A Study on the Book of Hebrews

 Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.¹⁰ God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.¹¹ We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. ¹² We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” Hebrews 6:9-12

“In Hebrews 6:10, he mentions their work and the love which they had shown toward the Lord’s name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. “Shown” points to something visible. He could see how their lives had changed from living for themselves to now living to serve others. Their salvation resulted in visible evidence. He refers to this same evidence again in 10:32-34, where he specifies how in former days they had endured public reproach, had showed sympathy to prisoners, and had joyfully accepted the seizure of their property, knowing that they had a better and lasting possession in heaven.

The point is, if you have faith in Christ, it will manifest itself in your life. There will be other evidences than those listed here (1 John lists many evidences of genuine faith), but there are always visible evidences of the new birth just as there are unmistakable signs of life in a newborn baby. As we saw (Hebrews 6:7-8), it may take a while to see whether the ground that drinks in the rain bears thorns and thistles or a good crop. But as Jesus’ parable of the sower shows, the good soil will yield a crop, “some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty”(Matt. 13:8). Genuine salvation will result in a life of increasing fruitfulness and holiness.” (Steven Cole Exposition on Hebrews 6:9-12)

The genuine Christ-like life is one of “yield” – not giving in, but giving of. Too many people feel they must yield their faith, put their faith away while they are at work, at the grocery store, even at their family events. Rather, as the author tells us, we are always to find ways that our faith “yields” evidences – bringing forth a crop, showing signs that your life is one that does not conform to culture – but conforms to faith in Christ. We can do that in multiple ways – sharing our gifts, getting involved in ministries, feeding people who are hungry for Christ and hungry for food. The beauty of sharing our gifts, it doesn’t matter if we see a yield of a hundredfold, sixty-fold, or even twenty-fold. What matters is that we are giving of our time, talents and treasures.

Pastor Dave

A Study on the Book of Hebrews

“Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, ² instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And we will do this, if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt. ⁷ Ground that drinks up the rain falling on it repeatedly, and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and on the verge of being cursed; its end is to be burned over.” Hebrews 6:1-8

“Dave Branon puts it this way…

Few of us look in the mirror and come to the conclusion of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath. During his heyday as a player, Namath wrote a book titled I Can’t Wait Until Tomorrow … ‘Cause I Get Better-Looking Every Day. As egotistical as that title sounds, it can help us see how we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ should view ourselves in the lifelong process of becoming like Him. Scripture tells us that to become more like Christ, we need to keep getting better every day. The development of Christlikeness is called sanctification. It begins the moment we put our faith in Christ for forgiveness of our sins. In God’s eyes we are sanctified, or “set apart” from the ungodly, and placed in God’s family. But sanctification is also the ongoing process in which we become more and more like our Savior as we allow the Holy Spirit to develop in us His characteristics. Our part is to “press on,” striving to reach spiritual maturity. Ask yourself this question: Am I better-looking spiritually than I was yesterday? It’s a good test of whether you are becoming more like Jesus.” (Dave Branon, Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries)

What a question: Am I better looking spiritually today than I was yesterday? Are you? What strides have you made in your spiritual life, your spiritual understanding, your biblical literacy, and the sharing of your gifts with the church and others? We never can say we have achieved all we need to achieve when it comes to living the Christ-like-life. That kind of life is a journey – the journey ends when we die. We cannot retire from this life – we live into this life – from one day to the next, into eternity.

We are all made beautifully and wonderfully in G-d’s eyes. And since G-d already sees us as loved, children of G-d, we should seek to keep our spiritual—outernature in the best possible shape. How? By exercising our spiritual muscles, running the race of faith, and eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ often.

Pastor Dave