Heb. 6:7-12 Diligent Fruitbearing Inherits the Promises

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ the Redeemer Church of Manhattan, KS, 10 Feb. 2019

Introduction: Review of vs. 4-6

• Last time we examined the conditions under which Hebrews 6 says renewal and repentance are “impossible” - the conditions which interfere with Godly maturity. The Greek grammar of the passage points to seven conditions each introduced by a participle:

1. once having been enlightened (indicating they had heard and understood the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus)

2. having tasted of the heavenly gift (of Jesus and the Gospel, but only tasted, not fully embraced it)

3. having become companions of the Holy Spirit (like Baalam and Saul experienced, but did not become full partners in the Holy Spirit, sanctified by Him.)

4. having tasted the good word of God and also of the powers of the coming age (exposed to the word of the Lord and even having seen angels like Baalam and many other hard-hearted Jews and Gentiles mentioned in the Bible)

5. having fallen aside/tresspassed (like the apostate Jews of Ezekiel’s day who were punished by God with exile)

6. re-crucifying for themselves the Son of God (re-creating sins which were the reason for Jesus’ death)

7. and shaming/dishonoring the Son of God (by denying Him and disobeying Him)

• For persons in this awful condition, Hebrews 6 says it is “impossible… to renew them into repentance again.”

  • I noted that all of these conditions have in common a failure to trust God’s plan of salvation, and indeed, later on in Hebrews 11:6 we see the statement that “it is impossible to please God without faith [without trusting Him].”

  • I also noted, however, that this statement has to be held in tension with Jesus’ statement that “...according to God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26, NAW), so God can save rebellious people by giving them the gift of faith, according to Ephesians 2:8.

• Now, as we move on into verse 7, we get into an...

vs. 7-8 Analogy of a farm

7 For, earth partakes of blessing from God, when, having drunk rain that comes often upon it, it also bears appropriate vegetation for those guys by whom it is actually farmed, 8 but when it brings forth brambles and sand-burrs, it is disapproved-of and nigh-cursed; its end will be in burning.

• In this analogy, there are two kinds of earth on the farm - both of which get plenty of rain:

  • One brings forth the right kind of plants

    • whether that’s good grass for raising cattle

    • or whether that’s crops for human consumption it doesn’t say,

    • but it’s what the farmers/ ranchers/ cultivators wanted.

  • The other kind of ground instead bears thorns and thistles – useless stuff.

• These two soils represent two kinds of people: those who bear spiritual fruit, and those who don’t - even though everybody gets at least some of God’s common graces:

  • “His sun rises upon evil men and good men, and it rains upon righteous men and unrighteous men” (Matt. 5:45, NAW),

  • Everybody receives a life and a body designed to do things (1 Cor. 6:19),

  • and we all receive the common grace of human intelligence that is capable of discerning God’s eternal power and godhead (Rom. 1:20),

  • and (for the half of the world that is evangelized) we have free access to God’s own word which thoroughly describes how to be saved - along with many other wonderful blessings like how to establish justice in government, how to avoid deadly diseases, and how to love one another.

• The bramble-bearing ground is called “ἀδόκιμος/dis-approved-of/rejected/worthless,” and the New Testament uses this word in several places to describe sinners:

  • Romans 1:28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (NKJV)

  • 2 Timothy 3:8 “Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith” (NKJV)

  • Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work” (NKJV)

  • 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?-- unless indeed you are disqualified.” (NKJV) – note that FAITH is the determining factor for whether or not you are that disapproved-of, rejected ground.

• It’s interesting that these “brambles and burrs” (or “thorns and thistles”) are the same two words used in the Greek Old Testament to describe the agricultural curse resulting from Adam & Eve’s sin. Gen. 3:18-19 says that the earth was “cursed” due to sin and would there­fore bear these very kinds of useless, pest plants. This gives a clear clue as to what the thorny ground represents in this analogy – persons who live in rebellion against God, who break God’s commandments as a way of life. God’s curse is the invariable consequence of sin.

  • Deuteronomy 28:15 “But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe all his commandments, as many as I charge thee this day, then all these curses shall come on thee, and overtake thee.” (Brenton)

  • Proverbs 3:33 “The curse of God is in the houses of the ungodly; but the habitations of the just are blessed.” (Brenton)

  • Jeremiah 24:9 “And I will cause them to be dispersed into all the kingdoms of the earth, and they shall be for a reproach, and a proverb, and an object of hatred, and a curse, in every place whither I have driven them out.” (Brenton)

  • Daniel 9:11 “Moreover all Israel have transgressed thy law, and have refused to hearken to thy voice; so the curse has come upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.” (Brenton)

  • 2 Peter 2:14 “having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.” (NKJV)

  • Galatians 3:10-14 “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.’ But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for ‘the just shall live by faith.’ Yet the law is not of faith, but ‘the man who does them shall live by them.’ Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” (NKJV)

• The epistle of Hebrews is warning us that the punishment which ultimately befalls unfruitful ground (those without faith) is “burning/cauterization”

  • Matthew 7:18-21 “It's not possible for a good tree to make bad fruit or for a rotten tree to make nice fruit. Every tree not making nice fruit gets cut down and thrown into a fire. So then, you will recognize them by their fruit. Not everyone who is saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but rather the one who is doing the will of my Father in the heavens.” (NAW)

  • Isaiah 4:4 “For the Lord shall wash away the filth... with the spirit of judgment, and the spirit of burning.” (Brenton)

  • Apocalyptic portions of the Bible also prophecy that this will happen at the end of the world:

    • 2 Peter 3:10 “...the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heav­ens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up [κατακαήσεται].” (NKJV)

    • Daniel 7:11 “...the beast was slain and destroyed, and his body given to be burnt with fire. (Brenton) Compare that to Revelation 20:10&15 “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire [πῦρ] and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever…. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

• This, then, is the warning of the parable of the two soils: It doesn’t matter what common graces you have experienced from being created by God and being in a community of believers; if you do not bear the fruit of faith in Jesus, you are in danger of God’s wrath and curse. This leads us to the second thought which speaks of the positive...

vs.9-10 Grounds for confidence concerning salvation

9 But, although we speak thus, loved ones, we have been persuaded of better things concerning y’all - indeed having to do with salvation, 10 for God is not unrighteous so as to forget your work and the love which y’all displayed in His name, y’all having ministered to - and continuing to minister to - the saints.

• Although the apostle is writing stern warnings about the horrible consequences of apostasy, he is not assuming that all his readers are going to end up in hell-fire.

• He has grounds to believe that they will experience God’s salvation. This “persuasion/ confidence/ certainty” comes from the fact that they have borne the spiritual fruit of love - and they continue to bear that fruit.

• In the framework of the parable of the farm, their “ground” has proved fruitful, so it will not be “cursed,” but rather will “partake” of God’s “blessing.”

• This fruit goes by three titles in v.10: “work” (ergon), “love” (agape), and “ministry/ service/ help” (dia-kon-ountes)

  • Their faith in Jesus was not a matter of mere words (for, as the Apostle James wrote in his epistle, “faith without works is dead”); their faith resulted in action consistent with faith.

  • These actions were characterized by agape-love, which is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is evidence that the Holy Spirit was working through them, for, as the Apostle John wrote in his first epistle (4:8), “love comes from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”

  • Furthermore, their acts of love were done “in the name of” God, not in their own name to get a reputation for themselves or to get people to like them, but in Jesus’ name to glorify Jesus and get people to be impressed with Him!

  • And lastly, they were characterized by past and present “ministry/service” toward other Christians. Scriptural examples indicate that this Greek word includes preparing food for others, giving money to help others, and providing Scriptural teaching.

    • Matthew 25:44 Then they also, in reply, will say, "Master, when was it that we saw you being hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and we did not serve you?" (NAW)

    • Luke 8:3 “Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others... provided for them [Jesus & His disciples] out of their means.” (ESV)

    • Romans 15:25-26 “...I [Paul] am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. [How were they going to “minister to the saints”?] For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.” (NKJV)

    • Luke 10:40 “But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.’” (NKJ) Clearly food-service there.

    • There is also the account of when Jesus healed Peter’s sick mother-in-law in Matthew 8:15 “He touched her hand, and the fever released her, and she was raised up, and she began serving Him.” (NAW) “Oh you boys must be hungry; let me cook up some dinner for you!”

    • Ministry also came in the form of spiritual teaching and prayer: 1 Peter 1:12 “It was revealed to [the Old Testament prophets] that it was not to themselves but to y'all that they were serving these things which now are announced to y'all through the preachers of the gospel... (NAW)

• If such “work” and “love” and “ministry” in Jesus’ “name,” could be discounted as irrelevant to their salvation, God could be accused of being unjust and misleading throughout Scripture, because He has led us to believe that these are consequences of His work of regeneration, faith, and repentance in our lives - and are therefore evidences of our salvation. These kinds of things don’t flow out of an unregenerate, unrepentant, unbelieving heart.

• If these things are not in your heart, and all you see is selfishness, beg God to save you. He won’t ignore your prayer! But if you do see these things in yourself, don’t be afraid that you’re going to somehow miss out on salvation – even if your love is kind-of weak so that you love Christians but you find it harder to love non-Christians. Your justified relationship with God is real and it is bearing fruit. You will share in the blessing of God!

• Now, our passage concludes with an encouragement to be abundant in fruitfulness in order to give God the most glory that your life can give.

vs.11-12 Exhortation to continue bearing spiritual fruit

11 Now we desire for each one of y’all to display the same diligence toward the full assurance of the hope until the end, 12 in order that y´all might become – not lazy-persons but – imitators of those who, through faith and longsuffering, are inheriting the promises.

• Remember that he just wrote back in chapter 5 verse 11 that the Hebrews of his day had “become lazy about listening” (NAW), so he contrasts the lazy/sluggish/slothful with those who diligently do what it takes to be sure of the hope of salvation at the end of it all.

• There are many other exhortations along these lines in Scripture, such as:

  • 2 Peter 1:3-11 “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and god­liness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance god­liness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting king­dom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)

  • 1 Peter 1:13 “Therefore, after girding up the loins of y'all's mind, being sober, perfectly start hoping upon the grace which is being brought to y'all in the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (NAW)

  • 1 Cor. 15:58 “Therefore my dear brothers, continue becoming steadfast, immoveable, abounding in the work of the Lord always, knowing that your labor is not empty in the Lord.” (NAW)

  • Matt. 10:42 “and who ever happens to provide drink to one of the little ones among these guys – a cold drink only, in a disciple's name, I tell you truly, he shall never destroy his reward.” (NAW)

  • Heb. 13:16 “ do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (NKJV)

  • Gal. 6:8-10 “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have oppor­tunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.” (NKJV)

• Coming back to Hebrews 6:12, applying “diligence” to “full assurance” will involve “imi­tating/following” other faithful believers.

  • As we’ll see in a few verses, our author seems to have Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - and perhaps even the Israelites under Joshua - in mind as “those who inherit the promises,” but we’ll get to them another day. For now, this principle of imitation can be seen in other scriptures such as:

  • Philippians 4:9 “The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.” (NKJ)

  • 1 Corinthians 11:1 “Keep being imitators of me just as I also am of Christ.” (NAW)

  • 1 Thessalonians 1:2-7 “We give thanks to God always for you all… remembering with­out ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ ... knowing, beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became follow­ers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe.” (NKJV)

  • Hebrews 13:7 “Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.” (NKJ)

• Note that while these believers did good works of love, God’s promised blessings were not earned by their good works, but rather were “inherited” by those who exercise “patience and faith.” In other words, they just waited for it until Jesus died and the inheritance fell into their lap. That’s the “work of faith.” That kind of waiting in hope is not easy – God has to give us that ability, but when He does, it can persevere through anything, even outlasting brutal persecution:

  • 2 Thessalonians 1:4 “...we boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure” (NKJ)

  • Revelation 13:1,7,10 “...I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name…. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them…^. He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” (NKJV)

  • Rev. 4:12-13 “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the command­ments of God and the faith of Jesus…. Blessed are th[ose] who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." (NKJV)

• The “promises” of a land and a nation “inherited” by Abraham and His descendants were intended to point to a greater set of promises of inheriting heaven and union with the Son of God - and with His body, the church. This is the “eternal inheritance” spoken of in Hebrews 9:14-15 “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” (NKJV)

• This inheritance is worth waiting for, and it is worth every bit of mental discipline that it takes to learn from other believers and to keep trusting Jesus to make us right and to bless us with that inheritance of eternal life.

Conclusion

• We’ve considered the analogy of the farm - which warns us of the consequences of having no fruit of faith in Jesus, then we considered the confidence we can have in our salvation if the fruits of faith and love are present in our lives, and finally we considered the exhortation to cultivate faith and love in our lives in order to honor God with the greatest fruitfulness we can.

• Let me close with a statement from two of our church’s doctrinal standards of reference, the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Second London Baptist Confession on the Perseverance of the Saints (ch 17 of both documents use these exact same words): “Those whom God hath accepted in the¹ beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit… can neither totally nor finally fall from the state of grace; but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved [here the London Baptist editors added a good proof text from Romans 11:29, “seeing the gifts and callings of God are without Repentance”]... This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; ...the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them, and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof... [T]hey may, through the temptations of Satan and of the world, the prevalancy of corruption remaining in them, and the neglect of the means of their perseverance, fall into grievous sins; and for a time continue therein; whereby they incur God's displeasure, and grieve his Holy Spirit, come to have their graces and comforts impaired² have their hearts hardened, and their consciences wounded; hurt... others, and bring temporal judgments upon themselves.”

• The LBC adds that God “still begets and nourisheth in them Faith, Repentance, Love, Joy, Hope, and all the graces of the Spirit unto immortality, and though many storms and floods arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon: notwithstanding through unbelief and the temptations of Satan the sensible sight of the light and love of God, may for a time be clouded, and obscured from them, yet he is still the same and they shall be sure to be kept by the power of God unto Salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being engraved upon the palm of his hands, and their names having been written in the book of life from all Eternity... they shall renew their repentance and be preserved through faith in Christ Jesus to the end.”

2. APPENDIX: Side-by-side Greek Text & English Versions of Heb. 6:4-12^A