"9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. "
Hebrews 6:9-15
Having uttered the stern warning of the previous verses, the Apostle assures his readers that they did not belong to that category in that 'things that accompany salvation' were evident in their lives (see 10). It is clear that what he has in mind is the quality and fruitfulness of Christian living rather than the possession of spiritual gifts. 'By their fruits shall ye know them', said our Lord, and this, ultimately, is the only possible proof of the reality of any profession of salvation. The force of this gracious assurance however, lies in 11, in the words 'unto the end'. For they were being tempted to turn back, after having begun so well, and revert to the old ways. And so Abraham is instanced as an example not only of faith but of patience, thus demonstrating that patience (patient enduring -15) is one of those things that accompany salvation. The evidence of the reality of Abraham's response to the call of God was that all along, and at every point of his experience, he was prepared to wait patiently for the fulfilment of God's faithful word to him. What Paul says of him in Romans 4 in another connection, is true of every subsequent experience in his life - 'he staggered not but was strong in faith…. being fully persuaded….' We may well call this the moral enterprise of faith. This is how faith 'works', and only when it works thus can we be sure that salvation has really taken root in our lives.