Hebrews is full of discomforting theology, and it would do our faith well to wrestle through it! One of those passages is 3:12-14. “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you and evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”
Let’s begin with v14 and work backwards embracing the writer’s theology and not our own! Verse 14 is clear that perseverance in the faith is proof of the authenticity of our faith! We share in Christ IF we hold firm to the end. By implication, those who do not hold firm to the end are not sharing in Christ! Perseverance is proof of and part of true faith, or sharing in Christ!
So what is the writer’s means of helping us to persevere and therefore affirm that our faith is real and genuine? Verse 13 answers, “Fellowship with the saints!” The purpose of Christian fellowship is not sanctified gluttony, but rather holding one another accountable, lovingly confronting one another, and spurring one another on in the faith.
What happens if we do not help one another along in the faith? Verse 12 answers, “Our sin will deceive us and in our hearts we will not truly believe while we profess to believe, and as a result, we will fall away from the living God!” So we will lose our salvation? No. We will never obtain true salvation because our fellowship with other believers never past the level of surface, meaningless chatter! Take care, brothers! That is, get involved in one another’s life. It is a crucial means of affirming and sustaining true faith!
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