Living By Faith Blog

God has called us to cling to His Word

To abide in His Word (John 8:31).

To meditate on His Word day and night (Psa 1:2).

To hold fast to His Word (Phil 2:16).

To hold firm to His Word (Tit 1:9).

But this is not easy —

Because we face many distractions —

• Have I received a new email?
• How is the garden doing?
• What’s going on in the stock market?
• Is anything interesting on TV?

So what can we do?

God does not just give us commands — which He wants us to will ourselves to obey.

He also gives us reasons — by which the Holy Spirit changes our hearts so we want to obey.

And in Hebrews 2:1 God gives us a powerful reason to cling to His Word —

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

The author alerts us to a danger — the danger of drifting away.

In other words — if I don’t cling to the Word today — I won’t be in the same place spiritually tomorrow.

I will have drifted farther away.

So I am always either clinging to God’s Word — or drifting.

Niagara Falls

This Greek word “drifting” has the idea of being carried along by an ocean current or river.

It’s like you are in the river above the Niagara Falls — being carried to the certain death of plunging over.

But someone sees you being swept downstream and throws you a rope.

If you cling to this rope you will be pulled away from the Falls and saved.

But if you don’t cling to this rope you will be swept over the Falls and destroyed.

We are in a river

Our sin — and the pull of the world — is a river carrying us towards eternal destruction.

But in great mercy God threw us a rope — the truth of Jesus Christ as revealed in God’s Word.

If we cling to this rope we will be pulled away from the Falls and saved.

But if we don’t we will drift away from the rope — toward the Falls.

But this raises a question —

Can a saved person lose salvation?

The Bible teaches that when God saves you He promises to keep you persevering to the end so you will surely escape Hell and enter Heaven (Phil 1:6; Jude 1:24-25).

But there are two ways He does this —

1. By giving us warnings like Heb 2:1 — that if we don’t cling to His Word we will drift away to eternal destruction.
2. And — by changing our hearts so we pay heed to these warnings (Jer 32:40).

So these warnings are true — if we persist in not clinging to God’s Word we will not be saved.

But it’s also true that if we are saved — we will pay heed to these warnings and cling to God’s Word.

Therefore — those who are saved cannot lose their salvation, because they will pay heed to God’s warnings.

So —

Pay heed to God’s warning

Do you see that sin is a river that could carry you over the Falls?

Do you see that the Bible is a rope that can hold you back from the Falls?

Do you cling to the Bible like it’s that rope?

Do you start your day renewing your hold on precious truth from God’s Word?

Do you go through the day clinging to Jesus as revealed in God’s Word?

When worry or boredom or lust pulls you toward the Falls, do you cling all the more tightly to God’s Word?

Remember

We are either clinging — or we are drifting.

So cling to God’s Word.

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And here’s some related posts you might find helpful —

• Can A Believer Lose Salvation?
• How George Whitefield read God's Word
• Don't Face The Lion Without Your Sword
• Will-power vs. Spirit-power

(Picture is from everystockphoto by C. P. Storm.)