The heart of every problem is a problem in the heart. The people of Israel (except Moses, Joshua, and Caleb) erred in their hearts (Heb. 3:10), which means that their hearts wandered from God and His Word. They also had evil hearts of unbelief (Heb. 3:12); they did not believe that God would give them victory in Canaan. They had seen God perform great signs in Egypt. Yet they doubted He was adequate for the challenge of Canaan.
When a person has an erring heart and a disbelieving heart, the result will also be a hard heart. This is a heart that is insensitive to the Word and work of God. So hard was the heart of Israel that the people even wanted to return to Egypt! Imagine wanting to exchange their freedom under God for slavery in Egypt! Of course, all this history spoke to the hearts of the readers of this letter because they were in danger of “going back” themselves.
It is important that we take heed and recognize the spiritual dangers that exist. But it is also important that we encourage each other to be faithful to the Lord (Heb. 3:13). We get the impression that some of these believers addressed were careless about their fellowship in the local assembly (see Heb. 10:23–25).
12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we keep the beginning of our commitment firm until the end, 15 while it is said, “Today if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.” (NASB)
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Do regular checks on yourself. How is your heart and attitude toward God? Are you obeying His commands or what He is leading you to do?
- Let us encourage our brothers and sisters. Let us be known for our encouragement.
- Let us endure in the faith. No matter what trials and tribulations come our way, may we endure. Let us depend on Christ deeply and every day to help us endure and remain faithful
CLOSER LOOK:
Verses 12–13: “Take care, brothers and sisters,” introduces the author’s application of their text to their Christian readership. Proponents of the believer’s theory say that neither here nor anywhere else in the letter did the writer betray the slightest suspicion that the writer’s audience might contain people who were not real Christians. Instead, they were regarded as “brothers and sisters” (seen here) or as “holy brothers and sisters, partakers of a heavenly calling” (v. 1). These scholars say that the author does seem more than likely talking to genuine believers.[1] The author addresses them as “brethren” or “brothers and sisters” (adelphos) as is the uniform treatment throughout the book. The believer’s view say that the widespread view that the author was concerned about mere professors of the faith as over against genuine believers is not found in the text.[2] Again, these proponents say that nowhere is there the slightest suggestion that they were mere professors as over against genuine Christians as is commonly believed. We will take a deeper look at this shortly.
Each Christian brother and sister, therefore, should be most careful to guard against a “evil, unbelieving heart” which God’s flock in the wilderness displayed, the kind of “heart that falls (or turns) away from the living God.” This phrase of an “evil, unbelieving heart” refers to serious spiritual heart trouble. An unbelieving heart is evil because unbelief is evil.[3] I understand how harsh that sounds, but when we stop and think about our lives without Christ, we quickly see how sinful we were. The words “falls away” (also translated “departing”) is from aphistēmi and has the idea of “standing off.” The phrase, “from the living God” reveals that serious losses accrue to unbelieving believers, those who refuse to listen and turn a cold shoulder to God. Evidently this describes a relapse from Christianity into Judaism. Jesus is God. To fall away from Him is to depart from the living God. This is contrasted with the “hold fast” of v. 6.
One preventative against such a tendency would be a spirit of mutual concern and admonition among the Christian brotherhood. Accordingly, they were to “encourage one another every day … so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (v. 13). This exhortation is still completely pertinent to any local congregation at the present time, where the hardening tendencies of sin can often be counteracted by truly concerned fellow Christians. The expression “as long as it is still called ‘Today’” alludes to the “Today” in Psalm 95:7 and means something like “while you still have opportunity.”
Verse 13 tells us to encourage one another is the idea. But what is meant by “today?” That’s going to occur a number of times in this passage; you have it back in verse seven, verse 13, verse 15, and 4:7. Over and over again we have “today.” What is “today?” Today is the present time of opportunity to trust in the message. Notice at Kadesh Barnea, there was no tomorrow (Num 14:39-45). From this section of Numbers, we see that by the time tomorrow comes, it is too late and the Lord is not with them. The writer may be talking about a point where the Holy Spirit is convicting you, and you make a final renunciation, say “I don’t want a thing to do with it.” Too late. No tomorrow; that’s why the writer says, “Today don’t know this.”
Once again, the stress in verse 13 is on the failure of certain individuals in the group. Notice this, the entire body of professing believers there is not in danger, only certain ones. Now let me just say this about these people, I don’t know if they’re saved or not. I’m not saying they’re lost. We don’t know. If we would know the response of these certain ones to the warnings, we might have a better idea. If they continued on in the faith, then yes, they are elect. If they chucked the whole thing, they’re simply professing Christians without reality. You can be a professor with reality by the way. So these people are professing, but we don’t know. They’re in danger of throwing it overboard. Well, some say, “if you don’t know, tell them to be born again.” We can’t do that. They’ve already said that they are born again. They have already made profession of faith. The writer is not talking about people who are just hearing the gospel for the first time. They are already part of the fellowship; they have made profession. You cannot say, “Oh you got to get saved.” What you argue with people is to stick with it, don’t give up, stick with it. You don’t find that you got to be saved over and over or for the first time. And that’s why you’re talking about encourage one another while it’s called today.
Verse 14: This verse explains the need for the warning. Exhorting each other to continue in the faith is important. Believers must hold their faith firmly to the end of their lives if they are to be “partakers of Christ.” The statement, “we have become partakers of Christ” might be more literally rendered, “we are partners with the Christ.”[4] The word “the” found in the original probably gives to “Christ” the sense of “the Messiah.”[5] In the word “partners” the reader meets again the Greek metochoi, used in 1:9 and 3:1 of the “companions” of the messianic King. Once again, the writer reverted to the supreme privilege of being among the “many sons” whom God is bringing to the glory of shared dominion over the created order which Christ is destined to rule. But again too, like the privilege of serving in the priestly house (v. 6), this role is contingent on continuing fidelity: if we keep the beginning of our commitment firm until the end. Faithful believers will be partners with Christ in His future kingdom. In this connection, Revelation 2:26–27 comes readily to mind: “The one who overcomes, and the one who keeps My deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are shattered, as I also have received authority from My Father” (NASB).
The same context, the same concept, endurance in the faith is the mark of election. That’s what you have over and over and over again. The elect will endure. Remember Romans 8:29-30. To me, this is the strongest passage on security of the believer is Romans 8:29-30. I am not sure we get a stronger one than that. “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined … and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” I know the whom there is plural. But there’s no seepage in God’s program. And we start with whom He foreknew, you end up He’ll glorify. Because there’s no seepage, this is why I prefer to say the author is not talking here about people who are elect (again both sides have merit as we will see). Endurance in the faith is a mark of election. They will endure if they’re elect. It must be noted that in the context of the book, this is looking at some final, irrevocable decision. And we’ll see that as we get into the book further.
Verse 15: The renewed quotation of part of the writer’s text in Psalm 95 connects with the caution just uttered in Hebrews 3:6. The readers must hold their confidence firmly to the end and not, like the Israelites of old, harden their hearts as when they provoked me.” In Hebrews 3:15 stress is once again laid on the present time of opportunity, today if you hear His voice.
Interpretation Issue: believers or non-believers?
Verses 12-13 begins a section of Hebrews which poses a troublesome issue in interpretation: Is the author discussing salvation or sanctification? Stated another way: Are the readers Christians or non-Christians?
If they were Christians, then they were being warned not to take steps to cause the loss of their rewards. If they were unsaved, they were being warned not to ignore God’s warning so they would not be lost eternally.
Those who favor viewing the readers as Christians feel that the use of the term “brothers and sisters” (3:12) or “holy brethren” (3:1) indicates that the readers were believers. These interpreters feel that the biblical text contains no hint that the writer felt that their audience contained anyone who was not a true Christian.
Some of those who favor viewing the readers as non-Christians feel that the term “brothers and sisters” refers to those who were racial brothers and sisters. These were unbelieving Jews of the same ethnic background as the writer and thus capable of being called brothers and sisters. In this view, the writer of Hebrews was warning the readers not to turn away from the gospel and thus become apostate.
Advocates for both of these positions can find support for their views in the biblical passage. Some scholars believe that the readers are being seen as non-Christians, but not all follow all the interpretations of those who advocate this view. Some of these “moderates” find it hard to understand the term “brothers” as a statement that the readers were unbelieving Jews. They believe the writer used the term “brothers” to speak to their readers as professing believers and imply that they must demonstrate the reality of their faith by refusing to turn away from the living God.[6] The readers were claiming to be Christians, and the writer wrote to them in that way. However, they say the writer could not know the audience’s inward condition. The readers needed to show the reality of their faith by enduring in their commitment and refusing to be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
Let’s look closely at verse 12, which contains the warning, it says: “Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you” and so on. Notice again in verse 12 that the author is at the singular, not at the majority. First, what the author is concerned about in this group is that there are individuals who may be in danger of lapsing. Second, the verb describes a falling away. We have to be careful not to make it too passive. The verb is an aorist active infinitive built on the same stem from which we get the word, the noun apostasies; it’s actually aphistemi in the Greek. It’s aorist infinitive, aphistemi from apostasy. The verb is employed in 1 Timothy 4:1 and describes therefore a deliberate, decisive departure. When we think of falling away, we might just think of falling away like fall slowly falling off a chair. No, it’s not a falling away, it’s “I make this decision and I apostatize;” it’s what that’s talking about. It may be better if they’d say, “lest there should be in any of you, a heart of apostasy or something like this,” that is the point.
Thirdly the departures from the living God. It’s a very serious departure. The writer, in other words, is not simply looking at an unworthy walk, but a renunciation of the profession, of departing from the writer and more importantly God. The writer is essentially saying, “you’re walking away from God.” In summary, the warning is against some individual believers. These believers were in danger of apostatizing, that is of a renouncing Christ to lapse back into Judaism. So that’s the warning. This warning helps to explain verse 13.
Paul used the term brothers to describe the Galatians in much the same way as the writer of Hebrews used it here. Paul addressed the Galatians as professing Christians despite the fact that some of them were holding on to doctrine which did not grasp the principles of grace (Gal. 3:15; 4:12; 5:13). His use of the term did not guarantee that all the readers were true believers. He warned them against turning away from the gospel they had professed.
Similarly, by using the term brothers (and sisters), the author of Hebrews did not guarantee that any or all of their readers were true believers. Each of them had to show his or her conversion by refusing to deny the faith they had professed. The writer issued such strong warnings because they observed that their readers were carelessly considering deserting Christ. If they actually turned from Him, they would show that they were never Christians. The writer of Hebrews did not want them to be deceived by their own actions.
Two potential problems were then pinpointed among the readers. First, some were in danger of harboring a sinful, unbelieving heart. Second, they were in danger of turning away from the living God.
The main problem of these people was unbelief. They failed to take seriously God’s commands and promises. This unbelief could lead to apostasy. The God of Israel, the God of the Old Testament, the Father of Jesus Christ was a living God. Christians living in the pagan world found themselves thrown with people who worshiped idols, not the true God. He is alive. He stays in constant communication with His people through Scripture and the Holy Spirit.
Most scholars feel that the readers of Hebrews were considering turning from Christianity to Judaism. Those who practice the Jewish religion may worship the one true God, but they do not respond to Christ. All of God’s fullness lives in Christ (Col. 1:19). For someone to turn from the full truth of God in Christ back to Judaism was open compromise. To turn from Christianity involved rejecting Christ. To reject Christ involved rejecting God. Even though Judaism has elements of spiritual truth, it was not God’s final revelation. Only those who respond to God in Jesus have reached the final understanding of God’s revelation. For the readers of Hebrews to turn back to Judaism after having professed Christ was a sin against the truth. It was outright rebellion. Such rebellion would show that they had never made a true commitment to Christ!
The words in verse 13 transferred the warning from the era of the wilderness wanderers to the Today of the readers. The psalm is relevant because of two features.
First, these believers were urged to provide mutual encouragement. They were to encourage one another. If the readers of Hebrews tried to live in isolation, subtle temptations would overwhelm them. If they came together for common worship, they could keep their hope and commitment burning brightly like charcoal embers warming one another. Christians grow better as a part of a fellowship (Heb. 10:25). If they live separately, they may retreat into halfheartedness and compromise and fail to realize their own lostness.
Second, these people were warned that sin deceived. In the parable of the sower, the deceitfulness of riches choked the seed (Matt. 13:22). Sin deceives by exaggerating the benefits of disobedience and hiding its consequences (Gen. 3:1–7). Sin may have deceived the readers of Hebrews by blinding them to the follies of their past life and giving them a nostalgic wish for returning to their previous lifestyle. A return to their previous practice of Judaism would demonstrate that they had never trusted Christ.
[1] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 1639.
[2] Zane C. Hodges, “Hebrews,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 787.
[3] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald B. Allen, H. Wayne House, eds., Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Nelson, 1999), 1640.
[4] BDAG – for this verse it is about sharing and participating in.
[5] Zane C. Hodges, “Hebrews,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, eds. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1985), 787.
[6] Thomas Lea, “Hebrews” in Holman New Testament Commentary – Hebrews & James, vol 10, edited by Max Anders (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), np.