An encouraging warning

It may seem strange to build a devotional on one of Hebrews’ famous warning passages (Heb. 2:1-4), but I hope you will see encouragement as well as admonition here.

Being confronted with such a stark warning – ‘how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?’ – reveals something of the wonder of the gospel He has entrusted to us.

It is noteworthy that the writer to the Hebrews intersperses a glorious picture of the supremacy of Christ in the first ten chapters of Hebrews, with a series of five warning passages, ending with Esau’s fatal bowl of stew in Chapter 12. The writer is not waiting until the end of his letter/sermon to apply the message!

The gospel beckons us to recognise the glory of what we have in God’s unique Son, who created the universe, died for sin, rose to the right hand of the Majesty in heaven, and has been appointed ‘heir of all things’. The gospel is not a set of propositions, but a Person of infinite worth.

The basic argument of 2:1-4 is a fortiori – arguing from the lesser to the greater. If those who disobeyed the Old Covenant at Sinai were punished, how much greater will the punishment be for those who ‘drift’ from the eternal Son. That word ‘drift’ is telling. We don’t walk away from Christ overnight, but over a long period of time allow false ideas to permeate, and sins to ‘entangle’ (see 12:1-2).

Not very ‘devotional-like’ I know, but this passage shows us the ‘treasure-in-a-field’ worth of the person of Christ – ‘to you who believe He is precious’ (1 Peter 2:7). Amen! If we are clinging on faithfully to God’s Son, and teaching others to do the same, just imagine what is ahead, as God will lavish His love forever on those who love His Son.

The writer then argues that one of the main reasons for not ignoring this great salvation, is not just the threat of punishment, but also the fact that God has testified to the truth of this message in the most emphatic way.

Firstly, this salvation was ‘announced by the Lord’. Jesus Himself spoke about the salvation He would provide, before He died and rose again. Secondly, the message was ‘confirmed to us by those who heard Him’. This first generation of believers could be confident in the gospel because they heard it from the lips of authoritative apostles who had seen Jesus die and rise with their own eyes.

And I love the third rock on which this testimony is built – ‘God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will’. The writer isn’t trying to convince his hearers that these signs and wonders really happened, or that miraculous gifts really were on display. They already know that. His argument would lose its power if these saints couldn’t immediately affirm the truth – ‘yes, we have seen miracles and the power of the Spirit’.

It’s a bit like Paul’s argument to the Galatians: ‘does God work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by you believing what you heard?’ (Gal.3:5). Paul is not trying to prove that miracles had been done among the Galatians. His argument only works if the miracles were incontrovertible!

Not only do we have a glorious Saviour who is the greatest treasure in the universe, but we can be sure we have Him, because He announced the salvation Himself, it was verified by eyewitnesses (who gave their lives for it), and confirmed by miracles and gifts of the Spirit which no one could deny. It’s amazing the encouragement you can get from a warning passage!

But like so many New Testament passages, it leaves you thinking, ‘Christ is matchless’, and when I see his true worth, ‘drifting’ away from Him is unthinkable. ‘Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the Lord I love. Here’s my heart Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above!’