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HEBREWS CHAPTER 5 KJV WEB See previous page Heb 5,1-10 (30h) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> God favors you by His grace >> He favors you through His son (80l) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> The priesthood >> Jesus ministered to people through His ministry toward God – Jesus did not appoint Himself High Priest, but was called by His Father, who delegated the authority to Him. That is, Jesus didn’t die for the sins of mankind based on His own authority or compassion but based on the Father's authority and compassion. Nor did He fulfill His own agenda, He gave His flesh in obedience to His Father. In other words, it wasn’t the mercy of Christ that led Him to die for our sins, but the mercy of His Father. This has huge implications; first, it demonstrates the brotherly relationship we have with Christ, in that we are following the same path of obedience that He walked. Second and more importantly, the love of Christ originating from the Father shows that we are accepted in heaven from the pinnacle of God's authority. See also: Father sent the Son; Heb 13-15; 252f (173b) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Relationship between Jesus and His mother >> Jesus is our mediator, not Mary (or the apostles) – Why do the leaders of the Catholic Church call themselves priests if they do not offer any gifts or sacrifices for the sins of the people? If we asked a Catholic priest, he might say that communion (they call it Eucharist) is their offering, but communion represents the offering of Christ, so still what gifts or sacrifices do they offer? The Catholic priests bless the communion offering, claiming that if they didn't, the ceremony would be in vain, but it sounds like they are vain. We are to remember the blood sacrifice that Jesus made for us, and taking communion will continue in heaven. Heb 5,1-6 (83g) Thy kingdom come >> Jesus intercedes for us >> He is our Great High Priest – The writer of Hebrews is contrasting the role of Jesus as our High Priest against the role of the high priest of the old covenant. The high priest was obligated to offer gifts and sacrifices both for the sins of the people and for his own sins, unlike Jesus who offered gifts and sacrifices for our sins, but not for his own, since He was innocent of all evil. When the old covenant high priest made the annual sacrifice in the Holy of Holies, he took blood with him behind the veil, not His own but that of a cow, because the earthly priest was tainted with sin. It was not that the blood of a bull was pure, but that a cow cannot sin, because it never received a commandment, hence it has no consciousness of sin. Nor could the bull pay for our sin, because it could not obey the Father, but the blood of Jesus could pay for our sins as a perfect man. The fact that Jesus is God further benefits the worshipers by allowing Him to intercede for us before the Father. Jesus came in the flesh as our High Priest, gaining the ability to sympathize with our weakness by experientially suffering the same things we do. The Old Testament says that the life is in the blood, so when Jesus fulfilled His office as High Priest and made the sacrifice, He offered His own blood in place of an animal. All the high priests throughout the generations of the old covenant inadvertently represented this one sacrifice that Jesus made with his own flesh. (230h) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Mystery of godliness >> Mystery of the trinity >> Obey the mystery of godliness like Jesus did – There are many mysteries about God that we will never understand until we meet Him, and there are other mysteries that we will never understand, such as God’s existence in eternity-past. Our comprehension of God is based on experience, which enables us to relate to Him, just as His understanding of us is based on experience. Heb 5,1-5 (96h) Thy kingdom come >> Attitude >> Having an attitude of humility Heb 5,1-3 (9g) Responsibility >> Strengthen us by the sword of His Spirit >> Through prayer – In the old covenant these "gifts and sacrifices for sins" translated to keeping the incense burning and other perpetual temple duties, but in the new covenant it refers to the word of God and prayer. (35a) Gift of God >> God is willing to Give >> He is generous with the flesh of His Son (236c) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> All things are for your sake >> God’s purpose is for your sake Heb 5-1 (71i) Authority >> Ordained by God >> Jesus is ordained by God -- This verse goes with verse 4 Heb 5-2 (37f) Judgment >> Judgment of God >> Jesus’ humanity >> Jesus had human limitations -- This verse goes with verses 7-9 (128h) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Gentleness >> Jesus is gentle (161e) Works of the devil >> Wandering >> Follow the wrong leader (172j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Jesus never to die again >> Because His death was sufficient -- This verse goes with verses 7-9 (176a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Misguided KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 5,4-6 (141g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ resurrection – Melchizedek is mentioned twice in this chapter, quoting Psalms 110-4 and then elaborates on him in chapter 7, starting in the last verse of chapter six. Melchizedek was a man without origins; he suddenly appeared in Abram’s life, and then vanished, never to be seen or heard again. His genealogy was untraceable, which was characteristic of Christ. The Bible goes through great lengths to document the origins of Christ, and then abruptly stops at His Father, because He was God. The Holy Spirit deposited His seed in Mary’s womb, so when she bore a Son, He would be both 100% human and divine. This furnished Him with a body that was tempted to sin but with a soul that could not sin. God raised Him from the dead, based on his sinless life and gave Him a resurrected body that could not die. In this way Christ’s priesthood was synonymous with the person of Melchizedek, whose origins were untraceable. (209k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus paid the price for us >> Father sent His son to the cross Heb 5-4,5 (22l) Sin >> Pride glorifies self >> Seeking the glory of man (32m) Gift of God >> Father will honor you >> Father honors His Son (77d) Thy kingdom come >> Humility >> Refusing the glory of man >> Refusing to exalt yourself (91i) Thy kingdom come >> The called >> God’s calling transcends the will of man >> We are called by God through His choice of us (94j) Thy kingdom come >> God’s perspective >> His perspective on the premise – The Father prioritized His Son as the Great High Priest, and the premise of His ministry was the cross. Jesus was born into the world through the will of the Father, and He did many things before He entered His 3½ year ministry. During that time John said that all the libraries in the world could not hold the books that could be written of all that He did, proving that He was Israel’s Messiah. He was a very busy man, the most zealous man for the Father who ever lived, more zealous than Paul or King David or any other example we have in the Bible. He dragged His disciples along with Him and just about wore them out, and at the end of His ministry he gave His life for the sins of the world, offering up His body to be tortured and crucified; and while nailed to the cross, He died. The Father raised Him on the third day and he ascended into heaven and was seated at the right-hand of Almighty God. In that position he resides as the Great High Priest, interceding for the Church in heaven. All of this was the Father’s priority, and the premise of His priesthood was the cross; He had to go through the cross to find His way back to the Father and now intercedes for His people who believe in Him, and He will continue to intercede for us throughout eternity. People who don’t feel the need to believe in God according to Scripture invariably have a false view of God, seeing Him as someone who will readily accept them apart from faith in Jesus Christ. It is impossible for God to be happy with those who express unbelief in Jesus Christ, in that He intercedes for us before the Father. Without Jesus we could not approach the throne of God or enter heaven; we would have no hope of eternal life. All the religions of the world: Moslems, Hindus, etc… they all need to believe in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and let Christ intercede for them before the Father, or they will never see heaven. God is not pleased with religion, only faith in Jesus Christ. No other religion has addressed the Father but merely assumes His favor on them, because of their religion, but God is not impressed with religion; He was impressed with His Son, and if we seek the Father’s favor through Him, He will listen, but if we don’t believe in Him, we have no hope. (184g) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Abusing the grace of God >> Spending His grace on your pleasures >> Abusing your position (234a) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Seeking the glory of God >> God chooses us as we seek His glory >> As we submit to Him Heb 5-4 (8n) Responsibility >> Prevent sin from coming between you and God (71i) Authority >> Ordained by God >> Jesus is ordained by God -- This verse goes with verse 10 – Aaron, whom God specifically called, was the first priest in the line of Levitical priests that would come after him for the next 15 centuries. Aaron was the only person who was called by God, who represented a type of Christ; the rest were called as his descendants, who were an outcome of Aaron’s calling. Comparatively speaking, Jesus also was personally called by God both as the Son of God made mortal and as the son of man for a perpetual priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek, who was described as being without origins. We Christians, the disciples of Jesus, are called as priest after Jesus as an outcome of His calling. Heb 7-3 says, “Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.” In the Old Testament Melchizedek simply appeared; He was Jesus Christ, who came and met with Abraham, who gave tithes to Him; hence he gave Abraham an opportunity to act like a priest, whose purpose among other things is to offer gifts and sacrifices for the purpose of interceding for the people. In many respect this too is our office as evangelist to the world and ambassadors for Christ. Heb 5,5-9 (98f) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à Suffering à Glory of Christ) >> The cross KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 5-5,6 (253f) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Father and Son glorify each other >> Holy Spirit honors the Son through the Father >> Father honors the Son who honors the Father – What does it mean that the Son was begotten by the Father? This is a case where two things are true at the same time and both are in conflict with each other. We cannot have something that has no beginning and no end and also have someone who was begotten, suggesting a beginning. Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb through the Holy Spirit as the only man conceived in this way. So, “begotten” means conceived. God did not conceive Adam; He created him from the dust of the ground. Even after Adam disobeyed the Lord, his spirit did not die, but his flesh returned to the earth. In contrast, Jesus had a physical beginning as a mortal man, but he never had a spiritual beginning. Jesus always was a man, but He wasn’t always mortal. “Man” is a term we use to differentiate between us and animals, but actually “man” is a term that defines the nature of God, who said, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1-26). God made Adam in the image of Christ, using finite matter from the dust of the ground and breathed eternity into it; and then He made Christ in the image of man when He conceived Jesus in Mary’s womb. God made Jesus a Great High Priest, thus preparing Him for sacrifice. He performs His perpetual ministry in heaven seated at His Father's right hand, continually interceding for the people. We were once sinners, but we are now being perfected through suffering and are already perfect through faith in the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. See also: God is an artist; Phi 2-13; 229d Heb 5,7-14 (187a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Die to the flesh >> The ministry of dying to self >> Die to self to minister to God >> Jesus died to self and ministered to God – Jesus suffered temptation in His flesh though He never submitted to it, being by far His greatest miracle. He was 100% God, but outwardly He had the body of a man, being subject to temptation. For this reason the cross demonstrated the boundless integrity of God, while His life of 33 years demonstrated it all the more in His daily encounters with sin. There was plenty of time and opportunity for temptation to wear Him down and take over His mind and body, but Jesus’ determination to keep Himself spotless was greater than temptation's ability to overwhelm Him. Every time He overcame temptation He was offering gifts and sacrifices for sin to His Father, similar to the old covenant priests who had a host of daily obligations in service to God and the people. It wasn’t just the cross that bought our redemption, for without a perfect life His sacrifice would have been unacceptable to the Father. Had Jesus sinned just once, His death wouldn’t have meant any more than if you or I had been nailed to that cross, or if the high priest had taken his own blood into the Most Holy Place to make atonement for the people. Jesus took on the role of a priest, not just at His crucifixion, but also throughout His life in every moment He lived without sin, like offering a turtledove every time he conquered temptation. He performed a critical function by resisting sin for the sake of all mankind in order that His sacrifice would be holy and acceptable to God. So, we too, when we overcome temptation, sometimes with loud crying and tears to the one able to save us from death, God hears us because we believe in Jesus for eternal life. We too act as priests by overcoming temptation for the sake of those around us, and even more with our life of prayer, a ministry toward God enhanced behind closed doors, fighting for those on our prayer list and for freedom from sin through our love of the truth. Heb 5,7-10 (45f) Judgment >> Believer’s sin >> Through His Son >> Jesus absorbed sin of the Church KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 5,7-9 (8l) Responsibility >> Responsible to defend God’s cause >> Preparing the sacrifice – The cross was the one act of righteousness that justified the ungodly when they repented and believed in the gospel. It is the sacrifice that God used to secure man’s salvation, but behind that one act of righteousness was a whole life lived for God without sin. Each rise above temptation was an act of righteousness that sanctified His body and made his blood holy to the Lord for the propitiation of sin. (26i) Sin >> Consequences of sin >> Death of Christ – Jesus prayed to His Father who was able to save Him from death. The writer of Hebrews was not talking about the cross when he said that; rather, he was talking about the span of Jesus’ life, that for thirty-three years He suffered like nobody else to remain without sin. Had Jesus committed a sin, He would no longer have been welcome in heaven, having no better standing with His Father than Lucifer. How could He sacrifice Himself for the sins of the world if He too were a sinner? The possibility was always there for Jesus to sin, since He had a body of mortal flesh just like our own, who was tempted in all ways yet found faithful (Heb 4-15). (37f) Judgment >> Jesus’ humanity >> Jesus had human limitations -- These verses go with verse 2. It is hard to imagine how much suffering Jesus endured throughout His life. To put absolute perfection in a fallible body must be the very definition of suffering. Heb 12-4 says that we have not resisted to the point of shedding blood in our striving against sin, and of course Jesus bled, but before a single drop was shed, He suffered the vexation of His soul and the temptations of His flesh for years. He prayed to His Father with loud crying and tears; how many of us pray like that? Often we just fall to our temptations. In our fight for freedom, how willing are we to resist temptation? Do we go to God with loud crying and tears? The majority of us do not, yet this is the level of commitment He would like us all to have in our striving against sin. Scripture suggests that this was a regular occurrence for Christ; although He was free from sin, temptation was always right around the corner, coming to Him at various opportune times (Lk 4-13). See also: Freedom; 119f (38c) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death (Satan) >> Resurrection overcomes death (39g) Judgment >> Jesus defeated death >> Jesus’ victory was through His flesh (41b) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Jesus is without sin >> He fulfilled the law (42k) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the glory of Christ’s death (43k) Judgment >> Satan destroyed in the absence of sin >> Perfected in weakness – Jesus was perfect on the inside; His soul was the Holy Spirit, while His flesh was no different from ours. It says He was made perfect, that is, He was perfected through suffering. Through His life Christ used His perfect Spirit to perfect obedience in His flesh, which qualified Him as a High Priest for us, who became our source of eternal salvation. The fact that Jesus never committed a sin made His sacrifice acceptable to the Father. Some people snub the idea that Jesus never committed a sin, though He lived in a body like ours; this was His greatest miracle. Absolute perfection was shoved into an imperfect body that had every opportunity we have to sin. Jesus exercised His will to remain faithful to His Father and in the process learned obedience. God knows everything, but to know about something on a cognitive level is different from experiencing it firsthand. God knew vicariously what it was like to live in a body of sinful flesh, but He didn’t know by experience until Jesus came in the flesh and lived among us. Similarly, being perfect is different from being perfected. (44a) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Complete >> It is finished >> Fulfillment of God’s will (70d) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Being sensitive to the Spirit >> Spirit grieves over the flesh (93g) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Disciples follow Him (95l) Thy kingdom come >> Positive attitude about suffering >> Suffering under the hand of God – The Father asked His Son, ‘If temptation implored You to choose sin, would You rather choose righteousness?’ Jesus answered ‘yes’. This was the question God asked both Adam and Job. How unjust would it be to ask this of others and not of Himself? Satan is the accuser of the brethren; he accused Job in the presence of God, asking, ‘You say he’s perfect? Touch his flesh and he will curse you to your face!’ (Job 2-5). God considered that He must test Job to see if Satan’s accusations were correct. God could have answered Satan with His foreknowledge that His servant Job would do no wrong, but figured it more useful if Job proved it. God knew that Satan would have answered with: ‘Prove that this is not mere conjecture,’ refusing to take God’s word for it. (Note that God was more willing to use His foreknowledge to anticipate Satan's criticism than use it to answer his question.) Actually, Satan had a point; God doesn't want a creation that He simply knows will obey Him but one that can prove it. Therefore, the only way to answer Satan's question was to touch Job’s flesh and note his response. As a result, Job was perfected in weakness, just as Jesus was perfected in weakness, and as a result Jesus became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him. God doesn’t take our word for it; He makes us demonstrate our faith. God could use His foreknowledge to look in the future and see if we would obey Him, but “what good is that” (Jm 2-16)? This suggests that God sees no application to His foreknowledge in the real world, so much for Hyper-Calvinism. See also: Test; 189e / God allows suffering and evil to test us like He tested Job; Jm 5-10,11; 12a (101f) Thy kingdom come >> Zeal >> Fulfill your calling with zeal (103i) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God purifies His Church >> Jesus goes through God’s purifying process – We could combine all the miracles Jesus performed and together they would not compare to the miracle of remaining perfect in sinful flesh for thirty-three years. The Father sent Him to us knowing He would overcome sin, though He could have had a moment of weakness. Note that God used His foreknowledge to determine the outcome, still He felt Jesus should be subjected to trial, suggesting that the outcome is not the most important result of being tested but the experience itself of being tested. Had Jesus sinned, His Father would have eternally banished Him from heaven. There were two kinds of sin Jesus could have committed: He could have transgressed the laws of Moses, or He could have transgressed the will of His Father, primarily involving the cross. The battle He fought in the Garden of Gethsemane where He sweat droplets of blood was intense, not because He worried about dying, but because He feared the notion of being separated from His Father, at the same time having all the sins of the world (past, present and future) heaped upon Him. This was Satan's opportunity to break the unity of the Godhead, successfully tempting Jesus to retreat from His Father's plan to send Him to the cross, Satan employing his tactics of divide and conquer. By this the Heavenly Father would have essentially lost His Son to sin, but He sent Him knowing this would not happen, because Jesus never fails. (116c) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Through worship >> Through our relationship with Him (119f) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Freedom >> Fences of freedom >> Being a slave to freedom – The Church is hazy in their understanding about Jesus’ relationship with His Father; He did not go around doing whatever He wanted; He was bound to His Father’s will, but He was also free, not free to disobey but to obey (Jn 6-38). We can talk about freedom, and people in the world would probably tell us that the main reason they are not interested in Christianity is that they want their freedom to live however they choose, but this eventually leads back to bondage. In contrast, the freedom Jesus enjoyed in obedience to His Father was a solution to bondage and a sustainable way of life for all nations. People who reject the will of God treat their freedom as a consumable resource, but Paul said that freedom was for freedom's sake (Gal 5-1). It is a primary goal and a tool we use to achieve other goals, yet most people use it as a commodity, like money; they spend it on their pleasures. True freedom is not free but has fences. That is, we must choose righteousness if we want to keep our freedom or we will lose it. Jesus was not free to choose against His Father’s will; He was free to do the will of His Father. Freedom is therefore defined as having the power to choose righteousness. Absolute freedom can only be enjoyed in heaven, where temptation does not exist and where there is no law. See also: Freedom; 189e (119i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Curse of sin is broken >> Curse of death is broken (137i) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Maturing in Jesus is hard work >> Maturity is a training process -- These verses go with verse 14 (172j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Catholicism >> Scripture that contradicts the Catholic faith >> Jesus never to die again >> Because His death was sufficient -- These verses go with verse 2 (189e) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Martyr >> Tested for faithfulness to the death – Without God testing us, we wouldn't have the opportunity to exercise our freedom. He tests us to show us we are truly free and faithful to Him. Without being tested, these questions would have surfaced in a million years from now, and we would have eventually needed to ask, ‘How am I free?’ There would have been no way to adequately answer that question apart from an experiential framework but nowhere to test us outside His perfect creation; hence, all our questions must be answered before He recreates a perfect universe. Questions like, ‘How do I know I love God and my neighbor?’ and ‘How do I know I am faithful and loyal?’ are questions that God foresaw from the beginning. The level of freedom God has given us demands an answer, and without the ability to prove our love and faithfulness, any answer would be inadequate, which would have made us feel constrained as though incarcerated in paradise. However, with these questions answered, we will be totally free and we will know for sure that we love God, because we proved it. For this reason God setup a world that would test us, and He sent His Son through the same testing process and found Him faithful in all things. Think of the trouble God endured to answer these simple yet fundamental questions, the millennia of human suffering He has allowed, even sending His own Son to die for our sins that we might live to righteousness. These questions are as big as the universe itself, big enough to make our eternal experience with God something less than heavenly if they weren't fully answered. God thinks that without experience we have no knowledge, and without the knowledge of sin, we could not sit with Christ on His Father's throne or be fully made in His image. Intrinsically, that includes possessing the knowledge of good and evil. Right now, we don’t understand why that is so important, but one day when we move into our new heavenly abode where no sin exists, we will realize that this was by far the most important question to answer before eternity resumed. It will have the effect of infinitely enhancing our relationship with God and enhancing our ability to manage His universe. See also: Freedom; 37f / Test; Heb 5,7-9; 95l / Freedom defines us as made in the image of God; Rev 14,9-11; 64f (190b) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Masochism (Self-made martyr) >> Taking your sinful nature by force (194a) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Run to God >> Run the race that is set before us (194i) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Yield to God’s right to direct your way (234i) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Invest in the kingdom >> Sold out >> Relinquishing your assets to Christ >> Dispose of every asset except Christ (253k) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is subject to the Father >> Jesus is subject to God’s ability KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 5-7,8 (46g) Judgment >> Spiritual warfare >> Fall of Satan >> Removing Satan’s obstructions – Had Satan successfully led Jesus into sin, what would have happened to the Father? He would have begun to doubt Himself as a person. Therefore, we say that God risked everything and could have lost it all, and Satan could have grown one step closer to subverting His throne. Were the angels nervous? Jesus never fails! The Father had absolute confidence in His Son that He could make Him live in a body of sin without concern of Him faltering; yet vested in weakness look what it took to avoid sinning: loud crying and tears. Jesus knew what was at stake, being the person of God; He was absolute perfection in Spirit, and He was not about to submit to His flesh. It says Jesus was heard because of His pity. His Father took pity on Him and sent angels to help Him in His struggle against sin. The crescendo took place in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to his crucifixion, the greatest temptation of all to abandon the Father's will and run for His life. Had He run, what would have remained of Him but a body of flesh that was slated to get old and die? His hope in God would have perished with Him, and the same would happen to us if we abandoned our faith! See also: Satan tried to hold man hostage; Rev 18-20,21; 28i (87c) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Jesus obeyed all the Father’s will – Jesus “learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” That is, God in Christ learned something; that sounds like a paradox. In a way it is not paradoxical at all, in that Jesus limited Himself to the weakness of human flesh and opened Himself to a world of learning experiences, but in a way it is paradoxical in that He put Himself in that position in the first place. God already knew about our suffering, but not by experience, and He would not be out done by His creation, but seeks sovereignty over all things (Phi 3-20,21). He suffered our experiences in hope that we would experience His joy and heavenly glory forever. He wanted to know everything about us so we could know everything about Him. He did these things knowing that the more He had in common with us, the more we would have in common with Him, and the closer bonds we would form with Him. The trinity existed in eternity past, and the Son has always obeyed the Father, and it was never difficult for Him, but when Jesus took on human flesh, the sinful nature competed against the will of God in His heart to obey the Father, which proved His loyalty. Heb 5-7 (82d) Thy kingdom come >> Three elements of prayer >> Our approach >> How to pray (245i) Kingdom of God >> Spirit realm imposed on the natural realm >> Literal manifestations >> Manifestation of God’s righteous judgment >> Manifestation of Jesus’ victory over sin – Jesus is our High Priest by virtue of His divinity, but had He not been born into a physical body, His divinity could not have made Him a high priest. The fact that He lived in the weakness of human flesh is what qualified Him as our High Priest, and the fact that He lived a sinless life perfected His high priestly office. Therefore, our faith in His sinless life and subsequent sacrifice makes us equally blameless before God. Our salvation is hinged on the understanding that we are sinful people, but that Jesus never committed sin, and that God called Him to sacrifice His fleshly body on a cross, so when we bind our faith to His sinless life, we would take on His perfection and righteousness and become acceptable to God to the degree that He has accepted Jesus’ blood sacrifice for the propitiation of our sins. Heb 5-8 (239e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachable students >> The teachable are taught by God -- This verse goes with verse 14 KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 5-9 (41d) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Jesus overcame sin (61d) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Perfect—Inherent quality / Maturing process – This word, “perfect,” has two implied meanings: Jesus was a perfect Spirit, and He was perfected in the flesh. The paradox of the Son of God was that He lived in a body that had an affinity for sin, while possessing a Spirit that was incapable of sin, these two being opposite forces competing against each other for control. In that sense, Jesus was the first Christian, for we are acquainted with this same struggle since Jesus placed His Spirit in us. God could place Himself in a body that is in rebellion against His own authority and never once succumb to it, proving His sovereignty over all things and perfecting His love for righteousness. Jesus having lived in a body of sinful flesh, yet without sin by far was His greatest miracle, which consecrated His sacrifice. Jesus said in Mat 23-16,17, “Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?” The gold represents the cross, while the temple that sanctified the gold represents the body of Jesus. What is more important, then, the cross or His perfect life that sanctified the cross? Without a perfect life, His cross could not have purchased our redemption. (87ia) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Those who obey believe in God >> Those who obey the Holy Spirit – There is no difference between "belief" and obedience. However, we often see people claiming to believe but are not able to demonstrate their beliefs through obedience. This is evidence of a person who does not know God. In contrast, a lifestyle of obedience is evidence that a person indeed knows God. This is what the Bible teaches; it is how the Bible separates the righteous from the wicked, not by what they believe, but whether they obey. (88a) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> Relationship between faith and works >> Works establish your faith – Some people claim to believe in the Bible, quoting the Apostle’s Creed every week in church along with the Lord’s Prayer. There is nothing wrong with that; in fact, Paul commanded Timothy to promote certain doctrines (1Tim 6,3-5), not just to believe in them, but for people to fashion their lives around them to promote godliness. Many people go to church every week and agree together that these things are without question the gospel truth, but after church they go about their lives in a way that does not complement their beliefs. (207k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Salvation verses >> The generosity of God’s salvation >> Salvation is eternal life Heb 5-10 (71i) Authority >> Ordained by God >> Jesus is ordained by God -- This verse goes with verse 1. In conjunction with being High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek, Jesus was also a mortal man as it said in Psalm 2-7, “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” This alludes to the Father conceiving Jesus in Mary’s womb. His ministry on earth was to die for the sins of mankind as the son of man, for He was equipped to make the sacrifice, and He showed us favor by His presence in the flesh. This does not overshadow his priestly office on the order of Melchizedek that speaks about Him in eternity as the Son of God, who will perpetually intercede for us in the Father’s presence, suggesting we will always need a Great High Priest to intercede for us. This means the Father will never accept us apart from Christ. Even after we have lived in His house, seen His face and fellowshipped with Him for eons, still we will never be acceptable to Him apart from Christ, for to be apart from Christ is to be in rebellion against Him. KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 5,11-14 (4c) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Being accountable to the word of God – It has been said that everyone knows the difference between good and evil, but this is not inherently true. We all have a conscience, but it can only teach us to treat others the same way that we want to be treated. Without the Bible we wouldn't know about Jesus, much less know about God's specific will that the Holy Spirit teaches us through the Bible, which this verse is referring. Our parents probably taught to us about good and evil based on what they knew about the Bible, and in this way God conveys His influence from one generation the next, but take the Bible's influence away and people will soon lose their ability to discern good and evil. That is why we need to keep our nose in the Bible. See also: Bible (Unwilling to endure the word of God); 2Tim 4-3,4; 57j (7j) Responsibility >> Use time wisely >> Get ready >> Take time to prepare – We think we know what the future holds, and so we consciously or unconsciously prepare for it, but we never know for sure what is right around the corner. Things change so fast that before we are ready to assume our role that we have anticipated, either the circumstances have changed or we have changed, and we consequently step into a role for which we have not prepared. Instead of postulating the future, we should become students of God's word and disciples of prayer and let Him decide our future and how He will use the truth that we have treasured in our heart. He promises us a role in His plan if we dedicate our lives to Him. (72m) Authority >> Hierarchy of authority >> Authority makes you accountable >> Children are accountable to their parents (76m) Thy kingdom come >> Desires >> Word is food >> Hunger for the word (80j) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to minister to people >> To edify one another (97h) Thy kingdom come >> Attention >> Facing the direction of God’s will >> Focusing your attention on what matters to you (138f) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Reproof >> Reprove your brother for not thinking right (175f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Dodging the issue (willful ignorance) >> Evading the word of God – The ultimate skill that maturity bestows is the ability to discern between good and evil, and this passage says that babes in Christ don’t have this aptitude. That is, they don’t know when they're sinning. Although they are ignorant, they are not innocent of their lack of knowledge, for they are willfully ignorant. They think that if they remain spiritually ignorant, God will not be able to charge them with sin, because they didn’t know any better, but God knows that they were avoiding the knowledge of the truth, and He will judge them according to truth's availability and their willingness to learn about Him. God has given us all the tools we need in the Bible to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Jesus Christ, and if we don’t make an effort, He will know. There is only one reason we don’t mature in the things of God: we want to remain in the flesh. We like this world; it is all we know, like a bird that has always lived in a cage. We just want to be saved, remain in the flesh, have no effect on the world and then go to heaven, but we are living a lie. We don’t know the difference between good and evil just like we don't know the difference between truth and error. We have chosen not to be spiritual, but are we spiritually blind? If a light shines in our eyes and we don’t see it, it means we are blind; that is the test. The writer of Hebrews is shining the truth in our eyes and we are unresponsive to it from willful ignorance of the truth. We think this will deliver us from guilt, but in fact it is multiplied by willfully ignoring Him. (193h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Repent from not renewing your mind (197a) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Spiritual laziness >> Rebelling Against what God wants you to do >> Refusing to renew your mind – Today the Church is spiritually in ruins; if someone were inclined to teach the word of God, there would be no place for him. There are teachers in the Church, but they must be of a certain social order. What matters more is friendships with people in high places and agreements on certain foundational doctrines designed by the devil that over a course of two millennia have impeded spiritual growth, causing apostasy which has dragged the Church into the abyss of secular humanism. We scarcely understand the gospel, much less believe in Him, because of the doctrines we have put in place of the truth. Thanks to many denominations that teach we don’t need to obey God or be committed to the faith, we only need to believe in certain doctrines, such as that Jesus died for our sins, and in believing we are given a free pass to heaven. Paul did say that salvation was a free gift, but if we are not growing in the things of God over the decades that we have been saved, who can say we actually believe? (230e) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of the power of God >> Partaking of the word of God Heb 5,11-13 (21b) Sin >> Disobedient to the call – The initial readers of the book of Hebrews had become dull of hearing to the word of righteousness, though like the Church of the 21st century, they were probably ready to hear all about the mercy and grace of God through the blood of Christ, but nothing about being disciples of Jesus or accountability. The book of Hebrews contains some of the deepest theology of the Bible, yet its original audience was not prepared to hear about perfecting obedience in the flesh, suggesting that there is no deeper theology than godliness. Perhaps they were saved for a decade, yet they are still babes in Christ, being reminiscent of the Church today. No one is spiritually growing in our generation either, and very few are being saved. We know God expects us to grow, but we don’t think we need to grow because we are saved by grace through faith, not of works. (168l) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> The world has deaf ears to God >> God does not speak to people who will not hear Him (175a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Form of godliness >> Trying to bend kingdom principles (196f) Denying Christ >> Man exercises his will against God >> Immaturity >> Not mature enough to seek God >> Unable to know the mind of Christ – The writer of Hebrews wanted to elaborate on the role of Melchizedek but had to stop saying, “it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing.” The early church was having the same problems that we are having in these last days; people are unwilling to mature and grow in their faith, remaining babes in Christ. They want to be saved and call it sufficient and continue their lives with the gospel of Christ remaining ineffectual, so it doesn’t hinder them from living the way they want. The reasons for not maturing in the faith are all evil. They are full of want and crave pleasure. Whether they actually desire heaven is questionable; they get saved just to avoid hell, but don’t want to serve Jesus. They are spiritually lazy. After all the things Jesus did for us, after offering prayers and supplication with loud crying and tears to remain innocent of all evil throughout His life, and then going to the cross and being tortured and suffered a horrible death at the hands of some of the most vicious and terrifying men this world has produced, the beneficiaries of all His suffering refuse to raise a finger to serve Him. Although outwardly they are religious, hidden in their hearts is unbelief. (239g) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachers are construction workers >> God raises up teachers to raise up the body KJV WEB / Navigation Bar Heb 5-13,14 (69ba) Authority >> Discernment >> Discerning the knowledge of God >> Discerning true motives Heb 5-14 (41k) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Be like Jesus >> Doctrine conforming to godliness (70b) Authority >> Righteous judgment (outcome of discernment) >> Sensitivity To The Spirit (86g) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word >> Clothe yourself with the word of God >> Practice the truth (92c) Thy kingdom come >> The narrow way >> Trail of good works >> Practice walking a straight line (127n) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Goodness >> Devote your life to doing good (137i) Temple >> Building the temple (with hands) >> Maturity >> Maturing in Jesus is hard work >> Maturity is a training process -- This verse goes with verses 7-9 (239e) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers >> Teachable students >> The teachable are taught by God -- This verse goes with verse 8 See next page