Hebrews 6:9-12 NIV
[9] “Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation. [10] God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. [11] We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. [12] We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

Although our writer’s warnings are urgent and necessary, one thing about his readers reassured him that they had not yet regressed into unbelief…their love for God’s people. Amazing, isn’t it that loving God’s people in practical ways should be the evidence of faith in Jesus!

Unselfish, sacrificial love for one another as the test of our faith in Christ, shouldn’t surprise us. Every New Testament writer highlights our obedience to Jesus’ command, “Love one another as I have loved you,” as the hallmark of true faith.

John 14:21 NIV
[21] “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

John tells us, in his first letter, what Jesus’ two commandments are that encapsulate all the laws of the Old Testament.

1 John 3:19-24 NIV
[19] “This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: [20] If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. [21] Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God [22] and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. [23] And this is his command: to BELIEVE in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to LOVE one another as he commanded us. [24] The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Since his readers passed the acid test of love for their fellow believers, our writer urged them to continue and not give up because, like the saints of old, they would inherit God’s promises through faith and patience.

God’s promises? Where is this life with its trials and challenges going, anyway? What has God promised us that is so alluring that it’s worth risking life and limb, worth pursuing no matter the cost?

Our lives are all directed towards one great prize, the prize towards which Paul strained despite the obstacles he had to face.

Philippians 3:12-14 NIV
[12] “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13] Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Paul defined this prize in his testimony to Timothy…

2 Timothy 4:7-8 NIV
[7] “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [8] Now there is in store for me the CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

What is this “crown of righteousness” that Paul anticipated at the end of his journey? Could it be the same as the adornment on the Bride’s robe as she prepares herself for her wedding day?

Revelation 19:7-8 NIV
[7] Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. [8] Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people).

Righteous acts? Good works? The good works that God prepared for us to do from before the foundation of the world ?

Ephesians 2:10 NIV
[10] “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

It’s all slowly coming together. Let’s summarise.

God saved us from sin through the death of Jesus, not only forgiving and cleansing us but also giving us His own nature to love Him by loving others. He imputed to us Jesus’ righteousness so that we are acceptable to Him. Clothed, covered in the righteousness of Christ by faith, He calls us to live out that righteousness by the way we treat one another in the family of God.

Our love for one another is the evidence that we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. The prize towards which we strain is likeness to Jesus, confirming in us the righteousness Jesus gave us by the righteousness we carry out in our human lives. The crown…becoming like Him in His death and resurrection. Perfect submission and perfect obedience to the Father…the signs of a true son.

It all hinges on our response to His righteousness in us.

1 John 3:10, 16-18 NIV
[10] “This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister…
[16] This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. [17] If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? [18] Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

“Good works”, then, are the oil in the lamps of the bridesmaids in Jesus’ parable, that gave them access to the wedding feast. The good works of serving our brothers and sisters are the other side of the coin of Christ’s righteousness that will win the crown of likeness to Jesus.

Romans 8:29 NIV
[29] “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”

Since the Jewish believers, to whom our writer wrote, showed their love for Jesus by their love for one another, he was convinced that they were on the right track.

To be continued…