A Call to Maturity 1 UDB So, we must not keep discussing what we first learned about Christ, things that all believers must learn at first. Some of these things are: how to stop doing sinful deeds—those that lead to death—and how to start trusting in God. There are also important things we teach: about various kinds of baptism and why we often pray while putting our hands on each other, and also about how God will raise us all from the dead and judge everyone in a way that will last forever. Indeed, we will discuss these things again later, if God gives us the chance to do it. But now we must discuss things that are harder to understand; these are things that will help us to trust in Christ at all times, no matter what happens. BSB BSB: Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith in God,
5 UDB They found for themselves that God's message is good, and they learned how God will work powerfully in the future. BSB BSB: who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—
6 UDB But now, if these people reject Christ, no one will be able to persuade them to stop sinning and to trust in him again! That is because it is as though these people have nailed the Son of God to his cross again! They are causing people to despise Christ in front of others. BSB BSB: and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.
7 UDB Think about this: God has blessed land on which rain has frequently fallen and on which plants grow for the farmers. BSB BSB: For land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is tended receives the blessing of God.
8 UDB But what will happen to believers who do not obey God is like what happens to land on which only thorns and thistles grow. Such land is worthless. It has become land that the farmer will curse and whose plants he will burn away. BSB BSB: But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless, and its curse is imminent. In the end it will be burned.
9 UDB You can see that I am warning you, dear friends, not to reject Christ. At the same time, I am certain that you are doing better than that. You are doing the things that conform to the fact that God is saving you. BSB BSB: Even though we speak like this, beloved, we are convinced of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation.
10 UDB Since God always acts justly, he will not overlook all you have done for him; he will not overlook how you have loved and helped your fellow believers and how you are still helping them. BSB BSB: For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
11 UDB We greatly desire that all of you continue to show the same effort you are showing now, so that to the very end of your lives you will be sure you will receive all that God promised to give you. BSB BSB: We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure.
12 UDB I do not want you to be lazy. Instead, I want you to do what other believers have done, those who are receiving what God promised them because they trusted in him and were patient. BSB BSB: Then you will not be sluggish, but will imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
God’s Unchangeable Promise 13 UDB When God promised to do great things for Abraham, there was no one greater than himself by whom he could swear, so he called himself to be his own witness. BSB BSB: When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
14 UDB Then he said to Abraham, "I will certainly bless you and I will certainly greatly increase the number of your descendants." BSB BSB: saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.”
15 UDB So after Abraham patiently waited for God to do what he promised, God did for him what he had promised. BSB BSB: And so Abraham, after waiting patiently, obtained the promise.
16 UDB Keep in mind that when people promise something, they ask a more important person to punish them if they do not do what they promise. This is how they often settle disputes. BSB BSB: Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.
17 UDB So when God wanted to demonstrate very clearly to us who would receive what he had promised that he would not change what he had planned to do, he said that he would declare himself guilty if he did not do what he promised. BSB BSB: So when God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath.
18 UDB He did that to strongly encourage us because he has done two things that cannot change: He promised to help us, and he told us that he would declare himself guilty if he did not help us. Now, God cannot lie. That is why we have trusted in him, just as he has encouraged us to do. BSB BSB: Thus by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be strongly encouraged.
19 UDB Yes, we confidently expect to receive what God has promised to do for us. It is as if we were a ship whose anchor is holding us firmly in one place. The one we confidently expect to hold us is Jesus because he has gone into God's very presence. This is why he is just like the high priests who go behind the curtain into the innermost part of the temple where God is present. BSB BSB: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
20 UDB Jesus went into God's presence ahead of us to allow us to also enter in that same place with God. Jesus has become a high priest forever, in the way that Melchizedek was a high priest. BSB BSB: where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.