Hebrews

The book of Hebrews is written to young, immature Christians that converted from Judaism. It remains applicable today as we too face pressures to return to our old lives or former beliefs and abandon our commitment as disciples of Jesus. We must remember that there is no other source of salvation except Jesus.

Answers will vary. Look for the concept of comfort in what we know and uncertainty during change.

There is comfort in the known and fear and discomfort in the unknown. Recall how several times as the Jews wandered in the wilderness they looked back fondly at their captivity in Egypt. Judaism offered them social structure and acceptance of family and community. Christianity offered salvation, but brought these Jewish Christians into conflict with their families and society in general which at the time was not favorable towards this new religion.

See the introduction to the lesson as provided in the text.

Admonishment concerning their immaturity seen in their inability to discern truth, and failure to mature in knowledge of their faith. They ceased learning about their faith and this resulted in a regressive rather than confident attitude towards their salvation.

We too must continue to learn and grow, not just for our own spiritual development, but also for our ability to teach others about Christ. As we learn, we become capable of learning more. As we teach, we become capable of teaching a greater number and type of people at different levels of faith. All of this equips us to serve and grow spiritually as well as better withstand Satan's attacks.

This helps prevent the second rebuke in this passage, that of falling away. Falling away is another method of saying, returning to the world and our previous lives.

• Be faithful – This begins with a recognition that we have demonstrated our obedient faith in Jesus. We must now continue to grow spiritually and strengthen our faithfulness.
• God's oath to Abraham – This passage focuses on the historical promise made by God to Abraham, of which we are the recipients. We have been promised an eternal home as God's chosen people. We are now a spiritual and eternal nation. Just as God promised Abraham a land he could call his own, we also are promised a "home" in heaven if we continue faithfully following Christ.
• Oaths in General – When we make an oath, we are stating that we will follow through with what we've promised, and as we've promised. The most significant oath is the one we make as we commit our lives to Christ. We make this commitment (faithfulness) before God and will be held accountable for this by Him.
• The relationship between hope, faith and Christ – We have hope (confident assurance) that God will fulfill His promise of our salvation through Christ as we've placed our faith in Him.

Just as the early Christians learned, salvation requires faith expressed in repentance and baptism (Acts 2:38). This is only the beginning. We must continue to grow in our faith resulting in spiritual maturity that enables us to draw closer to God and withstand Satan's efforts to weaken our faith and our influence. Returning to our former lives, as these Jewish Christians were tempted to do, weakens our faith and jeopardizes our salvation.