Being led astray

A key analogy that God used to describe Israel’s need for a Savior was sheep without a shepherd. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—everyone—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). The Hebrew word that is translated gone astray, ta’ah (taw-awˊ) means “to vacillate” (H8582). Ta’ah is used to refer to deceiving or being misled as well as to err or wandering in both a physical and spiritual sense. In his parable of the lost sheep, Jesus asked, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of his one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray” (Matthew 18:12-13).

Israel had a history of going astray, but God didn’t blame them for it. God said through the prophet Jeremiah, “My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten the fold. All who found them have devoured them, and their enemies have said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their habitation of righteousness, the LORD, the hope of their fathers” (Jeremiah 50:6-7). The shepherds God was referring to were Israel’s kings and priests who were unfaithful to him. Isaiah said of Israel’s irresponsible leaders, “His watchmen are blind; they are all without knowledge; they are all silent dogs; they cannot bark, dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. But they are shepherds who have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all” (Isaiah 50:9-11). Ezekiel condemned Israel’s idolatrous elders stating, “these men have taken their idols into their hearts and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces” (Ezekiel 14:3).

Jeremiah delivered a stern warning to the remnant of Judah who remained in the city after the fall of Jerusalem who were thinking about escaping to Egypt. Jeremiah said:

 “For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: As my anger and my wrath were poured out on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so my wrath will be poured out on you when you go to Egypt. You shall become an execration, a horror, a curse, and a taunt. You shall see this place no more. The Lord has said to you, O remnant of Judah, ‘Do not go to Egypt.’ Know for a certainty that I have warned you this day that you have gone astray at the cost of your lives. For you sent me to the Lord your God, saying, ‘Pray for us to the Lord our God, and whatever the Lord our God says, declare to us and we will do it.’ And I have this day declared it to you, but you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God in anything that he sent me to tell you. Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live.” (Jeremiah 42:18-22)

The people’s unwillingness to do what God told them to was the reason no one was left in Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar’s army destroyed the capital of Judah.

Jesus warned his disciples that one of the signs of his second coming would be the deception of believers. Jesus said, “See to it that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ, and they will lead many astray” (Matthew 24:4-5). Peter compared the false teachers of the last days to the false prophets who led the people of Judah astray before they were taken into captivity. Peter said, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as  there will be false teachers among you who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even destroying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep” (2 Peter 2:1-3).

Revelation 12:9 indicates that Satan is behind the deception of the world. Revelation 13:14 tells us that an individual identified as the second beast will cause the inhabitants of the earth to worship the first beast and to make an image for him. Revelation 13:15 -17 states, “And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.” Revelation 19:20-21 tells us that after Jesus’ return, the beast was captured, “and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image.”

Jesus’ defeat of Satan will put an end to his deception and will rid the world of the evil one whose influence has caused everyone to go astray (Revelation 20:7-10). In his final letter, Paul wrote about godlessness in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-9) and encouraged believers to remain faithful. Paul said if we endure we have the assurance of future blessing and will reign with Christ when his kingdom is established on earth (2 Timothy 2:10-13). Paul indicated the key to remaining faithful was to continue in what you have learned from the Scriptures. Paul said, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:12-17).

God’s discipline

God sending the Israelites into captivity was an act of discipline that was intended to correct their problem of idolatry. The prophet Zechariah said, “’And on the day,’ says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will erase idol worship throughout the land, so that even the names of the idols will be forgotten’” (Zechariah 13:2). The prophet Jeremiah recorded the details of the fall of Jerusalem, indicating that the city was completely destroyed (Jeremiah 39:8) and “Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city” (Jeremiah 39:9).

Hebrews 12:6 tells us that God “disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. The writer went on to say, “It is for discipline that you have to endure” (Hebrews 12:7) and then, explained that God uses discipline to bring his children into submission so that he can bless them (Hebrews 12:9-10). Hebrews 12:11 states, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

God’s discipline is about learning to do things his way, understanding the difference between what we want and what God wants to accomplish in our lives. God’s ultimate objective for mankind is holiness, which is a byproduct of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Greek word that is translated holiness in Hebrews 12:10, hagiotes (hag-ee-otˊ-ace) means “sanctity” and is used in Hebrews 12:10 to refer to “sanctity of living” (G41). Hagiotes is derived from the word hagios (hagˊ-ee-os) which is “spoken of those who are purified and sanctified by the influences of the Spirit, a saint” (G40).

Hagios is used throughout the New Testament of the Bible to refer to Christians (Acts 9:13, 14, 32, 41; 26:10; Romans 1:7; 8:27; 1 Thessalonians 3:13) and is “spoken of those who are to be in any way included in the Christian community (1 Corinthians 7:14)” (G40). The way that Christians become holy is through a process called sanctification. The term sanctification means “to make holy” (G38) and is first used in the Bible in the book of Exodus, where God told Moses to “sanctify to me all the firstborn…both of man and of beast, it is mine” (Exodus 13:2), so we see that something that is sanctified belongs to God. With regard to Christians, this is true, because they have been redeemed or purchased for God by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7). The Greek word that is translated redeemed, exagorazo (ex-ag-or-adˊ-zo) means “to purchase out, to buy up from the possession or power of someone. In the New Testament, to redeem, to set free from service or bondage (Galatians 3:13; 4:5)” (G1805).

It says in Hebrews 12:8 that all have participated in God’s discipline, otherwise “you are illegitimate children and not sons.” Both Christians and the Israelites are considered to be God’s children (Romans 8:14, 19; 9:26; 2 Corinthians 6:18; Galatians 3:26: 4:6, 7; Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 21:7). The common bond between these two groups is having faith or believing in God. It says of the Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11:39-40, “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.” Sanctification results in believers being made perfect in the sense that they have completed the process (G5048). The last step in the process of sanctification is glorification, which happens when we receive our resurrection body (1 Corinthains 15:50-57).

God’s discipline produces submission in us in that it causes us to trust in and rely on him more and more as we mature in our faith. The Greek word hupotasso (hoop-ot-asˊ-so) in the passive voice means “to be brought under the control of someone” and can also refer to “voluntary submission…we are encouraged in Hebrews 12:9 to submit ourselves to God’s control” (G5293). In this sense, yielding ourselves to the influence of the Holy Spirit is a form of voluntary submission. It says in Romans 6:12-14 that believers are not to let sin reign in their bodies, but to present themselves “to God as instruments for righteousness.”

God’s discipline can be painful because it sometimes involves physical suffering. Jesus endured a tortuous death and was abandoned by those whom he had trusted the most. It says because of Jesus’ suffering, in Hebrews 12:3-4, that we should, “consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Resisting sin is a struggle for humans because our sin nature causes us to naturally rebel against God (Isaiah 53:6). It says in Romans 5:1-5, when we are justified by faith, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

Jesus’ example of enduring the suffering of the cross should encourage believers because of the result that it produced. There is always a purpose behind God’s discipline. It is meant to train us, not to cause us to give up (Hebrews 12:11-17). It says in Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus endured the cross because he knew there was something afterward that would bring him great joy. He explained to his disciples shortly before his death that the reward for their obedience would be abundant joy. Jesus said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:9-11).

Believing in God

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Regarding reliance upon Christ for salvation, faith gives us a firm foundation to rest our lives upon and the proof we need to consider the matter of eternal life settled once and for all. The faith of the patriarchs and pious men from the Old Testament is recorded in Hebrews 11 as a testimony to those who believed in God even before Christ was born. What we know from this record is that very few of the people who descended from Abraham believed in God. In fact, the nation of Israel as a whole was considered to be living in unbelief throughout most of the Old Testament (Romans 11:23).

God did many miracles when he brought the people of Israel out of Egypt to bolster their faith (Exodus 4:1-9), and yet, when they arrived at the Promised Land, they didn’t have enough faith to go into the land and take possession of it (Numbers 14:11). Even Moses and Aaron’s faith faltered and caused them to die in the wilderness (Numbers 20:10-12). Forty years later, as they prepared to enter the land of Canaan, Moses told the people, “At Taberah also, and at Massah and at Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath. And when the LORD sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God and did not believe him or obey his voice. You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you” (Deuteronomy 9:22-24).

Rebellion against God causes unbelief (Numbers 20:24). The Greek word apistia (ap-is-teeˊ-ah) in a negative sense means disbelief or “unfaithfulness (disobedience)” (G570). A similar word, apistos (apˊ-is-tos) is “spoken of persons: withholding belief, incredulous, distrustful (Matthew 17:17; Mark 9:19; Luke 9:41; John 20:27; 2 Corinthians 4:4). By implication, heathen, pagan, i.e. those who have not believed on Christ (1 Corinthians 6:6; 7:12, 13, 14; 14:22)” (G571). Jesus referred to his disciples as faithless or unbelieving when they were unable to heal a boy possessed by a demon. Jesus asked them, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?” (Matthew 17:17).

It says in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God, “for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” The Greek words that are translated rewards, misthapodotes (mis-thap—od-otˊ-ace) which means “a recompenser” (G3406) and ginomai (ghinˊ-om-ahee) which is spoken of persons being born or coming into existence (G1096) suggest that the reward for believing in God is being born again, regeneration. This is consistent with John’s statement in his first letter, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Jesus explained recompense to a ruler of the Pharisees who invited him to dine at his house. Jesus said, “When you give a dinner or banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12-14). The resurrection of the just is when believers will be raised to life again (G386). Jesus said of this resurrection, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him” (Luke 20:34-38). Jesus was speaking of living, “in the sense of to exist, in an absolute sense and without end, now and hereafter: to live forever” (G2198).

It says of the Old Testament believers in Hebrews 11:13-16, “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” The purpose of believing in God is to achieve a better outcome from life than is possible from a material perspective. On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus told his disciples about the heavenly city that God is preparing for his human sons and daughters. Jesus encouraged them to, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

Believing in God is not something that comes natural to humans. It says in Ephesians 2:1-3 that we are dead in our trespasses and sins, “following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now are work in the sons of disobedience…and were by nature children of wrath” before coming to know Christ. Paul explained in his letter to the Ephesians that, “God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:4-9).

Although believing in God is not something we can do through our own efforts, it is something that God wants us to do. Therefore, it is an achievable task. Paul indicated in his letter to the Romans that the message of salvation is meant for everyone and “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13). What is necessary for one’s faith to be ignited is hearing the gospel. Paul asked, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:14-17). The key to believing in God is obedience. You must obey the gospel, do what it tells you to, if you want to receive God’s free gift of salvation.

Living  by faith

The prophet Habakkuk began his divinely inspired message with a complaint about the way God was dealing with the Jews’ sin. Habakkuk asked, “Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong?” (Habakkuk 1:3). Habakkuk thought God was indifferent to his situation, but discovered he had a plan in motion that was going to result in a much more severe punishment than Habakkuk expected. God explained, “For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, who march through the breadth of the earth, to seize dwellings not there own” (Habakkuk 1:5-6).

Habakkuk thought it was wrong for God to punish the Jews using a nation that was more wicked than they were. The thing that Habakkuk wasn’t considering was that God had a plan that went beyond the Jews immediate situation. God was preparing his chosen people for the role they were expected to play in the birth of his Son, Jesus Christ.

A critical piece of God’s plan of salvation was its dependence on faith. God’s plan was initiated based on Abraham’s demonstration of faith and required all who followed in his footsteps to demonstrate that same belief in God. It says in Genesis 15:6 that Abraham “believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

Righteousness is the result of being justified by God. It says in Romans 3:24 that believers are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Paul explained justification by faith in his letter to the Romans. Referring to Abraham believing God and it being counted to him as righteousness, Paul said, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the LORD will not count his sin'” (Romans 4:4-8).

Living by faith means that we don’t try to get to heaven on our own merit. The only way a person can avoid the penalty that must be paid to God for his sin is to accept the free gift of salvation that Jesus made available to everyone by dying in our place on the cross. Justification is the acquittal of a guilty person. Paul said, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:1-5).

Paul linked faith to the gospel and indicated it was the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16-17). Paul said in the gospel, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). Paul’s citation of Habakkuk 2:4 made it clear to everyone that the gospel existed prior to Jesus’ birth. God used Habakkuk’s message to ignite the faith of the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem after being exiled in Babylon.

Jesus set the example for living by faith through his perfect obedience to his Father’s will. It says in Hebrews 11:1 that faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Jesus told his disciples shortly before his death, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me” (John 16:16). Jesus wanted his disciples to know that his resurrection was certain because of his obedience to his Father’s will.

Paul explained in his letter to the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). Paul’s statement connected living by faith to a believer’s union with Christ. Living by faith is not something that believers can do on their own. It is through the filling of the Holy Spirit that we are able to obey God just as Jesus did.

Eternal redemption

Passover was a key celebration for the Jews that was established the night they were delivered from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 12:1-13) and continued through to the night before Jesus’ crucifixion (Matthew 26:17-25). On the first Passover, the Israelites were instructed to kill and eat a lamb that was “without blemish, a male a year old” (Exodus 12:5) and to “take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it…The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt” (Exodus 12:13). The blood on the doorposts and the lintel of the houses was a sign that the people inside had been redeemed by the blood of the lamb. Hebrews 9:22 tells us that “under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Jesus’ disciples prepared the Passover meal for him, not knowing that he was going to be crucified the next day. It says in Matthew 26:26-29:

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Jesus’ institution of what is now referred to as the Lord’s Supper was intended to replace Passover as the key celebration of God’s people. Paul indicated in his first letter to the Corinthians that he had received instruction from Jesus to celebrate the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of him, “until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

The redemption that Jesus provided through the shedding of his blood was different than that of the Passover lamb because it was a permanent solution to the human problem of sin (Hebrews 10:13). It says in Hebrews 9:11-14:

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Jesus’ sacrifice is described here as an eternal redemption that is able to purify our conscience from dead works. The Greek word that is translated conscience, suneidesis (soon-iˊ-day-sis) means “co-perception, i.e. moral consiousness” (G4893). The conscience makes it possible for us see things the way God does. The conscience is “that faculty of the soul which distinguishes between right and wrong and prompts one to choose the former and avoid the latter (John 8:9; Romans 2:15; 9:1; 13:5; 1 Corinthians 10:25, 27-29; 2 Corinthians 1:12; 8:7; 1 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:15; Hebrews 9:9, 14; 10:2, 22).”

Jesus is described as the mediator of a new covenant in Hebrews 9:15. A mediator is a “gobetween…one who intervenes between two parties” (G3316). Christ is our intercessor, a reconciler between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5) because he redeems people from the violation of God’s law (Hebrews 9:15). Hebrews 9:22 tells us, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Hebrews 9:23-28 goes on to explain, “Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Our eternal redemption is only partially realized here on earth. Sanctification, the process of restoring the divine image of God in man, is completed at death, when the Lord returns for our bodies. “Once we die and go and be with the Lord, our sanctification is completed in one sense, for our souls are set free from indwelling sin and are made perfect (glorification). However, since sanctification involves the whole person, including our bodies, it will not be entirely completed until the Lord returns, and we receive new resurrection bodies (Philippians 3:21)” (Fundamentals 2024, pg. 33). Paul spoke of this in his first letter to the Corinthians. Paul said, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:53-57).

The New Covenant

God revealed to the prophet Jeremiah that he was going to establish a new covenant with his people hundreds of years before Jesus came to fulfill that promise. The Hebrew word that is translated covenant, bᵉrîyth (ber-eethˊ) means a treaty or alliance. “This word is used to describe God’s making a covenant with humankind. It may be an alliance of friendship (Psalm 25:14). The covenants made between God and humans defined the basis of God’s character in the Old Testament” (H1285). God told Jeremiah:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

“This is one of the most important passages in the Old Testament and contains several specific aspects of the new covenant. It is a covenant with the whole, reunited nation of Israel, not the church, which is “grafted in” to Israel’s promised covenant (Romans 11:17-27). The realization of the covenant is based upon the full and eternal atonement secured by Christ’s death (cf. Matthew 26:26, 27, 1 Corinthians 11:24, 25; Hebrews 9:15), which is the only means by which God can forgive sins and remember them no more (Jeremiah 31:34). The covenant will be based on individual, personal knowledge of God (Jeremiah 31:33-34) and characterized by the indwelling of God’s Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26, 27; 37:14). It will be an everlasting, eternal covenant of peace, administered by the Prince of Peace who is in the line of David (Isaiah 9:6; 55:3; Ezekiel 34:23-25; 37:24-26)” (note on Jeremiah 31:31-34).

The first persons to receive the indwelling of the Holy Spirit after Jesus instituted the New Covenant (Matthew 26:26-29) were his disciples. After Jesus’ resurrection, it says in John 20:19-23, “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any it is withheld.”

Hebrews 8 focuses on Jesus’ institution of the New Covenant, referring to it as a better covenant because it was “enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). Jeremiah 31:31:34 is referenced in this section of Scripture, and a comment is made about the Old Covenant being obsolete (Hebrews 8:13). Hebrews 7:18-19 explains that the objective of God’s covenants with mankind was to make it possible for us to have a relationship with him. The Old Covenant wasn’t able to do that because it didn’t provide a means for the forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 7:18-19 states, “For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God.”

God described the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31:33-34, stating, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, for the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” An individual, personal knowledge of God is only possible through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This transaction takes place at the time a person is regenerated by God or what Jesus referred to as being born again (John 3:3). God said in Ezekiel 36:26-27, “I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

The New Covenant’s provision for forgiveness of sins was a central point of Jesus’ teaching and ministry. Paul emphasized this in his message of salvation to the Jews at Antioch. Paul stated:

And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

“‘You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you.’

And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

Therefore he says also in another psalm,

“‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. (Acts 13:32-39)

Paul used the term “good news” to describe his message about the New Covenant’s provision for forgiveness of sins. The Greek word that is translated good news, euaggelizo (yoo-ang-ghel-idˊ-zo) is where the English word evangelize comes from (G2097). An evangelist is someone who tells people about God’s provision for the forgiveness of sins.

Paul concluded his message of salvation with a declaration that the New Covenant’s forgiveness of sin could free a person from everything that you could not be freed from by the Old Covenant (Acts 13:39). Justification is to declare someone to be just as one should be, to pronounce right (G1344). Justification is bestowed by God on man through Christ and is the complete absolution from the consequences of our sin. Paul explained why God did this in his letter to the Romans. Paul stated, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace, as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:22-26).

An indestructible life

Jesus knew beforehand what was going to happen to him after he was crucified and his dead body was placed inside a tomb to rot. The Jews didn’t believe that Jesus was their Messiah and wanted him to prove to them that God had sent him as he claimed. They asked Jesus, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” (John 2:18). A sign is something that designates or distinguishes someone, and in Jesus case is, “a sign by which the divine power in majesty is made known, a supernatural event or act, a token, wonder, or miracle by which the power and presence of God is manifested, either directly or through the agency of those whom He sends” (G4592). John 2:19-22 tells us that, “Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews then said, ‘It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking about the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.”

The Scripture that the disciples believed was Psalm 16:10, which states, “For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” The latter part of this verse was quoted by Paul when he was preaching the gospel at Antioch. Paul said:

“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead, and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

‘You are my Son,
    today I have begotten you.’

And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’

Therefore he says also in another psalm,

‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

‘Look, you scoffers,
    be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days,
    a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”

As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. (Acts 13:26-43)

Paul identified an important distinction between Jesus and King David. Paul made it clear that after David died he “was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption” (Acts 13:36-37). The Greek word that is translated corruption, diaphthora (dee-af-thor-ahˊ) simply means decay (G1312). The fact that Jesus died and because of his resurrection, his body never had a chance to decay, was something that Paul wanted his listeners to understand.

Paul indicated that everyone who believes in Jesus is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses and then pointed his Jewish listeners to a prophecy in the book of Habakkuk that God used to answer Habbakuk’s complaint about the Jews’ corrupt lifestyle. God said, “Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told” (Habakkuk 1:5). Paul didn’t quote this Scripture verbatim. Instead, Paul adapted it to his audience, emphasizing the applicability of it to their situation. A scoffer is someone who is opposed to seeing things from God’s perspective, a person who spurns the truth of God’s word. Paul said the scoffer would be astounded and yet would perish, meaning the scoffer would understand the implications of Jesus’ resurrection and would choose to reject him and go to hell.

The unbelievable thing that God did in Habakkuk’s day was to have his people taken into captivity in Babylon. After that prophecy was fulfilled, Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles and told them, “For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:10-11). God brought the Jews back to their land and fulfilled his promise to give them a Messiah. Jesus’ resurrection three days after his crucifixion was evidence that God’s plan of salvation had accomplished what he intended it to. Hebrews 7:16-17 tells us that after his resurrection, Jesus became a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek, by the power of an indestructible life.

Paul described Jesus’ indestructible life as immortality. Paul said flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable (1 Corinthians 15:50), meaning that an indestructible life involves an unending existence and therefore it is not subject to decay (G861/862). Paul went on to say, “For this perishable body must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53), and then, he concluded, “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting’” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). Jesus’ miraculous victory over sin and death resulted not only in an indestructible life for him, but also for everyone who accepts him as their Savior. Paul concluded, “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).

Turning back

The Apostle Paul said at the end of his life that he had fought the good fight, he had finished his course (2 Timothy 4:7). Not all Christians make it to the end of their course. Jesus said in his explanation of the Parable of the Sower that when tribulation or persecution comes into a person’s life, some fall away (Matthew 13:21). The Israelites were notorious for wanting to turn back after they had been delivered from slavery in Egypt. Shortly before they crossed the Red Sea, it says in Exodus 14:10-12, “When Pharaoh drew near the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, ‘Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: “Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians”? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.’” When they reached the Promised Land, the people rebelled again. It says in Numbers 14:1-4:

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?” And they said to one another, “Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.”

God responded to the Israelites lack of faith by making them wander in the wilderness for forty years. The LORD said the people had rejected the land that he wanted to give them and would therefore be punished for their sin (Numbers 14:32, 34). God said, “And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness” (Numbers 14:33). Later, the Israelites were sent into captivity for seventy years because they were not willing to repent and turn to God for forgiveness (Jeremiah 25:1-14).

Hebrews 6:4-6 focuses on the problem of turning back after a person has made a profession of faith. It states:

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

“This much-debated passage likely discusses unbelievers who have ‘fallen away’ (v. 6) by consciously rejecting the spiritual enlightenment they have received (v. 4). They had experienced a taste of God’s goodness (v. 5) and may even have been part of the assembly. They had given intellectual assent to the truth of Christianity, but their apostasy demonstrated that their professed faith was not genuine. In turning away from the sacrifice of Christ, perhaps to return to the Judaism they previously espoused, they rejected the only means of salvation that God has provided. Their deliberate apostasy was so severe that they could not be ‘restored’ (anakainizein [344]) to repentance. Judas Iscariot is an example of one who, although outwardly associated with the things of the Lord, ultimately chose to turn away” (note on Hebrews 6:4-6).

Restoring someone to faith after they have turned back is impossible because unbelief is a conscious decision to reject the truth of God’s word. The person understands the gospel and knows that it is true, but doesn’t want to repent and seek God’s forgiveness. The person’s decision is made evident by their behavior such as when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Matthew 26:14-16). Hebrews 6:7-8 explains, “For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.”

The Apostle James warned believers against hearing the word of God and not doing what it tells us to. James said, “But be doers if the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For is anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:22-25). Perseverance is the ability to stay near to God even when he is disciplining us or testing our faith. Jesus said that we must abide in him if we want to be able to produce fruit and receive God’s blessing. He stated, “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:4-8).

Being made perfect

Jesus told his followers that they “must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), but he didn’t teach them how to achieve perfection. When a rich young man asked him what good deed he must do to have eternal life, Jesus’ response indicated that keeping the Ten Commandments wasn’t enough. Jesus said, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me” (Matthew 19:17-21). Selling your possessions and giving to the poor might not be that difficult for some people, but for the rich young man it went against everything he had been doing to live what he thought was a perfect life. It says in Matthew 19:22, “When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great wealth.”

Ephesians 4:13 tells us that perfection is about reaching spiritual maturity and that the standard we will be measured against is “the stature of the fullness of Christ.” A description of spiritual maturity can be found in Hebrews 5:14 where it says, “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” The Greek word that is translated trained, gumnazo (goom-nadˊ-zo) is translated “exercised” in the King James Version of the Bible. Gumnazo also appears in Hebrews 12:11, which states, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasurable, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Discipline is one of the key elements of being made perfect. Hebrews 12:7-8 explains that God is treating us as his children when he disciplines us and that we should see discipline as a normal part of Christian living.

Hebrews 5:8 tells that Jesus “learned obedience through what he suffered.” Jesus experienced excruciating pain while he was dying on the cross. It was not something that he wanted to do. The night before his crucifixion, Jesus prayed that he would not have to go through with it. Matthew tells us, “And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39). Doing his Father’s will was of supreme importance to Jesus. He told his disciples, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38). Jesus never waivered in his commitment to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). It says in Hebrews 4:15 that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Hebrews 5:10 indicates that Jesus was designated by God as “a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.” Melchizedek met Abraham when he was returning from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him (Genesis 14:17). Abraham “gave Melchizedek a tithe because, as priest of God Most High, Melchizedek was a representative of God” (note on Genesis 14:18-20). Hebrews 7:3 tells us that Melchizedek “is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.” Because of the resemblance of Melchizedek to Christ, the brief encounter between he and Abraham was the foundation of messianic prophecy (Psalm 110:4, cf. Hebrews 5:6, 10; 7:1-28).

The end result of Jesus being made perfect was that he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him (Hebrews 5:9). Salvation in the Christian sense “is deliverance from sin and its spiritual consequences and admission to eternal life with blessedness in the kingdom of Christ” (G4991). Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). Paul told the believers in Thessalonica that the will of God is your sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The Greek word that is translated sanctification, hagiasmos (hag-ee-as-mosˊ) “refers not only to the activity of the Holy Spirit in setting man apart unto salvation and transferring him into the ranks of the redeemed, but also to enabling him to be holy even as God is holy (2 Thessalonians 2:13).

It says in Hebrews 10:14 that by a single offering Jesus “has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Even though it might seem like you are still in the process of being made perfect, this Scripture indicates that Jesus’ death on the cross made you perfect for all time. When Jesus was confronted by some Pharisees who told him Herod was going to kill him, Jesus responded with a remark about being made perfect. Jesus said to them, “Go and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow and the third day I finish my course” (Luke 13:32). Paul echoed Jesus’ statement, not long before he was martyred. Paul told Timothy in his last letter to him, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7, KJSB). Keeping the faith and being made perfect go hand in hand because you cannot be partially saved, either you are, or you aren’t. Paul said, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). The end result, being made perfect, doesn’t depend on us, it depends on Christ’s finished work on the cross.

God’s rest

One of the Ten Commandments that God gave the Israelites after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt was directly related to his creation of the world. The fourth commandment is the longest and most detailed of the Ten Commandments and the Israelites’ braking of this commandment resulted in them being taken into captivity in Babylon. The LORD told the Israelites to:

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

The Hebrew word that is translated Sabbath, shabbath (shab-bawthˊ) means “intermission” (H7676). “The purpose of the Sabbath was rest for all God’s people; its basis was found in God’s cessation from work at Creation (Exodus 20:11; cf. Exodus 31:17); and Israel’s historic experience of forced labor in Egypt (Deuteronomy 5:15). Unfortunately, God’s people chose to utterly desecrate the Lord’s Sabbaths (Ezekiel 20:13, 16, 20). The high point of the religious year for Israel was the Day of Atonement which the author described as a Sabbath of Sabbaths (Leviticus 16:31; 23:32), a Sabbath of rest. Every seventh year was described as a Sabbath to the Lord or, using the same term employed for the Day of Atonement, a Sabbath of Sabbaths (Leviticus 25:4). During this time the land was to remain unplowed; thus, the land itself was to enjoy its Sabbaths (Leviticus 25:6; 26:34). When Israel was in exile, God remembered the land, giving it rest, so that it was refreshed by lying fallow for seventy years (Leviticus 26:34, 35, 43); enjoying its Sabbath that Israel had not observed (2 Chronicles 36:21).

Although the Sabbath rest was intended to be a physical cessation from work (Exodus 20:9), there were spiritual implications that were not well understood until Jesus came and died for the sins of the world. The Sabbath rest was a temporary earthly rest that pointed to a rest that is spiritual and eternal (note on Hebrews 4:1, KJSB). Jesus invited the crowds who were listening to his teaching to “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) and he promised them, “you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29). The reason why the Israelites were not able to enter into God’s rest was because of their unbelief (Hebrews 3:18). It says about the Israelites in Hebrews 4:2, “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united in faith with those who listened.” Faith is “reliance upon Christ for salvation” and is “the means of appropriating what God in Christ has for man, resulting in the transformation of man’s character and way of life” (G4102).

The Bible differentiates between the kind of work that humans are able to do, works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19), and the work that God does. It says in Hebrews 4:9-10, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.” The Sabbath rest mentioned in this Scripture is figuratively referring to “the quiet abode of those who will dwell with God in heaven” (G2663). God’s rest is entered into when a person stops attempting to get to heaven based on his own merit. It says in Hebrews 4:11 that we should strive to enter God’s rest, “so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” The Greek word that is translated disobedience, apeitheia (ap-iˊ-thi-ah) means “disbelief” or an “unwillingness to be persuaded” (G543). Striving to enter God’s rest means that we are making every effort to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, which states, “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The sort of disobedience or disbelief that caused the Israelites to fall was their reliance on false prophets rather than the word of God. It says in Hebrews 4:12-13:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Our minds are an open book with respect to the word of God. The word of God is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of our hearts (Hebrews 4:12). When Jesus was on the earth, he was able to read people’s minds, he not only knew what they were thinking (Matthew 9:4), but he also knew what emotions they were experiencing (John 16:6). Because nothing is hidden from his sight, Jesus is qualified to be our advocate (1 John 2:1) and to determine who is saved and who is not (Matthew 25:31-46). Only those who have not gone astray in their hearts and know the way, and the truth, and the life will enter God’s rest. “As it is said, ‘Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion…For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 3:15).