The College Press NIV Commentary: Hebrews

Top Highlights

“(3) Those who fall away cannot be restored so long as they persist in their flagrant and public rejection of Christ.” (Hebrews 6:4–8)

“whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Hebrews 13:2)

“Hebrews is, without doubt, a theologically valuable document which presents a well arranged argument in defense of the superiority of the new covenant. Yet these verses suggest that the author had an immediate purpose in mind for his theology and his rhetoric—the encouragement of Christian brothers and sisters who, suffering under persecutions which threatened even martyrdom, were tempted to abandon their strength. In the midst of their suffering, our author sends his ‘short letter’ and ‘word of exhortation’ (13:22) that they might fix their eyes on Jesus (3:1; 12:2), whose greatness he demonstrates from their own beloved Scriptures and cherished heritage.” (source)

“Both participles, ‘one who comes’ (προσερχόμενον, proserchomenon) and ‘who earnestly seek’ (ἐκζητου̂σιν, ekzētousin) are present tenses. This indicates continual coming and continual seeking. God does not respond to the occasional seeker. One must keep coming as a lifestyle. One must keep seeking as a regular, habitual predominant way of life. A single cry never indicates the real nature of our heart. A perpetual cry does.” (Hebrews 11:6)

“The point of the statement in Hebrews is that there must be more than casual response to God’s message. Faith must be closely bonded with the message in thorough, minute detail. There is no place here to pick and choose which part of the Bible we want and which we will discard. For the gospel to have value, it must have faith mixed all through it. It must be trusted in all its parts.” (Hebrews 4:2)