Encouragement from the Heavy Hands of Hebrews

I don't mean literal Hebrews, by the way--I mean the letter to the Hebrews, between the memo to Mr. Philemon and the note from James. I've not buried my nose as much into this book as I have others, but I've been reading it lately and have become increasingly intrigued.

The author seems to not mince any words about the gravity of our relationship with God. Contained within we receive several stern warnings about 'falling away' and what happens to those who continue to blatantly sin after accepting the gospel (hint: It's not cheerful news). 

I seem to have this problem of fixating on the bad things, and these warnings are what I think about when I think of Hebrews. But there's a whole chunk of awesome assurance that comes with it. The warnings that I mentioned above are hedged on both sides by how amazing Christ is, and how encouraged we should be because of it--something you'll definitely miss if you take it out of context.

For example, take the entirety of Hebrews 10 (which you can read up on here). It's an absolute gem of theology. I'd love to post it all, but that seems to be a waste of time on both our parts, so I'll just make a few quick notes on what caught my eye today:

Heb 10.14 - Jesus paid it all, all at once. He doesn't need to do it again. This was for those sins you're committing right now, and for the ones tomorrow, and the day after that, and so on... they've all been paid for.

Heb 10.19-24 - This is the answer to "So What Now?" that Christ has paid our ransom. "Let us" shows up three times to tell us to: 1)Draw near to God now that we are purified (because we can!), 2)Be completely assured that this can never be undone (because God is faithful--He won't ever break His word or undo His work), and 3)Encourage each other to love and to do good works and to keep meeting together despite the difficulty/persecution.  

Heb 10.26-31 - Here's the warning about what happens if we keep sinning blatantly and without regard to the sacrifice that Jesus made. Don't let it trip you up, it gets better later in the chapter. What I understand of this warning is this: once I've turned to Christ for forgiveness, I've got nowhere else to go. If I decide to turn away, I'll go with knowledge that no other sacrifice or penitent action can redeem me, and "a fearful expectation of judgement (v27)" will begin to creep in.

Heb 10.32-39 - This notes that the warning isn't for the reader presently, and recalls the good works and incredible actions that occurred from their hands that was spawned by the Holy Spirit and of their faith. It reassures them that they are indeed the elect, that Christ's sacrifice was for them, and they need not be discouraged at all, because they aren't the type to give up something so monumental and permanent, and they can look forward to Christ's return.