Hebrews 3:6, 13, 19 NIV
But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Christ is faithful. Therein lies our hope. Our hope does not lie in our faithfulness, but in his. We enter into it by faith. This does not undermine the concept of obedience, it enhances it. Why do we obey? Because we believe that he is faithful. "We are his house, if indeed we hold firmly...," but, it's not obedience to which we firmly hold. It's not holiness or godliness we are gripping. We hold firmly to "our confidence and the hope in which we glory." We rest not in our faithfulness, but in his.
Sin, on the other hand, leads to disbelief. We become "hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Sin has a way of doing that. Little compromises harden us to bigger compromises. Compromises cause us to doubt. When we stand looking in the mirror we see failure which leads to doubt, which leads to more failure. That is why this chapter begins not with a challenge to examine ourselves, but with the challenge to, "fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest." Heb 3:1
Yes, we are told to examine ourselves in 1Corinthians 11, but we are more often told to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. I sometimes wonder if we, as "believers", spend too much time examining ourselves and too little time focused on Jesus. After all, our hope is in him, not in us. Our faith is in his faithfulness, not in ours. My faithfulness depends on his faithfulness. His faithfulness does not depend on mine, and for that I'm grateful.
Father, thank you for your faithfulness and for the security I have in Christ. May I never trust my faithfulness. May I always rest in yours.
By His grace,
Rick Weinert
But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
Christ is faithful. Therein lies our hope. Our hope does not lie in our faithfulness, but in his. We enter into it by faith. This does not undermine the concept of obedience, it enhances it. Why do we obey? Because we believe that he is faithful. "We are his house, if indeed we hold firmly...," but, it's not obedience to which we firmly hold. It's not holiness or godliness we are gripping. We hold firmly to "our confidence and the hope in which we glory." We rest not in our faithfulness, but in his.
Sin, on the other hand, leads to disbelief. We become "hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Sin has a way of doing that. Little compromises harden us to bigger compromises. Compromises cause us to doubt. When we stand looking in the mirror we see failure which leads to doubt, which leads to more failure. That is why this chapter begins not with a challenge to examine ourselves, but with the challenge to, "fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest." Heb 3:1
Yes, we are told to examine ourselves in 1Corinthians 11, but we are more often told to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. I sometimes wonder if we, as "believers", spend too much time examining ourselves and too little time focused on Jesus. After all, our hope is in him, not in us. Our faith is in his faithfulness, not in ours. My faithfulness depends on his faithfulness. His faithfulness does not depend on mine, and for that I'm grateful.
Father, thank you for your faithfulness and for the security I have in Christ. May I never trust my faithfulness. May I always rest in yours.
By His grace,
Rick Weinert
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