One of the classes I am taking is this survey of the general letters of the Bible, Hebrews-III John with Dr. Toussaint from Dallas Theological Seminary. Besides my class notes, I have looked at previous teachers of the class from Dallas as well. Some of these presentations may be expositions to their congregation.
Hebrews contains a series of warnings that can be very difficult for those who believe they can lose their salvation. I have two safeguards for our oversensitive friends that can be very encouraging. First of all, we have to clear teaching in the Bible concerning salvation in which the Bible in which the Bible will not contradict itself. God gave us eternal life by believing on Jesus, he cannot take it away because that would not have been eternal. Along with this it is God who saves and not man. The second safeguard I offer is context. So far in Hebrews 2 & 3 we have two warnings for Christians not to do, The writer includes himself in the audience 1:2; 2:1, 4:1 and specifically in 3:1 and 3:12, 14 where he refers to his readers as “holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling”; “brethren”; “we have become partakers of Christ.” Clearly his audience is Christian.
Can a Christian drift away, neglect the things of God? Can a Christian develop an evil heart the fall away from the living God? Can they be deceived by sin? All of this is serious in the same way in the physical world a person can develop the symptoms of a heart attack even at an early age and 30s 40s. Heart disease can become very serious in a matter of weeks.
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| The wilderness is a dry and desolate place and pictures on departed from the Living God |
In the same way a Christian can neglect their walk with God, or through difficult circumstances come to believe God has let him or her down, make a decision to turn from the living God in unbelief. Soon the deceitfulness of sin will take over and the Christian develops an evil and hardened heart. Their decision is done at the exact time they needed to do the opposite and cling to the Lord.
Besides not experiencing God helping them through their difficult time, they will miss their fellowship with the Lord when they most needed it. They will miss the blessings in their future. They'll missed the encouragement from other believers. They will most likely experience some downward trend in harmful behavior towards themselves or others.
But because they're saved, or trusted Christ as their Savior they did not lose their salvation.
When a person has a heart attack and there able to get to the hospital the medical team may have to do some drastic measures to restore health. From blood thinners, stents, open heart surgery there are number ways the doctor aggressively works to save the life.
Hebrews chapter 4 is connected to chapter 3 in which the writer talks about the Lord disciplining those He loves. The Lord may have thousands of ways in which He disciplines the believer. They may be gentle or not. He is God and He knows best. When the believer has drifted away, and falling away from living God, in the land of living the believer is hardened his or her heart and lives in the lies of sin, this is a serious condition that requires God's emergency care.
Go back to that hardship, that loss where you turned your back on the Lord, it is there in which you must learn to trust. The rest of your life in the living can experience God’s loving care and healing. Healing and restoration takes time but here you will find a gentle Physician. Keep walking
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