Lesson 9: Diligence and Assurance (Heb 6:9-20)
Observation
Outline
Encouragement to Be Diligent
(6:9-12)
Certainty of God’s Promise (-20)
Key Words/Phrases
Confident, salvation, diligence,
full assurance of hope, until the end, through faith and patience inherit the
promises, swear/oath, immutability of His counsel, consolation, fled for
refuge, hope, anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, forerunner.
Segment Analysis
1a. He
knows from their work and labor of love that they were people of faith rather
than unbelievers who have rejected God. He also knows that God, who is
faithful, will reward them accordingly. Thus, he is optimistic about their
future, and particularly, their salvation.
1b. According
to the passage, the believers had been active in their faith and love, but they
seemed to have become stagnant. Although it is not necessarily an indication
that they have fallen away, it is surely a cause for concern, for the possibility
of falling away is real, not hypothetical.
2. We
must be diligent to the very end.
3. Sluggishness
could result from complacency and false security (cf. Rev 3:1,17).
It may also be caused by sin’s deceitfulness, which leads to apostasy (Heb -13). The pleasures of this world may
harden our hearts and bring about spiritual stagnancy and even backsliding.
Regardless of the cause, sluggishness is an indication of unbelief. A true
believer is not unproductive but bears fruit and is useful to the Lord (6:7;
cf. 2Pet 1:8-11).
5. Verse
12 teaches us to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. The author here goes on to cite Abraham’s example for our imitation.
6. We
ought to imitate Abraham’s patient endurance, with which he waited for God’s
promise (15).
7. It
confirms the promise and makes it even more sure, for
an oath puts an end to all dispute (16). Whereas human beings would swear by
someone greater, who would bring punishment upon the one taking the oath if he
fails to keep his word, God swore by Himself since he could swear by no one
greater (13). God’s oath, which is an oath of the highest order, adds even
greater weight to His promise, which is in itself perfectly reliable. Even
though God did not need to swear, He did it to show more abundantly to the
heirs of the promise the immutability of God’s counsel (17).
8a. The promise (or counsel) and the oath.
8b. He
tells us that God’s purpose in providing the immutable is to give us
consolation, and he assures us that our hope is sure and steadfast (18-19).
9. We
have escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust in order to be
partakers of the divine nature (2 Pet 1:4). Christ is our refuge, in whom we
are sheltered from the snare and bondage of the devil.
10a. This
anchor is our hope, which is made possible through the atoning work of Jesus
Christ (19-20).
