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

Today's 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.©

BY PASTOR JUDAH OLATUNDE