Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Chapter Links to Hebrew Study

Hebrews Intro
Hebrews 1
Hebrews 2
Hebrews 3
Hebrews 4
Hebrews 5
Hebrews 6
Hebrews 7
Hebrews 8
Hebrews 9
Hebrews 10
Hebrews 11
Hebrews 12
Hebrews 13
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Sunday, January 25, 2009

Hebrews 13

Some believe that Hebrews was a covering letter that accompanied the treatise to the Hebrews.


(1) Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters.


There were four words in Greek that we might translate love. Eros was one word for love. It described erotic love. It refers to sexual love. Storge was a second word for love. It refers to family love, the kind of love there is between a parent and child, or between family members in general. Agape is another word for love. It is the most powerful word for love in the New Testament, and is often used to describe God’s love towards us. It is a love that loves without changing. It is a self-giving love that gives without demanding or expecting re-payment. It is love so great that it can be given to the unlovable or unappealing. It is love that loves even when it is rejected. Agape love gives and loves because it wants to; it does not demand or expect repayment from the love given - it gives because it loves, it does not love in order to receive. Agape love isn’t about feelings, it is about decisions. But the word for love used here is philadelphia, which speaks of a brotherly friendship and affection. It is the love of deep friendship and partnership.


John 13:35: Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.


1 Thessalonians 4:9-10: But we don’t need to write to you about the importance of loving each other, for God himself has taught you to love one another. Indeed, you already show your love for all the believers throughout Macedonia. Even so, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you to love them even more.


Philippians 1:9: I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding.


1 John 3:14: If we love our Christian brothers and
sisters, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a
person who has no love is still dead.


(2) Don’t forget to show hospitality
to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without
realizing it!


In Genesis 18:2, Abraham received three strangers. Two of these
were ordinary angels, but one was "the Angel of Jehovah," - the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. One never knows when he extends a kindness
or a courtesy to a stranger what the results may be. Two points can be
drawn from this as it pertains to hospitality: 1) When we extend hospitality,
we don't know what kind of effect it will have. The Lord may use our acceptance
of others in some way that blesses them in an extraordinary way. We may
be doing something of extreme significance without knowing it, which may
be the best way to do something of extreme significance. 2) When we extend
hospitality, we are blessed. The angels who were entertained by Abraham
blessed him, relaying to him the promise of God. The physical need for
hospitality today may not be as great as it was in ancient time, but the
spiritual need is just as important in the development and strengthening
of spiritual ties. He says that when they come, they’ll look just
like us. We have no idea how many times the ordinary looking person who
appeared out of the blue to give us a hand had been standing at the throne
of God just a few seconds earlier. Nor do we know how many other times
it happened without our even noticing it. We should be more aware, and
thank all those who offer help as if they were ministering spirits.


In the ancient Roman world, “motels,” where they did exist, were notorious for immorality. It was important for traveling Christians to find open homes from other Christians. This was simply a practical way to let brotherly love continue.


(3) Remember those in prison, as if you
were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt
their pain in your own bodies.


The days of persecution against the church had already
begun when the Hebrew Epistle was written. Paul therefore exhorted his
brethren to remember them as being bound with them. They were to enter
sympathetically into their sufferings. By so doing, their hearts would
go out in compassionate love, and they would discover ways and means by
which they might assist those thus distressed. Today, this would be Christians
in China, Vietnam, North Korea and Muslim countries.


(4) Give honor to marriage, and remain
faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who
are *immoral and those who commit adultery.


*immoral: Greek "pornos"


Paul urged that the marriage relationship should be held
on the high and holy plane upon which God placed it in the very beginning.
Christian men and women are commanded by the Lord to be faithful and true
to their marriage vows. The husband and wife are to be faithful to each other. Immorality
and unfaithfulness should never be known among the people of God. The
exhortation of this verse is of great importance today when the marriage
relationship is looked upon very lightly. Satan and his allies want to destroy what marriage is and if we go down that road, marriage will disappear. We've already reached the point where over half the children born in this country are born out of wedlock.


This may have been said against the opinions of the Essenes who held marriage in little repute, and totally abstained from it themselves as a state of comparative imperfection. At the same time it shows the absurdity of the popish tenet, that marriage in the clergy is both dishonorable and sinful; which is, in fact, in opposition to the apostle, who says marriage is honorable in ALL


The Bible strictly condemns sex outside of the marriage commitment. But the Bible celebrates sexual love within the commitment of marriage, as in The Song of Solomon.


1 Timothy 4:1-3: Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead. They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth.


(5) Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has
said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”


A literal translation would read something like this:
"Not not would I desert you, neither not not would I forsake
you." This is poor English, of course, but if one wants to state
something emphatically, it's excellent Greek. The writer uses a double
negative in the first line and a triple negative in the second line. It's
hard to imagine a more powerful form of expression. The writer uses five
negatives in two lines to say that God's abandonment of us cannot
happen and will not happen.


Someone once asked millionaire Bernard Baruch (a millionaire
by the age of 30), “How much money does it take for a rich man to
be satisfied?” Baruch answered, “Just a million more than
he has.” Real contentment comes only when we trust in God to meet
our needs and to be our security. The antidote to greed and overspending is contentment.


Deuteronomy 31:6, 8: So be strong and courageous! Do
not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your
God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon
you.” Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord
will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither
fail you nor abandon you.”


Joshua 1:5: No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.


1 Chronicles 28:20: Then David continued, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work related to the Temple of the Lord is finished correctly.


Philippians 4:11-13: Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned (by experience) the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.


1 Timothy 6:6,10: Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.



(6) So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I
will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”


Psalm 118:6: The Lord is for me, so I will have
no fear. What can mere people do to me?


(7) Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all
the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith.


This clause should be translated, Remember your guides, who have spoken unto you the doctrine of God.


Philippians 3:17: Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example.


(8) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever.


He was "the Word" in all eternity - prior to the creation of
the universe. He then, at the proper time, brought into existence the
material worlds. Since then He has been controlling their movements. He
is working all things together for the good of those who love God during
this present age (Romans 8:28). He will return some day, and having lifted
the curse, reign for a thousand year on this earth. After the Millennium
the present universe will pass out of existence. He will then create the
eternal heavens and the eternal earth - as we learn in Revelation, chapters
21 and 22. Thus, the present heavens and earth will pass away, but the
Lord Jesus Christ will remain the same. His love is unchangeable. His
powers are unabated. He is able to meet the situation of the people of
God under all circumstances and at all times. Thus, we can believe with
perfect assurance that He cares for us and that we are His.


Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever was a reminder to the Hebrews of the faithfulness of Jesus. The verse does not describe stony, static sameness, but a living, dynamic constancy. Bruce wrote, "Yesterday Jesus 'offered up entreaties and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death' (Hebrews 5:7); today he represents his people in the presence of God, a high priest who has a fellow-feeling with them in their weakness, because he 'endured trial in all respects like' themselves, 'while remaining free from sin' (4:15); for ever he lives, this same Jesus, 'to intercede for them' (7:25). His help, his grace, his power, his guidance are permanently at his people's disposal; why then should they lose heart?" Thus, the author is encouraging us that Jesus never abandons his role of pioneer-priest.


This verse, by the way, is often misused today. There are those who say because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, he must inevitably do the same in every age that he has done in the past. There are those who use this to defend tongues, faith-healing, etc. Because Christ healed all those who came to him, they insist all who come today must inevitably be healed. But remember this verse does not say Jesus Christ does the same, he is the same. His doing may change according to the times, but his character never changes, it is always the same


Hebrews 1:10-12: He also says to the Son, “In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with your hands. They will perish, but you remain forever. They will wear out like old clothing. You will fold them up like a cloak and discard them like old clothing. But you are always the same; you will live forever.


(9) So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from
God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.


These refers to those who insisted on Judaistic restrictions of diet as having spiritual value. This is seen in our own day in such practices as giving up meat for Lent, burning candles for certain observances, counting beads, or any form or ceremony upon which some religious value is placed. It also tells us to be wary of doctrines brought in after the conclusion of the New Testament - Mormonism, Islam, etc.


(10) We have an altar from which the
priests in the Tabernacle have no right to eat.


All through this letter, the writer has told us again and again that such observances are simply empty shadows; they are pointing toward something, but the something they point toward is the real value, not the shadows. You cannot have both the shadow and the substance; it is either one or the other. You cannot feed on the reality if you place value on the mere picture. You cannot have both.


These Jewish Christians had probably been branded as illegitimate by other Jews because they did not continue the Levitical system. But the writer to the Hebrews insists that we have an altar, and it is an altar that those who insist on clinging to the Levitical system have no right to. Essentially, our altar is the cross - the centerpiece of the Christian gospel and understanding (1 Corinthians 1:18-24; 2:1-5).


(11) Under the old system, the high priest brought the blood of animals
into the Holy Place as a sacrifice for sin, and the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp.


To eat from the altar is to believe that Christ came in the flesh and that He offered His flesh up for the forgiveness of our sins...we thereby, receive, embrace, and possess the blessings procured by His offering; which is done be means of faith (none but the priests were allowed to eat from the altar under the previous economy).


The offerings on the annual Day of Atonement, as prescribed in Leviticus 16. The high priest would take the blood of a bull and a goat and sprinkle it on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant inside the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle. Unlike many other animals offered for sacrifice, which the priests would be permitted to eat, these animals were not for eating. They were taken outside the camp of Israel and burned as a symbol of the disgrace of sin, borne symbolically by these animals. The point is that if the priests who served the tabernacle had no right to eat from the altar on the Day of Atonement, how much less do they have a right to eat from the altar of the cross, which they don't adhere to but which fulfills all the imagery foreshadowed by the Day of Atonement? Jesus was rejected by the religious institutions of his day—by the priests and elders of the people. He was rejected as Messiah, and he was executed as a criminal outside the walls of the city. We should expect in our day as well to find Christ outside the structures of rich and powerful religious institutions that exist increasingly to serve themselves.


Leviticus 6:30: But the offering for sin may not be eaten if its blood was brought into the Tabernacle as an offering for purification in the Holy Place. It must be completely burned with fire.


Leviticus 16:27: The bull and the goat presented as sin offerings, whose blood Aaron takes into the Most Holy Place for the purification ceremony, will be carried outside the camp. The animals’ hides, internal organs, and dung are all to be burned.


(12) So also Jesus suffered and died outside the city gates to make his
people holy by means of his own blood.


This introduces a concluding explanation of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement imagery. He is both the high priest, who makes the offering, and the offering itself. His blood "sanctifies" us, making us holy to the Lord, and like the animals who were burned outside the camp of Israel in the wilderness, Jesus suffered outside the gate of Jerusalem. His blood brings out all the beauty that God created in us, and he makes us radiant for relationship with God (9:13-14, 10:10, 14, 29). Suffering outside Jerusalem, banished from the holy precincts of the temple, he bore the disgrace of sin.


(13) So let us go out to him, outside the camp, and bear the disgrace he
bore.


That is, without the camp of Judaism, without the law of Israel, and without that religious system; let's go outside of it. Those who have `boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus' (Hebrews 10:19), will also have grace given to go to Him without the camp, leaving behind the types and shadows that could never bring to maturity nor touch the conscience.


By leaving the city, so to speak, we leave behind that which is comfortable, familiar and safe. We leave the old ways of dealing with sin. We leave behind the old ways of atonement, which depended on a set way of doing things. In the old way, we depend upon ourselves to deal with our shortcomings. We either try to do better or we punish ourselves with guilt. It's a burdensome way, but at least we maintain the illusion of control. So we're drawn to it. In going out to Jesus, and accepting his work of atonement, we are relieved of our burden, but we also give up the illusion of control. It can be frightening. We may suffer "reproach." Others won't be able to control us the way they used to, so we may displease them. We may have a difficult time finding friends; people of passion often do.


The writer therefore provides them with motivation for leaving the "camp" of Israel, so to speak. It concerns seeking an entirely different city. The city of Jerusalem, and the temple within it, is not lasting. Not many years after the time of this writing, in 70 A.D., Jerusalem was sacked by Rome and the temple was destroyed, just as Jesus predicted (Matthew 24:1-2). In the interest of safety and comfort, the readers were tempted to seek out Jerusalem and the temple, but all they provided was an illusion of safety and comfort. They didn't offer the real presence of the Lord. They didn't offer real forgiveness. Now that Christ, the reality behind those symbols, has come, those symbols are no longer necessary. To cling to them as if they were life itself is death itself. The writer is saying that if you want to return to Jerusalem and the temple, you're returning to something that isn't lasting. And, yes, going out to Jesus, outside the camp, may cost you, but you're not giving up anything other than that which is doomed for destruction.


(14) For this world is not our permanent
home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.


The Jews looked to Jerusalem as their spiritual center. In a figurative
manner we too have a city. Ours is not an abiding one here and now; but
we have one that is to come. We are walking
by faith and not by sight. We are not interested in the material things
of life now. On the contrary we are seeking that city which has foundations
whose maker and builder is God. Like the patriarchs of old we are walking
by faith.


By leaving the city, not only are you not losing anything, you are gaining
plenty. The word translated "for" in verse 14 is an emphatic,
as is the word translated "looking forward." We are seeking something
very intensely. An intense desire for another kind of city draws us outside
the gates of the present city. This is a heavenly city. It is what Abraham
and the other believers in Hebrews 11 were seeking and desiring (11:13-16).
It's a different kind of Jerusalem, what John calls "new Jerusalem"
(Revelation 21:2). When John is given a vision of this city, he says,
"I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." (Revelation 21:22). The new Jerusalem is filled with the actual presence of the Lord.


(15) Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise
to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.


The Jews believed that, in the time of the Messiah, all sacrifices, except the sacrifice of praise, should cease. To this maxim the apostle appears to allude; and, understood in this way, his words are much more forcible. This was, in effect, quoting the authority of one of their own maxims, that now was the time of the Messiah; that Jesus was that Messiah; that the Jewish sacrificial system was now abolished; and that no sacrifice would now be accepted of God, except the sacrifice of praise for the gift of his Son.


Romans 12:1: And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.


(16) And don’t forget to do good and to share with those in need.
These are the sacrifices that please God.


(17) Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is
to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for
your benefit.


(18) Pray for us, for our conscience is clear and we want to live honorably
in everything we do.


(19) And especially pray that I will be able to come back to you soon.


(20) Now may the God of peace— who brought up from the dead our
Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood—


Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd; I give my life for the sheep" (John 10:11).


Ezekiel 34:23: And I will set over them one shepherd, my servant David. He will feed them and be a shepherd to them.


(21) may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. *May he produce
**in you, through the power of Jesus Christ, every good thing that is pleasing to him. All glory to him forever and ever! Amen.


*May he produce
in you: May He make you fully matured, in every good work to do His will.


**in you: Some manuscripts read in us.


(22) I urge you, dear brothers and sisters, to pay attention to what
I have written in this *brief exhortation.


*brief exhortation: Would you consider the letter to the Hebrews "brief"?


2 Peter 3:15: And remember, the Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—


(23) I want you to know that our brother Timothy has been *released from
jail. If he comes here soon, I will bring him with me to see you.


*released from
jail: Greek - apolelumenon - Is sent away. There is no evidence that Timothy had been imprisoned. It is possible that the apostle refers here to his being sent into Macedonia, Philippians 2:19-24, in order that he might bring the apostle an account of the affairs of the Church in that country.


(24) Greet all your leaders and all the believers there. The believers
from Italy send you their greetings.


   It is also possible to interpret the phrase to mean "those Italians who are here with me send greetings to you back home in Rome." This has been the more usual interpretation and is the traditional way the book has been understood.


(25) May God’s grace be with you all.


2 Thessalonians 3:17-18: Here is my greeting in my own handwriting—Paul. I do this in all my letters to prove they are from me. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.


Philippians 4:23: May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.



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Sunday, December 21, 2008

Hebrews 12

   Paul's still addressing the people to whom he spoke in chapter 10 who seemed to be struggling with the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ on the cross.


(1) Therefore, since *we are surrounded by such a huge **crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every ***weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the ****race God has set before us.


*we: Throughout this chapter, Paul is including himself!


**crowd: cloud


The Fight, J. White: Run with Endurance: www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=974

   Hebrews 12:1 tells us to “run with endurance” the race set before
us. George Matheson wrote, “We commonly associate patience with lying
down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet
there is a patience that I believe to be harder—the patience that can
run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse
fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength
greater still: it is the power to work under stress; to have a great weight
at your heart and still run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still
perform the daily tasks. It is a Christlike thing! The hardest thing is that
most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in the sickbed but in the
street.” To wait is hard, to do it with “good courage” is
harder!


   Every athletic team with a winning tradition feels the pressure to live up to the standards of earlier, successful teams. That pressure is especially present when members of the former teams attend the games as spectators to evaluate the new kids. Part of the message of this verse is that every Christian lives within an historical tradition of faithfulness and every Christian is responsible to hand that tradition of faith and obedience on to another generation. We are who we are as Christians because of Paul and Martin Luther and John Wesley and a host of less known pastors, teachers, and Christian models. Part of the responsibility of faithfulness is not only faithfulness to God but to the long living stream of faithful people who delivered the faith to us and expect us to pass it on to others.


   The Old Testament saints witness to us of the reality of a lifetime of faithfulness. God is pleased with them. They are testimonies of endurance and patient faith. Those readers of Hebrews who might be engrossed in their own trouble should be encouraged by the similar experience of Old Testament saints. They ran well and died well; they looked forward to a better resurrection (11:35) and God commended them. The message is clear - let us endure well so we too may have such a commendation.


***weight: Paul was implying that successful perseverance under pressure would require that his readers put aside harmful habits and distracting activities and attitudes. Remember that the Greek race runners ran naked - they wanted nothing to hold them back.


****race: Greek agon. The early Greek games included foot races, jumping, discus throwing, javelin throwing, wrestling, boxing, and chariot races. These contests were called agon in Greek. Similarly, in 1 Timothy 6:12, Paul encourages Timothy to Fight the good fight for the true faith and in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Paul, in his later years, declares, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. In the phrase, “fight the good fight,” the Greek verb is agonizo and the noun is agon from which we get our English words agonize and agony. Paul states that he has “agonized” and won the “agon.” Life is a marathon, not a 100-meter dash! A marathon demands sacrifice, self-denial and self-discipline and requires endurance to the end.


(2) We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who *initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.


*initiates and perfects our faith: Or Jesus, the *originator and **perfecter of our faith.


*originator: Greek archegos. "Author" in the King James Version. Translated "Captain" in Hebrews 2:10 and "Prince (of life)" in Acts 3:15.


**perfecter: Greek teleiotes: completer, consummater, finisher. "Finisher" in the King James Version. Hebrews 10:14: For by that one offering he forever made perfect [teleiotes]those who are being made holy.


(3) Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.


   Some manuscripts read Think of how people hurt themselves by opposing him.


(4) After all, you have not yet given your lives in your *struggle against sin.


*struggle against sin: Struggling not against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12). These are all a part of the agon we are called to fight, too.


(5) And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.


(6) For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”


Proverbs 3:11-12: My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you. For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.


Deuteronomy 8:5: Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.


(7) As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father?


   The beginning of verse 7 is difficult to translate. Literally, it says either, "Into training you endure" (an indicative statement), or, "Into training endure" (a command). However it's translated, it indicates a strong connection between training and endurance - specifically, endurance in the faith (10:36, 12:1-3).


(8) If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.


(9) Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, *and live forever?


*and live forever: Or and really live?


(10) For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness.


Romans 8:28-29: And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.


(11) No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.


   If God does not require repeated sacrifices to renew salvation, how does God deal with disobedient believers? The answer is chastisement. When we disobey God, he doesn't expect another sacrifice to be offered by the offender as the Jews were accustomed to doing; he expects a confession of sin. 1 John 1:9 says simply, "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness." But what if we don't confess our rebellion against God? Well, right at the heart of this chapter 12 are verses 6-8, "the Lord disciplines those he loves". God uses chastisement, not loss of salvation, to correct believers...just like an earthly father uses chastisement to correct his children.


   What could be more loving than a God who gives us hard experiences and trials in order that we might in the long run become closer to Him, and closer to His very likeness? The goal of His discipline, rebuke, and punishment, is intimacy with Him!


   God loves us too much to leave us in a
place of only superficial righteousness, peace, and holiness. He wants us to have the real thing, so time and time

again He sabotages our plans and perfect little lives that we are trying to make for ourselves that we might share in
the real thing in Him. That we might have a real righteousness, a real peace, and real holiness, and not the
counterfeits we tirelessly try and produce day after day. It is possible that the readers of Hebrews had allowed themselves to accuse God of not treating them well. Perhaps some had said, "If God really loves us, why does he allow these things to happen to us?" Such questions may be part of the honest struggle to understand the confusion of the painful things of life. But the answer is not to allow anger and misunderstanding toward God to fester. The answer is that God has higher goals for us than simply our ease and pleasure.


(12) So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees.


   Verse 12 draws upon a partial quotation of Isaiah 35:3 to command them to strengthen your drooping hands and weakened knees. The author pictures his readers as boxers who are staggering and dropping their defenses in weakness. The command, though, is not to each of them to tough it out and to try harder. The command is to all of the readers to strengthen each other. This is a command to encourage each other. Brace each other up. Get each other's defense back up. Help each other stay in the battle and continue the race. The use of Isaiah 35:3 is also important because the following verse, Isaiah 35:4, promises that God will come and deliver his people. The promise of Scripture is that God will help us through the persecution, pressures, and problems of life. But until God arrives we are responsible to strengthen each other. We are not in the battle by or for ourselves. We are a part of a community of faith and as community we are responsible to keep all of us moving ahead until God intervenes on our behalf.


(13) Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.


Proverbs 4:26: Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.


Psalm 119:105: Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.


   God's Word illuminates the path of our lives. If we keep God's Word shining along the way, then we will be far less likely to trip. We will not be easily deceived. Because we are following the light, we will see what the light reveals in the path ahead of us. It is only when we turn the light off (before we have actually arrived at our destination) that something could spring up in the dark and trip us. Therefore, if we keep the light of God's truth shining brightly ahead of us, then we have a greater chance of avoiding deception.


A Call to Listen to God


(14) *Work at living in peace with everyone, and *work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord.


*Work at = Pursue. The word pursue is a strong word that is often translated "persecute" or "hunt" in other contexts. It denotes an intensity in spiritual matters that is rare in contemporary Christianity. The author knows that we cannot survive pressure and problems with a casual attitude. Intense commitment to total obedience is the only way a Christian wins victory in the face of pressure.


(15) Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.


(16) Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright as the firstborn son for a single meal.


(17) You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears.


(18) You have not come to *a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai.


*a physical mountain: Greek to something that can be touched.


(19) For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking.


(20) They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”


Exodus 19:13.


(21) Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”


Deuteronomy 9:19: feared that the furious anger of the Lord, which turned him against you, would drive him to destroy you. But again he listened to me.


(22) No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering.


(23) You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect.


   Wow! What a verse! First, it says my name is written in heaven. Second it says I've come to God. Third it says that our saved loved ones who preceded us are in heaven now and have been made perfect!


(24) You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the *new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.


*new covenant: The New Testament uses two different Greek words for "new." "Neos"
means new in contrast to old. "Kainos" means "new" in the
sense of "unique". Hebrews 12:24, which identifies Jesus Christ as
the mediator of the new covenant, is the only scripture where "neos"
is used in reference to the new covenant. Every other passage uses "kainos."


   The terror of Mt. Sinai did not describe their faith. Yet they were being tempted to abandon Mt. Zion to return to Mt. Sinai. Paul has done his best to paint the options clearly. A return to Mt. Sinai, to Judaism, would be a tragic loss because all the advantages of the superiority of Christ that were developed in chapters 1-10 would be lost. Faithful loyalty to Mt. Zion, as verse 24 makes clear, means loyalty to Christ.


   Verse 24 powerfully describes the grace of God that is at work in Christ. Paul says that we have come to Jesus and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. The blood of Abel spoke a word of isolation and hatred between brothers. The blood of Abel spoke a word of guilt and condemnation before God. The blood of Abel speaks in all of our lives at the point of our failure to love God with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.


   But the blood of Abel is not the only blood that speaks. The blood of Christ speaks a word of pardon and cleansing as we stand before God. The blood of Christ speaks a word of reconciliation and love as we face each other. The blood of Christ speaks a word of re-creation that graciously calls us forward to love of God and love for each other. The blood of Christ speaks the grace of God into our lives. That grace could enable the first readers to remain true to Christ in spite of persecution. It also can enable us to faithfully persevere in the face of any pressures we may experience.


(25) Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!


(26) When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.”


Haggai 2:6: “For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land.


(27) This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.


(28) Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.


(29) For our God is a devouring fire.



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Sunday, July 27, 2008

Hebrews 11

Great Examples of Faith


TOPIC: How to walk closer to God.



  1. Acknowledge sin, ask forgiveness, accept Him.

  2. All else flows from faith.


(1) *Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us *assurance about things we cannot see.


*Faith – “pistis” in Greek. Also means “belief”.


**Assurance = “hupostasis” in Greek = “stand under” = “substance” in the King James = foundation.


Ephesians 2:8 (NLT): God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.


Romans 10:6-11,17: But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”... So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.


(2) Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.


(3) By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.


Colossians 1:16: for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him.


(4) It was by faith that *Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long **dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith.


*Abel – Abel is the 1st example of faith. Adam and Eve walked by sight – like doubting Thomas. Abel means “exaltation”.


**dead – What will we “speak” after we’ve died?


   How did Abel know what God required? Adam told him and he had Adam’s example of bringing animal sacrifice to the guarded entrance to Eden.


Genesis 4:2-7: Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a *gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a **gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected. “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.


*Cain's gift: Cain didn’t even bring the first fruits or the best. Why did Cain even bother? Not done in faith, but ritual. Cain’s way today leaves out Christ, denies His resurrection and divinity & saving power. Cain’s way is “liberalism” and ritualism”. It led to even deeper sin – jealousy, anger then murder. Proverbs 14:12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.


**Abel's gift: The first born; the very best. Abel’s faith recognized his sin and his need for forgiveness – Hebrews 9:22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.


   Abel's faith is put first because he believed God as to the first great fundamental truth that comes before all others: peace with God; access to God; worship of God; and all this through the blood of an accepted substitute. Abel and Cain must both have heard what sacrifice they were to bring.


   Why did God allow the righteous Abel to die? So, he’d be a witness through the ages. All religions in the world, may be reduced to these two – God’s way and man’s way.
These two words sum up and embody the two ways -- "DONE" and "DO."


   How did Abel and Cain understand that Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and not Cain’s? Because God lit the fire on Abel’s altar. Examples in the OT:


Leviticus 9:20-25: He placed these fat portions on top of the breasts of these animals and burned them on the altar. Aaron then lifted up the breasts and right thighs as a special offering to the Lord, just as Moses had commanded. After that, Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. Then, after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down from the altar. Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the Lord appeared to the whole community. Fire blazed forth from the Lord’s presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground.


Judges 6:20-21: The angel of God said to him, “Place the meat and the unleavened bread on this rock, and pour the broth over it.” And Gideon did as he was told. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and bread with the tip of the staff in his hand, and fire flamed up from the rock and consumed all he had brought. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.


I Chronicles 21:26: David built an altar there to the Lord and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And when David prayed, the Lord answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar.


2 Chronicles 7:1-3 When Solomon finished praying, fire flashed down from heaven and burned up the burnt offerings and sacrifices, and the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple. The priests could not enter the Temple of the Lord because the glorious presence of the Lord filled it. When all the people of Israel saw the fire coming down and the glorious presence of the Lord filling the Temple, they fell face down on the ground and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!”


I Kings 18:30-39: Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.” After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench. At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.” Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”


   God made faith the condition for salvation and being made righteous because unbelief was the cause of man’s fall! See Genesis 3. Only by believing God can the sinner be acquitted and pronounced “not guilty” and, thus, made “righteous”.


   How does Abel speak to us today? His faith tells us that there is no substitute for faith. His faith tells us that you can’t add to faith. It is not works. It is not feelings. It is not experiences. It is not repentance. It is not love. But it is faith and faith only.
It is believing what He has told me about myself, not only as a ruined sinner but as a ruined creature; not only about what I have done, but what I am. It is believing what He has told me about Christ, the Savior Whom He has provided, and anointed, and given and sent; and that this Savior is able to save. Note that Cain was religious, but his sacrifice was not acceptable. How can we apply the lesson of Cain’s faith to ourselves?


(5) It was by faith that Enoch was taken up to heaven without dying—“he disappeared, because God took him.” For before he was taken up, he was known as a person who pleased God.


(6) And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.


(7) It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.


(8) It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going.


(9) And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.


(10) Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.


(11) It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise.


(12) And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.


(13) All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth.


(14) Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own.


(15) If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back.


(16) But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.


(17 It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God’s promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac,


(18) even though God had told him, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.”


(19) Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.


(20) It was by faith that Isaac promised blessings for the future to his sons, Jacob and Esau.


(21) It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.


(22) It was by faith that Joseph, when he was about to die, said confidently that the people of Israel would leave Egypt. He even commanded them to take his bones with them when they left.


(23) It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.


(24) It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.


(25) He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.


(26) He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.


(27) It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.


(28) It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.


(29) It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.


(30) It was by faith that the people of Israel marched around Jericho for seven days, and the walls came crashing down.


(31) It was by faith that Rahab the prostitute was not destroyed with the people in her city who refused to obey God. For she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.


(32) How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.


(33) By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions,


(34) quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.


(35) Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.


(36) Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons.


(37) Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated.


(38) They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.


(39) All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.


(40) For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.



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Sunday, June 22, 2008

Hebrews 10

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All


   Along with Hebrews 6, Hebrews 10 is a favorite of the conditional security folks, even though within the chapter itself the writer clearly asserts that by His one sacrifice, the Lord has made us perfect forever. Man's way is to write conditional clauses into contracts that give him an "out" if things go wrong. Among themselves, people who deal with legal documents call these "weasel clauses" based on the idea that it's OK to "weasel" out of a deal that goes bad or that you change your mind about. So it's natural that man should look for God's weasel clauses, even taking verses out of context here and there in his attempt to prove that he's found them. We all remember being warned that a deal that looks too good to be true probably is, and let's face it, being saved by grace just for believing that Jesus died for our sins looks too good to be true. We forget that the Lord already knows how His contract with us will go, so He doesn't need any weasel clauses. And He didn't put a performance condition on us anyway, asking only that we accept by faith that He's done this for us. And since He can't lie, if His word says that we're saved unconditionally even once then that's the way it is, and anything that seems to us to contradict or modify it has to be a misunderstanding on our part. This bears repeating. If we find a verse that seems to contradict or modify God's promise that we're saved unconditionally, it means that we've misunderstood that verse. It doesn't mean that God changed His mind about it, or clarified it, or explained it in greater detail. It means that we've misunderstood. Period. Otherwise His word can't be trusted, and we'd have to go through it verse by verse, looking for weasel clauses on all His other promises, too. - Kelley, Jack, Gracethrufaith Incorporated. "The Epistle To
The Hebrews Part 7" [Online] Available www.gracethrufaith.com/selah/spiritual-life/the-epistle-to-the-hebrews-part-7


Galatians 3:10-13: But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” This way of faith is very different from the way of law, which says, “It is through obeying the law that a person has life.” But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”


(1) The old system under the *law of Moses was only a **shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship.


Hebrews 8:5: They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain.”

 Colossians 2:13-17: You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.

For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality.


*law: The law, as used here, indicates that it is not merely certain types of offering and sacrifices, or selected regulations concerning priests, nor some limited portion of the old covenant that was abrogated by Christ, but the entire system.


**shadow: A shadow, not the very image
brings into sharp contrast the old and new covenants, the old being likened to a shadow, and the new to the very image of the heavenly things. Just as a man's shadow would reveal far less information about him than a three-dimensional color photograph; just so, the shadow of the heavenly things as revealed in the law is far inferior to the knowledge of God and his divine fellowship available in the new covenant.


(2) If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared.


(3) But instead, those sacrifices actually reminded them of their sins year after year.


   Whenever the Hebrew in real penitence and contrition of heart brought any sacrifice to make atonement for his sins in order that he might be acceptable to God, he was conscious within his very soul that the sacrifice and the blood thereof could never adequately atone for his sins; for his conscience was not cleansed. The same sacrifices therefore had to be repeated yearly. In view of these facts, declared the apostle, it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sin.


(4) For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away *sins.


*sins: 1 John 1:9: But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness (unrighteousness).


(5) That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But *you have given me a body to offer.


1 Samuel 15:22-23: But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”

Psalm 40:6-8: You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand— you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings. Then I said, “Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.”

Isaiah 66:2-4: My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken! “I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word. But those who choose their own ways— delighting in their detestable sins— will not have their offerings accepted. When such people sacrifice a bull, it is no more acceptable than a human sacrifice. When they sacrifice a lamb, it’s as though they had sacrificed a dog! When they bring an offering of grain, they might as well offer the blood of a pig. When they burn frankincense, it’s as if they had blessed an idol. I will send them great trouble— all the things they feared. For when I called, they did not answer. When I spoke, they did not listen. They deliberately sinned before my very eyes and chose to do what they know I despise. - So, when the high priest who tried Jesus was conducting his ceremonies, it was meaningless!

Jeremiah 7:21-23: This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Take your burnt offerings and your other sacrifices and eat them yourselves! When I led your ancestors out of Egypt, it was not burnt offerings and sacrifices I wanted from them. This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’

Hosea 6:6: I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

Amos 5:21-24: “I hate all your show and pretense— the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.

Micah 6:6-8: What can we bring to the Lord? What kind of offerings should we give him? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Matthew 9:13: Then he added, “Now go and learn the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”


*you have given me a body to offer: In the original Hebrew the Messiah said, " My ears hath thou opened" The marginal reading is, "ears hast thou digged (or pierced) for me." This language, an echo of the circumstances set forth in Exodus 22:1-6, assumes that Messiah has a human body and speaks of His complete surrender to do the will of God in terms of a Hebrew slave who willingly entered into a voluntary state of bondage.


(6) You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin.


(7) Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me *in the Scriptures.’”


Psalm 40:6-8 (Greek version).


*in the Scriptures: Greek: "in the roll of the book." Anciently, books were written on skins and rolled up. Among the Romans these were called volumina, from volvo, I roll; and the Torah, in the Jewish synagogues, is still written in this way. There are two wooden rollers; on one they roll on, on the other they roll off, as they proceed in reading. The book mentioned here must be the Torah, or five books of Moses; for in David's time no other part of Divine revelation had been committed to writing. This whole book speaks about Christ, and his accomplishing the will of God; not only in, The seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent, and, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, but in all the sacrifices and sacrificial rites mentioned in the law.


(8) First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses).


(9) Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect.


(10) For God’s will was for us to be *made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.


*made holy: sanctified


1 Peter 2:24: He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. ("healed" and "saved" are the same words in the Greek.)


(11) Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.


(12) But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.


   If the Jewish readers of Hebrews were to return to the old Jewish system, they would be implying that Christ's sacrifice wasn't enough to forgive their sins. Adding anything to his sacrifice or taking anything from it denies its validity. Any system to gain salvation through good deeds is essentially rejecting the significance of Christ's death and spurning the Holy Spirit's work. Beware of anyone who tells you that Christ's sacrifice still leaves you incomplete or that something else is needed to make you acceptable to God. When we believe in Christ, he makes us completely right with God. Our loving relationship leads us to follow him in willing obedience and service. He is pleased with our service, but we cannot be saved by our good deeds.

Ephesians 2:8-10: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Colossians 2:10: So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.


   The old priests STOOD, as servants; Jesus SITS, enthroned. They repeated over and over the same rites; Jesus made one perfect offering for ever. They served; Christ reigns. They could not procure forgiveness; Christ removes our sins even from the memory of God! They offered enough blood during the long centuries of Judaism to have washed away a city; but the blood of Christ is more efficacious than an ocean of such blood.


Hebrews 1:3: The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.

 Hebrews 8:1: Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven.


(13) There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet.


(14) For by that one offering he forever *made perfect those who are being made holy.


*made perfect: The theme of Hebrews is the perfecting of those who are already sanctified.


(15) And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. For he says,


(16) “This is the new covenant I will make with my people *on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”


*on that day: Greek after those days. So, when does this take place? Has it already taken place? Can anyone claim to have the law in their heart and written on their minds? Are gentiles included in this, or is this just for Israel?


Jeremiah 31:33: “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.


Hebrews 8:8,10: But when God found fault with the people, he said: “The day is coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. ... But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.


(17) Then he says, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.”


Jeremiah 31:34: And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”


(18) And when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices.



THE SACRIFICE OF THE MASS


   The importance of understanding the final and complete nature of the heavenly offering of the blood of Christ for human sins is so great, and any denial of such a sublime truth, even though unintentional, is of such terrible consequence to mankind that we are led to inquire here as to the validity of the commonly held view that Christ's blood is DAILY sacrificed in such a thing as the mass. One cannot help viewing with alarm the inattention to such a thing as this by so many able and learned commentators on the New Testament, especially in this century. The writers sought in vain among modern scholars for a firm word on this subject; and not until Robertson's mild question, "One wonders how priests who claim that `the mass' is the sacrifice of Christ's body repeated explain this verse!" The older commentators were more diligent to set forth the truth; and, in order to emulate their worthy example, we here register the words of the inimitable James Macknight on this subject as they were quoted in the words of Adam Clarke's great commentary.


   If (says Dr. Macknight) after remission is granted to the sinner, there is no need of any more sacrifice for sins; and if Christ, by offering himself once has perfected forever the sanctified (Hebrews 10:14), the sacrifice of the mass, as it is called, about which the Roman clergy employ themselves so incessantly; and to which the papists trust for the pardon of their sins, has no foundation in Scripture. Nay, it is evident impiety, as it proceeds upon the supposition that the offering of the body of Christ "once" is not sufficient to procure the pardon of sin, but must be frequently repeated. If they reply that their mass is only the representation and commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ, they give up the cause and renounce an article of their faith, established by the Council of Trent, which in session xxii, canons 1, 3, declared "the sacrifice of the mass to be true and propitiatory sacrifice for sin." I say, give up the cause; for the representation and commemoration of a sacrifice is not a sacrifice. Further, it cannot be affirmed that the body of Christ is offered in the mass, unless it can be said that, as often as it is offered, "Christ has suffered death"; for the apostle says expressly (Hebrews 9:25,26) that if Christ offered himself often, "He must have suffered since the foundation of the world." - A. T. Robertson, Word Pictures of the New Testament (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1932), page 409.



A Call to Persevere


(19) And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.


(20) *By his death, Jesus opened a new and *life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.


Matthew 27:51: At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart,

Hebrews 6:19-20: This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.


*By his death: Greek Through his flesh.


*life-giving way: John 14:6: Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. - Could be translated I am the true and living way.


(21) And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,


(22) let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.



   Isn’t it interesting what we are commanded to do here? It is what Israel, as a people, was explicitly commanded not to do. You remember Mt. Sinai? What was the command? “Do not draw near the mountain or I will strike you down.” “If man or beast touches this mountain, I will strike you down.” Now what is the New Covenant command? “Go right in.”


   By the way, he does give four conditions. Look back at the verse again. Four things: Draw near with a true heart. What is he saying? Come with sincerity. Come with genuineness.


   Secondly: Draw near in full assurance of faith. Have a godly faith confidence as you come to the Lord. A confidence that is based upon your apprehension of the significance of what Jesus has done for you on the cross. You come with a confidence based on what Jesus has done.


   Thirdly, you come with a clean heart. That is, you come with a conscience which is realizes that you have been declared not guilty by God because of what Jesus has done on the cross. Come with a conscience that understands what justification by grace through faith means. Come with a conscience that knows what it means that God has pronounced over you and over all your sins: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation.”


   And then he says fourthly, “You come with washed bodies.” He is not just talking about baptism there. He is talking about the purification of life that is accomplished by the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that is symbolized in the washing of baptism. So he says to these Christians, ‘You come in this way. You come with a sincere heart. And you come with a full assurance. And you come with hearts that have been cleansed because of the justifying work of the Lord Jesus. And you come with lives that have been transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit. That is how you come to God.’ But the main thrust of verse 22 is that we draw near with holy boldness, with full assurance.


   What is the author of Hebrews saying here? He is saying that he knows that it is sadly possible for Christians not to realize the blessings that are theirs in Christ. And he is saying, “Don’t do that. Don’t walk through this life as a believer and not realize the significance of what Jesus has done for you. Don’t waste this time. Don’t go for years and then realize what you have been given in the Lord Jesus Christ.” He is saying, “Draw near with a full assurance into the presence of God.”


- Duncan, J. Ligon, Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi. "Let Us Draw Near to God" [Online] Available www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/hebrews/Vol%202and3.htm/15aheb.htm



(23) Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.


(24) Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.


   One of the great regrets of life is when we have had the opportunity to encourage someone and we realized too late that we didn't and we can’t do anything about it. The author of Hebrews is saying, “Christian, encourage one another, because there is going to come a time when it will be too late to do that.” And that time is coming. It is the end when Christ comes again and it can come in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the Last Trumpet. When it comes, you be found hanging on, drawing near, loving one another.


(25) And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.


   The Greek word that is used here and translated as “meeting together” (and taken to mean church service) is “Episunagoge.” Episunagoge means: “a complete collection.” If a complete collection means a collection of ALL the believers or ALL the brethren or ALL the saints, when has there ever been a church service that contained ALL the believers? The only assembly of ALL the believers was on the day of Pentecost, in the upper room. When has there been one since? When will there ever be a collecting or gathering of the WHOLE CHURCH? “Epi” indicates and upward or lifting motion. So episunagoge could be translated as an upward collecting of all the believers. What does that sound like to you? Next, I would like to look at the one other location in the entire bible, where the word “episunagoge” was used. “Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and how we will be gathered to meet him. Don’t be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don’t believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, a revelation, or a letter supposedly from us.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 is clearly speaking of what we refer to as “the rapture.” The time of the gathering of ALL the believers. this is clearly speaking of the rapture. I think that there were many Christians who believed that Jesus was going to be coming right back to get them all. That as time progressed, they became frustrated and were giving up hope that Jesus was ever coming again. They were starting to lose faith in that promise of His coming! I think that what was being said here was simply this, “Don’t give up! Don’t stop believing that our Lord is going to gather us up some day like some people have! Encourage one another, encourage one another even more as you see the time coming!”


(26) Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.


Willful, Determined Renunciation: Verse 26 speaks of trampling underfoot the precious Son of God. This
warning, along with Hebrews 6:1-8, has caused untold agony to many sensitive
Christians. It’s as if Satan uses Hebrews 6:4 and 10:26 to create hopelessness
and despair. But what do these passages teach? F. F. Bruce points out that they
refer to people who have deliberately abandoned reliance on the perfect sacrifice
of Christ. Raymond Brown said that theirs is not a single act of falling away,
but a state of willful, determined renunciation of all dependence on Christ’s
atoning work. God has no other plan for saving those who regard Christ’s
sacrifice as useless.


   Once again, we come to a passage with very stern warnings. And this is one of those passages that has been an occasion of a great deal of controversy over the course of years in the Christian church. In the early church, for instance, this passage which was used to justify what the Roman Catholic Church called a “penitential system.” As strange as it may be, because what is one of the themes of the Book of Hebrews been? That there is one sacrifice for sin, once for all. This passage was used from early days in the writings of the Shepherd of Hermas in the city of Rome, all the way through the gradual development of the Catholic penitential system, to justify the idea that after one had been baptized, if one should accidentally commit a sin, then one had to go through the system of penance in order to be forgiven of that sin, in order to retain one’s salvation. And even though the whole thrust of Hebrews is what? There is one sacrifice for sin and that sacrifice is never repeated and it is unrepeatable, and yet the misunderstandings of this passage have led to some really strange theology.


   The author of Hebrews is saying here that if a person willfully and knowingly rejects the one real sacrifice for ins, then, of course, there is no other sacrifice for sin that person can turn to. If you have rejected the only sacrifice that there is for sin, where then do you go in order to get forgiveness for sin? And the author of Hebrews’ point is there is nowhere you can go. So if you have rejected the one sacrifice for sin, there is no hope for you. He is saying very straightforwardly to the congregation that rejecting the truth of Christ has eternal consequences. That is his point. So it is very important as you approach this passage that you understand that he is not speaking of any kind of sin. He is talking about the rejection of Christ, the rejection of His work, of His person, of His Lordship.



   How this passage ever gained traction as applying to our salvation is beyond me. Has there ever been a Christian who stopped sinning after being saved? Even if they hadn't read the rest of the letter, a rational person would have to conclude that there are only two options in interpreting it. Either we're all hopelessly lost or the passage refers to something other than salvation. Try if you can to imagine someone who after being saved never had an angry, or lustful or envious thought, who never fudged on the truth or said something unkind about another person. And I don't mean just once, although that would have been enough, but more often than they even know. Remember, in Psalm 19:12-13 King David asked the Lord to forgive him for sins he wasn't even aware of committing, not just for those he knew about. And just because we don't remember sinning doesn't mean it wasn't deliberate. Sinning is as natural to us as breathing, and while we don't think about breathing, and don't remember doing it, we still do it deliberately.


   Since it's clear that the writer is addressing believers, that leaves only two possibilities concerning the judgment and fire reference. One is to take the view that the passage is meant to be understood hypothetically, as some scholars do. They say it means that even though it won't happen, those believers who keep on sinning will spend their lives in fear of being destroyed (the fearful expectation) as if they were enemies of God, and won't enjoy any peace in their lives.


   The other position, the one I've taken, is that it pertains to the only fire believers will face, the one in 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 where each believer's work will be judged according to the hidden motives of his heart.


   There is justification for equating the religious work we do to either, gain earthly recognition or reward, or to earn or keep our salvation, with the work of the enemies of God. The first is intended to magnify ourselves and the second relegates the Lord's death to the same status as those of barnyard animals. These works will be burned up in the fire, and the one who does them lives his live out of fellowship with God, is deprived of His power, and has no more Kingdom impact on those around him than someone who doesn't know God at all.


   The sinning that's been referred to all through the letter is relying on the Old Covenant sacrifices to maintain that which has been freely given under the New. No sacrifice will end the interruption in our relationship with God that our ongoing sin causes. Only confession and forgiveness can do that. Why? Because we confess when we expect to be forgiven. It's an act of faith and what the Lord wants more than anything is for us to live by faith. That's why He made it the only condition attached to our salvation.


- Kelley, Jack, Gracethrufaith Incorporated. "The Epistle To
The Hebrews Part 7" [Online] Available www.gracethrufaith.com/selah/spiritual-life/the-epistle-to-the-hebrews-part-7



(27) There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies.


(28) For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.


   The fact stated here is exemplified by many instances in the history of Israel. There was the case of the man stoned for picking up sticks on the sabbath (Numbers 15:36), to name only one. Annas the high priest was deposed by the Romans for putting a man to death as a lawbreaker; and it was precisely their readiness to execute such penalties that caused Rome to forbid their right to put people to death. It was that which forced them to seek the permission of Pilate to put Jesus to death.


(29) Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have *trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were **common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us.


*trampled here translates a Greek word used by Matthew for heartless and totally indifferent action. The verb is used by Jesus of the useless salt cast out and trodden under foot (Matthew 5:13) and of the pearls being trampled down by swine (Matthew 7:6). Here it denotes that the sinner rejects the Son of God completely and brutally.


**common refers to a lack of appreciation of the blood of Christ. How does one make the blood of Jesus common? By his indifference to it, by responding to it not at all, or half-heartedly, by neglecting to enter by means of the access provided through it, or, in short, either by non-Christian or anti-Christian conduct.


(30) For we know the one who said, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back.” He also said, “The Lord will judge his own people.”


Deuteronomy 32:35-36: I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them.’ “Indeed, the Lord will give justice to his people, and he will change his mind about his servants, when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free.


(31) It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.


(32) Think back on those early days *when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering.


*when you first learned about Christ: Greek when you were first enlightened. (Greek photizo, from which we get the word "photo").


(33) Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.


(34) You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.


(35) So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!


(36) Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.


(37) “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.


(38) And my righteous ones will live by faith. But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”


Or my righteous ones will live by their faithfulness;

Greek reads my righteous one will live by faith.



Habakkuk 2:3-4: This vision is for a future time. It describes the end, and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed. “Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.

Galatians 3:11: So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Romans 1:17: This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”


(39) But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.



Bibliography/Works Cited:


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