Convinced of better things regarding you

Hebrews 6 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, ² of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and about the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do, if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. ⁷ For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; ⁸ but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.

⁹ But, beloved, we are convinced of better things regarding you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we are speaking in this way. ¹⁰ For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, by having served and by still serving the saints. ¹¹ And we desire that each one of you demonstrate the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, ¹² so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises.

¹³ For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear an oath by no one greater, He swore by Himself, ¹⁴ saying, “indeed I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply you.” ¹⁵ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear an oath by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath serving as confirmation is an end of every dispute. ¹⁷ In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath, ¹⁸ 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 hold firmly to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil, ²⁰ where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

In today’s text it says: It is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. Does this mean that as believers, if we sin we cannot be restored again? Surely not. Otherwise, why would Jesus say, “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him?” (Luke 14:3-4) Why did Jesus teach us to pray saying, “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors?” Why does Paul instruct us in Galatians 6:1 saying, Brothers and sisters, even if a person is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you are not tempted as well? 1 John 1:5-10 says: God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.  Is it possible that the sin that we cannot be redeemed from, is the one we refuse to confess and repent from?  We cannot be restored again to repentance, if we choose to continue again crucify to ourselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” It is the choice of continuing to practice sin rather than choosing obedience and repentance that may disqualify us from restoration. 

How do we know if we or someone else has gone beyond the point of repentance? First, in Matthew 7:1-5 Jesus says: “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!”  It is not our place to judge the eternal condition of anyone else. Instead, having confessed our own sin and having removed anything that would hinder our clear perspective, we should seek to restore them. In John 16:7-11 Jesus says: “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I am leaving; for if I do not leave, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment: regarding sin, because they do not believe in Me; and regarding righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you no longer are going to see Me; and regarding judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”  We should not seek judgment against others, but rather conviction regarding righteousness and sin. We should pray that they would have a revelation of who Christ is and that they would believe what He did. 

The text says: But, beloved, we are convinced of better things regarding you, and things that accompany salvation, even though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, by having served and by still serving the saints. And we desire that each one of you demonstrate the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and endurance inherit the promises.  Amen.  Numbers 6:24-26 says: The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord cause His face to shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His face to you, And give you peace. Amen.