The Early Church · Not dated
Chapter 39
God Has Spoken by His Son
For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
For parents
Hebrews 6:4–6, about those who fell away, is quoted exactly, with no comment, and is followed by words about land that bears thorns and thistles and ends up burned (6:7–8). The chapter also speaks of Jesus’ suffering and death, of the devil “who had the power of death” (2:14–15), and of the people whose bodies fell in the wilderness (3:17).
This book begins: “In the past, God spoke to the ancestors through the prophets, many times and in many different ways. At the end of these days, God has spoken to us by his Son. He appointed his Son of all things, and through him he also made the worlds.
“His Son is the brightness of his glory and the very image of what he is, and he holds up all things by the word of his power. When he had made us clean from our sins by himself, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. He has become as much better than the as the name he inherited is better than theirs.
“Was there ever an angel to whom he said, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your father’? And again, ‘I will be a Father to him, and he will be a Son to me’?
“And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, this is what he says: ‘Let all the angels of God worship him.’ Of the angels he says, ‘He makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.’
“But of the Son he says,
‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.The of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong;therefore God, your God, has youwith the oil of gladness above your companions.’
“And also,
‘You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.The heavens are what your hands have made.They will perish, but you go on.They will all grow old, the way clothing does.Like a coat, you will roll them up,and they will be changed;but you are the same.Your years will not run out.’
“But has he ever told any of the angels, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet’? Aren’t they all spirits who serve, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?”
“That is why we ought to pay greater attention to what was heard, in case we drift away. If the word spoken through angels stood firm, and every wrong and every act of disobedience received a just penalty, then how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? This salvation was spoken first through the Lord, and those who heard it confirmed it to us. God also testified with them, by signs and wonders, by all kinds of mighty works, and by gifts of the , just as he chose.
“He did not put angels over the world to come, the world we are speaking about. But someone has testified somewhere, saying,
‘What is man, that you think of him?Or the son of man, that you care for him?You made him a little lower than the angels.You crowned him with glory and honor.You have put all things under his feet.’
“In putting all things under him, he left nothing that is not under him. But as things are now, we don’t yet see all things put under him.
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels. He has been crowned with glory and honor for the death he suffered, so that by the of God he would taste death for everyone.”
“All things are for him and through him. In bringing many children to glory, it was fitting for him to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
“He who makes them holy and those who are made holy all come from one. That is why he isn’t ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, as he says, ‘I will announce your name to my brothers and sisters. Among the congregation I will sing your praise.’ Again, ‘I will put my trust in him.’ Again, ‘Look, here I am with the children God has given me.’
“Since the children have shared in flesh and blood, he too shared in them in the same way. He did this so that through death he might bring to nothing the one who had the power of death, that is, the . He did it to set free all who had been slaves all their lives because they feared death.
“It is certain that he doesn’t give help to angels, but he gives help to the of . So he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in all things. That way he would become a merciful and faithful in things that have to do with God, and make for the people’s sins. He himself suffered when he was tempted, so he is able to help those who are tempted.”
“So, holy brothers and sisters, you who have a share in a heavenly calling, think about Jesus, the and High Priest of what we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, as also was in all his house.
“He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because the one who built the house has more honor than the house. Someone builds every house, but the one who built all things is God.
“Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant. He was a witness to what was going to be spoken afterward. But is faithful as a Son over his house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our confidence and to the pride we take in our hope, and keep them firm to the end.”
“So, just as the Holy Spirit says,
‘Today, if you will hear his voice,don’t harden your hearts as in the rebellion,in the day of the testing in the wilderness.There your ancestors tested me and tried me,and saw my deeds for forty years.So I was displeased with that generation,and said, “They are always going wrong in their hearts,but they didn’t know my ways.”As I swore in my anger,“They will not enter into my rest.”’
“Be careful, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil heart of unbelief that falls away from the living God. Instead, urge one another on day by day, as long as it is still called ‘today.’ That way none of you will be hardened by the way sin deceives.
“We have become sharers in Christ, if we hold the confidence we began with firm to the end, while it is said, ‘Today, if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.’
“Who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of led by Moses? And who was God displeased with those forty years? Wasn’t it those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? Who did he swear would not enter into his rest? Wasn’t it those who were disobedient? So we see that it was because of unbelief that they weren’t able to enter.”
“So let’s be afraid that any one of you might seem to have fallen short of a promise of entering his rest. We have had good news preached to us, just as they did. But the word they heard didn’t help them, because those who heard it didn’t mix it with faith.
“We who have believed do enter into that rest. It is just as he has said: ‘As I swore in my anger, “They will not enter into my rest.”’ Yet the works were finished from the time the world was founded. Somewhere he has said this about the seventh day: ‘God rested on the seventh day from all his works.’ And here again he says, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’
“Some, then, are still to enter it. And those who had the good news preached to them before failed to enter because of disobedience. So he again marks out a certain day, ‘today.’ He speaks of it through a long time afterward, just as has been said: ‘Today, if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts.’
“If Joshua had given them rest, then God would not have spoken afterward of another day. So a rest remains for the people of God. Whoever has entered into his rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his.
“So let’s work hard to enter into that rest, so that no one falls by following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and it is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart. There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are bare and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.”
“We have, then, a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. So let’s hold tightly to what we confess. For we don’t have a high priest who can’t feel for us in our weaknesses, but one who in all points has been tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let’s come near to the throne of grace with boldness, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need.
“Every high priest is taken from among the people and appointed to act for them in the things of God, so that he may offer both gifts and for sins. The high priest can deal gently with those who are ignorant and going astray, because he himself is also surrounded by weakness. Because of this he has to offer sacrifices for sins for the people, as well as for himself.
“Nobody takes this honor on himself. He is called by God, just like was. In the same way, Christ didn’t give himself the glory of being made a high priest. It was God himself who said to him, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your father.’ In another place he says, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of .’
“When he was living in the flesh, he offered up prayers and pleas with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death. He was heard because of his godly fear. Though he was a Son, he learned obedience by the things he suffered. Once he had been made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation to all of those who obey him. God named him a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.”
“We have many things to say about him, and they are hard to explain, because your hearing has grown dull. By this time you should be teachers. But you need someone to teach you again the very basics, the first principles of what God has revealed. You have come to need milk, and not solid food.
“Everyone who lives on milk has no experience in the word of righteousness, because he is a baby. But solid food is for those who are fully grown. They have exercised their senses by using them, so they can tell good from evil.
“So let’s leave behind the teaching of the first principles of Christ, and press on to perfection. Let’s not lay a foundation again, a foundation of from dead works, of faith toward God, of the teaching of , of laying on of hands, of of the dead, and of eternal judgment. We will do this, if God permits.
“For concerning those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify the Son of God for themselves again, and put him to open shame.
“When the ground has soaked up the rain that comes on it again and again, and produces a crop that is useful to those it is plowed for, it receives blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is rejected and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
“But, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are sure of better things for you, things that go with salvation. God is not unfair. He will not forget your work and the labor of love you showed toward his name by serving the , as you still do.
“We want every one of you to show the same eagerness for the fullness of hope, right to the end. We want this so that you won’t be lazy, but will imitate those who through faith and patient endurance inherited the promises.”
“When God made a promise to Abraham, he could swear by no one greater, so he swore by himself. He said, ‘I will truly bless you, and I will truly multiply you.’ And so, after Abraham had patiently endured, he received the promise.
“People swear by someone greater, and in all their arguments the oath is the final word that settles it. In this way God stepped in with an oath, because he was determined to show the heirs of the promise even more clearly that what he had decided would never change. He did this so that we may have strong encouragement by two things that cannot change, in which it is impossible for God to lie. We have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.
“We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steady. It enters into what is inside the . Jesus entered there for us as the one who goes on ahead, and he has become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”