Sunday, May 11, 2008

Hebrews 8

A New and Better Covenant


   In Hebrews chapter 8, the writer continues to expand on the picture of Melchizedek established in Chapters 5 to 7. The covenant established with Moses and Israel, is merely a shadow or illustration of the coming covenant, which is eternal, and administered by Christ.


(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.


*main point: The whole purpose of the book of Hebrews is to help the Hebrew Christians and seekers understand Jesus is supreme.


**sat down:



  • Psalm 110:1: The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet.”

  • Mark 14:60-62: Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus was silent and made no reply. Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I Am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.

  • Mark 16:19: When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.

  • Hebrews 12:2: 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.

  • Acts 2:33: Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.

  • Acts 5:30-31: The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead after you killed him by hanging him on a cross. Then God put him in the place of honor at his right hand as Prince and Savior. He did this so the people of Israel would repent of their sins and be forgiven.

  • Romans 8:34: Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

  • Hebrews 10:11-13: 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. 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. There he waits until his enemies are humbled and made a footstool under his feet.

  • Ephesians 1:20-22: that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.

  • 1 Peter 3:22: Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.



   The tabernacle and the temple of the Old Covenant had no place for the priests to sit down, because their work was never finished. The work of Jesus is finished - He is seated in heaven!



   In the ancient world, when a king wished to honor someone, he offered them a seat at his right hand. That seat was the highest seat, the greatest honor, and the supreme glory the king could confer on anyone. What does it mean to say that our Lord is now seated at the Father's right hand? First, it means he has a permanent place in heaven. When he returned in triumph, he was given a permanent place next to the Father's throne. Our Lord didn't have to search for a seat in heaven. When he arrived, there was a seat with his name on it (so to speak). That seat at the Father's right hand is his forever.


   His work of redemption is now complete. While he was on the earth, he spoke often of "the work" of the Father (John 4:34; 9:4; 17:4). His work came to a climax when he hung on the cross, bearing the sins of the world. The Bible says that when he died, he became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). When he died, God poured out his wrath on Jesus even though Jesus was perfect and pure and wholly innocent. But as the sinless substitute, he took the punishment I should have received so that I might go free. Just before he died, Christ shouted out, "It is finished" (John 19:30), which literally means "paid in full." The work was done; the debt was paid. I can never be charged with the guilt of my sins because Jesus paid it all. The ascension signifies that the Father has accepted the work of his Son. Since God has accepted Christ, nothing more can be added to what he did when he died on the cross and rose from the dead. Hebrews 10:11 reminds us that there were no chairs in the tabernacle because the priests were not allowed to sit down. They stood to perform their work because their work was never done. Every day the priest would kill another animal—signifying that the price of sin had not yet been paid. But when Christ returned to heaven, he sat down because he had offered himself as the one sacrifice for sin forever. Thank God, Jesus is seated in heaven.


   He is now in the place of supreme and highest honor in the universe. God has exalted him and given him a name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9-11). At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will one day confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Consider what this means:



  • The victim has become the victor.

  • The crown of thorns has been replaced by the crown of eternal glory.

  • The spear has been replaced with the scepter of regal authority.



Pritchard, Ray - Keep Believing Ministries, Tupelo, MS. "A Friend in High Places" [Online]
Available

http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2004-04-25-A-Friend-in-High-Places--He-Ascended-into-Heaven-and-Sits-at-the-Right-Hand-of-God-the-Father-Almighty/



(2) There he ministers in the *heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands.


*heavenly Tabernacle: A literal reading of Revelation indicates the existence of a Heavenly Temple, which the Earthly is merely a shadow of. (Revelation 14:15,17, 15;5,6,8, 16:1,17).

Revelation 11:19: Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared, and there was an earthquake and a terrible hailstorm.

Revelation 21:22: I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.


(3) And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too.


Ephesians 5:2: ...He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.


(4) If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already *are priests who offer the gifts required by the law.


*are priests: The present tense shows that this was written before 70 A.D.


(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.”


*shadow:



  • Exodus 25:40; 26:30: “Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain ... “Set up this Tabernacle according to the pattern you were shown on the mountain.

  • Hebrews 9:10: For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

  • Hebrews 9:23-24: That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals. For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf

  • Hebrews 10:1: 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.

  • Colossians 2:16-17: 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.


   The Mosaic Law was only a 'shadow' of reality. It was a sketchy reflection of the true salvation that is offered through Jesus Christ. The word the writer uses is skea. This is what was meant by the warning given to Moses. God wanted him to make the tabernacle like reality, but it was only a shadow skea of what would be. The Levitical law only gave an outline of what Christ would bring. But the Jews wanted to hang on to the outline and reject the reality.


(6) But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far SUPERIOR to the old priesthood, for he is the one who *mediates for us a far BETTER covenant with God, based on BETTER promises.


*mediates: Mediator is the Greek word mesites, which means “one who stands in the middle between two people and brings them together.” Moses was the mediator of the Old Covenant, because he “brought the two parties together.” Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant, a better covenant, bringing us to God the Father.



  • Hebrews 9:15: That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

  • Hebrews 12:24: 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.

  • Galatians 3:19-20: Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediator between God and the people. Now a mediator is helpful if more than one party must reach an agreement. But God, who is one, did not use a mediator when he gave his promise to Abraham.


(7) If *the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it.


*the first covenant means the whole religious system of the Jews, the Decalogue, the priesthood, the sacrifices, the tabernacle ritual, the temple services (as later developed), the statutes, and the judgments, and the commandments, and embracing the entire ceremonial and moral constitution of Judaism:



  • Exodus 19:5: Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.

  • Exodus 34:27-28: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down all these instructions, for they represent the terms of the covenant I am making with you and with Israel.”
    Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.

  • Deuteronomy 4:13: He proclaimed his covenant—the Ten Commandments—which he commanded you to keep, and which he wrote on two stone tablets.


   How could it have been at fault, seeing God himself had given it? Its fault lay in the temporary character of it (Galatians 3:19) and never being intended as a permanent solution of man's spiritual problems. Just as a contractor first builds a scaffold around a building to be erected, removing the scaffolding when the building is completed; just so, God erected the law as a scaffold which, from the first, was designed to be removed as soon as "the seed" which is Christ should appear.


   Read the book of Leviticus some time. It outlines the system of sacrifices and rules to live by according to the old covenant. If you take into account everything that is there it sets up an impossible standard that no one can hope to match. This only shows our needs for Christ and the new covenant.


(8) 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.


   Some have decided that the church now takes the place of Israel - Replacement Theology. The problem with that theory is that we have not seen the complete fulfillment of the New covenant. The New covenant will not be fulfilled until the arrival of the Millennium.


   Two basic reasons why the old covenant was abolished are: (1) God promised that he would make a new one, which he would not have done if the old one had been faultless. (2) Israel themselves had broken the old covenant by not continuing in it. It would require a volume to recount the extent of Israel's rebellion, stubbornness, idolatry, murder, adultery, and wickedness of every description, and their perpetual unwillingness to honor the covenant God had given them.



  • Luke 22:20: After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

  • 1 Corinthians 11:25: In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it."

  • 2 Corinthians 3:6-13: He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life. The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away. Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way. So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever!
    Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.


(9) This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.


(10) 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.


*on that day: Greek after those days.



   The thesis of the author of Hebrews in the verses before us is that a second, or new, covenant has superseded and replaced the first, or old, covenant. This was accomplished when Jesus Christ appeared, suffered, died, rose from the dead, ascended on high, and gathered up in himself all that was of any value in the old covenant, making his teachings alone to be the basis of eternal redemption. Whatever moral precepts of the Old Testament were brought over into the New Testament (and there were many of these, such as prohibitions against murder, adultery, theft, covetousness, etc.), those precepts now derive their authority from Christ, not Moses. Just so, those things of the Old Testament that did not find their place in the new institution, such as sabbath keeping, animal sacrifice, burning of incense, etc., are therefore now void of any authority at all and are to be totally rejected.


(11) 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.


   Has Israel fulfilled this? When will it?


(12) And I will *forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”


*forgive: 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.


Jeremiah 31:31-34: “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. “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. 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.”


   The main fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy will occur when the new covenant is made with the house of Israel. After He returns to set up the kingdom of God, Christ will establish the new covenant with all Israel and ultimately all mankind. So Malachi 3:1 calls the returning Christ the "messenger of the covenant." Malachi 3:1: Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.


Ezekiel 11:17-20: I, the Sovereign Lord, will gather you back from the nations where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel once again.’ “When the people return to their homeland, they will remove every trace of their vile images and detestable idols. And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God. Did this happen in 1948? Has it yet happened? When will it happen?


(13) When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.



What was wrong with the old covenant?

   Notice that the fault of the first covenant was with the people, not with the law (and hence not with God who gave the law). They did not continue in it. In fact, the new covenant would be better, not because of a different law, but because of a different place for it to be written - in the hearts of the people. Looking back at what happened, we can see what the Lord was talking about through Jeremiah and Paul.


   Did the people accept the first covenant? Here is the passage: Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “Give these instructions to the family of Jacob; announce it to the descendants of Israel: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel.” So Moses returned from the mountain and called together the elders of the people and told them everything the Lord had commanded him. And all the people responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded.” So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, Moses, so the people themselves can hear me when I speak with you. Then they will always trust you.” Moses told the Lord what the people had said. (Exodus 19:3-9) So, yes, the people accepted the covenant.


   Moving ahead to just after the ten commandments were spoken, we see how the people were to keep the law. “Don’t be afraid,” Moses answered them, “for God has come in this way to test you, and so that your fear of him will keep you from sinning!”(Exodus 20:20).


   Then Moses read the words of the ceremonial laws of Exodus 20:22 through chapter 23, and the people again pledged, ". . . We will do everything the Lord has commanded. We will obey.” (24:7). Wonderful. And what happened next?


   Moses went up the mountain to receive the first tablets of stone on which God inscribed the commandments which He had spoken in chapter 20. As Moses neared the camp on his descent, what did he discover? The people had broken their promises and were dancing around an idol -- a gold image of a calf!



   How had this happened? When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:1). They did not keep the fearful respect for God before their faces. That fear should have led them to realize that they couldn't keep their pledge without His help. As a symbol of the broken covenant, Moses threw down the stone tablets and they shattered! (Exodus 32:19).



   God allowed the people to try to be faithful in their way, with a covenant promise they could not keep in their own strength. Until faced with their terrible sin, they sensed no need of help (although they should have remembered the eagle wings with which God had brought them out of Egypt, Exodus 19:4).



   The new covenant Jeremiah wrote about would be the law established in the minds and hearts of the people, where it should have been all along (Psalm 40:8). But more than being words in a new place, it would be in a relationship with the one who overcame so that they could overcome. ". . . and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jeremiah 31:33; Revelation 3:21). We can never do it alone.


-- Wade, Ted. "Fear of God, a Covenant Relationship" [Online]
Available http://www.bibleexplained.com/revelation/r-seg13-14/rev14h-fear-glory.htm#1407b%20old%20&%20new%20covenants




Bibliography/Works Cited:


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Sunday, May 4, 2008

Hebrews 7

Melchizedek Is Greater Than Abraham and Aaron


   Chapter 7 picks up again from Chapter 5 verse 10 and Chapter 6 verse 20::

And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek ... Jesus has already gone in there
for us. He has become our eternal High
Priest in the order of Melchizedek.


(1) This *Melchizedek was king of the city of **Salem and also a priest of ***God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him.


Genesis 14:18-20: And Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a priest of God Most High, brought Abram some bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered.


*Melchizedek: His name means "king of righteousness", from the Hebrew words melek (king) and sedeq (righteousness). Salem means "peace". So, He is also "king of peace."

Zechariah 6:12-13: Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of the Lord. Yes, he will build the Temple of the Lord. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles.’

 Psalm 110:4: The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”


   There were Jews then (and now) who were claiming that Jesus could not have been a priest since He was from the tribe of Judah, and not of Levi, from which the Aaronic priesthood was derived. They argued that since Jesus had not come from that particular stock, He was excluded from being a priest. The author of Hebrews argued that Melchizedek was a priest of God even though he was not of the Levitical line, nor even a Jew. Not only did the author demonstrate that Melchizedek's lineage was not Levitical, but he went so far as to assert that Melchizedek was superior to the priests of the Levitical line.
In order to support his idea that Jesus' priesthood was according to Melchizedek's order, the author cited Psalm 110:4, a messianic prophecy which predicted that the Messiah would be a priest after the Melchizedek order (Hebrews 5:6; 7:17, 21). Since Jesus' priesthood was of the same order as that of Melchizedek, His lineage need not be Levitical/Aaronic. As was Melchizedek, Jesus' priesthood was superior to that of the Law of Moses. By noting both the existence of a priesthood apart from the Levitical/Aaronic line, and by demonstrating that the Law itself predicted the replacement of the Aaronic order with the Melchizedek order, the author could successfully authenticate Jesus' identity as a priest without having come from the Levitical line, and thereby demonstrate that this change in the order of priesthood necessitated a changing of covenants, which God had intended long before.


   In a document found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, Melchizedek is presented as a future figure who will deliver the people. He is described in terms of "El" (God) and "Elohim" (elohim usually means ‘God’ but angels are also sometimes called ‘elohim’ to indicate heavenly status) and Isaiah 61:1-2 is quoted in reference to him. This redemption is also tied in with the Day of Atonement and the year of Jubilee, the year of liberty. Such speculation about Melchizedek seems to have been rife at the time for Philo, the Jewish philosopher in Egypt, also likened Melchizedek to the Logos, the eternal ‘reason’. There was thus a background at the time suggesting the continuing, almost divine, existence of Melchizedek, the priest-king.


**Salem: The Jebusites took possession of Salem and called it Jebus-Salem, later named Jerusalem. Then we read in Joshua 10 about Adoni-zedek, king of Jerusalem, who was defeated by Joshua.


***God Most High: Hebrew El Elyon.


   Uzziah was a powerful king who had ascended to the throne of David at only 16 years of age. But his success brought pride and caused his downfall. Ignoring the warnings of the High Priest and 80 other priests, he attempted to burn incense at the altar in the Temple just outside the Holy of Holies. This angered the Lord who afflicted him with leprosy which tormented him to his dying day. His son Jotham ruled in his place. (2 Chronicles 26:16-21)


(2) Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.”


(3) There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.


   Melchizedek is presented to us without reference to any human qualifications for office. His genealogy is not recorded, required in the case of Aaron's sons. Ordinary priests began their service at thirty and ended at fifty. The high priest succeeded on the day of his predecessor's death. Melchizedek has no such dates recorded. He had neither beginning of days nor end of life. We only know that he lived and thus a type of Jesus Who lives forever. The author presents Melchizedek as superior on the basis of the eternal nature of his priesthood.


   To the Jews, a traceable genealogy was critical for the priesthood. If one could not prove his lineage he was barred from being a priest (Nehemiah 7:64). There is no recorded genealogy of Melchizedek. It was not important because his priesthood was not dependant on it. His lineage did not affect his right to the priesthood. The author went on to say in Hebrews 7:13-17 that the Law foretold of a day in which the Melchizedek priesthood would arise again. Since under the Law of Moses the priesthood had to be of the Aaronic order, this gave evidence that the Law would one day be abolished in favor of a new covenant and consequently a new priesthood. The Law needed to be abolished because it demanded that the priests have their lineage through Aaron, not Melchizedek. After the Law was abolished through Christ's death and the New Covenant was instituted with His blood, Jesus had no need to be in the lineage of Levi to serve as a priest of God. He could be of the stock of Judah and still be a priest under the order of Melchizedek, for there was no genealogical requirement for this order. The two priesthoods were of a different sort and order, serving two different purposes, at different times.


   Ungers Bible Dictionary states "Without father, etc. refers to priestly genealogies. Melchizedek is not found on the register of the only line of legitimate priests ; no record of his name is there; his father's name is not recorded, nor his mother’s; no evidence points to his line of descent from Aaron. It is not affirmed that he had no father, that he was not born at any time, or died on any day; but that these facts were nowhere found on the register of the Levitical priesthood."


(4) Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle.


(5) Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham


(6) But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God.


(7) And without question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.


(8) The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on.


(9) In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him.


(10) For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.


   Under the law of Moses, Levi and the priests received tithes from the other tribes. But Israel's priests, centuries before they were born, gave tithes to Melchizedek in the person of Abraham. Therefore, Melchizedek was greater than Aaron and Melchizedek's priesthood was superior to Aaron's priesthood.


(11) So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?


(12) And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it.


   The grand conclusion of his argument is set forth in Hebrews 7:12.


(13) For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests.


(14) What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.


Revelation 5:5: But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”


Jesus Is like Melchizedek


(15) This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared.


(16) Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.


(17) And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”


Psalm 110:4: The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”


(18) Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless.


(19) For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a *better hope, through which we draw near to God.


Galatians 3:24: Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith.


*better hope: better hope here; better covenant 7:22; better promises 8:6; better sacrifices 8:23; a better substance 10:34; a better country 11:16; a better resurrection 11:35; a better thing 11:40;. In chapter 1, Christ is shown to be better than angels; in 3, better than Moses; in 4, better than Joshua; in 7, better than Aaron; in 10, better than the law.


(20) This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath,


(21) but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him, “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: ‘You are a priest forever.’”


Psalm 110:4 as in verse 17.


(22) Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.


(23) There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office.


(24) But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever.


(25) Therefore he is able, once and forever, to *save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to **intercede with God on their behalf.


*save: Or is able to save completely.


**intercede means He continually represents us before the Father, so that we can draw near through Him, and that He defends us against Satanic accusation and attack.


Romans 8:33-34: Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one - for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.


(26) He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the *highest place of honor in heaven.


*highest place of honor in heaven: Or has been exalted higher than the heavens.


Ephesians 4:10: And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.


(27) Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins.


(28) The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.


   Those who would continue to look to the Temple as central in their worship must inevitably look to the levitical priesthood with its symbols. But that is to live in the past and to look to something whose effectiveness has now ceased. But those who would look higher, to what is real, to Heaven itself, who recognize that God’s Messiah has come, must now in the light of what Jesus has done, turn to the superior priesthood ‘after the order of Melchizedek’, the eternal priesthood of which Jesus is now the sole representative. They must look to Him.


   The superiority of the priesthood of Christ is evidenced by his perfect character which required no further sacrifice than that of himself, one time on the cross, while the high priest of the Levitical priesthood had to offer for himself each year, and then for the people. The Scriptures speak of two covenants: a "new covenant" (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Hebrews 9:13) which necessarily implies an "old covenant". The old one was to pass away (Hebrews 9:13). Paul, in 1 Corinthians 3:6,14 speaks of a "new covenant" and of an "old covenant", and in his allegory in Galatians 4:21-31, speaks of "two covenants" (verse 24). Christ is the "mediator of a new covenant" (Hebrews 9:15; 12:24), which is contrasted with the old covenant of Mt. Sinai (12:18-21). There being a "new" covenant, the previous covenant of necessity is made "old" (8:13). The "new covenant" is better, being enacted upon better promises (7:22; 8:6). The old one was faulty while the new one is faultless (8:7,8; Romans 8:3). The first one could not take away sins in actuality (but only figuratively or typically), while the second one could (10:1-18). For this reason the first covenant is called a "ministration of death" and of "condemnation", while the new covenant is called a "ministration of righteousness", written on the hearts of men (2 Corinthians 3:7,9; Hebrews 10:16). The old was to pass away while the new one was to remain (2 Corinthians 3:11). The Israelite, by reason of fleshly birth, were under the first covenant (Genesis 15:18; 17:7,8), but only those born again (John 3:3-7) are in the new covenant. The old was "done away in Christ" (2 Corinthians 3:14) while the new one is eternal (Hebrews 13:20). The new one, the New Testament, was dedicated by the blood of Christ (Hebrews 9:15-22). The old covenant was one of bondage while the new is one of freedom (Galatians 5:1). The new one is the "new and living way" (Hebrews 10:20).


   Previous to Moses' time period, sacrifices were offered by the head of the family as with Job. The priest was the father or grandfather- the oldest male in the family line. As the family grew to be a tribe, the head of the tribe came to be the king as well as the priest, so he was the priest/king of their tribe. Later on into the days of Moses, the 12 tribes had grown to be the nation of Israel which God delivered out of their bondage. A priesthood was created from Aaron, out of the tribe of Levi which became the Levitical priesthood order for the sacrificial system. Later, another family was set apart for being the kings, the family of David. The king was then to rule the people and the priest was to mediate between God and man through the sacrificial system. No king could be a priest, although but he could be a prophet. No priest could be a king, although he too could be a prophet.




Bibliography/Works Cited:


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Sunday, April 6, 2008

Hebrews 6

THE CALL TO PRESS ON TO MATURITY


   Hebrews chapter 6 is one of the most hotly contested
scriptures in the Bible! Many teach that these verses prove that you
can lose your salvation. But these verses actually teach the opposite. They
actually teach that it is not possible to lose your salvation and be
resaved because that would require that the crucifixion happen over and over
again. The reason the apostle makes this statement is to prove the
futility of teaching the basics about salvation and baptism, etc., over and
over again. Since it is impossible to be resaved, then why teach those basics
over and over again to those who are already saved?


(1) *So let us stop going
over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us
go on instead and become mature in our understanding.
Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental
importance of **repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God.


*So: Picks up from Hebrews 5:11-14: There
is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain,
especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.
You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others.
Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about
God’s word. You are like babies who need milk
and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant
and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those
who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the
difference between right and wrong.

   The author is urging them to go on to the more mature
things and get to the place where they can teach others. He wants to be sure
the readers are really prepared to understand what he was saying about Melchizedek
and that they will take seriously the topic when he goes at it again in chapter
7. This stuff isn't for spiritual babies still dealing with just the basics.
He's also making sure that they are really saved - remember in an earlier chapter
that he told them to be diligent in examining themselves and confirming that
they are in fact in Christ!


**repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God:
These are indeed the first steps in becoming a Christian. This would be like
a church or ministry that is stuck on preaching the gospel and winning souls,
as admirable as that is, and not having a teaching ministry to lead people to
a deeper understanding of the Word and to a closer relationship to Christ. Unfortunately,
that is where my first evangelical church, which I helped start, was stuck.
I finally had to tell our pastor that I had to somewhere else to get some "meat"
and grow!


   This is written to Jews who have heard the gospel and have
accepted Jesus as the promised Messiah - but that's not salvation. They are
told that if they now reject the Messiah and fall away from the gospel, it is
impossible for them to repent and return to the Law and thereby renew their
old pre-cross relationship with God, since to do so would be to crucify to themselves
the Son of God, and put Him to open shame. These Jews are advised to leave the
elementary teaching about the Christ. This is not a call to abandon Jesus. Rather,
it is a call to abandon the elementary teachings about Messiah and move on to
the more advanced teachings of Messiah. What are the elementary teachings about
the Messiah? They are the same as the elementary principles of the oracles of
God described in Hebrews 5:12 (the same words are used in the Greek). They are
the types and shadows and the prophecies on the Old Testament. These all looked
forward to Christ. They are the ABC’s of the Messianic truths. These Jews
who had initially come to Jesus and had then turned away were going back to
the elementary teachings of Messiah - they were going back to the Temple sacrifices
and the rituals which pictured the Messiah who was to come. They need to leave
these things. They need to move on. They need to graduate to "Jesus 101."
They need to go on to maturity. What kind of maturity is this? Is it spiritual
maturity? Is it some kind of spiritual level to which a Christian attains by
doing all of the right things like praying and witnessing and giving money and
Bible study? No. It is simply a reference to the salvation which is found in
Jesus Christ. This "maturity" is a description of the man who has
come to Christ in faith. This will be seen when we come to chapter seven:
Hebrews 7:1: So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was
based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to
establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek
instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? The word mature in this
verse comes from the Greek root word telos. It is the same word which
is translated "mature" in Hebrews 5:14 and mature here in
Hebrews 6:1. Elsewhere, it has been translated "complete, finished, fulfilled."
The point of the passage is that perfection never came through the Levitical
priesthood. Therefore, if you want to reach that perfection or maturity, you
need to leave that Levitical priesthood behind and hold to that which is perfect
and complete - Jesus Christ. The Jews are to leave their past heritage of infancy
behind and to hold to that which is the fulfillment and the completion of all
of the Old Testament types and shadows. They are to hold to Jesus.


(2) *You don’t need
further instruction about *baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection
of the dead, and eternal judgment.


*You: I've been putting in bold the words "we" and
"you" to emphasize where Paul is one of them and where he's not.


**baptisms: Notice that this is plural, not singular! The
Jews practiced ritual "baptisms" or "washings" of all kinds
- including the "washings" of hands and feet, eating utensils, etc.
The use of the plural "baptisms" doubtless sprang from the fact that
no fewer than eight baptisms are mentioned in the New Testament, these being:
(1) the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11); (2) the baptism of fire (Matthew
3:11); (3) the baptism of John (Matthew 3:16); (4) the baptism unto Moses (1
Corinthians 10:2); (5) the baptism of suffering (Luke 15:30); (6) the baptism
for the dead (1 Corinthians 15:29); (7) the baptism of the great commission
(Matthew 28:18-20); (8) the "one" baptism of Ephesians 4:5. Of course,
Christians heavily debate which the "one baptism" of Ephesians 4:5
is.


   Judaism is called the "word of the beginning of Christ"
as in the marginal reading of the first part of verse 1. This of course includes
the entire Mosaic revelation, the teaching of the prophets and the ministry
of John the Baptist. "The law and the prophets were until John, but
now the kingdom of God is come and every man presses into it." In
six items, the Spirit of God epitomizes these preliminary principles whereby
the godly in Israel were prepared for the coming of the Messiah. These are:




  1. Repentance from dead works.


  2. Faith towards God.


  3. The doctrine of baptisms; or literally, a teaching concerning ceremonial
    washings.


  4. The laying on of hands (in connection with the sacrificial offerings).


  5. Resurrection of the dead.


  6. Eternal judgment.


   Throughout the Old Testament and in the ministry of John
the Baptist, the people were called to repentance from dead works
and urged to put their faith in God, the God of Israel. Through
the ceremonial baptisms or washings of the law, the people
were taught the need of cleansing, in order that they might have fellowship
with God, a cleansing which was from physical defilement alone, "the putting
away of the filth of the flesh" as Peter puts it.


   The laying on of hands has no reference
whatever either to the laying on of the apostles' hands for the reception of
the Holy Spirit as in Acts, or to ordination to the Christian ministry, as many
have supposed. There is no doctrine of the laying on of hands to be found anywhere
in the New Testament. Practice and doctrine are not the same thing. But under
the Levitical economy when the offerer laid his hands upon the head of the sacrifice
which was presented to God on his behalf, he was picturing the tremendous truth
upon which this Epistle strongly insists. It was the identification of the offerer
with the victim, and practically involved the transference of the offerer's
sins to the offering which was put to death in stead of the sinner.


   Resurrection of the dead is a cardinal Old
Testament doctrine, denied by the Sadducees, but insisted on by the Pharisees,
and recognized by Paul as entirely Scriptural, when he declared himself in this
respect still a Pharisee after he had been converted to Christ for many years.
Eternal judgment too is part of the former revelation. "God
shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be
good or whether it be evil" (Ecclesiastes 12:14).


(3) And so, God willing, we
will move forward to further understanding.


(4) For it is impossible to bring back to repentance
those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced
the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit,


   "This warning 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." - Barclay, William "The Gospel
of John: The New Daily Study Bible" [Online] Available www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=974


   There were many Hebrews who in the beginning
professed to acknowledge the Messiah-ship of Jesus and were eye-witnesses of
the marvelous things that took place at Pentecost and afterwards. But as the
Lord did not return and the promised kingdom was not immediately established,
it was easy to understand how many of these, if lacking personal faith in Christ
as Savior, would eventually give up the Messianic confession and go back to
Judaism which they knew to be a divinely revealed religion.


   This was a very serious thing, and yet it
was something to which all Hebrews would be exposed if they did not make a clean
break with Judaism and go on to the perfection of Christianity. As those who
had already apostatized, it was too late to help them. They had made their choice
and acted accordingly; and having experienced so much that was new and wonderful
and then turned away from it all, they would be the hardest people on earth
to change again.


   We read in John of many who believed on Him when they saw
the signs that He did, yet who went back and walked no more with Him (John 6:66).
And it seems clear that these apostates were persons who had an outward acquaintance
with Christianity but they never knew what it was to receive the Lord Jesus
as their own personal Savior. Definitely authenticated by works of power as
He was, they still turned away from Him, and in so doing crucified for themselves
the Son of God afresh, making a show of Him. This would be true of all who turned
back from Christianity to Judaism. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew
7:21-23: “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord!
Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually
do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say
to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in
your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply,
‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s
laws.’


(5) who have tasted the goodness
of the word of God and the power of the age to come—


(6) and who then turn away from God.
It is *impossible to bring such people back to repentance;
by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once
again and holding him up to public shame.


*impossible: The word "impossible" is like a wall,
telling us something is impossible. The reason those in verses 4-6 cannot be
saved, is because if they were saved, once they fell away they could not be
brought back to repentance and thus were never “saved” to begin
with. These verses are more likely demonstrating an impossible situation, because
if it were possible then Christ would have to die again. The position of those
who are “truly” saved is a secure position not based on our ability
but on Christ’s sacrifice. It is not possible for them to do it a second
time because what’s done is done and cannot be undone and then redone
again – as though what God and the Lord Jesus Christ did regarding redemption
and salvation was incomplete and needed redoing.



   In understanding Hebrews, it is important to understand who
the audience is. Depending on the audience, the interpretation can vary. Hebrews
Chapter 6 is one of the more discussed chapters of Hebrews and is used by both
Arminians and Calvinists as a proof text to justify their position of the “saved”
believer. Hebrews 6:4-6, is the section often in question. Are those addressed
believers or unbelievers? If believers, is this an argument for the losing of
one’s salvation? If unbelievers how could they have been enlightened,
tasted the heavenly gift, been partakers of the Holy Spirit, tasted the good
word of God and the powers of the age to come?


Salvation Proof Texts:




  • Ephesians 1:4,13-14: Even before he made the
    world,     God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without
    fault in his eyes. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good
    News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified
    you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit    , whom he promised long
    ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give
    us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own
    people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.     The Holy
    Spirit is God’s guarantee of redemption. We are God’s purchased
    possession.

  • John 10:26-29: But you don’t believe me because
    you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow
    me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can
    snatch them away from me,     for my Father has given them to me, and
    he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from
    the Father’s hand    .     Christ knows his sheep. They
    shall never perish. They cannot be snatched from Christ. They cannot be snatched
    from the Father.

  • 2 Corinthians 5:5: God himself has prepared us for
    this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
    The Spirit is God’s Guarantee.

  • John 6:37,39: However, those the Father has given me
    will come to me, and I will never reject them. And this is the will
    of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me    ,
    but that I should raise them up at the last day.

  • 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.     - Hebrews Chapter 6: The Promise
    of Salvation     - Truthnet.org. "The Book of Hebrews"
    [Online] Available
    www.truthnet.org/Christianity/Hebrews/Hebrews6/


   When God gives eternal life to one of His people, it is eternal
life. It is not probationary life. It is not life until you sin again.
It is not life until you fall from grace. It is eternal life. Now we
come face to face with a problem. What about the man who comes to Christ and
then falls away? What about the man who becomes a Christian and then becomes
disillusioned with his Christianity and goes out and rejects God? There is one
of two possible answers. Either that person is only experiencing a temporary
period of rebellion, or else he was not saved by God in the first place. You
see, there are many people who hear the gospel and are initially attracted by
some aspect of it. Judas Iscariot was an example of this. When a person departs
from the faith, they are showing their true colors. They are showing that they
were never really children of God in the first place. 1 John 2:19
(King James Version): They went out from us, but they were not of us; for
if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they
went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
Do you see the implications of this? There are people who hear the gospel and
make a decision to accept it and who join the ranks of the Christians for a
time, but who then turn from the faith and fall away. The reason that this takes
place is because they were not really of the faith in the first place. They
came, but they did not come to stay. They came, but they were not drawn by the
Father. And so, they departed. The good news is that we have a continuing hope
of salvation. This is the note on which the writer of this epistle closes this
section. - Stevenson, John. Boca Seminary. "The Danger of Not Going
on to Maturity". [Online] Available http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/hb05-11.html


   After being rebuked for immaturity and then encouraged to
maturity, the Hebrews are told of a dangerous situation. A scenario is presented
describing the result of abandoning Christianity and returning to Judaism. If
a Christian were to return to Judaism, there would be no way to renew them to
repentance, because Christ would have to be crucified again, and that is impossible.
Though this passage is difficult to grasp, I believe what the author intends
to show is the futility of these Jewish believers abandoning the New Covenant
and returning to the Old Covenant. The warning of apostasy is hypothetical.
If these wavering Jewish believers leave the greater New Covenant for the lesser
Old Covenant, they have then removed themselves from the place of genuine salvation.


   Galatians 5:4 is a brief summary of Hebrews 6:4-6. Paul writes
there that if the Galatians mixed their faith in Christ with the rituals of
the law, then they have removed themselves from grace. It is not that they have
lost their salvation, but that they have separated themselves from the effectiveness
of true, saving faith. Galatians 5:4: For if you are trying
to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off
from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.


(7) When the ground soaks up the falling rain
and bears a good crop for the farmer, it has God’s blessing.


(8) But if a field bears thorns and
thistles, it is useless. The farmer will soon condemn that field and
burn it.


   An illustration is drawn from nature. When it rains, good
ground will produce fruit; bad ground will produce thorns and thistles. In like
manner, the ground pictures the heart of the hearers. Their positive response
to these truths regarding Christ and Judaism indicates the fruitful condition
of their heart. The rejection of these truths indicates their worthless response
to God’s work.


(9) Dear *friends, even though we are
talking this way, we really don’t believe it applies to you. We are confident
that you are meant for better things, things that **come with salvation.


*friends (beloved): the Greek word agapetos comes
from agape, the highest kind of love. The beloved or friends are the saved,
this is the same group in Hebrews 5:11 to 6:3. Though the writer of Hebrews
was hard on them, and calling them infants, who need milk but should be eating
solid food, here he encourages them. Telling them they do not fall into the
hypothetical category, because they are saved. He hopes to take into deeper,
“solid food”, away from elementary teaching.


**come with (accompany):The Greek word echo means
to have, hold, own or possess. They possess salvation. Accompanying
salvation is not infancy but maturity, not milk but solid food, not inexperience
in righteousness but perfect righteousness, not repentance in dead works but
repentance toward God unto life. To separate this group from those being addressed
in 5:11 to 6:8, forces the text. Either, somebody is saved, or not saved. But
those who are saved have fruits of salvation which are mentioned here. Works
and fruit separate those who are saved, from those who not saved, but claim
to be saved. This is the point the writer is trying to make with this group
of struggling believers. This group has fruits of salvation, they are involved
in ministry, they love the Name of the Lord and they support the brothers in
Christ. - Hebrews Chapter 6: The Promise of Salvation - Truthnet.org.
"The Book of Hebrews" [Online] Available
www.truthnet.org/Christianity/Hebrews/Hebrews6/


   Paul says that losing salvation was not one of the things
his recipients would do. They were saved and would remain so. The immature would
move on to maturity.


   Once the scenario of 6:4-6 is presented to the Hebrews as
a warning, the author writes, "but, beloved, we are confident of better
things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak
in this manner," (6:9 - KJV). He is confident that the Hebrew believers
were not in danger of leaving their faith. The severe description has been employed
for the sake of argument, and thus is hypothetical.


(10) For God is not unjust. He will not
forget how hard you have worked for him and how you
have shown your love to him by caring *for other believers,
as you still do.


*for other believers: Greek for God’s holy people.


   Good works do not bring salvation. Rather, they are the fruits
of salvation. God will not forget the righteous acts of the saints. Those that
serve God will receive a reward for their works. Those who are unsaved will
have no works to reward. The spiritual babes will have no works and will receive
no rewards because in order to serve, one must have the knowledge of the doctrines
of the faith.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (King James Version): For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest
any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them.


   We read that God will not forget your work. This relates
specifically to your life. If you want to know if you are a Christian, then
look from where you have come and look at the direction in which you
are going. Jesus said that people would be able to identify His disciples
by their LOVE. The problem is that we started defining love as an emotional
feeling that you get; something akin to heartburn. But love in the Scriptures
is always an action word. The way that you love your neighbor as yourself is
by treating him the way you want to be treated. - Stevenson, John. Boca Seminary.
"The Danger of Not Going on to Maturity". [Online]
Available http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/hb05-11.html



(11) Our great desire is that
you will keep on *loving others as long as life lasts, in order
to make certain that what you hope for will come true.


*loving: The word "loving" comes from the Greek
word agape which is God's kind of love. To love with His love means
to love the same way as God loves, to manifest God's love towards another, whether
it is towards God Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, yourself, your Christian neighbor,
or towards anyone else. God tells His children today how to Godly-love by means
of His written Word and also via our holy spirit-life. It is not the same as
the brotherly or friendly kind of love, nor is it the same as the emotional/feelings/sexual
kind of love.


   A Christian is not someone who never falls down. A Christian
is someone who keeps getting back up again. The Christian race is a marathon
and the prize only goes to those who have crossed the finish line.


(12) Then you will not become
spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow
the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of
their faith and endurance.


   How do you enter into this relationship with Christ? How
do you become a "Saint" instead of an "Ain’t"? Verse
12 tells us that it is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises.
Which promises are these? They are the same promises that were given to all
of the Old Testament saints. They are the promises that were given to Abraham.
They are the promises of a heavenly inheritance. There is a promise here for
you. God has you in His hands. If you have come to Him in faith, then you are
His special child. He will never let go of you. And, if you begin to slip, He
will not forget. If you fall into sin, He does not ignore the past evidence
of your salvation. He will continue to hold you so that you can realize the
full assurance of hope until the end. - Stevenson, John. Boca Seminary. "The
Danger of Not Going on to Maturity". [Online] Available http://www.angelfire.com/nt/theology/hb05-11.html


God’s Promises Bring Hope


(13) For example, there
was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to
swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:


(14) “I will certainly bless you, and
I will multiply your descendants beyond number.”


Genesis 22:17: I will certainly bless you. I will
multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and
the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of
their enemies.


(15) Then Abraham *waited patiently,
and he received what God had promised.


*waited patiently: It was 25 years from the time God promised
Abraham a son (Genesis 12:7; 13:14-6; 15:4-5; 17:16) to Isaac's
birth (Genesis 21:1-3).


(16) Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding.


(17) God also bound himself with an
oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly
sure that he would never change his mind.


   In Genesis 15:7-8, God passed through the divided animals
signifying his “Covenant” with Abram (renamed "Abraham"
in Genesis 17). The Hebrew word for Covenant is tyrb Beriyth (ber-eeth'); meaning
“To cut”, when an covenant was made both parties walked between
the divided animals to signify that if either party failed to live up to their
agreement, may they be cut in half like the animals who they are walking between.
In essence, God was telling Abraham, if He did not fulfill his agreement with
him, may God be cut in half. Abraham did not walk through the animal halves,
only God passed through the animal parts. The promise was to Abraham and to
his seed, those who would inherit the promise God made to Abraham. The Church,
the body of Gentile and Jewish Believers, is grafted into the promises of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. (Romans 11).


(18) So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have
fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that
lies before us.


(19) This hope is a strong and trustworthy
anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s
inner sanctuary.


(20) Jesus has *already gone in there
for us. He has become our eternal High
Priest in the order of Melchizedek.


*already gone in there for us: “Prodomos,”
used to describe Jesus, is usually translated “forerunner”
and would have had a picturesque meaning for the people of Jesus’ day.
The harbor of Alexandria was very difficult to approach. When the great corn
ships came into it, a little pilot boat was sent out to guide them in. It went
before them, and they followed it as it led them along the channel to safe waters.
That pilot boat was called the prodomos. In the Roman army the prodomoi were
the reconnaissance troops. They went ahead of the main body of the army to blaze
the trail and ensure that it was safe for the rest of the troops to follow.
These two things illustrate what Jesus is saying about himself in this passage.
He goes first, to make it safe for those who follow. He blazed the way to heaven
and to God that we might follow in his steps. - Barclay, William "The
Gospel of John: The New Daily Study Bible" [Online] Available
www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=974


   It marks a difference between Christ passing in within the
veil, and everything that had preceded it in the ritual of the Hebrew people.
Aaron had entered within the veil once a year, but never as a forerunner. He
entered as the representative of those who were left outside; but they were
always left outside. No one followed Aaron when he entered within the veil to
stand in the presence of t he ark and the mercy seat. When Jesus passed within
the veil, he entered as a forerunner, which at once suggested that the way was
open for others to follow him. - Coffman, James "Commentary on
Hebrews 5" [Online] Available
www.searchgodsword.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=heb&chapter=006


   It is implied in Hebrews here that Jesus sprinkled His Own
blood on the altar thus opening the Most Holy Place for us to enter. Hebrews
4:16: So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God.
There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need
it most.




Bibliography/Works Cited:


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