Some great questions from Joe Ventura on my Hebrews 6 study, which I answered.
Setting – Because of God’s covenant, we who are faithful will inherit His promise.
Content – Those that continue to (v. 11b NLT) “keep right on loving others as long as life lasts” will (v. 12a NLT) “not become spiritually dull and indifferent”.
--What does it mean here to “keep loving others?” It means to focus on doing for others. This means to work on helping others be what God would have them to be. We can't, or rarely, know what God wants for others (hard enough to determine that for ourselves), but we know that others are to avoid sin and to love others as well. The hard part is when our love for others is not received and thrown out as rags. This is the same thing that God's creation does when they deny the salvation of cross.
--What does “spiritually dull and indifferent” look like to you? In the context of the passage it's focusing on us and not others. in addition to not growing deeper in knowledge and wisdom of God, as verse 1 states.
We (v. 12b NLT) “will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and patience”.
--What comes to mind when you think of the “examples?” Biblically, it would be Moses and Joshua. They had to deal with Israel with all it's short comings because God placed them as a leader. I know they didn't want to remain in that position, but knew that God appointed them so they stuck it out. God used them to lead a ragtag group. I see that God didn't bless them based upon how Israel was successful, but on their faithfulness to their calling. I must do the same.
--Do you relate or are they only for the super-spiritual, nothing we can actually do ourselves? Totally relate, but just not to the level of leadership that they were required to exercise. Reading through the Old Testament has given me greater insight into Gods dealing with His creation. No man is great and all were human; this is a refreshing reality.
God’s promise to Abraham is an example of how He fulfills His promise. We see that (v. 15b NLT) “Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.”
--What order is represented here? God initiated the promise and it was up to man (Abraham) follow through on his part.
--How can you be reminded that God asks of us only what He has first done for us? God expects a lot from us, and He is continually putting us into greater trials in order for Him to expose what we are made of, "working out of salvation with fear and trembling". If we have faith of a mustard seed we can move mountains. The bottom-line here is that God can do the amazing through us. The problem is that we fear that God can't do amazing things through us and He's unable to freely work His will when we are in sin. So we generally have two strikes against us. With that said, being in His word and/or fellowship with the saints (I said fellowship not mingling) is the way we get reminded.
--How does that relate to pride and “low self-esteem?” Pride is concerned with self preservation. Pride invokes comparison. In comparing one always comes up short, which leads to low self-esteem. The cure is to stop comparing, be humble, and ask for Gods help in this process, because pride is part of our fiber.
We can rely on God’s promises (v. 18 NLT) “God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.
--Why is it significant to understand this verse? Well two things. First, that God fulfilled His promise so He has proven Himself. Secondly, we must rely (that is, have faith) on what God has promised to us. One main point of faith is that we have to believe that the cross was enough for God to forgive our sins; we don't have to add to the cross for salvation. We have to trust that we will find freedom and blessings by avoiding sin. Another part is that God it's impossible for God to lie. Here again, we don't see that God has faulter or lied. If He did lie at anytime, then everything else He has said is questionable.
--How does NOT understanding it impact your life? Zero hope. If you don't believe that cross is sufficient, then when does one do enough - the idea of a bell curve. And if God could lie, then we have no idea what part He could be lying about.
--How would you explain this to a 10 year old? Help them to understand that limited atonement is impossible and...just kidding. Give them the example (Hebrew teaching here again...) of lifting weights. Give them a prize if they can bench press 100lbs, which I would hope they can't. Ask them if they believe that you can lift the 100lbs, lift the weight and give them the prize. Then ask them if they did anything to get the prize and if they could get the prize on their own?
Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence.”
--Why would anyone flee to him? It doesn't take long before one realizes that this life is full of trials and tribulation. Once one sees the disparity of life and the significance of God, we flee to His ways.
--Why do we need God’s promises…can’t we just live life on our own effectively? Yes, we and others can live their life effectively on this earth, even false-Christians. BUT we can have an accurate perspective if we embrace God's promised. For example, do Christians experience death? Christ said he has conquered death and Christians don't experience death. If we believe this, then we have less fear of dying. There are endless examples of gaining the right perspective if we understand and believe Gods promises.
Knowing this, it gives us (v. 19a NLT) “confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls”.
--Why do our souls need an anchor? Otherwise we are ships tossed by the waves. All believers waver, so we really need to re-anchor our souls by reminding ourselves of God promises. So being anchored gives peace, and really life, to our soul.
--What exactly is pulling at us to thwart us off course? Hum, basically everything. The question is, what keeps us on course? That is being exposed to Gods word and to His church.
--How do we even know what the course actually is? One spiritual thermometer is Gal. 5:22, if we don't have love, joy, peace, patience, self-control, then we are not being controlled by the Spirit and we are of course, either momentarily or more than that.
This confidence (v. 19b NLT) “leads us through the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary”
--What does this really mean? My take on it (I would have to dig further to say for sure) the idea is we get to experience a little heaven on earth.
--Why does the bible use terms and phrases that seem impractical? This is so that we seek and search. God doesn't spoon feed; Christ spoke in parables all to see who will seek. God’s word is very straight forward, and yet it's very deep, so we must uncover what God has provided for us. In addition, God is very poetic and gives examples and explains Himself creatively.
--What are you placing your confidence in? Be specific. God’s word. Because I try to align me life to what God has said in His word, I trust that He I will experience peace and blessings. I'm not talking about physical blessings, monetary, etc. but being blessed, such as family, friends, peace, etc. Paul was blessed but he lived in jails. The apostles were blessed and all but one was a martyr. And yet, Abraham was blessed with land and prosperity, so I won't mind having both spiritual and physical blessings if God wills that to be so.
Application – We live by faith. Our faith is in what God/Christ has promised will come about. We see proof of how God fulfills His promise as He did with His promise to Abraham. Abraham was counted righteous because of his faith in God’s promise. We follow the same criteria. We will inherit heaven if we have faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Knowing that God’s promises/covenant is sure we should have “confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls”.
As stated in the application area, We live by faith. That's the bottom-line. God gives us endless things to hang our faith on, but He still wants only those who follow Him "by faith"
Setting – Because of God’s covenant, we who are faithful will inherit His promise.
Content – Those that continue to (v. 11b NLT) “keep right on loving others as long as life lasts” will (v. 12a NLT) “not become spiritually dull and indifferent”.
--What does it mean here to “keep loving others?” It means to focus on doing for others. This means to work on helping others be what God would have them to be. We can't, or rarely, know what God wants for others (hard enough to determine that for ourselves), but we know that others are to avoid sin and to love others as well. The hard part is when our love for others is not received and thrown out as rags. This is the same thing that God's creation does when they deny the salvation of cross.
--What does “spiritually dull and indifferent” look like to you? In the context of the passage it's focusing on us and not others. in addition to not growing deeper in knowledge and wisdom of God, as verse 1 states.
We (v. 12b NLT) “will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God's promises because of their faith and patience”.
--What comes to mind when you think of the “examples?” Biblically, it would be Moses and Joshua. They had to deal with Israel with all it's short comings because God placed them as a leader. I know they didn't want to remain in that position, but knew that God appointed them so they stuck it out. God used them to lead a ragtag group. I see that God didn't bless them based upon how Israel was successful, but on their faithfulness to their calling. I must do the same.
--Do you relate or are they only for the super-spiritual, nothing we can actually do ourselves? Totally relate, but just not to the level of leadership that they were required to exercise. Reading through the Old Testament has given me greater insight into Gods dealing with His creation. No man is great and all were human; this is a refreshing reality.
God’s promise to Abraham is an example of how He fulfills His promise. We see that (v. 15b NLT) “Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.”
--What order is represented here? God initiated the promise and it was up to man (Abraham) follow through on his part.
--How can you be reminded that God asks of us only what He has first done for us? God expects a lot from us, and He is continually putting us into greater trials in order for Him to expose what we are made of, "working out of salvation with fear and trembling". If we have faith of a mustard seed we can move mountains. The bottom-line here is that God can do the amazing through us. The problem is that we fear that God can't do amazing things through us and He's unable to freely work His will when we are in sin. So we generally have two strikes against us. With that said, being in His word and/or fellowship with the saints (I said fellowship not mingling) is the way we get reminded.
--How does that relate to pride and “low self-esteem?” Pride is concerned with self preservation. Pride invokes comparison. In comparing one always comes up short, which leads to low self-esteem. The cure is to stop comparing, be humble, and ask for Gods help in this process, because pride is part of our fiber.
We can rely on God’s promises (v. 18 NLT) “God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.
--Why is it significant to understand this verse? Well two things. First, that God fulfilled His promise so He has proven Himself. Secondly, we must rely (that is, have faith) on what God has promised to us. One main point of faith is that we have to believe that the cross was enough for God to forgive our sins; we don't have to add to the cross for salvation. We have to trust that we will find freedom and blessings by avoiding sin. Another part is that God it's impossible for God to lie. Here again, we don't see that God has faulter or lied. If He did lie at anytime, then everything else He has said is questionable.
--How does NOT understanding it impact your life? Zero hope. If you don't believe that cross is sufficient, then when does one do enough - the idea of a bell curve. And if God could lie, then we have no idea what part He could be lying about.
--How would you explain this to a 10 year old? Help them to understand that limited atonement is impossible and...just kidding. Give them the example (Hebrew teaching here again...) of lifting weights. Give them a prize if they can bench press 100lbs, which I would hope they can't. Ask them if they believe that you can lift the 100lbs, lift the weight and give them the prize. Then ask them if they did anything to get the prize and if they could get the prize on their own?
Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence.”
--Why would anyone flee to him? It doesn't take long before one realizes that this life is full of trials and tribulation. Once one sees the disparity of life and the significance of God, we flee to His ways.
--Why do we need God’s promises…can’t we just live life on our own effectively? Yes, we and others can live their life effectively on this earth, even false-Christians. BUT we can have an accurate perspective if we embrace God's promised. For example, do Christians experience death? Christ said he has conquered death and Christians don't experience death. If we believe this, then we have less fear of dying. There are endless examples of gaining the right perspective if we understand and believe Gods promises.
Knowing this, it gives us (v. 19a NLT) “confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls”.
--Why do our souls need an anchor? Otherwise we are ships tossed by the waves. All believers waver, so we really need to re-anchor our souls by reminding ourselves of God promises. So being anchored gives peace, and really life, to our soul.
--What exactly is pulling at us to thwart us off course? Hum, basically everything. The question is, what keeps us on course? That is being exposed to Gods word and to His church.
--How do we even know what the course actually is? One spiritual thermometer is Gal. 5:22, if we don't have love, joy, peace, patience, self-control, then we are not being controlled by the Spirit and we are of course, either momentarily or more than that.
This confidence (v. 19b NLT) “leads us through the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary”
--What does this really mean? My take on it (I would have to dig further to say for sure) the idea is we get to experience a little heaven on earth.
--Why does the bible use terms and phrases that seem impractical? This is so that we seek and search. God doesn't spoon feed; Christ spoke in parables all to see who will seek. God’s word is very straight forward, and yet it's very deep, so we must uncover what God has provided for us. In addition, God is very poetic and gives examples and explains Himself creatively.
--What are you placing your confidence in? Be specific. God’s word. Because I try to align me life to what God has said in His word, I trust that He I will experience peace and blessings. I'm not talking about physical blessings, monetary, etc. but being blessed, such as family, friends, peace, etc. Paul was blessed but he lived in jails. The apostles were blessed and all but one was a martyr. And yet, Abraham was blessed with land and prosperity, so I won't mind having both spiritual and physical blessings if God wills that to be so.
Application – We live by faith. Our faith is in what God/Christ has promised will come about. We see proof of how God fulfills His promise as He did with His promise to Abraham. Abraham was counted righteous because of his faith in God’s promise. We follow the same criteria. We will inherit heaven if we have faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Knowing that God’s promises/covenant is sure we should have “confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls”.
As stated in the application area, We live by faith. That's the bottom-line. God gives us endless things to hang our faith on, but He still wants only those who follow Him "by faith"
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