Hebrews (written)

Monday, 4 February 2019

Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Hebrews 10:18

The verse here, though seemingly subdued, is the culmination and high point of the entire section of the letter. It is also the last part of doctrinal instruction in the book. From here, the author will provide words of exhortation and encouragement on how to conduct one’s life based on the doctrinal nature of the items he has explained. And so to close out this section, he says, “Now where there is remission of these.” The word “remission” signifies forgiveness. The Greek word means “to send away.” In the sending away of their sins, there is pardon, release, and complete forgiveness of the sins and lawless deeds of the previous verse. The author has just said that, in the eyes of the Lord, they will be remembered no more.

As the sins are pardoned, then, obviously, “there is no longer an offering for sin.” What is being conveyed, again, is the “greater than” nature of the New Covenant over the Old. Under the Mosaic Law, sacrifices and offerings were constantly repeated. This brought back the memory of sin, and it continued to remind the people that they were sinful. However, under the New Covenant, the sins are forgiven – once and forever. There is no longer an offering for sin because there is no longer the imputation of sin. As Paul says –

“Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19

Instead of a system of continuous sacrifices and unceasing guilt for sin, we have one Sacrifice and a word of reconciliation. What has been realized in the New Covenant is infinitely greater than that of the Old.

Life application: First century Jews who were considering a return to the temple and its sacrifices were being told, in certain language, that this move would be completely ineffective in improving their position with God. What would be the point? Their sins were already forgiven in Christ, and where these had been forgiven, there was no longer any sacrifice for sin; their return would be a useless gesture. The same is true with the Jews who are now coming to Christ. A temple will be rebuilt, but the exhortation is to fix the mind and eyes on Christ, not to be swept back into a useless, failed system of ineffectual sacrifices which reminded of sin. Instead, they are being implored to stay the course and to be freed from the memory of sin once and forever. So too are we now, in the dispensation of Grace, not to get caught up in observing the Law of Moses, in whole or even in part. We are to trust in Christ, rest in Christ, and be fully satisfied with our Lord Jesus Christ.

Never does the Bible ask us to blindly walk through this life. Instead, God asks us to use reason and to be fully versed in His word. Using our brains doesn’t demonstrate a lack of faith. Instead, it directs our faith to the narrow path of Jesus Christ. As Proverbs 14:12 says –

“There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.”

Choosing the right way is a responsibility we all bear.

Lord – a thousand religions on a zillion websites tell us they have the answer – that they are the path to You. But Lord, Your word says there is one Way and one Door. Protect us and keep us on that Way which leads to life. Help us to keep our thoughts and our eyes on Jesus – the Way, the Truth, and the Life! Amen.

Sunday, 3 February 2019

…then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 10:17

The author has been once again loosely citing Jeremiah 31, which he already cited in Chapter 8. This is a portion of Hebrews 8:12. Placed side by side, they read –

8:12 – “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

10:17 – then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

As can be seen, 10:17 adds in the italicized words, “then He adds.” These are inserted by the translators and are not a part of the original, but they are inserted because they are explaining the difficult words of verse 10:15, which said, “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before.”

Though disputed as to the meaning of those words, the translators here are making the logical assumption that, in the citation from Jeremiah, the Holy Spirit is witnessing to the reader of Hebrews (specifically, the Hebrew people to whom the epistle is addressed). Thus, verse 10:15 which says, “for after He had said before,” is referring to verse 10:16. The inserted words of 10:17 (“then He adds”) are then continuing the thought. Laying it out in bullets should help –

1) But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before,
     – “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,”

2) Then He adds
     – “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Thus the inserted words, “Then He adds,” are simply clarifying the otherwise difficult to understand words of verse 10:15. Understanding this, The entire thought is given to explain the supremacy of the work of Christ over the sacrifices and offerings of the Old Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, sacrifices and offerings only brought a reminder of sins, but they never actually took them away. However, in the offering of the body of Christ, and with the acceptance of that in the hearts and minds of the people of Israel, then “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Life application: As a guide concerning what has been said, we can follow these thoughts to their logical conclusion (remember, the words have been speaking of Israel the people, but the words hold true for any who come to Christ) –

1) We have sinned. God is infinitely holy. Therefore, we stand condemned.
2) Deeds to gain the favor of God are insufficient because they come from what has been created. In other words, all is from Him and ultimately is His.
3) The Old Covenant sacrifices fell into the realm of things in creation and could never take away sin.
4) Jesus’ divine nature is not part of creation.
5) Jesus, being fully Man, gave Himself to pay our debt.
6) The payment, once rendered, is
     a) available
     b) acceptable
     c) all-sufficient
     d) eternal

Therefore –

God offers it; God accepts it; it is complete in scope; its effects last forever. This is why we can – with complete confidence – accept that He will never remember our “sins and lawless acts.”

Lord God, trusting in Your word is the most wonderful thing to our hearts. You have said we are forgiven by faith in Christ. Our hearts are grateful. You have said that our forgiveness means that we are saved from Your wrath. Our hearts are relieved. You have said that our salvation is eternal. Our hearts are overjoyed. Praise be to You, O God. Help us to not only trust Your word, but to keep on trusting it. We have surety of hope because of the word You have given. Hallelujah and Amen!

Saturday, 2 February 2019

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” Hebrews 10:16

The author now reaches back to his words of Chapter 8 where he cited Jeremiah 31. However, he only focuses on a select portion of that quote, and he makes some variations in it while citing it. Side by side, the variations can be noticed. (NOTE: the word “minds” is in the singular. It should be translated as “mind,” not “minds,” and so it is cited correctly below) –

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord:”

“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord:”

&

I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts;

I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their mind I will write them,”

It can be seen that though the substance of the verses is changed a bit, the intent remains the same. It also shows us that the heart and the mind carry the same general idea, and they are being taken synonymously, but that there is both a plurality (hearts) and a unity (mind).

The entire thought consistently points to a time when Israel, as a group of individual people, will collectively have their mind converted to Christ. The author has said in verse 13 that Christ is waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. The author then said that this is an ongoing process, and it will lead to a time when Israel will call out to Him. At that time, they will be having the laws put into their hearts (ongoing – the verb is a present participle, active), but they will have them written on their mind (future – the verb is a future indicative, active) at some point.

Life application: It isn’t easy to grasp all that the Bible is revealing to us because the parsing of words between languages, and the use of exacting words to convey specific meaning, takes precision. Translators often miss these subtleties, and thus the intent of the Greek is actually quite different than what the translation presents. In this one verse, the NKJV, following after the KJV, misses the action of the verb, and translates a singular as a plural. This makes it extremely difficult to see what the intent of the passage is. Don’t get stuck reading a single translation and think that you are being scholarly. In fact, it is generally quite the opposite, especially with marginal translations which are chock full of translational errors.

Thank You, O God, for the gift of Your Holy Spirit. In His fellowship, we can then begin to understand “the things of God” as revealed in Your word and to be able to grasp those truths more fully as we study it. And, how precious is Your word – it is sweeter than honey to our mouths! We love You Lord God, and we cherish Your word! Amen.

Friday, 1 February 2019

But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, Hebrews 10:15

The author has already cited that the Holy Spirit has spoken out utterances concerning Christ, such as in verse 3:11 and in verse 9:8. In stating that the Holy Spirit has spoken, and then in citing verses from the Old Testament, the author is showing his complete conviction that he believes that Scripture is inspired by God through the Holy Spirit. This is exactly what Jesus also stated, and it is repeated by Paul and by Peter.

In the case of this verse, the author again brings in this truth by saying, “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us.” He is making the adamant statement that what he will say is from God as revealed through the third Person of the Godhead. He then says, “for after He had said before.” It is a rather perplexing phrase, which scholars have struggled to explain, but it simply needs to be kept in the context of the passage.

In verse 10:8, he said, “Previously.” This was quoting the psalm which was being applied to Christ Jesus. In verse 10:9, he said, “then He said.” This was again applying words of the psalm to Christ Jesus. Now, we have this verse, once again given by the Holy Spirit, which will cite Jeremiah 31 (which has already been cited in Chapter 8), and which is once again being applied to Christ Jesus.

What is happening is exactly what Jesus said in John 5:39 –

“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”

It is a thought again expressed by Jesus in John 15:26, 27 –

“But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. ²⁷ And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

The author is showing that the things written before by the prophets, and the things which will be written after by the apostles, are inspired of God through the Holy Spirit in order to testify to the Person of Jesus Christ. With this understanding, the author will next again cite the words of Jeremiah 31 to now more fully explain what he had previously introduced. In his citation, he will follow the train of thought in Jeremiah 31 demonstrating an “after,” meaning a conclusion, from what he said “before,” meaning within the citation itself. In other words, the author is saying –

1) I cited Jeremiah 31 already (before).
2) In that citation I said, “X.”
3) And then in that citation (after X), I said “Y.”

The contents of this thought will be revealed in the coming two verses.

Life application: In this verse, the author uses the truth that all Scripture was given by the Holy Spirit to point to Christ. He pens with the certain conviction that what was said in the past via the prophets, and under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, verifies his claims about the supremacy of Christ’s work. It also verifies to the recipients (the Hebrew people) that the Old Testament itself claims that the Old Covenant would be superseded. This is a wonderful point to start with when witnessing to Jewish people.

To make claims about Christ, or the superiority of the New Testament, from the New Testament, is called “circular reasoning.” It is the same as making claims for the validity of the Bible from the Bible. Using a source to justify itself may rightly lead to rejection, unless something external confirms what is being said. In the case of the New Testament, an argument for it can be made from the Old. This is what the author has been doing and will continue to do. When you witness to others about Jesus, unless you have external information to validate what you say, they have every right to reject you. What externals are acceptable? What issues should we bring up? Some are 1) the nature of man, including sin, responsibility, etc; and 2) the composition of nature which demonstrates an intelligent Being. Further, we should also pray for 3) the participation of the Holy Spirit. (Do you pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide your witness?)

These and other external verifications of the content of the Bible keep you from using circular reasoning and looking impotent. Paul used all of these when He spoke to those in the Aeropagus in Acts 17 – and so should we. His speech led to conversions and he only brought in a biblical point (the resurrection) at the very end of his speech.

Lord, you’ve given us abundant evidence for the truth of the Bible. Help us to use these evidences to support what the Bible claims. How wonderful it is to read Your word and then to see how it is supported by what we see around us! Give us wisdom to use these tools effectively in bringing many to a saving knowledge of You! Amen.

Thursday, 31 January 2019

For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. Hebrews 10:14

This verse is similar to verse 10:10. Placed side by side, the similarity and the contrast can be seen –

10 – By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

14 – For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

Verse 10 referred to Christ’s coming to do God’s will. In that, He offered Himself, and it is through that will of God that we individually have been sanctified. Now verse 14 refers to the offering of Christ which has perfected each person, forever, of all of those people who are being sanctified, forever. In other words, it is not speaking of the individual who is sanctified, but all who are being sanctified through the one, final, and complete sacrifice of Christ. Of them, each is “perfected forever.”

This same word was used in verse 2:11 –

“For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”

In verses 2:11 and 10:14, the use of the word in this way is speaking of those who are in the way of sanctification, but there is no regard to time. Whereas in verse 10, it was speaking of a time in which the individual was sanctified.

The author is using very precise words to reveal what has occurred in the one-time and for all-time sacrifice of Christ. It is His offering (a one-time event) which has perfected forever (at the moment a believer comes to Him) those who are being sanctified (meaning anyone at any time from the sacrifice forward).

Life application: This verse is another evidence for eternal salvation. As it says, “…by one offering,” meaning Jesus’ cross, “He has perfected forever,” indicating the permanence of what occurred in the believer’s life. In other words, the act of what Jesus did for the believer is completely sufficient in itself to forever perfect (and thus save) those who believe. Be confident in your salvation that it was a one-time and forever act. Yes, you will lose rewards when you slip up, but from the moment you were saved, you were saved forever.

Lord God, we can see that You have left it up to us to bear fruit or to squander the salvation which came at such a high price. And so, give our hearts the burning desire to live for You today and always. Without Your nudging, we will surely let You down. So nudge away, O great Lord! Amen.