Reference: Hebrews, The Epistle To The
Fausets
Canonicity. - Clement of Rome (1st century A.D.) refers to it oftener than any other canonical New Testament book, adopting its words as on a level with the rest of the New Testament. As the writer of this epistle claims authority Clement virtually sanctions it, and this in the apostolic age. Westcott (Canon, 22) observes, it seems transfused into Clement's mind. Justin Martyr quotes its authority for applying the titles "apostle" and "angel" to the Son of God. Clement of Alexandria refers it to Paul, on the authority of Pantaenus of Alexandria (in the middle of the second century) saying that as Jesus is called the "apostle" to the Hebrew, Paul does not in it call himself so, being apostle to the Gentiles; also that Paul prudently omitted his name at the beginning, because the Hebrew were prejudiced against him; that it was originally written in Hebrew for the Hebrew, and that Luke translated it into Greek for the Greeks, whence the style resembles that of Acts.
He however quotes the Greek epistle as Paul's, so also Origen; but in his Homilies he regards the style as more Grecian than Paul's but the thoughts as his. "The ancients who handed down the tradition of its Pauline authorship must have had good reason for doing so, though God alone knows the certainty who was the actual writer," i.e. probably the transcriber or else interpreter of Paul's thoughts. The Peshito old Syriac version has it. Tertullian in the beginning of the third century, in the African church, ascribes it to Barnabas. Irenaeus in Eusebius quotes it. About the same time Caius the presbyter of Rome mentions only 13 epistles of Paul, whereas if epistle to Hebrew were included there would be 14.
The Canon fragment of Muratori omits it, in the beginning of the third century. (See CANON.) The Latin church did not recognize it as Paul's for a long time subsequently. So Victorinus, Novatian of Rome, and Cyprian of Carthage. But in the fourth century Hilary of Poitiers (A.D. 368), Lucifer of Cagliari (A.D. 371), Ambrose of Milan (A.D. 397), and other Latins quote it as Paul's; the fifth council of Carthage (A.D. 419) formally recognizes it among his 14 epistles.
Style. - The partial resemblance of Luke's style to it is probably due to his having been companion of Paul: "each imitated his teacher; Luke imitated Paul flowing along with more than river fullness; Mark imitated Peter who studied brevity" (Chrysostom). But more familiarity with Jewish feeling, and with the peculiarities of their schools, appears in this epistle than in Luke's writings. The Alexandrian phraseology does not prove Apollos' authorship (Alford's theory). The Alexandrian church would not have so undoubtingly asserted Paul's authorship if Apollos their own countryman had really been the author. Paul, from his education in Hebrew at Jerusalem, and in Hellenistic at Tarsus, was familiar with Philo's modes of thought. At Jerusalem there was an Alexandrian synagogue (Ac 6:9).
Paul knew well how to adapt himself to his readers; to the Greek Corinthians who idolized rhetoric his style is unadorned, that their attention might be fixed on the gospel alone; to the Hebrew who were in no such danger he writes to win them (1Co 9:20) in a style attractive to those imbued with Philo's Alexandrian conceptions and accustomed to the combination of Alexandrian Greek philosophy and ornament with Judaism. All the Old Testament quotations except two (Heb 10:30; 13:5) are from the Septuagint, which was framed at Alexandria. The interweaving of the Septuagint peculiarities into the argument proves that the Greek epistle is an original, not a translation. The Hebrew Old Testament would have been quoted, had the original epistle been Hebrew
Pauline authorship. - This is further favored by internal evidence. The superiority of Christianity to Judaism in that the reality exceeds the type is a favorite topic of Paul. Compare this epistle with 2Co 3:6-18; Ga 3:23-25; 4:1-9,21-31. Herein allegorical interpretation, which the Alexandrians strained unduly, is legitimately under divine guidance employed. The divine Son is represented as the image of God; compare Heb 1:3, etc., with Paul's undoubted epistles, Php 2:6; Col 1:15-20; His lowering Himself for man's sake (Heb 2:9) with 2Co 8:9; Php 2:7-8; His final exaltation (Heb 2:8; 10:13; 12:2) with 1Co 15:25-27; His "mediator" (unique to Paul) office (Heb 8:6) with Ga 3:19-20; His sacrifice for sin prefigured by the Jewish sacrifices (Hebrews 7-10) with Ro 3:22-26; 1Co 5:7. "God of peace" is a phrase unique to Paul (Heb 13:20 with Ro 15:33; 1Th 5:23).
So "distributed gifts of the Holy Spirit" (Heb 2:4) with (Greek) "divisions of gifts ... the same Spirit" (1Co 12:4); "righteousness by faith" (Heb 10:38; 11:7) with the same quotation (Hab 2:4); Ro 1:17; 4:22; 5:1; Ga 3:11; Php 3:9. "The word of God ... the sword of the Spirit" (Heb 4:12) with Eph 6:17. Inexperienced Christians are "children needing milk," i.e. elementary teaching; riper Christians, as full grown men, require strong meat (Heb 5:12-13; 6:1 with 1Co 3:1-2; 14:20; Ga 4:9; Eph 4:13). Believers have "boldness of access to God by Christ" (Heb 10:19 with Ro 5:2; Eph 2:18; 3:12). Afflictions are a fight (Heb 10:32 with Php 1:30; Col 2:1).
The Christian life is a race (Heb 12:1 with 1Co 9:24; Php 3:12-14). The Jewish ritual is a service (Heb 9:1-6 with Ro 9:4); a "bondage," as not freeing us from consciousness of sin and fear of death (Heb 2:15 with Ga 5:1). Paul's characteristic "going off at a word" into a long parenthesis, playing upon like sounding words, and repeating favorite words, quotations from the Old Testament linked by "and again" (Heb 1:5; 2:12-13, with Ro 15:9-12; 2:8 with 1Co 15:27; Eph 1:22; 6:24 with Ro 12:19).
Reception in the East before the West. - No Greek father ascribes the epistle to any but Paul, for it was to the Hebrew of Alexandria and Palestine it was mainly addressed; but in the western and Latin churches of N. Africa and Rome, which it did not reach for some time, it was long doubted owing to its anonymous form, not opening as other epistles though closing like them; its Jewish argument; and its less distinctively Pauline style. Insufficient evidence for it, not positive evidence against it, led these for the first three centuries not to accept it. The fall of Jerusalem previous to the full growth of Christianity in N. Africa curtailed: contact between its churches and those Jews to whom this epistle is undressed. The epistle was, owing to distance, little known to the Latin churches. Muratori's Canon does not notice it.
When in the fourth century at last they found it was received as Pauline and canonical (the Alexandrians only doubted its authorship, not its authority) on good grounds in the Greek churches, they universally accepted it. The churches of the East and Jerusalem their center, the quarter to which the epistle was first sent, received it as Paul's, according to Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (A.D. 349). Jerome, though bringing from Rome the Latin prejudice against this epistle, aggravated by its apparent sanction of the Novatian heresy (Heb 6:4-6), was constrained by the almost unanimous testimony of the Greek churches from the first to receive it as Paul's; after him Rome corrected its past error of rejecting it. Augustine too held its canonicity. What gives especial weight to the testimony for it of the Alexandrian church is, that church was founded by Mark, who was with Paul at Rome in his first confinement, when probably this epistle was written (Col 4:10), and possibly bore it to Jerusalem where his mother resided, visiting Colosse on the way, and from Jerusalem to Alexandria.
Peter also (2Pe 3:15-16), the apostle of the circumcision, in addressing the Hebrew Christians of the dispersion in the East, says, "as our beloved brother Paul ... hath written unto you," i.e. to the Hebrew. By adding "as also in all his epistles" he distinguishes the epistle to the Hebrew from the rest; and by classing it with the "other Scriptures" he asserts at once its Pauline authorship and divine inspiration. A generous testimony of Christian love to one who formerly rebuked him (Ga 2:7-14).
The apostle of the circumcisio
See Verses Found in Dictionary
"Notice their arrogance they have no inward uprightness but the righteous will live by their faith.
They made it their practice to sell their possessions and goods and to distribute the proceeds to anyone who was in need.
since none of them needed anything, because everyone who had land or houses would sell them and bring the money received for the things sold
But some men who belonged to the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), as well as some Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and men from Cilicia and Asia, stood up and began to debate with Stephen.
So all of the disciples decided they would send a contribution to the brothers living in Judea, as they were able,
Paul looked straight at the Council and said, "Brothers, with a clear conscience I have done my duty before God up to this very day."
Therefore, I always do my best to have a clear conscience before God and people.
For in the gospel God's righteousness is being revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, "The righteous will live by faith."
but wrath and fury for those who in their selfish pride refuse to believe the truth and practice wickedness instead.
God's righteousness through the faithfulness of Jesus the Messiah for all who believe. For there is no distinction among people, since all have sinned and continue to fall short of God's glory. read more. By his grace they are justified freely through the redemption that is in the Messiah Jesus, whom God offered as a place where atonement by the Messiah's blood would occur through faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because he had waited patiently to deal with sins committed in the past. He wanted to demonstrate at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies anyone who has the faithfulness of Jesus.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus the Messiah. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace by which we have been established, and we boast because of our hope in God's glory.
who are Israelis. To them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises.
If the first part of the dough is holy, so is the whole batch. If the root is holy, so are the branches. Now if some of the branches have been broken off, and you, a wild olive branch, have been grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, read more. do not boast about being better than the other branches. If you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. Then you will say, "Branches were cut off so that I could be grafted in." That's right! They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you remain only because of faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid! For if God did not spare the natural branches, he certainly will not spare you, either. Consider, then, the kindness and severity of God: his severity toward those who fell, but God's kindness toward you if you continue receiving his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off. If the Jews do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in. After all, if you were cut off from what is naturally a wild olive tree, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier it will be for these natural branches to be grafted back into their own olive tree!
Your love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.
Do not take revenge, dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath. For it is written, "Vengeance belongs to me. I will pay them back, declares the Lord."
Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and do not obey your flesh and its desires.
so that the gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "That is why I will praise you among the gentiles; I will sing praises to your name." Again he says, "Rejoice, you gentiles, with his people!" read more. And again, "Praise the Lord, all you gentiles! Let all the nations praise him." And again, Isaiah says, "There will be a Root from Jesse. He will rise up to rule the gentiles, and the gentiles will hope in him."
because the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have been eager to share their resources with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.
Now may the God who grants peace be with all of you! Amen.
Brothers, I couldn't talk to you as spiritual people but as worldly people, as mere infants in the Messiah. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, because you weren't ready for it. And you're still not ready!
To the Jews I became like a Jew in order to win Jews. To those under the Law I became like a man under the Law, in order to win those under the Law (although I myself am not under the Law).
You know that in a race all the runners run but only one wins the prize, don't you? You must run in such a way that you may be victorious.
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit,
Brothers, stop being childish in your thinking. Be like infants with respect to evil, but think like adults.
For he must rule until God puts all the Messiah's enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be done away with is death, read more. for "God has put everything under his feet." Now when he says, "Everything has been put under him," this clearly excludes the one who put everything under him.
for "God has put everything under his feet." Now when he says, "Everything has been put under him," this clearly excludes the one who put everything under him.
I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. If anyone doesn't love the Lord, let him be ! read more. May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you!
who has also qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, which is not written but spiritual, because the written text brings death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death that was inscribed in letters of stone came with such glory that the people of Israel could not gaze on Moses' face (because the glory was fading away from it), read more. will not the Spirit's ministry have even more glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, then the ministry of justification has an overwhelming glory. In fact, that which once had glory lost its glory, because the other glory surpassed it. For if that which fades away came through glory, how much more does that which is permanent have glory? Therefore, since we have such a hope, we speak very boldly, not like Moses, who kept covering his face with a veil to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of what was fading away. However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with the Messiah is that veil removed. Yet even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord's Spirit is, there is freedom. As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are becoming more like him with ever-increasing glory by the Lord's Spirit.
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Although he was rich, for your sakes he became poor, so that you, through his poverty, might become rich.
In fact, they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised. For the one who worked through Peter by making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me by sending me to the gentiles. read more. So when James, Cephas, and John (who were reputed to be leaders) recognized the grace that had been given me, they gave Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the gentiles and they to the circumcised. The only thing they asked us to do was to remember the destitute, the very thing I was eager to do. But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly wrong. Until some men arrived from James, he was in the habit of eating with the gentiles, but after those men came, he withdrew from the gentiles and would not associate with them any longer, because he was afraid of the circumcision party. The other Jews also joined him in this hypocritical behavior, to the extent that even Barnabas was caught up in their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas in front of everyone, "Though you are a Jew, you have been living like a gentile and not like a Jew. So how can you insist that the gentiles must live like Jews?"
Now it is obvious that no one is justified in the sight of God by the Law, because "The righteous will live by faith."
Why, then, was the Law added? Because of transgressions, until the descendant came about whom the promise pertained. It was put into effect through angels by means of a mediator. Now a mediator involves more than one party, but God is one.
Now before faith came about, we were held in custody and confined under the Law in preparation for the faith that was to be revealed. And so the Law was our guardian until the Messiah came, so that we might be justified by faith. read more. But now that faith has come about, we are no longer under a guardian.
Now what I am saying is this: As long as an heir is a child, he is no better off than a slave, even though he owns everything. Instead, he is placed under the care of guardians and servant managers until the time set by the father. read more. It was the same way with us. While we were children, we were slaves to the basic principles of the world. But when the appropriate time had come, God sent his Son, born by a woman, born under the Law, in order to redeem those who were under the Law, and thus to adopt them as his children. Now because you are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts to cry out, "Abba! Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if you are a child, then you are also an heir because of what God did. However, in the past, when you did not know God, you were slaves to things that are not really gods at all. But now that you know God, or rather have been known by God, how can you turn back again to those powerless and bankrupt basic principles? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?
But now that you know God, or rather have been known by God, how can you turn back again to those powerless and bankrupt basic principles? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?
Tell me, those of you who want to live under the Law: Are you really listening to what the Law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and the other by a free woman. read more. Now the slave woman's son was conceived through human means, while the free woman's son was conceived through divine promise. This is being said as an allegory, for these women represent two covenants. The one woman, Hagar, is from Mount Sinai, and her children are born into slavery. Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to present-day Jerusalem, because she is in slavery along with her children. But the heavenly Jerusalem is the free woman, and she is our spiritual mother. For it is written, "Rejoice, you childless woman, who cannot give birth to any children! Break into song and shout, you who feel no pains of childbirth! For the children of the deserted woman are more numerous than the children of the woman who has a husband." So you, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac. But just as then the son who was conceived according to the flesh persecuted the son who was conceived according to the Spirit, so it is now. But what does the Scripture say? "Drive out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman." So then, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.
The Messiah has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. So keep on standing firm in it, and stop putting yourselves under the yoke of slavery again.
God has put everything under the Messiah's feet and has made him the head of everything for the good of the church,
For through him, both of us have access to the Father by one Spirit.
in whom we have boldness and confident access through his faithfulness.
until all of us are united in the faith and in the full knowledge of God's Son, and until we attain mature adulthood and the full standard of development in the Messiah.
also take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
May grace be with all who sincerely love the Lord Jesus, the Messiah!
You have the same struggle that you saw in me and now hear that I am still having.
In God's own form existed he, and shared with God equality, deemed nothing needed grasping. Instead, poured out in emptiness, a servant's form did he possess, a mortal man becoming. In human form he chose to be, read more. and lived in all humility, death on a cross obeying.
Having been circumcised on the eighth day, I am of the nation of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews. As far as the Law is concerned, I was a Pharisee.
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the Law, but one that comes through the faithfulness of the Messiah, the righteousness that comes from God and that depends on faith.
It's not that I have already reached this goal or have already become perfect. But I keep pursuing it, hoping somehow to embrace it just as I have been embraced by the Messiah Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have embraced it yet. But this one thing I do: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, read more. I keep pursuing the goal to win the prize of God's heavenly call in the Messiah Jesus.
and might thank the Father, who has enabled us to share in the saints' inheritance in the light.
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether they are kings, lords, rulers, or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. read more. He himself existed before anything else did, and he holds all things together. He is also the head of the body, which is the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself might have first place in everything. For God was pleased to have all of his divine essence inhabit him. Through the Son, God also reconciled all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, thereby making peace through the blood of his cross.
For I want you to know how much I struggle for you, for those in Laodicea, and for all who have never seen me face to face.
Devote yourselves to prayer. Be alert and thankful when you pray.
Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. You have received instructions about him. If he comes to you, welcome him.
This greeting is written with my own signature "Paul." Remember that I remain imprisoned. May grace be with you! Amen.
I, Paul, am writing this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine. It is the way I write. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, be with all of you. Amen.
At the right time he revealed his message through the proclamation that was entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.
He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact likeness of his being, and he holds everything together by his powerful word. After he had provided a cleansing from sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Highest Majesty
For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son. Today I have become your Father"? Or again, "I will be his Father, and he will be my Son"?
while God added his testimony through signs, wonders, various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
and put everything under his feet." Now when God put everything under him, he left nothing outside his control. However, at the present time we do not yet see everything put under him. But we do see someone who was made a little lower than the angels. He is Jesus, who is crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might experience death for everyone.
when he says, "I will announce your name to my brothers. I will praise you within the congregation." And again, "I will trust him." And again, "I am here with the children God has given me."
and might free those who were slaves all their lives because they were terrified by death.
thereby becoming like his brothers in every way, so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and could atone for the people's sins.
There remains, therefore, a Sabbath rest for the people of God to keep,
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul and spirit, joints and marrow, as it judges the thoughts and purposes of the heart.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us live our lives consistent with our confession of faith. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Instead, we have one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet he never sinned. read more. So let us keep on coming boldly to the throne of grace, so that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
In fact, though by now you should be teachers, you still need someone to teach you the basic truths of God's word. You have become people who need milk instead of solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is still a baby and does not yet know the difference between right and wrong.
Therefore, leaving behind the elementary teachings about the Messiah, let us continue to be carried along to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead actions, faith toward God,
For it is impossible to keep on restoring to repentance time and again people who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have become partners with the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of God's word and the powers of the coming age, read more. and who have fallen away, as long as they continue to crucify the Son of God to their own detriment by exposing him to public ridicule.
However, if it continues to produce thorns and thistles, it is worthless and in danger of being cursed, and in the end will be burned.
However, if it continues to produce thorns and thistles, it is worthless and in danger of being cursed, and in the end will be burned.
For God is not so unjust as to forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have ministered to the saints and continue to minister to them.
Now this man Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of the Most High God, met Abraham and blessed him when he was returning from defeating the kings. Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything. In the first place, his name means "king of righteousness," and then he is also king of Salem, that is, "king of peace." read more. He has no father, mother, or genealogy, no birth date recorded for him, nor a date of death. Like the Son of God, he continues to be a priest forever. Just look at how great this man was! Even Abraham the patriarch himself gave him a tenth of what he had captured! The descendants of Levi who accept the priesthood have a commandment in the Law to collect a tenth from the people, that is, from their own brothers, even though they are also descendants of Abraham. But this man, whose descent is not traced from them, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the man who had received the promises. It is beyond dispute that the less important person is blessed by the more important person. Mortal men collect tithes, but we are informed by Scripture that Melchizedek keeps on living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because Levi was still inside his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.
Now if he were on earth, he would not even be a priest, because other men offer the gifts prescribed by the Law. They serve in a sanctuary that is a copy, a shadow of the heavenly one. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tent: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain." read more. However, Jesus has now obtained a more superior ministry, since the covenant he mediates is founded on better promises.
In speaking of a "new" covenant, he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was set up, and in the first part were the lamp stand, the table, and the bread of the Presence. This was called the Holy Place. read more. Behind the second curtain was the part of the tent called the Most Holy Place, which had the gold altar for incense and the Ark of the Covenant completely covered with gold. In it were the gold jar holding the manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the Tablets of the Covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of atonement. (We cannot discuss these things in detail now.) When everything had been arranged like this, the priests always went into the first part of the tent to perform their duties.
When everything had been arranged like this, the priests always went into the first part of the tent to perform their duties. But only the high priest went into the second part, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins committed by the people in ignorance.
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are unclean purifies them physically, how much more will the blood of the Messiah, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead actions so that we may serve the living God! read more. This is why the Messiah is the mediator of a new covenant; so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance promised them, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the offenses committed under the first covenant. For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will is in force only when somebody has died, since it never takes effect as long as the one who made it is alive. This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. For after every commandment in the Law had been spoken to all the people by Moses, he took the blood of calves and goats, together with some water, scarlet wool, and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that God ordained for you." In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and everything used in worship. In fact, under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness. Thus it was necessary for these earthly copies of the things in heaven to be cleansed by these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves are made clean with better sacrifices than these. For the Messiah did not go into a sanctuary made by human hands that is merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, to appear now in God's presence on our behalf. Nor did he go into heaven to sacrifice himself again and again, the way the high priest goes into the Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the creation of the world. But now, at the end of the ages, he has appeared once for all to remove sin by his sacrifice. Indeed, just as people are destined to die once and after that to be judged, so the Messiah was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people. And he will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly wait for him.
For the Law, being only a reflection of the blessings to come and not their substance, can never make perfect those who come near by the same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year. Otherwise, would they not have stopped offering them, because the worshipers, cleansed once for all, would no longer be aware of any sins? read more. Instead, through those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. For this reason, the Scriptures say, when the Messiah was about to come into the world: "You did not want sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me. In burnt offerings and sin offerings you never took delight. Then I said, "See, I have come to do your will, O God' In the volume of the scroll this is written about me." In this passage he says, "You never wanted or took delight in sacrifices, offerings, burnt offerings, and sin offerings," which are offered according to the Law. Then he says, "See, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By God's will we have been sanctified once and for all through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus, the Messiah. Day after day every priest stands and repeatedly offers the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God." Since that time, he has been waiting for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet.
Since that time, he has been waiting for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. read more. The Holy Spirit also assures us of this, for he said: "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts and will write them on their minds, and I will never again remember their sins and their lawless deeds." Now where there is forgiveness of these sins, there is no longer any offering for sin. Therefore, my brothers, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,
Therefore, my brothers, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,
let us continue to come near with sincere hearts in the full assurance that faith provides, because our hearts have been sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. Let us continue to hold firmly to the hope that we confess without wavering, for the one who made the promise is faithful.
not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another even more as you see the day of the Lord coming nearer.
For we know the one who said, "Vengeance belongs to me; I will pay them back," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
But you must continue to remember those earlier days, how after you were enlightened you endured a hard and painful struggle.
For you sympathized with the prisoners and cheerfully submitted to the violent seizure of your property, because you know that you have a better and more permanent possession.
For you sympathized with the prisoners and cheerfully submitted to the violent seizure of your property, because you know that you have a better and more permanent possession.
For "in a very little while the one who is coming will return he will not delay; but my righteous one will live by faith, and if he turns back, my soul will take no pleasure in him."
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, reverently prepared an ark to save his family, and by faith he condemned the world and inherited the righteousness that comes by faith.
Therefore, having so vast a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, and throwing off everything that hinders us and especially the sin that so easily entangles us, let us keep running with endurance the race set before us, fixing our attention on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, who, in view of the joy set before him, endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
You have not come to something that can be touched, to a blazing fire, to darkness, to gloom, to a trumpet's blast, or to a voice that made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them. read more. For they could not endure the command that was given: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death." Indeed, the sight was so terrifying that Moses said, "I am trembling with fear." Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to tens of thousands of angels joyfully gathered together, to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, to a judge who is the God of all, to the spirits of righteous people who have been made perfect,
The expression "once more" signifies the removal of what can be shaken, that is, what he has made, so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Continue to remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them, as well as those who are mistreated, since they also are only mortal.
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for God has said, "I will never leave you or abandon you."
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for God has said, "I will never leave you or abandon you."
Remember your leaders, those who have spoken God's word to you. Think about the impact of their lives, and imitate their faith.
Remember your leaders, those who have spoken God's word to you. Think about the impact of their lives, and imitate their faith.
We have an altar, and those who serve in the tent have no right to eat at it.
That is why Jesus, in order to sanctify the people by his own blood, also suffered outside the city gate. Therefore go to him outside the camp and endure the insults he endured. read more. For here we have no permanent city but are looking for the one that is coming.
Continue to follow and be submissive to your leaders, since they are watching over your souls as those who will have to give a word of explanation. By doing this, you will be letting them carry out their duties joyfully, and not with grief, for that would be harmful for you.
I especially ask you to do this so that I may be brought back to you sooner. Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep,
I urge you, brothers, to listen patiently to my encouraging message, for I have written you a short letter. You should know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes soon, he will be with me when I see you. read more. Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy greet you.
Think of our Lord's patience as facilitating salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, leading to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.