In a study of the book of Hebrews, when one arrives at verse 6 of chapter 3, we find these words: But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope firm to the end. NKJV
Having long ago come to the conclusion that once a person becomes a true believer; once he or she is truly saved, that one cannot lose the new birth and salvation to which the Lord has brought them, it is easy for me to say (as a marginal note in my bible does), that ...endurance proves sonship. But if one were to read verse 6 without prior conviction one way or another as to whether it is possible for a person to be saved and then lost again, this verse might suggest one of two possibilities.
Either: 1: We would not know if we were a member of His house until the end, (and we would have to hold fast both our confidence and our rejoicing until that time), or: 2. We could be part of that house yet lose our position through a loss of confidence in the One Who made us an integral part of that house in the first instance.
A third (and I believe the correct) possibility, that once you are part of the Sons house there is no way you can be detached from that structure (or more correctly, excised from the organism), does not appear in this verse. This points up an extremely important principle in any study of the Scriptures; never come to a conclusion or build a doctrine on an isolated verse or even several verses, but always evaluate those verses in context, both immediate and general.
Having said that, can we determine whether either of the first two possibilities suggested in the verse in question might be (at least in part), correct? I think so.
1 Peter 2:2-5..... As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by man, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NKJV)
1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Timothy 3:15 & 1 Peter 4:17 also show that the Body of Christ, the Church and the House being considered here are all synonymous).
The true believer is indeed part of the Lords House. The word house in all of the scriptures mentioned above is the Greek oikos, which means dwelling. Romans 8:8-11 shows that indeed the Holy Spirit dwells in the true Believer.
So then...... having come to the conclusion that a true believer is indeed an integral part of Gods House, what about that if?
As noted above, context is extremely important in any study of the Word...... Hebrews 3:7-13...... Wherefore, (as the Holy Spirit saith, To day if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, they do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So, I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest). Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
There are several things to be noted here. One being in verse 8 where it says: Harden not your hearts as in the provocation... this being a reference to the nation of Israel; the collective or corporate group of Jews, most of whom never entered into the promised land, or Gods rest. The reason they could not enter? Unbelief....They were non-believers. This is made plain in verses 15-19 of this same chapter.
In verse 10, it is stated that God was ...grieved (vexed, disgusted) with that generation... The word generation is the Greek genea, meaning a nation or race of people. Again, the idea is of Gods disgust with the corporate group. He was not vexed with those who believed, but as vs. 18 states, ...them that believed not[.] Or, as Wuest puts it.... ...those who were nonpersuasibles[.]
As verses 12,13 say... Take heed, (or Beware) brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily, while it is called 'To day', lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. The word but that begins vs. 13 points up the importance of what follows as a means of avoiding the unbelief that leads to separation from the living God. Instead of entertaining doubt and unbelief, the readers of this letter are urged to exhort (encourage) one another on a daily basis. Actually, the word daily here is interesting. It is a triple-compound-word composed of the Greek kata..to deposit down, implying permanence; hekastos....which is the superlative of hekas, meaning ...each and every; and hemai...which means gently, dawn to dark. Those who are believers in Christ have a full time job!
Verse 14 says.... ..we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. The partakers, or sharers, are the ones who hold steadfast. Those who are merely religious will not. No wonder God, through Paul, exhorts those folks in the church in Corinth to: Examine yourselves (as to) whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless you are indeed disqualified. (Margin... do not stand the test.....2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV)
How then are those who know God and are walking in the Spirit to encourage others to believe? Preach the Word! Be ready in season (and) out of season (when it is convenient, and when it is not), Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching (doctrine in KJV). (2 Timothy 4:2).
NOTE: Those who harden their hearts are like those in Ephesus referred to in Acts 19:8,9.... And he (Paul) went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
Sub Note: If individual predestination were true, Paul wasted an awful lot of time trying to persuade non-believers to believe.
Written by: W.A.B.
Having long ago come to the conclusion that once a person becomes a true believer; once he or she is truly saved, that one cannot lose the new birth and salvation to which the Lord has brought them, it is easy for me to say (as a marginal note in my bible does), that ...endurance proves sonship. But if one were to read verse 6 without prior conviction one way or another as to whether it is possible for a person to be saved and then lost again, this verse might suggest one of two possibilities.
Either: 1: We would not know if we were a member of His house until the end, (and we would have to hold fast both our confidence and our rejoicing until that time), or: 2. We could be part of that house yet lose our position through a loss of confidence in the One Who made us an integral part of that house in the first instance.
A third (and I believe the correct) possibility, that once you are part of the Sons house there is no way you can be detached from that structure (or more correctly, excised from the organism), does not appear in this verse. This points up an extremely important principle in any study of the Scriptures; never come to a conclusion or build a doctrine on an isolated verse or even several verses, but always evaluate those verses in context, both immediate and general.
Having said that, can we determine whether either of the first two possibilities suggested in the verse in question might be (at least in part), correct? I think so.
1 Peter 2:2-5..... As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by man, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (NKJV)
1 Corinthians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Timothy 3:15 & 1 Peter 4:17 also show that the Body of Christ, the Church and the House being considered here are all synonymous).
The true believer is indeed part of the Lords House. The word house in all of the scriptures mentioned above is the Greek oikos, which means dwelling. Romans 8:8-11 shows that indeed the Holy Spirit dwells in the true Believer.
So then...... having come to the conclusion that a true believer is indeed an integral part of Gods House, what about that if?
As noted above, context is extremely important in any study of the Word...... Hebrews 3:7-13...... Wherefore, (as the Holy Spirit saith, To day if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, they do always err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So, I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter into my rest). Take heed brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
There are several things to be noted here. One being in verse 8 where it says: Harden not your hearts as in the provocation... this being a reference to the nation of Israel; the collective or corporate group of Jews, most of whom never entered into the promised land, or Gods rest. The reason they could not enter? Unbelief....They were non-believers. This is made plain in verses 15-19 of this same chapter.
In verse 10, it is stated that God was ...grieved (vexed, disgusted) with that generation... The word generation is the Greek genea, meaning a nation or race of people. Again, the idea is of Gods disgust with the corporate group. He was not vexed with those who believed, but as vs. 18 states, ...them that believed not[.] Or, as Wuest puts it.... ...those who were nonpersuasibles[.]
As verses 12,13 say... Take heed, (or Beware) brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God, but exhort one another daily, while it is called 'To day', lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. The word but that begins vs. 13 points up the importance of what follows as a means of avoiding the unbelief that leads to separation from the living God. Instead of entertaining doubt and unbelief, the readers of this letter are urged to exhort (encourage) one another on a daily basis. Actually, the word daily here is interesting. It is a triple-compound-word composed of the Greek kata..to deposit down, implying permanence; hekastos....which is the superlative of hekas, meaning ...each and every; and hemai...which means gently, dawn to dark. Those who are believers in Christ have a full time job!
Verse 14 says.... ..we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end. The partakers, or sharers, are the ones who hold steadfast. Those who are merely religious will not. No wonder God, through Paul, exhorts those folks in the church in Corinth to: Examine yourselves (as to) whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless you are indeed disqualified. (Margin... do not stand the test.....2 Corinthians 13:5 NKJV)
How then are those who know God and are walking in the Spirit to encourage others to believe? Preach the Word! Be ready in season (and) out of season (when it is convenient, and when it is not), Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching (doctrine in KJV). (2 Timothy 4:2).
NOTE: Those who harden their hearts are like those in Ephesus referred to in Acts 19:8,9.... And he (Paul) went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
Sub Note: If individual predestination were true, Paul wasted an awful lot of time trying to persuade non-believers to believe.
Written by: W.A.B.
