Category: Uncategorized

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (Hebrews 9:22 ESV)

Hebrews chapter nine examines the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant. These ancient rites dealt with external actions, not the internal conscience (cf Heb. 9:10).

Sacrifice and blood were the essential ingredients.

The priest and people repeated these ceremonies day in and day out, year after year.

The New Covenant also involves blood, but instead of the blood of animals, it is the blood of Christ. Because of his special status, his self-sacrifice on the cross is able to be a once-for-all sacrifice (cf Heb. 9:12). This does much more than purify our bodies, it purifies our minds (cf. Heb. 9:14). (more…)

Say a stranger buys you a lottery ticket in the gas station line as a random gift on an otherwise mundane day. You get back to your car and put the ticket on your dash. Might as well, you think.

You scratch the little shiny circles with the last dime you have in your pocket. You start to get excited as the numbers are revealed.

Turns out, you won.

Every time you look down at that ticket, you smile to yourself. Even if you haven’t cashed it in yet, you are a winner and things are going to be very different for you shortly. Sure, you may be technically in debt right now, but that’s about to all go away. Yeah your car doesn’t work, but that won’t be a problem much longer. You’re behind on rent, but soon you’ll be buying a new house.

What fortune! You didn’t even buy the ticket.

I think meditating on the Resurrection of Jesus is a lot like looking at that winning lottery ticket.

Your body may be broken, but you’re going to get a new one. You might be homeless but there’s a mansion waiting. You’re tired now but rest and refreshment is around the corner. Loneliness might be killing you but there’s a wedding feast coming up and you’re invited. You stumble through doing the right thing, but you’re getting stronger, even now.

Sin still tends to gnaw at you, but you know it can’t defeat you.

You were empty but now you’re filled with the Spirit.

You can hardly believe it.

You had nothing–nothing–but now you’re rich beyond your wildest imagination.

You’ve been forgiven, ransomed, redeemed. You’ve seen mercy.

You have God.

And you didn’t even buy the ticket.

Chapter 8 of Hebrews elaborates on this new covenant innaugaurated with Christ. Now, God’s law can be written our minds and hearts, and we can “Know the Lord” and experience the mercy of God in a new way (Heb. 8:11).

The new covenant of Christ accomplishes something the old covenant of Moses never could, and its effectiveness doesn’t depend on our actions. Israel proved that humans under their own power cannot “continue in the covenant” (Heb. 8:9).

This new covenant in which forgiveness reigns and our souls are transformed is enacted completely on the basis of Christ’s faithfulness and the promises of God the Father.

Is it any wonder that we are spiritually formed by this new freedom and intimacy with the Creator of the universe? How can we not be changed when Jesus, through whom the world was created, is praying for us constantly (cf. Heb. 1:2)?

Just knowing this truth causes a change in my mind and spirit.

Chapter seven of Hebrews gives what few details we know about a mysterious priest named Melchizedek — that his name carried a meaning regarding righteousness, and that his office was one of peace.

Because the records of his birth and death are not found in Scripture, and because his priesthood is not tied to any biological lineage, it seems that he was a priest solely at God’s discretion. In some way Melchizedek foreshadowed Jesus.

Jesus, a priest after the order of Mechizedek

Jesus is “after” (“like”) the order of Melchizedek because he is righteous. His office as Prince of Peace also grants him special status. Like Melchizedek, Jesus is not installed as ultimate high priest because of his lineage, but rather because of who he is and the divine will of God.

It’s at this moment that Jesus as the catalyst for spiritual formation comes into focus. Because we have this perfect high priest, we are able to draw near to God through him, and he makes intercession for us…changing us in the process.

A perfect and eternal sacrifice

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. (Hebrews 7:26-27, ESV)

Ultimately, God’s plan couldn’t be accomplished by the Levitical priesthood. Their sacrifices were temporary, and as fragile human beings they could not go on forever. Jesus, however, can offer himself one time, for all eternity.

His perfection ensures us that we don’t needn’t continually offer sacrifices to appease God or obtain forgiveness.

Jesus–the perfect priest–did this for us, once and for all. We are at peace with the God of universe and ourselves.

Hallelujah!

Photo Credit: UnlockingTheBible via Compfight cc
The very first “real Bible” I remember having as young child was the Good News Bible. It’s a easy-to-read paraphrase with line drawings. I loved it, and still read from the GNB on occassion for nostalgia’s sake. After that I “graduated” to the New International Version (NIV), but as I learned more about Bible translation philosophy, I became enamored with more “accurate” word-for-word translations. For a big chunk of high school I studied out of the New American Standard Version (NASB), while keeping the New King James Version (NKJV) on hand for general reading. In college I began using the English Standard Version (ESV) and have pretty much settled on that one as my primary reading and memorizing translation. (more…)

When I first encountered Hebrews 6, I remember being confused and scared. I had always believed “once saved, always saved.” I thought it was impossible for you to lose your salvation, but that seems to contradict the plain sense of this difficult passage.

Hebrews 6 seems to teach there may be those that genuinely believe and participate in the life of the church, and still irrevocably fall away to such an extent that some will not repent of their sin. Here’s the really disturbing part:

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. (Hebrews 6:4-6, ESV)

To be in this blatant unrepentant state is damning, and will end in fire (cf. Hebrews 6:8). Despite this dire warning the author is quick to reassure the original readers that he or she believes that they are saved–through their faith and patience and good works.

Although this passage can be disconcerting, I suppose that if it is disturbing to you or me, it’s a good sign we haven’t fallen into that state of permanent rejection of God.

I’m reminded in this passage that we never look to ourselves for assurance of our salvation, but rather to the promises of God for those that believe.

And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6:11-12, ESV)

For what it’s worth, here is a passage from the Anglican liturgy that helps me when I have my own doubts:

Hear the Word of God to all who truly turn to him.

Come unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Matthew 11:28

God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

This is a true saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15

If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the perfect offering for our
sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. 1 John 2:1-2

What do you think of this passage? Where do you find your assurance of salvation?

“We must not merely do as He did; we must see things as He saw them, regard them as He regarded them; we must take the will of God as the very life of our being; we must neither try to get our own way, nor trouble ourselves as to what may be thought or said of us.”
~ George MacDonald

George MacDonald seems is largely unknown to my generation, but was a massive influence on literary giants we love like C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkein, and even Oswald Chambers. I know I had never heard of him until I read the C.S. Lewis classic The Great Divorce which makes McDonald a central character.

After reading this quote, I think I should move his work a bit higher on my reading list.

Although I’ve been a Charismatic in theory for most of my Christian life, I would say I have not been one in practice, at least not in terms of outward manifestations of God the Holy Spirit. I have had mystical experiences, to be sure, but only inwardly. So, when I had an embarrassingly emotional charismatic experience a few weeks ago, my boat was rocked. It made me seriously uncomfortable. (more…)

In the fifth chapter of Hebrews, the author moves from speaking about Jesus as God and and Messiah to Jesus Christ as high priest. It’s important to the author that Jesus did not choose this office for himself. Like the first priest, Aaron, God called him to this office.

Jesus cried out to the God the Father out love for us.

He knows us intimately in our weakness, because he made himself weak like us. He came to the Father in humility, with tears, abandoning himself, and God heard him.

His reverence and respect for God the Father made this possible.

He suffered, learning obedience.

The pattern is striking, isn’t it? Because of Jesus’ call, his response to God, and his suffering, you are called, you are enabled to respond, and you too learn obedience through suffering.

Like Jesus, we also look forward to a resurrection.

The end of the chapter hints at great depths of meaning in the idea of God-in-the-flesh as our High Priest. Yet before we can go on to plumb them, we must get the basics right.

You have to know the story-arc, the characters, the purpose of the Scriptures. Lay a solid foundation so you can practice discernment (distinguishing between right and wrong). Thus grounded, you can venture out to explore and expand your understanding.

Do you know what it means for Jesus to be your High Priest?

Does this move you to awe and thankfulness and worship, or is it confusing?

If it is confusing, have you laid a solid foundation on the Gospel message contained in the whole of Scripture? Have you forgotten “the basic principles of the oracles of God?”

Inner healing starts with Jesus.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus is essential to inner healing, because somehow the more we focus on him, the more we desire to know him, the more we become like him.

As our minds are formed to be more like Christ’s, we are able by grace to deal with sin and wounds that have been inflicted upon us by evil. As we become more like Christ, we become more pliable to the Holy Spirit, sanctification progresses, and God continues the process of freeing us from all effects of sin. This process (what the Orthodox call theosis) is sometimes slow, but Jesus will certainly be faithful to complete it.

In Hebrews four, “God’s rest” has has past, present, and future dimensions. We reflect on what God has already done (the Exodus, Christ’s resurrection) and the rest that those before us have entered in. We also have this promise for the future that still stands (Heb. 4:1) and allows for believers to “draw near with confidence” (Heb. 4:16) for mercy and grace.

Reflecting on God’s promises and the past/present/future reality reminds me of the faithfulness of the God who saves us and allows me to rest content knowing that his will has been, is, and will be done.

This kind of rest is powerful force for forming the mind and body and spirit, because it helps facilitate a state of being where my confidence is firmly rooted in God and his ability and intention to accomplish his holy purpose, regardless of the circumstances I may find myself in.

This kind of rest is the beginning of a deep, divine inner healing.