by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n
The epistle to the Hebrews might be the most tightly reasoned book in the whole Bible. Sentence by sentence, clause by clause, the Hebrews writer constructs intricate arguments that establish the superiority of Christ over Moses and the folly of Christians returning to Judaism. The more closely we read Hebrews, the more we will learn.<\/p>\n
The care with which Hebrews is written makes the apparent logical disconnect in Hebrews 3:18-19 all the more surprising. In context, the writer is discussing the Israelites who died in the wilderness during the time of Moses. He says, “And to whom did <\/em>[God] swear that they would not enter His rest, if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief<\/em>.”<\/p>\n Hold on here, Hebrews writer! You’ve given us evidence that God kept the Israelites from entering Canaan because of their disobedience. Why are you acting like you’ve shown us that they had an unbelief problem instead?<\/p>\n The writer, and indeed the Holy Spirit, make this logical jump because they want us to realize that they aren’t making a logical jump at all. Once the writer has established that the Israelites had a disobedience problem, he doesn’t have to prove that they had an unbelief problem – because disobedience and unbelief are the same thing<\/strong>. If we don’t believe God’s promises, we will not obey His word. If we don’t obey His word, fundamentally, it is because we do not believe His promises. Faith and obedience are inseparable.<\/p>\n This understanding is vital to us for at least two reasons. First, it answers the tedious argument that we are saved by faith, not by works, so we don’t have to be baptized to be saved. In reality, baptism is not an attempt to justify ourselves at all. Instead, it is an expression of faith in the promises of God. We believe that when the Holy Spirit says that baptism saves, He means it. Accordingly, we obey the gospel.<\/p>\n Second, it shows the importance of preaching, teaching, and study that builds faith. Some brethren are interested only in preaching that is practical. They want to be told about some godly thing that they can go home and do.<\/p>\n Instruction in righteous living is invaluable, full stop. However, if we’re not careful, too much focus on the nuts and bolts of practical discipleship can leave us short on the motivation to be disciples. Obedience is not and cannot be a just-because thing. If hearing is not united with faith in us, we will not obey.<\/p>\n Instead, if we want to be obedient, we must look too to the parts of the Bible that build faith. However remote the stories of the righteous men of old may seem to us, they all proclaim the same lesson: God is a God who keeps His promises, so if we rely on Him, we will not be disappointed. So also, the stories of the miracles of Jesus and His apostles, particularly the story of His resurrection, assure us that what He has promised, He is able to perform. When our minds are filled with these things, it becomes much easier to make the right choices – because we know how deeply they matter.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Matthew W. Bassford The epistle to the Hebrews might be the most tightly reasoned book in the whole Bible. Sentence by sentence, clause by clause, the Hebrews writer constructs intricate arguments that establish the superiority of Christ over Moses and the folly of Christians returning to Judaism. The more closely we read Hebrews, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[139,992,49,54,1004,55],"class_list":["post-34964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-belief","tag-disobedience","tag-faith","tag-obedience","tag-unbelief","tag-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12804,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-christians-sabbath\/","url_meta":{"origin":34964,"position":0},"title":"What is the Christian’s Sabbath?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 23, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Hebrews chapter 4, where it talks about the Sabbath and all, if I'm right, the reason for the Sabbath is that it represents Christ. It foreshadows Christ's kingdom that He is making for us with God, hence our rest or God's rest. It's a place, not an age,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14550,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-hebrews-49-speak-of-the-sabbath-rest-remaining-if-the-sabbath-observance-is-no-longer-required\/","url_meta":{"origin":34964,"position":1},"title":"Why does Hebrews 4:9 speak of the Sabbath rest remaining if the Sabbath observance is no longer required?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read in your web site that we no longer follow the Sabbath, but in Hebrews 4:9 it saids, \"There remains, then a Sabbath rest for the people of God\" and then it continues \"let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest so that no one will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36481,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-apeitheo-in-john-336-translated-not-obey-in-some-versions-and-not-believe-in-others\/","url_meta":{"origin":34964,"position":2},"title":"Why is apeitheo in John 3:36 translated “not obey” in some versions and “not believe” in others?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Something interesting that I came across last week in studying: John 3:36 is a commonly quoted scripture. The KJV, NKJV, and Youngs roughly say: \"He who believes (pisteuo) in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe (apeitheo) the Son shall not see life, but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/entering-his-rest\/","url_meta":{"origin":34964,"position":3},"title":"Entering His Rest","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Hebrews 4:1-11 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There are religious groups who argue that we are still under the Ten Commandments. In particular, the commandment to rest on the Sabbath Day \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One argument is based on Hebrews 4:9, which says there remains a Sabbath rest for God\u2019s people. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1933,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-does-obedience-relate-to-saving-faith\/","url_meta":{"origin":34964,"position":4},"title":"How does obedience relate to saving faith?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How does obedience relate to saving faith? Answer: \"What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, \"Depart\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35721,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-the-israelites-who-died-in-the-wilderness-not-enter-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":34964,"position":5},"title":"Would the Israelites who died in the wilderness not enter Heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Jeffrey, When studying in Hebrews the other night, I was noticing the reference to Psalms 95. Where it states: \"Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers tested Me, they tried Me though they had seen my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}