A Study on the Book of Hebrews

“When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”^[d] 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

¹⁶ People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. ¹⁷ Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸ God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:13-20

“F B Hole writes that…

We need to have a hope which is resting upon a very weld established basis if we are to hold it with full assurance. It is this thought which leads to verses 13-18. Abraham stands before us as a great example not only of faith but of hope also. It was when he had offered up Isaac, as recorded in Genesis 22:1ff, that the promise of blessing was given, which culminated in “the Seed,” which is Christ, according to Gal 3:16. That great promise had behind it not only the authority which always accompanies the bare Word of God, but also the added sanction of His solemn Oath.

How beautiful is this glimpse which we have of God, stooping to consider the feebleness and infirmities which mark even the best of His creatures! Here are Abraham and the later heirs of the promises. How easily their faith may waver! How full of uncertainties is the world in which they find themselves! Then God will condescend to their weakness and reinforce His Word by His Oath, saying, “By Myself have I sworn, saith the LORD.” (Hebrews Commentary and Notes, F B Hole)

Every Sunday we swear an oath, sort of, when we recite the Creeds. Our creeds are statements of what we believe – “I believe in G-d the father Almighty; I believe in Jesus Christ G-d’s only Son, Our Lord; I believe in the Holy Spirit, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” These creeds were written by our Church Fathers who found in the working of Christ the fulfillment of G-d’s promises to all people. When G-d spoke promises to the Israelites, they were certain to be true and secure – G-d declared it to be, and so it was.  

In Jesus Christ, G-d humbled G-d’s self to become just like us. And after his death and resurrection, he promises to prepare a place for each one of us, so that when our end has come, Christ comes to take us home.

Pastor Dave

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