Hebrews 6

Warning Against Apostasy

¹Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ , let us press on unto perfection ; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works , and of faith toward God , ²of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands , and of resurrection of the dead , and of eternal judgment . ³And this will we do , if God permit .

Warning Against Apostasy

⁴For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift , and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit , ⁵and tasted the good word of God , and the powers of the age to come , ⁶and then fell away , it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame . ⁷For the land which hath drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it , and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled , receiveth blessing from God : ⁸but if it beareth thorns and thistles , it is rejected and nigh unto a curse ; whose end is to be burned .

Encouragement to Persevere

⁹But , beloved, we are persuaded better things of you , and things that accompany salvation , though we thus speak : ¹⁰for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which ye showed toward his name , in that ye ministered unto the saints, and still do minister . ¹¹And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope even to the end : ¹²that ye be not sluggish , but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises .

The Certainty of God's Promise

¹³For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater , he sware by himself , ¹⁴saying , Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. ¹⁵And thus , having patiently endured , he obtained the promise . ¹⁶For men swear by the greater : and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷Wherein God , being minded to show more abundantly unto the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel , interposed with an oath ; ¹⁸that by two immutable things , in which it is impossible for God to lie , we may have a strong encouragement , who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us : ¹⁹which we have as an anchor of the soul , a hope both sure and stedfast and entering into that which is within the veil ; ²⁰whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us , having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek .