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5 Warnings in Hebrews, Part 1
Danger of Drifting

Five Warnings to the Christian:

(Major portions of this doctrine are based on the work by John W. Lawrence, Th.M and Pastor Robert McLaughlin)

In our study of Hebrews 6, related to building the Edification Complex of the Soul, the writer is warning the believer not to fall away from that which he once professed, that which is building up his soul, that which is building him toward spiritual maturity. Warning not to go back to the First Covenant.

The First covenant was a type of the New Covenant and once the New Covenant was established, the First Covenant became null and void and therefore has no power to Edify. This warning is one of Five warnings to the Christian found in Hebrews.

The Five warnings are like stop signs on the road of backsliding / reversionism. They are warning posters placed on the highway of disobedience.

There is a progression in these warnings. You start with carelessness about salvation and indifference to spiritual things until finally you come to be perfectly satisfied with being indifferent.

That is known as reverse process reversionism or blackout of the soul.

In summary, the five warnings are; don’t drift, disbelieve, degenerate, despise, and depart, or D to the fifth power, D⁵.

Let’s remind ourselves that the author is writing to born again believers who cannot lose their salvation, but they can fail in bringing glory to God and therefore be losers of rewards.

1) The Danger of Drifting - Don’t let the New Testament truth slip away (2:1-4). Drifting away from the proclamation of Christ the Messiah (1:1-14). The Warning to Pay Attention to the information you once believed and now are rejecting. That Jesus Christ is The:

a) Heir of All – Vs 2b: He is the focal point of the universe (Col 1:16) and all of His creation is given to Him by the Father.

1 Cor 15:27; Eph 1:22; Heb 2:8

b) Creator of the Ages – Vs 2c; even time is subject to His sovereign will. Eph 3:9, “and to bring to light what is the administration (dispensation) of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things;”

c) Co-essence of Deity - Vs 3a; He is the truth shining in the darkness of this world. The Shekinah Glory.

d) True Personality of Deity – Vs 3b; All that is in the Father is in the Son. He stands separate from the created universe, and is at the same time a distinct member of the Trinity. He is not pantheistic which says that God is all and all is God.

Pantheism regards all finite things as merely aspects or parts of the one eternal self-existent being. It says that there is no God apart from nature and that everything in nature is a part or manifestation of God. [Trees, birds, flowers, animals, etc. are all parts of God.] Nature itself is God.

He (Jesus Christ) is a separate and unique being. Separate from Nature, Man, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Even though He shares perfectly equally the same essence as the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is the Sustainer and Governor of the Universe – Vs 3c. Even while on the Cross, bearing our sins, He was sustaining the laws of the universe.

Col 1:17, He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

e) Redeemer of mankind – Vs 3d. He alone provided for our salvation, no one else. His death was the complete and perfect sacrifice.

Gal 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— ¹⁴in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

f) Sovereign of Mankind – Vs 3f. All things are under his subjection. He has earned the title King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

g) Superior to Angels [1:4-14]

1. In His Deity as the Son of God in seven quotation He is shown superior.

Principle: The greater the revealer, the greater the responsibility to that revealed, and the greater the penalty for not giving heed to the revelation.

Revelation through the Son carries with it, by the very intrinsic nature of the revelation, a far more solemn obligation to its recipients than Old Testament revelation.

What is easier to follow, a law of specified commandments or grace with identified responsibilities? Heb 2:3, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard,

We don’t have tablets of stone with specific regulations, we have the mind of Christ through inspired revelation. You cannot neglect something you do not have. Again showing that these were believers who had salvation. To neglect is to be totally indifferent to the word of God.

Never have an attitude, “I’m saved, so I’m Ok. I’ll just sit back and let others do the work of God”. God wants your Body, Soul and Spirit.

God’s wrath is against the unbeliever, His displeasure is against the sinning Child, Heb 10:30:31. So don’t fall away from that which you first loved.

Rev 2:2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ⁴‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

Don’t settle into Christianity with an intellectual attitude towards the word. The truth will never change, but we can change, and that is the danger.

Continue that zeal, excitement, and eagerness you first had when you became a new believer.

Don’t drift away from your first love, Rev 2:4

Don’t go along with the crowd and be duped by the Kosmos.

Don’t be indifferent to the Word of God