John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. NKJV
Jesus, Himself, warned that we must abide in Him. If we did not abide in Him, we would be cast out as a branch. Verse 1-2 the father is the one who is the vine dresser.
1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. NKJV
John wrote that the person who keeps His commandments abides in Jesus. Jesus first commandment is that we keep believing in Him. How could we quit believing in Jesus?
Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, NKJV
How does a Christian fall away from Christianity?
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. 26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? NKJV
The writer of Hebrews urges believers to hold fast their confession of their hope. The confession of their hope was Jesus. A few scriptures later he stated if “they sin willfully.” By 2Corinthians 5: 15 the only sin God imputes is not living for Jesus. The only way to sin is to stop living for Jesus. Since they were warned a few scriptures earlier to hold fast to their hope in Jesus, hope must have something to do with our living for Jesus, apostatizing or sinning willfully.
Colossians 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight — 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. NKJV
Paul warned the Colossians to not be moved away from their hope of the gospel. That hope is the same hope the Hebrews had in Jesus. What does hope in Jesus have to do with not abiding in Jesus or apostatizing from Jesus?
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. NKJV
Without hope in Jesus we have no saving faith, we are saved through faith. If we lose faith we lose salvation.
Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. NKJV
We are more than conquerors through the Father who loved us. John 15: 1-2 the Father is the vinedresser, if we lose faith in Jesus, it is because we love the world more than Jesus. We have trampled on the blood that sanctified us and we sin willfully. The Father casts us out as a branch.
