Hebrews 6:13-20

¹³ “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear an oath by no one greater, He swore by Himself, ¹⁴ saying, ‘indeed I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply you.’ ¹⁵ And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear an oath by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath serving as confirmation is an end of every dispute. ¹⁷ In the same way God, desiring even more to demonstrate to the heirs of the promise the fact that His purpose is unchangeable, confirmed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to hold firmly to the hope set before us. ¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and reliable and one which enters within the veil, ²⁰ where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Swore by Himself: The New Covenant is based not on humanity’s commitment to God: Salvation was achieved independently of humanity. We do not have a say in the extent and nature of our salvation. Instead, God promised Himself that He would save all who believe in Jesus. Whereas the Old Covenant blessings were contingent upon Israel’s responses to God, the New Covenant is based on God’s promise to Himself so that salvation could be guaranteed to all who believe. This means that our salvation is based completely on God. We are not part of the equation for salvation. Therefore, it can never be lost. 

So that by two unchangeable things: God has promised Himself that He would save all who would believe in Jesus. The Old Covenant revealed that humans were good at lying but God cannot lie. Therefore, the New Covenant is based not on human oaths but God’s oath to Himself. 

Anchor of the soul: This salvation which is based on God’s promise to Himself should leave no doubt about the Christians eternal security. Our salvation is based entirely on God’s work. We simply benefit from it. This is why salvation is an anchor for our soul. 

Melchizedek: Because Jesus is a High Priest outside of the Old Covenant, He is considered to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek who was also a High Priest outside of the law. Because Jesus is a High Priest outside of the law, our salvation is also outside of the law and based upon God’s promise.