Better: The Book of Hebrews, part 12
We finished the first half of Hebrews 10 with the exhortation to hold onto our conviction about Christ, hold onto our faith in Christ, and hold onto our confession of Christ firmly to the end. Now in the second half of chapter 10, the writer shifts gears a bit and turns our attention to the body of Christ, our church family. He says:
Hebrews 10:24 TLB
“And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,”
The word “consider” means to think about, to seriously ponder something. It’s from the same Greek word Jesus uses in Luke 12:27 …
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Notes
James 2:22 NKJV
“Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?”
That said, the Bible speaks abundantly about the call to every believer to be involved in good works. What is a good work?
- A good work is something a Christian does for the glory of God, out of love for God, in obedience to God, to produce the fruit of the Kingdom of God.
Notes
Matthew 5:16 NKJV
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Ephesians 2:10 ESV
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Titus 2:7 ESV
“Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works.”
Titus 2:14 ESV
“to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”
Titus 3:8 ESV
“I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.”
Notes
Hebrews 10:25 NJKV
“not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
The word “forsaken” means to leave something behind, or to abandon something. Jesus uses the exact same word on the Cross when He said,
Matthew 27:46 NASB
“My God, My God, why have you FORSAKEN Me?”
Matthew 18:20 KJV
“For where two or more are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”
Notes
Hebrews 10:26-27 NKJV
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
Now, with verses like this it’s important to remember that 3 key tools to accurate Bible interpretation are context, context, and context—What came before the passage, what comes after the passage, what was the historical context of the passage.
The context here is the writer is once again addressing the Jews of his day who are considering whether or not to leave Judaism and come to Christ.
Hebrews 10:26-27 TLB
“If anyone sins deliberately by rejecting the Savior after knowing the truth of forgiveness, this sin is not covered by Christ’s death; there is no way to get rid of it. 27 There will be nothing to look forward to but the terrible punishment of God’s awful anger, which will consume all his enemies.”
John 3:36 LB
“And all who trust him—God’s Son—to save them have eternal life; those who don’t believe and obey him shall never see heaven, but the wrath of God remains upon them.”
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 TLB
“… when the Lord Jesus appears suddenly from heaven in flaming fire with his mighty angels, 8 bringing judgment on those who do not wish to know God and who refuse to accept his plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of his power.”
Hebrews
“If anyone sins deliberately by rejecting the Savior after knowing the truth of forgiveness, this sin is not covered by Christ’s death…”
Notes
Hebrews 10:28-29 TLB
“A man who refused to obey the laws given by Moses was killed without mercy if there were two or three witnesses to his sin. 29 Think how much more terrible the punishment will be for those who have trampled underfoot the Son of God and treated his cleansing blood as though it were common and unhallowed, and insulted and outraged the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to his people.”
Hebrews 2:3 NASB
“how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”
The answer? We won’t escape.
Notes
Hebrews 10:30-31 TLB
“For we know him who said, ‘Justice (Vengeance) belongs to me; I will repay them’; who also said, ‘The Lord himself will handle these cases.’ 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’”
Hebrews 4:13 TLB
“He (God) knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done.”
Notes
Hebrews 10:32-34 NKJV
“But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: 33 partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; 34 for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.”
(This allusion to chains is so Pauline, and is one of the little keys that makes me think he wrote Hebrews).
They had been mocked, made fun of, put on the spot publicly, been lumped in with Paul, and lost all their earthly possessions. So the apostle reasons with them: “You’ve been through so much already. You’ve already paid a high price for your faith. Don’t let go now!”
Notes
Hebrews 10:35-36 NKJV
“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.”
The word “endurance” comes from a compound Greek word “hoop-om-on-ay’. Hoop-o is where we get the word “hypo” and it means under. For instance, the type of needle used to get a shot is called a hypodermic needle because it’s a needle that goes under our skin.
Then the second half of the word, “meno,” means “to remain, or stay.” So the two words together mean “to remain under” something. It’s talking about how God empowers the believer to “remain (endure) under” the sometimes heavy challenges He allows into our life. And to do it with a good attitude of faith and trust!
Notes
Hebrews 10:37 NKJV
“For yet a little while,
And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.”
Romans 8:18 NASB
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
Notes
Hebrews 10:38-39 NKJV
“Now the just shall live by faith;
But if anyone draws back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.
39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”
Amen!