The author’s aim in this passage is to remind his readers of just how privileged they are. They needed this because the difficulties of living the Christian life was taking its toll on them, and returning to their former life of Judaism was sounding appealing. ...
The author has pleaded with his audience not to “grow weary or fainthearted” at God’s discipline, but to endure it, knowing it proves they are his children and that he does it “for our good, that we may share his holiness.” (Hebrews 12: 3, 7, 10) The need for endurance and holiness converge again here in this brief encouragement and warning. ...
It’s easy to begin something. Finishing something, however, is hard. That’s because finishing what we begin requires us to endure the setbacks we face along the way. ...
Forty years before the walls of Jericho fell, God had brought the nation of Israel to the brink of the land of Canaan. Most of the spies who scouted out the land had returned in despair, saying the land’s inhabitants were too strong for them (Numbers 13:25-14:4). In response, the people refused to enter, and God in turn punished them by causing them to live in the wilderness for forty years (Numbers 14:34). ...
The recipients of Hebrews would have thought highly of Moses. So the author devotes several verses to showing them that the difficult road of faith they were tempted to turn off was the same road their hero walked. ...
Faith is “the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Sometimes, what is “not seen” is how God is working in our present circumstances. Other times, what’s unseen is future realities. ...
Abraham’s faith was demonstrated in his obedience to leave everything behind and follow God to a land yet to be revealed: “he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8; Genesis 12:1). ...
You can’t have a discussion on faith without mentioning Abraham, a man known specifically for his faith. Because of this reputation, the author devotes several more verses to him and his family than he did to Abel, Enoch, or Noah. ...
Noah is the third and final example of the author’s point that walking by faith is something God’s people have been doing before even Abraham, the man of faith. And again, Hebrews 10:38 (quoting Habakkuk 2:3-4) is prominent in the author’s mind: “my righteous one shall live by faith”. Anyone “righteous” or pleasing to God (v 6) are, by definition, people of faith. And this includes Noah. ...
The author now mentions a second pre-Abraham example of faith, Enoch, whose story is told in Genesis 5:21-24. We’re not told much, but after Enoch’s son Methusaleh was born, he “walked with God” (Genesis 5:22). The last thing we’re told about him is that he “walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24) That is, this man who walked with God never experienced death. ...
In Hebrews 11:4, the author begins his journey through the Old Testament’s many examples of faith in action. And in verses 4-7 he shows that walking by faith is something God’s people have done even before Abraham’s time. ...
Hebrews was written to believers whose enthusiasm for the gospel was being worn down (10:32-34). Following Jesus was costly, and the idea of giving it all up and returning to their former life of Judaism was starting to look appealing. ...
This section concludes the author’s discussion of Jesus as our high priest (7:1-10:18). In closing, he again emphatically contrasts the New and Old Covenants. ...
Under the Old Covenant, God’s people stood to gain an earthly inheritance. If they obeyed the laws given to them at Sinai, God would give them a peaceful life in Canaan with more than enough to live on (Leviticus 26:1-13). ...
In Hebrews 8, the author showed that Jesus is the High Priest of a new and superior covenant God made with his people. His superiority to the Levitical priests is demonstrated by the fact that he serves in “the true tent” (8:1) that the Old Testament tabernacle was merely “a copy and shadow of” (8:5). ...
Some commentators consider Hebrews to be more like a sermon than a letter. If we think of it that way, Hebrews 8:1-2 is where the preacher says something like, “Here’s the main point I want you to get, so listen…” ...
The author has discussed his readers’ immaturity (5:11-14) and offered a prescription for growing out of it (6:1-3). In the verses that follow, he paints a sobering picture of what happens when that medicine isn’t taken....
In Hebrews 5:1-10, the author briefly introduced Melchizedek (5:6, 10). He still has “much to say” (v 11) about Melchizedek and Jesus’ high priesthood which he’ll get to in chapters 7-10. But first he shifts gears to address his readers’ immaturity (5:11-6:3), to warn them against falling away (6:4-8), and to call them to endure in their faith (6:9-20)....
In the Old Testament, there were two primary qualifications for a high priest. First, he needed to be from among the people he represented (v 1). As one of them, he could represent them. And by sharing the nature and weaknesses of his people (and by having his own sins to atone for) the high priest could deal gently with the people’s sins (vv 2-3). In other words, while taking sin seriously, he could show patience, not indignation, toward sinners....
In Hebrews 4:12-13, the author said that we are completely laid bare before our Father in heaven and known for exactly who we are ...
Psalm 95 is the basis for Hebrews 4:1-11, and this gives the thrust for what the author asserts in Hebrews 4:12-13. As pointed out in 4:7, the focus is on “Today”. If you hear the Word of the Lord, do not be indifferent to it and fail to enter God’s rest. Using the Israelites’ disobedience as an example, the author says, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” (4:11) This warning and encouragement to persevere has been a recurring theme in Hebrews....
Because of their “disobedience” (4:11) and “unbelief” (3:19), the first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt were forbidden from entering the land of Canaan - God’s “rest” (3:11). But the next generation, led by Joshua, did enter it. ...
In Hebrews 3:1-6, the author compared Moses and Jesus. Now he compares the people each of them led. He shows that Christians living in these “last days” (1:2) are in a similar spot that the Israelites were in the wilderness - free from slavery but not yet home....
In Hebrews 2:17, Jesus was referred to as a “faithful high priest”. Now the author reflects on Jesus’ faithfulness by comparing him to an Old Testament model of faithfulness: Moses....
Regarding angels, the author has so far argued that the Son is superior to angels (1:5-14) and thus deserving of our full attention and obedience (2:1-4). In 2:5-9 he focused on the Son becoming human to restore humanity’s rule over the earth. Now he meditates on why the Son had to be truly human....
When God created people, he created them in his image to rule over the whole earth (Genesis 1:26-28). In Psalm 8, David reflects on humanity in its pre-fallen state. Looking at the stars in the sky, he marvels that the God who created such a vast universe should pay attention and give such great honor to humans. ...
Everything the author has been saying about the Son’s superiority to angels has been building to 2:1 ...
Angels were highly revered by the Jewish people. God had often used angels in the Old Testament to give his people guidance (Genesis 19:17), protection (Psalm 91:11), deliverance (Isaiah 37:35-37), and even judgment for their sin (2 Samuel 24:16-17). As one author writes: “When an angel spoke, people listened.”...
When life gets hard, what do you turn to for comfort? And where do you go for relief when the Christian life in particular becomes difficult? Do you persevere in your walk with Jesus despite the hardship? Or do you return to the comfortable habits and patterns of life that marked your life before becoming a Christian? These were the kind of questions facing the original recipients of Hebrews....
Genesis 23:1-25:18 wraps up the life of Abraham by focusing in the land, offspring, and blessing God had promised him. In Genesis 23, Abraham became the legal owner of a small plot of the promised land when he purchased a cave in which to bury Sarah. In Genesis 24, the focus shifts to the promise of offspring....
Having waited decades for the promised child to arrive, Abraham was tested by God to see if he valued God above all other things, even his beloved son. In the climax of the whole Abraham story, he proved that he did by being willing to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice (see Genesis 22)....
In between God’s initial promise to Abraham of offspring and Isaac’s actual birth were years of waiting as well as numerous trials. But the greatest test to Abraham’s faith in God’s promise wouldn’t come until after Isaac came on the scene. ...
In Genesis 20, Abraham again tried the “Sarah is my sister” ruse out of fear for his life (see Genesis 12:10-20). This time, he tried it with Abimelech, king of Gerar. God intervened to assure that Abimelech didn’t touch Sarah, and for the entire time she was in his palace, the women of Gerar couldn’t get pregnant. After the truth came out, Abimelech returned Sarah to Abraham, who in turn prayed for the barren women of Gerar to become pregnant. This begs the question: God can do this for Gerar’s women; when will he do it for Sarah?...
In Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that he would give him offspring and make him into a great nation. Since then, many obstacles have threatened to stand in the way of that promise. Some were circumstantial, such as Sarah’s barrenness (11:30) and eventually her age (18:11). Others were moral, like the incidents in Egypt (12:10-20) and the one with Hagar (16:1-16). On the eve of Isaac’s birth, another moral failure from Abraham threatens the fulfillment of God’s promise....
In Genesis 18:1-15, Abraham was met by three visitors: God himself and two angels. After being treated to Abraham’s remarkable hospitality, God told him that his promise to give him and Sarah a son would be fulfilled in a year. In response to Sarah’s skeptical laughter, God reminds her that because he is God, nothing is impossible for him....
In Genesis 17, God gave Abram several new details regarding the covenant he had made with him in chapter 15. First, Abram was to be the father of not just one nation but many, so God changed his name to “Abraham” which means “father of a multitude”. Additionally, kings would come from him, this covenant would be an everlasting one that included his descendants, and most importantly, God would be their God in a personal way. God also made it explicitly clear that Abraham’s promised child would be born to his wife Sarah....
God’s plan for Abram has been slowly revealed in stages. First, Abram was promised that he would become a great nation and that his descendants would occupy the land of Canaan (12:1-9). Later, God clarified that this nation would come from Abram’s biological son, not an adopted heir, and he made a covenant with Abram to fulfill his promise (15:1-21). In Genesis 17, God provides a treasure trove of new details about the covenant he’s made with Abram....
After his military victory against Chedorlaomer’s armies, Abram was met by two kings: Melchizedek, the king of Salem, and the unnamed king of Sodom. While Melchizedek celebrated Abram’s victory and blessed him, the king of Sodom offered him a business transaction: “Give me the persons, but take the goods for yourself.” (Genesis 14:21) Not wanting to be indebted to the king of Sodom, Abram refused to be rewarded by him. ...
After failing to trust God to provide for him in famine and a disastrous trip to Egypt, Abraham returns to the land of promise and worships God again. Back in Canaan, he now faces a new test....
INTRODUCTION In obedience to God’s costly call, Abraham left his family and homeland to go to a new land that God would show him. Upon arrival, God promised to give this land to Abraham’s offspring. In response, Abraham worshipped God....
After the flood, God told Noah and his descendants to “the fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1). Instead, they proudly settled in one place and attempted to build the tower of Babel (11:1-9). In judgment, God confused their language, causing them to separate from one another and form the nations of the earth (Gen. 10). Following the account of Babel is a genealogy (11:10-32) that brings us to Abraham, the man God will use to bless the nations he has scattered....
In the study guide below, you'll be able to follow along with us as we look at the tenets of the Reformation and how they impact us today....
In this final section of the Sermon on the Mount so far, Jesus has used a series of contrasts to demand a response from his audience. They are to choose the narrow road as opposed to the wide road (7:13-14), listen to true teachers as opposed to false ones (7:15-20), and to do God’s will over and against merely professing to love him (7:21-23). Jesus turns to one more contrast to conclude his sermon....
Every good sermon closes with a call to action. Having established what life in the Kingdom of Heaven is to look like (Matthew 5:17-7:12), Jesus now invites us to choose whether we will follow the path he has laid out in this Sermon or the way of the world. ...
After instructing his followers not to judge others, Jesus begins to close out the main body of the Sermon on the Mount with an appeal for his followers to regularly approach their heavenly father in prayer....
As Jesus begins to wind down his sermon, he returns to the theme of hypocrisy that dominated 6:1-18. In this case, he deals with hypocrisy in the way that believers address sin in each other’s lives....
In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus addressed our values, the things we treasure. This leads quite naturally to the subject of anxiety, for if our heart is where our treasure is (v. 21), and if our treasure is something on earth that can be lost, then our hearts will always be restless with worry that our treasure might be taken from us....
A major theme in the Sermon on the Mount is how different Jesus’ followers are to be from the rest of the world and what role our distinctiveness plays in God’s mission. In 6:1-18, Jesus illustrated the Christian’s distinctiveness in terms of his devotional life. Now he addresses our perspective and values. As citizens of the kingdom, the things we value (vv. 19-24) and the things we worry about (vv. 25-34) will be unmistakably different from the things the rest of the world values and worries about....
Jesus spent much of Matthew 5 illustrating the principle he stated back in 5:20: that his followers’ righteousness should be an inner one that delights to obey God’s commandments. This theme of inner righteousness carries over into this next section (Matthew 6:1-18) where Jesus contrasts hypocritical and authentic faith. In 6:1, he states a principle and illustrates it in the areas of giving (vv. 2-4), prayer (vv. 5-15), and fasting (vv. 16-18)....
In his discussion on prayer so far, Jesus has critiqued two methods. In contrast to the Pharisees, Christian prayer should be sincere rather than hypocritical. In contrast to the pagans with their multitude of gods, Christian prayer should be purposeful and direct, knowing full well that we are addressing our Father. To drive home his point, Jesus now gives his listeners a model prayer....
In Matthew 5:20, Jesus said that his followers’ righteousness should exceed that of the Pharisees who were considered by many to be the pinnacle of godliness. For the rest of the chapter, he illustrates the kind of righteousness he’s calling for by contrasting the true meaning of various Old Testament laws with how they were being misapplied by the Pharisees. In these final two examples, Jesus addresses retaliation and how we are to treat our enemies....
The Pharisees thought they had discovered loopholes in several laws of the Old Testament. They won’t murder, but they’ll hate. They won’t commit adultery, but they’ll lust. In this section, Jesus calls them out on their attempts to justify adultery and lying....
To many in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees were the pinnacle of righteousness. It was shocking then to hear Jesus tell his followers that they must have a greater righteousness than them. The Pharisees’ problem though was that their righteousness was often only outward, whereas Jesus’ followers were called to inward righteousness as well. The remainder of chapter 5 (vv. 21-48) is comprised of six examples of this greater righteousness that Jesus called for in verse 20....
Matthew 5:21-48 is made up of six examples of the “greater righteous” that Jesus calls his followers to; a righteousness that is not just external but internal. In this second example, Jesus unpacks the deeper implications of the Old Testament prohibition against adultery....
In the Beatitudes (Matt. 5:1-12), Jesus described the characteristics of the Kingdom of Heaven’s citizens. Shockingly, the kind of people God values in his Kingdom are quite different than the kind of people the world values. Jesus now turns to address the role that his followers are to play in a world that deems their lifestyle undesirable and perhaps even dangerous....
Jesus has taught his disciples and the crowds who it is that belongs in the kingdom of Heaven (vv. 3-12) and what their role in this world looks like (vv. 13-16). But what role does the law play in the lives of those Jesus has been calling “blessed”? Jesus now turns to address how the Old Testament fits in with what he has been saying....
In the Old Testament, God told Abraham that he would bless all the nations of the world. As his descendants grew into the nation of Israel, God made it clear that they would bless the nations by modeling God’s character for them, and to do this, they needed to be holy, or “set apart” from them. But instead of being different from the kingdoms around them, Israel constantly sought to be like them and diminished their witness in the world. When Jesus came on the scene preaching about the kingdom of heaven, he gave this sermon which describes the lifestyle and expectations for those who follow him, the True King....
Curriculum for our new eight-week series: "Genesis: In the Beginning"...
Having addressed the major issues and questions of the Corinthian church, Paul brings his letter to a close with instructions regarding the collection for the Jerusalem church, his own travel plans, and personal greetings....
In the first eleven verses of 1 Corinthians 15, Paul emphatically stressed the historical reality behind Jesus’ resurrection as well as the central place it holds in the gospel message itself, a message which is “of first importance”. It is crucial for the Corinthians to understand how important the resurrection is, and Paul will now explain why....
Before closing out his letter, Paul devotes an impressive fifty-eight verses to the topic of the resurrection, and it’s not until verse 12 that we learn why: some in the church were saying that “there is no resurrection of the dead”. Paul spends the first eleven verses highlighting how crucial Jesus’ resurrection is to the gospel itself and how well-attested it is....
The importance of some spiritual gifts were being exaggerated in Corinth while others were minimized. Those with more “impressive” gifts saw their gifts as proof of their spiritual superiority and as a means of serving themselves rather than others. So far in this section, Paul has reminded the church that God has given them numerous indispensable gifts (ch. 12), and that if these gifts aren’t used in love, they’re worthless (ch. 13). In the final chapter of this section, we get a glimpse into what was happening at Corinth....
Many in the church at Corinth were exaggerating the importance of certain spiritual gifts such as tongues, prophecy, and knowledge, and the church was fracturing because of this. Those with these gifts deemed themselves more important than those who didn’t, and those who didn’t were tempted to feel useless and unimportant in the church. In chapter 12, Paul reminded them that God has given the church numerous gifts, and that all of them have a necessary role in building up the body of Christ. In chapter 13, he highlights the way in which our gifts are to be used....
The Corinthians found no shortage of things to be divided over. There was Team Paul vs. Team Apollos (1:12), weak Christians vs. strong Christian (chs. 8-10), and wealthy Corinthians vs. poor Corinthians (11:17-34). In chapters 12-14 we’re introduced to yet another point of division: spiritual gifts. Instead of appreciating the many ways God gifted his people, many in the church were over-emphasizing some gifts in particular and looking down on those who did not have them....
So far, Paul has written to the Corinthians about divisions (1:10-4:21), sexual immorality (chs. 5-7), and Christian freedom (chs. 8-10). In this next section of his letter (chs. 11-14), he turns to address how the Corinthians should conduct themselves in the context of public worship, beginning with their conduct regarding head coverings and the Lord’s Supper....
Paul has used the controversial issue of eating in pagan temples to teach on Christian freedom and love. In chapter 8, he argued that Christ-like love forbids us to do anything, however lawful, if it will harm other believers. We ought to be more concerned with building each other up than asserting our “rights”. In chapter 9, he pointed to himself as an example of this principle. Paul will become all things to all people to see the gospel go out. He now brings this discussion to a close by looking back on Old Testament Israel and unpacking their example for Christians today....
Paul began this section of his letter (8:1-11:1) by addressing foods sacrificed to idols and emphasized the priority of sacrificing one’s rights for the good of the “weaker” brother who could not eat those foods with a clear conscience. Love for others, he said, should take precedent over our “rights”. Paul now turns to show how he has modeled this in his own life and ministry....
In chapters 5-7, Paul addressed issues relating to sexuality. In addition to being sexually promiscuous, Corinth was also steeped in idol-worship, and Paul now turns in this section to address how to live faithfully in such a culture (8:1-11:1). Specifically, he addresses the matter of eating food that’s been sacrificed to idols. In doing so, he addresses the more foundational issues of Christian freedom and the importance of love....
First-century Corinth was well-known for its sexual immorality, so it was no surprise that Paul had to address reports of it within the church (1 Cor. 5-6). Others in the church, however, perhaps as an over-reaction to Corinth’s blatant immorality, promoted an ascetic lifestyle which looked down on sex, even within marriage. Paul now turns to address this group in the church....
In 1 Corinthians 5:1-13, Paul rebuked the church for its failure to deal seriously with the sin of the of sexually immoral man in their midst. He concluded by saying that churches are responsible to pass judgment among themselves. In 6:1-11, Paul expands on this topic and rebukes them for “outsourcing” judgment to unbelieving courts. ...
Paul has been emphatic that the gospel stands opposed to worldly thinking or “wisdom” (1:18-25). The cross, which demands a humble confession of our own helplessness, is at odds with and offensive to the Greek understanding of wisdom and power. As evidence of this, Paul pointed out that the church was predominantly made up of Corinth’s poor and unlearned (1:26-31), and the he himself was not an impressive preacher (2:1-5)....
Though Paul has already addressed sexual immorality in chapter 5, his main emphasis there was not so much on the sin itself but how the church should respond to the man sleeping with his stepmother. In this section, Paul addresses sexual immorality more broadly, urging the church to flee from it and to glorify God with their bodies....
First Corinthians is Paul’s response both to reports he had heard about the church and to questions the church itself had sent him. Having addressed the report of divisions (1:10-4:21), he now turns to address reports of immorality within the church (5:1-6:20)....
After failing to trust God to provide for him in famine and a disastrous trip to Egypt, Abraham returns to the land of promise and worships God again. Back in Canaan, he now faces a new test....
Keep ReadingINTRODUCTION In obedience to God’s costly call, Abraham left his family and homeland to go to a new land that God would show him. Upon arrival, God promised to give this land to Abraham’s offspring. In response, Abraham worshipped God....
Keep ReadingAfter the flood, God told Noah and his descendants to “the fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1). Instead, they proudly settled in one place and attempted to build the tower of Babel (11:1-9). In judgment, God confused their language, causing them to separate from one another and form the nations of the earth (Gen. 10). Following the account of Babel is a genealogy (11:10-32) tha...
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