Thereforelet us leavethe elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentancefrom dead works and of faith toward God,and ofinstruction about washings,the laying on of hands,the resurrection of the dead, andeternal judgment.And this we will doif God permits.For it is impossible, in the case of thosewho have once been enlightened, who have tastedthe heavenly gift, andhave shared in the Holy Spirit,andhave tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,andthen have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, sincethey are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.Forland that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.Butif it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed,and its end is to be burned. Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better thingsthings that belong to salvation.ForGod is not unjust so as to overlookyour work and the love that you have shown for his name inserving the saints, as you still do.And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assuranceof hope until the end,so that you may not be sluggish, butimitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Our first question tonight is Why is this a tough text? It is clear on reading through it why this is such a difficult passage. It says many things that seem problematic, it raises questions that are difficult to answer, and it seems to teach things that contradict many other passages of Scripture. While the beginning and ending of this passage seem fairly straightforward, the difficulties are mainly found in v4-8.

Let me begin by saying this. The book of Hebrews is wonderful. Its rich in theological depth and practical application. It was written to Jewish Christians who were facing persecution and were tempted to abandon Christ. So the author's primary aim is twofold: first, to demonstrate the superiority of Christ and the New Covenant over the Old Covenant. And second, urge these Christians to persevere in their faith and grow in spiritual maturity.

This passage, 6:1-12, is truly one of the most debated and, for some, unsettling passages in all of Scripture. Our goal tonight is not to shy away from the difficulties but to engage with them thoughtfully, seeing the full counsel of God's Word to shape our understanding and strengthen our assurance in Christ. By the end of this study, I pray not only that our understanding clarified, but that our faith will be deepened, and that we would grow in our own assurance as well.

Here's the plan for tonight. First, well briefly examine v1-3. Second, well linger on v4-8 seeing the difficulties, asking our questions, and giving possible answers. And third, well briefly look at v9-12.

v1-3

To understand the beginning of chapter 6, we must turn back to the end of chapter 5. There in the end of chapter 5 the author of Hebrews teaches us the difference between the mature believer and the immature believer and the difference in their spiritual diets, milk and solid food. As chapter 6 begins that same idea carries forward with a call to spiritual maturity in v1-3. Leaving behind elementary things and pressing forward to maturity in our faith. Thats the call. And in v3 we find that we will grow and mature in our faith, if God permits it. So right away as this tough text begins we see how God is sovereignly at work in our lives as Christians.

v4-8

Here we come to it. And right away one can see the numerous difficulties present. This seems to teach about one who enjoyed so many Kingdom benefits but was ultimately removed from the Kingdom for falling away. This raises important questions like: can we lose our salvation? What do all the characteristics mean in v4-5: once being enlightened, tasting the heavenly gift, sharing in the Spirit, and tasting the goodness of the Word of God, and the powers of the age to come? Does that mean they were a Christian? What does it mean to have fallen away? Why is it impossible for such a person to be restored to repentance? How would that be a re-crucifying of Christ?

As is the case in many tough texts, options for interpretation abound. So, in that light here are three options for this text.

Interpretation 1: The Plain Sense (Arminian)

It is right and good of us to begin with a view of this text that takes this text on its own, as it stands, with no qualifications. This view, held by many of an Arminian persuasion, believes that if a true believer commits apostasy and falls away, even after enjoying all the benefits mentioned here in v4-5, that they do indeed lost their salvation, such that they cannot come back at all. Those who hold this view believe they are being faithful to the plain sense of the text, and that any who disagree with this plain sense are twisting to text to a set of preconceived theological opinions. So in sum, this first view believes the warning here exists to do just that, warn true Christians that they can truly fall away.

Interpretation 2: The Hypothetical Warning (Piper)

One interpretation views the warning in Hebrews 6:4-6 as hypothetical. This perspective argues that the author is suggesting a hypothetical scenario. The argument is that if it were possible for a truly saved person to fall away in such a manner, then indeed, their restoration would be impossible because it would entail a re-crucifixion of Christ, which is absurd.

Proponents of this view often point to verse 9, where the author states, Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better thingsthings that belong to salvation. This verse is seen as the authors clarification that his audience, being true believers, are not the ones in danger of this ultimate apostasy. The warning thus, serves as a powerful deterrent and a means by which God preserves His elect, not as an actual real case scenario. It highlights the heinous nature of rejecting Christ after having experienced abundant exposure to the truth, and it underscores the seriousness of perseverance. The warning is real and serious, but the outcome for the elect is secure due to God's preserving grace.

Interpretation 3: External Profession/Participation (Sproul)

A second prominent interpretation believes the individuals described here to be those who are part of the visible covenant community, but who are not necessarily truly regenerate. This view highlights the distinction between external participation in the blessings of the church and internal, saving faith. The five attributes listed in v4-5 are interpreted as describing a profound external experience with Christianity, but not necessarily internal regeneration.

Once been enlightened can refer to intellectual understanding of Christian truth, and exposure to the true gospel. Unbelievers can be intellectually enlightened to theological truths.

Tasted the heavenly gift could refer to partaking in the Lord's Supper, experiencing the benefits of being in a Christian community, or receiving common grace blessings, none of which necessarily indicate saving faith.

Shared in the Holy Spirit could refer to experiencing the outward manifestations or gifts of the Holy Spirit (e.g., prophecy, miracles), which can be given to unbelievers (e.g., Balaam, Saul, Judas), or simply being part of a community where the Spirit is active. It does not necessarily imply the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that accompanies regeneration.

Tasted the goodness of the word of God refers to hearing and understanding the preached Word, perhaps even being emotionally moved by it, but without genuine conversion or submission to its authority.

Tasted the powers of the age to come could mean witnessing or experiencing miraculous works associated with the coming kingdom of God, again, without personal salvation.

According to this second view, the warning is directed at those who have had significant exposure to the truth and blessings of God within the covenant community but have not truly embraced Christ in saving faith. Their apostasy is severe because of the light they have received and rejected. The analogy of the land in v7-8 seems to supports this: the land receives rain (blessings/exposure to truth) but produces only thorns and thistles (unbelief/apostasy), indicating a lack of true fruit and ultimately leading to judgment. This interpretation aligns with 1 John 2:19, which states, They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. The warning serves as a diagnostic tool, revealing the true spiritual state of those who fall away.

Also, this view emphasizes that the nature of the Church here in earth is and will always be a mixed bag. That is, a mixture of the sheep and the goats, or the wheat and the chaff. This means there will be those within the Church who are part of the body visibly, but are not part of the body invisibly. These unbelievers in the mix might be phonies masquerading as believers, or they might think theyre true believers but are dreadfully mistaken.

The severity of the language here emphasizes the inevitability of a continued persistent rejection of Christ after having received significant light and experienced the blessings of the covenant community. It is a warning against hardening one's heart to the point of no return, a state where repentance becomes impossible not because God is unwilling, but because the individual has utterly repudiated the only path to it.

Conclusion?

While these three interpretations offer distinct interpretations of this text, there is some overlap and commonality between them. Ultimately, I land in the third interpretation, that this warning here is for those who have had significant exposure to the truth and blessings of God within the covenant community but have not truly embraced Christ in saving faith. they are not mutually exclusive and often complement each other within Reformed theology.

But, there is a common thread to see in them all. Namely, the passage serves as a profound and serious warning. Whether hypothetical, descriptive of external church members, or directed at the Old Covenant context, the warning in this passage encourages us in many ways.

1) It encourages us to persevere in faith by showing us the severe consequences of apostasy.

2) It encourages us to examine our own faith, giving us a diagnostic tool to test the sincerity of our faith.

3) It encourages us to magnify Christ's sufficiency, reminding us that there is no other way to be saved apart from Christ, and to reject Him after such exposure is to reject the only means of grace.

v9-12

Now briefly, see how the passage ends in v9-12. After delivering such a robust warning, the author of Hebrews shifts to assurance, showing his pastoral heart and the true intent of the preceding verses.

These verses provide significant comfort and clarify that the warning in v4-8 was not intended to teach us about losing salvation but is intended to spur us on to perseverance.

Rich pastoral words of assurance abound here. The author calls his readers beloved, a term of deep endearment that contrasts sharply with the severity of the warning. He expresses confidence in better things, things that belong to salvation concerning them. This strongly suggests that he does not believe his audience is composed of apostates or those in danger of irreversible falling away. Rather, he sees evidence of true faith and spiritual life among them.

The author also appeals to Gods just character, stating that God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints. This is an affirmation of God's faithfulness to His people. God sees and does not overlook the genuine expressions of faith and love demonstrated by His saints. This is not a statement about earning salvation through works, but about the evidence of salvation showing itself in good works, which God graciously acknowledges and will not forget.

The desire of the author is for his readers to continue showing the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end. Assurance is not a passive thing but something to be pursued through persevering in faith. The goal is to avoid becoming dull, a term used earlier in 5:11 to describe their dullness in hearing. Instead, they are to be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

In v9-12 functions as a comforting counterpoint to the preceding warning. It reassures genuine Christians of their secure standing in Christ, it highlights Gods faithfulness to His people, and exhorts them to continue pursuing full assurance and spiritual maturity.

Introduction:

Ephesians 4:25-32, Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of youspeak the truth with his neighbor, forwe are members one of another.Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,andgive no opportunity to the devil.Let the thief no longer steal, but ratherlet him labor,doing honest work with his own hands, sothat he may have something to share with anyone in need.Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may givegrace to those who hear.Anddo not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,by whom you were sealed for the day ofredemption.Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Now, before getting to the text itself we must answer the question, why is this a tough text? On the surface of things it seems fairly straightforward, but is it? In v26 we find the first mention of anger in this passage, where were told to be angry and dont sin. So it seems anger and sin are two separate categories. But then in the rest of v26 we read the sun isnt supposed to go down on our anger, so does that mean anger is sin, or that were never to let anger be stirred up in us for very long? And more so, in v27 what does the devil have to do with our anger? Are we giving him an opportunity in our anger to hurt us or trip us up in someway? And then in v29 we see the only kind of talk were to allow out of our mouths is talk that builds up and doesnt corrupt or hurt others. Does that necessarily mean anger and angry talk is out of bounds for Christians? v30 then provides what might be the key to this whole section, when it says were not to do or say anything that would grieve the Holy Spirit, what does that have to do with this anger? And finally in v31 we find Paul instructing us to put away all bitterness and wrath and anger.

All in all this text is a tough text, because of its seeming contradictory teaching on the place of anger in the life of the Christian. The big questions is this? Whats does Paul teach on anger here? Is there good anger? Or is all anger inherently sinful?

My argument will be as follows. If we were honest, wed all admit that we know anger far too well. That fiery emotion that flares up when we feel wronged, frustrated, disrespected, or hurt. But I do not think anger is always bad. I think theres a good anger and a bad anger, and understanding the difference is essential for the Christian life. Tonight, Id like to show you that very thing. That anger, in its purest form, is not inherently sinful. The problem isn't anger itself, but how our fallen sinful nature distorts anger. We often find ourselves angry about the wrong things, and perhaps even more dangerously, were often not angry enough about the things that truly grieve Gods heart. So when your heart starts to heat up, Scripture doesnt just say dont feel that. It says, Be angryand dont sin. Tonight well learn how grace can train our anger to honor and not grieve the Holy Spirit.

Tonight, we'll explore what Paul teaches on anger, and from his teaching I think well be able to: 1) understand the biblical definition of anger, 2) be able to diagnose our own anger, and 3) discover a path towards redeeming our anger, transforming it from a destructive force into a tool for righteousness.

Lets begin working through the text.

v30 provides a framework from which we can interpret the whole passage. There Paul tells us of the reality that we can grieve the Holy Spirit. Think on that. At our conversion it was the Holy Spirit who applied the saving work of the Son to us. It was the Spirit who awoke us from our graves of sin. It was the Spirit who baptized us and brought us into union with Christ. It was the Spirit who indwelt us. It was the Spirit who sealed us in Christ. And now it is the same Spirit who continues to apply the saving work of Christ to us. The Spirit still revives us, keeps us, grows us, teaches us, sanctifies us, and even prays for us. If we obey the Lord and live in light of His commands, we honor the Spirit who resides in us. But v30 is sobering. If we disobey the commands of Christ we will grieve the Spirit. We could interpret this as grieving in the sense of injuring or harming, but I think its better to speak of our grieving the Spirit in the sense of causing the Spirit to be burdened or pained by our sin, just as a parent grieves when their beloved children stray.

This reality in v30, as I said, provides a framework for our whole passage. There are four arenas in which we can honor or grieve the Spirit: truth-telling (v25), labor and generosity (v28), kindness and forgiveness (v32), and then anger (v2627, v29, v31). Ill cover the first three quickly and then well camp out on anger the rest of our time.

Truth Telling (v25)

In v25 Paul provides the initial command. Because we are members of one another, all being united to Christ our Head, we must always do two things. First we must put away what is false, and second we must only speak what is true to one another. If we do this, well honor the Spirit, and if we dont do this well grieve the Spirit.

Labor and Generosity (v28)

Next, in v28 Paul instructs us against theft, saying honest work should occupy our hands, so that we have something to share with one another, instead of stealing from one another. Again, if we do this, well honor the Spirit, and if we dont do this well grieve the Spirit.

Kindness and Forgiveness (v32)

In v32 were given the command to be kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving toward one another, because God in Christ has forgiven us. If we do this, well honor the Spirit, and if we dont do this well grieve the Spirit.

Anger (v26-27, v29, v31)

Now come back to v26-27. There we read much. First we receive a command Be angry and do not sin Here Paul is not being innovative, hes quoting Psalm 4:4. There are various ways to translate this phrase, but note that in the top 17 English translations of the Bible, only 1 removes the form of command. The ESV, the NIV, the KJV, the NKJV, the CSB and others all translate this in the form of command Be angry Only the NLT removes the form of command and says Dont sin by letting anger control you In this we see how important it is to translate things properly. Here the NLT leads one away from the meaning and intent of Paul while the other translations keep us on the right track. But to be more generous to those who do read this translation we could simply say the NLT captures the warning while the other translations preserve the imperative.

Now, the English is good, but what does the Greek say here? Since the Greek is the original, seeing what it does here might settle this for us. And it does. In the Greek here Paul uses the imperative form, not the indicative form. Do you know the difference between those? Imperatives give authoritative command, while indicatives give facts or state opinions. One of my own Greek textbooks says There is no more forceful way in the Greek language to tell someone to do something than the simple imperative. Thus, we now know what v26 is. Its a command from God, Be angry and do not sin

This is further proved by the fact that in the Bible we see God Himself angered by sin. You dont have to look too far to find this: God is angered by Noahs generation, by Sodom and Gomorrah, by the actions of Egypt as they enslaved and oppressed His people, and by the other nations around Israel in their pagan idolatry. We see Jesus get angered in the gospels too: cursing the fig tree, flipping the tables, weeping in a rage outside Lazarus tomb, and more. And I think we also see the Holy Spirit get angered in a sense as we grieve Him in our disobedience, or as James 4:5 says the Spirit yearns in us jealously when we sin.

Now one could say here, Well ok. God is perfect, and God always does anger rightly. Because were sinners, shouldnt we always try to avoid anger? That is an understandable response to this. God is perfect and God does always do anger in the right way. We are sinners and almost always do anger in the wrong way. Yet, in the Bible we see godly men and women angered by sin. Moses in Exodus 32 throws down the tablets before the people at the golden calf incident. Phinehas gets angry enough in Numbers 25 to intervene and stops sin from spreading in the camp. Samuel is rightly angry at Saul many times, for not obeying God and taking matters into his own hand. David is angered as he hears Goliath blaspheme Gods name before Gods people, and David is angered when he sees no one standing up to do anything about it. More so, prophet after prophet is angry with either Israel or the nations around them for their various sins. Paul is angry at the Galatians for abandoning the gospel. Paul is angered by Peter when he avoids the Gentiles for fear of the Jews. And on and on.

Bottom line: godly anger is motivated by a deep concern for God's reputation and glory, rather than personal offense. Godly anger is directed at injustice, evil, and sin, seeking to uphold God's standards of righteousness. While anger can be a sin, godly anger is not, as it is motivated by love for God, others, and a desire to see things restored to God's will.

All of what I just said is true, but see more in v26. Im very glad for those final few words because it reminds us that anger, though not sinful in and of itselfcan easily lead to sin. This not only reminds us that godly anger is a true sign of spiritual health, it guards us from allowing anger to go too far in us.

How does this work? Anger typically begins with a godly anger at sin and its effects on ourselves, on others, or on the world. So we see the sin, we properly hate the sin, and we mourn over the wreckage that it has brought. That is what godly anger looks like. But if this anger is held onto, or nursed within us it will turn sinful, usually by becoming way too personal. So what began properly can truly become deeply sinful. The puritan Thomas Boston once said that when anger becomes this personal to us and turns foul, that this kind of anger is evil in itself, and dishonorable to God; being the vomit of a proud heart and un-meek spirit. Or as v30 reminds us, if we do this rightly, we honor the Spirit, but if we dont well grieve the Spirit.

v27 also guides this anger. Meaning, while anger can be true and godly, if held onto long enough it will become a snare for us. Lest the Devil take it and run with it, the day our anger is stirred up should also be the day we deal with our anger. Godly anger will happen in us, and in a sense the Christian is to always be angered by sin wherever we see it. But if we let it harbor inside of us, so that it grows into sinful anger, thats the kind of anger we must rid ourselves of lest we give opportunity to the Devil.

Now, what about v29? Does that contradict v26? No it does not. In v29 when Paul says let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth, he means it. Dont let anything that hurts or harms others leave your mouth. Does that include anger? Yes, if the anger is sinful and fueled by personal offense. But v29 does not include anger that is godly. That kind of anger, is actually helpful to hear.

But what about v31, where Paul says let all wrath and anger and malice be put away from you, does that contradict v26? Again, no it doesnt. We should put away every single ounce of ungodly anger in us, because it will only hurt others and ourselves. But, no Christian should ever put godly anger, for godly anger imitates God who does get angry at sin. In fact, I think too many Christians need to be more angry at what angers God, and that anger ought to stir us to love and good works of all kinds in the world.

Conclusion:

To end, here are some simple questions to aid you when youre angry

-Am I angry because Gods honor, truth, or a neighbors good has been harmedor because my ego or preferences were crossed?

-Is my anger proportionate to the offense? Does it stay tethered to love and justice, or does it escalate toward contempt or revenge?

-Am I dealing with it today, or nursing it into bitterness?

-Where will this angry energy lead? Toward a gospel response, prayer, or toward venting, attacking, and scorekeeping?

Church, while its good to ask these questions. More so, Id say in anger we need to remember the gospel. Only a forgiven heart can handle anger without being consumed by it. Anger usually leads us to explode or implode. Only the cross shows Gods holy anger against sin and His merciful love for sinners. As v32 says, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Intro to Tough Texts

What do you do when you read the Bible and you come across a verse that makes you stop and think, Wait a minute, did God really say that? Do you skip it? Do you wrestle with it? Do you doubt? Do you close your Bible in frustration? Or do you pray and ask God for help? All of us have faced these moments, and those moments are what this series is all about.

It is good to be with you all this evening as we embark on a new evening sermon series. As many of you know the series this is called Tough Texts, and in this series we will be looking at just that, passages in the Scripture that are difficult to handle.

A few weeks ago we announced that we would be beginning this series in our various small groups, and we asked many of you to think about passages that they find difficult. Many of you went home, thought about this, and you came prepared to our most recent members meeting where I asked you to share them with me. Many passages were shared, but only 13 were selected for this sermon series, at least for this fall.

I am eager to get to these texts and start working through them with you, but tonight is all about introductions. So in our time together tonight I want to tell you where we'll be going, and tell you the texts that were chosen, but I also want to tell you about the hard reality of difficult passages in Scripture, and I want to tell you why I did not choose certain passages.

Let's begin there. There were many passages given to us that I did not choose, here's a few reasons why.

First, I did not choose topics that were given. Meaning, I tried to stick with texts, actual messages in the old or New Testament that people find difficult. For example, someone shared that they would love to hear about the difficult topic of divine sovereignty versus human responsibility. I think that's a great topic. I think that's a needed topic. But it is a topic rather than a text. There were other examples like this, that were more a general topic then a specific passage of scripture, and while those would be good studies in and of themselves that's not really the aim of this series. Perhaps at a time in the future we can do a series called tough topics where we are not zeroed in on a specific passage of Scripture but are rather thinking more broadly and systematically through a topic presented to us in the Scriptures. All this to say, my aim was to choose specific texts rather than specific topics.

Second, I did not choose texts that are near our current Sunday morning series. We are currently going through the book of Exodus in our Sunday morning gatherings and so if anything was near the book of Exodus or found in the book of Exodus I did not choose it for this series. Why? Because while those are specific texts, they are texts that we will come to and deal with in the near future in our time together on Sunday mornings. For example, someone shared that they would love to hear the passage explained in Exodus chapter 4 where many puzzling things occur. There the Lord seeks to kill Moses, there is a swift circumcision, followed by Moses's wife throwing the foreskin of that circumcision at Moses's feet, and her calling him a bridegroom of blood. This is certainly a tough text, but it is a text that we will come to very shortly on Sunday morning. Another example, someone shared that they would love to hear an explanation of the entire passage of the 4th commandment, concerning the Sabbath rest that God commands His people to make a regular part of their week. That also is a classic example of a tough text, but it's one that we will be hitting together Lord willing in 2026 on Sunday mornings. So rather than dealing with it here in the evening as well as dealing with it in the morning we will just leave things like that to the morning series.

Third and lastly, I did not choose texts that were given from the book of Judges. This is not because I dislike the book of Judges and this is not because I think the book of Judges is inappropriate for us to study. On the contrary I love the book of Judges and think it's very appropriate for us to study in our time together. The reason I did not select any texts from the book of Judges is because there were so many texts given that come from the book of Judges, so many in fact we couldve spend half our evening series in that book. Apparently SonRise has loads of questions about the book. So it would not be a bad idea to consider actually going through the book of Judges sometime soon as a church, perhaps we can do that this coming Spring. That way we not only will be given the opportunity to learn from the entire book of Judges, but we will get to work through every single one of those texts that were shared and given for this series.

So to summarize what I did not choose for this evening series: I did not choose anything that resembled a topic, I did not choose anything from, near, or related to our Sunday morning sermon series, and I did not choose anything from the book of Judges.

Now, what did I choose? Here is the list:

8/24 Anger in Paul? (Eph. 4:26-31)

8/31 Losing Salvation? (Hebrews 6)

9/7 Holy War or Genocide? (Deut. 20)

9/14 God Hates Sinners? (Psalm 5 / 11)

9/21 Did Jesus Descend into Hell? (1 Pet. 3:18-22)

9/28 Head Coverings? (1 Cor. 11)

10/5 God Regrets? (Gen. 6 / 1 Sam. 15)

10/12 Free Will? (2 Cor. 8:16-17)

10/19 Imprecatory Psalms? (Psalm 137)

10/26 Reformation Movie night

11/2 Role of Women in the Church? (1 Cor. 14)

11/9 Sin Leading to Death? (1 John 5:16-17)

11/16 Hating Family? (Luke 14:26)

11/23 Will All Israel be Saved? (Romans 11:25-26)

Lastly, I d like end by discussing the hard reality of tough texts. And to do that I'd actually like to take you to a text. So if you have your Bibles open to 2 Peter 3:15-16, And countthe patience of our Lord as salvation, just asour beloved brother Paul also wrote to youaccording to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction,as they do the other Scriptures.

Notice right away what Peter says. He is honest about the contents of Scripture. He isnt shy about it, he doesnt try to hide it, or cover it up, no, he tells us plainly that there are passages in Scripture that are hard to understand. Not only notice how Peter refers to the writings of Paul as Scripture, but notice how Peter is honest about Pauls writings, that there are portions of them that are hard to understand. If even the apostle Peter found this to be true of Paul, we will as well.

Now, since this is true for Paul. Can we not apply this to the whole of Scripture as well? I think we can. How do we respond to this? Should we ignore those passages? Or throw in the towel and give up when we come across them? Not at all. Even though theyre hard to understand, we should work at understanding them better. The easy thing to do would be to do what Peter says some do in this passage. the ignorant and unstable twist the Scripture to their own destruction This shows us what not to do with tough texts. We should not interpret them in such a way that is ignorant or unstable. What do the ignorant and unstable do with the Word? They interpret the hard passages, the tough texts, not by reading them for what they are, no. Instead they twist them to suit their own desires, and thus make plain their own destruction. Do not do this with tough texts. Read them for what they are, rather than interpreting them in an underhanded manner. In this we see why this is not just an academic exercise, handling the Scriptures rightly really is a matter of life and death.

Lord willing, part of my aim each week as we work through these texts is to demonstrate how to handle the text in an appropriately God honoring manner, rather than an unstable and ignorant manner.

So we have see that tough texts exist, and what not to do with them. But lets go further. R.C. Sproul, in his book Hard Sayings says tough texts can be classified into three categories. First, a passage can be a tough text if it appears to be harsh to us in its meaning. So if a text jolts us, shocks us, or we have a kind of shrinking back from them, they are a tough text to us. Well deal with a few of these kind of tough texts in our evenings together.

Second, a passage can be a tough text if it is hard to understand. While the first category of tough text is clear just difficult to swallow, this next category of tough text is different in that they are texts that are very difficult to unravel. Well also deal with a few of these kind of tough texts in our evenings together.

Third, a passage can be a tough text if it is controversial in the history of interpretation. Whats an example of a text being controversial in its interpretation? Well, that kind of brings us back to the first two categories doesnt it? If it a text seems harsh to us, or if a text seems like an unsolvable puzzle, we will see a mass of interpretive options throughout the history of the Church.

One last encouragement and then Ill take some questions. One way to grow in Christ and in the knowledge of the Scriptures thats not talked about very muchis focusing on the tough texts. Think about it. When you come to a text that seems greatly puzzling to you, you have a choice. The easy road is to ignore it and move on, staying close to those portions of Scripture you do find easy to understand and digest. But will you grow like that? I mean, its always great to read the Bible, but if we only ever read those parts of it that we find easy to understand, well likely only ever stay in the shallow end of the biblical pool. But if we make the harder choice, and face those texts, really leaning into them and trying to understand them, the odds are that well end up understanding them and growing in our knowledge of God and the Scriptures.

So too when you come to a text that seems offensive to you, you have a choice. If youre so offended by it that you avoid it altogether or even close your Bible for a long time, you wont ever come to understand that portion of Scripture. But if you make a different choice, and face those texts that seem offensive to you, you might just find out the reason why it seems so offensive to you. Which means youll have gained new insight not only about God, and about the text, but about yourself too. With this new knowledge you can repent and ask God for help in this particular area, and youll grow.

So heres my plea to you in this series. Dont run from the tough texts. Dont shrink back when youre offended, or confused, or even angry at what you read. Instead, press in. Lean forward. Trust that even in the hardest passages, God has good for you to see and embrace. By doing this together, I believe well come out not just wiser, but more in awe of God, more humble before His Word, and more in love with Christ.