“Don’t lose out”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, January 13, 2022
Hebrews 3:1-11 (Forward, p. 76) CEV p. 1260
There are certain sticky theological questions that are probably best left up in the air, that is, unresolved. One of these is predestination and another is eternal salvation. Predestination poses that certain people, and only certain people, are destined for salvation. (Certainly, there are Scriptures that seem to back this viewpoint). So, what happens to the rest? Well, that is a very good question, one that leaves those that feel that they ‘aren’t’ predestined in a very uncomfortable and untenable position. The problem is that there are also Scriptures that give the opposite sense, namely that state that God wants all humans to be saved (see 1 Timothy 2:4). There are therefore Scriptures that back both stances.
The same goes for eternal salvation. Certain passages suggest that ‘once saved, always saved’: John 6:37 for instance, ‘those who come to me I will in no wise cast out.’ But then, on the other hand, are countless passages that people can turn away from the faith that they once had. We see something of this in today’s passage from Hebrews:
“If you hear God’s voice today, don’t be stubborn. Don’t rebel like those people who were tested in the desert” (verses 7-8).
A later verse, verse 12, is even more emphatic on this count: “My friends, watch out! Don’t let evil thoughts or doubts make any of you turn from the living God.” So, what is their final ‘destination’ in terms of salvation? We simply are not told.
I happen to think that the ambiguity in terms of both predestination and salvation are good things. It means that, on the one hand, we can rest in the all-sufficiency of God’s love and grace and know that we are secure in trusting in this—but, at the same time, never taking it for granted, never presuming upon it to the extent that we flout God’s word and disobey what He says. We are God’s people, yes, but we are expected to be a holy people, a people with a difference, a people who love and serve and obey Him. And, so we should be careful not to toss this out and veer away from our faith in Him. Amen.
Forward notes: “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God” (verse 4).
“My grandparents built their house as a family labour movement. Each person had their responsibility, from installing the septic tank to digging out the well, from laying the foundation to tilling the land.
“My mother and her brothers would come home from school each afternoon and continue their work on the house anew. My grandmother explains that while everyone had a role in building the house, faith in God is what held every slab of cinder block together.
“Without God, the house would have never been built, my grandfather explains. God gave the fortitude to withstand the Texas heat so they could build the house for their children and grandchildren. God built a legacy for them.”
MOVING FORWARD: “What have you built? What is God building in and through you?
