And when the organ of faith is not used it begins to die. And its faculties of discernment become dull and sluggish. Which brings us to the third thing that the coach gives to his gymnast. And when the coach says that, it is not because he desires the ruin of his gymnast. And he wants him to inherit the gold medal in the last day.
False assurance is even more likely to lead to a broken neck than no weak assurance.
It is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt. For land which has drunk the rain that often falls upon it, and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. We need to answer four questions about this warning in order to understand it and put it to work in our own fight to maintain the full assurance of hope to the end. I will try to answer these questions briefly and show you the basis for my answers from the book of Hebrews, and then tonight there will be a chance for questions as we try to tie the loose ends together. He is not talking about a mere temporal disciplining of the child of God.