Hebrews 6:9-20
Notes
Transcript
Hebrews 6:9-20
Hebrews 6:9-20
John Chrysostom
The Letter to the Hebrews The Brighter Side (Hebrews 6:9–12)
It is better that I should scare you with words than that you should sorrow in deeds.’
Mother telling her child not to run into traffic
Out of love, she calls out the hypothetical danger
But doesn’t say might get hit, she says you will get hit
He doesn’t say if it were possible to fall away you wouldn’t be restored,
He says if you fall away you can’t be restored
Transitions from the warnings and hypothetical situation to directly dealing with the readers
Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,
He calls them beloved, which is the only time in this letter that the writer does so
This hypothetical warning isn’t to torture them, its one side of telling the truth in love
One Commentator said
“The warning disturbs while the promise gives assurance-but they serve the same end which is that listeners might perservere in faith”
vs 10
How we live our lives matters, and God doesn’t forget the loving actions taken for others
They are earnestly serving the brethren
Remember in 5:11, the writer said they had become dull of hearing,
But yet, they had not abandoned their service to one another
“Going through the motions”
Hypocrisy or faithfulness
vs 11
But we want something better for you
We want the fullness of assurance of hope
Vs 12
So that in your assurance, you will continue on
That you would imitate those who inherit the promises
So that you would be able to say at the end what Paul says
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”
For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.
vs 15
Immediately jumps out “Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise” referring to verse 12
vs 16
Testifying in the Fellowship case
Swearing in to testify in court, the hand on the Bible represents something greater than the person
So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
vs 18
Two unchangeable things:
God’s Nature, and God’s oath
Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary (iii) A Challenging Interlude (5:11–6:20)
He knows his assurance depends not on the stability or strength of his own faith, but on the absolute trustworthiness of God’s word.
“We who have fled for refuge”
vs 19
inner place behind the curtain= Presence of the Father
Curtain that separated holy place from holy of holies
The Letter to the Hebrews The Sure Hope (Hebrews 6:13–20)
Pythagoras the mathematician said: ‘Wealth is a weak anchor; fame is still weaker. What then are the anchors which are strong? Wisdom, great-heartedness, courage—these are the anchors which no storm can shake
We flee for refuge because our wisdom fails
We aren’t always great hearted
We don’t always have courage
When every other anchor fails, Jesus holds
vs 20
Hebrews: An Introduction and Commentary (iii) A Challenging Interlude (5:11–6:20)
He is first described as forerunner (prodromos), a word which occurs only here in the New Testament and which was used of an advanced reconnoitring part of an army.
When you don’t feel like your faith is enough
Jesus is the anchor of the soul
When you don’t feel like God is listening
Jesus is the anchor of the soul
When you think this world is a runaway train wreck
Jesus is the anchor of the soul
What gives us confidence when we have none?
Jesus is in the presence of the father
And because he is, we also shall be