Encouragement To Perseverance
ENCOURAGEMENT TO PERSEVERANCE
HEBREWS 6:9-12
Simply to be members of a group who are generally doing the right thing is not enough. It is important that each one of us persists in the right way.
The last section contained a very stern warning. There is no mistaking the seriousness of the writer, nor the unpleasant nature of the fate that he sees awaiting those who commit apostasy. It is comforting now to come to this section which makes it clear that, while the writer has found it necessary to warn his friends, his confidence is that they will not go back. He is sure of “better things that belong to salvation” (6:9), ie there are things about the readers which connect them with salvation (the Greek is a little obscure, but this seems to be its sense).
The basic reason for this is God’s faithfulness. God is not unjust. He takes notice of the realities of the situation and included among these is the fact that the writer’s correspondents are showing the truly Christian quality of love. If people who call themselves Christians are showing a warm love to others, then the inference is that God is at work in them. And the further inference is that they are not on the way to apostasy. The love spoken of was shown in the past and continues. It is not short-lived, but something that carries on, and this strengthens the conviction that these people are in fact right with God.
But the end is not yet. Further, the love shown by the group is not necessarily shown by each of its members, and it is this to which the writer now directs his attention. It is important that “each one of you” persists in the right way. Merely to be members of a group who are on the whole doing the right thing is not enough. There is a necessary element of personal participation. In encouraging them to persevere to the end, the writer draws attention to the examples of those who had gone before. He warns against sluggishness, and looks for “faith and patience,” an interesting combination. There is the combination of a reliance on God and a readiness to endure. And it is in this way that they (and we) inherit the promises.