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Hebrews 10:30-31, Matthew 7:1, Romans 14:4, James 4:12

Jesus is sufficient for me!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 17, 2020

The warning passages in Hebrews have always sparked serious controversy. Some argue that they are addressed to those who profess to be believers but really aren’t. Others point out the many times the writer addresses them as brothers and believers in his letter. Some say these are indeed true believers but they can become unbelievers at any time and thus the warning is for those who are tempted to cast aside their previously held faith. Still others argue from earlier passages in Hebrews and other New Testament statements that once you’re a believer, you’re always a believer. There are other issues involved in this controversy but I’m thinking the author of Hebrews settles this debate with two brief statements in Hebrews 10:30-31. He writes, “For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

I believe the writer of Hebrews is acknowledging that he doesn’t know the true hearts of all those who might read his letter or hear his sermon. Isn’t it the same with us? We can’t judge the place and position of others in this life and thankfully we’re not called to do that. We’re called to look to ourselves and judge ourselves. In Matthew 7:1, Jesus warns us that when we judge others we open ourselves to judgment saying, “Judge not, lest you be judged.” Paul instructs us in Romans 14:4, “Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls.” James also seems to repeat the ideas of Paul and the author of Hebrews. In James 4:12 he writes, “There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”

It appears that the intention of the writer of Hebrews is that everyone will be encouraged in their faith in the full and complete sufficiency of Christ. Jesus is enough for me! When he said on the cross it is finished he meant it. Any attempt to add to his work on our behalf does nothing but diminish what he did for us. Anything that can be added to Christ’s work whether it be ritual, sacrifice, or severe duty cancels his work for us and offends the God of all mercy. I think Kent has it right when he comments on this passage saying, “Those who truly love the Lord will heed the warning and strengthen their trust in Christ as the one sacrifice which is valid for sin. May those whose understanding of God’s truth has never been clear find instruction in this solemn warning and flee from the day of vengeance to the Son of God, whose blood shed at Calvary provides the only perfect sacrifice.”[1] We should not be looking at others regarding this warning, but only to ourselves with the ever growing, maturing faith in the fact that Jesus is sufficient for me!

[1] Homer A. Kent Jr., The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1983), 209.

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Hebrews 10:29, John 5:39-40, John 6:68

With Jesus, it’s all or nothing!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 17, 2020

The law judges without mercy. Jesus brings mercy and forgiveness to sinners. If sinners rejects the mercy that God offers us through Jesus, the judgment one must face will be even worse than that which is delivered by a merciless law. The reason it is worse appears to be that one was presented with a perfect deliverance but chose not to avail oneself of it. Jesus once confronted the religious leaders who in rejecting him, argued to be followers of Moses. Jesus responded by saying, “If you believe Moses, you would believe me because Moses testifies about me.” He said more, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). Here is eternal life standing in front you, but because of your pride you won’t accept it. You would rather stand before God on your own merits. It is one thing to stand before God and be judged on the basis of a merciless law, but it’s another thing to do so knowing there was a way of escape that your pride prevented you from entering. Hebrews 10:29 put the situation clearly. It says, “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?”

Guzik explains this verse; “When we sin willfully by rejecting Jesus’ work on the cross as sufficient, we have: i. Trampled the Son of God underfoot: We disgrace Him by rejecting His greatest work. We devalue Him by devaluing what He did. ii. Counted the blood of the covenant … a common thing: We consider Jesus’ blood of no greater importance than the countless animals sacrificed under the Old Covenant. iii. Insulted the Spirit of grace: We offend the Holy Spirit, whose purpose it is to present Jesus and His work to us (John 16:8–15) when we reject Jesus and His finished work on our behalf.”[1]

It doesn’t sound like the writer of Hebrews is thinking about some moral lapse on the part of a believer. He’s addressing the clear rejection of Christ as all-sufficient Savior. Pfeiffer says, “This is the man who blatantly denies Christ and rejects the salvation which God has provided.”[2] This seems to picture the religious leaders caught up in their love of the law and self-righteousness that they cannot let go of their religion and trust in Jesus. Many people turned away from Jesus when he presented himself as the messianic deliverer of mankind. At one point he turned to his closest disciples and asked them if they too would leave him. Peter answered the way we all should answer. In John 6:68, he replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” It’s either the amazing grace of Jesus, or the merciless law of religion. God’s ultimate and complete provision for sinners appeared once and for all in Jesus. Is it Jesus or is it law & religion. It can’t be both! With Jesus, it’s all or nothing!

[1] David Guzik, Hebrews, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Heb 10:26–31.

[2] Charles F. Pfeiffer, The Epistle to the Hebrews, Everyman’s Bible Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1962), 87–88.

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Hebrews 10:28, John 8:7, Matthew 9:13, 23:23, James 2:13, Ephesians 2:4-6

Jesus offers mercy not judgment!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 17, 2020

In John chapter 8, a woman caught in the act of adultery, a capital crime in Israel, was arrested by the religious leaders and brought before Jesus. There were numerous witnesses against her and there was no denying the crime on her part. The issue of her guilt was never in question. The disposition of the religious leaders was one of justice according to the law. She should have been stoned to death according to Leviticus 20:10. The law offers no mercy for sinners. I think the writer of Hebrews is referring to the disposition of the law versus the disposition of Christ toward sinners. Hebrews 10:28 says, “Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.” I’m interested in the phrase “without mercy.” One commentary says, “The writer of Hebrews summarizes the essence of the verdict in the words without mercy. According to God’s instructions, the guilty person had to be killed, and the example was to serve as a deterrent.”[1] When the religious leaders brought the adulteress to Jesus he had a different disposition towards her. It was one of mercy. Mercy on the sins of others only comes from the recognition of one’s own sin. Jesus says to them in John 8:7, “Let the one of you who is without sin cast the first stone.” The crowd is dispersed.

While the religious leaders were hot to keep all aspects of the law, Jesus was hot for them to learn about mercy. The sacrificial system, the religious practices, the sacrifices and all the details associated with the tabernacle were strictly enforced by the religious leaders. They would study Jesus and his followers to find discrepancies in their behavior that contradicted the laws of Moses. One time, as recorded in Matthew 9:13, the religious leaders accused Jesus and his followers of associating with those who did not live up to the standards of the law. Jesus simply said to them, “Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’” Later in Matthew 23:23, Jesus addresses the religious leaders with the disposition of law and says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness.”

James 2:13 observes, “For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” Jesus, the only sinless one, wants sinners to have a disposition of mercy toward other sinners rather than a disposition of judgment and or vengeance. He tells us in Hebrews 10:30, that the settlement of justice and vengeance is a matter that’s under his purview alone. We should not venture to take that issue into our own hands. There is no mercy under the law, only justice! Jesus on the other hand offers mercy. He reaches out to sinners like us with mercy. Paul explains this in Ephesians 2:4-6, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places.”

[1] Simon J. Kistemaker and William Hendriksen, Exposition of Hebrews, vol. 15, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953–2001), 294.

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Hebrews 10:26-27, Matthew 15:19, Jeremiah 17:9

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 17, 2020

Jesus equated looking lustfully at a woman with adultery in order for the religious leaders to grasp the depth of their sinfulness. He also equated hatred, some argue the word should be translated as “animosity”, toward another with murder. Jesus wants us to recognize the depth of our sinfulness, not only the fact that we have sinned.  This is true repentance. Many preachers today speak as if sin is something outside of us that we must fight to keep from coming in. Jesus assures us that it’s not what goes into a man that defiles him. It’s what comes out. In Matthew 15:19 Jesus explains, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” This is an affirmation of Jeremiah 17:9 which describes the nature of man. He writes, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” I know it’s wrong to harbor bitterness against those who have wronged me, but my wicked and deceitful heart won’t let go. Thus, I sin intentionally.

This is important because it helps us understand Hebrews 10:26-27. It says, “26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.” If we refuse to take Jesus as the payment for the penalty of our sins we must pay for them ourselves.  The sin being addressed by the author is nothing less than the rejection of the full sufficiency of Christ.  Tanner says, “The faulty translation ‘keep on sinning,’ misses the point altogether. The context suggests that the author is thinking of a particular sin rather than a lifestyle in which one continues to sin.”[1] If the sacrifice of Jesus isn’t enough, nothing will do. If we turn from Jesus’ gracious provision there is nowhere else to go. If we reject his gracious provision for us, no religious expression or sacrifice will make us right with God. Since all blood sacrifices look to Jesus nothing but his sacrifice avails. If all religious ritual and practices prefigure Jesus’ work, no practice or recitation will satisfy God. Since everything in the Old Testament focuses on Jesus, the deliverer who will fight our fight, take up our cause, deliver us from evil, anything and everything outside of Jesus is inadequate.

The day of atonement made sacrifice for the “unintentional sins” of the people according to Hebrews 9:7. Jesus is the only sufficient sacrifice which atones for the inborn sinfulness of mankind. He became the complete fulfillment of the sacrificial offerings, practices, rituals and observances of all religious systems. No ritual of any religion can relieve our consciences of sin except the one and only, once and for all, sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross of Calvary. Everyone born of man sins intentionally and unintentionally. Nothing can atone for the wickedness of man but Jesus. Absolutely nothing but the blood of Jesus will suffice.

[1] J. Paul Tanner, “The Epistle to the Hebrews,” in The Grace New Testament Commentary, ed. Robert N. Wilkin (Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2010), 1074.

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Hebrews 10:25, Romans 5:8, John 3:16

Jesus is our encouragement!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 10, 2020

The writer of Hebrews calls his readers to “consider” carefully several things. The first thing in Hebrews 3:1 is Jesus. He just wants us to reflect and meditate on the superiority of Jesus. He’s greater than the prophets! He’s greater than the angels! He’s greater than Moses! He’s greater than the Levitical priests and he’s greater than the entire sacrificial system including the tabernacle and all its accoutrements and rituals. All of these things are simply shadows of the “real thing” which is Jesus himself. Now in Hebrews 10:23 he wants his readers to reflect on and think deeply about what motivates people to love and good works. Hebrews 10:24 then guides our thinking in this regard. As the ultimate expression of God’s love for all mankind depicted in Romans 5:8 and John 3:16, reflecting and meditating on that is what changes lives and moves individuals to love each other and do good for each other.

There is something else that helps motivate us to love and good works; that’s encouraging fellowship with others! It’s not a fellowship based on legal observations. It’s not a fellowship based on rules, rituals and regulations. It’s a fellowship based on “encouragement.” Kent says, “This encouragement might take the form of exhorting those who wavered, urging them to steadfastness, comforting those whose Christian commitment had brought trouble and distress, or by lending a strengthening hand to whoever needed it.”[1] Yet it’s the potential of the Hebrew believers to slip back into the religious rituals of Judaism that is the main focus of encouragement. Hebrews 10:25 says, “…not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

When you desert the camp of the forgiven, the only option is to return to the appeal of the religious systems all around you. If we forsake the believers in Jesus who insist that Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins once and for all, we must go back to the system of daily performance to try on our own to earn God’s acceptance. When Jesus isn’t enough, we lose the joys of “rest” in the finished, completed work of Jesus on our behalf. If we let the religious leaders around us insist on circumcision or anything else as a measure of our standing with God, we lose our peace, joy and rest! Meeting together is to reinforce our faith in the full sufficiency of Christ’s work for us, not to reinforce our need to work for God’s acceptance. We need each other to encourage us with this truth because the pull of religion is all around us and is sometimes so subtle we don’t even recognize it. We need each other to keep us in God’s peace and rest through faith in Christ’s finished work.

[1] Homer A. Kent Jr., The Epistle to the Hebrews: A Commentary (Winona Lake, IN: BMH Books, 1983), 203.

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Hebrews 10:24, Ephesians 3:17-19, 1 John 4:9

Think about Jesus’ Love!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 10, 2020

In Chapter three of the book of Hebrews, the author exhorts his readers to “consider” Jesus. He wants them to think about Jesus especially in light of His superiority to prophets, angels, Moses, the Law and the Levitical priesthood. “Consider” means to think deeply about. It means to meditate on and come to a deeper understanding. He presents Jesus as the ultimate and final sacrifice for the sins of man and that through faith in Him we have peace with God and assurance regarding our final destiny.  We can relax, resting in Christ who accomplished for us what we could not do for ourselves. This is all part of God’s promises to us through the Old Testament and their fulfillment in the person of Jesus. Just as all prophecy was fulfilled in Christ, so too will all the promises and prophecies that Christ gave us be fulfilled. We can trust Jesus. So in 10:23 he urges us to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

He wanted his readers to think seriously and clearly about Jesus. But there is something else he wants us to think clearly about. In Hebrews 10:24 he writes, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” Most sermons I’ve heard on this passage end up being an exhortation to love more and try harder, give more, serve more, etc. Preachers take this verse as a personal exhortation to stir up their congregation by exhortation, manipulation, guilt, rewards and/or a variety of other methods; anything to get the congregation more involved in sharing their faith and serving in the church and community. They rarely talk about the what the verse is really saying: “think about how” we are all motivated towards love and good deeds.

The author of Hebrews is not telling preachers to stir up their congregation for service. He’s telling us all to “think” about what stirs people up to love and good works. What is it that moves us to love God and love others? Well, John tells us what that is. In 1 John 4:9 he tells us that “we love because God first loved us.” Paul prays for the Ephesians in 3:17-19 of his letter to them that “Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” When we get a glimpse of God’s love for us as expressed on the cross and sink our “roots” into that, it will produce the Spiritual fruit, the first of which is love! Good deeds flow from that! One writer put it this way, “God’s love fills us up and makes us want to love others with that same unconditional love. It inspires us to serve, to be selfless, to reach higher and to become all that we can be so we can bring Him glory.” (See https://leonfontaine.com/gods-love-changes-us/)

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Hebrews 10:23

Jesus is my all in all!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 10, 2020

Stuart Townend wrote a modern hymn that has become one of my favorites. It’s entitled “In Christ Alone.” Here is the first verse:

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.

What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

This simple hymn expresses the difference between religion and the peace that Christ offers. With religion we have condemnation. With religion we’re always exhorted to try harder, do better, commit more, give more and serve more. Jesus is the Prince of Peace that puts us at rest. He calls out saying “Come to me all of you who are weary and worn out on religion and I will give you rest.” In Christ all our striving cease and we have peace with God. Whatever the circumstances we may find ourselves in, Jesus is enough. His grace is sufficient. How did Christianity become all about what I do for God instead of what God did for me? Religious people all around us try to drag us from the security we find in Christ to the unstable, fickle and fallible works of our hands and flesh. They only produce worry, fear and doubt!

The writer of Hebrews is addressing Christians who are being beguiled by religious people into focusing their attention on their own works and efforts rather than focusing on Christ alone. But he will have none of it and in Hebrews 10:23, he exhorts us all, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Many of the sermons we hear about David, exhort us to be like him. We need to stand up to our giants. But in keeping with how the writer of Hebrews interprets the Old Testament, David was the anointed one who fought the battle for his people and delivered them from their enemy. The story of David is a prelude to the true anointed one who fought our battles for us and delivered us from our enemies. Girwood writes, “His victory is also ours. No threat of danger can cost us more or take away what we hope for—and already possess—in Christ Jesus.”[1] In Christ alone my hope is found! Jesus is my all in all!

[1] James Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse, Hebrews, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1997), Heb 10:23.

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Hebrews 10:19-22

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
February 10, 2020

Jesus did not come into the world to die on the cross for us in order that we might have a second chance at being good. A second chance, a third chance, etc., is what the sacrificial system under the Old Covenant gave the worshippers. Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead to pay the full penalty for our sins once and for all and to purchase a place for us in heaven that he offers to all who believe based on faith alone. If it’s only a second chance, we all fail and will never have the necessary confidence to enter into God’s presence, ever! But Hebrews 10:19-22 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

The writer refers to his readers as “brothers.” He is addressing those who have come to faith in Jesus but who seemed to have lost their confidence in the full sufficiency of Jesus and his priestly work on our behalf with God. The religious leaders of their day, the Judaizers, the legalists, have so infiltrated their group that some began to question the place of the law in their relationship with God. They began to consider it like the sacrifices of the Old Covenant which only offer us a second chance to be good. Thus all confidence, all assurance of our rightful standing with God is gone! We again wrestle with our failure as the basis for God’s rejection of us. It seems to be the default position in every generation. We can’t let go of our religion and put our full confidence in the finished work of Jesus. We seem to want to contribute something to our own salvation! Our “flesh”, our “pride” wants to make a contribution, but God says “There is nothing you can add and there is nothing you can take away” from the finished work of Jesus.

Through Christ we can come into the presence of God with a clear conscience with the “full assurance” of our acceptance.  Hagner writes, “And we are reminded that our acceptability, as we know from the preceding chapters, depends fully upon the priestly work of Christ. We have been cleansed internally (having our hearts sprinkled; cf. Ezek. 36:25, in the context of reference to the new covenant), so that we no longer have the guilty conscience (cf. 9:9, 14) from which the old, sacrificial ritual could not free us.”[1] Thankfully our acceptance by God is based solely on the person and work of His Son, Jesus. It’s Jesus’ blood that cleanses us from all sin. The torn veil separating man from God was split in two at Christ’s death. Stedman says, “That indicated that the way into the presence of God was now open to all who believe in Jesus. We can, therefore, enter with boldness and with no uncertainty as to our acceptance, since everything rests on the blood of Jesus.”[2] It’s all about Jesus!

[1] Donald A. Hagner, Hebrews, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2011), 165.

[2] Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1992), Heb 10:19.

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