Fact, Faith and Fear in Hebrews

The Epistle to the Hebrews was primarily written to Jewish believers as an encouragement to spiritual maturity. It is easy to see Jewish believers being pressured to return to what they knew. There was the danger of defection. How could they be sure that Christianity is superior to Judaism? Is it right that they should suffer persecution for their new-found faith? Is Jesus Christ worth the rejection by family and friends? Those are valid questions for them as well as for us, today.

The writer of Hebrews provides practical help for us when it seems that defection is the only reasonable thing to do. The theological term for defection is apostasy. That word seems so ugly and so alien to those who we have placed faith in Christ alone. It was a possibility for Jewish Christians in the 1st century as well as for us in the 21st. The movement toward spiritual maturity in Hebrews centers on three words, fact, faith, and fear.

Christians must always be reminded that Christianity is based on fact. It is a fact that Jesus Christ is God’s supreme revelation to mankind. It is a fact that Jesus is superior to all other revelations. It is a fact that Jesus alone is sufficient to meet every human need. It is a fact that Jesus alone restores humanity, society and the cosmos to God’s intended order.

Christians must remember that Christianity is based on faith in Jesus Christ alone, not on human effort. The road away from apostasy and toward spiritual maturity demands a vibrant trust in the person and work of Christ. Faith is not defined by circumstance but by obedience. As we are reminded in Hebrews 11, faith is demonstrated in the lives of those who walk by faith.

Christians need a healthy dose of reverential fear tied to a holy desire to please God. It is an awareness of the severe consequences of turning back from faith in Christ alone. Hebrews encourages a healthy fear of apostasy by providing five warning passages: the danger of drifting away from the truth (2:1-4), the danger of disbelief (3:7-19), the danger of immaturity (5:11-6:12), the danger of willful sinning ( 10:19-39), and the danger of unresponsiveness (12:14-29).

Also, Hebrews provides five passages of encouragement: God confirmed His promises (2:3b-4), Jesus is our example of faithfulness (3:1-6) and provision (4:12-16), a reminder of readers’ past faithfulness (6:9-12) and God’s promises (6:13-20), a reminder of the readers’ past perseverance (10:32-39), a reminder of Jesus’ example of perseverance ((12:1-2) and the divine reason for discipline (12:3-11).

It is imperative that our faith is fresh by focusing on God’s faithfulness and Christ’s sufficiency. Thomas Constable has written a tremendous general application of the Epistle to the Hebrews, By way of application let me make three observations based on the three major revelations in the epistle. 1. An appreciation for Jesus Christ is foundational to faithful perseverance. The reason many Christians turn away from the Lord is that they do not appreciate His greatness... 2. ...We live in a present oriented culture that values immediate self-gratification. Many Christians are apostatizing because they do not appreciate the reward they will receive if they remain faithful to the Lord. This life is preparation for the next. 3. We need to realize that God will judge Christians who apostatize. We will not lose our salvation, but we will lose much that we will wish we never gave up if we stop walking by faith.

I encourage you to join me in the study of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The Introduction to Hebrews may be found under the Books of the Bible tab. There is so much to gain and so little to lose when we persevere. All things are possible with God.

An Ever-Present Danger

In the middle of Paul’s conclusion to the Epistle to the Romans, Paul places a warning for the Christians in Rome. We do not know who Paul was warning them against but he was very clear in what he was warning. I believe that was an appropriate way for Paul to allow this warning to become one that is timeless. His concerns are just as appropriate for our day as in the 1st century A.D.

The warning is in Romans 16:17-20. Let’s consider verses 17-18, I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. Paul encouraged Roman Christians to avoid those who promote doctrine contrary to that which they had been taught by the disciples. John Stott, He takes it for granted, even thus early in the church’s history, that there is a doctrinal and ethical norm which the Romans must follow, not contradict; it is preserved for us in the New Testament.

Paul is very forceful in this passage. His note is not only to watch out for false teachers but to avoid them. William Barclay, Often in a church or a society, a bad situation is allowed to develop because no one has the courage to deal with it; and often, when it has fully developed, it is too late to deal with it. It is easy enough to extinguish a spark if steps are taken at once, but it is almost impossible to extinguish a forest fire. Paul had the wisdom to deal with a threatening situation in time.

Paul described false teachers as those who serve their physical desires not the Lord. Grant Osborne gives an excellent description of false teachers, . . .people with a greedy, self-centered ministry that serves their own interests rather than the Lord’s. Doesn’t that sound like some ministries today? As noted earlier, Paul’s warning was general against a danger that would always be with us. The purpose of false teachers’ smooth talk and flattery is to mislead the naive.

Paul expressed his joy in their obedience and we have no knowledge of their submitting to false teaching. Yet, he did have one reservation and that is not to become complacent. John Stott, . . .there are two kinds of obedience, blind and discerning, and he longs for them to develop the latter. . . Paul warned the Romans and it should be a warning to us that we are to be vigilant.

A warning was not enough for Paul so he provided a means of being vigilant against false teachers in Romans 16:19, For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. J. B. Phillips has a wonderful paraphrase, I want to see you experts in good, and not even beginners in evil. A proper definition of wisdom is applying knowledge to life and innocence is not getting involved in doing evil. We need to be both wise and innocent in this day when lies are promoted as truth and evil is proclaimed as good.

Paul gives a solid guide for avoiding the snares of false teachers for the Romans and for us.. Thankfully, Paul doesn’t end there but provides us with Romans 16:20, The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. We need all the help we can get to be spiritually astute. Thankfully, it is not solely up to us because we are in the loving hands of our gracious Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I encourage you to join me in the last section of Romans. The lesson may be found under the Books of the Bible tab. It is good to be reminded that God is looking for those who worship Him in spirit and truth.

Life with eternal meaning comes only through Jesus!

I was amazed by the insight that can be gained by studying a list of names in Romans 16:1-16. Paul gave personal greetings to church members in Rome. Some he had known personally as he evangelized Asia Minor. Others he had heard of from those who had shared with Paul their stories of faithfulness.

Many of the names were those of slaves laboring at the imperial court in Rome. As noted by William Barclay, The leaven of Christianity had reached the highest circles in the empire. Some were royalty who would pay a high price for placing trust in Christ alone. Paul gives a glimpse of this grouping in Philippians 4:2, All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.

Consider Rufus who is quite possibly the son of Simon of Cyrene, the man who was forced to carry the cross of Christ to Calvary. It is thought that Rufus was the man Paul greeted in Romans 16, a leader of the church in Rome. William Barclay asks some stirring questions, It was men from Cyprus and Cyrene who came to Antioch and first preached the gospel to the Gentile world (Acts 11:20). Was Simon one of the men from Cyrene? Was Rufus with him? Was it they who took the first tremendous step to make Christianity the faith of a whole world? Was it they who helped the Church break the bonds of Judaism? Can it be that, in some sense, we today owe the fact that we are Christians to the strange episode when a man from Cyrene was compelled to carry a cross on the road to Calvary?

It is believed that Nereus led Flavius Clemens, consul of Rome, and his wife Domatilla to the Lord while he served in their household. They were part of those who suffered for their faith under Nero when Christians were accused of setting the fire that devastated Rome in 64 A. D. The persecution is described by William Barclay, Nero ordered the Christians to be rolled in pitch and set alight to form living torches for his gardens, to be sewn into the skins of wild beasts and flung to savage hunting dogs, and to be shut up in ships which were sunk in the Tiber.

What could draw people away from family and friends to faraway places? What could lead people of wealth and power to submit to cruel persecution, even death? History can be as current as today. People are looking for deliverance from the ills of this world. Too many are looking in the wrong places or to the wrong person. Those in Romans 16 would declare that it was because of a commitment to one man, Jesus Christ. He alone had the power to make a difference in their lives and to make that same difference in anyone who calls on him by faith, today.

It has been said that committed Christians are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. Today, I fear that too many Christians are so earthly minded that they are no heavenly good. Only Jesus can and will meet our deepest needs. Check out the study of Romans 16:1-16 under the Books of the Bible tab and consider the roles the Roman Christians played in the greatest story ever told, the good news of Jesus Christ. Now is a good time to have your needs met in Jesus.