Hebrews 3:7-4:11 This is NOT a passage speaking to sanctification, but rather to the true SOURCE of SALVATION; the "rest" he refers to here is their crossing over into His Promised Land; the people the author is speaking to here are people who have become >confused< as to WHAT salvation is - >where< it comes from - NOT from works, or worshiping angels or other Jewish mysticisms, but ONLY from Christ. And this means that SOME of them are >mistaken< in thinking that they >are< saved because they have based this mistaken belief on a false Gospel - they have >refused< to accept (to "obey") the truth of salvation THAT THEY HAVE HEARD, in exchange for a false gospel. THEREFORE, they are in TERRIBLE DANGER, >thinking< they are saved when in fact they are NOT! 3:14 - THIS is true salvation - Believing in Christ and NOTHING else; EVIDENCE of >true< salvation is a singleminded adherence to that truth of Christ - to abandon that CAN mean they were NEVER saved - and that therefore they are >facing< God's wrath for ALL who do NOT believe - who refuse the Gospel; There is ONLY one way to "become fellows with Christ" - to HOLD to ORIGINAL Gospel that was >1st< preached to them; v15-19 - ANYthing else is DISOBEDIENCE against God's DECLARED intent/truth WHICH means NO REST - no >salvation<; 4:1-ff - This is his urging them to be SURE to BASE THEIR confidence of salvation only on that ONE true Gospel which was even alluded to in scriptures that THEY supposedly consider to be TRUE, as referenced by him in 4:2-8; v10 - God's rest means we no longer "labor" to gain salvation, instead of laboring to get/earn your own, BE SURE (zealous) to get HIS ONE TRUE SALVATION or SUFFER the consequences; v11 - he;s saying that SINCE the consequences of a FALSE belief >are< so terrible, they should make ABSOLUTELY SURE to believe the TRUE Gospel; 4:12 - God's WORD proclaims the true Gospel, and it is a powerful (and therefore BELIEVABLE) source of truth (UNlike the >false< sources of a gospel) - 4:14 - There is only ONE THRONE, and it is where we find BOTH salvation AND sacntification; and it is a throne of GRACE ALONE that not only SAVES us, but also SUSTAINS us; so WORKS are NOT the basis of >continuied< life in Christ EITHER; How typical and clever of Satan to seek to >delude< sincere seeking people to MISS the >HEART< of Salvation, to offer a >terrible< false substitute instead; Satan LOVES religion; it is a GREAT deception leading AWAY from salvation; "obedience" to ANY other "religion" is DISobedience to GOD'S DECLARED Gospel...and THAT is Satan's Goal! ANY direction will do fine for him as LONG as it is NOT the ONE TRUE path to salvation; so he >always< chooses his attacks carefully...NEVER attacking "religious" living - ONLY the TRUTH of JESUS, Who HE really is and WHAT He has REALLY done and offers us at that Throne of Grace; WW-II Allies did this brilliantly - when considering the inevitable invasion of Europe they did NOT try to convince the Nazis that they were NOT going to attack as that would NOT have been believable - instead, they MISLED them as to the LOCATION of the invasion, so that the Nazi's misfocused their attention, they placed their defensive efforts in the WRONG place, MISdirection is a classic time honored strategy; 5:11-6:20 5:11-14 Confusion about who Jesus is and about where the true source of salvation is leads to confusion & misguided beliefs about the nature of the Christian >life< as a consequence - he is urging them to fix themselves on the one true >foundation< of the Christain Life (The Gospel) SO THAT they may begin to grow in Christ; They canNOT have the latter withOUT the FORMER; The author is talking specifically about the >Gospel< here. The readers have become confused about the most basic "elemental" truth of Christianity: HOW One Is Saved - the Nature of Salvation. They seem to have fallen into some version of salvation by works, whereby they constantly wrestle with how (or maybe "if" ?) they got saved and are saved. The author is chiding them for having abandoned the clear solid stated truths of how, why, etc they got saved. I think 6:4-6 maybe his attempt to convince them of the absurdity of such false notions about salvation by telling them that it HAS to be ONE & FOR ALL - as if to say, "LOOK, since you HAVE been >truely< saved, QUIT debating about it vs >alternative< "methods" of salvation. For if you think such a salvation that is based upon v4-5 COULD be lost, such a salvation as you are proposing could NEVER be REGAINED. So establish yourselves on THIS Rock of God's Word and Power and then MOVE ON." And also, "The Gospel >I< taught you canNOT be so easily lost and found - it must be FOREVER or it is NEVER." v5-6: believers who have "fallen away" do NOT need "resaving" (i.e., repentenance here is refering to that "repentance unto salvation") as THAT is IMPOSSIBLE - Christ canNOT die TWICE for the >same< person! Instead they need "BURNING OFF" to make them USEFUL again!! (v8). This leads to the next step, that being that (since the real issue is NO LONGER the >loss< of salvation), then the Life one must PERSIST in >as a Believer< is about FRUITS instead. The issue is NOT "does my life after salvation have a bearing on my staying saved", but RATHER, it is, "does my life after salvation GIVE FORTH FRUIT", fo if it does NOT, if it produces >wrong< things instead, then God will burn OUT the wrong things - which ANY farmer knows is the way to PREPARE that SAME ground for subsequent FRUITFUL production. This is NOT an analogy of >rejection<, but rather of HARSH measures to get the proper fruit - a good farmer will do whatEVER is needed to make the ground grow the right harvest; v8: expanding on this analogy, what does burning the field do? 1st, it clears out the wrong fruit, making room for the good harvest, BUT it ALSO enriches the ground. The products of that burnt vegetation actually >nurish< the ground, makes it more fertile, so God >never< wastes ANYthing in our lives. He is ever able to "redeem" the useless vegetation to HIS purposes. WE are NOT the fruit, WE are the GROUND! Always and forever His to till and to farm, to plow, plant and harvest - as He knows BEST - and to burn off, IF that is NEEDFUL, to make us productive for Him, even His HARSHESRT treatment is to our benefit, to our best good; v8 does indicate that a Christian can become "worthless" to the cause of Christ, and if he IS so, God will do whatever is necessary to MAKE him fruitful - even to buring out ALL that in their life that is "worthless". That is NOT "rejection" (loss of salvation) - quite the contrary, it is EXTREME SANCTIFICATION. The farmer does NOT abandon the field, he PREPARES it to grow GOOD fruit. So, the author is trying to teach them NOT to confuse SALVATION and SACNTIFICATION. Once saved, there's NO "going back", instead there is only learning how to be fruitful there's only a relationship with the Savior that will LEAD to fruit, EVEN if He has to burn the ground of it's useless produce 1st; this is not a threat but a PROMISE - you WILL produce fruit, even if it takes the harshest of efforts by a wise and loving farmer to GET you there. So stop letting false teacher mislead you to seek ANOTHER "salvation"; Instead, let ME lead you to seek True SANCTIFICATION - which even the WORST among you will experience - even if it takes a "burned field" approach to GET you there; v9 - THEN the author quickly tries to soften the harshness of this truth by reassuring them that THEY won't have to face this as they ALREADY have demonstrated TRUE FRUIT in their lives. v10 - so what ARE those "good fruits"? Love in ministering to each other v11 - diligent in their growth v12 - imitating those who had faith and patience (both very hard to have in hard times like theirs) v13 - the BASIS for their patience and the OBJECT of their Faith - GOD'S PROMISES / GOD'S CHARACTER >as< a PROMISE KEEPING God, a God Who NEVER waivers or fails to DO as He promised, to KEEP His OATH to US; v18-19 - And as a result of His character? Our encouragement, a refuge we can ALWAYS flee to for hope, an anchor for our souls in hard frightening times v20 - the author again returns to the BASIS for such claims in v13-18: CHRIST - Who He is, and WHAT He did in obtaining FOR us such a HOPE; SO, this passage (5:11-6:20) is NOT about US, it's about HIM; the author is trying to move the focus of thier attention >away< from themselves and ONTO the PERSON of CHRIST, which he then goes on to expound and expand upon in chapter 7. Chapter 10 v19-39 v19-25 & v26-31 - TWO alternative responses to the Truth v19-25 is the first best option, the one the author wants them to know they HAVE taken, SO here's what it MEANS, here's WHY it's the better superior choice; However, for thise discouraged and wondering maybe if it was/is REALLY worth it? THEN v26-31 - he says IF the >other< choice is one you're maybe thinking >would< have been, >might< have been better, easier? REALIZE THIS - THAT way ONLY ends in judgement and destruction, so DON'T regret it, and DON'T be fooled - the choice we HAVE made MEANS ALL that great stuff we can do: *the 2 "therefore's" in v19 and v21 that are the BASIS for the 3 "let us's" OPEN and AVAILABLE to us in v22, v23, v24; And as PROOF of the >superiority< of their choice, he reminds them of the blessings that had in/amidst suffering (v32-39)