CONFIDENT OF BETTER THINGS – Hebrews 6:9-12
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on April 22, 2015 under PM Bible Study |
PM Home Bible Study Group; April; 22, 2015
Hebrews 5:11-6:3
Theme: The writer of Hebrews is so confident of his reader’s salvation that he urges them to strive on to perfection.
(These notes are adapted from a message preached at Bethany Bible Church on May 23, 2010. All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated.)
The writer of Hebrews had just penned some strong words to his Jewish Christian readers. They are, in fact, some of the strongest words in the New Testament.
After having rebuked them for their sluggishness of understanding (5:11-14), and having told them that it was time for them to move on to maturity in the Christian understanding (6:1-3), he warned that there are some who become so hardened in their unbelief and in their rejection of the plain truth of the gospel, that “it is impossible . . . to renew them again to repentance” (6:4-6). Those who thus “crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame” are likened by him to unproductive soil:
For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned (Hebrews 6:7-8).
But though he writes in this way of the danger of those who so stubbornly reject Christ, he doesn’t want to leave his readers with the feeling that he thought that way about them. It would be a horribly discouraging thing for these believers if they thought that this inspired writer considered them to be cursed ground only fit to be burned. Far from it! He calls them “beloved”, and writes that he is confident of better things concerning them. And that confidence should lead them—not into continued sluggishness—but unto diligent progress in the faith.
This teaches us one of the most basic and vital principles of effective Christian living. Our growth into maturity is not to be motivated from out of a arduous effort to achieve a right standing with God; but rather, by the fact that we are already right with Him. We should strive to be holy in order to go to heaven; but rather strive toward heavenly glory because we are already made holy. As Paul put it in Ephesians 4:1, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called . . .” As he exhorted the saints in 1 Thessalonians 2:12, “that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”
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In this passage, then, the writer is so confident of his reader’s salvation that he urges them to diligently strive on to perfection. Note then . . .
I. THE WRITER’S CONFIDENCE (vv. 9-10).
A. He had just written some very hard truths about the judgment that will fall upon those who, in great hardness of heart, reject the gospel that they heard, and the good things of God of which they had partaken. This judgment will, of course, be their just reward. But he doesn’t feel that the same situation is true of those to whom he is writing. He speaks the truth about those who willfully chose not to believe or make progress in Christ; and then assures his believing (although yet immature) readers, “But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner” (v. 9).
1. Note that the writer is “confident” concerning the readers. It can also be translated that he is “persuaded” concerning them. He has looked carefully at the evidence about them, and has drawn an assured conclusion about their spiritual condition. And because of that assurance, he has reason to have great hope for them. This, by the way, is good ‘pastoring’. It harms God’s people greatly to only give them sharp rebukes—which, sadly, is something that some pastors and preachers seem to enjoy doing far too much. God’s truly redeemed people are destined for heaven—no matter what their temporal failings and imperfections may be. There is far more motivating power to a fellow believer in following a warning with the assured expectation of their future glory. May God help us to remember that with each other.
2. Note also what it was that he was confident in for them. It was a confidence of “better things”. Better than what? Better certainly than the sad expectation of the judgment that would fall on unproductive soil—soil that is “rejected” and “near to being cursed” and under the threat of being “burned”. Instead, what he had confidence in for them was “things that accompany salvation”. In a temporal sense, this would involve all the the benefits that accompany maturity in Christ—the evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, the increasing departure from sin, and—perhaps most relevant to the context of this passage—the growth in spiritual understanding. But more, it would involve all the prospects of an eternal dwelling in the Father’s house, and the enjoyment of all the rich blessings of the inheritance of Christ. If we truly understood our share in the “things that accompany salvation”, we would strive for them more with greater joy and devotion. What a wonderful work of a good pastor it is to lay these things out before the saints, and thus entice them on to diligence!
B. Not only was the writer able to assure them of his confidence with respect to them, but he was also able to assure them of his confidence in God’s own attitude toward them. He wrote, “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (v. 10).
1. Note that he assures them that “God is not unjust” in His remembrances toward them. It may have been that, in times of great trial of persecution, they thought that He had forgotten them. And it certainly would have been a part of the devil’s temptation toward them to make them think that God had forgotten them unjustly. But the writer affirms that God is not “unjust” to forget all that they had done in His name. As Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Our God will never forget our works done in His name, because He Himself is the ultimate Author of them through us.
2. Note also the specific things that God would not be unjust to forget. He would not forget their “work and labor of love”. “Work” is a translation of ergon; and refers to deeds or tasks or actions. God does not forget the seemingly-mundane things we do in His service—things that we ourselves might easily forget. And in the original language, the writer says that it is “the work of you all, even of love”. This speaks of the motivation of love that greatly pleases God. It is a work of love which they had demonstrated as a response to, and done unto His name—that is, because of all that He is and does. And it involves works of service—of ministry. God is not unjust to forget, “in that you have ministered to the saints [past tense] and do minister [as an ongoing reality]”.
C. The recognition of this ought to be a great encouragement to any believer; and should encourage them to never give up. As the writer says later in this letter—reminding his readers of their past works;
But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward (Hebrews 10:32-35).
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This reminder of the “better things” the writer has confidence in for them leads him next to . . .
II. THE READER’S CALL (vv. 11-12).
A. As the above passage from Hebrews 10 suggests, there had been past demonstrations of faithfulness and diligence in the past—proofs positive of their saving state before God. But as trials wear on, that diligence can wane. And so, the recollection of the past, and the promise of God’s ongoing justice to remember all their works, leads him to go on to say, “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end . . .” (v. 11).
1. Who is the “we”? This is the second “we” in this passage—the first being v. 9; even though the writer closes the letter as an “I” (13:19, 22). If the writer is—as is often plausibly argued—the apostle Paul, then this is typical of the way he writes. He often wrote along with another; and spoke not merely of himself, but of himself as part of a ministry team. Sometimes for Paul, “we” may mean the whole body of apostles—himself included. This is important, because it makes his gentle call to ongoing diligence a part of a corporate effort among those who are truly spiritual leaders. This, once again, is an example of good, principled, pastoral leadership!
2. What is it that the writer and others desire for the readers? It’s that each one of the readers—as individual believers—show forth the same kind of diligence in the faith as they had shown before. They needed to rekindle the fire that once burned within them. As it says in Hebrews 10:24; “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works . . .”
3. And note where it is that this diligence in the faith is to lead. It’s to lead to “the full assurance of hope until the end”. The hope that is in view is the confident expectation of glory with Christ. This kind of prevailing hope becomes the greatest possible motivation in the Christian life. As the apostle John wrote;
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (1 John 3:1-3).
4. But note how the full assurance of this glorious hope is presented as being given. It presented as a product of diligence in Christian living. The more diligently and faithfully we live for Christ in the confident expectation of the hope of eternal glory, the more that confidence grows into a full assurance that perseveres to the end of our lives. There is a mutual principle of growth between our work of diligence and God’s gift of assurance. What a great picture this is of what the apostle Paul described:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).
B. Putting this diligence to practical application then, the writer encourages, “that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Not only were they to look back on their own former devotion to the faith, but also look on to other examples of those who were faithful to the end.
1. The word “sluggish” is the same word that was used in Hebrews 5:11 to describe their having become “dull” of hearing. It speaks of the kind of spiritual laziness—in thought and in action—that dreadfully stunts spiritual growth.
2. Instead of being sluggish, the writer encourages his readers to actively imitate those “who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” A whole chapter in the Book of Hebrews—Chapter 11—is devoted to these great heroes of faith who, through faith and patience, finished the race and won the prize:
And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 11:39-12:2).
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What a great passage this is for pastors! It shows us, who minister to the saints, how to truly encourage and motivate them in a truly ‘shepherd-like’ manner. But more; what an encouragement it is to us that, because God will never forget our faithful labors, we should be motivated to even greater levels of devotion. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:58;
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
