I remember working at Disneyland on one particular thrilling, intense attraction. A woman approached the vehicle to ride, and she was obviously pregnant. It was my job to inform her that it was not recommended for her to ride. I did, and she responded this way, “Ugh, you’re like the 5th person to tell me that! Can I just get on the ride!?” Only after her husband intervened and made her get off did she exit the vehicle before riding.
It was startling to me that she would ignore numerous verbal warnings, as well as the written warnings at the front of the attraction, throughout the queue of the attraction, and right before you get on the attraction. How could someone so blatantly hear and disregard such strong warnings that are put in place for her well-being?
The Bible is a book full of written warnings as well. There are warnings about many different things, but one book of the Bible that contains repeated warnings about the same topic is the book of Hebrews. This New Testament book contains 5 passages of warnings that all centralize around one certain theme: apostasy, turning away from the faith. These passages are quite long so I will try to highlight the key phrases in each one and you can look up the entire passage on your own.
Hebrews 2:1-4 warns the readers to not drift away. It also warns to not neglect such a great salvation.
Hebrews 3:7-4:11 says to make sure you do not have an unbelieving heart and fall away from the living God (v 12).
Hebrews 5:11-6:12 says that those who have tasted the good word of God and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew again to repentance (v 5-6).
Hebrews 10:26-39 says that we are not like those who shrink back to destruction (v 39).
Hebrews 12:14-29 tells the readers to not refuse Him who is speaking (v 25).
Now, as I said, all of these passages are warnings against falling away from the faith, but isn’t it impossible to lose your salvation? What is going on? The writer of Hebrews, like all spiritual leaders, is not 100% sure of the spiritual state of all the people he is speaking to. We can really never know with absolute certainty the spiritual state of the people around us. So, he is doing the prudent thing which is to warn confessing Christians in the church about the dangers of professing Christ and then leaving Him. This would evidence having never really come to faith, not losing true salvation (1 John 2:19).
Why do I write this in this month’s article? Well, I have a great concern for the church of Jesus Christ, globally and locally. This year the pandemic caused churches to close which put an incredible strain on the people of God. Some, due to health reasons or other concerns have just not been able to attend in person, but have passionately and fervently stayed committed to the church through online watching and Zoom.
Others, however, have not. When the churches closed they stayed away, but once the churches opened, they continued to stay away. Now, Biblical love compels me to believe the best in people (1 Cor 13:7), but, if you can be completely disconnected from the church of Jesus Christ for 8-9 months, and counting, when do you consider yourself to be standing at the edge of apostasy? Or, have you already fallen away?
Churches throughout the country and the world enjoy inflating their numbers of attendees and members, but maybe this pandemic is the Lord doing a work in His church: weeding out some false confessors from His flock. Maybe not all the ones in the pews are truly saved. As we come to the end of almost an entire year of this pandemic, it is time to carefully evaluate the state of your soul. Are you firmly committed to the Lord and the faith? If so, how is that evidenced in your life? Are you staying connected to the church of Jesus Christ? Or, are you one of the ones the writer of Hebrews is writing to, warning you about the dangers of falling away and being merely a confessor? Heed the warnings of the book of Hebrews today.