A Warning That Is Assuring; An Assurance That Is a Warning

Hebrews 1:5-2:18

As much as the gospel is "the good news," Scripture also presents it as a warning. The gospel should provoke urgency, but not for the reasons that we often think. We often think that it should compel us to go to church, read the Bible, pray, and do other Christian actions. When we realize that we fail to do these actions, it unfortunately leads to a sense of misguided guilt and shame.

Instead, Scripture presents the gospel as a warning not to make us feel guilty, but because the gift of salvation is so assuring! What Jesus Christ has done is so firmly established that it should provoke urgency--not out of guilt, but out of confidence and gratitude. The certainty of Christ's salvation should compel us to greater faith and trust, which will inevitably lead to Christian actions. 

The gospel is more frequently understood as an assurance, but even here we often misunderstand this. Scripture presents the gospel as both an assurance and a warning. We can be assured that what Christ has done will come to full fruition. However, what Christ has done entails suffering. Part of our salvation requires us to suffer. We see this not only in how Christ suffered, but how Christ was ordained to suffer. So this raises the question: why is suffering required for salvation? Why did Christ have to suffer to save us? And why do we need to suffer to be saved?

Questions:

1. When you feel urgency or conviction to deepen your relationship with God (e.g., reading the Bible, praying, going to church), what is usually your primary motivation? 

2. Share with one another why our primary motivation to deepen our relationship with God should be a response of confidence in and gratitude for what Christ has irrevocably established for us? Why is this motivation better than other motivations (e.g., guilt, obligation)?

3. Based on this passage/sermon, explain in your own words why suffering is an inseparable part of salvation. How can this be relevant in your everyday life? 

4. In what ways has the Spirit been leading you to "suffer"? That is, in what ways have you been dying to your own will and submitting to God's will? Take a moment to recognize and celebrate that this is a sign of being in Christ--for he himself had to die to his own will to submit to the will of the Father. Pray for each other in light of what is shared here.