Heb
12:15a, 16-18, 25, 28-29 (ESV) See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace
of God; . . . that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his
birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that afterward, when he desired
to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent,
though he sought it with tears.
18 For
you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom
and a tempest . . .
25 See
that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when
they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we
reject him who warns from heaven. . . . 28 Therefore let us be grateful for
receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God
acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
NOTE: In context,
this letter was written to Jewish Christians who were falling back into Judaism
and the world. The writer is warning them of consequences of such a decision.
In this case, they did not know, but Jerusalem would be destroyed by fire in a
few years and everyone within the city would die. So, there are temporal and
eternal consequences for our sin. The temporal consequence is discipline from
God. The eternal consequence is a loss of certain rewards in heaven (but NOT a
loss of salvation). And so the author warns the reader, and feels compelled to
warn the reader. It is a requirement to warn others who we see engaged in sin
of the consequence of sin. That requirement is especially true for those that
are in leadership.
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