IV.
In the previous post I asked you to consider the idea of having “a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.”
Today let’s consider what it can mean to “realize the full assurance of hope.”
As you spend time with this passage, see if the thought of “hope” and “anchors” opens up anything in the passage to you.
V.
Hebrews 6:9-20 (NRSVue)
Even though we speak in this way, beloved, we are confident of better things in your case, things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
When God made a promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Humans, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute among them. In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
VI.
What in this passage might give you reason to hope?
- God’s covenant with Abraham
- There are promises to inherit
- God is not unjust
- The unchangeable character of God’s purpose
And one more question – What might be God’s purpose?
charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}