Article by site founder, Connie Rice
The book of Hebrews is powerful on so many levels, explaining the divinity of Jesus (including how He is our High Priest). This book also encourages us to be diligent to enter God’s rest once our time on earth is over and provides encouragement and hope for believers. Reflecting on heroes of the faith that are listed in Chapters 11-12 as a “great cloud of witnesses” is inspiring – especially as we see that included in that list are people who had weaknesses and made mistakes and that God still used them in His Kingdom work and honored them. It’s interesting that many descriptions of them begins with the phrase, “by faith…” and that they were or became dedicated to following God no matter the cost to them personally.
“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
Hebrews also gives us thought-provoking truths to contemplate as we live out our lives and our faith. It might be surprising to some who have fallen away to discover that Chapter 6 says that doing so puts our Savior to an open shame and that we crucify again for ourselves the Son of God if we don’t repent and return to Him (see Scripture passage below). It would appear that drifting from our faith is far more serious to God than we may have realized or understood and that there are concerning consequences. However, there is also hope for those who figure it out and turn back to the Lord.
“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame. For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.
But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
Have we been satisfied with just knowing God a little bit and as a result, missing out on knowing Him at a deeper level? Have we, perhaps even without realizing it, rationalized or trivialized our sins, making us vulnerable to Satan’s lies, and deceptions? Whose side are we on? Are we really walking with the Lord and keeping Him in His rightful first place in our thoughts and hearts or could we fooling ourselves? Scripture teaches us to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength – in other words, with all of our being. This should cause us all to contemplate our relationship with our Savior and make sure that when we stand before Him, we don’t hear the scary words He gave in Chapter 6 of Luke:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!
Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall’.”
Whenever a person accepts Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, submitting their lives to His leadership, he or she receives the Holy Spirit to guide and instruct. From that point on, the believer has the power to better understand Scripture, the power to turn from sin and the promise that God will always provide a way to escape it as well as gain access to God’s peace which the world cannot give. In a Bible study I’m presently doing, “The Power of Knowing God”, Tony Evans likens the Holy Spirit to a dimmer switch. All believers have access to God’s light, but how much of God’s light is in our lives is completely up to us. Sadly, many people keep the dimmer switch on low and very few allow all of the light in that the Lord has made available to us. He promises to draw near to those who draw near to Him.
“Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously?’ But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
‘God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble’.Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”
Another good resource is “The Awe of God” by John Bevere (the Bible study I finished before my present one). May each of us be intentional about seeking the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, soul, and strength, learning what He wants us to know about Himself and the world through His Word, and choosing to trust and obey Him with every aspect of our lives. Let us not fool ourselves into thinking that we know more than the One who created the universe and each one of us. He is all-knowing so knows what’s ahead of us, is everywhere at once, is sovereign and all-powerful, and is the source of all wisdom and goodness. He’s worthy of our praise and obedience and wants to bless us. The natural consequence of not being intentional in seeking God is to drift away; there is no such thing as a static faith. May we know God so well that His light shines through us so others will seek Him too. May none of us be a stumbling block to those needing salvation and/or stand before Jesus and discover that we have put our Savior to an open shame and have again crucified for ourselves the Son of God.
© Constance Rice 2025
Eyes2C 