Immerse: Messiah - Flipbook - Page 386
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IMMERSE
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MESSIAH
5:6–6:11
And in another passage God said to him,
“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”
While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a
loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God
heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though
Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In
this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the
source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to
explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.
You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.
Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s
word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For
someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do
what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training
have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and
again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding.
Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of
repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need
further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move
forward to further understanding.
For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once
enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and
shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of
God and the power of the age to come—and who then turn away from
God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting
the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again
and holding him up to public shame.
When the ground soaks up the falling rain and bears a good crop for the
farmer, it has God’s blessing. But if a field bears thorns and thistles, it is
useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and burn it.
Dear friends, even though we are talking this way, we really don’t believe
it applies to you. We are confident that you are meant for better things,
things that come with salvation. For God is not unjust. He will not forget
how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to
him by caring for other believers, as you still do. Our great desire is that
you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain
