Hebrews 6:18

With this hope, then, let us attach ourselves to the one who is faithful to promises and just in judgments. The one who bids us to refrain from lying is all the less likely to lie. For nothing is impossible to God, save lying.

What kind and what kind? Both by the fact that He simply spoke and promised, and by the fact that He joined an oath to the promise. Since among people that which is confirmed with an oath is considered more trustworthy, God also joined one. …

The second disposition for the inflowing of the gift of fortitude is through the imperturbable consolation of hope. Hence the Apostle to the Hebrews: "We have the strongest consolation, we who have fled to hold fast the hope set before us."

323. – Then (v.18) he shows the fruit of the promise: first, he shows what that fruit is; secondly, what follows upon it (v. 19). 324. – The fruit, of course, is that our hope is certain; hence, he says, that we might have strong, …

That by two unchangeable things - His promise and his oath, in either, much more in both of which, it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation - Swallowing up all doubt and fear. Who have fled - After having been tossed by many storms. To lay hold on the hope set before us - On Christ, the object of our hope, and the glory we hope for through him.

That by two immutable things,....

WHEN we read such a choice verse as this we are apt, at once, to conclude that it "belongs to them that are of full age, even to those who by reason of use have had their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." We set this aside as a choice morsel reserved for those who have worn well and borne the burden and heat of the day—for those who have attained to full assurance of faith and, therefore, are able to lay hold upon rich Covenant provisions.

Ramoth, that is, high, for Him hath God exalted with His right hand (Ac 5:31). Golan, that is, joy, for in Him all the saints are justified and shall glory. lay hold upon the hope--that is, the object of our hope, as upon a preservative from sinking. set before us--as a prize for which we strive; a new image, namely, the race course (Heb 12:1, 2).

THE Lord's transactions with the Patriarch Abraham are frequently used in Scripture as types of His dealings with all the heirs of promise. The Lord found him in an idolatrous household, even as He finds all His people far off from Him and strangers to Him. But the Lord separated him by an effectual call and brought him out from his country and from his father's house, even as He does unto all His people when He visits them in mercy, and says, "Come out from among them and be you separate and touch not the unclean thing."

THE Lord's transactions with the Patriarch Abraham are frequently used in Scripture as types of His dealings with all the heirs of promise. The Lord found him in an idolatrous household, even as He finds all His people far off from Him and strangers to Him. But the Lord separated him by an effectual call and brought him out from his country and from his father's house, even as He does unto all His people when He visits them in mercy, and says, "Come out from among them and be you separate and touch not the unclean thing." The Lord, then, was pleased to give to His servant a very gracious promise, the likes of which, only yet more clear and bright, He is pleased to give to every heir of salvation. And after awhile, that the Patriarch's faith in the midst of his increasing trials might come to a fullness of strength, the Lord was pleased to make a Covenant with him and to confirm that Covenant by sacrifice of blood and by solemn oath. Even thus does He reveal Himself to us, unfolding the ancient Covenant of Grace which He has made with us in Christ Jesus and He bids us look upon the solemn seal of the Savior's sacrifice and of the oath of old which the Lord made unto His Son. As He led His servant, a stranger in a strange land, but yet surrounded and enriched with innumerable mercies, even so are we sojourners with Him, as all our fathers were, but yet endowed with boundless favor in the blessings of the right hand of the Most High. No doubt, the great end of God in this, so far as Abraham's life on earth was concerned, was to produce in Abraham a model of unstaggering faith. God takes pleasure in the persons of His servants. He takes a delight in the training and education of His children, in the creating of His own image in their characters. And especially if there is one thing in a saint which delights God more than another, it is the choice Grace of Faith.

FAITH is the Divinely-appointed way of receiving the blessings of Grace. "He that believes shall be saved," is one of the main declarations of the Gospel. The wonders of creation, the discoveries of Revelation and the movements of Providence are all intended to create and foster the principle of faith in the living God. If God reveals anything, it is that we should believe it. Of all the books of Holy Scripture it may be said, "these are written that you might believe and that believing you might have life."

FAITH is the Divinely-appointed way of receiving the blessings of Grace. "He that believes shall be saved," is one of the main declarations of the Gospel. The wonders of creation, the discoveries of Revelation and the movements of Providence are all intended to create and foster the principle of faith in the living God. If God reveals anything, it is that we should believe it. Of all the books of Holy Scripture it may be said, "these are written that you might believe and that believing you might have life." Even if God conceals anything, it is that we may be able to confide in Him since what we know yields but little space for trust compared with the unknown. Providence sends us many different trials, all meant to exercise and increase our faith and, at the same time, in answer to prayer, it brings us varied proofs of the Divine faithfulness which serve as refreshments to our faith. Thus the works and the Words of God cooperate to educate men in the Grace of faith.

WHEN we read such a choice verse as this we are apt, at once, to conclude that it "belongs to them that are of full age, even to those who by reason of use have had their senses exercised to discern both good and evil." We set this aside as a choice morsel reserved for those who have worn well and borne the burden and heat of the day—for those who have attained to full assurance of faith and, therefore, are able to lay hold upon rich Covenant provisions. Let us at once correct this mistake, for the passage belongs to a very early form of Christian experience! It relates, indeed, to the lowest degree of Christian Grace! Let me read it again. "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation." To whom does the, "we," refer? We "who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us." The strong consolation mentioned in the text belongs to those who have fled to Christ for refuge—and surely this is at the very beginning of the Divine life. It belongs, also, to those who lay hold upon the hope of the Gospel and this, also, is a very elementary part of Christian experience. If you have only newly fled to Christ for refuge and if, by a child-like faith, you have freshly laid hold upon the hope that is set before you, then the riches of Grace are yours and God's oath and promise are intended to afford you strong consolation. As far as this text is concerned, you need not examine yourselves to search for strong faith, or deep experience, or great growth in Grace, or advanced holiness, for if you are but Christ's refugee and a grasper of the Lord's promises, you may rejoice in the two immutable things and rest in peace! I gather from God's beginning, thus early, to encourage His people, and from His laying down so much comfort for them at the outset, that He would have them happy all their lives.

That by two immutable things - What the “two immutable things” here referred to are, has been made a matter of question among commentators. Most expositors, as Doddridge, Whitby, Rosenmuller, Koppe, and Calvin, suppose that the reference is to the promise and the oath of God, each of which would be a firm ground of the assurance of salvation, and in each of which it would be impossible for God to lie. Prof. Stuart supposes that the reference is to “two oaths” - the oath made to Abraham, and that by which the Messiah was made High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek; Psa 110:4; Heb 5:6, Heb 5:10. He supposes that thus the salvation of believers would be amply secured, by the promise that Abraham should have a Son, the Messiah, in whom all the families of the earth would be blessed, and in the oath that this Son should be High Priest forever. But to this interpretation it may be objected that the apostle seems to refer to two things distinct from each other in their nature, and not to two acts of the same kind. There are two kinds of security referred to, whereas the security furnished according to this interpretation would be the same - that arising from an oath. However numerous the oaths might be, still it would be security of the same kind, and if one of them were broken no certainty could be derived from the other. On the supposition, however, that he refers to the “promise” and the “oath,” there would be two kinds of assurance of different kinds. On the supposition that the “promise” was disregarded - if such a supposition may be made still there would be the security of the “oath” - and thus the assurance of salvation was two-fold. It seems to me, therefore, that the apostle refers to the “promise” and to the “oath” of God, as constituting the two grounds of security for the salvation of his people. […]