Bible Discussion Thread

Hebrews

I went through the Book of Hebrews this morning. Twice in fact. It gave me great joy in confirming some of the things God has taught me regarding how we are to approach the Bible and that we must allow the WHOLE Bible to be its own interpreter.

It also saddened me in that those who would see this as a message supporting some future glory and salvation plan for National Israel are not following the Biblical principles for interpreting scripture and are missing the glorious truths God is teaching in this Book about the Nature of Salvation for those of every nation whom God has and continues saving as He builds His eternal Kingdom, both during the Old and New Testament times.

That Christ spoke in parables and that the Old Testament sacrifices and other ceremonial laws were types and figures of the Nature of Salvation itself.

That those sacrifices could never take away sins and were pointing to the work that Christ performed in securing the salvation for everyone whom He came to save.

That salvation is 100% the work of Christ alone. And that out works contribute nothing.

That it was a warning to the New Testament churches to heed the lessons of National Isreal.

That it is a warning to each one of us to examine ourselves to make our calling and election sure.

That God has only one salvation plan for every individual from every nation whom He is saving throughout time.

That we are to walk by faith and not by sight.

And that God's salvation plan will be completed when Christ returns next.

I believe, David0920, this is your comment you wanted me to consider.

Reading what you wrote specifically in the second half of your comment page, I would state that I do fully agree with you. All your observances from the Letter to the Hebrews can be supported or learned from the texts. And yet, there are many other divisions within the Book itself that can be highlighted which articulates what the Hebrews writer was trying to convey in his letter. When we understand who the main readership was & the message that the writer was trying to get across to them (a little bit of hermeneutics here!), then not only what you have stated here, but other important Truths bear out to guide them & of course, us, as we study it.

So, it is true that the Church then & now would greatly benefit from the message of this letter, but we must always keep in the back of our minds that the primary reason for the letter was to believers who had come out of Judaism (as the Book title declares), showing & proving the great worth of Jesus their Savior, & to sternly admonish those who were not part of the Elect, professing but not possessing Christ in them, the Hope of Glory. I realize that what I've just written may not be what you were considering when you recently twice read this epistle, but I just add it (in few words), to complement what you had written about your observances.