4  The Tragedy of  Neglecting Salvation  (2:14)

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall 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, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. (2:1-4)

Hell is undoubtedly full of people who were never actively opposed to Jesus Christ, but who simply neglected the gospel. Such people are in view in these four verses. They know the truth and even believe the truth, in the sense that they acknowledge its truthfulness, its rightness. They are well aware of the good news of salvation provided in Jesus Christ, but are not willing to commit their lives to Him. So they drift past the call of God into eternal damnation. This tragedy makes these verses extremely important and urgent.

RIGHT TEACHING DEMANDS RESPONSE

Into the middle of his treatise on angels, the writer interjects an invitation. He applies directly to the readers what he has been saying about Christ—that Christ is superior to everything and everyone, that He is the exalted One, that He alone can purge sin, that He is God, that He is the Creator, and that He is worthy of worship. He gives a personal invitation to his readers and hearers to respond to what they have learned. You might say that doctrine here breaks into invitation.

An effective teacher must do much more than simply present biblical facts. He must also warn, exhort, invite. By the time the writer of Hebrews gets to 2:1 he is impassioned. He cares about the salvation of his hearers. He is not satisfied simply with setting out doctrine and then going on his way. He longs for his readers to respond positively to what he says. He not only wants Christ to be seen and exalted, but also to be accepted. A teacher may know a lot of truth, but if he does not have compassionate concern for how people react to this truth, he is not a worthy teacher. God’s Word demands response, and a faithful teacher of the Word teaches for response.

The apostle Paul was like this. Great theologian that he was, with a masterful grasp of philosophy and logic, he still was impassioned. In Romans 9:1-3 (after eight powerful chapters explaining the gospel), Paul breaks into an outburst of concern: “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”

Paul had a holy obsession that all people, especially his Jewish kinsmen, come to Christ. “Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation” (Rom. 10:1). Here is the character of a true teacher. He is interested in more than just academics, more than just information and pedagogy. He has a compassionate concern for how people respond to what they hear. “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:19-23).

Despite the rejection of His own people, their hardness of heart, and their history of persecuting God’s messengers, Jesus nevertheless ached for their salvation. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling” (Matt. 23:37). On another occasion he told His Jewish listeners, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). He had a compassionate concern that His hearers respond. Faithful teaching always demands a response.

In Hebrews 13:22 the entire letter is referred to as a “word of exhortation.” It therefore requires a response. So as the writer’s heart is warmed by his treatise on the superiority of Christ to angels, he inserts a moving invitation. As all good invitations, it includes both exhortation and warning—what to do and what happens if you do not do it.

The opening verses of Hebrews 2 contain the first of five major warnings interspersed throughout the book—often, as here, in the middle of a discourse on one of the superiorities of Christ. It is as if the writer could only go so far without stopping to make an appeal: “Now what are you going to do about this?” We can know all the truth there is to know about Jesus Christ and yet go to hell if we never make Him our own—by being made His own.

WARNING TO THE INTELLECTUALLY CONVINCED

How shall 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. (2:3)

To whom is the warning directed? It cannot be to Christians. They can never be in danger of neglecting salvation— in the sense of not receiving it—since they already have it. They can neglect growth and discipleship, but they cannot neglect salvation. Nor can the warning be to those who have never heard the gospel, because they cannot neglect what they do not even know exists. The warning must therefore be directed to non-Christians, specifically Jews, who are intellectually convinced of the gospel but who fail to receive it for themselves.

But if the warning is to unbelievers, why does the writer speak of “we” and “us”? Does he include himself among the intellectually convinced but uncommitted? Is the author saying that he himself is not a Christian? No. The “us” is the us of nationality or of all those who have heard the truth. The author’s willingness to identify himself with his readers does not mean he is in the same spiritual condition as they are. He seems simply to be saying, “All of us who have heard the gospel ought to accept it.”

We have all met people who say, “Yes, I believe that Christ is the Savior and that I need Him, but I’m not ready to make that commitment yet.” Perhaps your husband, your wife, your brother, or a good friend is like that. They come to church and hear and hear and hear the Word of God. They know it is true and they know they need it, but they are not willing to commit themselves and personally accept Jesus Christ. They have all the facts but will not make a commitment. They are like the man who believes a boat will hold him, but who will not get into it.

We believe this warning is to those who have heard the gospel, know the facts about Jesus Christ, know that He died for them, that He desires to forgive their sins, that He can give them new life, but are not willing to confess Him as Lord and Savior. This surely is the most tragic category of people in existence.

I will never forget the lady who came into my office one day, informed me she was a prostitute, and said, “I need help; I’m desperate.” After presenting the claims of Christ to her, I said, “Would you like to confess Jesus Christ as your Lord?” “Yes,” she replied, “I’ve had it.” She was at the bottom and knew it. So she prayed a prayer and seemingly invited Christ into her life. I said, “Now, I want you to do something. Do you have your little book with you that has the names of all your contacts?” When she replied that she did, I suggested, “Let’s take a match and burn it right now.” Looking surprised, she responded, “What do you mean?” “Just what I said,” I explained. “If you really met Jesus Christ as your Lord, if you really accepted His forgiveness and are going to live for Him, let’s burn that book and celebrate your new birth right now and just praise the Lord.” “But it’s worth a lot of money, a lot of money,” she objected. I said, “I am sure it is.” Putting the book back in her purse and looking me in the eye, she said, “I don’t want to burn my book. I guess I really don’t want Jesus, do I?” And she left.

When she counted the cost, she realized she was not ready. I do not know what happened to that dear girl. My heart aches for her and I often think about her. I know that she knew the facts of the gospel and believed them; but she was not willing to make the sacrifice—even though what she refused to give up was worth nothing and what she could have had in Jesus Christ was everything.

There are many such people. They know the truth, they stand on the edge of the right decision, but they never make it. They just drift. And they are the ones to whom this passage in Hebrews is speaking. The purpose of these four verses is to give such persons a powerful shove toward Jesus Christ.

The message, of course, is not restricted to Jewish nonbelievers. It is for anyone who is on the edge of decision for Christ, but who—because of self-will, sin, fear of persecution from his family and friends, or any other reason—says no to Christ and continues to neglect Him. A man is a fool, a fool beyond fools, an eternal tragedy, when he neglects to decide for Jesus Christ.

THREE REASONS TO RECEIVE CHRIST

We are given three great reasons to receive salvation: the character of Christ, the certainty of judgment, and the confirmation of God.

THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (2:1)

But what, you may ask, does that statement have to do with the character of Christ? For this reason is equivalent to “therefore.” The first reason we should pay attention is given in chapter 1. It is Jesus Christ. He is called the Son and Heir of all things and the Creator of the world (1:2). He is the radiance of the glory of God, the exact representation of the divine nature, the sustainer of the universe, the purifier from sin, and the One who sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high (v. 3). He is worshiped and served by angels (vv. 4-7). He is anointed above all others, the Lord of creation, the unchangeable, everlasting God (vv. 8-12).

This is who Christ is. Who could possibly reject Him? What kind of person could reject that kind of Christ—the Christ who came into the world as God incarnate, died on a cross to forgive our sins, paid our penalty, showed us divine love, and offers to introduce us to God and give us blessing and joy beyond imagination?

Jesus was God’s voice. Jesus was God in the world, and to reject Him is to reject God. To reject God is to reject the reason for our existence. Because of the magnificence of the Person of Christ, a man is a fool to reject the salvation He offers. I do not understand how a person can know who Christ is, admit that the gospel is true, and still not commit his life to Him. What an incomprehensible mystery—and tragedy!

A look at some of the Greek words in 2:1 will help in understanding all four of the opening verses. The two key words are prosech (“to give attention to”) and pararhe (“to let slip”). With its modifier, prosech is translated pay much closer attention to and is emphatic. In other words, on the basis of who Christ is, we must give careful attention to what we have heard about Him. We cannot hear these things and let them just slide through our minds. The word pararhe translates here as drift away from and can have several meanings. It can be used of something flowing or slipping past, as of a ring slipping off a finger. It can be used of something slipping down and getting caught in a difficult place. It is used of something which carelessly has been allowed to slip away.

But both of these words also have nautical connotations. Prosech means to moor a ship, to tie it up. Pararhe can be used of a ship that has been allowed to drift past the harbor because a sailor forgot to attend to the steerage or to properly chart the wind, tides, and current.

With these meanings in mind, the verse could be translated, “Therefore, we must the more eagerly secure our lives to the things which we have been taught, lest the ship of life drift past the harbor of salvation and be lost forever.” The illustration is both graphic and appropriate. Most people do not go headlong and intentionally into hell. They drift into it. Most people do not deliberately, in a moment, turn their backs on God or curse Him. Most people just slowly, almost imperceptibly slip past the harbor of salvation out to eternal destruction.

One writer, building on Shakespeare, put it this way, “There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at its ebb, leads to victory; neglected, the shores of time are strewn with the wreckage.” How true. The picture is not of an ignorant sailor, or a wantonly rebellious sailor, but of a careless sailor. We had better take all the more heed, therefore, lest, unintentionally and unexpectedly, we one day find ourselves having forever drifted past the harbor of salvation.

We must be sure to understand that it is not the gospel that slips, as the King James seems to imply. That is not the meaning at all. The Greek and most modern translations make it clear that it is inattentive men who slip. The Word will never drift from us. The danger is our drifting from it. The harbor of salvation is absolutely secure. It is Jesus Christ, who never moves, never changes, and is always available to anyone who wants the protection and security of His righteousness.

By the time the letter to the Hebrews was written, countless Jews had heard the gospel, many directly from an apostle. Many, no doubt, were favorably impressed with the message, even intrigued by it. They heard it and perhaps pondered it. But most did not accept it. Jesus’ warning in Luke 9:44, “Let these words sink into your ears,” can apply to the entire gospel. It must get inside of us and make a change in our lives. It is not enough just to hear it. That is only the beginning, as we are reminded in Proverbs: “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their whole body” (4:20-22). When you hear the Word of God, make it yours. Do not drift past it, for that is the most dangerous thing you can do.

One cannot help wondering how many thousands of people in hell were close to salvation, how many thousands were close to being safely moored and anchored, only to drift away forever by their failure to receive what they heard and, in many cases, actually believed. Drifting is so quiet, so easy, but so damning. All you need to do to go to hell is do nothing. It is extremely difficult to understand how anyone who has seen the character of Jesus Christ can ever reject Him. As a Christian who lives everyday with Jesus Christ and experiences Him in my life, it is the greatest mystery to me that people do not rush to Him and everything He has for them.

And so the hearer is urged to respond because of the character of the incomparable Jesus Christ.

I often think of a story that I read about the English explorer, William Edward Parry, who took a crew to the Arctic Ocean. They wanted to go farther north to continue their chartings, so they calculated their location by the stars and started a very difficult and treacherous march north. They walked hour upon hour, and finally, totally exhausted, they stopped. Taking their bearings again from the stars, they discovered that they were farther south than they had been when they started. They had been walking on an ice floe that was moving south faster than they were walking north. I wonder how many people think their good deeds, their merits, and their religiousness are taking them step by step to God, when in fact they are moving away from Him faster than they are supposedly walking toward Him. That is the tragedy of it. They awake one day to find, like Parry’s crew, that all the time they have been moving in the wrong direction.

A person should never be satisfied with religious feelings, with coming to church, with being married to a Christian spouse, or with church activities. He will be drifting into a hell unless he has made a personal commitment to the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

THE CERTAINTY OF JUDGMENT

The second important reason for accepting Christ is the certainty of judgment for those who do not do so. Verses 2 and 3 tell us of the inevitability of such punishment:

For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall 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. (2:2-3)

The Greek here for if assumes a fulfilled condition, not a possibility. The meaning in context is that the word spoken by angels was absolute and steadfast. The phrase could be translated, “For in view of the fact that the word spoken through angels . . .”

Why is Old Testament law, particularly the Ten Commandments, so connected with angels? Why does the writer emphasize that angels mediated the Old Covenant? He does so because the angels were instrumental in bringing the Ten Commandments, as is clear from several passages.

Psalm 68:17 gives us a clue: “The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; the Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.” At Sinai, where Moses was given the law, the Lord was accompanied by a host of angels. Moses himself reports that “The Lord came from Sinai, and dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones; at His right hand there was flashing lightning for them” (Deut. 33:2). We believe this indicates that angels were involved in bringing the law.

Acts 7:38 mentions specifically that at least one angel was with Moses at Sinai: “This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers.” A few verses later we are told of “the law as ordained by angels” (v. 53).

Both the Old and New Testaments tell us that angels were at Sinai and were instrumental in bringing the law. And if you broke that law, that law broke you. There was no out. If a person committed adultery, worshiped false gods, or blasphemed God, he was stoned. The law was inviolable; punishment for breaking it was sure and certain. As our text says, every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense. The law punished every sin. And that punishment was fair.

Two words are used here for sin: transgression (parabasis) and disobedience (parako). Transgression means to step across the line, as a willful act. It is an overt sin of commission—of intentionally doing something we know to be wrong. Disobedience, however, carries the idea of imperfect hearing, but not like that of a deaf man, who cannot help not hearing. Disobedience deliberately shuts its ears to the commands, warnings, and invitations of God. It is a sin of neglect, of omission—doing nothing when we should do something. One is active sin, the other is passive, but both are willful and both are serious.

Look at Leviticus 24:14-16.

Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then let all the congregation stone him. And you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “If anyone curses his God, then he shall bear his sin. Moreover, the one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The alien as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.”

That seems severe, but God wanted to make sure that all false prophets and blasphemers were dealt with immediately in order to maintain the spiritual and moral purity of His people.

Now look at Numbers 15:30-36.

”But the person who does anything defiantly, whether he is native or an alien, that one is blaspheming the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the Lord and has broken His commandment, that person shall be completely cut off; his guilt shall be on him.” Now while the sons of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering wood on the sabbath day. And those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation; and they put him in custody because it had not been declared what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.”

You ask, “Put to death for picking up sticks on the Sabbath?” Yes, because he deliberately defied the law of God (cf. James 2:10).

The inviolable law that God set was strong. In Jude 5 we read, “Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord, after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently destroyed those who did not believe.” That is severe judgment on unbelievers.

Now notice the word just in Heb. 2:2. God is often accused of being unjust when His punishment seems to us to be out of proportion to the wrong committed. But God, by His very nature, cannot be unjust. Under the Old Covenant He punished severely those who were determined to live without Him and to defy Him. He removed them from among His people for the sake of those who were pure and holy and wanted to live for Him. His judgment on the people of Israel was severe because they knew better.

Punishment is always related to light. The more light we have, the more severe our punishment. Jesus was clear about this.

Then He began to reproach the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.” (Matt. 11:20-24)

The principle is this: the more you know, the greater the punishment for not abiding by what you know. Tyre and Sidon were terribly guilty of unbelief and disobedience, and throughout Scripture Sodom and Gomorrah typify gross ungodliness and immorality. But none of these were as guilty as Capernaum or Bethsaida or Chorazin, because these three not only had the light of the Old Testament, but the very light of God’s Messiah Himself.

Mark records a similar teaching of our Lord: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation” (12:38-40).

Hell is a very real place. In the New Testament it is called a place of eternal fire (Matt. 25:41), where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:43-44). It is called a lake of fire which burns with brimstone (Rev. 19:20), a bottomless pit or abyss (Rev. 9:11; 11:7; and others), outer darkness where there is continual weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 22:13), and black darkness (Jude 13).

There are degrees of punishment in hell. The hottest places belong to those who have rejected the most light. Listen to Jesus’ own words: “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, shall receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. And from everyone who has been given much shall much be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more” (Luke 12:47). The Lord is talking about judgment, and His point is simple: the greater the light, the greater the accountability.

This truth is given as clearly as possible in the book we are now studying. “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy. . . . How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:28-29). The person who knows and understands and believes the gospel, but drifts away from it, will experience the severest punishment there is. So certainty of judgment should be a powerful motivation for accepting Christ.

THE CONFIRMATION OF GOD

How shall 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, God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. (2:3-4)

The third important reason for accepting Christ is the confirmation of God. The gospel was first given by Christ and was then confirmed by the apostles who had heard Him in person. Even more importantly, however, it was confirmed by God Himself bearing witness.

When Jesus preached the gospel, He also did some things that made it even more believable. He said, “Though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father” (John 10:38). When He claimed to be God and then did things that only God could do, He confirmed His divinity and, consequently, the truth of His message. On the Day of Pentecost Peter reminded his hearers that “Jesus the Nazarene [was] a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs” (Acts 2:22).

God gave similar confirming signs through the apostles, the first preachers of the gospel after Christ Himself. Many of their listeners no doubt said, “Why should we believe them? What proof do we have that their message is from God? There have always been a lot of false teachers around. How can we know that these are true?” So God bore His apostles witness by giving them the ability to do the same things that Jesus had done—signs, wonders, and miracles. And they did indeed perform astounding miracles. They raised the dead and healed many diseases and afflictions, and through these wonderful works God confirmed their ministry. To argue with an apostle about the gospel, therefore, was to argue with God. Their preaching and teaching was divine truth, substantiated by miraculous works.

As if this confirmation were not enough, God also gave the apostles special gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. According to His own will seems to be inserted here partly to keep us from getting confused about the source of certain spiritual gifts (cf. 1 Cor. 12:11, 18, 28).

Dr. Earl Radmacher, president of Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, once told me of his receiving a pamphlet in the mail that gave the steps necessary to get the Holy Spirit. First you were to say two phrases, “Praise the Lord” and “Hallelujah,” three times faster than normal for a period of ten minutes. If you did that long enough you would lapse into a strange language and then get the Holy Spirit. That is as ridiculous as it is blasphemous. Gifts of the Spirit are according to His own will, not our efforts.

The primary point at the end of verse 4 is that the apostles’ gifts of the Holy Spirit were additional confirmation by God of their message and ministry. The gifts mentioned in Hebrews 2:4 were miraculous gifts, not promised to believers in general. Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12-14 representatively illustrate the nonmiraculous spiritual gifts that were not limited to the apostles.

In Acts 14:3 we read that Paul and Barnabas “spent a long time there [Iconium] speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands.” Paul explained to the Roman Christians, “In the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19). As an apostle he had the gift to do these miracles. In another letter he says, “The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles” (2 Cor. 12:12). These special works, therefore, belonged exclusively to the apostolic age. They were not to last indefinitely, and they are not for today.

What were these gifts specifically? I believe there were four—healing, miracles, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. These gifts all ceased with the apostolic era. They have no need to exist today because there is no such need to confirm the gospel.

Even in New Testament times these confirmations were given solely for the benefit of unbelievers. “So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to unbelievers” (1 Cor. 14:22). When God’s written Word was completed, the other confirmations ceased. If someone comes along today and says, “Thus says the Lord,” how do you know he is genuine? You check what he says against Scripture. Benjamin Warfield, the great Bible scholar, said, “These miraculous gifts were part of the credentials of the apostles as the authoritative agents of God in founding the church. Their function thus confirmed them distinctively in the apostolic church, and they necessarily passed away with it.”

Thus, the three great reasons why a man should not neglect the gospel of salvation are: the character of Christ, the certainty of judgment, and the confirmation of God. God has attested to this gospel with signs, wonders, miracles, and special spiritual gifts; but now He attests to it in the miracle and authority of His written Word.

Let it not be said of you that you neglected Jesus Christ. History tells us that failure to shoot a rocket at the precise time of night caused the fall of Antwerp, and Holland’s deliverance was delayed for twenty years. Only three hours neglect cost Napoleon the battle of Waterloo. Neglect of Christ’s salvation will cost you eternal blessing, eternal joy, and will bring you damning judgment and eternal punishment. Do not drift past God’s grace.