Hebrews

A Faithful Witness

“He who does not believe God has made Him a liar” 1 John 5:10

In Titus 1:2 and Hebrews 6:18 we read that God cannot lie yet in this letter of John to Christians he twice writes that it is possible that people can make God appear to be a liar. In both cases it is when people contradict or disbelieve God’s word.

From the beginning Satan accused God of being a liar. He spoke through a serpent to cast doubt on God’s testimony. Since then he has had plenty of people who are willing to go out of their way to discredit the word of God. What is particularly sad is when people who go by the name of Christian also discredit God’s word by not believing it. This disbelief may be expressed in misrepresentation, distortion or outright rejection.

Any time we question the correctness of God’s word; anytime we interpret God’s word contrary to what it actually says; anytime we distort or misrepresent God’s word we are claiming that we are a higher and more reliable authority than God. This is the pinnacle of pride and calls God a liar. No one who truly loves Jesus Christ would knowingly do this work of the devil.

In almost a summary of all that he has written in his Gospel and in this letter John writes out in a nutshell the essence of what God has said that he wants us to be sure to believe, “and this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; and he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (vv 11-12). The key words in this passage are:

  • Given – Eternal life/Christ is God’s Gift
  • Christ and eternal life are one (cf. John 14:6). No Christ = no eternal life
  • Christ must be received not merely observed
  • Christ is equal with the Father

Anyone who does not believe this testimony of God is calling Him a liar. The evidence that a person does believe this will be seen in their life and word as John has described earlier in this letter.

John has written this letter so that those who have taken God at His word will have the assurance that they are truly born of God and have received Christ who is eternal life (v 13). Then, and only then, will that person know the “full joy” that John desires that all God’s people have (1:4).

No Fear in Meeting God

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” Hebrews 10:31

Like all verses in the Bible it is important to understand the context and not assume a context. The immediate context is the quotes from Deuteronomy, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay” and “The Lord will judge His people” but the broader context of chapters nine and ten is a comparison between the temple sacrifices and Christ’s sacrifice of Himself.

We are discovering that many people groups have stories of a great flood and the survival of just a few ancestors in a vessel of some sort. We also have in many people groups the practice of offering blood sacrifices to appease their god. It would seem that both these have their origin in Noah and the ark. When Noah emerged from the ark he offered blood sacrifices (Genesis 8:20-21).

The law given through Moses also required sacrifices but the writer of Hebrews affirms that such sacrifices did nothing to turn away God’s wrath for sin. They were but shadows (Hebrews 8:5; 10:1). If I promised a new car to my son and only gave him a photograph of that car he would be disappointed. The photograph is useless for the function of a car. It may be cheap but it won’t take him anywhere. Likewise, shadows have no substance. They promise but do not deliver. Jesus Christ is the only sacrifice for sin and all others are mere shadows or representations to point to Him. Anyone holding onto the shadow is the subject of verse 31 quoted above.

Jesus Christ offered Himself “once to bear the sins of many” (9:28; 10:10, 12, 13) so any continuance in offering the shadow is to say that Christ’s death is insufficient or inadequate. It would also deny all the attestations of God that He is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” In essence they are trampling the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant a common thing and insulting the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29). Not surprisingly, they have a fearful expectation.

We may also fall into this trap if we are not careful. It is possible that we may be offering sacrifices of service or money with a wrong motive. We read, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God … for by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (10:12, 14). When we offer service or money from the motive that seeks removal of guilt or to gain God’s favour we deny the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. By doing so we call God a liar and no believer would want to do that.

Rather, we are not among those who are in fear of meeting our God, we are “those who eagerly wait for Him” for His second appearing “apart from sin, for salvation” (9:28).

An Immutable Fact

“… in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began, …” Titus 1:2

If we begin reading the Bible from this standpoint, “God, who cannot lie,” we would fare much better in understanding God and accepting His word and promises. As children we found it so easy to trust. As the years went by we found that it was naive to blindly trust everyone. Can God be trusted? That is the question that Adam and Eve had to answer. Satan convinced them that God could not be trusted and so they trusted Satan instead. We must also choose but regardless of what we choose the fact that God cannot lie remains.

The writer of Hebrews writes that it is impossible for God to lie (6:18). Paul writes something similar in 2 Timothy 2:13 when he wrote “He [God] cannot deny Himself.” He cannot think, speak or act contrary to His Divine Nature. We see this characteristic in all creation. All creatures act according to their nature.

If we choose not to believe a person we are saying that they are either ignorant on the matter or that they are a liar. When we do not believe God we prove that we are children of Adam and following his trust in Satan.

Repentance for salvation is that act of choosing to cease not believing God and to believe His word. In doing this we reject our allegiance to Adam and attach our allegiance to Jesus Christ (cf. Romans 5).

Sadly, there are some who claim the name of Jesus Christ who do not accept all His words. Such a claim is a deceit and hypocrisy and infers that Jesus is either ignorant or a deceiver. Unbelief may be masked by mishandling the word of God. We can become very adept at twisting another person’s words to suit our cause. Paul writes that elders in the church should be able to express “sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9; 2:1) so that the congregation may become “sound in the faith” (1:13; 2:2) through “sound speech” (2:8). The word of God is the authority that a teacher has. When he speaks the word of God faithfully he has “all authority” (2:15) but the moment he strays he has no authority.

Those who abuse the word of God may “profess to know God, but in works they deny Him” (1:16). Paul’s assessment is that they are, to God, detestable, disobedient and disqualified to serve Christ.

Let us make this an immutable fact in our minds, God does not and cannot lie. That is the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ.

Faith is its Own Reward

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; whatever a man sows, that he shall also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,  but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life” Galatians 6:7-8

Whenever we see a statement like the commencement of these verses it is for our good that we take notice. That Paul would write such a line shows that he knew Christians who were being deceived and who were attempting to mock God even if unwittingly.

The principle of sowing and reaping was also used by Jesus in teaching His disciples. It isn’t uncommon for a person to say that they haven’t enough faith or that they desire more faith. We can even read it in the Gospels. In Romans Paul writes that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17) but if just hearing audibly or reading visually was all there was to it many more Christians would have greater faith. “Hearing” has more to it than that.

“Hearing” means also believing to the point of obedience or conforming in thought and activity. A sower may fill his pouch with seed but if he does nothing with it he will not increase his seed. The same is true of faith. If we don’t follow through it will remain just as it is, seed without increase. This is one reason that James wrote, “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). If we want our faith to increase we must sow that which we already have. In other words, if we don’t act on what we already know then we will know no more. If we do not act upon something we know it shows that we don’t really believe it to be true.

The new Christian is able to exercise the same faith as a mature Christian even if that mature Christian is a theologian who has studied the Bible for decades. The problem we have in regard to faith is not in how much we know but in believing and acting upon what we already know. This is just like the farmer who takes his seed and sows it in the ground. It is the act of sowing that is evidence of faith, not the quantity or quality of the harvest.

In the parable of the Sower Jesus tells us that not all seed will reproduce and bear a harvest but that is in no way a reflection on the faith of the sower.

As we exercise faith in Jesus Christ and His word we will discover that He is faithful to who He is and what He has said. If we think that sowing faith will reap health, wealth and prosperity then we have missed the principle that kind begets kind and we reap what we sow.

The reward for acting in faith in Jesus Christ and His word is more faith. The writer of Hebrews puts it this way, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). The reward for acting in faith in Jesus Christ is more faith in Jesus Christ.

True to Kind

“If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself” 2 Timothy 2:13

This must be one of the most comforting verses in the Bible for the one who knows the heart of God and knows his own heart. It is one of the reasons why Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd. We are prone to wander from the truth back into worldly ways of thinking but the Good Shepherd keeps steering us into ‘green pastures.’

We are told in the Bible that there are two things God cannot do; He cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18) and He cannot “deny Himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). These relate to His Person. In contrast there are passages that tell us that nothing is impossible with God (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 1:37) but these relate to His activity in the world.

The very origin and root of sin is that Satan provoked Adam and Eve to doubt both of these aspects of God’s nature that He cannot do. He cannot lie and He cannot think, speak or act contrary to His Divine Nature. The combination of these two is where the true believer finds their assurance, comfort and peace.

When we read God’s word we are sure that He is not telling lies or trying to hide things from us. We know that he does not speak with hypocrisy and will not set a trap for us. When we have doubts about this it is easy to know who is behind those doubts. Satan has been doing this ever since he spoke with Eve in the Garden of Eden. He is well practiced by now but we have the whole Bible that will expose his lie.

In the Bible we also discover that there are many ways in which we may think that God is not faithful to His word. Again, our sinful hearts have a bias to consider God unfaithful but as we read the Bible and reflect on our own lives we will discover that He is and always has been faithful to who He is. The world does not see it that way but that is because their idea of godly traits is different to the revelation of God in the Bible.

One of the most common of complaints is used in other relationships as well. Essentially it is that if you don’t give me what I want, you don’t love me. This is a form of manipulation and no one should allow themselves to be manipulated in this way. That would not be love at all and it destroys the relationship. God will not be manipulated.

Love is sacrificially giving what the other persons needs. This is what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. “For God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Wow! Aren’t we glad that God will always love us in that way?

God is no Liar

“Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” Hebrews 4:11

Rest in this context is the ceasing from our efforts to please God by keeping moral and ritual law or through service, and resting in our new relationship with God through the completed work of Jesus Christ. This is the great divide between religion and true Christianity.

The main impediment to experiencing that ‘rest’ is refusing to believe what God has said. This was Israel’s problem when Israel first approached the Promised Land: “So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:19). When we don’t believe what God has said we will disregard His counsel, directives and commands. This is, in effect calling Him a liar or deceiver. Israel “did not enter because of disobedience” (Hebrews 4:6). We choose not to obey because we think we know better. This was Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden and is the root of all sin. We can hardly expect to remain in fellowship with God while bringing His character into question by calling Him a deceiver or liar.

Both the Apostle Paul and the writer of Hebrews state that it is impossible for God to lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18) and Paul also states that God cannot and will not act contrary to His nature (2 Timothy 2:13). Jesus said that He is truth (John 14:6) and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth (John 15:26) who comes from the Father. The testimony is that God is truth and will not and cannot lie. To suggest otherwise is arrogance in its extreme and follows Adam’s example.

The writer of Hebrews exhorts Christians to be diligent in believing what God has said and demonstrate that we believe God by doing and living as He says. This is what James affirms when he wrote, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). Clearly, the “rest” means serving the Lord and His people and not putting up one’s feet and being idle. How we live our life will reveal whether our faith is genuine or not. When we hear God’s word on a matter and believe what we have heard, we will act upon it as He has directed without finding it a burden (1 John 5:3). If we adjust, dismiss, ignore or reject any of God’s word it reveals that we do not believe Him, perhaps even that we do not want to believe Him.

How can we know whether we are expressing true faith? The writer of Hebrews explains, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

The Word of God has a way of revealing whether our faith is genuine or not. As we read and study it the Holy Spirit will show us where our heart lies. A heart that welcomes the word of the Lord and is guided by it is one that knows the love of God and has no fear of His wrath.

“Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentile and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Raised to New Life

“Women received their dead raised to life again.” Hebrews 11:35

Hebrews 12:1 says that the readers “are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” We are obviously readers as well and so we have many who witness to us. Of whom was the writer referring?

He is referring to all the men and women of faith mentioned in chapter 11. The word for “testimony” in 11:2 and “witness” in 12:1 are the same and 11:4 specifically says that Abel “still speaks” even though he has died. He is still witnessing through the record of his life in the Bible and through those who follow his example of faith. The same is true of all the people mentioned by name or collectively in that chapter.

There have been a lot of false concepts of what faith is passed around and they give rise to wrong teaching and a false idea of what faith is.

Christian faith is taking God at His word even without any evidence to support it. If we seek evidence beyond His word it means we don’t trust Him. Noah had not seen rain or even a minor flood yet he believed what God said. Christian faith always is expressed in actions that demonstrate that God’s word has been accepted as faithful. Noah built an ark, filled it with living creatures and his family and climbed aboard in spite of the mocking and ridicule of his peers and contemporaries. Without this kind of expression it is doubtful that there is Christian faith at all.

Only a few men and only one woman are mentioned by name in Hebrews 11 although many are referred to collectively. The one woman mentioned is Rahab. Rahab (a gentile) expressed her faith in the God of Israel by risking her life. She hid Israel’s spies; she lied about their whereabouts and saw them safely out of Jericho. That would have made her a traitor punishable by death.

Not only did she risk her life to save them she also risked her life to save her family. In order to save her family she had to reveal her treacherous act to them. If they didn’t believe her and the word of the spies they could have handed her over to the authorities to be put to death.

The writer also says that there were other women who had loved ones raised to life after they had died.

While physical life is very important to us concerning our loved ones, their spiritual life is even more important. If God can raise the physically dead, and He can, then the application is that He can breathe new life into a loved one in our time. Those women of faith that we read about in the Bible are living witnesses still speaking to us today that God can raise the dead.

Such women are with us even to this day. They faithfully pray for their unsaved spouse, child or grandchild until they come to faith and maturity in Jesus Christ.

The Closing Horizon

“As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in your likeness” Psalm 17:15

There are quite a few men in the Old Testament who indicate, like David in this Psalm, that they believed in resurrection. Since they had no precedent, how did they come to believe what the world considers unbelievable? It can only have come from God Himself.

The author of Hebrews writes of faithful Old Testament people, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For these who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland” (Hebrews 11:13-14). People of faith could see the fulfilled promises of God on the horizon of time. For them it was “afar off” but for us it is ever so much nearer. The prophetic Scriptures build our expectation that the horizon we look to is not so far off.

Our expectation is put in New Testament words by the Apostle John, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

Jesus gave His disciples a look into the immediate future as well as to the horizon when, on the night He was betrayed, as He shared the Passover with His disciples and instituted the Lord’s Supper He said, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). On the eve of His crucifixion Jesus pointed His disciples’ eyes to the horizon of reunion in resurrection in His kingdom.

The Apostle Paul writes that he received instruction direct from the Lord in regard to the Lord’s Supper. It is a time when we refresh our personal intimate relationship with Jesus. Only those who have experienced Christ in their lives can “remember” Him. We cannot remember what we have never experienced. Paul ends by saying that when we share in this Supper we “proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26). Every time we take the bread and the cup we are testifying that we are looking to the horizon where we see the fulfilment of all the Lord’s covenants and promises. Like Abraham, Job, David, Jonah, Isaiah and Moses we see the ever closing horizon when we shall see Jesus face to face.

Paul affirms, “If we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” “If we died with Christ, we believe we that we shall also live with Him” (Romans 6:5, 8).

The Diligent Seeker

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

A frequent response from people when spoken to about God is to say they cannot believe in God whom they have not seen. God does not reveal Himself to people who do not want to see Him. The miracle is that He manages to get anyone to want to see Him. Usually that is through a difficult or painful experience but can be the outcome of observing the beauty and wisdom of His creation.

The verse quoted above tells us that believing that God exists is the starting point and “diligently seeking” is our response and means through which He will reward seekers by revealing Himself to them. Complementary to the verse above is Proverbs 9:10 which reads, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is wisdom.”

“Fear of the Lord” means to stand in awe of Him. The wisdom and beauty of God is all around us if we wish to see it. The more we gaze at God’s creation the more we will stand in awe of Him. The more we gaze at the Lord Jesus Christ and His great salvation the more we will stand in awe of Him.

Humility and being teachable are like conjoined twins. We cannot have one without the other. However, being teachable and being willing to learn may not always be the same. A person may be willing to learn for personal gain yet be unteachable in regard to anything that he believes may hinder that objective. Personal gain is that which we believe will give us power, praise or wealth. In contrast, a person who is teachable wants to know the truth for its own sake because truth is in itself great gain. Humility will always accompany being teachable because it will often require the discarding of error that had previously been received as truth. Pride will resist such correction.

God will reward the one who is humble and teachable who then diligently seeks Him. Notice that the reward comes from seeking God for Himself not with a view to getting things from Him. The mercenary seeker will receive no knowledge of God. It is God’s gracious act to open our eyes as we seek Him and in the process He gives us understanding of Himself and reveals Himself to us. He will continue to reveal Himself more as we continue to diligently seek Him.

Wisdom is the correct application of that which has been revealed to us of God. Fortunately for us we can learn from the many right and wrong decisions and choices of others that are recorded in the Bible. We don’t have to make all the mistakes ourselves. Hebrews 11 is recorded for us so remind us that we can learn from them.

God does not force Himself on anyone but He will reveal Himself to the one who in humility, with a teachable heart continually diligently seeks Him. He will reward them with Himself in whom understanding and wisdom have their root. God Himself is the reward for those who seek Him and we who are treading this path are living witnesses who gladly testify that God is faithful to His word.

Divine Appointments

“At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the (other) prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25

Paul and Silas were in a most unusual circumstance even for them. They had been “beaten with rods” and thrown into the most secure part of the prison without medical help for their wounds and cuts. Though humanly speaking they had a bleak outlook they were not in the least down cast. They saw their situation as a divine appointment, a gift from God, so instead of griping and complaining they worshipped the Lord.

They couldn’t know what the outcome of their imprisonment would be but they knew the One who was able to keep them in prison or deliver them as He chose, when He chose and in the way He chose. Paul and Silas believed what the Lord had said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” That is why they didn’t complain. They knew this was the Lord’s appointment for them whatever the outcome.

Their singing and praying out loud gave the Lord the opportunity to draw a whole household to Himself and possibly some prisoners as well. In John 17:7 Jesus says that if anyone wants to know the truth about Him, He takes responsibility to ensure they hear that truth. On this occasion he sent Paul and Silas by having them arrested, beaten and placed securely in prison. That is how Jesus brought the Gospel to a prison warden and his family.

Instead of complaining about the situation in which the Lord had placed them Paul and Silas worshipped Him.

We are inclined to grumble and complain and this prevents the Holy Spirit taking advantage of our divine appointments. In every situation we have a choice. We can either complain to God or worship God.

Complaining about God’s appointments for you will turn people away from the Lord by hindering the Holy Spirit’s ministry whereas worshipping the Lord will draw people to Him. Our choice will determine the outcome not only for ourselves but also for those who are witnesses to our circumstances.

It was only in hindsight that Paul and Silas would see what the Lord had been doing – and so it will be in our lives. Let us replace whining and complaining with prayer and singing and see what the Lord will accomplish through us.