My Exhortation: That You Continue to Grow and to Mature
Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again, always teaching those first lessons about Christ. Let us go on instead to other things and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be. Surely we don't need to speak further about the foolishness of trying to be saved by being good, or about the necessity of faith in God; you don't need further instruction about baptism and spiritual gifts and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
The Lord willing, we will go on now to other things.
There is no use trying to bring you back to the Lord again if you have once understood the Good News and tasted for yourself the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, and know how good the Word of God is, and felt the mighty powers of the world to come, and then have turned against God. You cannot bring yourself to repent again if you have nailed the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to mocking and to public shame.
When a farmer's land has had many showers upon it and good crops come up, that land has experienced God's blessing upon it. But if it keeps on having crops of thistles and thorns, the land is considered no good and is ready for condemnation and burning off.
Dear friends, even though I am talking like this I really don't believe that what I am saying applies to you. I am confident you are producing the good fruit that comes along with your salvation. For God is not unfair. How can he forget your hard work for him, or forget the way you used to show your love for him-and still do-by helping his children? And we are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, so that you will get your full reward.
Then, knowing what lies ahead for you, you won't become bored with being a Christian nor become spiritually dull and indifferent, but you will be anxious to follow the example of those who receive all that God has promised them because of their strong faith and patience.
We spent much of our time last summer talking about how one goes about becoming mature: trusting God, trusting your brothers and sisters, having a spirit of unity, knowing how to forgive, putting on the armor of God. Just like the Hebrew writer said, we've been over the first lessons of Christ. It is time for us to take the lessons and apply them to our lives so that we can become strong mature Christians "as we ought to be"!
That does not mean that we will stop studying or stop learning. For every day of our lives there will be something to learn, or some way that we can come closer to God. However, it does mean that we need to start applying the things that we have learned to our daily lives. We need to be praying continually, we need to be armoring ourselves with the full armor of God, we need to know what Jesus really would do--and do likewise, and we need to be mature Christians who can see the snares coming and avoid them.
The blessing of being in Christ comes with responsibilities and dangers. We get to enjoy a relationship with the Most High God, but we also have the ability to lose the most precious relationship there is. The Hebrew writer warns us in this passage that we need to be very careful to be sure of our faith. God does not take kindly to traitors and will not stand for his son being praised and then held up to scorn. Remember that "no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Our faith in Christ is a serious business. It is not something to be played at or toyed with. If we have decided to take on Christ, then we have decided to take him on in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, till death do us part. Should we decide that we do not need his Spirit, we are as good as dead.
I have seen the blessings of God falling on all of us. They fall in different ways--some are obvious, some are subtle--for each of us they are many. Like the land owner who left money to his servants, God will require a return on his investments in us. That return need not be dramatic and mind-blowing, but it should come back with interest. God is a pretty good farmer, so when he sows seeds, he expects some growth. If his blessings do not produce fruit in us, it is quite possible that he will churn up his field and throw out the poor crop.
Like the Hebrew writer, I write these things as food for thought. I believe that each of us is a fruitful tree and my desire is that with your help we will all produce a greater and greater crop. God loves you like the most doting parent--he will see your hard work, he will see your devotion, he will see the way your poor out your life, and you will be rewarded!
I too am anxious for your faith, that you keep on loving one another and all those you meet. Two-thousand years later, I too pray for your strength and patience, that you might receive the reward of sons and daughters in Christ.
-CM-
The Lord willing, we will go on now to other things.
There is no use trying to bring you back to the Lord again if you have once understood the Good News and tasted for yourself the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, and know how good the Word of God is, and felt the mighty powers of the world to come, and then have turned against God. You cannot bring yourself to repent again if you have nailed the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to mocking and to public shame.
When a farmer's land has had many showers upon it and good crops come up, that land has experienced God's blessing upon it. But if it keeps on having crops of thistles and thorns, the land is considered no good and is ready for condemnation and burning off.
Dear friends, even though I am talking like this I really don't believe that what I am saying applies to you. I am confident you are producing the good fruit that comes along with your salvation. For God is not unfair. How can he forget your hard work for him, or forget the way you used to show your love for him-and still do-by helping his children? And we are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, so that you will get your full reward.
Then, knowing what lies ahead for you, you won't become bored with being a Christian nor become spiritually dull and indifferent, but you will be anxious to follow the example of those who receive all that God has promised them because of their strong faith and patience.
Hebrews 6:1-12 (The Living Bible)
---We spent much of our time last summer talking about how one goes about becoming mature: trusting God, trusting your brothers and sisters, having a spirit of unity, knowing how to forgive, putting on the armor of God. Just like the Hebrew writer said, we've been over the first lessons of Christ. It is time for us to take the lessons and apply them to our lives so that we can become strong mature Christians "as we ought to be"!
That does not mean that we will stop studying or stop learning. For every day of our lives there will be something to learn, or some way that we can come closer to God. However, it does mean that we need to start applying the things that we have learned to our daily lives. We need to be praying continually, we need to be armoring ourselves with the full armor of God, we need to know what Jesus really would do--and do likewise, and we need to be mature Christians who can see the snares coming and avoid them.
The blessing of being in Christ comes with responsibilities and dangers. We get to enjoy a relationship with the Most High God, but we also have the ability to lose the most precious relationship there is. The Hebrew writer warns us in this passage that we need to be very careful to be sure of our faith. God does not take kindly to traitors and will not stand for his son being praised and then held up to scorn. Remember that "no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Our faith in Christ is a serious business. It is not something to be played at or toyed with. If we have decided to take on Christ, then we have decided to take him on in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, till death do us part. Should we decide that we do not need his Spirit, we are as good as dead.
I have seen the blessings of God falling on all of us. They fall in different ways--some are obvious, some are subtle--for each of us they are many. Like the land owner who left money to his servants, God will require a return on his investments in us. That return need not be dramatic and mind-blowing, but it should come back with interest. God is a pretty good farmer, so when he sows seeds, he expects some growth. If his blessings do not produce fruit in us, it is quite possible that he will churn up his field and throw out the poor crop.
Like the Hebrew writer, I write these things as food for thought. I believe that each of us is a fruitful tree and my desire is that with your help we will all produce a greater and greater crop. God loves you like the most doting parent--he will see your hard work, he will see your devotion, he will see the way your poor out your life, and you will be rewarded!
I too am anxious for your faith, that you keep on loving one another and all those you meet. Two-thousand years later, I too pray for your strength and patience, that you might receive the reward of sons and daughters in Christ.
-CM-
posted by Christopher Malan at 1:41 PM
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