Message of Titus
The whole church must be trained and organized to teach and live out God‘s grace before the world.
The whole church must…
1. Be organized to minister God’s Grace .
2. Be taught the godly behavior that must result from applying God’s Grace.
3. Be reminded to work hard TO ACT according to what God‘s Grace has made it TO BE.
4.14 transitions into the next main section of Hebrews which makes the case that Jesus is a superior high priest. Believers must "hold fast" to their confession of Christ because he is the only one who has taken on and overcome our weaknesses and impurities and thus provides us access into the very presence of God. He can do this because Jesus has superior priestly qualifications, to those of the Levitical priests. He was directly appointed by God, he has experienced all the human issues caused by sin and weakness, and he is the perfect sacrifice and the eternal source of salvation.
Whatever the “test” or “temptation,” the one thing at stake is faithfulness, whether in Jesus’ case or ours. Jesus’ “sinlessness” here does not in any way qualify or limit his true humanity. It is not some abstract perfectionism, which we as humans cannot hope to emulate. It is, on the contrary, something this book explicitly calls us to emulate. To say that Jesus “did not sin” is simply to say that his faithfulness to God did not give out. Hebrews 4.14-5.10 365
5.11-6.20 is a parenthesis in which the author deals with a problem (lack of maturity) that needs to be dealt with before he can continue explaining Jesus' superior priesthood. The problem is that his audience has become lazy hearers who are immature in faith (5.11-14). He urges a solution: Move on to maturity by reading and applying the Word (6.1-3). If they don't respond appropriately they will stay immature, they will be fruitless, subject to severe discipline and may completely miss God's rest (6.4-8). If they respond well, their maturity will produce fruitful service, hope, experience of God and His promises and a stable assurance based on Jesus’ work as our High Priest (6.9-20).
Conversion or repentance that does not “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt 3:8; Luke 3:8, NIV) is not a rebirth but an aborted birth. So the author of Hebrews is unable to say, “Go back and try it over. Maybe you’ll get it right the next time.” There is no next time. The aborted birth, or apostasy, makes any real birth or transformation “impossible.” The question of whether the person in question was ever really “saved” or “converted” is moot, for salvation depends on the “end,” on how it all turns out, not on how it began. Hebrews 5.11-6.12, 375
Hope “leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary” in the person of Jesus, and in no other way, “entering” (6:19) and leading us in because Jesus first “entered” (6:20) on our behalf. Here again we glimpse Jesus as God’s “perfect leader,” being the first to “enter into God’s rest,” and as “the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him” (5:9). Hebrews 6.13-20, 379
Now the author returns to his discussion of Jesus' superior priesthood to that of the old covenant. His point is If Melchizedek is greater than Levi (1-10) and the priesthood he pre-figured is better than the Levitical & supersedes it (11-19) then Jesus’ priesthood is superior to Levi’s and replaces it (20-28). First he introduces Melchizedek with a focus on the eternal nature (Psalm 110.4) of his priesthood. He then makes the point that since Melchizedek received tithes from and blessed Abraham, his priesthood must be superior to that of Abraham's descendants, the Levites. He then cites Psalm 110 to show that the announcement of a superior priesthood necessitates a radical change in the law that initiated that priesthood. Finally he shows that Jesus' priesthood fulfills that call for a superior priesthood because it is eternal, saving and complete while the Levitical priesthood was temporary and weak.
What then was his point? Not that the Son of God did not become a human being but that his identity as Son is not dependent on his physical birth or human ancestry. As God’s Son, there is indeed “no beginning or end to his life,” and the same was true of Melchizedek... His priesthood neither begins nor ends with his death on the cross. It is an eternal priesthood, a point the author will develop in more detail in the remainder of the chapter. Hebrews 7.1-10, 385
At the end of the day, Jesus’ status as High Priest rests on his victory over death (2:14; 5:7) and his exaltation to God’s right hand (1:13). Hebrews 7.11-19, 386
Although the chapter is widely remembered as the “Melchizedek” chapter in Hebrews, only the first ten verses are really about Melchizedek. His sole function is to put the old Levitical priesthood in perspective, heralding a new priesthood and with it a new covenant in the person of Jesus. Once he has served his purpose, we hear nothing more of him. Hebrews 7.20-28, 388
Message of Ezra
God does not discard his chosen people but uses his word, uses opposition to his plan, raises up leaders among his people and in the world around them to remake and restore them when they fail. God overrules human failure by changing people’s hearts. He is faithful to those who trust Him and faithful to accomplish his promises for them.
The author of Hebrews urges his audience not to compromise because faith in Jesus alone is the superior way to salvation and the blessings of covenant. Jesus provides a superior revelation of God and a superior ministry to bring believers into the presence of God.
His was a fully human life lived not in some static eternity but in time, a life without sin and yet characterized by growth in obedience and movement through suffering toward “perfection,” that is, toward the full realization of God’s plan for that life in human salvation...Without solving the mystery of the two natures of the Son of God, Hebrews highlights Jesus’ humanity and divinity at the same time. The two natures mutually require and support each other, and not for the last time in Christian theology we are invited to marvel at the relationship between them. Hebrews Intro, 323
While Jesus accomplished our salvation “once for all” by his death on the cross, our experience of salvation in Hebrews is a journey, not a “blessed state,” and we are not truly saved until the journey is over. The warnings are simply a corollary of the inescapable fact that, like Abraham, we are on a pilgrimage. Hebrews Intro, 325
The letter opens with a description of Jesus as the ultimate prophet: the Son of God and ultimate revelation of God's image, nature, power and authority; the ultimate king who leads his people to victory over sin, death and the power of evil; the ultimate priest who provides complete reconciliation with and access to the very presence of the Father. Believers should resist the temptation to worship angels because they are only servants of the Son and of believers. In contrast, Jesus is the anointed Son of God who created everything and is the eternal ruler of the universe. He not only expressed perfectly the image and authority of God in human form, but He also triumphed over suffering, temptation, and death to be the savior of all people. Therefore, the letter warns those who were being tempted to "drift away" from Christ to pay closer attention to Jesus’ message and submit to it because it comes with superior confirmation and superior authority.
If the Son’s nature is the nature of God, what is his work? Quite clearly, his is the work of God. The Son does what God has always done: He creates the world, he sustains the world’s existence, and above all he speaks. He is the source of all revelation. Hebrews 1.1-4, 330
Here, if anywhere, we may hope to find clues about the place of angels in the theology of Hebrews. They are in some ways like priests and in other ways like prophets. Like priests they are worshipers, not objects of worship (see 12:22). Angels are “servants” (1:7), or “ministering spirits sent to serve” (1:14, NIV). Their “service” is a distinctly religious, even priestly service, a kind of shadow and perhaps an accompaniment of the priestly ministry of Jesus. Hebrews 1.5-14, 336–337
It is not that the law offers only a grim prospect of judgment, while salvation through Jesus Christ brings forgiveness and mercy. It is rather that grace carries with it greater sanctions and risks than the law because more is at stake. To refuse God’s grace is far more serious than breaking God’s law. Grace is available for those who disobey the law, but once grace is refused nothing else remains (cf. 10:26). Hebrews 2.1-4, 343
In 2.5-18 the author describes and validates Jesus' superior kingship. Jesus restores human, not angelic, rule over the creation order (5-9). The ascended Christ, as son of Man, defeated death and now rules invisibly and will rule visibly over the earth in the coming kingdom. The rest of the chapter explains why making Jesus king was the right thing to do. As the God-man (he became one of us) he was able to "pioneer" salvation for his people, deliver them from suffering by his own suffering, defeat their slavery to death, and prepare them to rule with him. Thus, We need to pay close attention to Jesus because he is the superior king. He has conquered the enemy, He has gone through everything we experience and He can deliver us to the greatest reward in the Kingdom.
Victory over death and the devil is one way of looking at the Cross and its significance. Another is as an atoning sacrifice. The first way is appropriate in relation to the whole world and the whole human race (2:14–15), but the second is more at home against the background of biblical history and in the setting of early Judaism with its rich tradition of priesthood and sacrifice (2:16–18). Hebrews 2.5-18, 351
In 3.1-4.13 the author applies the truths of the previous chapter. We need to be faithful to such a superior king. God's people must follow Jesus’ example of faithfulness; not Israel’s example of unfaithfulness. They should be faithful to their higher calling just as Christ was faithful to his calling which was greater than that of Moses rather than following Israel’s example of refusing to trust and act on God’s promises in their wilderness wanderings. Today believers should encourage one another to genuine faith so that we do not miss the experience of God’s rest. This is urgent and now is the time to trust God and make every effort to enter his rest by faith because God knows and is able to judge accurately and completely and bring you to maturity.
The author appeals to God’s ringing endorsement of Moses and his authority in order to make a point about Jesus: Just as God spoke more directly to Moses than to the prophets (much less to Aaron or Miriam), so God has now spoken more directly to (and through) the Son than to either Moses or the prophets (see 1:1). Hebrews 3.1-6, 354
So the “special rest” or “Sabbath observance” (see note on 4:9) is not an earthly rest or place of refuge but a heavenly rest in the sense of eternal salvation or life with God after death (see Rev 14:13, “Blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit … for they will rest from their hard work”). Hebrews 3.7-4.11, 360
God’s word was, and is, both spoken and written. God said it once through David, the author claims. It was written down and preserved as Holy Scripture, but when read aloud to assembled believers it comes alive again as God’s speech to a new generation. The author of Hebrews wrote his book to be read aloud, to be heard. What he wrote, no less than what the psalmist wrote, is God’s own voice, the voice of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 4.12-13, 361
Message of 2 Timothy
Endure in loyalty to the Lord and to His people, in faithful hard-working ministry despite difficulties, and in resisting false teachers, because the Lord will reward you in his Kingdom.
Don‘t give up! The church can never surrender because Jesus has already won the battle.
Message of First Timothy
Be faithful to fulfill your ministry by protecting the church from false doctrine, by leading the church‘s ministry effectively, by taking care of the church as if they were your own family, by being an example of godliness, and by teaching and leading others to the truth.
Message of Daniel
God still rules over the earth, despite the fact that God’s people are in exile and persecuted. The exile will end as Jeremiah predicted, but the period when Israel will be dominated and persecuted by Gentile powers (the “times of the Gentiles”) will be extended. After that time God will turn the kingdoms of this world over to the “Son of Man” who will rule the kingdom of God on earth. Until then, God’s people must be faithful despite persecution and trials.
