Hebrews uses another image besides war — namely, rowing our boat against the current. Life is like rowing your boat upstream against the current of secular culture and our own sinful flesh. That’s what he means when he says, “Don’t drift. Don’t drift. If you stop rowing against your own sinful nature, you will drift toward the Niagara Falls of destruction.”
I can hear someone say, “No, no, no, no. The Holy Spirit is like an outboard motor on the back of the boat. You don’t need to fight and work as a Christian. Just turn on the motor.” Well, you can say that if you ignore a lot of biblical texts. I think it would be better to say that the Holy Spirit is the strength in our back and our arms to keep us rowing.
So, the first thing the writer tells us about this danger is to warn us that it’s real, that drifting toward destruction and shipwreck of your faith are real possibilities if you don’t heed what he has said. “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” That’s Hebrews 2:3.
Here’s how he puts the warning in the next chapter. He says, “We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” That’s Hebrews 3:14. That’s the opposite of drifting. Hold firm to your confidence to the end. Don’t drift away. So, in the book of Hebrews, (1) God tells us to pay close attention to the precious gospel, and (2) he warns us of the dangers of not paying attention. (Piper)
