‏ Hebrews 6

1Therefore alet us leave bthe elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance cfrom dead works and of faith toward God, 2and of dinstruction about washings,
Or baptisms (that is, cleansing rites)
fthe laying on of hands, gthe resurrection of the dead, and heternal judgment.
3And this we will do iif God permits. 4For it is impossible, in the case of those jwho have once been enlightened, who have tasted kthe heavenly gift, and lhave shared in the Holy Spirit, 5and mhave tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6and nthen have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since othey are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. 7For pland that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. 8But qif it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, rand its end is to be burned.

9Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10For sGod is not unjust so as to overlook tyour work and the love that you have shown for his name in userving the saints, as you still do. 11And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance vof hope until the end, 12so that you may not be sluggish, but wimitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God’s Promise

13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, xhe swore by himself, 14saying, ySurely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15And thus Abraham,
Greek he
aahaving patiently waited, obtained the promise.
16For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes aban oath is final for confirmation. 17So when God desired to show more convincingly to acthe heirs of the promise adthe unchangeable character of his purpose, aehe guaranteed it with an oath, 18so that by two unchangeable things, in which afit is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope agset before us. 19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into ahthe inner place behind the curtain, 20where Jesus has gone aias a forerunner on our behalf, ajhaving become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

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