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1-3 So, we must not keep discussing what we first learned about the Messiah, things that all believers must learn at first. Some of these things are how to stop doing sinful deeds, those that lead to death, and how to start trusting in God. There are also important things we teach: various kinds of baptism, why we often pray while putting our hands on each other; and also about how God will raise us all from the dead and judge everyone in a way that will last forever. Indeed, we will discuss these things again later, if God gives us the chance to do it. But now we must discuss things that are harder to understand; these are things that will help us to trust in the Messiah in all times, no matter what happens. 4 For it is impossible to persuade some people to turn away from their sinful behavior For although they once had God’s light and had experienced the good things given by God and shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 They experienced for themselves the goodness of God’s word and the spiritual powers of the age to come. 6 But now, if these people reject the Messiah, no one will be able to persuade them to stop sinning and to trust in him again! That is because it is as though these people have nailed the Son of God to his cross again! They are causing people to despise the Messiah in front of others. 7 Think about this: God has blessed land on which rain has frequently fallen and on which plants grow for the good use of the farmers who cultivate the soil. 8 But what will happen to people who do not obey God is like what happens to land on which only thorns and thistles grow. Such land is worthless. It has become land that the farmer will curse and whose plants he will burn away.9 You can see that I am warning you, dear friends, not to reject the Messiah. At the same time, I am certain that you are doing better than that. You are doing the things that show that God is saving you, even though we speak like this. 10 Since God always acts justly, he will not overlook all you have done for him; he will not overlook how you have loved and helped your fellow believers, and how you are still helping them. 11 We greatly desire that each of you continue to show the same effort you are showing now, so that to the very end of your lives, you will be sure you will receive all that God promised to give you. 12 I do not want you to be lazy. Instead, I want you to do what other believers have done, those who are receiving what God promised them, because they trusted in him and were patient.
13 When God promised to do great things for Abraham, there was no one greater than himself whom he could ask to force himself to do those things. So he asked himself. 14 Then he said to Abraham, “I will certainly bless you and I will certainly greatly increase the number of your descendants.” 15 So after Abraham patiently waited for God to do what he promised, God did for him what he had promised. 16 Keep in mind that when people promise something, they ask a more important person to punish them if they do not do what they promise. This is how all such disputes are settled. 17 So when God wanted to demonstrate very clearly to us who would receive what he had promised that he would not change what he had planned to do, he said that he would declare himself guilty if he did not do what he promised. 18 He did that to strongly encourage us, because he has done two things that cannot change: He promised to help us, and would declare himself guilty if he did not. Now, God cannot lie. That is why we have fled to him in order that we might continue confidently to expect to receive what he promised us. 19 Yes, we confidently expect to receive what God has promised to do for us. It is as if we were a ship, whose anchor is holding us firmly in one place. The one we confidently expect to hold us is Jesus. As well, this is why he is just like the high priests who go behind the curtain into the innermost part of the temple, where God is present. 20 Jesus went into God’s presence ahead of us to allow us to enter in that same place with God, too. Jesus has become a high priest forever, in the way that Melchizedek was a high priest.