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The Peril of Falling Away

¹ Therefore let us ^(C1)get past ^(C2)the elementary stage in the teachings about the Christ, advancing on to ^(C3)maturity and perfection and spiritual completeness, doing this without laying again a foundation of repentance from ^(C4)dead works and of faith toward God,² of ^(C1)teaching about washings (ritual purifications), the ^(C2)laying on of hands, the ^(C3)resurrection of the dead, and ^(C3)eternal judgment. These are all important matters in which you should have been proficient long ago.³ And we will do this that is, proceed to maturity, ^(C1)if God permits.⁴ For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who have once been ^(C1)enlightened spiritually and who have ^(F1)tasted and consciously experienced ^(C2)the heavenly gift and have ^(C3)shared in the Holy Spirit,⁵ and ^(C1)have tasted and consciously experienced the good ^(C2)word of God and the powers of ^(C3)the age (world) to come,^6 (F1)and then have fallen away—it is ^(C1)impossible to bring them back again to repentance, ^(C2)since they again nail the Son of God on the cross for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it, and are holding Him up again to public disgrace.⁷ For soil that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces crops useful to those ^(C1)for whose benefit it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God;⁸ but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and ^(C1)close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned. ^(VR1)

Better Things for You

⁹ But, ^(C1)beloved, even though we speak to you in this way, ^(F1)we are convinced of better things concerning you, and of things that accompany salvation.¹⁰ For ^(C1)God is not unjust so as to forget ^(C2)your work and the love which you have shown for His name in ^(C3)ministering to the needs of the saints (God's people), as you do.¹¹ And we desire for each one of you to show the same diligence all the way through so as to realize and enjoy the ^(C1)full assurance of ^(C2)hope until the end,¹² so that you will not be spiritually sluggish, but will instead be ^(C1)imitators of those who through ^(C2)faith lean on God with absolute trust and confidence in Him and in His power and by patient endurance even when suffering are now ^(C3)inheriting the promises.

¹³ For ^(C1)when God made the promise to Abraham, He ^(C2)swore an oath by Himself, since He had no one greater by whom to swear,¹⁴ saying, "^(C1)I WILL SURELY BLESS YOU AND I WILL SURELY MULTIPLY YOU." ^(VR1)15 And so, ^(C1)having patiently waited, he realized the promise in the miraculous birth of Isaac, as a pledge of what was to come from God.¹⁶ Indeed ^(C1)men swear an oath by ^(F1)one greater than themselves, and with them in all disputes ^(C2)the oath serves as confirmation of what has been said and is an end of the dispute.¹⁷ In the same way God, in His desire to show to ^(C1)the heirs of the promise ^(C2)the unchangeable nature of His purpose, intervened and guaranteed it with an oath,¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things His promise and His oath in which ^(C1)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to Him for refuge would have strong encouragement and indwelling strength to hold tightly to ^(C2)the hope set before us.¹⁹ This ^(C1)hope this confident assurance we have as an anchor of the soul it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever pressure bears upon it—a safe and steadfast hope that ^(C2)enters within the veil of the heavenly temple, that most Holy Place in which the very presence of God dwells, ^{(VR1)20 (C1)}where Jesus has entered in advance as a forerunner for us, having become a ^(C2)High Priest forever according to the order of ^(F1)Melchizedek. ^(VR1)