Working out the restoration

Once our heart is restored, the path back to manifest restoration involves pursuing the fruit of good works and love of the Name once again.

And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end,

Diligence will be required. Diligence is earnest, consistent effort.

so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Know that behind all this is God’s promise. No one forces God to do anything. This whole redemption thing is His idea, not ours. He has sworn Himself to it by the highest possible witness: Himself.

For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.”

And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.

For men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute.

In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath,

so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil,

where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. – Heb 6

God not only promised to bless Abraham, He swore to do so. The writer here extrapolates the blessing of Abraham to all Christian believers, who like Abraham are sons of faith and sons of the promise.

This is further confirmation that the writer’s purpose here is not to condemn anyone who has fallen, but rather the exact opposite: to protect and to extend hope of recovery. God’s purpose is unchangeable.

Also notice that patience will be required on our part. Biblical patience is not a passive waiting, as we already have seen that diligence is necessary. Rather, it is expectantly waiting for the promises to manifest while we are sowing the seed and working the ground.

If you are in Christ but have sinned, rise up and seize the promises. In Christ, the promises are ‘Yes’ – now we need to say ‘Amen’! Believe on God’s good nature. Yes, sin has a terrible cost, but where sin abounds, God’s grace abounds even more for those who flee to God for refuge. Do not compound your original mistake by letting God’s unchangeable promise of mercy and grace go unclaimed. Get right with God now. (See Catching the Updraft of Grace)

Some examples from Scripture

Consider some examples in Scripture of those who fell but got back up. These are trophies of grace that God has put on display in His word to show the depths of His mercy to us who so easily fail, so that we would not be overwhelmed with discouragement or despair.

The apostle Paul’s terrible persecution of the church was overlooked (2Tim 1.13), and the Lord reached down and saved him. Paul went on to be perhaps the greatest apostle.

But you might argue that Paul wasn’t in Christ while he was persecuting the church. True, but how about Peter? Peter had lived intimately with Jesus for three years but then denied Him three times. Three is normally the number of completion, signifying that Peter’s failing was thorough. Yet Christ received him back with open arms, with no reproaching.

Perhaps it was the depth of Peter’s failing that caused Jesus to appear to him alone on one occasion (1Cor 15.5). Possibly things needed to be exchanged in order to cleanse and restore Peter’s heart that could best take place on a private basis with the Lord. If you have sinned and come back, expect to receive a special revelation of God’s intimacy, mercy and grace! You will never be the same – despite sin’s cost, you will be better. He who is forgiven much, loves much. He who has drunk deeply of God’s mercy can in turn extend its lifegiving power to others. Peter was received back and went on to be a great servant of the Most High God. This once-proud servant was chosen to bring the Gospel to the despised Gentiles. He even made other mistakes afterward (Gal 2), but thankfully and rightfully, he didn’t let that stop him from serving Christ with his whole heart.

Or look at John Mark. He left the mission field, and in Paul’s eyes the failing was so great that Paul absolutely refused to accept him back. But look what Paul says later in life:

Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is a great help to me in ministry 2Tim 4.11

Mark didn’t let one misstep – even a blowing a chance-in-a-lifetime missionary position – stop him from continuing to serve God to the best of his ability. And in the end even the one who had doubted him affirmed his faithfulness and took him back.

Then consider the unnamed offender in 1Cor 5, who was carrying on with his father’s wife. Because of the seriousness of his sin, Paul had strong words against him:

deliver such an one unto satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

That’s about as strong as you ever want to get. But when the man subsequently repented of his sin, look what Paul writes in 2Cor 2:

Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure-not to put it too severely-to all of you.

For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough,
so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.

For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.

Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,

so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. – 2Cor 2:5-1

Do you sense the tender compassion there? Paul now “begs” the Corinthians to forgive and comfort. He even minimizes the repented offense – “if I have forgiven anything”, because he does not want the repentant overwhelmed with sorrow.

Very importantly, notice that it is the work of satan, by way of worldly sorrow and a sense of  condemnation, to keep people from finding joy in Christ again. Satan’s tactics haven’t changed. He is trying to do the same things to us, and we should reject them.

The writer’s explicit motivation

Finally, consider how the writer of Hebrews ends his own letter:

Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees,

and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.

Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, bear with my message of exhortation, for in fact I have written to you briefly.

These things have been written for our encouragement, so that we don’t lose heart. We have been given a stern warning here, but it is to protect us, not to condemn us. The Bible wasn’t given to condemn, but to save. In God’s higher economy, mercy triumphs over judgment. Understand the Divine Author’s motivation, and trust in His unfailing love. If you have fallen, repent and ask the Lord’s forgiveness. Believe the promises, renounce the devil, and declare the past over (see 1Jn 3.20). Don’t allow a drop of the Precious Blood to be wasted! Pick up the mantle of your calling again and get yourself back into service. All who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.