What are the central warnings for believers in the Book of Hebrews?

Today Bible Study:

What are the central warnings for believers in the Book of Hebrews?

Beyond its value as a doctrinal treatise, this book is intensely practical in its application to everyday living. The writer himself even refers to his letter as a “word of exhortation” (13:22). Exhortations designed to stir the readers into action are found throughout the text. Those exhortations are given in the form of 6 warnings:

1. Warning against drifting from “the things we have heard” (2:1–4)

2. Warning against disbelieving the “voice” of God (3:7–14)

3. Warning against degenerating from “the elementary principles of Christ” (5:11–6:20)

4. Warning against despising “the knowledge of the truth” (10:26–39)

5. Warning against devaluing “the grace of God” (12:15–17)

6. Warning against departing from Him “who speaks” (12:25–29)

For example, when the writer warns of the danger of drifting (2:1), he uses some vivid nautical terms. The phrase “earnest heed” refers to mooring a ship by securing it to a dock. The second phrase “drift away” was often used of a ship that had been allowed to drift past the harbor. The warning is to secure oneself to the truth of the gospel in such a way as to not pass by the only harbor of salvation. The alternate tendency toward apathy points to those who make a shipwreck of their lives.