Hebrews 6:1-3 – A couple of things struck me here in these first 3 verses:
1 – ‘Repentance from dead works’ is an ‘elementary doctrine’. At first, I thought of repentance as in ‘stop sinning’. But, repentance isn’t really that. We simply cannot stop sinning, if we could we wouldn’t need Jesus. Besides, as Ed Anton pointed out in his book on Repentance, repentance is not a change of action (as I was so often taught),it’s a change of heart and mind, reorienting ourselves away from self and towards God.
With that in mind, I’m thinking that ‘repentance from dead works’ is a shift of the mind from our human way of thinking that we work our way into acceptance or righteousness or just being a good person, to the gospel where our faith is credited to us as righteousness.. The way of ‘works’ is dead, we need a new living way.
2 – “And this we will do, if God permits” We can only do as much as God allows. Sometimes we need to camp on the ‘elementary doctrines’ for a while, and God won’t allow us to move on just yet.
Hebrews 6:7-8 – This is the ‘fake grace’ I was eluding to in my last post. Not that works was part of the salvation process or somehow required, but that true grace produces fruit. It does not simply exist on it’s own. Grace that produces nothing, or ‘thorns and thistles’, is ‘worthless and near to being cursed’. My heart is convicted that the grace I’ve received is producing little more than feelings of relief and contentment. The gospel of Jesus is so much more precious and powerful than that.
Hebrews 6:13-20 – The whole oath and two things part of this passages turns my mind in knots. What I love here is the picture of God providing for “we who have fled for refuge“. God, steadfast, reliable, firm in the midst of our storms (why else would we seek refuge?), is both aware of our struggle and seeks to give our battered selves ‘strong encouragement’. but not only that, but this encouragement, this hope, is not simply good tidings. It is an anchor straight to the most holy place, where God lives and where man is unworthy to go. Jesus himself, though, is worthy and he went there, carrying this anchor and left it there so that we will never be disconnected from God.
Jesus went to God’s house, left an anchor there and he’s handed you the other end of the rope.
Think about that for a bit and see if your mind isn’t blown.

Hebrews 5:8 – It says that Jesus “learned obedience through what he suffered.” He didn’t learn it from instruction or study, but through what he suffered. I don’t want to suffer, I don’t want to work, I just want to be and do right. But being and doing right comes through work and suffering.
Hebrews 5:11-14:

About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

I feel like this is me. Funny, for a long time I’d read this passage and think that I was not still on milk. I doubt the Hebrews that this was written to felt that they were either and most who read it don’t think they are.
But when I read this this time around, I knew I was needing milk. A big part of this is simply that I’m realizing that I’m not as smart or talented as I think I am. I think that’s true of humanity, we think we’ve accomplished much, we are smart and clever and have figured things out. We deceive ourselves, avoiding contemplating our sins. We are simply weak as humans apart from God. We need milk, not solid food.
It’s good to face that head on, if it turns us to God and to work, with His strength and grace. I think when we embrace our weakness, allowing it to drive us to our knees in humility and in prayer, and we embrace the grace freely offered us despite our weakness, we can then be supernaturally empowered to climb the mountain ahead of us, through the grace that comes from the cross.
But I’m realizing that’s not where I’ve been. I’ve seen my weakness and accepted it instead of accepting God’s grace which can make me strong. I’ve accepted some kind of fake grace that simply says “You’re weak, but God has still chosen you.” Real grace, and the gospel of Christ, doesn’t stop there. It empowers and emboldens us to work. Not work for acceptance, but work because of acceptance and because He works and because we want to be like Him.
I’ve settled for fake grace, and that will no longer do.

Hebrews 4:1 – “Therefore … ” Again, I’m prompted to look back and see what this ‘therefore’ refers to. The Israelites lost the opportunity to enter His rest because of their unbelief. That possibility exists for us, but as long as we have breath in our lungs, the promise is still there. The writer here says as long as that promise stands, “let us fear“. Fear what? Fear the one who can revoke that promise.
Hebrews 4:10 – “for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” I think we, or at least I do, think of this rest as Heaven to come, a time of no tears, no pain, no sorrow. However, this struck me differently. When we fall on our knees before God, acknowledging our sinfulness and inadequacy, and he takes us in, we then and there enter rest from our works. No longer do we work for justification, validation, sanctification and acceptance. We are all of these and more through him who came and died, and we can now, finally, rest from those fruitless and futile works.
Note, he doesn’t say we rest from ‘work’ but from ‘works’. Notice also, in the promises of heaven, we are not promised freedom from work, only pain, tears and death.
Hebrews 4:11 – There’s a little bit of irony here in the writer calling us to ‘strive’ to enter that rest. It’s a fact of man’s existence that letting go of our need to justify ourselves rather than rest in His justification is an ongoing battle. We are drawn to make something of ourselves rather than letting God make us into something of His own. So we strive to rest from our works.
Hebrews 4:14-16 – Read through this, and savor each and every word and see if it does not move you:

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Hebrews 2:14-15 – Before I dive into Hebrews 3, I have to revisit the last paragraph oc chapter 2, and this opening line in particular:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

So, Satan holds the power of death and uses it to enslave mankind through fear of death. As a result, Jesus says “OK, I’ll become like them and use that which Satan wields to enslave (death) to deliver them from it.” How awesome is that?
Hebrews 3:1 – “Therefore …” In other words, because Jesus became an actual flesh and blood man and died, beating the Devil at his own game … “Therefore … consider Jesus … who was faithful”. Not “Therefore, do better” or “Therefore, stop sinning” or “Therefore, be righteous” just “consider Jesus”. We are called not to be better because of Jesus, but to consider Jesus and therefore become better. It seems like a small distinction, but it’s important. If our focus is on being better, we won’t be, but if our focus is on Jesus, we can’t help but become better.
Hebrews 3:6 – We are his house if we do well? No, if we hold to our confidence and hope.
Hebrews 3:12-13 – Guard your own heart from unbelief, and help your brother do the same through exhorting him, daily. How well do we do that? I find it far easier to be shallow, unfortunately.

Hebrews 2:2-3 – “For since … every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” How indeed.
Hebrews 2:8-9 – “At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see him … ” People for centuries have been asking, “If God is in control why …”. Yes, God is in control, and everything is subject to Him, but we don’t see that just yet. Presently, it doesn’t look as if He’s in control, that the world is subject to His authority. But we can see Jesus, “crowned with glory and honor”, and that’s enough.
God hasn’t granted us insight into the inner workings of his ongoing plan, but he’s given us Jesus to show that He is just and He is in command and that is enough.
Hebrews 2:11 – “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.” Think about this for a bit, let it rattle around in that flawed brain of yours. You, flawed, sinful, wretched, imperfect, selfish, ungodly and He, Jesus, perfect, sinless, pure, holy, selfless and true are of the same source. Yes, you both come from God in the same way the trees and animals and planets and molecules come from God, but I don’t think that’s what he’s referring to here. No, you and he, separate and opposite like oil and water, not come from the same source, because he came down so that you might be brought up.
You and I live every day in proof that we are not of God. Yet God has claimed us. Not only claimed us, but gifted us a new source code, a new history, his own righteousness. We and Jesus now have one source and therefore, Christ is not ashamed to call us brothers.
Christian, if this does not stir your soul I don’t know what will.

I recently pointed a friend to Hebrews as a place to learn about Jesus in relation to the OT law and temple system, so I thought I’d revisit myself. One of my favorite books of the Bible, so it was easy to talk myself into.
Hebrews 1:1-2 – Once, God communicated through man, but now, he’s spoken through his Son.
Hebrew 1:3 – “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” This is Jesus. Meditate on that for a while. This is who he was before coming to Earth, as an infant in the manger, on the cross and today.
In fact, the whole of this chapter is to clearly portray Jesus as God, superior to the angels, never ending, constant, secure and supreme. He is no mere man (remember verse 1?), he is God in flesh with all things beneath Him.
To the Jewish audience this was written to, this was a scandalous fact – that a man would claim to be God. The writer here comes out guns blazing – Jesus is no mere man, no simple priest or prophet. He is God’s son and as such equal to God himself and superior to everything, including the angels.
He is unlike and far superior to anyone or anything that has come or will come, so do not minimize him by trying to fit Him in to your preconceived notions or your existing religion. He, as we will see, has at once fulfilled and obsoleted the religious systems of the day.
I think the point was if you properly recognize and acknowledge His superior position, He will change everything you think you know about God and following Him.
In other words – Once you truly see the real Jesus, everything changes.