We Are Not Of Them Who Draw Back (Hebrews 10:38,39)
Aug 12, 2018 9:23:24 GMT -5
John, frienduff, and 2 more like this
Post by tlsitd on Aug 12, 2018 9:23:24 GMT -5
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. (Hebrews 10:38,39 KJV)
"...But My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:38,39 ESV)
The people of Israel had everything that they needed to go up and take the land of Canaan when God told them to go up. He was with them to defeat their enemies and was faithful to do what He had promised to do for them. Joshua and Caleb believed in their God, but the rest of the people saw the giants and the fortified cities and the armies and gave up on God, and wanted to return to Egypt where life was easier. They even wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb for exhorting them to believe in their God and do what He had commanded them, in order to inherit what He had promised them. And so the people rebelled by drawing back when God told them to go up, and as a result He condemned them to die in the wilderness, because they did not believe in Him and refused to obey His voice. (See Numbers 13 & 14.)
Brothers and sisters, it is not merely what we say that we believe, or what we believe in our heads, or even in our hearts, that benefits us spiritually and which God recognizes and commends, but what we do according to what we believe or say that we believe.
If Noah, having been warned by God to build an ark to save himself and his family from the flood that God was getting ready to bring on the world had not actually done what God had told him to do, would he have saved his life?
It was because Abraham believed God's promise to him that he offered up his son Isaac when God commanded him to do it, even though what God had commanded him seemed to be contradictory to His promise. Abraham didn't doubt God's faithfulness, he didn't grumble against Him (see Philippians 2:14,15), and he didn't rebel by keeping his precious only son and heir to himself. He proved that he believed God by what he did. (See James 2:17-26.) And so do we when we obey the commandments of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and do whatever His will for us is, no matter what it requires of us or costs us personally.
According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith---more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire---may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:3-7)
If God has told us what to do to remain in His love and to continue in His kindness, in order to inherit the new heaven and the new earth that He has promised to us, and we do not do those things, will we inherit the land? And if we really believe God, will we not do whatever He tells us to do in order to receive what He has promised those who love Him and remain faithful to Him to the end of their course?
There is nothing that God commands or desires us to do, or that we must endure in this life---either in the present time or in the time to come---that Jesus is not able and faithful to help us to do and to endure. Nothing. So the only thing that can prevent us from inheriting God's promises to us is us.
Like the people of Israel, we who are in Christ have tasted the goodness of the word of God, according to which He has worked by saving us---as He also saved the people of Israel out of Egypt according to His word to them through the prophet Moses---so we know that He is faithful to do what He says, and that everything else that He says that He will do for us, and that we will receive if we are faithful to Him to the end, is true as well. By faith we have seen the promised land, and His Spirit is our guarantee of our inheritance of all of those good things that are promised to us in the Scriptures if we obey the voice of the Lord and continue in faithfulness to Him to the end of our course.
In the Lord's messages to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, He repeatedly says, "To him who overcomes" (or "to him who conquers"), with regard to receiving God's promises. Conquering is the requirement for inheriting: Conquering not just the trial of the tribulation to come, but the daily and ongoing overcoming of the attitudes and desires of the sinful nature and the temptations of the world and the attacks of our spiritual adversaries on our faith. And it is only through Christ that we can overcome these things, by God's all sufficient grace and the faith by which He works for us.
God is able and faithful, just as He was in the time of Israel's rebellion in the wilderness, if we are willing and believe Him.
"They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful." (Revelation 17:14)
"In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
"The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:6)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
"For Your sake we face death all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:35-37)
Nothing can separate us from the love of God except us. There is no external thing that can remove us from our Father's hand. But we can choose not to remain in it by what we decide with our own free will. We can choose to rebel against God and to fall away from Jesus, but we have no legitimate reason to, because God has provided us with everything that we need to remain faithful to Him to the end by His grace in Christ. We only have to trust, obey and ask Him.
If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him;
If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful---
for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
God has promised. God is able. God is faithful. Do you believe Him? If you do, prove it. You have everything that you need to overcome the world in Jesus Christ. Make use of it.
God has said, "Go forward, and I will defeat your enemies; I will protect you and provide for you, and I will bring you safely into My eternal kingdom with great wealth by My power. Believe Me, and obey My voice, and I will surely bless you, and will give you all things. You have everything that you need to do all My will in Me; and I will strengthen you and will help you to stand firm in your faith and to be faithful to Me to the end."
Or has God commanded us to the impossible to inherit what He has promised us? With God all things are possible. We do not depend upon ourselves to do all things, but on Jesus Christ---on God Himself! So what excuse does any of us have for not going up and taking the land---no matter what apparent obstacle confronts us? None.
"I will not leave you or forsake you...Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:5,9)
And He who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And He said to me, "...The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:5,7,8)
But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:38,39 KJV)
"...But My righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him."
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:38,39 ESV)
The people of Israel had everything that they needed to go up and take the land of Canaan when God told them to go up. He was with them to defeat their enemies and was faithful to do what He had promised to do for them. Joshua and Caleb believed in their God, but the rest of the people saw the giants and the fortified cities and the armies and gave up on God, and wanted to return to Egypt where life was easier. They even wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb for exhorting them to believe in their God and do what He had commanded them, in order to inherit what He had promised them. And so the people rebelled by drawing back when God told them to go up, and as a result He condemned them to die in the wilderness, because they did not believe in Him and refused to obey His voice. (See Numbers 13 & 14.)
Brothers and sisters, it is not merely what we say that we believe, or what we believe in our heads, or even in our hearts, that benefits us spiritually and which God recognizes and commends, but what we do according to what we believe or say that we believe.
If Noah, having been warned by God to build an ark to save himself and his family from the flood that God was getting ready to bring on the world had not actually done what God had told him to do, would he have saved his life?
It was because Abraham believed God's promise to him that he offered up his son Isaac when God commanded him to do it, even though what God had commanded him seemed to be contradictory to His promise. Abraham didn't doubt God's faithfulness, he didn't grumble against Him (see Philippians 2:14,15), and he didn't rebel by keeping his precious only son and heir to himself. He proved that he believed God by what he did. (See James 2:17-26.) And so do we when we obey the commandments of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and do whatever His will for us is, no matter what it requires of us or costs us personally.
According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith---more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire---may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:3-7)
If God has told us what to do to remain in His love and to continue in His kindness, in order to inherit the new heaven and the new earth that He has promised to us, and we do not do those things, will we inherit the land? And if we really believe God, will we not do whatever He tells us to do in order to receive what He has promised those who love Him and remain faithful to Him to the end of their course?
There is nothing that God commands or desires us to do, or that we must endure in this life---either in the present time or in the time to come---that Jesus is not able and faithful to help us to do and to endure. Nothing. So the only thing that can prevent us from inheriting God's promises to us is us.
Like the people of Israel, we who are in Christ have tasted the goodness of the word of God, according to which He has worked by saving us---as He also saved the people of Israel out of Egypt according to His word to them through the prophet Moses---so we know that He is faithful to do what He says, and that everything else that He says that He will do for us, and that we will receive if we are faithful to Him to the end, is true as well. By faith we have seen the promised land, and His Spirit is our guarantee of our inheritance of all of those good things that are promised to us in the Scriptures if we obey the voice of the Lord and continue in faithfulness to Him to the end of our course.
In the Lord's messages to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, He repeatedly says, "To him who overcomes" (or "to him who conquers"), with regard to receiving God's promises. Conquering is the requirement for inheriting: Conquering not just the trial of the tribulation to come, but the daily and ongoing overcoming of the attitudes and desires of the sinful nature and the temptations of the world and the attacks of our spiritual adversaries on our faith. And it is only through Christ that we can overcome these things, by God's all sufficient grace and the faith by which He works for us.
God is able and faithful, just as He was in the time of Israel's rebellion in the wilderness, if we are willing and believe Him.
"They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful." (Revelation 17:14)
"In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)
"The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:6)
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
"For Your sake we face death all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:35-37)
Nothing can separate us from the love of God except us. There is no external thing that can remove us from our Father's hand. But we can choose not to remain in it by what we decide with our own free will. We can choose to rebel against God and to fall away from Jesus, but we have no legitimate reason to, because God has provided us with everything that we need to remain faithful to Him to the end by His grace in Christ. We only have to trust, obey and ask Him.
If we have died with Him, we will also live with Him;
If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
If we are faithless, He remains faithful---
for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)
God has promised. God is able. God is faithful. Do you believe Him? If you do, prove it. You have everything that you need to overcome the world in Jesus Christ. Make use of it.
God has said, "Go forward, and I will defeat your enemies; I will protect you and provide for you, and I will bring you safely into My eternal kingdom with great wealth by My power. Believe Me, and obey My voice, and I will surely bless you, and will give you all things. You have everything that you need to do all My will in Me; and I will strengthen you and will help you to stand firm in your faith and to be faithful to Me to the end."
Or has God commanded us to the impossible to inherit what He has promised us? With God all things are possible. We do not depend upon ourselves to do all things, but on Jesus Christ---on God Himself! So what excuse does any of us have for not going up and taking the land---no matter what apparent obstacle confronts us? None.
"I will not leave you or forsake you...Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." (Joshua 1:5,9)
And He who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And He said to me, "...The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:5,7,8)