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Heb
3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day;
lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin.
14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the
beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Going on
in our study of ominous texts in Hebrews, the next verses we
find that cause us consternation are those above. While many
people would again propose that they teach the necessity of
holding out in order to make it into Heaven,
we know that this is not the case. If these verses did teach
any sort of man’s effort to secure salvation, our redemption
would not be only by the grace of God. What,
therefore, is Paul intimating by suggesting that our being “made
partakers of Christ” is linked to our holding “the
beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end”? All
believers are “made partakers of Christ” the moment
they become children of God. As is pictured in the Lord’s
Supper, we all drink of His blood and we all partake of His
flesh. His blood atones for our sins and His flesh gives to
us His eternal life. That eternal aspect of salvation can
never be lost by any failure on our part as believers.
Rom
11:6 And if by grace, then is it no more of works:
otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works,
then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
John
6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven:
if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and
the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give
for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How
can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto
you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink
indeed.
56 He that eateth my
flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Matt
26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and
blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and
said, Take, eat; this is my body.
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to
them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is
my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for
the remission of sins.
Rom
8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day
long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
Therefore, again, the writer of Hebrews is not dealing with
matters of eternal security but of our life in Christ while
in this world and in this body. Our eternal salvation is in
the hands of God alone; but our daily Christian life
involves our devotedness to a very great degree. However, we
do not live the Christian life by human effort alone; but
our victory over sin is dependant upon our daily
being “made partakers of Christ.” Just as when we
first were given faith to behold Christ as our sin bearer—
“the beginning of our confidence”—so we must continue to
look unto Jesus “stedfast unto the end.” We live the
Christ-life the same way we received the Christ-life—by
faith. Faith in Christ day by day is what gives us “the
victory that overcometh the world.” Our looking to Jesus
is not a one time event and then we are on our own; but He
is “the author and finisher (and everything in
between) of our
faith”
1 John
5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world:
and this is the
victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Col
2:6 As ye have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Heb
12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so
great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight,
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run
with patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God.
Please
note again to whom Paul is speaking when he says “Take
heed, brethren.” He is not addressing unsaved people
whether Jews or Gentiles; but Paul’s warning is to those
mature saints who are becoming “hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin”; and who are developing an
“evil heart of unbelief” which is causing them to turn
away “from the living God.” By becoming complacent,
spiritually lazy, and liberal towards sin, they are starting
to lose their faith in Christ. Those who allow their
spiritual eyes to be taken off of Christ will soon find that
they are becoming fruitless; and their Christian experience
becoming like a branch removed from its vine—dried up,
withered, and dying. Faith in Christ not only secures for us
salvation, but it is the essential ingredient in living the
Christian life. Before faith came, we were spiritually dead
in sins; and those who lose sight of that faith, once again,
walk in darkness.
John
15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can
ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me,
and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not
in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and
men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are
burned.
John
8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying,
I am the light of the world:
he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life.
What can
believers do to insure that they do not fall prey to
spiritual lethargy? Paul tells us to “take heed,
brethren” not to let anything steal our faith;
and to “exhort one another daily”—to encourage each
other to keep on trusting in Christ and living for Christ.
In another place he tells us to “Cast not away (our)
confidence—our faith in Christ—which hath great
recompense of reward.” Peter says to “give diligence
to make your calling and election sure”; and again he
says to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary
the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour.” Jude tells the saints to build “up
yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy
Ghost;” and to “Keep
yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”
Heb
10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which
hath great recompense of reward.
2 Pet
1:10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to
make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never fall:
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you
abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ.
1 Pet
5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may
devour:
Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the
mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Although
God has promised us a rest in Christ, the paradox is—that we
must “labour … to enter into that rest.” When we “enter..
into his rest, (we) also … cease… from (our)
own works, as God did from his.” Faith in Christ
replaces the works of the flesh for both salvation and
sanctification; and those “which have believed do enter
into rest.” However, this rest is not obtained through
spiritual lethargy. When God brought us to the knowledge of
salvation it was not without a great struggle on His part
and on ours. In many ways it is like the natural birth of a
baby where both the mother and child go through great
birthing pains and struggles until the baby is delivered.
Likewise, when we are born into God’s family and learn to
live in Christ, we also go through many spiritual struggles
and emotional pains. These struggles are a natural part of
our growing in Christ and we must never slumber in this
spiritual battle. Paul’s whole emphasis in the book of
Hebrews is to warn mature saints, who have reached a
spiritual plateau, not to become complacent and fall asleep
spiritually; but to continue to press on “to enter into
that rest.” There is no stopping place, this side of
glory, where believers can lay down and sleep. Those who do
so will “come short of” “his rest”; and many saints
will “fall after the same example (Israel’s failure
to enter the Promised Land) of unbelief.” Let us
therefore “press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus.”
Heb
4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us
of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come
short of it.
2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them:
but the word preached did not profit them, not being
mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3 For we which have believed do enter into rest,
as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter
into my rest: although the works were finished from the
foundation of the world.
Heb
4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath
ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11 Let us labour
therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after
the same example of unbelief.
Luke
13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for
many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not
be able.
Phil
2:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable
unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of
the dead.
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were
already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend
that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but
this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are
before,
14 I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus.
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