“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10:38-39). 

These words summarize the major thrust of the book of Hebrews.  The writer cites the Old Testament axiom of the just living by faith and those who are God’s people doing the same in that present time.  Ponder three questions pertaining to personal faith and consider the overall question “How is your faith?”

1.  How is the Earnestness of Your Heeding?  The book of Hebrews begins with the exhortation of heeding.  “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip” (Heb. 2:1).  Retaining what one has learned is key to a strong faith.  The book of Hebrews begins with a series of details about the greatness of Christ over many highly respected facts and people of Hebrew history.  Since faith is to be “toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21), then it is necessary to hold on intensely to the facts of the Lord.  His deity, his sinless life, his infallible teaching, his death, burial and resurrection along with his ascension to heaven to serve as High Priest (cf. Heb. 8:1) are all facts that support faith in the heart of the believer.  How strongly one holds to the facts and sees the practical implications of those facts says much about one’s faith.

2.  How is the Exercising of Your Senses?  When addressing the difference between one who is still a babe and one who is maturing in the faith, it is stated, “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Heb. 5:14).  What one eats spiritually affects the inner man in every way.  After having eaten the right things, one must then exercise them as a part of one’s sensibilities in order to profit.  This physical allusion paints the clear picture that retention of information is heightened by practice of living.  The Bible speaks of saving faith being a working faith (cf. James 2:14-26).  The more one puts into practice the things learned in Scripture the more one knows by experience the truth of those principles.  Memorizing and quoting verses of the Bible do not necessarily depict a strong faith.  Remember that the devil can quote Scripture (cf. Matt. 4:6).

3.  How is the Endurance of Your Willpower?  It is further stated in Hebrews, “And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:11-12).  Endurance is a theme in the book of Hebrews (cf. Heb. 11:25; 12:1-2).  While facts of the faith hold the intellect and the love of God motivates the soul, the promises of God lead one to stay with the faith in Christ who will see the believer to the end.  Whenever there is a lapse in dedication, one can often look at the patience or endurance of one struggling as a root cause.  It is written, “For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise” (Heb. 10:36).  Pondering these thoughts, how is your faith?              

Jimmy Clark

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18). 

This is the first reference to the word ekklhsia, ekklesia, i.e. “church” in the New Testament.  The word comes from the lips of Jesus and involves his personal building of the church; namely “my church” (Matt. 16:18).  It is stated in the Old Testament, “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it” (Ps. 127:1).  While this particular passage in the psalm refers directly to building the family, the church is a family in a spiritual sense (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15).  It behooves all serious Bible students to ponder deeply and carefully into the mind of deity to see what are the real sensibilities of God toward the church.  What does the church mean to God?

1.  The Purpose of God from Eternity.  Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him” (Eph. 3:10-12).  Any who would say that the church was a mere afterthought in the mind of God due to the rejection of the Jews concerning Jesus and the kingdom cannot harmonize that position with Paul’s definitive declaration here.  The church is nothing more and nothing less than the very product of what God had in mind from eternity.  Before time and space, the eternal purpose of God was to bring the church into the world through the work of Jesus.  Those beings in heavenly places know that.  It is important for all mankind to know that.  The Old Testament is replete with citations of God’s purpose to establish the kingdom through the coming of the Messiah (cf. Dan. 2:44; 7:13-14).  That kingdom is realized in the church, the kingdom of heaven (cf. Matt. 16:18-19; Col. 1:13; Rev. 1:9).  What does deity think of the church? It is the essence of the eternal purpose of God.

2.  The Purchased Possession Through His Son.  Paul stated to the elders from Ephesus, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).  What value does God place upon the church? The blood of Christ is the answer.  One must value the church from this vantage point and never despise what God values.

3.  The Pillar and Ground of the Truth.  Paul wrote to Timothy, “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).  The God of truth (cf. Deut. 32:4) expects his people to “speak the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15), loving while it “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6), to “speak every man truth with his neighbour” (Eph. 4:25) and many other activities tied to truth with like passages of reference.  Each lost soul which came to the saved relationship with God became purified “in obeying the truth” (1 Peter 1:22).  One is sanctified by the truth, which is the word of God (cf. John 17:17).  Therefore, the church is to continue to have “the love of the truth, that they might be saved” (2 Thess. 2:10).                                    

Jimmy Clark