Post by Brother Ben on Nov 10, 2012 18:20:03 GMT -5
If Ye Continue: The Neccessity of Christian Followship
It must be understood that the purest example of the Lord's church is seen in those who identify with those churches of ancient apostolic origin. Early in the Book of Acts Luke recorded for us:
Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Because of the realm of influence and sway of the Reformation of 1500's the most common expressions of doctrine have been embodied in either Calvinism and it's T.U.L.I.P., or Arminianism and it's Articles of Remonstrance. It must be stated, however, that both Calvinism and Arminianism are forms of Reformed Theology. To clarify, the Reformers, instead of making a "clean break" from the Roman Catholic Church and her corrupt doctrines, chose rather to "reform" those doctrines, reaching back to one of the early Catholic church fathers, Augustine.
The other group that was very influencial in that same period were the anabaptists known for their "radical reformation." Though they, too, broke from Rome, they surely brought some of Romes teachings with them in siding with Jacobus Arminus' articles. It must be stated, however, that both schools of thought have some "valid" points, but both of them in and of themselves present a lop-sided theology.
Since those times there has been the never-ending struggle of "either or" when it comes to one's "theology." Often terms get throne around like: Once Saved Always Saved, and Works Salvation, to imply a negative aspects of one school of thought or the other. The ensuing "dog fight" instead of resulting in one being edified and encouraged in the faith turns into doctrines that divided. Instead of walking away with biblical concepts and principles to consider, an adversarial environment has been created. Jesus said this:
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Matt. 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
According to Jesus, the marks of a true believers is:
1. Love, one to another
2. Denial of self
3. Taking up one's cross
4. Followship.
A fellow Believer in Christ once said to me, "Good doctrine makes good living." Sounds good to me, but why is it I and you both have seen those who espouse either view and points in between, and live wreckless lives all the time contending to a proponent of "their side?" Thus, we must conclude the doctrines of one side or the other does not a disciple make. So, what do you do with a passage as follows:
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
"If ye continue. . . " The very nature of that phrase instantly puts in our minds that the apostle is laying down conditions and indeed he has. He stated that through the finished work of Christ, one could be presented holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight. . . if! If ye continue in the faith. So, doesn't that end once and for all which "camp" wins in this case? The Arminians, right? Let me ask, why? Why do we have to draw such a conclusion? It is because we, who study theology, have been conditioned into choosing either "A," Arminian, or "C," Calvinist. May I make a case today for a different "camp?" Can we consider, "B," Bible Believer? Yes, I think we should. "But," one contends, "I am standing on the Bible!" And, yes, there are convincing verse both ways. . . strong ones! So, what shall we do with Pauls, "If...?"
To understand it, let's go to the theology book of the apostles, and from whence they get some of their ". . . apostles doctrine. . . ", namely, from the words of Jesus:
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
It does not take a rocket scientist, nor a scholar in the Greek to explain these verses. In them we see these essential truthes:
1. Posession, "My sheep..."
2. Acknowledgement, ". . . hear my voice. . . "
3. True discipleship, ". . . and they follow me:"
4. Promise, "And I give unto THEM [emphasis mine,] eternal life.
Who has this "eternal life," all that "call" themselves, sheep? No, those who are not only called sheep, but have the earmark, ". . . they follow me." Now, I hope, we are beginning to see a liberating truth, pure doctrine can be summed up in "followship." Now, here's the hard part, let's let it go at that! In an attempt to "micro-manage," the words of Jesus, we get into the trap of, "yes, but. . . !" I heard an evangelist once say, "Those who insist of always BUTTING are billy goats!" So, what do we do with this:
John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
I'll tell you exactly what we do with that verse, let go of the iron grip we have on it, seeing it through the rose-colored glasses of our pet theology, and give it back to Jesus. Remember, he said:
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
When we insist on making difficult passages fit into "our" theology, we hammering the square peg into the round hole. When we let Jesus have his way with his word, it will make us free. When we insist on saying, " . . .yes but. . . " we are taking his words, reshaping them, making them "our" words, and transforming them from liberating truthes into dogmatic talk-points.
Here it is, if a man is not abiding in Christ, he cannot, ULTIMATELY, be gathered with righteous, either at his coming, or death, and will be cast into hell. Period. IF he continues in the faith, he is showing the sure sign that he is one of the sheep that hear the voice of Jesus and that he knows them. If they do not, he does not. It's that simple.
So, if one stops following, did he lose it, or did he never have it? Take the test:
1. My sheep hear my voice. Do they have a consistent testimony of hearing and obeying the voice of God in their lives?
2. I know them. Do they have a peace which passes understanding because the Spirit of God bears witness with their spirit that they are a son of God.
3. They follow him. Are they, ultimately, following him.
You must leave it at that. I say ULTIMATELY following, because that is the true mark. Any believer can be backslidden, this is a sad reality we all know. It should not be the norm, but is a reality none the less. If someone lapses into a life of unrepentent sin and never comes back, their testimony proves they are not a sheep, they did not, as Paul put it, ". . . continue in the faith." However, if they, like the prodigal son, come to themselves, are realize how sweet the presence and provision of a loving father is in their life, repent, and return, then they have shown wherein is their allegiance.
Jesus isn't particularly looking for theologians, he is looking for disciples. Which are ye?
Is the Epistle to the Hebrews so hard to figure out?
Again, no, if we will let go of it and let God have it back. I have heard both Calvinists and Arminians "claim" this epistle as "their" proof-text. Let's lay down an essential truth that will liberate God's word and let it do it's effectual work.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I heard a bible teacher once say, "Many a false doctrine is created from bad math." "Huh?" I thought. Then he went on to say, "When one "adds" something that was not said, "subracts," from something that was said, :"multipies" something making it mean MORE that what God said, or wrongly "dividing" God's word by improperly answering the who, what, when, where, and why of biblical hermanutics (interpretation.)
So, back to Hebrews. This can be VERY simple. What is the name of the epistle? It is called The Epislte to the Hebrews. So, we have answered the "who" of this epistle. When Paul was writing this epistle, he was writing to his fellow-countrymen. Now, let's answer the what. What was he telling these Hebrews?
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The revelation of God's will under the Old Covenant came to the Hebrew fathers by the prophets. Sadly, many rejected Christ when he came even though they had this important truth:
Deu 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
They even said, when speaking to John the Baptist:
John 1:21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
They were very very close, but ultimately they condemned themselves when they concluded:
John 8:48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
But, Paul made know unto us, the sequence of events for the proclamation of the gospel was as follows:
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The gospel was to be given to God's chosen or elects, as he calls them in Romans 10 and 11, and THEN it would go to the Gentile Bride. Matthew gave this parable:
Mat 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
Mat 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Mat 21:35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Mat 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Mat 21:37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mat 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat 21:39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Mat 21:40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
Mat 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Mat 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
In A.D. 70, the Roman general, Titus, marched into Jerusalem, under the orders of Emperor Vaspacian, and miserable destroyed those wicked men because they did not know it was their last chance. For two thousand years they have been scattered to the four winds and will not, AS A NATION, come back to God until the very end. Matthew showed us this:
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Now, back to Hebrews. When one reads the following verses, because this is written to the Hebrews, pay CLOSE attention to the pronouns:
Heb 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Heb 2:2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, [remember to the Jew first, insert mine] consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
This is God's last call. he knows what is going to happen within fourty years. Though the young church is suffering persecution at the hand of unbelieving Jews, God, in his mercy, leaves the believers there, witnessing to the Jews, God's chosen people, so they can hear this ONE LAST TIME, before they are destroyed and God moves on with the New Covenant and the New Creation and the Better Things that the Old Covenant could NEVER do.
To teach otherwise is to IMPROPERLY divide the word of God, teach a false doctrine God never intended, and work CONTRARY to the Spirit of grace.
So, if the word of God promises us eternal life, a quantity, not just a quality, what should we do? Praise God! And thank him for such an unspeakable gift. And, if he warns one lest they become shipwreck in the faith, we should fear God, and walk with him in soberness knowing the weight of:
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Let us be commited to the doctrine of followship.
It must be understood that the purest example of the Lord's church is seen in those who identify with those churches of ancient apostolic origin. Early in the Book of Acts Luke recorded for us:
Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Because of the realm of influence and sway of the Reformation of 1500's the most common expressions of doctrine have been embodied in either Calvinism and it's T.U.L.I.P., or Arminianism and it's Articles of Remonstrance. It must be stated, however, that both Calvinism and Arminianism are forms of Reformed Theology. To clarify, the Reformers, instead of making a "clean break" from the Roman Catholic Church and her corrupt doctrines, chose rather to "reform" those doctrines, reaching back to one of the early Catholic church fathers, Augustine.
The other group that was very influencial in that same period were the anabaptists known for their "radical reformation." Though they, too, broke from Rome, they surely brought some of Romes teachings with them in siding with Jacobus Arminus' articles. It must be stated, however, that both schools of thought have some "valid" points, but both of them in and of themselves present a lop-sided theology.
Since those times there has been the never-ending struggle of "either or" when it comes to one's "theology." Often terms get throne around like: Once Saved Always Saved, and Works Salvation, to imply a negative aspects of one school of thought or the other. The ensuing "dog fight" instead of resulting in one being edified and encouraged in the faith turns into doctrines that divided. Instead of walking away with biblical concepts and principles to consider, an adversarial environment has been created. Jesus said this:
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Matt. 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
According to Jesus, the marks of a true believers is:
1. Love, one to another
2. Denial of self
3. Taking up one's cross
4. Followship.
A fellow Believer in Christ once said to me, "Good doctrine makes good living." Sounds good to me, but why is it I and you both have seen those who espouse either view and points in between, and live wreckless lives all the time contending to a proponent of "their side?" Thus, we must conclude the doctrines of one side or the other does not a disciple make. So, what do you do with a passage as follows:
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Col 1:21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
Col 1:22 In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
"If ye continue. . . " The very nature of that phrase instantly puts in our minds that the apostle is laying down conditions and indeed he has. He stated that through the finished work of Christ, one could be presented holy, unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight. . . if! If ye continue in the faith. So, doesn't that end once and for all which "camp" wins in this case? The Arminians, right? Let me ask, why? Why do we have to draw such a conclusion? It is because we, who study theology, have been conditioned into choosing either "A," Arminian, or "C," Calvinist. May I make a case today for a different "camp?" Can we consider, "B," Bible Believer? Yes, I think we should. "But," one contends, "I am standing on the Bible!" And, yes, there are convincing verse both ways. . . strong ones! So, what shall we do with Pauls, "If...?"
To understand it, let's go to the theology book of the apostles, and from whence they get some of their ". . . apostles doctrine. . . ", namely, from the words of Jesus:
John 10:27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
It does not take a rocket scientist, nor a scholar in the Greek to explain these verses. In them we see these essential truthes:
1. Posession, "My sheep..."
2. Acknowledgement, ". . . hear my voice. . . "
3. True discipleship, ". . . and they follow me:"
4. Promise, "And I give unto THEM [emphasis mine,] eternal life.
Who has this "eternal life," all that "call" themselves, sheep? No, those who are not only called sheep, but have the earmark, ". . . they follow me." Now, I hope, we are beginning to see a liberating truth, pure doctrine can be summed up in "followship." Now, here's the hard part, let's let it go at that! In an attempt to "micro-manage," the words of Jesus, we get into the trap of, "yes, but. . . !" I heard an evangelist once say, "Those who insist of always BUTTING are billy goats!" So, what do we do with this:
John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
I'll tell you exactly what we do with that verse, let go of the iron grip we have on it, seeing it through the rose-colored glasses of our pet theology, and give it back to Jesus. Remember, he said:
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
When we insist on making difficult passages fit into "our" theology, we hammering the square peg into the round hole. When we let Jesus have his way with his word, it will make us free. When we insist on saying, " . . .yes but. . . " we are taking his words, reshaping them, making them "our" words, and transforming them from liberating truthes into dogmatic talk-points.
Here it is, if a man is not abiding in Christ, he cannot, ULTIMATELY, be gathered with righteous, either at his coming, or death, and will be cast into hell. Period. IF he continues in the faith, he is showing the sure sign that he is one of the sheep that hear the voice of Jesus and that he knows them. If they do not, he does not. It's that simple.
So, if one stops following, did he lose it, or did he never have it? Take the test:
1. My sheep hear my voice. Do they have a consistent testimony of hearing and obeying the voice of God in their lives?
2. I know them. Do they have a peace which passes understanding because the Spirit of God bears witness with their spirit that they are a son of God.
3. They follow him. Are they, ultimately, following him.
You must leave it at that. I say ULTIMATELY following, because that is the true mark. Any believer can be backslidden, this is a sad reality we all know. It should not be the norm, but is a reality none the less. If someone lapses into a life of unrepentent sin and never comes back, their testimony proves they are not a sheep, they did not, as Paul put it, ". . . continue in the faith." However, if they, like the prodigal son, come to themselves, are realize how sweet the presence and provision of a loving father is in their life, repent, and return, then they have shown wherein is their allegiance.
Jesus isn't particularly looking for theologians, he is looking for disciples. Which are ye?
Is the Epistle to the Hebrews so hard to figure out?
Again, no, if we will let go of it and let God have it back. I have heard both Calvinists and Arminians "claim" this epistle as "their" proof-text. Let's lay down an essential truth that will liberate God's word and let it do it's effectual work.
2Ti 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I heard a bible teacher once say, "Many a false doctrine is created from bad math." "Huh?" I thought. Then he went on to say, "When one "adds" something that was not said, "subracts," from something that was said, :"multipies" something making it mean MORE that what God said, or wrongly "dividing" God's word by improperly answering the who, what, when, where, and why of biblical hermanutics (interpretation.)
So, back to Hebrews. This can be VERY simple. What is the name of the epistle? It is called The Epislte to the Hebrews. So, we have answered the "who" of this epistle. When Paul was writing this epistle, he was writing to his fellow-countrymen. Now, let's answer the what. What was he telling these Hebrews?
Heb 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Heb 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Heb 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The revelation of God's will under the Old Covenant came to the Hebrew fathers by the prophets. Sadly, many rejected Christ when he came even though they had this important truth:
Deu 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
They even said, when speaking to John the Baptist:
John 1:21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
They were very very close, but ultimately they condemned themselves when they concluded:
John 8:48 Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil?
But, Paul made know unto us, the sequence of events for the proclamation of the gospel was as follows:
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
The gospel was to be given to God's chosen or elects, as he calls them in Romans 10 and 11, and THEN it would go to the Gentile Bride. Matthew gave this parable:
Mat 21:33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
Mat 21:34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Mat 21:35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Mat 21:36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Mat 21:37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mat 21:38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat 21:39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Mat 21:40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
Mat 21:41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Mat 21:42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
Mat 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
In A.D. 70, the Roman general, Titus, marched into Jerusalem, under the orders of Emperor Vaspacian, and miserable destroyed those wicked men because they did not know it was their last chance. For two thousand years they have been scattered to the four winds and will not, AS A NATION, come back to God until the very end. Matthew showed us this:
Mat 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Now, back to Hebrews. When one reads the following verses, because this is written to the Hebrews, pay CLOSE attention to the pronouns:
Heb 2:1 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
Heb 2:2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
Heb 2:3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
Heb 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, [remember to the Jew first, insert mine] consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
Heb 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
Heb 3:14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;
Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Heb 3:16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.
Heb 3:17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?
Heb 3:18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?
Heb 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
Heb 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
This is God's last call. he knows what is going to happen within fourty years. Though the young church is suffering persecution at the hand of unbelieving Jews, God, in his mercy, leaves the believers there, witnessing to the Jews, God's chosen people, so they can hear this ONE LAST TIME, before they are destroyed and God moves on with the New Covenant and the New Creation and the Better Things that the Old Covenant could NEVER do.
To teach otherwise is to IMPROPERLY divide the word of God, teach a false doctrine God never intended, and work CONTRARY to the Spirit of grace.
So, if the word of God promises us eternal life, a quantity, not just a quality, what should we do? Praise God! And thank him for such an unspeakable gift. And, if he warns one lest they become shipwreck in the faith, we should fear God, and walk with him in soberness knowing the weight of:
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Let us be commited to the doctrine of followship.