Hebrews 6:11-20

We’re Exiting the 3rd of 5 Warning Passages in the Book of Hebrews

The Author is Warned Against Spiritual Laziness and Immaturity

This Will Eventually Lead to Christians Abandoning Their Commitment to Jesus

But the Hebrews Author is Convinced that His Audience Hasn’t Gone that Far Yet

The Love and Service They Show to Each Other By the Authority of Jesus…

Has Convinced Him that They are Still Reconciled to God

Hebrews 6:9–12 (NIV)

Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Hebrews 6:13–20 (NLT)

For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying: “I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.” Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.

Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind.

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6:11 (NASB95)

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,

The Author Desperately Wants Each Member of His Audience…

To Continue to Demonstrate that Same Level of Eagerness/Zeal in Their Ministering to Their Siblings

Why?

Hebrews 6:11 (NASB95)

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,

So that They Can Have Full Assurance of the Hope

“Full Assurance” is Only Found 4 Times in the NT - 2 Times in Hebrews

It Means to Have Absolute Certainty

This Brings Us Back to the Overall Purpose of the Book of Hebrews:

To Give This Hebrew Audience Confidence in Jesus

The Author Deeply Desired for His Audience to Be Absolutely Certain of Their Hope in Christ

And He Wanted Them to Be Certain of Their Hope “Until the End”

All the Way Up to Death and/or All the Way Up Until Jesus’ Return

What We Learn From This Verse is Interesting and I Think it Hits Home with All of Us

We Learned From Verses 9-10 that the Author was Fully Convinced of the Salvation of His Audience

But They Weren’t Fully Convinced of Their Own Salvation

We Can Be Like that Can’t We?

Convinced of the Salvation of Others, But Not Our Own

The Author Said, “I Can Tell Your Faith is Genuine By How Your Minister to and Love Each Other”

“And if Your Faith Remains Genuine to the End, Then I Remain Certain that You Have Hope”

“So You Should Be Certain of that Hope as Well!”

What is the “Hope” They are to Be Certain of?

Hope of Salvation From Sin and Death

Hope of Resurrection

Hope of Living Eternally with God

But Possibly More Specifically to the Context:

Hope of Having Jesus as Our High Priest in Heaven…

Who Makes All of These Other Hopes Possible

It All Comes Back to Jesus

Our Hope is Based Upon Him and What He is Doing for Us Right Now as Our High Priest

Summary of What We’ve Learned From this Passage So Far:

The Author is Convinced of His Audience’s Faithful Living…

Based Off of God’s Justice in Remembering Their Work and Love Toward Each Other

Therefore He Wants Them to Continue Ministering to Each Other…

So That They Can Be Absolutely Certain of the Hope Found in Jesus

Hebrews 6:12 (NASB95)

so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Author Wants His Audience to Remain Diligent in Their Works of Love…

So that They Will Be Certain of Their Hope…

And So They Don’t Become Lazy

He Already Accused Them of Being Lazy Hearers in 5:11

But He Doesn’t Want Them to Become Lazy in Their Works

That’s Exactly What Happens When You Don’t Have Hope

When You Don’t Have Hope, You Give Up

But When You Have Hope (Confident Expectation)…

You Keep Striving for it

Hebrews 6:12 (NASB95)

so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Instead of Being Lazy, He Wants Them to Be “Imitators”

Imitators of Who?

Those Who Inherit the Promises Through Faith and Patience

We’ll See a List of Names in Chapter 11

It Takes Faith to Inherit the Promises of God

Essentially, it Takes Trusting that God will Keep His Promise

It Takes Patience to Inherit the Promises of God

God Rarely Fulfills His Promises Based Upon Our Timeline

One Aspect of Faith Throughout the OT is Waiting On God

Faith and Patience Go Hand in Hand

And They are Both Required in Order to Inherit the Promises of God

The Author Immediately Gives an Example of One Whom They Should Imitate:

Abraham

Hebrews 6:13–16 (NASB95)

For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

God Made a Promise to Abraham and Then Swore By Himself

When a Person Would Want to Add Extra Strength to Their Word/Promise…

They Would Swear By Something/Someone Greater Than Themselves

As Fallen Humans, We Tend to Lie a Lot

So Swearing is Used to Reinforce Our Word so that Others Can Rest Assured that We are Telling the Truth

To Swear On “My Mother’s Grave”, On the Bible, On My Life, or “to God”…

Is to Wish Something Catastrophic Upon the Person or Thing We Swear On…

If We Break Our Word

God Had No One Higher Than Himself to Swear On…

So He Swore On Himself

God Did This a Few Times in the Scriptures…

But the Specific Moment the Author Quotes is From Genesis 22:15-17

Genesis 22:15–17 (NASB95)

Then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, and said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies.

This was Right After Abraham Attempted to Obey God’s Command to Sacrifice Isaac

After Seeing Abraham’s Obedience…

God Swore By Himself that He Would Bless and Multiply Abraham

Was God So Untrustworthy that He Needed to Swear By Himself for His Word to Be Trusted?

Not at All

We Will See in Verse 18 that it’s Impossible for God to Lie

Then Why Did He Feel the Need to Swear By Himself?

For Abraham’s Sake

God Assured Abraham with His Word, Which is Greater Than Any Promise We Could Offer Someone

But Then He Swore By Himself to Abraham to Give Him an Infinitely Greater Assurance that He Would Keep His Promise

When God Says Something, it Absolutely Will Happen

When God Swears He Will Do Something…

It’s Even More Absolutely Going to Happen

God Went that Extra Mile to Strengthen the Faith of Abraham

Hebrews 6:15–16 (NASB95)

And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

When You Swear an Oath, There’s Nothing Further You Can Do to Get Someone to Trust You

God Swore an Oath to Abraham and There was No Further Action that Could Make His Word More Trustworthy

Hebrews 6:15–16 (NASB95)

And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

And Since Abraham Faithfully and Patiently Waited for God to Keep His Promise…

He Obtained the Promise

The Point the Author is Making in this Passage is This:

“Continue to Love and Serve Each Other in the Name of Jesus”

“Don’t Become Lazy in Your Spirituality, But Imitate People Like Abraham…”

“Who Hopefully, Faithfully, and Patiently Waited for God to Keep His Promises”

Hebrews 6:17–18 (NASB95)

In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

In Swearing By Himself, He Wanted the Heirs of the Promise to Know He was Absolutely Going to Keep His Word

His Purposes for Them Were Not Ever Going to Change

God Did 2 Things:

He Promised and Then He Gave an Oath

Since it is Impossible for God to Lie, an Oath Wasn’t Truly Needed

But He Gave it Anyway, for Us

It was to Encourage Us to Remain Hopeful (Confident Expectation)

Those of Us Who Take Refuge in Jesus…

Can Confidently Expect God to Keep His Promises Through Jesus

Because God Can’t Lie, We Can Know What Lies Ahead of Those Who, Like Abraham…

Faithfully Wait On the Fulfillment of the Promises

But What is the Hope/Promise We are to Faithfully and Patiently Wait for?

Hebrews 6:19–20 (NASB95)

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Our Hope is that Jesus, as Our High Priest, Has Entered Within the Veil (Into the Most Holy Place)…

As a Forerunner (One Who Goes Before) for Us

Jesus Ascended into the Most Holy Place of Heaven to Be Our Advocate

We Have Access to God Now and a Hope of Personal Access and Life with God When Jesus Returns

This Hope is an Anchor for Our Souls

It Keeps Us Stable and Firmly Grounded

This Hope Helps Us Stay Faithful and Patient in Waiting On God to Fulfill His Promises

The Next Several Chapters are Going to Be Highly Focused On This Important Truth

Jesus is Our Royal Priest On His Throne in Heaven

Invitation

The Context of James Chapter 1 So Far has Been Focused On Trials

Christians are to “Consider it all joy” When We Experience Trials

Because Enduring Faithfully Through Trials Makes Us Stronger and More Like Jesus

And God Helps Us in Our Trials When We Ask for it with Faith

James 1:12 (NASB95)

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.