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by Katie Erickson

“Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” -Hebrews 6:9-12

In the previous section of this letter, the author gave warnings to his audience against falling away from the Christian faith. Fortunately, here he believes that this will not be the case for them, although being warned is still appropriate.

Addressing his audience as loved ones (“dear friends” in the NIV quoted above) in verse 9 shows that the author does at least have some idea of the people he is writing to. This is a prime example of speaking the truth in love – he dealt them some hard truth but did it all out of love and concern for them. He is convinced that they are better than those he warned them about. The warnings of falling away from the faith probably don’t apply to these believers; but they should still be warned, just in case.

The author states that his readers do know “the things that have to do with salvation.” This is both a warning to make sure that is true for them, and it’s a commendation that they have matured in their faith enough to know the basic truth of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Why is the author so confident that his readers won’t fall away from the faith? He sees the evidence of their faith as stated in verse 10. God’s character is that He is perfectly just; He will deal fairly with all people. If these believers have truly matured in their faith as the author suspects, God will treat them accordingly and not forget what they have done.

This is not to say that they will be saved by their works, but that their works are evidence of their faith (as in James 2:14-26). These believers have shown their love for God by how they have helped and continue to help God’s people. These believers have served others in the past and they keep serving others out of their love for God. They’re demonstrating that loving others shows a true love for God. This is the same idea we see in 1 John 4:19-21:

“We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

In verse 11, the author continues to show his concern for this group of believers. He expresses his strong desire that the people continue to live in this way for their entire lives – “show this same diligence to the very end.” In the same vein as previously when he stated that a person must continually grow and mature in their faith, they must also continue to do the works that are the outward evidence of that faith; anything else would be the same idea as backsliding in their faith. Now, that does not mean that if you begin doing one particular work of service to a fellow believer, you have to continue that forever. But it does mean that our level of commitment to serving our fellow believers out of love for God should continue to increase as we mature in our faith, even if the specific details and methods of that change over time as God calls us to different things.

The hope of all believers is that we will one day live forever with God in heaven. When we have faith, this is not an uncertain hope but a certain one. It’s not something that may or may not happen, but we have complete assurance that our hope will be fulfilled in this way. This hope is the entire point of the Christian faith - that one day our lives will be completely consumed with giving God the glory that He is due.

The author gives one more warning in verse 12 that they do not become lazy. This goes along with the idea in verses 10-11 that they should continue to be diligent in serving those around them out of love for God. Becoming lazy would be the opposite of this. Instead, they should imitate others who are living a life for God and who will receive that perfect inheritance of eternal life. The verb used here for “inherit” has the idea of having a certain possession of something; again, this is not an uncertain thing but a certain one.

Note the triune ideas of faith, hope, and love in this passage. We see faith in verse 12, hope in verse 11, and love in verse 10. This is reminiscent of the end of the “love passage” in 1 Corinthians 13. Verse 13 says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” That is what our Christian life is all about – because of God’s love for us and our love for Him, we have a certain hope for our future because of our faith.

What examples of faith, hope, and love do you have in your life? Look to those around you and see who is living out the ideas of this passage – serving others out of love for God and maturing in their faith – and imitate those actions you see in their lives, just as the author of Hebrews is encouraging his readers to do.

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