The Old Testament has in it, a shadow of the good things to come, the fulfilment of which is seen in the New Testament. The system of animal sacrifices could not make one perfect, but only cover sins.  So a better covenant was established where Christ fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law according to the will of God by living and offering Himself as the perfect sacrifice, for the justification of everyone once and for all.  He perfects all those who are being sanctified (Vs.9-14) through the working of the power of His Holy Spirit in us.

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Thus we see that Christ fulfilled His purpose according to the will of God; so now what does today’s reading ask of us in the same respect.

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• We are asked to draw near-  Human tendency is to hide from the presence of God because of the guilt of sin.  But now that we are washed and cleansed by the blood of His sacrifice He cleared the way to enter boldly into the Holy Place. Ephesians 2:13 says “But now in Christ Jesus, you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

• We are asked to hold fast to our hope- This is only possible if we really know who has called us into this living hope.  2 Timothy 2:13 says “If we are faithless, He remains faithful.”  Faithfulness means being “true to one’s word, promises, steadfast in allegiance ….” This definition of faithfulness cannot even sum up how faithful God is. Faithfulness is not something God does, it is who He is. So we can hold onto our confession of hope in Him completely, without wavering, without worrying, trusting fully that He who promised IS FAITHFUL.(V.23)

• We are asked to stimulate one another to love and good deeds by not forsaking to fellowship-  How can we stimulate each other or encourage one another unless we mingle with each other?—the reason we are called not to neglect fellowship.  Acts 2:7 says “praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Here we see God Himself added to the existing fellowship.  So it is His purpose that we work together to accomplish His will for the church which is confirmed in Ephesians 3:10-11: “in order that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places. …”  Now according to the Bible “Love” is a process of being in a state of constant giving.  Giving to the needy what they lack, if love then love, if money then money, etc… It also includes encouraging the exercising of different spiritual gifts, support of missionaries, calls to different mission fields, corporate prayer, group worship, etc.

• We are asked not to “go on sinning willfully”:  To knowingly persist in sin i.e., presumptuous, rebellious sin will land you in the hands of the living God for discipline to bring you back.  Remember Jesus Himself prayed for us: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am….” (John 17:24) God will not take lightly those who trample underfoot the Son of God; who treat as something common the blood of the covenant which made them holy; and who has insulted the Spirit, giver of God’s grace!  Most of the time we end up in the above situations when we slowly drift away due to our lack of prayer, meditation and study of the word, slackness in our fellowship with each other such that there is no accountability. It is at times like these we have to remember our first love, how we were when we first knew Him and endured all kinds of hardship for his namesake and how He kept us through it all.

So what we need to hold on to is confidence in His faithfulness, endurance to do the will of God and assurance that we will receive the promise of God.  (Vs.35-39)

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Thought: "But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul."(Hebrews 10:39)