Better Promises : WK 3 - TUE
(Hebrews 6:1-12)
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.
Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.
It seems that these days there's many different versions of “Christians.” You would think since we all read the same Bible and we all believe in the same Jesus that we would all act in the same ways. But you know that this is not true.
If you are honest with yourself, you would even admit that there are days that you are more “Christian” than others. And these days there are forces beyond us trying to make Christianity something that it was never meant to be. This reality begs the question “What kind of Christian am I?”
But I think a better question is, “What is true Christianity?” or maybe the even better question is, “What kind of disciples was Jesus trying to establish?”
That is a question that we wrestle with every day as we try to apply the gospel to our daily lives. And as we receive light from God in answer to this question the scariest question of all pops up, “How do I know if I am truly a disciple of Christ?”
The author of Hebrews talks about the spiritual growth process where one starts with milk and continues to grow in Christ and starts eating spiritual meat. This is the process every disciple of Christ ultimately goes through and as one grows, one continues to evaluate his or her growth trying to determine whether he or she is on the right path. And I love that the author of Hebrews gives us one of the points of evaluation to help us understand how we're doing in our discipleship journey.
For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Hebrews 6:10-11
So there you have it. The way we care and love each other is one of the greatest indicators that we are growing in Christ. It's that simple. Lovewell.
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.
For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.
When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing. But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.
Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things, things that come with salvation. For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.
It seems that these days there's many different versions of “Christians.” You would think since we all read the same Bible and we all believe in the same Jesus that we would all act in the same ways. But you know that this is not true.
If you are honest with yourself, you would even admit that there are days that you are more “Christian” than others. And these days there are forces beyond us trying to make Christianity something that it was never meant to be. This reality begs the question “What kind of Christian am I?”
But I think a better question is, “What is true Christianity?” or maybe the even better question is, “What kind of disciples was Jesus trying to establish?”
That is a question that we wrestle with every day as we try to apply the gospel to our daily lives. And as we receive light from God in answer to this question the scariest question of all pops up, “How do I know if I am truly a disciple of Christ?”
The author of Hebrews talks about the spiritual growth process where one starts with milk and continues to grow in Christ and starts eating spiritual meat. This is the process every disciple of Christ ultimately goes through and as one grows, one continues to evaluate his or her growth trying to determine whether he or she is on the right path. And I love that the author of Hebrews gives us one of the points of evaluation to help us understand how we're doing in our discipleship journey.
For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Hebrews 6:10-11
So there you have it. The way we care and love each other is one of the greatest indicators that we are growing in Christ. It's that simple. Lovewell.
- At this point in your Christian experience do you feel like you are drinking spiritual milk or eating spiritual meat?
- How have you seen Christians acting unchristlike?
- When are you at the greatest risk of acting unchristlike?
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