HEBREWS, JAMES, FAiTH, and MATURiTY

Both the writer of Hebrews and James talk about faith in a very distinct way from Paul. For the writer of Hebrews, faith is that which must be maintained for the people to have vital and true endurance, especially in the face of religious and political pressure. The 18 instances of "by faith" in Hebrews 11 are historic examples for the people to be encouraged by [Heb 12.1-2].

James sees faith in a similar light. James shows that sincere and persevering faith will manifest itself. That's how it happened with Abraham. He believed in Gen 15 and then "proved" his belief in Gen 22. James says that faith "produces" endurance [1.2-4]. This verb for "produces" comes from the same Greek root as the noun for "works" in Js 2.14-26. The same is true for the "effectual" doers of Js 1.25.

But what is the purpose of the lasting faith of Hebrews and the working faith of James? Why do the biblical writers exhort their audiences to these ends?

The purpose of these differing emphases on faith is Christian maturity, fulfilling how God desires for you to live. This is seen in that the same root is used in Heb 5.9, 5.14, 6.1, 7.11, 7.19, 7.25, 7.28, 9.9, 9.11, 9.26, 10.1, 10.14, 11.40, 12.2, 12.23 and in Js 1.4, 1.4, 1.15, 2.22, 3.2, 5.11.

For the Hebrews, they shouldn't have been drifting away [2.1-4]; they had need of endurance [10.36]. For the scattered 12 tribes, their faith needed to work with works for this maturity [2.22].

For us, we are liars if any one of us thinks we are outside these two needs: persevering maturity and/or evidential maturity. Lord, thank you for the grace in Hebrews [13.25] and James [4.6].

HEB 13.9-14 [go outside the camp]

Please go HERE and listen/watch Monday evening's message by David Platt. It is one of the most powerful and convicting things I've heard in a while. Be blessed.

Hebrews 9.27

I got off of work early the other day. When I got home, our good friend Oprah was on in the background. Sara was either hanging out with or changing James.

Oprah had Dr Oz on there. The topic was extending your lifespan. Dr Oz was discussing the huge steps that regenerative medicine has made. He swore that some of these steps could add 20 years to your life, maybe even more. Oz and Oprah then showed different means for extreme calorie burning and counting so that your cells might work more efficiently. This too, they were saying, could add decades to your life. They interviewed a 60 year old guy who said he had more energy than he did when was 20 because of his fragile and intense diet. Some people on there were practicing some of these methods Oz and Oprah were mentioning. They felt like they could live to be 120. It was fascinating.

The odd thing, however, is that medical research has shown that 100% of people actually die. And Oz and Oprah failed to mention this. Hmmm.

Maybe a better question to think about is: What can I do now that will mean something after that death thing?

GOD SPAKE [Heb 1.1-3]

Formerly by the prophets, BUT NOW by His Son.

Then to the fathers, BUT NOW to us.

Then at various times, BUT NOW at the end of times.

JESUS SAT DOWN

There are a couple ways to say something in the past tense in Greek. Scholars say that people make too much of these distinctions. But they are just that - distinctions.

The AORIST tense is a snapshot of the past. We know that something happened. We know that an event occurred. But we're not too sure about all the details of that past event and their significance. The PERFECT tense, which is rarely used in contrast to the AORIST tense, sees an event or a happening in the past as a completed action with durative and continuing effects to the present.

So...

The first three verses of the book of Hebrews are its overture. There are many descriptive ideas in this passage. However, there are only two true verbs. The first is in 1.2. God "spoke." The second is in 1.3. The Son "sat down" [AORIST].

In Heb 1.1-3 there are six phrases that detail the person and the work of Jesus, but all of them await this verb "sat down." But why though? Who cares about Jesus sitting down? What's the deal with that? Why is it so important?

If you keep reading Hebrews you will soon see that its purpose is to show Jesus as the faithful High Priest of the New Covenant. In the OT, high priests don't sit down because their job is never finished. But not so with a perfect High Priest who offers a perfect Sacrifice.

This little verb ["sit"] is so important to the writer of Hebrews that when he gets to 8.1 he says that the main point of what he has said is this: we have a high priest who has "taken his seat" [AORIST]. The writer of Hebrews uses this verb two other times. In 10.12 he repeats the vast theological significance of the sitting [AORIST] of Jesus at the right hand of God after He suffered once and for all for sins.

It seems as though these above references to Jesus sitting are primarily to assert theological points. However, the writer of Hebrews cannot hold it in any longer. When he arrives at his last usage of the "sitting" of Jesus [12.2], an AORIST verb will not cut it.

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down [PERFECT] at the right hand of the throne of God.

The point of this exhortation is to show HOW and WHY the sitting of Jesus presently means something to believers who need perseverance [10.32-39, ch 11]. He is the example we should look to. He has finished His work and endured more than we ever will [2.16]. He can sympathize us [4.15]. His finished work, His sitting down... it has continually effective results right now.

a midnight ramble

I just got home from a pastor's conference in Louisville, KY. It was good fun all the way around, getting to be with some of the boys and my dad too. Some of the guys who spoke did an ok job, but as usual, Dr Piper tore it up.

He preached on how the supremacy of Jesus should create radical sacrifice in the lives of ministers. I feel like when he speaks at these pastor's conferences he stands up there as an unmuzzled prophet. It was theologically, spiritually, emotionally, and practically overwhelming. It was like you couldn't even take notes or glance down at your Bible, but you knew you were being summoned to live and die in a manner past your capability. Terrifying and glorious at the same time.

There were a few lines he quoted from Isaac Watts that were particularly sweet and powerful:

Must I be carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed through bloody seas?

Other conference highlights included 5000 voices, one grand piano, and really old hymns. RC Sproul actually brought an excellent word as well. He explained the curse motif in the atonement from Gal 3.10-14, Dt 27-28, and elsewhere. Download and enjoy.

ALL THAT iS iN THE WORLD

John says that "all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." I don’t want to use this as a key to unlock other passages to make them say what they don't mean, but I have found this text as a helpful key in grasping what sin is.

The first sin and temptation was is in the garden. I see this paradigm applied there. The next sinless human on the scene, the Second Adam - our Lord Himself, was lured by the tempter in the same three ways. Finally, God's wrath comes upon mankind in three ways and for three reasons in Romans 1. I see John's "all that is in the world" in this tri-degradation as well.

So, here is all of the above charted out.



"We don't have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" [Heb 4.15-16].

johnny o

John Owen lived from 1616-1683. He entered Oxford at the age of 12 where he was thoroughly trained in mathematics, philosophy, Hebrew, and more. As a teenager, Owen was known to study 12 hours a day. When he later married Mary Rooke, they had 11 children and only one lived to adulthood. Thousands of people would come to hear him preach every week. He wrote hundreds of sermons, doctrinal treatises, and theological volumes. However, his greatest work is his commentary on Hebrews.

When Owen’s exposition of Hebrews was published, it was 7 volumes thick and 4,000 pages long. As you can imagine, this took him some time. One can see how sweet the epistle was to his soul by some of his final words. But first, we must recall that Hebrews closes with a reminder that our God will never leave us or forsake us [Heb 13.5]. In Greek, this is a triple negative [“He will no not never ever….”]. The force of this clearly gripped Owen. The day before his death, he wrote to a friend:

I am going to Him whom my soul has loved, or rather who has loved me with an everlasting love – which is the whole ground of my consolation…. I am leaving the ship of the church in a storm; but whilst the Great Pilot is in it the loss of a poor under-rower will be inconsiderable. Live, and pray, and hope, and wait patiently, and do not despond; the promise stands invincible, that He will never leave us or forsake us.

NT FAiTH

Faith in ROMANS is the key to how someone becomes right with God. That is precisely what Paul was articulating in chapters 1-4. We are justified by faith alone, apart from works of the Law.

Faith in HEBREWS is what grants us endurance to stay right with God. We are not of those who shrink back, but of those who persevere [10.35-39] in "the assurance of things hoped for" [11.1].

Faith in JAMES is the conduit for good works in the Christian life. This is why faith without works is useless [Js 2.20]: because faith is descriptive of the life of a Christian and not just of the hoop one jumps through to become a Christian.

So, why is it so hard to see that these three do not contradict one another but are instead inextricably linked as a whole. Different situations call for preaching and teaching faith in different ways. But without this framework, legality, Antinomianism, and the faith healing prosperity gospel are "crouching at our door" [Gen 4.7]. Furthermore, none of this is ever divorced from the Holy Spirit graciously and sovereignly working in sinners "as He wills" [1 Cor 12.11, 18] to draw us, sustain us, empower us, and cause to serve the King for the kingdom.