All posts by Luella Campbell

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 8

Bible Study, ,

Hebrews 5:11-14 NIV
[11] “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. [12] In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! [13] Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. [14] But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

How well this writer knew his readers! He must have been familiar enough with them as a group to rebuke them without offending them.

Hebrews 6:1-3 NLT
[1] “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. [2] You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. [3] And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.”

Another reprimand! Another warning!

It seems that his readers were either retreating into Judaism to escape persecution or stuck on the basics of their understanding of the gospel. Our writer finds it necessary to interject another warning, this time about about spiritual immaturity, urging them to move beyond the basics of repentance, faith, ordinances, judgment etc.

“You are still baby Christians, sucking a bottle instead of eating gourmet steak!” What an endictment! It’s fine to be a toddler as long as it is a passing phase of growing up, not a permanent state.

What distinguishes a mature person from an immature person? A toddler, a young child, has not yet learned to do what is right regardless of feelings. A liitle one acts according to his inborn selfish nature. It takes years of patient training for a person to follow his conscience rather than his appetites. Some, if not many, never learn!

Likewise, in the Christian life, a mature believer is one who is learning to do what is right regardless of the way he feels. Since we are already righteous because of our faith in Jesus, our role in this life is to live righteously in our day-to-day living. If we are not maturing in righteousness, we deny the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in us to work out our salvation in our daily lives.

It’s no use pussyfooting around elementary, as in basic, doctrines without putting them into practice in our lives.

According to our writer, people who are stuck on the basics are in danger of turning away from the very truths that led them to faith in Jesus. Intellectual faith, i.e., faith that is all mind and no heart, can end up in skepticism, agnosticism and eventual atheism.

Going back on the reality of our salvation experience slams the door on God’s grace, cancels the work of Jesus on the cross, and calls in question the truthfulness of Jesus Himself.

Therefore, such warnings are needful and urgent. Perhaps his readers had never considered the consequences of such a backward step. Did it ever occur to them that a choice like that would cut them off forever from an eternal destiny in the presence of God?

This brings me to a sobering thought. Those congregations that practice altar calls for any and every occasion…are they perhaps encouraging God’s people to live yo-yo lives of irresponsible living and “rededication to Jesus” by constantly calling them to “rededicate” their lives to Jesus? This practice fleecing the face of what God has done…raised them from spiritual death and made them new creatures in Christ.

There may be limited place for such occasions but should never be a substitute for faithful obedience to Jesus. The truly mature Christian will plod on, day after day, living out his faith and faithfulness in the way he responds to tests and temptations. The Holy Spirit in him, his teacher and guide, will keep him on track as he listens and submits to Jesus as Lord. Ours is not another religion but a living relationship with Jesus as Lord.

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 7

Bible Study, ,

Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT
[14] “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. [15] This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. [16] So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”

Following his warning to his readers not to allow unbelief to disqualify them from entering God’s rest, our writer introduces the next role of Jesus as the fulfilment of Old Testament pictures.

In the Old Covenant, the high priest had a pivotal role to play in the system of worship and in the government of Israel. He was not only God’s representative and voice to the people, but he was also their support. As a human, he stood in the the shoes of all the people, feeling what they felt and experiencing what they experienced. Just so, Jesus, because He was also human, was able to participate with His people in the hardships of human life. This High Priest, as the sinless Son of God, was also able to represent them to the Father in heaven, not just as a human but as a perfect Son and Saviour. He knows what it’s like to be human. He understood their temptations but, unlike them, He never fell for the allurements of sin. He could support and succour them in their weakness if they continued to believe in Him.

How imperative, then, that his readers cling tenaciously to Jesus despite the pull of the old nature and the fear of the powers ranged against them that threatened their lives because of their loyalty to Jesus.

Our writer presents Jesus as superior to the high priests of the Old Covenant. In what way is He superior?

Hebrews 5:1-3 NLT
[1] “Every high priest is a man chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins. [2] And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. [3] That is why he must offer sacrifices for his own sins as well as theirs.”

Following his explanation for yet another reason to remain faithful to Jesus, our writer continues his defense of Jesus as superior to the high priests of the religious system of Israel. Did Jesus qualify to be greater than their high priests? How did He qualify?

It was the very humanity of Israel’s high priests that contributed to their religious system’s weakness. They were both mortal and sinful like the ones they served. Death had two powerful effects on their worship. First, there was no continuity. Each high priest served for a while and then died. Second, their high priests were sinful, the very reason for their deaths. They had to offer sacrifices for their own sin since they were all as fallible as the ones they represented.

In what way, then, was Jesus superior to Israel’s high priests? How could He do more for the people than Aaron and his descendants could do?

God chose Aaron and his line to carry this responsibility through the generations. Just as Aaron didn’t take it upon himself the be the first high priest, so also, Jesus was God’s choice to replace the Levitical priesthood.

Hebrews 5:4-6 NLT
[4] “And no one can become a high priest simply because he wants such an honor. He must be called by God for this work, just as Aaron was. [5] That is why Christ did not honor himself by assuming he could become High Priest. No, he was chosen by God, who said to him, “You are my Son. Today I have become your Father.” [6] And in another passage God said to him, “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

Psalms 110, a psalm that predicts Messiah’s role as both victorious king and high priest, declares…

Psalms 110:4 NLT
[4] “The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

Jesus’ priesthood is superiour to the Levital priesthood first, because, like Mechizedek, a mysterious king-priest figure in Genesis of whom there is no record of his birth, death, or lineage, Jesus lives forever to continue His ministry, uninterrupted by death…

Hebrews 5:7-10 NLT
[7] While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. [8] “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. [9] In this way, God qualified him as a perfect High Priest, and he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. [10] And God designated him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.”

…and, second, unlike the animal sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood, Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrificial lamb able to atone for the sin of His people.

How, then, could his readers think of returning to a system of worship that could not guarantee a permanent solution to the sin that separated them from a Holy God? Jesus alone in His person and in His role as priest and sacrifice, has the perfect answer.

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 6

Bible Study, ,

Since Jesus is superior to Moses as the Son over God’s household and the Old Covenant, the writer to the Hebrews warns his readers of the danger of unbelief.

Hebrews 3:12-13 NLT
[12] “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. [13] You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”

During their journey through the wilderness, the children of Israel repeatedly tested God’s patience by complaining against their hardships…hunger and thirst for example, despite the miracles He did for them.

“Don’t be like them! Through their unbelief, they failed to enter the rest God promised them in the Promised Land.”

Hebrews 4:1-2 NLT
[1] “God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. [2] For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.”

There is an even greater rest for those who are faithful in suffering…the rest of faith in Jesus that frees us from the hard work of trying to earn our salvation.

Hebrews 3:14 NLT
[14]”For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.”

The Israelites who rebelled against God never saw the Promised Land. They died in the desert, leaving behind the next generation that entered Canaan and took possession of the land God gave them. However, what the Israelites failed to understand was that their new life in the Promised Land was to be a life of faith in God and obedience to His commands. They would have rest from their enemies around them and from the struggles of life through their faithfulness to God and in His care.

The Israelites rested from the hard work of travel and war, only to suffer punishment because they failed to trust God. There is an even greater rest for those who believe in Jesus, a rest from the ravages of sin and unbelief.

Hebrews 4:6-7, 9-10 NLT
[6] “So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God. [7] So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted: “Today when you hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts…”
[9] So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. [10] For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.”

So, the writer urges his readers, “If you go back to Judaism, you will never enter the rest of faith in Jesus.” God’s rest is a rest of heart and conscience from the penalty and power of sin. Don’t miss it through unbelief in God’s Word.

Hebrews 4:11-13 NLT
[11] “So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.
[12] For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. [13] Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”

As the Israelites of old, we cannot dodge the scrutiny of God’s Word. God sees and knows the depth of the human heart. He knows when there is unbelief in our hearts that refuses to obey Him. He responds to those who truly believe His Word and trust in the one He sent to deal with our sin.

As David prayed…

Psalms 139:23-24 NLT
[23] “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. [24] Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

… let us, also, willingly invite the Father’s scrutiny of our innermost being. Then we will enter His rest, escape the penalty of our sin, and enjoy all the benefits He has promised us in Jesus, the author and finisher of our salvation.

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 5

Bible Study,

Hebrews 3:1-3, 5-6 NLT
[1] “And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest. [2] For he was faithful to God, who appointed him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house. [3] But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself…
[5] Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. [6] But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.”

Jesus or Moses? Which one do we trust? Which one is greater? Which one should have precedence over the other?

This was an issue for Jewish believers. They were taught from early childhood to revere Moses and obey what he instructed. Children learned to recite his writings from memory and apply them by tying them to their heads and hands.

Then, there were people who told them that someone greater than Moses had come to fulfill and overwrite Moses’ laws by new commandments. Who were they to follow?

Some followed Jesus but suffered serious consequences. They became part of the hated and persecuted people of “the Way”. Others followed for a while but the cost was too great, so they contemplated retreating back into Judaism, not realising the consequences of the backward step they were choosing to take.

What, then is the real issue? Is there a fair contest between Moses and Jesus?

Our writer lays out the contrast. Moses was a servant in God’s house.

Hebrews 3:5 NLT
[5] “Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later.”

He served the Lord and His people faithfully as the prophet and mediator between God and Israel. God instructed Moses, and Moses, in turn, instructed the people. God gave Moses the terms of the covenant and the plan of the tabernacle and its worship, and Moses related every detail to the people. The people failed God, and Moses stood in the gap to plead for mercy on their behalf. Moses lost his temper because of their stubborn unbelief, and he took the rap for his failure because of them.

Jesus was not a servant but a son.

Hebrews 3:6 NLT
[6] “But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.”

In the house of Israel, God (the Lord, Jesus) was in charge. Moses was the servant. In the God’s house, His church, (His people expanded to include all people of all nations), again, Jesus is in charge. Which one is greater, servant or son?

Now, the real problem for those who had retreated into Judaism was that they did not understand that they had not only stepped back under Moses’ leadership but they had also gone back into a system that never worked for Israel and…by going back, they had burnt their bridges behind them.

Going back meant that they would lose their salvation from sin, the righteousness of Jesus imputed to them, the everlasting life promised to them through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and all the present and future benefits of life in God’s forever family in fellowship with the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, and all God’s redeemed people.

Was it worth it?

To be continued…

THE GOSPEL IN HEBREWS – 4

Bible Study, ,

The writer to the Hebrews has given us an overview of the Father’s plan in chapter 2, for redeemed humans to reign with Jesus forever. Jesus is the head and blueprint of this human family. He became a man and qualified to be an atoning sacrifice for our sin by His perfect obedience to the Father.

Hebrews 2:9-11, 14-15 NIV
[9 “But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. [10] In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. [11] Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters…

[14] Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— [15] and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

The writer now begins to unpack the salvation, pictured in the Old Covenant, that prepares His sons and daughters to reign with Jesus.

Step one…Jesus had to be fully human both to qualify as an acceptable sacrifice to pay sin’s debt, and a suitable high priest to support us in our times of weakness and temptation.

Hebrews 2:14, 16-18 NIV
[14] Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—…
[16] For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. [17] For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. [18] Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

The writer affirms Jesus’ true humanity as did John in his first letter. (To deny that Jesus was not human is the spirit of antichrist – 1 John 4:2-3). If Jesus was not truly human like us, He would not be qualified to atone for our sin. The animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant, as the writer will go on to explain, have no power to deal with sin and our sin nature. They can only cover ceremonial transgressions. Only the blood of a perfect human can atone for sin.

(How important this is when we consider what other religions offer! Every other religion depends on self-help which can never deal with sin and a guilty conscience. God alone can forgive sin on the basis of the full payment of our debt by a perfect sacrifice).

Step two…Jesus had to suffer to test and prove His perfect obedience to the Father.

Hebrews 2:10 NIV
[10] “In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.”

Hebrews 5:8-9 NIV
[8] “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered [9] and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him… “

What was the nature of Jesus’ suffering? Was it the suffering of leaving heaven and the Father to live a human life on a fallen planet? Was it the excruciating physical agony of the cross event?

We find the answer in Isaiah’s prophecy and the affirmation in the prologue to John’s gospel.

Isaiah 53:3 NIV
[3] “He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain (Hebrew – “choli”, meaning sickness or grief). Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”

John 1:11 NIV
[11]”He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

Rejection… The worst that any human can do to another. The Hebrew word for reject… “chadel”, means lacking or vacant. Empty, unoccupied…imagine calling someone “vacant”! The very people He loved, chose, nurtured, protected and gave a land flowing with milk and honey, rejected Him and eventually killed Him.

Our writer also included the suffering of temptation. How did Jesus suffer through being tempted? The gospel reveals the suffering He experienced when He was tempted to give up and go home.

He was tempted in the wilderness to disobey the Father by acting on His own instead of in union with the Father’s will. He countered the test with, “It is written…”

The pressure of His impending death could have turned Him from obeying the Father…

John 12:23-24, 27 NIV
[23] “Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. [24] Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds…
[27] “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.”

Just moments before His arrest and hours before His death, He agonised over the coming horror.

Mark 14:33-36 NIV
[33]”He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. [34] “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.” [35] Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. [36] “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

How did Jesus respond to the suffering to which His Father subjected Him?

Isaiah 53:10 NIV
[10] “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer… “

1 Peter 2:23 NIV
[23] “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

No anger, bitterness, hatred, resentment, revenge…only mercy and forgiveness…

Naked, bleeding, nailed to a Roman torture stake for no crime but being the Son of God, He cried out…

Luke 23:34 NIV
[34]… “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.”

Did Jesus qualify to be God’s perfect sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world? Was He really human? Was He obedient to the Father to His last drop of blood and His final breath?

Scripture heartily affirms and endorses His qualification as does the entire heavenly host.

Revelation 5:2-3, 6-10 NIV
[2] “And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” [3] But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it…
[6] Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. [7] He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. [8] And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. [9] And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. [10] You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”

To those who were contemplating a return to the old system of animal sacrifices, the writer to the Hebrews pleads, “Don’t do it!” No money or animal blood can forgive sin, restore us to the Father, and rescue us from eternal damnation. Only the blood of Jesus, a lamb without spot or blemish, can atone for and forgive sin, make us clean, righteous, and acceptable to the Father, and deliver us from the penalty, power, and eventually, the presence of sin.

1 Peter 1:18-19 NIV
[18] “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, [19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

To be continued…