SPUR EACH OTHER ON

SPUR EACH OTHER ON

Heb. 6:4-6 For it is impossible to restore to repentance those who were once enlightened--those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come--and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people to repentance again because they are nailing the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to public shame.   NLT

      There is much division within the Church as to how these verses are to be best understood and applied to life.  There are many Biblical scholars on both sides of the fence as to whether or not a true believer can forfeit his salvation.  Taken at face value, these verses clearly teach that if he can, then it’s impossible for him to be brought back to repentance if he turns away from God.  I will let those more knowledgeable than I am debate the issue.

      What I want us to consider today is that this should never be an issue to be debated in the Church.  We should be spurring each other on to a deeper walk with the Lord at all times.  We should be watching out for each other’s soul and caring enough for each other to bring to light those things which are not right before God.  We should be praying for each other consistently.  We should be holding each other accountable for the disciplines of faith.  We should be mentoring each other so that the desire for God would not grow cold or go out.  We should be so involved in each other’s lives that we will never want to stray from God. 

      If anyone’s love for Christ does die out, it’s because we have failed that soul.  We have not lovingly embraced and nurtured that soul.  We have not prayed for that soul as we ought.  We have not done our part to draw that soul back into a loving fellowship with Christ.

      There is no chance whatsoever of losing our salvation if we stay connected to Christ.  It is a moot point if we are living obediently to Christ and taking responsibility to help others in each other’s walk.  No one should ever be left alone to fend for themselves in spiritual matters.  No one can stay connected to Christ without help from others.  Surround yourself with godly people and embrace others in their faith.  Together we will make it to heaven. 

      Let us not get hung up on the finer points of doctrine and miss out on opportunities we have to help one another grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord.  Arguing over what we understand differently accomplishes nothing except to alienate us from each other and depriving ourselves of one another’s fellowship. 

       We need to know what we believe and why and then agree to disagree agreeably with those who see things differently than we do and do what the Lord commands us to do, go into the world with the Gospel message and make disciples for Him.