Hebrews 6:13-20 "For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying "Surely blessing I will bless you , and multiplying I will multiply you." And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."
What is the main goal of the gospel? Is it only the forgiveness of our sins? These verses open up the rest of the book of Hebrews. The forgiveness of our sins is only the means to an end. The end goal is that we can enter into the Presence of God without any fear of punishment and enjoy fellowship with Him. He wants to enjoy talking with us, leading us, guiding us, loving us. He can't do this if we are afraid of Him. If we believe that He is holding our sins against us, we will pull away out of fear. As we believe the gospel, we are rewarded with His Presence!
As Abraham patiently endured, he received the promise that God would bless him and multiply him and his offspring. We are to patiently endure in believing the gospel. As we do, we are rewarded also. Our reward is His love, His peace, His joy, dwelling in His Presence without fear of punishment. He is so kind and gentle to us.
A covenant between men is confirmed by an oath. God confirms His covenant with an oath also. The two immutable things are God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a reference to Genesis 15. Read the story. God made a covenant with to show Abraham that He would be faithful to His promise. When Abraham fell asleep, a burning oven and a burning torch passed through the midst of the sacrificed animals. This represented God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This covenant was between God the Father and the Lord Jesus, and Abraham was able to get the benefit of it without being able to mess it up. If God cut a covenant with Abraham directly, Abraham would have been the weak link and would have failed. In the same manner, the New Testament is completed by our Lord Jesus Christ. He bore the penalty for the sins of our entire lifetime. All we have to do is believe the Good News of the Gospel! We cannot mess it up with our performance.
Hebrews 6:19 says this hope we have as an anchor of our soul or thinking. An anchor holds a ship in place so that it does not drift away from shore. Knowing that Jesus has purged our sins allows us to enter into His Presence without fear of punishment. It cleanses our conscience and gives rest to our soul.
Hebrews 7:25-27 "Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself."
Notice that He saves us to the uttermost when we come to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This uttermost is a reference to eternal salvation mentioned in Hebrews 5:9. Jesus is not offering Himself up on a daily basis as we sin. He offered Himself once for all, once for all people and once for all sins for all time. When we trust in what Jesus did for us, we are born again. We need never fear punishment from God anymore. This is the gospel.
Keith Oliver
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