressive' Christian culture may claim. Doing good doesn't mean you're trying to 'earn' your way into heaven, as some claim. And some falsely assume you don't believe in grace either if you believe doing good is good. I hope people don't try to slander Christians who try to obey Jesus. If Jesus was alive today, some would probably accuse Him of being legalistic and works based too. The works vs grace is already explained in the Bible, James 2, Romans 11, etc. People end up being disproportionate emphasis on one or the other, but the Bible already predicted this difficulty which is why they wrote so much about it in the Bible to explain. Pray for God for wisdom and understanding and read the Bible not to confirm what you want to believe, or what you were already taught by men, but to understand what God's Word actually says. God bless.
Hebrews 6:18-20
Psalms 51:1
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my TRANSGRESSIONS.
Psalms 51:9
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine INIQUITIES.
Revelation 3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will NOT blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life....
Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Revelation 20:15
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Revelation 13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Philippians 4:3.....whose names are in the book of life.
Revelation 17:8
Revelation 21:7
Revelation 22:18, a warning
Note: first 2 scriptures are what David prayed in prayer after he royally messed up, and knew it.
This is how we should pray in 1 John 1:9 always.
(Your Surety= Hebrews 6:18-20)
When we royally mess up.
We are a Royal Priesthood. In Hebrews 6:18-20 is named the High Priest of our faith.
Mishael
It says they were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. Notice the emphasis. They were partakers, that is, they were in this interaction and the Holy Spirit was ministering to them. They were partaking of the Holy Spirit as He was enlightening them. But notice they were partakers of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis is the Holy Spirit, not Christ. The Holy Spirit's the one that's ministering. They didn't know Christ.
Hebrews 6:5 says, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
All these tastes, it's like sampling. A non-believer can sit in with believers and receive the same ministry of God's Spirit to that group, even in their own lives, as to the truth of Christ.
So they have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come. They were actually there to participate. I recall the ten lepers that approached Jesus and wanted their healing. So He healed the ten lepers and sent them on their way, and only one of them stopped and returned to worship the Lord, and the Lord turns to the disciples and says weren't there ten lepers? Nine of them just took their healing and took off. Only one turned to worship Christ.
There are people who participate in the powers of God's Spirit moving in amongst His people, and they're not even saved.
Hebrews 6:6 says, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
It says if they shall fall away. There's no "if" in the Greek text. It's just after having fallen away. They've already done it. It's after having fallen away. And you can see in all these things that he's listing, they are all past tense. It's something they used to do that they don't do anymore.
Verse 4 started off by saying it's impossible for these people. Verse 6 says to renew them again unto repentance; Impossible!
Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to open shame.
Will continue:
I don't believe a truly saved person can ever lose their salvation. The book of Hebrews was written to the Hebrews, Jewish people. They were following along, partaking of the truth, but never really surrendered their lives to Christ. It's not talking about a saved person walking away and giving up their salvation.
These Hebrew people were being enlightened to the truth, but when the time came for them to make a decision to surrender their lives to Christ, they would turn and walk away because it was a difficult decision for them. If a Jewish person surrenders their life to Christ, it would cost them everything. Their family would disown them, they would lose their jobs, and they would even be kicked out of the temple.
You see, they were being enlightened, but they were not saved. They made the decision to walk away because surrendering to Christ would cost them everything. So the verses in Hebrews are not talking about a saved person losing their salvation.
The writer says in Hebrews 6:4, for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and the word enlightened means to have your mind illuminated to the truth. An enlightened person doesn't necessarily mean that person is saved. There are some who say that only believers can be enlightened. But John 1:9 tells us that the light, who is Christ, enlightens every man coming into this world. Every person is enlightened to the truth. So everybody gets enlightened but not everybody responds in the same way.
Secondly: and have tasted of the heavenly gift. They've participated with the things of Christ. They have participated with the Holy Spirit. They don't have Him living inside, but they tasted of that heavenly gift that God gives to His people. They're sitting in amongst God's people and they're participating and they're receiving.
I'm running out of space but will continue:
A Christian is a Christ follower- it means we are actively following Christ. If we genuinely do that the Bible says our sins will be covered by Jesus's sacrifice and grace. However, just because we become a Christian doesn't mean we're stripped of freewill and become robots- we still have full ability to choose good or evil, to sin or not sin, and we're still tempted by satan. Therefore, some people slip up occasionally and sin, but still genuinely try to follow Christ, however, some do stop, turn and follow satan and follow the evil of the world. That person is not saved and they are technically not acting like a Christian anymore.
Those who claim once saved always saved always fail to explain one simple indisputable verse: Luke 12:10. Jesus tells his followers (Christians) that if they commit blashphemy of the holy ghost they will not be saved. Hebrews 10:26 is another indisputable verse that was talking to Christians, saying that Christianity isn't a license to sin, or a get out of jail free card. Non-Christians who haven't received the knowledge of the truth as it says have ignorance as an excuse and doesn't apply to them.
Here's anther: Hebrews 6:4 - 6:6 and another: Matthew 7:21 - 7:23
The Bible speaks for itself. Only would have to cherry pick around all these 100% clear verses in order to come up with the opposite conclusion.
Satan is behind all lies and he's a great deceiver, so which is more likely: that he's deceiving people to fear God and obey Him more than they need to? Or, is it more likely satan is deceiving people into believing they're saved and it's ok to sin and follow the world?
God bless...
The writer was agonizing over some Jewish converts (to whom this letter was primarily directed to), who wouldn't let go of Judaism entirely & were in danger of abandoning the faith & reverting back to Judaism. Therefore, the writer took great pains to again explain to them the superiority of Jesus Christ Who gives life & the superiority of Christianity, over the 'old religion' which under Moses' Law only brought death (v 28). One can see the writer's desperate plea to them in verses 19-25. Then, even with all this, the warning went out: "For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins...Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"
The writer says that if they "sin wilfully after receiving the Truth, there's no more hope". What is this sin being written about, as we know that God is merciful & will always forgive us because of His Son's Sacrifice? The sin that is referred to is of APOSTASY: these converts were on the cusp of rejecting Christ & reverting back to Judaism - if they did, there was no other Sacrifice on offer (nor could be) that they could grab onto for salvation. If Judaism was their goal, then they would perish under the Law's penalty. See Hebrews 6:4-6, where a similar warning went out, of the impossibility to find salvation in any other or of returning back to Christ. If they so despised Christ (10:29) & turned their backs to Him, their end would be fearful.
Alec, these verses are not for you - you can rejoice in being forgiven.
The best Scripture that I can think of, considering your husband's connection with the sea, is in Psalm 107:23-30. Even though the Psalm may seem irrelevant to some extent, the thought that whether going through physical storms (which your husband would be well acquainted with), or even the 'storms' that we all have to face in life, that the Lord will bring His children to their safe haven (add, Heaven) at the end of our lives.
Hebrews 6:18,19 (loosely transliterated): "God has given both his promise and his oath. Since God cannot lie, we who have fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold onto the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. This hope leads us through the veil that was torn down at Jesus' death into God's inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone into Heaven for us. He has become our eternal High Priest". My husband (his name), had his hope resting only in His Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; Christ was his sure anchor as he both sailed the high seas and throughout his life. And now that Anchor (Jesus Christ) Who was held on in faith throughout his life has now become his sight, as he stands in great joy before his God and Saviour.
Other useful Scriptures: Romans 8:35-39; John 11:25-27; Revelation 21:3-7; 1 Corinthians 15:51-57; John 14:1-3.
I hope something here helps you & will reflect the hope & joy that your husband had in the Lord. May the Lord continue to comfort your heart by His Spirit & His precious Word.
Wesley's Notes for Hebrews 6:6
6:6 And have fallen away - Here is not a supposition, but a plain relation of fact. The apostle here describes the case of those who have cast away both the power and the form of godliness; who have lost both their faith, hope, and love, # Heb 6:10|, &c., and that wilfully, # Heb 10:26|. Of these wilful total apostates he declares, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance. (though they were renewed once,) either to the foundation, or anything built thereon. Seeing they crucify the Son of God afresh - They use him with the utmost indignity. And put him to an open shame - Causing his glorious name to be blasphemed.
People's Bible Notes for Hebrews 6:6
Heb 6:6 If they shall fall away. Apostasize from the faith. To renew them unto repentance. He is so far fallen that he has no capacity left for repentance. Judas the Apostate sorrowed, but his sorrows became despair. There was remorse but not repentance. Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh. By rejecting Christ they place themselves with those who rejected him and crucified him because he affirmed that he was the Son of God. Those meant are not those "overtaken in a fault" (Ga 6:1), or backsliders only, but men once Christian professors who not only turn away from but oppose Christ.
There are many many comments listed after the commentators I've shown to you
He then describes how they do behave as Christians: showing Christ's love to others particularly ministering to the needs of other believers (v 10).
And in verse 11, he continues with that thought that they should be diligent (to do with great effort & zeal), making sure that they persevere in their Christian walk (i.e. not to slacken off), so that their hope of Heaven after their death will be certain.
He's basically saying (using modern terms), the Christian life is not 'a bed of roses'. We use that expression to denote when one relaxes & enjoys one's achievements without a care in the world. But the writer is saying that people who think that way, are very likely going to fall into Satan's traps & be swallowed up. 1 Corinthians 10:12, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." This is the same thought: "standeth" means the one who is over confident & then relaxes because he thinks that he won't slip away.
The Christian is indeed secure in his salvation, because his salvation is based not on what he has done, but on what Christ has done for him. Yet, he must also be alert to Satan's traps, & walk carefully in this life (& not be slothful, lazy as a believer v 12). He will then know that his life is following the pattern laid out before him & so when the end comes, that his hope (his waiting) for Heaven is a true hope & without fear of being rejected. The true believer will have both a full salvation & also make the full effort to walk worthy of God's call upon his life.
>He will still be involved with those that are born again after the Rapture and all through the Tribulation.
>During the time of The Two Witnesses.
>His Ministry in Jerusalem, many people will be saved. Also by the 144,000 evangelists. Angels.
>God is not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance.
2 Timothy 4:5
But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST, and make full proof of thy ministry.
1 Corinthians 3:13
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
1 Corinthians 3:14
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1 Corinthians 3:15
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Hebrews 6:10
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Evangelism may not be taught in your Church, but it was always in the Bible. You have a "testimony " of how you came to believe in Jesus; and that is enough to get someone else's name in the Lambs Book of Life.
Now is a perfect time to witness to others their need to choose Jesus and accept forgiveness and eternal life.
It's not about rewards. It's about saving souls.
Mishael
In Hebrews 6:4, the word used there is 'enlightened' which is from the same root word 'photizo'. Why the difference, I can't tell.
But if you mean why a change was made in the KJV to read 'illuminated', then that question can only be answered to those who were involved in the translation.
People are going to FALL AWAY. It is a prophesy. We ought to pray for those people: ask God to send angels to pull them out of the ditch and drag them back to Church.
Our society does nothing to undergird belief in anything other than money, self indulgence and self promotion. They will FALL AWAY.
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Hebrews 6:4-6 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost...
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Hebrews 3:12-19 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Revelation 2:4-5 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
2 Peter 2:20-22 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
Matthew 24:10-13 - And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.....
Revelation 3:11 - Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
James 1:12 - Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
Pray for them! Mishael