Do Not Neglect Salvation

The tribes are counted, fathers are named, sons are remembered, and the generations are set in order. Scripture does not treat the household of God as a passing crowd, but as a people who must hand on what they have received. Joel therefore commands not private grief only, but common repentance: famine and desolation are to awaken old men, children, priests, and the whole land. As Theophilus says, “Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children that are in arms;” Judgment is not answered by idle talk, but by fasting, prayer, and a people called back to sobriety.

Hebrews presses the matter further. If disobedience has a recompense, then neglect also is deadly. Salvation is not to be admired from afar and left unused. The Son has taken our flesh and blood, entered our mortal condition, suffered, and destroyed the tyrant who held men in fear through death. Therefore we must give earnest heed. The One who sanctifies calls us brethren; shall brethren then live carelessly? He helps not angels, but the seed of Abraham: those who continue in faith, obedience, and endurance.

So the numbered tribes, the ruined fields, and the exalted Son speak with one voice. You have received a place among God’s people; do not let it be empty in practice. Teach the mighty acts of God to those after you. Mourn your sins before they ripen into ruin. Hold fast the word confirmed by the Lord and witnessed by mighty works. For, as Cyprian warns, “for, lo, the day of the Lord comes, cruel with wrath and anger, to lay the earth desolate, and to destroy the sinners out of it.”