by David Gibson<\/p>\n
The whole Bible takes a balanced approach to “dos” and “don’ts.” The author of Hebrews was written to Christians who were in danger of falling away. To address this peril, the writer offers both warnings and promises, rebukes and encouragements:<\/p>\n
“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 you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises<\/em>” (Hebrews 6:11-12).<\/p>\n
“. . . and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near<\/em>” (Hebrews 10:24-25).<\/p>\n
“‘For “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls<\/em>” (Hebrews 10:37-39).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In each case, what the future holds should spur us to act in the present. Faithful Christians, who will “inherit the promises<\/em>,” are to live in view of “the day drawing near<\/em>,” because “the coming one will come<\/em>.”<\/p>\n
Note these opposites: sluggishness vs. patience, forsaking the assemblies vs. encouraging one another, and shrinking back and being destroyed vs. having faith and preserving their souls.<\/p>\n
Away with half-heartedness! A glorious future demands earnest, faithful service.<\/p>\n
Too much is at stake for anything less.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by David Gibson The whole Bible takes a balanced approach to “dos” and “don’ts.” The author of Hebrews was written to Christians who were in danger of falling away. To address this peril, the writer offers both warnings and promises, rebukes and encouragements: “And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1899,177,1900],"class_list":["post-94162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-admonition","tag-law","tag-warnings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16390,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-enoch-included-in-hebrews-1113-when-it-said-all-these-died-in-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":94162,"position":0},"title":"Is Enoch included in Hebrews 11:13 when it said all these died in faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 15, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You said that Enoch did not die.\u00a0 What about Hebrews 11:13 where it says, \"These all\u00a0died in faith....\"? Is not Enoch included in that verse? Answer: \"These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62580,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-promises-are-sure\/","url_meta":{"origin":94162,"position":1},"title":"God\u2019s Promises Are Sure","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 6:9-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Bible contains many promises of an eternal home in heaven \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How can we be sure it is really there? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0None of us get to visit it before hand. It is not like a hotel where you might check out the beds\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3101,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-the-almighty-god-accept-me\/","url_meta":{"origin":94162,"position":2},"title":"How could the Almighty God accept me?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Mr. Jeffrey, I don't admit this to many people, but I have an issue in my thinking when it comes to God. I have a fear that no matter what I do and no matter how I try to be righteous and help others get to heaven, that at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60613,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/warnings\/","url_meta":{"origin":94162,"position":3},"title":"Warnings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 30, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Gilbert Alexander A dozen sirens wailing a warning of a coming tornado cannot save the lives of those who do not heed. Warning that a dam is beginning to break under the pressure of floodwaters cannot save a city of ten thousand living directly below the dam if they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/tornadoSiren.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":90732,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-you-really-lose-your-salvation\/","url_meta":{"origin":94162,"position":4},"title":"Can You Really Lose Your Salvation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Clay Gentry You've no doubt heard the saying, \"Once saved, always saved.\" It's a slogan, rooted in Calvinism, meant to express an assurance of eternal security. But then, you've no doubt heard the counterargument: \"No, you can lose your salvation.\" While the latter is said with good intentions, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34964,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/disobedience-and-unbelief\/","url_meta":{"origin":94162,"position":5},"title":"Disobedience and Unbelief","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The epistle to the Hebrews might be the most tightly reasoned book in the whole Bible. Sentence by sentence, clause by clause, the Hebrews writer constructs intricate arguments that establish the superiority of Christ over Moses and the folly of Christians returning to Judaism. The more\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}