More than a religious action....
“16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” (*quoting Jeremiah 31:33) 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (*quoting Jeremiah 31:34) 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” -Hebrews 10:16-17 NIV
The primary purpose of the Letter to the Hebrews is to exhort Christians to persevere in the face of persecution. The central thought of the entire Epistle is the doctrine of the Person of Christ and his role as mediator between God and humanity. No author is internally named. Since the earliest days of the Church, the authorship has been debated. In the 4th century, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo supported: the Church largely agreed to include Hebrews as the fourteenth letter of Paul, and affirmed this authorship until the Reformation. However, many scholars now believe that the author was one of Paul's pupils or associates, citing stylistic differences between Hebrews and the other Pauline epistles. The epistle opens with an exaltation of Jesus as "the radiance of God's glory, the express image of his being, and upholding all things by his powerful word."[ The epistle presents Jesus with the titles "pioneer" or "forerunner," "Son" and "Son of God," "priest" and "high priest." It has been described as an "intricate" New Testament book. The epistle casts Jesus as both exalted Son and high priest, a unique dual Christology.
As I re-read Hebrews 10:16-17, the authors grammatical tense and selection of Old Testament quotations captured my attention.
Let’s go vs 16, “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time...” From this statement I can conclude that the author is about to roll out a “new” covenant that will be established “after that time...”
First things first.
In order to answer the question, “after what time?” I need to read the entire text the author is referencing.
Let’s go Jeremiah 31:1-33. In this section of text, I found Jeremiah discussing:
A. God’s sovereignty.
B. God’s desire for all people to know and be in a genuine growing relationship with Him.
C. God’s faithfulness to respond (this is often outside my timeline).
D. Obedience to the Old Testament law.
E. Discipline.
F. A promise to bring the people back from captivity. (When? Unknown.)
Wow, this sounds a bit like a few sections of my life’s story!
Respectable guidance from my dad, a close mentor, an old friend, and what do I do.... not listen / do what I want! What are the results of not listening? Discovering things through consequences / discipline.
Let’s jump back into Hebrews 10:16-17,
“I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” (*quoting Jeremiah 31:33) 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (*quoting Jeremiah 31:34) 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” -Hebrews 10:16-17 NIV
Now that sounds like Good News in the midst of everyday life!
- God will put HIs laws in my heart, and He will write them on my mind.
- My sin and lawless acts (sin/lawless act = that violates a known moral rule in a religion. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Sin can refer not only to physical actions taken, but also to thoughts and internalized motivations and feelings. Colloquially, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, shameful, harmful, or alienating might be termed "sinful".) God will remember no more!
- Why? look at verse 18
- And where I have been forgiven (my sin and lawless acts), sacrifice (Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship) is no longer necessary.
- A.K.A.: God is the ultimate / final judge of every individual. He states, I’m forgiving and sacrifice is no longer necessary.
Four questions come to mind,
A) Why should I desire to be ‘forgiven?’
B) What does it mean to be ‘forgiven’ by God? The concepts of ‘forgiveness’ suggest that I have an offense with God - hmm....
C) How does God issue ‘forgiveness?’
D) How does God’s ‘forgiveness’ play out for those prior / after the establishment of the ‘new’ covenant? A.K.A. How does it play out for me?
Okay, I can go on and on today; however, my time is limited.
If I’m really about developing a relationship God verses merely being apart of some religious movement / organization. A vital aspect to my relationship with God - as well as to my understanding of God - to wrestle with these and other questions via my interactions with Him via reading the Bible.
- Reading alone is like asking my wife to go see a movie and then never interacting about it -(lol)- if I’m wise I’m not going down that road.
- Observing, reading, and questioning / interacting (via writing out my thoughts, questions, and interaction with the text via observations / applications) moves this from a practical / logical routine into a relational aspect.
This is really “good news” / something I would share!
- Trevor
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