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Hebrews 6:10, John 3:16, Romans 5:8

Jesus is God’s Love Gift

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 21, 2019

The author of Hebrews is confident that his readers will enjoy “better things” than the children of Israel who failed to move forward in their faith and trust in God to enter the Promised Land. He is not referring to eternal life because he’s already established the reality of their faith in Jesus. Their eternal destiny is assumed but the experience they have along the way is in question. Will they spend it wandering around in the wilderness in fear and trembling or will they mature in their confidence in the full sufficiency of Jesus and experience God’s rest in the here and now? The author is confident that his readers will not experience the fate of those who turned back at Kadesh Barnea. He’s confident that only good things await them. He writes, in Hebrews 6:10 “For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.”

He commends his readers for their sacrificial service to other believers. But notice that it’s service motivated by love for God. What is not overlooked or what is remembered by God is “love motivated service.” Girdwood points out, “As in so many places in Scripture, work and love are joined together. Paul wrote of a ‘labor prompted by love’ (1 Thess 1:3) and John encouraged Christians to ‘not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth’ (1 John 3:18). Our writer will join these same terms in 10:24 when he exhorts his readers to ‘spur one another on toward love and good deeds.’”[1]

The good deeds that God rewards are those motivated by love. It makes no mention of good deeds motivated by guilt. Too often preachers, me included, will use guilt to move their members to get more involved. Guilt motivated service is noticed but not in a good way. When I’m nice to my wife because I was mean to my wife, she notices it right away. God does too. Good deeds that are motivated by the reward are not appreciated either. That is to pursue the gift rather than the giver! My grandsons know that I’m a good gift giver and I’m well aware of the fact that their kindnesses to me are often motivated by my gifts rather than by their love. I give gifts because I love them. I hope that my expressions of love will be understood as such and as they enjoy the gifts, they will see the love and be moved to return that love.  God demonstrated His love for us by giving the greatest gift imaginable. He “so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” Jesus is God’s love gift to you and me!

[1] James Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse, Hebrews, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1997), Heb 6:9–12.

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Hebrews 6:9, Matthew 11:28-29

Resting in Jesus’ Sufficiency

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 21, 2019

The children of Israel made a decision that sent them into the wilderness to live out their lives. It seems they couldn’t let go of the sense of their own frailty and unworthiness. They looked at the land and longed to enter, but were too afraid to let go of their fears and fully trust God’s promise. They were still God’s chosen people and were cared for their entire lives. Moses was still their leader and manna continued to fall from heaven 6 out of 7 days. But they did not get to enter into the rest that God wanted for them.  Many believers today don’t experience God’s rest either because of too many circumstances and situations that distract their attention from Jesus. True rest for our souls only comes from an assurance of the full sufficiency of Christ. Our default, as it was for the Israelites, is to look at ourselves, see the frailty, weaknesses, and unworthiness and then double our efforts to find that rest on our own. Like Israel, we fail if we try to enter God’s rest on our own. Experiencing God’s rest in the land and eternal salvation are two different things. What the Israelites lost was the experience of the rest in this land and that’s what the writer of Hebrews warned his readers about. One must progress in their faith in the full sufficiency of Jesus. Fruchtenbaum says, “The Exodus Generation made an irrevocable decision and could not progress to the Promised Land. The generation to whom the Book of Hebrews was addressed could also make an irrevocable decision and fail to progress to maturity.”[1]

The writer of Hebrews sees his audience, and us, at Kadesh Barnea. We haven’t made that irrevocable decision yet and he’s confident we won’t. He believes we’ll continue our focus on Jesus. We’ll keep our eyes on him regardless of the giants in the land as well as the wind and the waves of life’s storms, and mature in our full faith and assurance of Jesus’ sufficiency. Hebrews 6:9 says, “Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation.”

He’s not talking about eternal “salvation.” That’s already been established for them and for all of us who believe in Jesus. But the “things belonging to salvation” might become part of our daily experience as we occupy the land that God has given us in this life.  Allen says, “The author does not say the ‘better things’ refer to entrance into salvation, but to that which ‘accompanies’ salvation. The author assumes, and thus implies by his language, that the readers are believers.” [2] The things that accompany salvation are not itemized but I’d argue that according to the context it must include “God’s rest.” We’ll never have a perfect rest from all our trials and struggles in this life, but we can have peace with God and that peace is found only in a full assurance of the sufficiency of Jesus. Jesus calls us to himself so that He may give us rest, rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-29). Growing up, maturing in our faith, is learning how to rest in the full sufficiency of Jesus regardless of our life situations or circumstances.

[1] Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Messianic Jewish Epistles: Hebrews, James, First Peter, Second Peter, Jude, 1st ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2005), 88.

[2] David L. Allen, Hebrews, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010), 394.

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Hebrews 6:7-8, Matthew 5:45, 11:28, Deuteronomy 32:2-3, Hosea 10:12

Jesus is our Righteousness

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 16, 2019

Hebrews 6:7-8 give us an agricultural image that illustrates what the writer has already been talking about. The Israelites coming out of Egypt all experienced the marvelous miracles of deliverance. They all followed the fire and smoke. They all ate the Manna from heaven. They all drank from the bitter waters at Marah that had become sweet. They were all recipients of God’s promises to inherit the land of Canaan, but only a few entered into God’s rest. The majority languished in the wilderness. Why? Because they did not trust God. They did not believe God. Like Peter walking on water, they took their eyes off of God, and put them on themselves and their circumstances and became doubtful and fearful. But the truth is, they all experienced the outpouring of God’s marvelous grace. It wasn’t what God did that made the difference but how it was “perceived.” The rain falls on everyone. Hebrews 6:7-8 says, “For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.”

Jesus taught his disciples to love their enemies. It’s no big deal to love people who love you, but it’s God like to love those who don’t love you. In Matthew 5, He describes God as someone who loves everyone. Jesus says we should learn to be like God in this regard. Then He says in Matthew 5:45, “For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” The universe declares the glory of God! Some see it as chance or coincidence. Other’s see it as a divine hand at work. But it’s easy to become hardened to the miraculous all around us. It’s easy to see that the “survival of the fittest” is what this world is all about and therefore we must compete with everyone to win. The harder we work the more we get. We live in a world of sowing and reaping and there is no escape. Jesus offered us the only true escape when He said in Matthew 11:28, “come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” The ground has been cursed because of sin and we live in a cursed world. Jesus wants to reverse that curse and lead us through faith into the Promised Land of rest. But like the children of Israel at Kadesh Barnea we often harden our hearts to God.

As Moses ends his teachings to Israel in Deuteronomy, he teaches them about sowing and reaping. In the land that God is giving them, they will reap exactly what they sow. God’s steadfast love for mankind moved Him to give His people detailed instructions on how to live a healthy and happy life in this cursed world. If they obey, they will be blessed. If they doubt God’s love for them and disobey, they will feel the curse. Moses wants the best for them so in Deuteronomy 32:2-3 he prays, “May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the LORD.” Hosea uses the agricultural image of sowing and reaping also. The seed is “righteousness” and the crop that will be harvested is “steadfast love.” Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love…” But the righteousness that God wants from us is not our own. It’s already demonstrated that we have none of our own. He’ll take care of the righteousness, we must soften our hearts. Hosea continues his verse and adds, “break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.” Jesus is our righteousness!

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Ephesians 3:17-19, John 15:5, Hebrews 6:7, Matthew 13:23, Romans 5:8

Jesus and Fruit

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 16, 2019

Ephesians 3:17-19 connects the love of Christ, Christ’s love for us, not our love for him, as the nutrients which will bring about spiritual maturity. He describes maturity as a progressive understanding and appreciation of God’s love expressed on the Cross. He says it this way, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” If we sink our roots into God’s love, the nutrients for true spiritual growth will flow through us and produce fruit. We can’t produce fruit on our own. The children of Israel could not force “rest” in the Promised Land without God. We can’t find “rest” outside of our complete faith and trust in the full sufficiency of Jesus.  Jesus said it this way in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

The author of the book of Hebrews turns to this agricultural picture to illustrate this truth. He suggests that it takes continual (note the word “often”) Jesus nourishment (abiding in Christ) to produce fruit. This nourishment is abundantly available to all. In Hebrews 6:7 he says, “For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.” Crops draw their nourishment from the rains and the soil, but Christians draw maturing nourishment from Jesus. He is the only source of “living water” and the only true “bread of life.” The land that continually draws its nutrients from Jesus,  the “Word” of God, will mature and produce fruit. In Matthew 13:23 Jesus said, “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”

This is all leading up to the author’s return to the Genesis account of Melchizedek. There is true Jesus meat in that story and he’ll take some time in cutting up the meat and serving it to his readers. He seems to be setting the table now and in the rest of Hebrews chapter 6. Make no mistake, it’s understanding the depth of God’s love for us as expressed on Calvary through Jesus that nourishes spiritual growth. Romans 8:5 says, “But God demonstrates His love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” The growing appreciation of this is what brings us into God’s rest. Jesus did it for us! Like the children of Israel at Kadesh Barnea, we cannot do it on our own. “Apart from Him, we can do nothing.”

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Hebrews 6:6, Galatians 2:21, Ephesians 3:17-19

Jesus is the only way!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 14, 2019

The last part of this passage (Hebrews 6:4-6) says, “… to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” The connection between this and the actions of the children of Israel at Kadesh Barnea is still in play with this last phrase. They flagrantly and publicly rejected God’s offer of the Promised Land wherein there was rest from all their enemies. Paul said that to add anything to the full sufficiency of Christ is to nullify God’s grace. In Galatians 2:21 he writes, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” When good works, sacrifices, rituals, religious practices, and even devotion replace the work of Christ, we disgrace God’s work in Christ and hold Him up to public ridicule. As Paul says, we “nullify” what Christ has done, thus if God would permit your works to replace Christ’s works on the cross it would mean that Christ’s sacrifice wasn’t enough and therefore God would need to offer another sacrifice which He will not do. Thus, to your own harm, through your lack of full, mature faith in Christ, it’s impossible for you to be restored to repentance from dead works.

I believe it’s this understanding that led Girdwood to write, “Those who fall away cannot be restored so long as they persist in their flagrant and public rejection of Christ.”[1] There is only one sufficient sacrifice for our sins! There is only one way to enjoy “rest” with God and rest for our souls. It’s through unwavering and complete confidence in Christ’s work alone, that one can be sure of where they stand with God. No amount of good works or sacrifices or any rituals of any kind can take the place of or add to the fully sufficient work of Christ. When he said “It is finished,” He meant that. Jesus is the one and only way to peace with God.

The difference between Jesus’ milk drinkers and Jesus’ meat eaters is that the meat eaters have their senses trained to see Christ in the entire Bible. They are nourished by God’s Word in everything they read, and grow stronger and stronger with each meal. Paul prayed for the Ephesians when he explained why he wanted them to grow. He said in Ephesians 3:17-19, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Let me repeat Guzik’s words. He writes, “The idea is not that ‘if you fall away, you can’t ever come back to Jesus.’ Instead, the idea is ‘if you turn your back on Jesus, don’t expect to find salvation anywhere else, especially in the practice of religion apart from the fullness of Jesus.”[2]

[1] James Girdwood and Peter Verkruyse, Hebrews, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1997), Heb 6:4–8.

[2] David Guzik, Hebrews, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Heb 6:4–6.

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Hebrews 6:6a

Jesus said, “It is finished”

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 14, 2019

The “impossibility” addressed in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 4-6 is a subject of serious disagreement. The entire passage says, “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance…” What does it mean when it says that it’s impossible to restore them again to repentance? If I keep with the idea of “repentance from dead works” as mentioned in an earlier verse, it might become a little clearer. I see it that way. It’s referring to the insistence of some people to make “works” an integral part of their acceptance by God. This fosters a permanent immaturity. There is no rest for them. Their sin nature leads them to failure often, and guilt and regrets dominate. Then they pick themselves up and try again, and again, and again! There is nothing more discouraging than serving a god of another chance, especially when my second, third, fourth, and all my chances, end in failure. We can only experience rest when we trust in what Christ has accomplished for us.

Keeping this in line with the example taken from Numbers regarding the failure of the Israelites to enter into God’s promised rest in the Promised Land, we get the idea that the decision to maintain a focus on my behavior and deeds completely precludes any experience of God’s rest. Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross and to insist on adding my own efforts to His finished work destroys His finished work. Guzik gets that. He writes, “The idea is not that ‘if you fall away, you can’t ever come back to Jesus.’ Instead, the idea is ‘if you turn your back on Jesus, don’t expect to find salvation anywhere else, especially in the practice of religion apart from the fullness of Jesus.’”[1] You see, outside of the finished work of Jesus, there is no rest, only self-effort, sacrifice, daily stress, and eventual failure! It’s totally impossible to experience God’s rest and God’s peace as long as we add anything to the complete sufficiency of Christ’s work on our behalf.

Pentecost explains why the children of Israel were forbidden to enter the land even after repenting. He writes, “Thus God made it impossible for those who had rebelled—even though they repented—to proceed into the land to enjoy its blessings. Their loss of privilege, in other words, was irreversible.”[2] Taking the land on their own was another display that they did not need God. They trusted in their own strength this time even in rebellion against Moses and God’s pronouncement that they cannot enter God’s rest in the Promised Land. They rejected the sufficiency of God’s promise and the veracity of His word and stepped up on their own to make it happen. It failed of course! It always fails! When Jesus said “It is finished,” He meant it.

[1] David Guzik, Hebrews, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible (Santa Barbara, CA: David Guzik, 2013), Heb 6:4–6.

[2] J. Dwight Pentecost and Ken Durham, Faith That Endures : A Practical Commentary on the Book of Hebrews, Rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 2000), 106

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Numbers 14:21-23, Numbers 14:39-45, Hebrews 6:4-6a

Entering into Jesus’ Rest

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 14, 2019

When the Israelites took their eyes off of God and His promises to give them the Promised Land wherein lay “rest” from all their enemies, they looked at themselves, looked at their opposition, and doubted God’s promise and therefore languished away in the wilderness for 40 years. The result of that lack of faith was that they could never enter into God’s rest. God told them so in Numbers 14:21-23, “But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers.” In other words, it became impossible for them to enter into the rest God had promised the nation. They tried to do so on their own and were soundly defeated by the inhabitants of that land (See Numbers 14:39-45). It’s impossible to experience God’s rest through our own efforts. God’s promise forbids it just as He forbade the Israelites from entering into their rest.

Something similar is going to be impossible for some of those to whom the author of Hebrews is addressing. In Hebrews 6:4-6a he describes those who will face this impossibility. He says, “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come and then have fallen away…” The Israelites in Egypt were enlightened while all of Egypt was cast into darkness during the 10 plagues. Jesus, the light of the world, could not be overcome by the darkness (John 1:5). The Israelites tasted the Passover lamb whose blood protected them from God’s judgment on Egypt. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, “behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The Israelites witnessed the parting of the Red Sea and joined in the procession of those who marched through on dry ground while the Egyptians entered a watery grave. Jesus gives us the Holy Spirit which becomes a well of water within us, swelling up into eternal life and whoever drinks from it will have eternal life. The Israelites saw God’s provision day after day in the wilderness and enjoyed the faithfulness of God providing daily manna from heaven. But Jesus is the “true bread” that comes from heaven and those who feast on it will have eternal life. The Israelites saw the promise of a coming Kingdom in the Promised Land where they would find perfect rest.  Jesus came to bring us the Kingdom and has promised to come again with the Kingdom of God wherein we too will find perfect rest.

With respect to the phrase “fallen away,” the idea has appeared twice before in this epistle. Both times, Hebrews 3:12 and Hebrews 4:11, it has to do with events that took place at Kadesh Barnea. That’s why Tanner says, “Thus falling away’ in v 6 is to transgress against the Lord in a way that parallels what happened at Kadesh Barnea when the Hebrews hardened their hearts and rebelled against the Lord in unbelief.”[1] Because of their lack of maturing faith, the Israelites were unable to move forward into God’s rest. Many Christians today languish in immaturity. They wrestle constantly with guilt and bitterness and find no rest from their dilemma. Only the maturing believer, finding Jesus meat throughout the entire Bible, experiences a vibrant and growing faith in Jesus’ complete sufficiency. His grace is sufficient for all our circumstances. Growing up in Christ requires Jesus meat and the Bible is full of it. Melchizedek is a full healthy meal as it illustrates for us the role of Jesus in dealing with our sin and guilt. The author will go there next.

[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), 1053.

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Hebrews 6:3, Hebrews 3:11

Jesus gives us rest

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
October 8, 2019

The author of Hebrews hopes that he can move on from Jesus milk to Jesus meat. The milk is crucial because it nourishes and strengthens us to be able to manage more sophisticated meals; Jesus meat. He’s already explained that Jesus milk consists of several doctrines that are foundational to the Christian faith. The first one is salvation by grace through faith and not confidence in the dead works of the law. The second one concerns the sacrificial system of purification and transferring our sin to a substitutionary sacrifice. It’s not bulls and goats, but the very Son of God that entered into the presence of God with the all sufficient sacrifice for our sins once and for all. The third issue was the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgement from which, as Paul says, in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, is Jesus “who God raised from the dead.” Further it is Jesus who “rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.” These issues are all fundamental and everything about the superstructure must rest upon these principles.

But the writer hopes to move on to Jesus meat. He wants to give his readers something to chew on regarding more mature teaching regarding Jesus. In Hebrews 6:3 he says, “And this we will do if God permits.” The author is again including himself in this prayer. He wants to move on from the foundational truths to build a life out of biblical truths that rest upon the solid ground of the Jesus milk. Just as the milk is “Jesus” milk, the meat is “Jesus” meat. It’s the same nourishment but comes in a more mature form. We know where this writer is going with this because he will return to his study of the life of Melchizedek at the end of chapter 6 and for all of chapter 7. Melchizedek, King of Righteousness, is a figure from the Old Testament that teaches a deeper and more mature understanding of Jesus. That was Melchizedek’s role: to open the eyes of mature Christians to all the glories and wonders of the Savior that strengthen the foundational truths and builds our confidence in Jesus. The writer wants his readers to move on into a mature confidence or rest in Jesus.

But God did not permit the Israelites to enter into that rest. They took their eyes off of God’s promises and looked at all the troubles and challenges around them and said “we can’t do it.” Actually what that meant was “God can’t keep His promise.” So God declared “they will never enter my rest” (See Hebrews 3:11). They came out of Egypt of course, and were freed from Egyptian bondage but never experienced the full “rest” God wanted for them in the Promised Land. I like the way Steadman puts it, “The unbelieving Israelites in the desert wanted to enter into Canaan, and, presumably, into the spiritual rest which Canaan symbolized. But they could not, for God would not permit it! Hence they must continue to wander in the wilderness till all were dead. Far from being a polite cliché or pious wish, these words God permitting form the fulcrum on which the warning of verses 4–8 turns.”[1] Jesus meat nourishes our faith and enables us to “rest” confidently in God’s promises. Without a full, growing faith in God’s promises realized in Jesus, we’ll never enter into His rest.

[1] Ray C. Stedman, Hebrews, The IVP New Testament Commentary Series (Westmont, IL: IVP Academic, 1992), Heb 6:1.

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