Hebrews 4:14-16
Notice carefully the progression to this verse. In the first part of this chapter, the author urges us to remain true to our faith. In verse 13, he says that God sees all things done in public and private, and that He will judge us for those things.
In verse 14, therefore, he urges us again to stay true to our faith--since we have a high priest--and in verse 16 to approach God with confidence for the help we need.
It's the 'since' that's important here, isn't it? The entire statement leans on the since; if there were no since in the sentence, the rest of the sentence wouldn't be possible. The end of the chapter would read: "Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account. Sucks to be us!"
But the fact of the matter is, the sentence does have a 'since' and (therefore) it does not suck to be us. Our since is none other than Jesus Christ, Who came down to relieve us of our sins by experiencing them and overcoming them.
And since he became our high priest, we can approach the throne of God with confidence.
What's the role of a high priest?
You may have heard sermons about this chapter before where the preacher exhorted you to be good so that you might enter the sabbath-rest of God. Maybe you've noticed that I haven't talked about that much this chapter. Maybe you think I'm a flaming liberal...
The fact is, this chapter is not about being good. When the author talks about unrighteousness in this chapter, he is not talking about doing bad things.
Is that strange?
When the author talks about unrighteousness in this chapter, he's talking about refusing to believe in God, even after you've heard His word and received His message. Go back to the chapter if you don't believe me. The righteousness the author talks about in this chapter is not the kind of righteousness we can achieve; this righteousness can only be given.
This is a very important point, and it'll come up again by Hebrews 11. The righteousness here is a righteousness that comes from faith in the righteous One, not a righteousness from being obedient.
I make this point because we get to the heart of the matter in verse 14. What does a high priest do? A high priest is one that interceeds with God for people that cannot approach God themselves. The high priest offers sacrifices for the sins of others, prays for others, and asks God to forgive or to bless others.
This is the role Jesus took when He arose from the dead. Jesus made a sacrifice for our sins and continually asks God to forgive us and to bless us for His name's sake.
Since Jesus stands in this role for us, we don't have to give an account for the sins we've committed against God. Jesus already took care of that, in exactly the same way the high priest in Israel used to take care of the sins of Israel on the Day of Atonement: with a sacrifice of blood.
And, since we don't have to account for our sins, we can go to God and ask Him for grace and for mercy. Not only that, but we can be confident that God will hear us and answer our petitions.
Our job is not to make ourselves better Christians. The spirit will accomplish that. Our job is to believe. When we believe in God and in the love He has for us and the sacrifice He's made for us, God will change our hearts if we let Him, making us into better Christians, better people. We will not be perfect. We will be made holy.
In verse 14, therefore, he urges us again to stay true to our faith--since we have a high priest--and in verse 16 to approach God with confidence for the help we need.
It's the 'since' that's important here, isn't it? The entire statement leans on the since; if there were no since in the sentence, the rest of the sentence wouldn't be possible. The end of the chapter would read: "Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account. Sucks to be us!"
But the fact of the matter is, the sentence does have a 'since' and (therefore) it does not suck to be us. Our since is none other than Jesus Christ, Who came down to relieve us of our sins by experiencing them and overcoming them.
And since he became our high priest, we can approach the throne of God with confidence.
What's the role of a high priest?
You may have heard sermons about this chapter before where the preacher exhorted you to be good so that you might enter the sabbath-rest of God. Maybe you've noticed that I haven't talked about that much this chapter. Maybe you think I'm a flaming liberal...
The fact is, this chapter is not about being good. When the author talks about unrighteousness in this chapter, he is not talking about doing bad things.
Is that strange?
When the author talks about unrighteousness in this chapter, he's talking about refusing to believe in God, even after you've heard His word and received His message. Go back to the chapter if you don't believe me. The righteousness the author talks about in this chapter is not the kind of righteousness we can achieve; this righteousness can only be given.
This is a very important point, and it'll come up again by Hebrews 11. The righteousness here is a righteousness that comes from faith in the righteous One, not a righteousness from being obedient.
I make this point because we get to the heart of the matter in verse 14. What does a high priest do? A high priest is one that interceeds with God for people that cannot approach God themselves. The high priest offers sacrifices for the sins of others, prays for others, and asks God to forgive or to bless others.
This is the role Jesus took when He arose from the dead. Jesus made a sacrifice for our sins and continually asks God to forgive us and to bless us for His name's sake.
Since Jesus stands in this role for us, we don't have to give an account for the sins we've committed against God. Jesus already took care of that, in exactly the same way the high priest in Israel used to take care of the sins of Israel on the Day of Atonement: with a sacrifice of blood.
And, since we don't have to account for our sins, we can go to God and ask Him for grace and for mercy. Not only that, but we can be confident that God will hear us and answer our petitions.
Our job is not to make ourselves better Christians. The spirit will accomplish that. Our job is to believe. When we believe in God and in the love He has for us and the sacrifice He's made for us, God will change our hearts if we let Him, making us into better Christians, better people. We will not be perfect. We will be made holy.
posted by ionathas78 at 11:43 AM
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