by Olive J. Hemmings | 9 February 2022 | Jamin Hübner critiques the headship argument in terms I like. He says: “It is an unbalanced, reductionistic, and simplistic approach. And it bears all of the marks of a theology born out of contemporary culture wars, not centuries of scholarship and contemplation.”[1] I would revise that […] Source: https://atoday.org/atss-how-headship-theology-distorts-the-gospel/
Thursday: Jesus, the Anchor of the Soul
Paul culminates his warning against apostasy and encouragement toward love and faith with a beautiful, soaring exposition of assurance in Christ.
Read Hebrews 6:17-20. How did God guarantee His promises to us?
Image © Dave OConnell at Goodsalt.com
God guaranteed His promises for us in several ways. First, God guaranteed His promise with an oath (Hebrews 6:17). According to Scripture, God’s oaths to Abraham and David became the ultimate basis of confidence in God’s permanent favor for Israel. When Moses sought to secure God’s forgiveness for Israel after the apostasy with the golden calf, he referred to God’s oath to Abraham (see Exodus 32:11-14, Genesis 22:16-18). The implied strength of his plea was that God’s oath was irrevocable (Romans 9:4; Romans 11:28-29).
Similarly, when the psalmist interceded before God for Israel, he claimed God’s oath to David. God had said: “I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies” (Psalm 89:34-37, ESV). According to the New Testament, both oaths were fulfilled in Jesus, the seed of Abraham, who ascended and was seated on the throne of David (Galatians 3:13-16; Luke 1:31-33, Luke 1:54-55).
Second, God has guaranteed His promises to us by the act of seating Jesus at His right hand. Jesus’ ascension has the purpose of corroborating the promise made to the believers because Jesus ascended as a “forerunner on our behalf” (Hebrews 6:20, ESV emphasis author’s). Thus, the ascension reveals to us the certainty of God’s salvation for us. God led Jesus to glory through the suffering of “death for everyone,” so that He might bring “many children to glory” (Hebrews 2:9-10, NRSV). Jesus’ presence before the Father is the “anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19), that has been fastened to the throne of God. The honor of God’s rule has been waged on the fulfillment of His promise to us through Jesus. What more assurance do we need?
| What do you feel when you think that God has made an oath to you? Why should that thought alone help give you assurance of salvation, even when you feel unworthy? |
Amen!
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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/thursday-jesus-anchor-of-soul/
The Adventist Health Message and the Environment
by David Garner | 8 February 2022 | Since their early days, Seventh-day Adventists articulated principles of health based on biblical principles and backed up by medical science of the day. Collectively these principles are known as the health message. At times there have been conflicting studies about specific aspects of the health message—science is […] Source: https://atoday.org/the-adventist-health-message-and-the-environment/
Sunset Syndrome
08 February 2022 | Image courtesy of Ameme To comment, click/tap here. Source: https://atoday.org/sunset-syndrome/
Wednesday: Better Things
After the strong and sincere warning of Hebrews 6:4-8, Paul expresses confidence that the readers have neither fallen away from the Son, nor will they in the future. He believes that his audience will receive the warning and produce the appropriate fruits. They are like the “earth,” which is cultivated by God and produces the fruits He expects. These people will receive the blessing from God (Hebrews 6:7), which is “salvation” (Hebrews 6:9).
Read Hebrews 6:9-12. List the good things that the audience has done and continues to do and explain what they mean.
Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com
Believers show their love toward God’s “name,” that is, toward God Himself, by their service to the saints. These were not isolated actions in the past, but sustained actions that have extended into the present. Exceptional acts do not reveal the true character of a person. The weightiest evidence of love toward God is not “religious” acts per say, but acts of love toward fellow human beings, especially those who are disadvantaged (Matthew 10:42, Matthew 25:31-46). Thus, Paul exhorts believers not to “forget” to do good (Hebrews 13:2, Hebrews 13:16).
Look at Hebrews 6:12. It warns against their becoming “dull” or “sluggish” (ESV), which characterizes those who fail to mature and who are in danger of falling away (Hebrews 5:11, Hebrews 6:12). Hope is not kept alive by intellectual exercises of faith, but by faith expressed in acts of love (Romans 13:8-10).
Paul wants the readers to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. He has already presented the wilderness generation as a negative example of those who, through lack of faith and perseverance, failed to inherit what was promised. He then presents Abraham (Hebrews 6:13-15) as an example of one who through “faith and patience” inherited the promises. The list of positive exemplars is lengthened with the people of faith in Hebrews 11, and it climaxes with Jesus in Hebrews 12 as the greatest example of faith and patience (Hebrews 12:1-4). In Revelation 14:12, faith, patience, and commandment keeping are characteristics of the saints in the last days.
| Sometimes we have to give words of warning to those people whom we love. What can we learn from the apostle regarding warning and encouraging others? |
Amen!(0)
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