Strong Encouragement

This passage from Hebrews is one of the most heartwarming, comforting passages you'll find in the Bible.

So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of His purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us (Heb 6:17-18).

You see the design, I'm sure. We "have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us." Excellent! On what is that strong encouragement based? It is based on God's promise and God's nature. He promised with an oath, and based on that oath as well as His "unchangeable character", His inability to lie, we can be quite sure of the hope set before us.

That's really good stuff. Really good.

What I found interesting in reading this was that it comes on the tail of one of the harshest, most frightening passages you'll find in the Bible.

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt (Heb 6:4-6).

Now, that passage has all sorts of unpleasant attached to it. For instance, in their zeal to assure us that salvation cannot be lost, there are those who will tell you that the description at the beginning is not a genuine believer. It's just an "almost" believer. I can't see it. "Almost" believers are not enlightened, have not tasted of the heavenly gift (actually tasted), do not have a share in the Holy Spirit. They may, by some interpretation, have "tasted of the goodness of the word of God", but certainly not "the powers of the age to come". No, I'm afraid this doesn't qualify as an "almost" believer. This is your basic genuine believer.

Beyond that, there is the harshest language used here. It's not really hard to repent. It's not nearly impossible to be restored. Even those who claim this is a biblical text proving that Christians can lose their salvation will almost never agree that salvation, once lost, is always lost. But the language demands it. It is impossible to be restored to repentance.

And beyond that, the reason for the impossibility is, frankly, terrifying. What hope can you offer to one who is "crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding Him up to contempt"? Really, once the crucified Lord becomes insufficient for salvation, there is nothing left.

In all of this terrifying discussion, then, it is quite interesting that the author of Hebrews finds comfort, "strong encouragement". What turns the text from the terrible to the comforting? "Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things -- things that belong to salvation" (Heb 6:9). You see, while the first part of the chapter involves some of the most serious cautions held in the Bible, the author of Hebrews is quite confident that those who are actually saved have "better things". Better than what? Better than the apostasy ("fallen away") of the previous thought. Better than "crucifying once again the Son of God". People who are genuinely saved don't do that.

Now, you can, if you like, stare at that terrifying portion and worry about your status. I'd understand if you did. Very frightening stuff. Or you can revel in the wonders of "better things" and rest in the promise and character of God to "have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us." The warning is probably a good thing to note. But the comfort of God's incapability to lie, to change, or to fail all make for great relief. And, by the way, that "strong encouragement" is only made that much larger when contrasted with the terror of the alternative. Really bad news makes really good news much, much better.