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Hebrews | Chapter 10

Hebrews 10:1-6

“We preach Christ crucified”

 

  • Introduction
  • 1-4 They failures of the old sacrifices
  • 5-6 the necessity of Jesus crucified

 

 

Introduction

The focus of chapter nine was on the necessity of Jesus’ death, whereas the focus of chapter ten is not on the necessity of the cross but rather on the superiority of the cross of Jesus. Throughout church history it seems as though over time the emphasis upon Jesus sacrifice on our behalf loses its popularity even among evangelicals. The story is told an old church in England that had the scripture verse 1 Corinthians 1:23; “We preach Christ crucified”, carved in an arch over the entrance to the church proudly proclaiming its identity. For many years’ great bible teachers came and went under that banner doing just that. But over time a new generation began to come though the church that considered Jesus’ death as not significant for salvation. The preachers taught that what was important was Jesus’ life not His death, that salvation came by people following Jesus earthly example. Ironically some ivy began to grow along the right side of the arch and completely covered the word “crucified” and all that could be read was “We preach Christ”. As time went on and many more years passed two things happened at about the same pace, the preachers that came to teach no longer saw the necessity of Jesus being preached and adopted a social gospel; while at the same time the ivy grew over the word, “Christ” and the only words that could be read were “We preach”! The final outcome if the church continued upon its course would be that the only word left would be “WE”. That is always the inevitable outcome of a church that stops preaching “Christ crucified” it ends up only being about US! Two things are the aim of the first 18 verse of chapter ten that emphasize the superiority of the cross of Jesus:

  1. 1-6 Three failures of the old sacrifices
  2. 7-18 Seven superior traits of Jesus sacrifice

Vs. 1-4 They failures of the old sacrifices

 

Vs. 1 Under the first covenant the priests were continually busy. It has been estimated that at Passover alone over 3000 lambs would be killed turning the Brook of Kidron red with their blood. But no matter how many sacrifices that were made they were completely ineffective to accomplish the plan of God. More importantly the old contract was never designed to implement the plan of God; it was only a shadow of the reality, a photo of the real image. The blood of bulls and goats is not the blood of Christ and because of this it could never take away sin. In the first four verses the author mentions three complete failures of the old covenant’s sacrifices:

  1. 1 They cannot bring access to God: “A shadow….can never…make those who approach God perfect.” The greatest limitation of the sacrifices is that as faint symbols all they can do is reflect the form. Only the High Priest once a year could go into the presence of God; even with all those sacrifices he could never bring anyone with him. The blessings and promises were only pictures and because of this they could never be realized. Before Jesus’ finished work on the cross no one could get closer to God, we were always going to be outside the door! The word “perfect” in this verse means to bring to completion and the author is saying that even with all the religious effort in which the High Priest served offering each and everyday sacrifices year after year he could never complete the task of bring people closer to God. The reason for this is that these sacrifices were never intended to do so, their purpose was a picture not to make people perfect. The Hebrews had taken that which purpose was a picture and made it a religion! The very fact of the “repetitive picture” should have been all they needed to reveal to them that it could never accomplish what they had “believed” it could! It’s repetition, every day, year after year was proof of its ineffectiveness to accomplish making people closer to God. It’s simple math if you multiply anything by zero the answer is always going to be zero! You can repeat the process everyday year after year and you will never be able to change the answer. This revelation of the writer to his readers must have spawned a question: “Why did God go through all the trouble establishing faith symbols if they were not the reality?” There are three reasons that I see for this:
  2. To reflect reality: The purpose of a shadow is always to reflect the reality of the image. It causes you seek out that which has caused the shadow! It seems that God wanted Israel to look deeper into what was causing the shadow and not just begin to think the shadow was the reality! The sacrifices pointed towards the sacrifice of Jesus to come. There is no doubt some in Israel throughout their history who saw the shadow looked around to the see the reality like: Simeon in Luke 2:25-35 who was waiting for the “Consolation of Israel” and saw Jesus in the temple with His parents and taking Him up in his arms exclaimed, “My eyes have seen Your salvation which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” Peter speaks of some of them in 1 Peter 1:10 saying that “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you.”
  3. To remind Israel of the penalty: Through the sacrifices Israel was constantly reminded that the penalty to sin and rebellion was death. Death was going on each and every day for their sin, they were reminded that their sin caused death and that only death would be the remedy to sin, not religious works our being a “good person.”
  4. To recall the need to deal with sin: Finally, God gave them the sacrifices as He had Adam and Eve as a “covering” for sin. A shadow is better than nothing at all and when offered with a right heart the sacrifices offered a “temporary” reprieve from the judgment of God. To not sacrifice was to be cut off from God and His people completely. They were temporal and only offered a covering and not a “cleansing” from sin and because of this they could never bring a person into the presence of God.
  5. 2-3 They can’t remove sin: Removal of sin is what we need not just merely covering for sin. The sacrifices only temporarily covered sin without ever removing it and it only lasted until the next sin. In that sense they were like a prescription that reliefs the symptoms temporarily but does nothing to aid in the cure. The fact that you have to continue to refill the prescription is a constant reminder of two facts: One, that you are sick and two, that there is not cure possible with the medicine you are constantly required to take! With every sacrifice there was a reminder of those two facts were sinners and nothing we are presently doing is changing this fact! Those sacrifices didn’t erase sin they called attention to it! Those sacrifices didn’t even ease the “conscience” that had sinned they reminded them that they were sinners! With every sacrificed animal was a greater awareness that they were “incurably sick” under the current prescription, they were just temporarily masking symptoms! In one sense this is a good thing as it is a warning system helping us avoid things that would cause us to further damage our lives. But as far as freeing us from the penalty or power of sin or delivering us into the presence of God the sacrifices could never bring us to the cure which is only in Jesus! Every sacrifice told the same story to every listening heart: That to draw near to God required a God-approved life be willing to lay down their life. The truth was the more faithful the believer the guiltier they felt as they were more aware of God’s holiness and their own inability to stop sinning! They were caught between the knowledge of God’s holiness and the knowledge of their un-holiness with at the knowledge of a remedy! David wrote if this in Psalm 51:3 where he said, “My sin is always before me!” The forgiven sinner is ever aware to their sin, but they know that they are forgiven in Christ and have escaped the penalty and power of sin to enslave them.
  6. 4 They were only external: The heart of the problem is always a problem of the heart! The sacrifices were external and offered only a temporary outward solution that never changed the real problem which is the heart of man. Sin is seen outwardly but originates inwardly and if the only treatment dealt with the outward then it only dealt with symptoms while ignoring the problem. That’s why the author says, “It’s not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” There is no relationship between a person’s sins and an animal this is why the writer elaborates further in verses 5-6 upon Jesus becoming the only perfect sacrifice they would be our cure not just temporarily alleviate our symptoms. There are some even among the church that believes that: Jesus died on the cross that they may be free to live free to live a self-indulge life. Jesus bore all my pain and suffering, so now I don’t need to ever endure pain, difficulty, or heartache, and if I do then there is something wrong, because it’s all about me! This a distorted narcissistic form of the Christian faith. The truth is that Jesus died in order that I might be free to die with him to the self centered life, and he rose again so that I might live in His power and service to be a blessing! The Christian will never know the blessing of the rising without the dying! Unless we are willing lay down our lives we will never have them back again as He had designed them to be. This is exactly what Jesus said in Matthew 10:39 “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Ah but the glorious thing is if we are continually dying with him, we will also be continually rising with him.

Vs. 5-6 the necessity of Jesus crucified

Vs. 5-7 The Old Testament revealed the God’s design, but in Jesus we see God’s desire: “When He (Jesus) came into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come in the volume of the book it is written of Me to do thy will, O God.” This is what God’s real design was, He was never interested is the rivers of blood that flowed from the altar. All the blood of the animals slain never gave the guilty conscience any rest. God’s only interest in them was that they taught something, they pointed too:

The necessity of a human body: But just a man but one in which the human will continually chose to depend upon God to obey the God’s word! That was what was needed and why we read the quote of Psalm 40:6-8. Prior to the incarnation Jesus paused on the threshold of heaven, and said, “A body You have prepared for me.” There in the womb of the virgin named Mary a human body was being formed, a body with nerve and muscle and sinew and hair and eyes and feet, growing through all the stages that the normal human embryo goes through. Within that body was a human soul with the capacity to reason, to feel and to choose. But in that human body, would never once act on its own, never once take a step apart from dependence upon the Father who dwelt within. Jesus said this in John 14:10 where He says, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” That’s the principle that God has been after all along. When Jesus allowed this direction in from the Word of God in His life every temptation he endured, every problem that He experienced, He would go back to what God had said saying, “It is written”! That is what led Him too the cross, where He laid down His life. And by means of that sacrifice, we are now able to join Jesus in this victorious life that is God’s original plan for man.

 

Hebrews 10:6-18

“At the threshold of heaven”

 

  • Introduction
  • 5-18 Seven reason as to why Jesus’ sacrifice is successful

 

Introduction

The fifth verse of chapter ten begins with a transition as we note the word “therefore”. The writer has just brought his readers to the truth that the first contract could never be successful in accomplishing what they were practicing. He had clearly stated it saying, “these sacrifices, even though they are repeated continually year after year can never enable to approach!” The repetitive nature of them didn’t increase the inevitability of success instead they proved two things: The Person who offered was hopeless ill and that prescription could never cure them. The writer went on to explain three ways that the shadowy prescription of animal sacrifices was unsuccessful as a “permanent treatment”:

  • 1 They could not bring access to God
  • 2-3 They could not remove sin
  • 4 They only dealt with the symptoms of sin

It is right after this that the writer introduces the “therefore” which is followed by a quote from Psalm 40:6-8 and the heavenly conversation between Jesus and the Father about the necessity of His incarnation and Jesus’ willingness to be the “Cure” for humanities hopeless condition. This is what God’s real design that the sacrificial system was only a shadow of. God was never interested is the rivers of blood that flowed from the altar. God’s only interest in them was that they taught something, they pointed too:

  1. The necessity of a human body: Not just any man but one in which the human will continually chose to depend upon God to obey His word! That is why the writer quotes from Psalm 40:6-8. Prior to the incarnation Jesus paused on the threshold of heaven, and said, “A body You have prepared for me.” There in the womb of the virgin named Mary a human body was being formed, a body with nerves, muscles and sinews, hair, eyes, and feet, growing through all the stages that the normal human embryo goes through. Within that body was a human soul with the capacity to reason, to feel and to choose. But in that human body was someone very different from every other human that had ever been in a womb. This human would never once act on His own, never once take a step apart from dependence upon the Father who dwelt within. Jesus said this in John 14:10 where He says, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.” This is what was needed to reconcile an unholy people to a holy God and why no animal sacrifice would ever work. Jesus fallowed the Word of God at every temptation, every problem He faced, He would go back to what God had said saying, “It is written”! And it was this obedience that led Him to the cross, where He laid down His life as the perfect and only sacrifice being the lamb of God who could take away the sin of the world.

It is from this that the writer gives his commentary on Psalm 40:6-8 and seven reason as to why Jesus’ sacrifice is successful!

 

Vs. 5-18 Seven reason as to why Jesus’ sacrifice is successful

Vs. 5,7 It completely reflected God’s will: The first and foremost reason why Jesus’ sacrifice was successful; where the Levitical sacrifices were not, is found in the quote of Psalm 40:6-8 in verses 5-7. The point brought out in this quote is found in the words in verse 5, “A body You prepared for Me” and the words of verse 7, “I have come — to do Your will.” What this combined phrase of Psalm 40:6-8 reveals is, that the number one reason why Jesus sacrifice was successful was that it completely reflected God’s will! It was God’s plan all along, and as the quote indicates it was in the mind of God before the world was created! God knew that humanity confined in Adam and Eve would choose independence instead of relationship. And God already knew that the first contract of Levitical shadows would never be effective if curing man’s rebellion, they would only offer temporary masking of the symptoms. So, as we have just read from Psalm 40:6-8 God planned from the beginning that He would send His only begotten Son to come and die. So on the edge of heaven, we have this conversation when it was time for the incarnation where Jesus acknowledges that His own earthly body was to be sacrificed to be the cure for man’s rebellion. This is further reflected over and over as we read Jesus’ own words through our His earthly ministry that His purpose was to do His Father’s will! Jesus’ sacrifice was successful because it was offered in perfect obedience to the will of the Father, IT COULDN’T NOT BE EFFECTIVE! This is why we noticed satan’s attempt during Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness was to get Jesus deter from obeying the Father’s will. Satan even tried using Jesus own disciples to accomplish this as Jesus had to rebuke Peter for suggesting that Jesus didn’t need to go to the cross. From the beginning of His earthly ministry Jesus told His disciples that he had come to obey the Father’s will and that meant that He would die upon the cross and be raised to life on the third day! They should have known that Jesus the messiah wasn’t a martyr He was a willing and obedient sacrifice for the sin of the world! On the cross Jesus was saying what He had always said to the Father and to all of humanity, “Father, I know that You never planned that the Levitical sacrifices would cure humanities rebellion, So I willingly and gladly give My body to pay the price, to cure them from the cure of rebellion.”

Vs. 8-9 The sacrifice of Jesus replaces the shadow of the Levitical system: Here the writer continues with the second of seven reasons that Jesus’ sacrifice was a success with a commentary of the above Psalm 40:6-8. The point made in this section is found in the end of verse 9 where he writes, “He takes away the first that He may establish the second.” The point he makes is that the Levitical sacrifices could never and were never attended to be permanent as they were only temporary and symbolic. God’s focus was always on the “reality of the shadow” and not on the shadow! The point is that the sacrifice of Jesus replaces the shadow of the Levitical system! You cannot be under two contracts at the same time when the second contract’s design was to replace the first contract! Jesus’ death on the cross has come and it has replaced the Levitical system and God has forever set it aside!

Vs. 10 It once for all “changed the believer”: The third reason that Jesus sacrifice is successful we are told is that by it, “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” The writer’s point is that it is successful because it has once for all “changed the believer” as we are now set apart for our proper use! The Levitical sacrificial system had no way to change the person from unholy to holy. The Geek word used for sanctified is in a “perfect participle” with a “finite verb” which tells the reader in the strongest terms possible that the believer is in a permanent state of positional transformation. A literal translation would be, “You have been made permanently made holy.” This tells us that the writer is referring to positional sanctification and not practical sanctification. We are being changed from glory-to-glory degree by degree which is a reference to our practical sanctification but positionally we are standing before God forever in Christ Jesus! One act by Jesus, at one moment, provided permanent transformation. And our position will never be changed throughout all eternity.

Vs. 11-12 It removes sin: Jesus’ sacrifice is the only thing that can “effectively permanently remove SIN”. The Levitical sacrificial system could only temporarily relieve the symptoms but never cure the disease. Throughout this section the writer has offered four striking contrasts between the Levitical sacrificial system and Jesus’ sacrifice of the cross:

  1. Many priest’s verses One priest
  2. Continual activity of the old priests verses the sitting down finished work of the One priest.
  3. Repeated offerings the priests verses the once-for-all sacrifice of the One priest
  4. Ineffective sacrifices of the priests that only covered sin verses the effective sacrifice of the One priest that removed sin.

The problem was not a lack of effort on behalf of the priest it was that they couldn’t offer the right sacrifice! Jesus sat down after His sacrifice because it was and IS finished!

Vs. 13 It destroys His enemies: The fifth reason it is successful is found here in the 13th verse where we are told that we are “waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.” Jesus sacrifice was even greater in that it went beyond defeating sin to defeating the enemy to our soul satan and his minions. The Levitical sacrificial system did nothing to destroy the father of lies and literally it had no effect on him. But when Jesus died upon the cross, His death not only transformed us He conquered the devil who according to Hebrews 2:14 “had the power of death.” In Colossians 2:15 Paul wrote of this saying that Jesus, “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” In Romans 8:37 we are told that “we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Jesus forever conquered death and defeated the devil!

Vs. 14 It perfects forever those who are being sanctified: The sixth reason it is successful is that Jesus sacrifice alone can perfect that which is practically still being made perfect. Paul spoke of this encouraging truth in Philippians 1:6 saying that we could be “confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ”. The idea behind the word “perfected” is not to make spiritually mature but eternal salvation. As such we can rest in our security and not fear failure with regards to receiving forgiveness. Forgiveness is permanent because the sacrifice is permanent.

Vs. 15-17 It fulfills the promise of the New Covenant: The seventh and final reason it is successful is that Jesus’ sacrifice fulfills the promise made by Jeremiah in his prophecy in chapter 31:33-34. The sacrifice of Jesus as stated in Jeremiah’s prophecy was not a new concept and His sacrifice had to be accomplished in order for the terms of the will to be executed thus His sacrifice was the fulfillment of God’s word. There was no escape from the writer’s conclusion they could not accept Jeremiah’s prophecy in 31:33-34 while rejecting the Jesus’ sacrifice fulfilling that promise! To reject Jesus was to reject Jeremiah’s prophecy and to do that was to reject the Holy Spirit who spoke through Jeremiah.

Vs. 18 The writer concludes with this statement: With the work of sacrifice finished in Jesus’ death upon the cross, with forgiveness permanently provided for by Jesus’ finished work, satan destroyed, sin defeated, the Levitical system replaced, the believer transformed and God’s will fulfilled. Why would anyone think that God wanted the religious Hebrew to go back to maintain the Levitical sacrifices? To reject Jesus finished work was to leave yourself without hope of salvation!

 

 

Hebrews 10:19-22

“Provision and Privilege”

 

  • Introduction
  • 19-20 The secret of the Christian life
  • 21-22 The results of drawing near to God

 

Introduction

I had full intention to teach through all seven verses of this section but found the truths larger than my ambition and my prayer is that you will discover why during our time together in this glorious text. The writer of this letter in this section is drawing his argument to a close. Most of the arguments that are launched against the Christian faith today are based on a distorted view of Christianity. I fault the Church for this distortion as it has done two things: It has elevated the necessity of its position while devaluing Jesus’ work and our continual moment by moment need for Him and the work of the Holy Spirit! When the world sees real Christianity in our lives and the church, it has nothing to say in opposition. It is this true faith which the book of Hebrews so masterfully sets forth before us. It reveals clearly the difference between the false and the true. The false way of living as a Christian is to believe and try harder. It appears in the common attitude, “I’ll do my best, and God will do the rest.” Or in the bumper sticker seen on many a Christians’ car “God is my Co-pilot”! Those phrases sound pious, but they are deceptively and utterly false! As we’ve been seeing in Hebrews the true way is to believe and fully place your trust in God; for it is only in Him who is “In you both to will and to work his good pleasure.” Our working is really His working out His will and work for His good pleasure!

The secret of Christian life is described in verses 19-25 in a very subtle way. Look carefully at these seven verses and you will see it repeated three times (19,21,22) in that little word “HAVING”! Then that phrase is followed by two words based upon the word “HAVING” that give us our marching orders, our responsibility found in verse (22,23,24,) the two words are “LET US”! What we see here given by the writer of this letter to his readers is clear: The “WE HAVE” tell us our clear and unmistakable “PROVISION”, in Christ and the “LET US” reminds us of our unmistakable “PRIVILEGE” or responsibility to apply our provision. So, what does the writer reveal to his readers the three things that they never had before that they now have?

Vs. 19-20 The secret of the Christian life

Vs. 19-20 The first thing the writer reveals that we now have only in Christ that we never had or never will have apart from Jesus finished work is: “Boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.” This statement requires a bit of Jewish clarification as it relates directly to them. In the tabernacle you will remember that it was divided up into compartments the Holiest of all was behind the veil where the Ark of the Covenant was with its mercy seat where once a year the blood was sprinkled upon it by the High Priest. It was only this man once a year that could gain access to God’s presence. But here the writer informs his readers that through the sacrifice of Jesus and His blood that has been sprinkled upon the mercy seat in heaven all believers can pass through a “living way…through the veil that is his flesh”. Remember that verse in Hebrews 4:14 where we were told that Jesus “passed through the heavens” after His death but prior to His resurrection? The reason for this was to make atonement once for all by sprinkling His blood upon the heavenly mercy seat, (Hebrews 9:12). Jesus’ “perfect” sacrifice has given each and every believer confidence that since we have taken hold of Jesus we can come through Him into the very presence of God where we will be forever with Him. No person will ever be able to come into the presence of God on their “good works” “good character” or “church attendance”. This room though is often described as the “sanctuary” in reality isn’t! There is no building that is the House of God, we are the House of God as this is where God dwells. We have the outer court, which is our bodies, the Holy Place, which is our souls and the Holy of Holies our spirit. And when we trusted only in Jesus, we were able for the first time to operate in the spirit and became complete people! Gone is any trust in religious works as we can now trust in Jesus’ atoning work and lay hold of the blessed promises. In Genesis 3:24 after Adam and Eve had sinned God put them out of the garden and placed and angels with flaming swords to keep sin-stained humanity from coming into God’s presence. But here we are told that Jesus blood has quenched the flaming swords. At Jesus death His body (the veil) was torn, and we have come through His torn body into the very presence of God. We cannot only come through Jesus as He is The Door, but we can do so with “confidence”. The word here in verse 20 “NEW” is a word in the Greek only used here and means “freshly slaughtered sacrifice” Jesus’ death is a living way because it is the only way in which we can have life! There are those that want to emphasize Jesus “EARTHLY LIFE” but as wonderful as His miraculous life was if He was not crucified, they He could not save us. No matter how many miracles Jesus did and how many incredible truths He proclaimed if He didn’t die upon that cross, He could never save anyone! As long as His flesh was alive it was a veil, a barrier, but once He died that barrier was torn from top to bottom.

Vs. 21-22 The results of drawing near to God

Vs. 21 The second unmistakable “PROVISION” we have in Christ Further is in verse 21 where we are told that “having a High Priest over the house of God”. Here we learn that Jesus has not merely:

  • Shown us the way to God
  • Provided the way to God
  • He has taken with Him to God!

In Hebrews 3:6 the writer reminded His readers that “whose house we are” as he described the indwelling of Christ by the Holy Spirit. This describes the work of Jesus by way of the Holy Spirit as He clothes Himself in our personality, when we “put on Jesus” after having “taken off our old flesh”. True Christianity isn’t some religious effort to try to imitate Jesus in the energy of our flesh! No, it is Jesus living and operating through in His power, He is the Great High Priest over His house “whose house we are”! He alone is our complete provision as we are told in Philip. 3:3 as we have no confidence in the flesh! He has done and is forever our High Priest in heaven! Paraphrasing Romans 5:10 “Since Jesus death has done so much to save me, imagine what His life must be doing in the presence of the Father to keep me!”

Vs. 22 Verse 22 offers up the first of the three “PRIVILEGES” or responsibilities to apply our provision, as it starts with the words, “LET US”. The first responsibility that should be visible in the believer’s life is that we “SHOULD DESIRE TO DRAW NEAR WITH A TRUE HEART IN FULL ASSURANCE OF FAITH”! The Greek word for “true heart” means without hypocrisy. Drawing near to God requires genuine commitment! Since there is nothing hindering us from coming into the presence of God the exhortation is that we should DO JUST THAT! We all ought to desire to live in the continual presence of God, this isn’t something that we do just when we engage in “church activities” it’s something that we are doing every minute of every day. When we do so, based upon the writer’s words in verse 22, we can expect three wonderful results in our life:

  1. Full assurance of faith: This means that we will discover a new source of adequacy that will never run out! We will no longer be dependent upon our weak and fickle abilities. Gone from our faith will beDependence upon the natural man with his talents, gifts, training, and education. Instead, our dependence will now be: Upon the flowing power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us; described by Jesus as “a river of living water”! This tells us that the supply will never run dry! We will be prepared to meet any and every situation and circumstance in confidence that WE CAN NOW DO: “all things through Christ who strengthens us”! (Phillip 4:13)
  2. Having our heart sprinkled from an evil conscience: The second wonderful result that we will experience upon drawing near to God is that we will “EXPERIENCE FREEDOM FROM GUILT”! So many folks can’t rest, they are all twisted up in the “should’ve and could’ve” of personal failure. We are prone to guilt because we trust in our resources and abilities and when we fail, we automatically go to a guilty conscience feeling that we have either by Co-mission or O-mission not done what we should of or could have done! So where can we turn to change this guilty conscience? Why Jesus, because we find in Eph. 1:6 that we are “Accepted in the Beloved”. God has no issue with us because of the finished work of Jesus and right now this very moment He loves as much as He is ever going to love you and does so based only upon the work of Jesus! So, if you got nagging guilt of the “should’ve and could’ve” of personal failure I have a word from God for you, get over yourself!
  3. And our bodies washed with pure water: The third and final wonderful result that we will experience upon drawing near to God is that: We will be wonderfully changed because we have “been with Jesus”! There are those that try to make this passage relate to “water baptism” but the phrase isn’t speaking of something outward but rather something inward. First off, when we get baptized, we aren’t washing our bodies we are instead identifying with the death and burial of Jesus. And secondly, I’ve done a lot of baptisms but never once have I done so in “pure water”! This phrase is symbolic and speaks a new dynamic spoken of by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where we are told that, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” When we draw near to God one of the unmistakable results is a renewed dependence upon the Word of God. Paul used this very point as a reference to what a husband was to do towards his wife saying in Ephesians 5:26 “He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word.” It is the washing of the word of God that continually changes our old fleshly habits to new Holy habits! What this means is that when we draw near to God, we can see that if we are thief’s we will no longer be practicing this, if we are liars we will stop practicing lying. Our whole life is being transformed because we are drawing near to God. As we draw near to God the Holy Spirit works in the word of God changing us from the inside out and this process continues until we are no longer bound by this old flesh! It’s the old statement, “I may not yet be what I want to be, but I thank God through Jesus Christ I’m not what I used to be!”

We will finish up this glorious passage next week as we continue looking at the “WE HAVE’S” tell us our clear and unmistakable “PROVISION”, in Christ and the “LET US’” that reminds us of our unmistakable “PRIVILEGE” or responsibility to apply our provision.

 

 

Hebrews 10:23-25

“Provision and Privilege, part 2”

 

  • Introduction
  • 23 Unmovable
  • 24-25 Stirred up

 

Introduction

In Hebrews chapter 10:19-25 the writer is trying to encourage some of his brethren to remain trusting in the finish work of Jesus upon the cross. He has done so by reminding them first of the limitations of the Levitical sacrificial system and the advantages of Jesus once for all atone. Then last week we noted that he unveiled the “The secret of Christian life”. It is subtly revealed in this section by stating FIRST what our “PROVISION” is found in the word “having” as it describes what each and every believer received the moment they simply trusted in Christ. Then SECOND we saw in the same section what our “PRIVILEGE” or responsibility is in light of our PROVISION”. This is given to us by the two words “let us”! What we immediately discover is that when we apply our PROVISION” we forever destroy religion! To understand and apply the writer’s words would cancel such popular phrases as:

  • Do your best, and let Jesus do the rest.
  • God is my Co-pilot.
  • God helps those who help themselves

These religiously pious phrases are deceptively and utterly false. The first thing that the writer revealed was that the moment we trusted in Jesus’ finished work on the cross we now have “confidence to enter into the presence of God”! We don’t have to earn that privilege, nor are we limited by how many times we can do so in a life time. Every Believer in Christ has forever gained access to fellowship and communication with their Heavenly Father! The second thing we gained, according to the author of Hebrews was we now have a “personal high priest”. Jesus doesn’t just “show us the way to God” or even “provide the way to God” He takes us with Him to the Father and will never leave us from now on in to eternity! Because of these first two provisions the writer doesn’t want you to wait to open them and enjoy them even though you have more provisions so he told the readers that they could enjoy those blessing immediately as he invited us to draw near to God NOW. To further encourage the reader to do so he lets them know that this would impact them three ways:

  1. We will discover a new source of adequacy that will never run out: We will have a new “CAN DO!” attitude as in Phillip 4:13 “I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me!”
  2. We will “EXPERIENCE FREEDOM FROM GUILT”: Gone from our experience will be the guilt of failure as we are “Accepted in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6).
  3. We will be wonderfully changed because we have “been with Jesus”: This phrase is symbolic and speaks a new dynamic spoken of by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17 where we are told that, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Having reviewed these let’s move on in this “The secret of Christian life”!

Vs. 23 Unmovable

Vs. 23 The second “PRIVILEGE” or responsibility in light of our PROVISION we need to apply to “Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” The second PRIVILEGE we gained because of Gods PROVISION has two aspects too it:

  1. First, this speaks of our security: If you will, trusting in Jesus finished work on the cross has given us sure footing when the ground we have been standing upon in this world is falling apart. The Greek wording here is quite revealing as it means too: “Have a firm hold so that what you are holding on to you are the master of it.” Taken my concealed carry permit I learned the importance of grasping the gun as if you own it. That’s the idea here! The word confession in the Greek means to “agree with the statement of another” but it carries the idea of much more than just intellectual agreement it means to take it to heart! This is NOT speaking of something that we do to KEEP ourselves saved but rather evidence that we are saved because we trust Jesus words and works and not our own effort. Because of this there must never be a hopeless follower of Jesus, we are not merely hanging on, we are attached the Anchor of our soul and have our security on the Rock of our salvation! Paul said it this way in Romans 8:35-39 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shalltribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
  2. Second, it ensures that we will never need to retreat: Since our confidence is in Jesus finished work, we can have complete confidence that there will never be a new discovery, some new technology or truth that will cause us to have to abandon our trust in Jesus and go back to our old religious ways. The Greek has it “without wavering” and the phrase means to lean backwards. The idea is best understood in the story of the Israelites who had trusted in God to lead them out of Egypt but when things got tuff started murmuring about going back into slavery. Have our lives anchored on Jesus means that we can move forward in life and never have to go back. When the disciples were facing greater and greater opposition to the point that many of Jesus followers left Jesus asked those who remained if they also wanted to leave to which in John 6:67-68 Peter answered Him saying, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Of all humans; followers of Jesus must be the most optimistic and full of joy: Because we know that Jesus “who promised is faithful”! If you were trusting in me, try as I might not to disappoint you, I’m certain that it wouldn’t take much time before you realized that I’m not always faithful, but Jesus is! That’s why I find it so easy to talk about Jesus, I know Him to always be faithful and because of this I know that He will always fulfill each and every promise He has made to us!

Vs. 24-25 Stirred up

Vs. 24 The third PRIVILEGE or responsibility in light of our PROVISION “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.” This privilege is all about the body of Christ and considering others before ourselves. The word in Greek speaks of attentive and continuous care for another spiritual growth. It again has two parts to it as two things need to be exercised and stimulated in the Christian:

  1. Stirring up love: The Christian is never measured upon their “profession” but rather upon their actions of love. So often people want to make their faith “private” but we are here encouraged to “make our expression of faith public” as it is in its very essence God’s love! Our responsibility is to love because He has first loved us. The Church would be far more effective in reaching a lost world if they practiced loving each other more. When question by one of the scribes in Mark 12:28-30, “Which is the first commandment of all?” Jesus answered him by saying, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
  2. And good works: Though the believer is not obligated to “good works” to obtain the love of God, we are obligated to “good works” because we have already the received the Love of God. In Luke 12:48 Jesus said, “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” Every person has the need to love and be loved it is as basic as are need to breath but only in Jesus is the purity of this available.

These two characteristics are hall marks of true Christianity the question is how and where are we to exercise them?

Vs. 25 The writer suggests two ways to achieve this:

  1. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…but exhorting one another: This suggests that the charter of the meeting was to be encouraging and exhorting. They were to gather together to not to be entertained or for merely social gathering but instead they were to be challenged and to challenge each other. They were to be meetings where the word of God was taught be the Spirit of God and that there was an expectation that what they heard would be applied. We are here today to be transformed into His image and to celebrate that transformation. Neither was the gathering just to be informational, it was alive with the hope and possibility of becoming more like Jesus! This is where we are to stir up love and good works.
  2. And so much more as you see the Day approaching: The “DAY” mentioned here is a reference to the soon return of Jesus. So as evil becomes more visible in our society we aren’t to retreat to caves we are to advance and infiltrate! We are to speak of God’s goodness over the world’s ugliness, God’s truths over the world’s lies. So, if you think the world is coming to the close then it’s not time to go on the defensive it’s time to go on the offensive.

We have been given these amazing PROVISIONS, but they come with great opportunities and PRIVILEGES to: Draw Near, Speak Out and Stir Up! That’s what the Christian life is having these amazing PROVISIONS so that we can exercise these amazing PRIVILEGES!

 

 

Hebrews 10:26-31

“The spiritual cancer of non-commitment”

 

Introduction

  • 26-28 Rejecting Jesus
  • 29 Three characteristics of apostasy
  • 30-31 A fearful reality

 

 

Introduction

The writer issues his fourth of five warnings in this letter as he warns against the rejecting the making of a heartfelt decision to trust Jesus in verses 26-31. And next week in verses 32-39 he tells his readers what they can do to avoid this danger. It is clear from the reading of this fourth warning that the danger is not one that someone can suddenly fall into. The Greek verb tense for “willfully” in verse 26 is followed by the phrase “after we have received the knowledge of the truth”, indicates that this is not an immediate or sudden act of weakness that has led to the outcome of “no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” This warning was not issued to someone who was about to “stumble” nor was it issued to a follower of Jesus who was occasionally falling as they were still learning how to walk with Jesus. Instead, the Greek verb tense for the phrase “sin willfully” means a deliberate, habitual attitude of resistance to “the knowledge of the truth”! This alone indicates to whom this warning was being issued: A person who had made an intellectual profession of faith without ever being spiritually committed. It is the same group that had received all 5 warnings, (three of which we have already examined and the fourth we are about too and the 5th we do so later):

  1. 2:1-4 Rejection salvation alone through Jesus
  2. 3:7-4:13 Rejecting Jesus as the only mediator
  3. 5:11-6:20 Rejecting Growing in grace
  4. 10:26-39 Rejecting making a heartfelt decision to trust Jesus

Apostasy is an intentional falling away or defection and means to “forsake”! The writer is addressing this again as there were Jews in the Hebrew speaking church that had moved towards Jesus, right to the edge of trusting Him alone for their salvation. They heard the teaching about Him gladly, they were drawn to His words, works and wonders, they may have even had a deep conviction of their personal sin and had perhaps made a “profession of faith”! But because of several things these “professors of faith” had not become “possessors of faith”. And over time they had begun to wonder and lose interest in Jesus choosing instead religious works. True apostasy is determined by WHO you leave not where you go after you have left! You cannot be an apostate if you leave religion be it true; as was the case of these Hebrews as God had ordained the law and the sacrifices, and especially if it is FALSE. You can only be an apostate if you chose to leave the truth about Jesus and entering into a relationship with Him! Every apostate is an unbeliever, but not every unbeliever is an apostate! An apostate knows the truth whereas an unbeliever doesn’t, both are lost but the apostate has chosen to be lost! The two major characteristics of an apostate is:

  1. Enough of the truth of the knowledge of the gospel to be saved
  2. A willful and habitual refusal to come to Jesus by faith to be saved

There are six situations that may aid a person in being an apostate:

  1. Persecution: This can often drive a person closer to the Lord but can and has drawn people away from Him. A strong verbal commitment may not endure under adversity, words are easier to say but harder to keep when persecution and adversity arises. A commitment to a church will never last but a surrendered heart to the Lover of our Souls always will. Some apostates that have left because of persecution don’t just turn away from Jesus but turn against Him as well.
  2. False teachers: Jesus warned as much in Matt. 24:11 where He said, “Many false prophets will arise, and will deceive many.” Persecution will frighten unbelievers away from the truth, where false teachers entice them away. Paul warned Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3 that, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers.”
  3. Temptation: The things of the world become more attractive and important the truth about Jesus and their need for Him. The temporary pleasures of this world and the glittering beads of this life become more valuable than eternity with the living God.
  4. Neglect: By far the greatest and saddest reason for apostasy is simple neglect. All a person who has knowledge of the truth has to do to deny the Lord is to do nothing, put making a decision off. A person can do this until they lose the opportunity, to not make a decision for Jesus is to make a decision against Him.
  5. Clinging to the old: Holding on to your religion, or old lifestyle. These Hebrews were clinging to their religion and were in grave danger of apostasy. A person’s region is so dangerous because not only can it not save them it often become a barrier to their salvation!
  6. Forsaking Christian fellowship: Forsaking true Christian fellowship, where you can grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. Most people when looking for a church to attend don’t ever mention the need for strong exhortational teaching where every believer is challenged to go deeper into their relationship with him. They prefer entertainment, fun and positive messages, and social interaction.

Vs. 26-28 Rejecting Jesus

Vs. 26 The warning in this section requires and explanation of a definition on the word “apostasy”! When the truth of Jesus is presented to a person there can only be one of two responses: They either trust Him alone and are saved or they reject the truth and remain committed to religious works as a means to salvation. The term “apostasy” belongs to the person who has chosen the 2nd response. To understand this, we must realize that an “apostate” can never be a person who has never heard or understood the truth concerning Jesus. It can only be a person who has clearly understood the truth but has chosen to reject it. At issue isn’t that they disagree with the truth or lack understanding concerning the truth. Instead, they agree that what they have heard is the ONLY TRUTH, but simple choose not to truth Jesus! A person who has never heard or understood the truth about Jesus is still an unbeliever, bound to sin and lost but their condition is based upon ignorance not willful disobedience. The apostle John identified it this way in 1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.” The fact is that they were for a while among believers and may have even made a profession of faith, but proved they were not spiritually committed when they left. What this section reveals to the reader is that knowledge of the truth doesn’t guarantee right decision, but it does increase responsibility to make the right decision.  Judas is a prime example of an “apostate” as he had “perfect evidence, perfect truth, perfect example” for three years as he lived with Jesus, (truth and life incarnate) yet chose to turn his back upon the only One who was truth and life! It is “The spiritual cancer of non-commitment.” The refusal to cease from one’s own religious works and the refusal of the cross of Jesus and because of this there remains no further work of the Holy Spirit for the apostate as their problem isn’t ignorance but willful disobedience. This is a self-imposed choice to live a self-centered life behind a Christian veneer, all-the-while refusing the claims of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Vs. 27-28 What the writer is saying is that once that choice has been made (and by the grace of God this may take years), there is no way back. It is exactly the same situation faced in Hebrews 6:4. There is certain judgment ahead, “a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fiery indignation which will consume the adversaries.” Notice the writer makes his point from stating the less to the greater here: Since this was true under the shadows of the law, when a person violated even shadows of the substance of Christ and his work, they would suffer death at the mouth of two or three witnesses; how much more shall a person be culpable if he knowingly and deliberately violates the reality which is Jesus Christ?

 

Vs. 29 Three characteristics of apostasy

Vs. 29 This sin of “apostasy” involves three things which is a complete offence against all of the Godhead, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

  1. “Trampling the Son of God underfoot”: First, there is a spurning of the Son of God. This is a sin against God the Father who sent His only begotten Son to be the once for all sin-offering. Notice that the writer deliberately chooses a title that the Jew’s understood for Jesus which emphasized His right to be Lord over their life. There are many today, that readily recognize Jesus’ ability to save them from all the messes they get themselves into and they are quite willing to call Him Savior when they need to be saved. But that is not the same as recognizing His right to be Lord over all our life. This “apostasy” was a consistent and continual refusal to submit all of their life to His rule and right to govern their life.
  2. “Counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing”: This is a sin against Jesus and His sacrifice upon the cross. The word “counted” in the Greek is an accounting term that refers to a “conscious judgment resting upon a deliberate weighing of facts.” What this said to the original readers is that an apostate was one that had a deliberately and conscious rejected Jesus’ atoning sacrifice as the Messiah. The words “common thing” in the Greek is a word that means “not set apart for God’s use”. The idea here by the writer is that the apostate considered the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice as having no more specific worth than the blood of any ordinary person. The difficulty of this passage lies between these two things in the phrase, “by which he was sanctified”. First you will notice that the “HE” in this section is not capitalized as it is NOT a reference to Jesus but rather to the apostate who will experience “worse punishment” for rejecting Jesus. Second the word “was,” has caused some confusion. To unravel this, we need to understand that this warning is being issued, to all who make up the Hebrew “professing” church which was made up of saved and unsaved. As this is the context, the writer is saying that “by which he was PROFESSED TO BE sanctified”. The rejection is the refusal to ACCEPT Jesus sacrifice for which they had made a profession that they had. Instead of receiving Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins, which they had professed they insisted upon their religious works and efforts saying that those would be will be accepted by God.
  3. “And insulted the Spirit of grace”: Some of these professing Hebrews had allowed the Holy Spirit to move them into the acceptance of the truth with regards to Jesus and were intellectually convinced of this truth but had not turned from their sin and away from their religious works and because of this hadn’t come into the surrender of faith and instead were going back to religious works, specifically the Levitical sacrifices. This act is treating the work of the Holy Spirit with “grave indifference” the pleading and wooing of the Holy Spirit. This, is what Jesus was talking about in Mark 3:28-29 where He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” This is the dread “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,” for which Jesus said there is no forgiveness, neither in this age nor in the world to come. Many people want to know if a Christian can commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The answer to that question lies is two conditions both found in the church today: Professing and Possessing! It is possible, as clearly the writer of Hebrews is warning Professing Christians, that if they reject the sacrifice of Jesus by their religious works than they can commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Why else would he and Jesus warn them? But it is not possible for a believer who is “possessed by the Holy Spirit” even if they fall into sin occasionally to commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The Christian that can never commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the person who is “born of God”.

 

Vs. 30-31 A fearful reality

Vs. 30-31 The verse quoted her is out of Deut. 32:35-36 and the word rendered “vengeance” is an unfortunate translation as in English it carries the idea of “vindictiveness” which does not reside in the Greek word or in the heart of God. Instead, the word means “the full measurement of justice will be carried out by the Lord.” The context of verse 31 is from the perspective of the apostate who has professed Jesus but in truth has trusted in religious works. There are two possibilities:

  1. You have put your whole life into the hands of the living Christ
  2. Our you have fallen into “the hands of the living God”: That happens when a person professes one thing but consistently and deliberately refuses to obey it.

These are great self-evaluating words to all in Christ’s Church. There is a cursed doctrine today that indirectly denies the need for surrender and commitment to Jesus alone. It elevates church attendance and works instead of a relationship and in so doing denies Jesus’ sacrifice upon the cross while professing it. We cannot make up the terms of our relationship with Him, He does all we can do is receive it! Our relationship is not seen in words but actions!

 

 

Hebrews 10:29-39

“Faith Fence Riders”

 

  • Introduction
  • 27-29 Three characteristics of apostasy
  • 30-31 A fearful reality
  • 32-34 Recalling and looking
  • 35-39 Confident expectation

 

Introduction

As discussed last week the writer issues his fourth of five warnings in this letter: This warning is against the rejecting the making of a heartfelt decision to trust Jesus in verses 26-31. In verses 32-39 he will tell his readers what they can do to avoid this danger. We already noted that this warning was issued to someone who was making a deliberate, habitual attitude of resistance to “the knowledge of the truth”! By this we learn that the person who was in danger was a “professors of faith” but had not become “possessors of faith”. We noted that, True apostasy is determined by WHO you leave not where you go after you have left! To be an apostate requires two characteristics:

  1. Enough of the truth of the knowledge of the gospel to be saved
  2. And a willful and habitual refusal to come to Jesus by faith to be saved

What this section reveals to the reader is that knowledge of the truth doesn’t guarantee right decision, but it does increase responsibility to make the right decision. It is “The spiritual cancer of non-commitment.” The refusal to cease from one’s own religious works and the refusal of the cross of Jesus and because of this there remains no further work of the Holy Spirit. For the apostate, their problem isn’t ignorance but willful disobedience. This is a self-imposed choice to live a self-centered life behind a Christian veneer, all-the-while refusing the claims of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Vs. 27-29 Three characteristics of apostasy

Vs. 27-28 Before we look at the three characteristics of apostasy; notice the writer makes his point from stating the less to the greater here: Since this was true under the shadows of the law, when a person violated even shadows of the substance of Christ and his work, they would suffer death at the mouth of two or three witnesses; how much more shall a person be culpable if he knowingly and deliberately violates the reality which is Jesus Christ?

Vs. 29 This sin of “apostasy” involves three things which is a complete offence against all of the Godhead, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit:

  1. “Trampling the Son of God underfoot”: First, there is a spurning of the Son of God. This is a sin against God the Father who sent His only begotten Son to be the once for all sin-offering. Notice that the writer deliberately chooses a title that the Jew’s understood for Jesus which emphasized His right to be Lord over their life. There are many today, that readily recognize Jesus’ ability to save them from all the messes they get themselves into and they are quite willing to call Him Savior when they need to be saved. But that is not the same as recognizing His right to be Lord over all our life. This “apostasy” was a consistent and continual refusal to submit all of their life to His rule and right to govern their life.
  2. “Counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing”: This is a sin against Jesus and His sacrifice upon the cross. The word “counted” in the Greek is an accounting term that refers to a “conscious judgment resting upon a deliberate weighing of facts.” What this said to the original readers is that an apostate was one that had a deliberately and conscious rejected Jesus’ atoning sacrifice as the Messiah. The words “common thing” in the Greek is a word that means “not set apart for God’s use”. The idea here by the writer is that the apostate considered the blood of Jesus’ sacrifice as having no more specific worth than the blood of any ordinary person. The difficulty of this passage lies between these two things in the phrase, “by which he was sanctified”. First you will notice that the “HE” in this section is not capitalized as it is NOT a reference to Jesus but rather to the apostate who will experience “worse punishment” for rejecting Jesus. Second the word “was,” has caused some confusion. To unravel this, we need to understand that this warning is being issued, to all who make up the Hebrew “professing” church which was made up of saved and unsaved. As this is the context, the writer is saying that “by which he was PROFESSED TO BE sanctified”. The rejection is the refusal to ACCEPT Jesus sacrifice for which they had made a profession that they had. Instead of receiving Jesus’ sacrifice for their sins, which they had professed they insisted upon their religious works and efforts saying that those would be accepted by God.
  3. “And insulted the Spirit of grace”: Some of these professing Hebrews had allowed the Holy Spirit to move them into the acceptance of the truth with regards to Jesus and were intellectually convinced of this truth but had not turned from their sin and away from their religious works and because of this hadn’t come into the surrender of faith and instead were going back to religious works, specifically the Levitical sacrifices. This act is treating the work of the Holy Spirit with “grave indifference” the pleading and wooing of the Holy Spirit. This, is what Jesus was talking about in Mark 3:28-29 where He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” This is the dread “blasphemy against the Holy Spirit,” for which Jesus said there is no forgiveness, neither in this age nor in the world to come. Many people want to know if a Christian commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? The answer to that question lies is two conditions both found in the church today: Professing and Possessing! It is possible, as clearly the writer of Hebrews is warning Professing Christians, that if they reject the sacrifice of Jesus by their religious works than they can commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Why else would he and Jesus warn them? But it is not possible for a believer who is “possessed by the Holy Spirit” even if they fall into sin occasionally to commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The Christian that can never commit the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the person who is “born of God”.

 

30-31 A fearful reality

Vs. 30-31 The verse quoted her is out of Deut. 32:35-36 and the word rendered “vengeance” is an unfortunate translation as in English it carries the idea of “vindictiveness” which does not reside in the Greek word or in the heart of God. Instead, the word means “the full measurement of justice will be carried out by the Lord.” The context of verse 31 is from the perspective of the apostate who has professed Jesus but in truth has trusted in religious works. There are two possibilities:

  1. You have put your whole life into the hands of the living Christ
  2. Our you have fallen into “the hands of the living God”: That happens when a person professes one thing but consistently and deliberately chooses the opposite of their profession.

Vs. 32-34 Recalling and looking

Vs. 32-34 In the finial 8 verses the writer tells his readers how they can avoid becoming an apostate.

  1. Remember your suffering and service: The writer knew who he was writing too and how they had been involved in their profession of faith. There were two things that stood out that he wants them to remember. These two things don’t alone indicate true faith, but they indicate that they were willing to take action on what they said they believed.
  2. 32-33 Suffering: “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured great struggle with suffering: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated.” These “professing believers” had already experienced “suffering” by their confession as they had been identified with true believers. The point the writer is making is that their “faith fence ridding” had not been discernable to their fellow countrymen who were level persecution against intellectual agreement the same as spiritual commitment. And furthermore, to their credit such treatment had driven them away from what they intellectually believed was true. Since this suffering through intellectual “illumination” had happened why not make your faith sure by full inviting Jesus to be Lord and Savior? The argument seems to be that stopping at the edge of commitment hasn’t gained these “professing believers” any advantage, so why settle for it? They needed to put their full trust in Jesus and become one of His instead of settling for being a mere “pretender”! Their persecution by their fellow religious Hebrews proved two things at the same time: Religious works was threatened by relational commitment(while that didn’t alone prove that relational commitment was true it did prove that Religious works wasn’t.) Second it proved that they gained NO ADVANTAGE by mere profession.
  3. 34 Service: “For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.” These “professing believers” had already given up worldly opportunity for the hope of heavenly rewards. They had risked: reputation, friends, family, and earthly possessions for what they intellectually believed were better things but were now willing to walk away from such an investment instead of seeing it through too true faith and reaping their eternal reward. They had put everything into their service but all they needed to do is ask Jesus into their heart and surrender. It is a great shame to witness what unbelievers do for ideology and philosophical views that often the true church won’t. I’ll say right now: Oh Lord, give me all those who for religious works maintain commitment and when they embrace You, the Living God by faith in You alone, trusting in Your finished work of grace, with changed motives of serving You not to be right because they are right in You, by Your power we will change the world!

Vs. 35-39 Confident expectation

  1. 35-38 Look forward to your rewards: “Therefore do not cast away your confidence which has great reward.” The writer goes on to explain in verse 36 what they lack in order to “receive the promise”, “ENDURANCE”. To prove his point, the writer quotes Habakkuk 2:3-4. The warning was to not allow their confidence to waver as to miss the rewards. At issue for these “professing believers” was not a lack of trust in the greatness the promises they knew how superior they were compared to anything the world had to offer, neither were they wavering because they doubted the ability of our Lord to fulfill what He promised. Instead, the plea for the writer is that of endurance so that they wouldn’t be persuaded to turn but to the “religious works”. They needed to complete their act of faith and not stop short of making Jesus Lord of their life! The suffering that they had already endured would not last forever, but their salvation and rewards in Jesus would! Jesus is returning and will set the world right at His return, and He is not delaying and nothing and no one can delay His soon return. The way to become righteous is by faith in Jesus alone and the way of the righteous is to live by faith in Christ alone. The basis of our spiritual life and spiritual living is by faith! Knowledge of the gospel is essential, suffering for the gospel is possible, serving God’s people in the name of the gospel is what we are privileged to do. BUT ONLY FAITH IN JESUS FINISHED WORK UPON THE CROSS WILL BRING SALVATION AND PRESERVE US FOR ETERNITY!

Vs. 39 The writer closes the 10th chapter what a note of confidence that those he is appealing too will indeed leave religion and trust alone in Jesus. He is so confident that he writes, “We are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the salvation of the soul.” Notice that the writer includes those that he is warning with himself as true believers!