Reference: Hebrews, The Epistle To The
Fausets
Canonicity. - Clement of Rome (1st century A.D.) refers to it oftener than any other canonical New Testament book, adopting its words as on a level with the rest of the New Testament. As the writer of this epistle claims authority Clement virtually sanctions it, and this in the apostolic age. Westcott (Canon, 22) observes, it seems transfused into Clement's mind. Justin Martyr quotes its authority for applying the titles "apostle" and "angel" to the Son of God. Clement of Alexandria refers it to Paul, on the authority of Pantaenus of Alexandria (in the middle of the second century) saying that as Jesus is called the "apostle" to the Hebrew, Paul does not in it call himself so, being apostle to the Gentiles; also that Paul prudently omitted his name at the beginning, because the Hebrew were prejudiced against him; that it was originally written in Hebrew for the Hebrew, and that Luke translated it into Greek for the Greeks, whence the style resembles that of Acts.
He however quotes the Greek epistle as Paul's, so also Origen; but in his Homilies he regards the style as more Grecian than Paul's but the thoughts as his. "The ancients who handed down the tradition of its Pauline authorship must have had good reason for doing so, though God alone knows the certainty who was the actual writer," i.e. probably the transcriber or else interpreter of Paul's thoughts. The Peshito old Syriac version has it. Tertullian in the beginning of the third century, in the African church, ascribes it to Barnabas. Irenaeus in Eusebius quotes it. About the same time Caius the presbyter of Rome mentions only 13 epistles of Paul, whereas if epistle to Hebrew were included there would be 14.
The Canon fragment of Muratori omits it, in the beginning of the third century. (See CANON.) The Latin church did not recognize it as Paul's for a long time subsequently. So Victorinus, Novatian of Rome, and Cyprian of Carthage. But in the fourth century Hilary of Poitiers (A.D. 368), Lucifer of Cagliari (A.D. 371), Ambrose of Milan (A.D. 397), and other Latins quote it as Paul's; the fifth council of Carthage (A.D. 419) formally recognizes it among his 14 epistles.
Style. - The partial resemblance of Luke's style to it is probably due to his having been companion of Paul: "each imitated his teacher; Luke imitated Paul flowing along with more than river fullness; Mark imitated Peter who studied brevity" (Chrysostom). But more familiarity with Jewish feeling, and with the peculiarities of their schools, appears in this epistle than in Luke's writings. The Alexandrian phraseology does not prove Apollos' authorship (Alford's theory). The Alexandrian church would not have so undoubtingly asserted Paul's authorship if Apollos their own countryman had really been the author. Paul, from his education in Hebrew at Jerusalem, and in Hellenistic at Tarsus, was familiar with Philo's modes of thought. At Jerusalem there was an Alexandrian synagogue (Ac 6:9).
Paul knew well how to adapt himself to his readers; to the Greek Corinthians who idolized rhetoric his style is unadorned, that their attention might be fixed on the gospel alone; to the Hebrew who were in no such danger he writes to win them (1Co 9:20) in a style attractive to those imbued with Philo's Alexandrian conceptions and accustomed to the combination of Alexandrian Greek philosophy and ornament with Judaism. All the Old Testament quotations except two (Heb 10:30; 13:5) are from the Septuagint, which was framed at Alexandria. The interweaving of the Septuagint peculiarities into the argument proves that the Greek epistle is an original, not a translation. The Hebrew Old Testament would have been quoted, had the original epistle been Hebrew
Pauline authorship. - This is further favored by internal evidence. The superiority of Christianity to Judaism in that the reality exceeds the type is a favorite topic of Paul. Compare this epistle with 2Co 3:6-18; Ga 3:23-25; 4:1-9,21-31. Herein allegorical interpretation, which the Alexandrians strained unduly, is legitimately under divine guidance employed. The divine Son is represented as the image of God; compare Heb 1:3, etc., with Paul's undoubted epistles, Php 2:6; Col 1:15-20; His lowering Himself for man's sake (Heb 2:9) with 2Co 8:9; Php 2:7-8; His final exaltation (Heb 2:8; 10:13; 12:2) with 1Co 15:25-27; His "mediator" (unique to Paul) office (Heb 8:6) with Ga 3:19-20; His sacrifice for sin prefigured by the Jewish sacrifices (Hebrews 7-10) with Ro 3:22-26; 1Co 5:7. "God of peace" is a phrase unique to Paul (Heb 13:20 with Ro 15:33; 1Th 5:23).
So "distributed gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Heb 2:4) with (Greek) "divisions of gifts ... the same Spirit" (1Co 12:4); "righteousness by faith" (Heb 10:38; 11:7) with the same quotation (Hab 2:4); Ro 1:17; 4:22; 5:1; Ga 3:11; Php 3:9. "The word of God ... the sword of the Spirit" (Heb 4:12) with Eph 6:17. Inexperienced Christians are "children needing milk," i.e. elementary teaching; riper Christians, as full grown men, require strong meat (Heb 5:12-13; 6:1 with 1Co 3:1-2; 14:20; Ga 4:9; Eph 4:13). Believers have "boldness of access to God by Christ" (Heb 10:19 with Ro 5:2; Eph 2:18; 3:12). Afflictions are a fight (Heb 10:32 with Php 1:30; Col 2:1).
The Christian life is a race (Heb 12:1 with 1Co 9:24; Php 3:12-14). The Jewish ritual is a service (Heb 9:1-6 with Ro 9:4); a "bondage," as not freeing us from consciousness of sin and fear of death (Heb 2:15 with Ga 5:1). Paul's characteristic "going off at a word" into a long parenthesis, playing upon like sounding words, and repeating favorite words, quotations from the Old Testament linked by "and again" (Heb 1:5; 2:12-13, with Ro 15:9-12; 2:8 with 1Co 15:27; Eph 1:22; 6:24 with Ro 12:19).
Reception in the East before the West. - No Greek father ascribes the epistle to any but Paul, for it was to the Hebrew of Alexandria and Palestine it was mainly addressed; but in the western and Latin churches of N. Africa and Rome, which it did not reach for some time, it was long doubted owing to its anonymous form, not opening as other epistles though closing like them; its Jewish argument; and its less distinctively Pauline style. Insufficient evidence for it, not positive evidence against it, led these for the first three centuries not to accept it. The fall of Jerusalem previous to the full growth of Christianity in N. Africa curtailed: contact between its churches and those Jews to whom this epistle is undressed. The epistle was, owing to distance, little known to the Latin churches. Muratori's Canon does not notice it.
When in the fourth century at last they found it was received as Pauline and canonical (the Alexandrians only doubted its authorship, not its authority) on good grounds in the Greek churches, they universally accepted it. The churches of the East and Jerusalem their center, the quarter to which the epistle was first sent, received it as Paul's, according to Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (A.D. 349). Jerome, though bringing from Rome the Latin prejudice against this epistle, aggravated by its apparent sanction of the Novatian heresy (Heb 6:4-6), was constrained by the almost unanimous testimony of the Greek churches from the first to receive it as Paul's; after him Rome corrected its past error of rejecting it. Augustine too held its canonicity. What gives especial weight to the testimony for it of the Alexandrian church is, that church was founded by Mark, who was with Paul at Rome in his first confinement, when probably this epistle was written (Col 4:10), and possibly bore it to Jerusalem where his mother resided, visiting Colosse on the way, and from Jerusalem to Alexandria.
Peter also (2Pe 3:15-16), the apostle of the circumcision, in addressing the Hebrew Christians of the dispersion in the East, says, "as our beloved brother Paul ... hath written unto you," i.e. to the Hebrew. By adding "as also in all his epistles" he distinguishes the epistle to the Hebrew from the rest; and by classing it with the "other Scriptures" he asserts at once its Pauline authorship and divine inspiration. A generous testimony of Christian love to one who formerly rebuked him (Ga 2:7-14).
The apostle of the circumcisio
See Verses Found in Dictionary
they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds among all, as anyone might be in need.
There was not a needy person among them, for those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sale,
Some of those who belonged to the so-called synagogue of the Libyans, the Cyrenians, and the Alexandrians, as well as to that of the Cilicians and Asiatics, started a dispute with Stephen,
So the disciples put aside money, as each of them was able to afford it, for a contribution to be sent to the brothers in Judaea.
With a steady look at the Sanhedrin Paul said, "Brothers, I have lived with a perfectly good conscience before God down to the present day."
Hence I too endeavour to have a clear conscience before God and men all the time.
God's righteousness is revealed in it by faith and for faith ??as it is written, Now by faith shall the righteous live.
but anger and wrath to those who are wilful, who disobey the Truth and obey wickedness ??9 anguish and calamity for every human soul that perpetrates evil, for the Jew first and for the Greek as well,
but it is a righteousness of God which comes by believing in Jesus Christ. And it is meant for all who have faith. No distinctions are drawn. All have sinned, all come short of the glory of God, read more. but they are justified for nothing by his grace through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as the means of propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to demonstrate the justice of God in view of the fact that sins previously committed during the time of God's forbearance had been passed over; it was to demonstrate his justice at the present epoch, showing that God is just himself and that he justifies man on the score of faith in Jesus.
As we are justified by faith, then, let us enjoy the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have got access to this grace where we have our standing, and triumph in the hope of God's glory.
for they are Israelites, theirs is the Sonship, the Glory, the covenants, the divine legislation, the Worship, and the promises;
If the first handful of dough is consecrated, so is the rest of the lump; if the root is consecrated, so are the branches. Supposing some of the branches have been broken off, while you have been grafted in like a shoot of wild olive to share the rich growth of the olive-stem, read more. do not pride yourself at the expense of these branches. Remember, in your pride, the stem supports you, not you the stem. You will say, "But branches were broken off to let me be grafted in!" Granted. They were broken off ??for their lack of faith. And you owe your position to your faith. You should feel awed instead of being uplifted. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. Consider both the kindness and the severity of God; those who fall come under his severity, but you come under the divine kindness, provided you adhere to that kindness. Otherwise, you will be cut away too. And even the others will be grafted in, if they do not adhere to their unbelief; God can graft them in again. For if you have been cut from an olive which is naturally wild, and grafted, contrary to nature, upon a garden olive, how much more will the natural branches be grafted into their proper olive?
Let your love be a real thing, with a loathing for evil and a bent for what is good.
Never revenge yourselves, beloved, but let the Wrath of God have its way; for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will exact a requital ??the Lord has said it. No,
No, put on the character of the Lord Jesus Christ, and never think how to gratify the cravings of the flesh.
and also in order that the Gentiles should glorify God for His mercy ??as it is written, Therefore will I offer praise to Thee among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name; or again, Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his People; read more. or again, Extol the Lord, all Gentiles, let all the peoples praise him; or again, as Isaiah says, Then shall the Scion of Jessai live, he who rises to rule the Gentiles; on him shall the Gentiles set their hope.
For Macedonia and Achaia have decided to make a contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem.
The God of peace be with you all! Amen.
But I could not discuss things with you, my brothers, as spiritual persons; I had to address you as worldlings, as mere babes in Christ. I fed you with milk, not with solid food. You were not able for solid food, and you are not able even now;
To Jews I have become like a Jew, to win over Jews; to those under the Law I have become as one of themselves ??though I am not under the Law myself ??to win over those under the Law;
Do you not know that in a race, though all run, only one man gains the prize? Run so as to win the prize.
There are varieties of talents, but the same Spirit;
Brothers, do not be children in the sphere of intelligence; in evil be mere infants, but be mature in your intelligence.
For he must reign until all his foes are put under his feet. (Death is the last foe to be put down.) read more. For God has put everything under his feet. When it is said that everything has been put under him, plainly that excludes Him who put everything under him;
For God has put everything under his feet. When it is said that everything has been put under him, plainly that excludes Him who put everything under him;
I Paul write this salutation with my own hand. 'If any one has no love for the Lord, God's curse be on him! Maran atha! read more. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.
and he has further qualified me to be the minister of a new covenant ??a covenant not of written law but of spirit; for the written law kills but the Spirit makes alive. Now if the administration of death which was engraved in letters of stone, was invested with glory ??so much so, that the children of Israel could not gaze at the face of Moses on account of the dazzling glory that was fading from his face; read more. surely the administration of the Spirit must be invested with still greater glory. If there was glory in the administration that condemned, then the administration that acquits abounds far more in glory (indeed, in view of the transcendent glory, what was glorious has thus no glory at all); if what faded had its glory, then what lasts will be invested with far greater glory. Such being my hope then, I am quite frank and open ??13 not like Moses, who used to hang a veil over his face to keep the children of Israel from gazing at the last rays of a fading glory.
Besides, their minds were dulled, for to this very day, when the Old Testament is read aloud, the same veil hangs. Veiled from them the fact that the glory fades in Christ! Yes, down to this day, whenever Moses is read aloud, the veil rests on their heart; read more. though whenever they turn to the Lord, the veil is removed. (The Lord means the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is open freedom.) But we all mirror the glory of the Lord with face unveiled, and so we are being transformed into the same likeness as himself, passing from one glory to another ??for this comes of the Lord the Spirit.
(You know how gracious our Lord Jesus Christ was; rich though he was, he became poor for the sake of you, that by his poverty you might be rich.)
On the contrary, when they saw I had been entrusted with the gospel for the benefit of the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been for the circumcised (for He who equipped Peter to be an apostle of the circumcised equipped me as well for the uncircumcised), read more. and when they recognized the grace I had been given, then the so-called 'pillars' of the church, James and Cephas and John, gave myself and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. Our sphere was to be the Gentiles, theirs the circumcised. Only, we were to 'remember the poor.' I was quite eager to do that myself. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face. The man stood self-condemned. Before certain emissaries of James arrived, he ate along with the Gentile Christians; but when they arrived, he began to draw back and hold aloof, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. The rest of the Jewish Christians also played false along with him, so much so that even Barnabas was carried away by their false play. But I saw they were swerving from the true line of the gospel; so I said to Cephas in presence of them all, "If you live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, though you are a Jew yourself, why do you oblige the Gentiles to become Jews?" ??15 We may be Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners,'
And because no one is justified on the score of the Law before God (plainly, the just shall live by faith, ??12 and the Law is not based on faith: no, he who performs these things shall live by them),
Then what about the Law? Well, it was interpolated for the purpose of producing transgressions till such time as the Offspring arrived to whom the Promise was made; also, it was transmitted by means of angels through the agency of an intermediary (an intermediary implies more than one party, but God is one).
Before this faith came, we were confined by the Law and kept in custody, with the prospect of the faith that was to be revealed; the Law thus held us as wards in discipline, till such time as Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. read more. But faith has come, and we are wards no longer;
What I mean is this. As long as an heir is under age, there is no difference between him and a servant, though he is lord of all the property; he is under guardians and trustees till the time fixed by his father. read more. So with us. When we were under age, we lived under the thraldom of the Elemental spirits of the world; but when the time had fully expired, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to ransom those who were under the Law, that we might get our sonship. It is because you are sons that God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying 'Abba! Father!' So you are servant no longer but son, and as son you are also heir, all owing to God. In those days, when you were ignorant of God, you were in servitude to gods who are really no gods at all; but now that you know God ??or rather, are known by God ??how is it you are turning back again to the weakness and poverty of the Elemental spirits? Why do you want to be enslaved all over again by them?
but now that you know God ??or rather, are known by God ??how is it you are turning back again to the weakness and poverty of the Elemental spirits? Why do you want to be enslaved all over again by them?
Tell me, you who are keen to be under the Law, will you not listen to the Law? Surely it is written in the Law that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-woman and one by the free-woman; read more. but while the son of the slave-woman was born by the flesh, the son of the free-woman was born by the promise. Now this is an allegory. The women are two covenants. One comes from mount Sinai, bearing children for servitude; that is Hagar, for mount Sinai is away in Arabia. She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for the latter is in servitude with her children. But the Jerusalem on high is free, and she is 'our' mother. For it is written, Rejoice, O thou barren who bearest not, break into joy, thou who travailest not; for the children of the desolate woman are far more than of the married. Now you are the children of the Promise, brothers, like Isaac; but just as in the old days the son born by the flesh persecuted the son born by the Spirit, so it is still to-day. However, what does the scripture say? Put away the slave-woman and her son, for the son of the slave-woman shall not be heir along with the son of the free-woman. Hence we are children of no slave-woman, my brothers, but of the free-woman,
with the freedom for which Christ set us free. Make a firm stand then, do not slip into any yoke of servitude.
for it is through him that we both enjoy our access to the Father in one Spirit.
through whom, as we have faith in him, we enjoy our confidence of free access.
till we should all attain the unity of the faith and knowledge of God's Son, reaching maturity, reaching the full measure of development which belongs to the fulness of Christ ??14 instead of remaining immature, blown from our course and swayed by every passing wind of doctrine, by the adroitness of men who are dexterous in devising error;
put on salvation as your helmet, and take the Spirit as your sword (that is, the word of God),
Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.
by waging the same conflict that, as once you saw and now you hear, I wage myself.
Though he was divine by nature, he did not set store upon equality with God but emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant; born in human guise read more. and appearing in human form, he humbly stooped in his obedience even to die, and to die upon the cross.
I was circumcised on the eighth day after birth; I belonged to the race of Israel, to the tribe of Benjamin; I was the Hebrew son of Hebrew parents, a Pharisee as regards the Law,
and be found at death in him, possessing no legal righteousness of my own but the righteousness of faith in Christ, the divine righteousness that rests on faith.
Not that I have already attained this or am already perfect, but I press forward to appropriate it, because I have been appropriated myself by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I for one do not consider myself to have appropriated this; my one thought is, by forgetting what lies behind me and straining to what lies before me, read more. to press on to the goal for the prize of God's high call in Christ Jesus.
thanking the Father who has qualified us to share the lot of the saints in the Light,
He is the likeness of the unseen God, born first before all the creation ??16 for it was by him that all things were created both in heaven and on earth, both the seen and the unseen, including Thrones, angelic Lords, celestial Powers and Rulers; all things have been created by him and for him;
he is prior to all, and all coheres in him. Also, he is the head of the Body, that is, of the church, in virtue of his primacy as the first to be born from the dead ??that gives him pre-eminence over all. read more. For it was in him that the divine Fulness willed to settle without limit, and by him it willed to reconcile in his own person all on earth and in heaven alike, in a peace made by the blood of his cross.
Striving? Yes, I want you to understand my deep concern for you and for those at Laodicea, for all who have never seen my face.
Attend to your prayers, maintain your zest for prayer by thanksgiving;
Aristarchus my fellow-prisoner salutes you; so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, about whom you have got instructions (if he comes to you, give him a welcome);
This salutation is in my own hand, from Paul. 'Remember I am in prison. Grace be with you.'
The salutation is in my own hand, Paul's; that is a mark in every letter of mine. This is how I write. 'The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.'
He, reflecting God's bright glory and stamped with God's own character, sustains the universe with his word of power; when he had secured our purification from sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;
For to what angel did God ever say, 'Thou art my son, to-day have I become thy father'? Or again, 'I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me'?
while God corroborated their testimony with signs and wonders and a variety of miraculous powers, distributing the holy Spirit as it pleased him.
putting all things under his feet. Now by putting all things under him, the writer meant to leave nothing out of his control. But, as it is, we do not yet see all things controlled by man; what we do see is Jesus who was put lower than the angels for a little while to suffer death, and who has been crowned with glory and honour that by God's grace he might taste death for everyone.
saying, 'I will proclaim thy name to my brothers, in the midst of the church I will sing of thee,' and again, 'I will put my trust in him,' and again, 'Here am I and the children God has given me.'
and release from thraldom those who lay under a life-long fear of death.
He had to resemble his brothers in every respect, in order to prove a merciful and faithful high priest in things divine, to expiate the sins of the People.
There is a sabbath-Rest, then, reserved still for the People of God
For the Logos of God is a living thing, active and more cutting than any sword with double edge, penetrating to the very division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow ??scrutinizing the very thoughts and conceptions of the heart.
As we have a great high priest, then, who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession; for ours is no high priest who is incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every respect like ourselves, yet without sinning. read more. So let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in the hour of need.
Though by this time you should be teaching other people, you still need someone to teach you once more the rudimentary principles of the divine revelation. You are in need of milk, not of solid food. (For anyone who is fed on milk is unskilled in moral truth; he is a mere babe.
Let us pass on then to what is mature, leaving elementary Christian doctrine behind, instead of laying the foundation over again with repentance from dead works, with faith in God,
For in the case of people who have been once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly Gift, who participated in the holy Spirit, who tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the world to come, and then fell away ??6 it is impossible to make them repent afresh, since they crucify the Son of God in their own persons and hold him up to obloquy.
whereas, if it produces thorns and thistles, it is reprobate and on the verge of being cursed ??its fate is to be burned.
whereas, if it produces thorns and thistles, it is reprobate and on the verge of being cursed ??its fate is to be burned.
God is not unfair; he will not forget what you have done, or the love you have shown for his sake in ministering, as you still do, to the saints.
For Melchizedek, the king of Salem, a priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham on his return from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him ??2 who had a tenth part of everything assigned him by Abraham ??this Melchizedek is primarily a king of righteousness (that is the meaning of his name); then, besides that, king of Salem (which means, king of peace).
He has neither father nor mother nor genealogy, neither a beginning to his days nor an end of his life, but, resembling the Son of God, continues to be priest permanently. Now mark the dignity of this man. The patriarch Abraham paid him a tenth of the spoils. read more. Those sons of Levi who receive the priestly office are indeed ordered by law to tithe the people (that is, their brothers), although the latter are descended from Abraham; but he who had no Levitical genealogy actually tithed Abraham and blessed the possessor of the promises! (And there is no question that it is the inferior who is blessed by the superior.) Again, it is mortal men in the one case who receive tithes, while in the other it is one of whom the witness is that 'he lives.' In fact, we might almost say that even Levi the receiver of tithes paid tithes through Abraham; for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
Were he on earth, he would not be a priest at all, for there are priests already to offer the gifts prescribed by Law (men who serve a mere outline and shadow of the heavenly ??as Moses was instructed, when he was about to execute the building of the tabernacle: see, God said, that you make everything on the pattern shown you upon the mountain). read more. As it is, however, the divine service he has obtained is superior, owing to the fact that he mediates a superior covenant, enacted with superior promises.
By saying 'a new covenant,' he antiquates the first. And whatever is antiquated and aged is on the verge of vanishing.
The first covenant had indeed its regulations for worship, and a material sanctuary. A tent was set up, the outer tent, containing the lampstand, the table, and the loaves of the Presence; this is called the Holy place. read more. But behind the second veil was the tent called the Holy of Holies, containing the golden altar of incense, and also the ark of the covenant covered all over with gold, which held the golden pot of manna, the rod of Aaron that once blossomed, and the tablets of the covenant; above this were the cherubims of the Glory, overshadowing the mercy seat ??matters which it is impossible for me to discuss at present in detail. Such were the arrangements for worship. The priests constantly enter the first tent, in the discharge of their ritual duties,
Such were the arrangements for worship. The priests constantly enter the first tent, in the discharge of their ritual duties, but the second tent is entered only once a year by the high priest alone ??and it must not be without blood, which he presents on behalf of himself and the errors of the People.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on defiled persons, give them a holiness that bears on bodily purity, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who in the spirit of the eternal offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God? read more. He mediates a new covenant for this reason, that those who have been called may obtain the eternal inheritance they have been promised, now that a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions involved in the first covenant. Thus, in the case of a will, the death of the testator must be announced. A will only holds in cases of death; it is never valid so long as the testator is alive. Hence even the first covenant of God's will was not inaugurated apart from blood; for after Moses had announced every command in the Law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, together with water, scarlet wool and hyssop, sprinkling the book and all the people, and saying, This is the blood of that covenant which is God's command for you. He even sprinkled with blood the tent and all the utensils of worship in the same way. In fact, one might almost say that by Law everything is cleansed with blood. No blood shed, no remission of sins! Now, while the copies of the heavenly things had to be cleansed with sacrifices like these, the heavenly things themselves required nobler sacrifices. For Christ has not entered a holy place which human hands have made (a mere type of the reality!); he has entered heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, like the high priest entering the holy place every year with blood that was not his own: ??26 for in that case he would have had to suffer repeatedly, ever since the world was founded. Nay, once for all, at the end of the world, he has appeared with his self-sacrifice to abolish sin.
And just as it is appointed for men to die once and after that to be judged, so Christ, after being once sacrificed to bear the sins of many, will appear again, not to deal with sin but for the saving of those who look out for him.
For as the Law has a mere shadow of the bliss that is to be, instead of representing the reality of that bliss, it never can perfect those who draw near with the same annual sacrifices that are perpetually offered. Otherwise, they would surely have ceased to be offered; for the worshippers, once cleansed, would no longer be conscious of sins! read more. As it is, they are an annual reminder of sins (for the blood of bulls and goats cannot possibly remove sins!). Hence, on entering the world he says, Thou hast no desire for sacrifice or offering; it is a body thou hast prepared for me ??6 in holocausts and sin-offerings thou takest no delight.
So I said, 'Here I come ??in the roll of the book this is written of me ??I come to do thy will, O God.' He begins by saying, thou hast no desire for, thou takest no delight in, sacrifices and offerings and holocausts and sin-offerings (and these are what are offered in terms of the Law); read more. he then adds, Here I come to do thy will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And it is by this will that we are consecrated, because Jesus Christ once for all has offered up his body. Again, while every priest stands daily at his service, offering the same sacrifices repeatedly, sacrifices which never can take sins away ??12 He offered a single sacrifice for sins and then seated himself for all time at the right hand of God,
to wait until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.
to wait until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has made the sanctified perfect for all time. read more. Besides, we have the testimony of the holy Spirit; for after saying, This is the covenant I will make with them when that day comes, saith the Lord, I will set my laws upon their hearts, inscribing them upon their minds, he adds, And their sins and breaches of the law I will remember no more. Now where these are remitted, an offering for sin exists no longer. Brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy Presence in virtue of the blood of Jesus,
Brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy Presence in virtue of the blood of Jesus,
let us draw near with a true heart, in absolute assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from a bad conscience, and our bodies washed in pure water; let us hold the hope we avow without wavering (for we can rely on him who gave us the Promise);
We know who said, Vengeance is mine, I will exact a requital: and again, The Lord will pass sentence on his people.
Recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle of suffering,
for you did sympathize with the prisoners, and you took the confiscation of your own belongings cheerfully, conscious that elsewhere you had higher, you had lasting, possessions.
for you did sympathize with the prisoners, and you took the confiscation of your own belongings cheerfully, conscious that elsewhere you had higher, you had lasting, possessions.
For in a little, a very little now, The Coming One will arrive without delay. Meantime my just man shall live on by his faith; if he shrinks back, my soul takes no delight in him.
It was by faith that Noah, after being told by God what was still unseen, reverently constructed an ark to save his household; thus he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that follows faith.
Therefore, with all this host of witnesses encircling us, we must strip off every handicap, strip off sin with its clinging folds, to run our appointed course steadily, our eyes fixed upon Jesus as the pioneer and the perfection of faith ??upon Jesus who, in order to reach his own appointed joy, steadily endured the cross, thinking nothing of its shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
You have not come to what you can touch, to flames of fire, to mist and gloom and stormy blasts, to the blare of a trumpet and to a Voice whose words made those who heard it refuse to hear another syllable read more. (for they could not bear the command, If even a beast touches the mountain, it must be stoned) ??21 indeed, so awful was the sight that Moses said, I am terrified and aghast.
You have come to mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to myriads of angels in festal gathering, to the assembly of the first-born registered in heaven, to the God of all as judge, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
That phrase, once again, denotes the removal of what is shaken (as no more than created), to leave only what stands unshaken.
Remember prisoners, as if you were in prison yourselves; remember those who are being ill-treated, since you too are in the body.
Keep your life free from the love of money; be content with what you have, for He has said, Never will I fail you, never will I forsake you.
Keep your life free from the love of money; be content with what you have, for He has said, Never will I fail you, never will I forsake you.
Remember your leaders, the men who spoke the word of God to you; look back upon the close of their career, and copy their faith.
Remember your leaders, the men who spoke the word of God to you; look back upon the close of their career, and copy their faith.
Our altar is one of which the worshippers have no right to eat.
and so Jesus also suffered outside the gate, in order to sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us go to him outside the camp, then, bearing his obloquy read more. (for we have no lasting city here below, we seek the City to come).
Obey your leaders, submit to them; for they are alive to the interests of your souls, as men who will have to account for their trust. Let their work be a joy to them and not a grief ??which would be a loss to yourselves.
I urge you to this all the more, that I may get back to you the sooner. May the God of peace who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, with the blood of the eternal covenant,
I appeal to you, brothers, to bear with this appeal of mine. It is but a short letter. You must understand that [our] brother Timotheus is now free. If he comes soon, he and I will see you together. read more. Salute all your leaders and all the saints. The Italians salute you.
And consider that the longsuffering of our Lord means salvation; as indeed our beloved brother Paul has written to you out of the wisdom vouchsafed to him, speaking of this as he has done in all his letters ??letters containing some knotty points, which ignorant and unsteady souls twist (as they do the rest of the scriptures) to their own destruction.