NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FROM HEBREWS

Bob Myhan

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s one year draws to a close another dawns, resolutions (or pledges) for the New Year are being made. Generally, most people resolve to do such mundane things as lose weight, break a bad habit or settle a dispute.

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he Book of Hebrews contains several divine admonitions, which, if we resolve to accept them, will have a much greater impact on our lives than things we might normally resolve.

CONCERNING ATTITUDE

1

 “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it” (4:1). This is a resolution to be more in awe of who God is, and of what it means to displease Him. This Holy Awe will have a sobering effect upon our daily activities. The facts just related by the inspired writer should produce this in us.

2

 “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience” (4:11). This resolution is to make haste, which will be relatively easy to keep if we can only keep the first one, for it is Holy Awe that produces Holy Haste.

3

 “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession” (4:14). This is to resolve to be more stable in our claim to be Christians. Holy Awe and Holy Haste produce Holy Stability.

4

 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (4:16). This resolution is to allow Holy Awe, Holy Haste and Holy Stability to create within us a Holy Confidence that He will help us “in time of need.”

CONCERNING GROWTH

1

 “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection” (6:1). It is not possible for us to make Holy Progress in our relationship with God if we are ever discussing elementary principles and never confronting the difficult themes of God’s revelation. Keeping the previous resolutions of Holy Awe, Holy Haste, Holy Stability and Holy Confidence will aid us tremendously in keeping this one.

2

 ‘Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (10:22). The acts of worship God expects of us are designed to draw us into nearer to Him in Holy Fellowship. But worship, to profit us, must be “in spirit and in truth” (John 4:22-24). Until “our bodies [have been] washed with pure water” [in baptism] “and our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience” [in forgiveness] we are not qualified to engage in true worship. But, having thus qualified ourselves, we must still “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.”  The proper acts of worship will not achieve their designed purpose unless they are accompanied by faith.

3

 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” (10:23). This is a resolution to Holy Perseverance. We cannot afford to waver in our worship or service to God for we could die, or the Lord could come, while we are wavering and we would have no chance to repent.

4

 “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (10:24). This resolution is to give Holy Consideration to those who look to us for encouragement. “No man is an island,” said John Donne, the English poet. This is a scriptural concept, inasmuch as the Lord, through the apostles, instituted the local church wherein Christians can and should be of mutual and reciprocal support. Let us be there for one another in 2004.

CONCERNING FRUIT

1

 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us” (12:1). The resolution to Holy Surrender is preparatory to the next one. We must surrender or forfeit everything that will either slow us down or ensnare us. There are some things not wrong in and of themselves that will be more problematic than helpful in one’s living the life that he ought to live. They are unnecessary weights. There also may be a sin that will more easily ensnare one Christian than another.

2

 “Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (12:1). This is a resolution to Holy Dedication, and can only be kept if, and to the extent, the previous one is kept. “The race that is set before us” is the life that one ought to live morally and spiritually. If one is to persevere he must “run with endurance.”

3

 “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (12:28. This resolution is to Holy Usefulness in the temporal kingdom of heaven, while it can and will be shaken, in order that we may enjoy the eternal kingdom of heaven, when it cannot be shaken (see also 2 Peter 1:5-11).

4

 “Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach” (13:13). This is a resolution to Holy Sacrifice. To the first-century Jewish Christians it involved leaving mainstream Judaism; to Gentile Christians in the twenty-first century it could very well involve turning one’s back on the “family religion” (see Matthew 10:34-39; Mark 10:29-30).

5

 “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (13:15). This resolution is to Holy Gratitude, the natural response to the knowledge that Jesus has prepared us “a continuing city” in heaven above (13:14). &

MAN’S PART IN SALVATION

Randy Cavender

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everal years ago I heard a preacher quote a verse of scripture that is very familiar to most religious people. I believe the man misquoted the verse to make it fit his (not God's) pattern of salvation. Then I heard a television preacher quote the same scripture in exactly the same way. Here is the quote:

     "For by grace you have been saved, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:8-10).

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ow would you please take time right now and compare what Paul said in Eph. 2:8-10 to what these men quoted. In case you think that I did not hear correctly, there was someone with me who heard the same man quote the passage not once, but twice, in exactly the same way.

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f you will read the text, you will notice that they omitted part of the verse. I believe it was left out intentionally in order to teach the doctrine of salvation wholly by grace. Those who teach this doctrine assert that man has no part in his salvation. There is nothing that one must do in order to be saved. For years, many have believed this and used Eph. 2:8-10 to prove the point. The simple truth of the matter is that the scriptures teach that people must be obedient to God's divine word and that man MUST "work out his own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). Yet, these false teachers have literally changed the scriptures to leave out the most important part in man's salvation, that is, faith. "For by grace you have been saved through faith," Paul said! &