Such A Great Salvation

Neglect is such a strong word

We have been talking about drifting and paying attention the last two weeks. Those words are used here in these passages but maybe the strongest word is “neglect”.

Hebrews 2:1–4 ESV

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

Definition of neglect

Verb:

to give little attention or respect to : DISREGARD

to leave undone or unattended to especially through carelessness

Noun:

an act or instance of neglecting something

the condition of being neglected

Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains 30.50 ἀμελέω

30.50 ἀμελέω: to not think about, and thus not respond appropriately to—‘to neglect, to disregard, to pay no attention to.’ οἱ δὲ ἀμελήσαντες ἀπῆλθον ‘but they paid no attention and left’ Mt 22:5; μὴ ἀμέλει τοῦ ἐν σοὶ χαρίσματος ‘do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you’ 1 Tm 4:14; πῶς ἡμεῖς ἐκφευξόμεθα τηλικαύτης ἀμελήσαντες σωτηρίας; ‘how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?’ He 2:3.

This is a classic “if this is true” then this “this must be even more true” type of argument. For instance, I love cheesecake and I love dark chocolate. If that is true, then how much more will I love cheesecake with dark chocolate on it”? Or I love my wife and I love traveling, so how much more will I love traveling if my wife is with me.

Paul is speaking to Jews here. Jews who believed that the word of the law had been delivered through angels. They also believed that those who ignored the law suffered punishment and received retribution. So, if Jesus is higher than the angels, how much more important are his words than the angels.

So you see the point here,

If neglecting the words of Angels was bad, neglecting the words of Jesus was even worse.

If neglecting the instruction for salvation was bad, how much worse was neglecting the means of salvation?

What does scripture say about this salvation?

Romans 5:8–9 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

John 3:16–18 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

Acts 4:12 ESV

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

We say we are saved from sin, but this is only part of the story of such a great salvation.

We are saved from the wrath of God toward sin.

2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Isaiah 53:1–11 ESV

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Stood in front of us.

The writer of Hebrews is trying to help believers understand exactly what God has accomplished through the punishment that fell on Christ for us.

This is not primarily an evangelistic message here in Hebrews. It is more discipling in nature. The writer wants us to grow in our understanding of perseverance, holiness, gratitude by developing an even greater understanding of exactly what has been accomplished through Christ.

Remember the story from the intro to this message? If this great gift of God, His Son, has gifted us deliverance from the wrath of God against sin,

What does it say about our heart condition if we neglect that gift?

When my kids rejected/neglected the gift I gave, I was crushed. But more than that, it revealed that the gift was something I wanted to give but they didn’t want to receive. They would take it because it was given but they did not really recognize any need or desire for it.

Imagine if that was the way we received Christ?

If we dare not disregard what Angels say, dare we not disregard what Jesus himself says.

Just look at the description offered in the verses we will be in next week.

Hebrews 2:5–11 ESV

For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, “What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,

This Gift deserves our FULL attention.

Such a Great Salvation is available to you today!