Verse 15
Negatively the writer warned against neglecting God’s grace (help). God’s grace enables us to persevere (cf. Hebrews 3:12), but here it is almost synonymous with the Christian faith. This neglect would result in unfaithfulness spreading as a poison among God’s people (cf. Deuteronomy 29:17-18). The writer pictured departure from the truth here as a root that produces bitter fruit in the Christian community. It normally results in the spiritual defilement of many other believers eventually. The writer was not implying that most of his readers were in danger of apostatizing (cf. Hebrews 6:9) but that the failure of only one individual can affect many other believers.
"Stubbornness, when it grows, produces the noxious fruit of apostasy, which is equivalent to excluding oneself from the grace of God. . . .
"The sin of one individual can corrupt the entire community when that sin is apostasy, because defilement is contagious. One who is defiled by unbelief and apostasy becomes a defiler of others." [Note: Ibid., pp. 453, 454.]
"The writer has just referred to the need for helping those who are weak and failing in their faith. It would be logical that this still is in reference to them, providing a more specific instance in which some are failing. It is a failing with reference to the grace of God, especially as it relates to seeking forgiveness for failure. It is uncalled for to take this reference and make it a general designation of the plan of salvation." [Note: Duane A. Dunham, "An Exegetical Examination of the Warnings in the Epistle to the Hebrews" (Th.D. dissertation, Grace Theological Seminary, 1974), p. 227.]
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