Under One Condition!
the security of the believer
by Richard C. Abel
Wherefore,
holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High
Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses
was faithful in all his house. [Hebrews
3:1-2]
Here in
chapter three of the marvelous “Epistle to the Hebrews”, we find the
Jewish, Christian recipients of this Letter referred to as “holy brethren,
partakers of the heavenly calling”.
Only
through the Lord Jesus Christ can any group of people possibly be considered “holy
brethren”. Only through Jesus
Christ can a man be separated from this world and consecrated or set apart unto
God. Only through Jesus Christ can a
man be sanctified, cleansed and set free from the bonds of his sin. Only through Jesus Christ can men and women
be brought into the great family of God, joining the ranks of His children and
becoming brothers and sisters together with the Lord Jesus Himself. As holy brethren, we are indeed “partakers
of the heavenly calling”.
The
Children of Israel had an earthly calling. They were called out of Egypt in order that they might boldly
enter into the promised land of Canaan.
We who are Christians have a similar heavenly calling. We have been called to leave the bondage and
slavery of sin and to enter into the kingdom of God. This marvelous invitation comes to us exclusively by way of the
Cross of Jesus Christ. Only through His
shed blood can we become partakers of the heavenly calling of the redeemed.
The
writer to the Hebrews exhorts these Jewish Christians to “consider
the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus”. That word “consider” means to
behold, discover or to observe fully.
I believe these Jewish believers were being exhorted to take a good,
long, close, objective look at Jesus Christ who the writer refers to as “the
Apostle and High Priest of our profession”.
The
word “Apostle” means one who is sent . Just as the man Moses was sent by God into Egypt to
deliver His people from their bondage to Pharaoh, the Man Jesus Christ was sent
by God into this world to deliver man from his bondage to sin, death and the
devil. Not only is Jesus Christ the “Apostle...
of our profession” (i.e. confession or acknowledgement) He is the “High
Priest” of our confession as well.
The “profession” referred to here would seem to be the confession
of our Christian faith.
In the
days of the Exodus and Israel’s subsequent wanderings in the wilderness God
sent them an apostle named Moses and provided them with a high
priest named Aaron who was the brother of Moses. The man Jesus, fulfilled both of these
offices when he came into this world.
Within the pages of “Hebrews”, Jesus Christ is shown to be superior to
the angels, the spiritual mediators of the Law, and also superior to Moses the
human lawgiver.
... consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession,
Christ Jesus; who was faithful to him
that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. [Hebrews 3:1b-2]
Precious
few individuals from Israel’s past meant more to the Jews than did their great
God-given leader Moses. In comparing
Jesus to Moses the Apostle tells us that Jesus Christ was faithful to God in
the administration of the New Covenant of grace just as Moses was faithful to
God in the administration of the Old Covenant of the law.
We are
told “Moses was faithful in all his house”. The term “house” as it is used
here is obviously a shortened form of “house of Israel” which is occurs
146 times in the Bible. For example we
read:
For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day,
and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel,
throughout all their journeys. [Exodus
40:38]
So
then, to say that Moses was faithful in all his house was to say
that he was faithful to God in the ministry he had received of God, serving and
leading the nation of Israel. But now,
considering this man Jesus, we read:
For this man [i.e. Jesus] was counted worthy of more glory
than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the
house. [Hebrews 3:3]
Jesus
was counted worthy of more glory or greater honor than was the great patriarch
Moses because plain, old fashioned, common sense tells us that the builder of a
house is worthy of more honor than is the house in and of itself.
Here in
the state of Illinois, where we reside, we are privileged to have many houses
and other structures designed and built by famed architect Frank Lloyd
Wright. Wright was famous for a design
known as the “prairie style house”.
This basic design was the prototype for the simple “ranch style” homes
that became so popular fifty years ago or so.
What makes a Frank Lloyd Wright house so unique and celebrated is not
simply the house itself but the man Frank Lloyd Wright who envisioned, designed
and built it.
The “house
of Israel” did not become great because a specific group of people chose
God, but because God chose a specific group of people and decided to design a
build a house of them which He called “Israel”.
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the
LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above
all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you,
because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all
people: but because the LORD
loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your
fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out
of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. [Deuteronomy 7:6-8]
It is
God who built the “house of Israel” and He did so for His own pleasure,
purpose and glory.
For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses,
inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man;
but he that built all things is God.
[Hebrews 3:3-4]
Frank
Lloyd Wright may have built some extremely unique and beautiful houses but he
obtained his building materials from the Creator who built all things that are
in heaven and in earth. Wright may have
installed beautiful woodwork in his houses, but it was God who designed and
built the beautiful trees Wright acquired the wood from.
And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a
servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; but Christ as a son over his own house;
whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the
hope firm unto the end. [Hebrews 3:5-6]
Moses’
life and ministry was only a type or foreshadow of the greater ministry of
Jesus Christ which was to come. This is
what the Apostle meant when he stated that Moses was a testimony of those
things which were to be spoken after.
He goes on to say that Moses was a servant in the house of Israel but
that Jesus Christ was a Son over the house. As great a man as Moses was, he was still only a servant in God’s
house.
Christ,
on the other hand being the greater, was God’s Son over God’s house. The writer continues... “whose house are
we, IF we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of
the hope firm unto the end.” Once
again in this Letter, the warning is sounded concerning the dangers of personal
apostasy. Back in the opening verses of
chapter 2 we read:
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the
things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and
was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
[Hebrews 2:1-3]
In
chapter 2 we are warned of the dangers of “neglecting” the salvation which we
have in Christ Jesus. As the redeemed in Christ, Paul tells us in 1
Corinthians 6:19 that our bodies are the temples which house the Holy Spirit of
God. Now here in chapter 3 of our text,
we are warned of the possibility of having the Occupant who resides in the
house move out if we apostatize from the faith... “whose house are we, if
we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the
end.”
Hebrews was written
primarily to Jewish Christians who were undergoing persecution and discouragement. The writer endeavours to strengthen their
faith in Christ by carefully explaining the superiority and finality of God’s
revelation and redemption in Jesus Christ.
He shows that God’s redemptive provisions under the old covenant have
been fulfilled and made obsolete by the coming of Jesus and the establishment
of the new covenant through His atoning death.
The writer challenges his readers:
Ÿ
to hold fast their confession of Christ firm until the end,
Ÿ
to go on to spiritual maturity, and
Ÿ
not to turn back to condemnation by abandoning faith in Jesus Christ. 1
The
statement, “whose house are we, if we hold fast ... unto the end”, would be totally empty and meaningless if
salvation were not conditional to our abiding or remaining in the Christ
who saved us. The condition here is holding
fast to our Christian confession and the responsibility is clearly placed
on the believer... if we hold fast ... unto the end”.
In
verse 6 we find that which is really a mild exhortation leading up to a much
stronger warning which the Apostle sounds in the verses which follow.
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear
his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of
temptation in the wilderness: when
your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that
generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known
my ways. So I sware in my
wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. [Hebrews 3:7-12]
To
paraphrase, “Wherefore (since it is indeed possible to apostatize from the one
true faith) you had better heed the warning given by the Holy Ghost many years
ago!” Again, calling on the Scriptures,
the writer to the Hebrews quotes Psalm 95:7-11 as it was penned by King David
under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
As the basis of his warning, he parallels Israel’s past error with the
ever present possibility of making the same grave mistake.
... To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the
provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your fathers tempted me, proved me, and
saw my work. Forty years long was I
grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their
heart, and they have not known my ways:
unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my
rest. [Psalm 95:7b-11]
“Today”...
the thought here is definitely don’t hesitate, don’t put it off... tomorrow may
be too late, for tomorrow may never come!
Here human volition or will comes into play. “IF” you will hear the voice of the Holy Ghost speaking to
you... Man can choose to either hear or
turn a deaf ear to the voice of God.
The big problem with mankind is not so much his not being able to find
out what God has said. The big problem
is that, for the most part, mankind does not want (or is not willing) to hear what
God has said.
It is
interesting to note that in His “Seven Letters to the Seven Churches” found
recorded in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 the Lord says in each of the Letters,
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the
churches.”
It is
clear that the Spirit is saying to the Church... “Harden not your hearts,
as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: when your
fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation,
and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So
I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.”
Time
and time again after the children of Israel had been delivered from their
bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt, God’s “chosen people” became faint-hearted and
discouraged. They fell into unbelief
and more than once begged Moses to take them back to Egypt, the land of their
bondage.
And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting:
and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh
to eat? We remember the
fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the
leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: but now our soul is dried away: there is
nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes. [Numbers 11:4-6]
And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red
sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much
discouraged because of the way. And
the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us
up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is
there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. [Numbers 21:4-5]
What a
sad commentary. Nevertheless, God’s
people have always been tempted to turn back to their former way of life when
the going got tough. This was the case
with the Jewish Christians who received The Letter to the Hebrews and it
is often the case still today.
To think
that we have no choice in the matter, and that once we are saved we no longer
have a free will to turn back is, in my estimation, pie-in-the-sky
theology. And in God’s Book it’s a
pretty hard case to prove. Why would
the Apostle exhort his readers so strongly if personal apostasy was not
possible? Does God strip a man of his
“free will” when he is born again? No,
in no way!
Does
this then mean that God in no way works within the heart of the believer to
help keep his feet on the strait and narrow way? By no means! I believe
that the keeping power of God is also very much a reality found in the
Scriptures. Nevertheless, God’s keeping
power in the lives of His children in no way nullifies the reality of man’s
responsibility to keep himself in Christ.
Both are Scriptural... both are true.
In his 2nd Letter to Timothy Paul wrote:
For the which cause I also suffer these things:
nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am
persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him
against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words,
which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed
unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. [2 Timothy 1:12-14]
The
perseverance of the saints (the security of the believer) is not dependent
solely on what man does, nor is it solely dependent on what God does. It is not either/or, it is both. If I daily commit my life to Christ, He will
keep me by the power of the Holy Ghost who indwells me. To believe otherwise is to open the door to
personal apathy toward the things of God.
And personal apathy left unchecked may well lead to personal apostasy.
I
believe with all certainty that the Bible teaches a conditional security for
believers and that personal apostasy is indeed possible. But, be that as it may, we who are true
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are to be living our lives in the joy of our
Lord. We are not told to live our
lives looking for the Anti-Christ but looking for the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Likewise,
I believe that we ought not live from day to day in fear of falling away from
the faith but joyously living for Jesus, firmly expecting to press on
faithfully ‘till the end. His power is
great and His grace indeed is amazing.
Having
done all to stand, may we all be able to one day declare together with Apostle
Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept
the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his appearing.” [2 Timothy 4:7-8]
- End Notes -
1.
Stamps, Donald. Full Life Study Bible. Zondervan, 1992. p.1939
[All Scripture references are from the
King James Version of the Bible]
____________________________
Richard
C. Abel is an ordained minister of A.B.P., and serves as Vice President of the
Alliance. He resides with his wife Janet
in New Windsor, Illinois, and pastors Landmark Christian Fellowship an
A.B.P. affiliated church.