The Same Yesterday and Today and Forever

Posted on September 22, 2022 by Pete

You read it and, while you can’t help but whisper “Amen” ’cause you know it’s true, it does strike you as being kind of out of place.

Starting in on the final chapter of the letter to the Hebrews. And, as is so common in these New Testament letters, after so much time spent on what to believe, the writer is clear on the “so what” and how to behave.

And so, to these believers who were shaken in the faith — those, to quote the hymn writer, who were “tossed about with many a conflict and many a doubt; fightings within and fears without” (Just As I Am, Charlotte Ellliott) — the writer exhorts them with a series of rapid commands as to what it would look like to remain faithful. Because of the rejection from their kinsmen and the persecution of their statesmen, they were to: continue in brotherly love; show hospitality to strangers; remember those in prison; hold marriage in honor; keep their lives free from the love of money being content with what they had; and, they were to remember their leaders (because they had been martyred?) and imitate their faith (Heb. 13:1-7). If I’m doing the math correctly, there’s eight rapid-succession commands to obey in these seven verses.

And then, seemingly out of the blue, there’s this:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

(Hebrews 13:8 ESV)

True statement! Theologically sound. Christologically accurate. Foundationally necessary. If Jesus isn’t the same yesterday, today, and forever then “the fullness of God” doesn’t dwell within Him. And if He is not the incarnate embodiment of the fullness of God, if He is not in essence God Himself, well then, no reconciliation and no peace made by the cross (Col. 1:18-20). Like I said, true statement. Great theology. But why’s it dropped here?

I’m thinking it has something to do with the fact that these believers were struggling with remaining faithful to their beliefs and behaviors because they were losing their bearings. Their situation was impacting their determination to live for Jesus. Their circumstance was tempting them to rethink their spiritual stance. Their season was an assault to their sanctification. So, when exhorted to behave according to what they believe, the writer anchors these commands with a situation-transcending truth — Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.

The Jesus who is the better revelation of God, who is better than angels and better than Moses, who is the better high priest and the better sacrifice, and is the guarantor of a better covenant, is better, in large part, because He is eternal and unchanging. We need to believe that, for without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). But not only do we believe in an eternal, unchanging Savior, we behave according to an eternal, unchanging Lord. Our obedience not about the convenience of the situation, circumstance, or season, but all about our Savior who is the same yesterday and today and forever.

And so we keep on keepin’ on — not ’cause it’s easy but because He is worthy. We obey, not in our own power, but in the power of the risen Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit. We aim to live in a manner worthy of who we are in Christ — not to show that we are something, but as a response of love conveying that, for us, He is everything.

The same yesterday and today and forever. Such is Jesus. Such is our holy determination, through His enabling, to faithfully walk in obedience.

Only by His grace. Only for His glory.

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Either Way, You’re Gonna Get Burned

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Pete

Okay . . . this is one of those mornings where it’s more like eating from a buffet than chewing on a single verse. Verses from three of my readings running through my head. All to do with fire, burning, and light. Connected, I think. Not sure if I can bring it together in a way that makes sense, but where I’m landing this morning is that either way, you’re gonna get burned.

Here goes . . .

Let’s start in Hebrews 12.

See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven. . . Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.

(Hebrews 12:25, 28-29 ESV)

The writer to the Hebrews is wrapping up his letter. After explaining the “better-ness” of Jesus, after exhorting these weary wanderers to keep on keepin’ on entering the rest, after reminding them that what began by faith will be finished by faith, he says, “Do not refuse Him who is speaking.” How come? Because our God is a consuming fire. The One who tests hearts is a furnace that will one day judge all men. But, in this last part of Hebrews 12, he also reminds these wavering believers that their relationship to the fire is a different relationship than those outside of Christ, and that’s why they can offer “acceptable worship” to God — because they’re receiving a kingdom.

For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest . . . But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering . . .

(Hebrews 12:18, 22 ESV)

Mount Sinai was enveloped by the God who is a consuming fire (Ex. 19:18) and it caused even Moses to “tremble with fear” (Heb. 12:21). Do not touch! Do not come near! Keep your distance! That was the order of the day for those who saw God reveal Himself afire in the Law. You didn’t come to Mount Sinai, you stayed away. BUT — oh, glorious but — those under grace are invited to approach a different mount, Mount Zion. God not overshadowing it with blazing fire holiness, but God in the midst of it as with a holy fire that replaces the sun, so that “the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory” (Isa. 60:19-20, another of this morning’s readings).

Far from the consuming fire of God repelling us from a mount shaken by the tempest of His unfathomable holiness, it actually invites us to draw near and receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken because of His sacrificial love. Made holy through the finished work of Christ, we are beckoned to boldly approach the holy (Heb. 4:16).

But if we draw near, we’re still gonna get burned.

When [Jesus] was at table with [those He met on the road to Emmaus], He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. And He vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?”

(Luke 24:30-32 ESV)

If we heed His voice and draw near, we should expect that our God, the consuming fire, will burn us. Not with flames that bring death, but with a fire that stirs us to life. His blazing fire no longer a feared flame, but a friendly fire which brings light and ignites the heart. Ready to hear His voice without the fear which sends us fleeing is to be ready to be consumed by His fire with an attracting and responsive fear fueled from knowing His overflowing, steadfast love. Try to run from Him, or purpose to run to Him; either way you’re gonna get burned.

Oh, to know the heartburn of being at the table with Jesus. To hear the voice of the consuming fire of Sinai now say with the faithful fire of Zion, “Come dine with Me.”

By His grace. For His glory.

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I Need an Interpreter

Posted on September 20, 2022 by Pete

I read in Proverbs how a culture would rejoice when the righteous increase but groan when the wicked rule (Prov. 29:2) and think to myself, really? Then I read in Isaiah 58 the LORD God’s take on the difference between fake fasting and real fasting. And it sounds a lot like you gotta perform before God will hear your prayers. So, I sit back and scratch my head. And then Hebrews tells me that my “struggle against sin” is for discipline and I need to endure because “God is treating you as sons”, so buck up and “lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees” (Heb. 12:4-7, 12). And I’m like, “What’s that about?”

This voice in my head, which is trying to process the hard things of Scripture, needs another voice to speak to my heart to provide understanding. And it’s something I read in Luke 24 this morning that reminds me I need an interpreter.

And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

(Luke 24:27 ESV)

It’s a story made for the imagination (Lk. 24:13-35). Two dejected followers of Jesus heading out of Jerusalem and home to Emmaus. The One who they thought might be the Messiah, “a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people”, had been delivered up by their religious leaders to be condemned to death and crucified. And though there were reports of an empty tomb and a risen Christ as they left Jerusalem that day, their hope is all but gone that He would be “the one to redeem Israel.” Then Jesus Himself joins them on the road and walks with them. Though, writes Luke, “their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.” And so, they chat.

These disciples try and make sense of what has happened over the past several days in Jerusalem, He patiently waits to make Himself known to them. And the pre-work for opening their eyes and hearts to see Him? “All the Scriptures.” He begins at the beginning and ends at the end and shows them that Christ had to suffer before entering into His glory. He interpreted to them . . . the things concerning Himself.

I read this, pause, and think to myself, “Self, He did it then; He’s still doing it now.”

No. He’s not here in the room beside me. But He’s here in the room within me. And, just like those confused disciples traveling the road to Emmaus, I need Him to reveal Himself and His ways through the Scriptures.

I need Him to make sense of a culture which calls good evil and evil good and seems to care less when the wicked rule. I need Him to reconcile saving grace with required works before prayers are heard. I need Him to help my heart understand how my struggle against sin is not to add to my shame but is evidence of His on-going salvation, as a loving Father disciplines me through all-manner of hardship to produce in me the everlasting fruit of righteousness. I need an Interpreter.

This morning, I’m reminded that I have an Interpreter.

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. . . . When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

(John 16:7, 13-14 ESV)

He will take what is mine and declare it to you. The Spirit of God will open your understanding of the word of God which is about the Son of God and give insight to those who are the children of God.

Every morning I open my Bible, I’m on the road to Emmaus. Whatever questions, concerns, confusions I have, He engages in the conversation. Not saying that every morning there’s always clarity, or clear-cut answers, but there is an awareness of communion.

And so, we continue the conversation. A pondering pilgrim listening for the voice of His patient Lord. The heart hearing Him by His ever-present Spirit.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Satisfied

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Pete

To say I’m “chewing” on Isaiah 53 this morning would be to imply that it’s bite sized. Far from it. Isaiah 53 is a full meal deal, enough within it to process for an eternity. Not because it’s appetizing, not because it’s sweet and savory. Rather, it’s bitter. In fact, it seems overloaded with bitter herbs and hard to digest flavors. But feast on it, and in the end . . . satisfied.

Bore our griefs. Carried our sorrows. Pierced for our transgressions. Crushed for our iniquities. Taking upon Himself the chastisement that brought us peace. And with His wounds we are healed. (Isa. 53:4-5).

Oppressed, afflicted, a silent lamb led to the slaughter. Cut off from the land of the living. Stricken for the transgression of His people. His grave made with the wicked, though He had done no violence, nor was there any deceit in His mouth (Isa. 53:7-9).

Enough already!

And yet, despite the bitter taste, I’m drawn to read it over and over again. Drawn to fixate on God’s Servant, His appearance marred beyond human semblance, His bodily form barely recognizable as human (Isa. 52:14). For the LORD had laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa. 53:6) — my iniquity.

But as I hover over this holy ground, I’m struck by this: that despite all the Savior suffered, despite all He bore on our behalf, through the prophet we are told He is satisfied.

Out of the anguish of His soul He shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the righteous One, my Servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities.

(Isaiah 53:11 ESV)

Satisfied. The Christ is satisfied. The Son of God, who drank of the bitter cup of the Father’s wrath, now enjoying the sweetness of a cup filled to the brim with the fruit of His finished work. The Lamb of God who poured out His soul unto death, now with a soul overflowing as He communes with the life He has wrought within His creation. He shall see and be satisfied.

What does He see? Me. And all those like me who have been bought with His price and redeemed by His grace. Satisfied not necessarily because of “how well I’m doing”, but because of how well I have been bought and how much I have been graced. Satisfied as He sees us wearing His robe of righteousness. Satisfied as He sees us being conformed increasingly into His image. Satisfied as He experiences the reality that the finished work of His cross is sufficient to complete the redeeming work He has begun in us.

Satisfied. God’s holy Servant, my Lord, is satisfied.

Because of His grace. For His glory.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

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A City

Posted on September 15, 2022 by Pete

Morning devotions have a way of re-orienting the mind and soul. Quiet time before the Lord in His word, wanting to hear the voice of His Spirit, has a way of recalibrating “true north.”

What’s amazing, is how only a 24-hour period can so disorient you. So busy. So much stuff crammed in our calendars. So many things to be concerned about. Not saying they’re not legitimate things . . . just that they are many things. They are the “Martha things” — things about which we become anxious and troubled, things that distract (Lk. 10:40-41). That’s why we need to make time for the one “necessary thing”, being a Mary who sits at the Lord’s feet and listens to Him (Lk. 10:39, 42). And this morning, for me, He resets my internal GPS towards a city.

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.

(Hebrews 11:13-16 ESV)

Except for Enoch (11:5), they all died. Abel and Noah, Abraham and Sarah. Though they considered Him faithful who had promised (11:11), and though they had tasted and sampled the fulfillment of those promises during their lifetime, they but greeted them from afar before leaving this earth. They walked by faith, and they died in faith, not having received the fullness of the things promised. And that, because they were seeking a homeland.

Regardless of what earthly passport they possessed, they desired a better country. A country literally out of this world. A heavenly country. And so, on earth they lived as strangers and exiles, believing that God who brought them into relationship as their God, had prepared for them a city.

A homeland. A better country. A city.

Commence recalibration. Refocus on the long game. Set your mind on things above (Col. 3:2).

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. . . And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

(Revelation 21:2, 22-23 ESV)

Another 24-hour period, Lord willing, is before us. Another day–though filled with very real tasks to do and concerns to be concerned about–to walk by faith and not by sight (2Cor. 5:7). To remember we’re just passing through. To serve faithfully here while sure fully of a homeland there. Taking care of business now even as we’re homesick for a better country then. To know that we’re not going it alone, for God is not ashamed to be called their God. Another day, Lord willing, to live in anticipation of a city.

Only by His grace. Always for His glory.

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We Are Not of Those

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Pete

They needed endurance. The going continued to get tough, and some of those who had so far toughed it out were now considering getting going.

As they became known as followers of Christ, some were publicly exposed to reproach and affliction. Some had known the plundering of their property. Some had even been thrown in prison. And so for some, the taking away of their livelihoods was tempting them to throw away their confidence in the promise of a great reward. Thus, says the writer to these harangued Hebrews, “You have need of endurance” (Heb. 10:32-36).

For to stop walking by “the new and living way” that Christ opened to them by His blood and through His flesh, to stop drawing near to God in full assurance of faith with hearts cleansed and bodies washed by the cleansing blood of Christ (10:19-22), was to risk going back into deliberate sin, trampling underfoot the person of Christ, and profaning the blood of the Christ (10:26, 29).

The stakes were high. They needed endurance.

Hover over this for a bit, and it’s enough to make the weary follower a bit anxious. To cause great concern for the one who has held on to Christ for dear life, but as the price for holding on increases, as the cost becomes more crushing, the grip feels like it is slowly weakening. Yeah, I need endurance . . . but can I endure?

Yeah, I can. How come? Because we are not of those.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the Coming One will come and will not delay; but My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

(Hebrews 10:35-39 ESV)

We are not of those who shrink back. That’s not what saving faith produces. Those who are saved by the power of the gospel, are kept by the power of the gospel. Those who are counted as righteous through the finished work of Christ on the cross, those who are being made righteous through the on-going work of the Spirit infusing their lives, are those who will walk in righteousness “from faith for faith” — “as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith'” (Rom. 1:16-17). That’s who we are. That’s our born again being in Christ. In Him, we are of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

We have need of endurance. Sometimes to endure the consequences of following Jesus, sometimes just to endure the hardships of life. But because of who we are in Christ, we will endure. We are not of those who shrink back and retreat. Sure, we may slip up and trip up and give up ground temporarily to the flesh and to the world. But we concede not the holy ground we have been graced to stand upon. We lean into the cross. We apply afresh the blood of the Lamb. We again fix our eyes on the prize, and we endure by faith, preserving our souls by His ever-present, enabling power.

We are not of those who shrink back. That, dear saint, is not who we are.

Instead, we are of those who purpose to do His will, and keep on keepin’ on doing this will, confident that we will receive what He has promised. For yet a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.

By His grace alone. Through faith alone. For His glory alone.

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Contrasts of Salvation

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Pete

It’s the contrast that hits me this morning. The contrast between the God who, through Isaiah, declares He is God like no other (Isa. 45:5-6), and the same God, recorded by Luke, who is crucified on the cross (Lk. 23:32-34). The contrast between the One who promises to send a Servant, cloaked in the Spirit, who will bring forth justice to the nations. and that same Servant who, sentenced by the representative power of the nations to die, cries out to Him who sent Him, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Behold your God. Behold the Servant. Worship in the Spirit.

And then I read in Hebrews how this One God in Three Persons has orchestrated these mind-blowing contrasts to secure “an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12b).

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

(Hebrews 9:13-14 ESV)

The blood of goats and bulls had its place, for “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (9:22). But it was a temporary fix for an eternal problem. The blood of bulls allowed the high priest to enter the holy of holies each time he came to administer atonement. The blood of goats was sufficient to pay the price for those needing cleansing from the defilement of sin. But the blood of goats and bulls was insufficient to purify the conscience, thus releasing it from slavery to sin.

“But when Christ appeared as High Priest” (9:11), He, once for all, entered the heavenly holy of holies (of which the earthly inner sanctum was but a picture) by His own blood and secured an eternal redemption. Thus, the contrasts found in Isaiah and Luke this morning reveal the supernatural workings by which my conscience could be forever cleansed, and my soul forever saved. Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Saved for what purpose?

To serve the living God.

That’s not the “price we pay” for being saved. Service to God isn’t “our end of the deal.” Serving the living God is salvation. It is the abundant life! As those created in His image and purchased by blood to be His people, it is the secret sauce to flourishing as sons and daughters of God.

A God unlike any other god — so other-worldly that He would come in flesh to redeem His creation.

A Savior unlike any other Savior — the Son giving Himself freely so that the Father might, with justice met, freely forgive our sin.

A Spirit unlike any other Spirit — the eternal power of God that raised Jesus from the dead and infuses us with His life. A new life to serve the living God.

Oh, the contrasts of salvation. Oh, the wonder of salvation’s plan.

Purposed by the God like no other. Accomplished by the Savior like no other. Internalized and energized by the Spirit like no other.

What amazing grace.

To Him be all the glory.

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The Stability of Our Times

Posted on September 7, 2022 by Pete

Yesterday, as I read in Isaiah, the gem found along what often feels to be the seer’s wandering, disorienting prophetic path, was a principle. This morning, the gem encountered is a preview.

The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and He will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.

(Isaiah 33:5-6 ESV)

Amidst the many prophetic warnings of Isaiah (e.g. Isa. 31:1), there are frequent prophetic windows into a day when “a king will reign in righteousness” (Isa. 32:1). These verses I’m chewing on this morning I take to be such a window.

That day when “a king will reign in righteousness”, I understand to be the day when Jesus as King will reign on the earth. And in that day, Jesus, who is Jehovah incarnate, will be exalted. He will dwell on high. He will fill Zion, the seat of His throne, with justice and righteousness. He will bring abundance of salvation, fullness of wisdom, and completeness of knowledge. And the fear of the LORD, Zion’s treasure, will be known to all the earth. So that, in that day, He will be the stability of our times.

Stability. If there is anything which DOES NOT MARK our times today, would we agree that it is stability?

If for no other reason than the increasingly rapid rewiring of our world through always changing technology, we could not look back over a generation and conclude, “Well, those have been decades of stability.” Factor in the rapid rise of individualism and the just as rapid fall of what were once moral standards which prevailed for centuries, and it’s anybody’s guess as to what a day brings in terms of what will be deemed right and what will be called wrong. Stable? I don’t think so.

Thus, when I read of a time of stability, it catches my eye and ignites my imagination. And the foundation upon which stability is founded? The LORD exalted over the earth. Is it any wonder then, that as we have also rapidly removed the LORD from our cultural sensibilities over the past generation, that a sense of instability prevails? I don’t think so.

So, there is a day coming when a King will reign in righteousness. And in that day, He will be the stability of our times.

But we need not wait until that day when He visibly reigns to know stability. For the King has come and is even now establishing His rule of righteousness in the hearts of His followers. As such, even today in these tumultuous times, He can be the stability of our times.

The Rock of my salvation is the solid ground for any season. The embodiment of the abundance of wisdom and knowledge of God, indwelling His people through the Holy Spirit provides an anchor for the soul amidst all storms and through every cultural wave. The fear of the LORD — our intense love, trust, and hope in the God of our redemption — being the treasure from which we draw the unfailing, unchanging riches of a sure tomorrow. He is the stability of our times.

Praise God for the preview. How we look forward to that day.

Thank God that we can know it’s reality even this day.

By His grace. For His glory.

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Return and Rest

Posted on September 6, 2022 by Pete

Hovering over Isaiah 30. While there’s much about Isaiah that disorients me as I try to map his prophecies to a historical timeline, there are gems encountered frequently along the way. Truths about the Holy One of Israel, promises concerning His holy purposes for the people of Israel. And in the midst, principles for those of us called also to be “God’s people” (1Pet. 2:10), having been grafted into this ancient root (Rom. 11:17) through the finished work of Christ. This morning I’m chewing on one of those principles, a principle of salvation.

Judgment for sin had begun. The generational warnings of the prophets were becoming realities. The people of God, who for years had drawn near to God “with their mouth” and honored Him only “with their lips,” but whose hearts were in reality “far from Me” (Isa. 29:13), were now experiencing the response of God. Their Enemies had begun to lay their siege works. Unless something drastic happened, the outcome seemed inevitable.

And so they made plans. Plans to “go down to Egypt”, enter into an unholy alliance, and “seek shelter in the shadow” of Pharaoh’s military might (Isa. 30:1-2). Those who had once been delivered from Egypt by the mighty hand of God were now turning to Egypt to be rescued themselves from the mighty hand of God. Instead of such foolish plans, instead of adding “sin to sin”, God calls His people to another approach for securing their salvation.

For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

(Isaiah 30:15 ESV)

Return and rest. That’s the plan for responding to God’s just discipline. Repent and cease from your own wisdom and ways. That’s the way for restoring the equilibrium known by His finished work. Turn from trusting in your own strength, or the strength of Egypt, and instead quiet yourselves as you trust in the One who had called you to be His special people in the first place. Return and rest. That’s the principle of salvation pre-occupying my thoughts this morning.

We’re not unlike ancient Israel. Just as their hearts had drifted far from the God they worshiped with their lips, we too are prone to wander. Just as they looked to Egypt as the solution for their wayward strife, we too can so easily look to the world and its ways to be our needed shelter when we are under sin’s siege. Instead, beckons our God who “waits to be gracious” (Isa. 30:18), return and rest.

Repent and be still. Confess and be contrite. Turn again and trust. Make a beeline for the cross and believe again that My love is unfailing, My grace is abounding, and the blood of My Son is sufficient to cleanse from all sin.

We were once saved through repentance and resting in the finished work of Jesus. It also is how we are “being saved.”

As long as we wake every morning to the flesh battling the Spirit and the Spirit battling the flesh (Gal. 5:17), we are going to know times when the flesh gets the upper hand. Return and rest.

As long as our hearts are works in progress, they will, as Calvin puts it, be prone towards being “a perpetual idol factory”, churning out affections towards things that should be directed only towards God. When we see that happening, return and rest.

If repentance isn’t a normative part of our working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Php. 2:12), it should be. It’s not because we have nothing to repent of, but more likely that we have devised other plans for dealing with sin’s on-going desire to lay siege to our lives.

Return and rest.

By God’s grace. For God’s glory.

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Things That Belong to Salvation

Posted on September 2, 2022 by Pete

Chewing on the first twelve verses of Hebrews six this morning. Tough chewing. A lot of gristle. Hard to know exactly who is being spoken of as those who “have once been enlightened . . . and then fallen away” (v.4-6). Believer? Unbeliever? Or as some suggest, a different “class” all together, an “apostate” — one who experienced some of the believer’s experience but never believed. Instead, they “have fallen away” holding Christ “up to contempt.” Thus, it is impossible “to restore them again to repentance.”

But what nourishes the soul this morning is what is clear in this passage. That which marks the one truly born again, the fruit of those who abide in the vine, the evidence of a Christ-sourced, Spirit-fueled, living faith. The things that belong to salvation.

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things —  things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do.

(Hebrews 6:9-10 ESV)

While the writer to the Hebrews has a stern warning for the mere professors of salvation, he also expresses confidence in the true possessors of salvation. Those whose claim to saving faith goes beyond what they say but is evidenced by what they do. Things that belong to salvation.

First, there is their work. Not their good works, I don’t think we’re talking good deeds here. I think this is the work of engaging with our salvation. As one commentary puts it, the “whole Christian life of active obedience”. Those who have been baptized into the body (1Cor. 12:12-13) actively being a body part (Eph. 4:16). Those who have been made into a holy priesthood “offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” (1Pet. 2:5). Those who have been called to be a royal priesthood proclaiming “the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (1Pet. 2:9). Those who are abiding in the Vine bearing much fruit (Jn. 15:5, 16). Things that belong to salvation includes doing the work of salvation.

And then, there is the love that is shown for God. And how is that love shown? In serving the saints.

Check that out! Ministering to other believers. Waiting on those redeemed by Christ. One of the things that belongs to salvation is attending to the needs of others in the church. So, how are we going to do that if we are not spending time with others in the church?

Ours is a busy age. Where once “regular” church attendance was seen as being gathered together three times a week, now it’s viewed as making it to a Sunday morning service two or three times a month. Where once hospitality was preached from the pulpit, I don’t think we hear much about it these days, as it competes with our already over-booked calendars.

Our is also a hyper-individualistic age. Too many, I fear, have taken a “personal relationship” with the Lord to mean that seeking the kingdom is a just-you-and-me-Jesus pursuit. But from what I can see, that’s foreign to what the New Testament teaches.

It seems to me that so much of the New Testament assumes that if you’re saved, you’re also part of a local gathering with others who are saved. If you’re born again you belong to a body of believers. As such, one of the things that belong to salvation is loving God by serving the saints. Living in the context of a family of faith as those adopted as children by the Father is how we demonstrate our affection for the Father. Being part of a body of which Christ is the Head is how we show our allegiance to the Head.

If we’re saved by God, we’re to be loving God. And one way we do that is by serving the saints. It’s part of what marks us as believers. Ministering to the body of Christ is some of the fruit we bear from abiding in Christ. Attending to our family of faith adds to the evidence that we possess a living faith. These are the things that belong to salvation.

By His grace. For His glory.

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