iam4_1god

Q2. According to Hebrews 3:13 and 10:24-25, what should be a prime motive for meeting together with other Christians? What is our usual motivation? Why do Christians so often get out of the habit of attending church or a small group? How can we help these individuals? We should meet together to worship God, and to encourage each other. Catch up on gossip, and see the latest fashions. My reason is because there are no churches in my area that encourage others to come, and also, there is no outreach. If you don't belong to a "click" you don't belong. There are so many different reasons, and so many different churches. It seems all we want to do is argue about doctrine! I have been thinking about having a Bible study in my home-I just don't seem to be able to find anyone interested. The biggest concern seems to be doctrine-the truth is in the Bible, but most people don't seem to want to go there. I don't know what the answer is, except taking it to the Bible.

Q1. (Hebrews 10:19-21) How did the veil of the Tabernacle function in Old Testament worship? What is the significance of the veil being ripped in two at Jesus' crucifixion? Why is our access to God called a "new and living way"? In what sense is it new? In what sense is it living? The veil kept the throne of God separate from the rest of the temple. Only the High Priest could go in, and then, only once a year. The torn veil represented Jesus' body that was sacrificed for our sin. Jesus' death provided a way for us to go into the Holy of Holies, and speak to God directly. We have a new and living way of speaking to God now-new because we can now go to the Father ourselves, and living because Jesus was resurrected and now sits at the right hand of God! Hallelujah!

Q4. (Hebrews 10:4) Why can't the blood of bulls and goats actually take away sin? What happened then to the sins the Old Testament saints thought were atoned for under the Old Covenant? Animals are a lower life form than humans. Therefore, they (animals) are only a temporary sacrifice for sins. The Old Testament saints died believing in the Messiah that would come and cleanse all of sin. Their belief made them clean at the moment of Jesus' death.

Q3. (Hebrews 9:28) How did the purpose of Christ's First Coming differ from his Second Coming? Which did the Jews expect? How does the mission of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 fit here? Jesus came the first time to bring salvation-the good news. The second time will be to save those who are waiting for Him to come (the Jews). Jesus suffered before He died-not only that-He was separated from the Father, and He also suffered in our place. Jesus did a lot, and suffered much for us. He deserves everything from us-all we are and have! He is so worthy, and we are not!

Q2. (Hebrews 9:15). Read also 1 Timothy 2:5. In what sense does Jesus serve as a mediator? In what sense is Jesus a ransom from sin? Jesus died and shed His blood, so that He could become a sacrifice for our sins, and also He could become a an arbitrator between us and God. He accomplished so much for us through His death

Q1. (Hebrews 9:14) In what way does Christ's sacrifice of himself cleanse the conscience in a way that the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant could not? Animal sacrifices only cleansed the outside. Jesus' blood sacrifice cleansed the inside-the heart. This, in turn, relieves the conscience of guilt.

Q5. (Hebrews 9:11-12) What does "redemption" mean? What were we redeemed from? What was the price of our redemption? How long does our redemption last? Redemption means being delivered from something. Sin and death Jesus' life-His blood being shed. Forever and ever, amen!!!!!!!!

Q4. (Hebrews 9:9) Why were external sacrificial regulations unable to cleanse or perfect the conscience? How does a guilty conscience keep us from intimacy with God? What is necessary for us to be able to come "boldly" (4:16)? Shedding of blood can not cleanse one from sin-the conscience will dog one to death! Outward cleansing is no cleansing at all! The veil is gone-it was torn in two when Jesus died on the cross! Now, we can boldly go in, because we know that God is waiting for us to ask for whatever we need, and He will give it to us! Confess and repent-a heart that is undeer conviction, will cause one to go boldly to the throne of grace! Glory to God! If the heart is soft and pliable, then God can work it out! Hallelujah! I got to go shout! Bye!

Q3. (Hebrews 9:7) Did the Old Covenant provide forgiveness for intentional, active, maintained rebellion against God? Does the New Covenant provide this forgiveness? What is required for forgiveness to be granted? Only unintentional sin was covered under the old covenant. The new covenant provides for ALL sin! Jesus' shed blood covered it all, people! Just confess and repent!

Q2. (Hebrews 8:7-13) Why did the Old Covenant fail? What are the primary promises of the New Covenant as prophesied in Jeremiah 31:31-34? Because humanity is weak and sinnful, the old covenant could not be kept. God had to find a way to keep us from falling back into sin, with no way back to Him. God settled the problem by writing His comandments on humanity's heart-that way, we would always know when we are messing up, and be able to confess and repent.

Q1. (Hebrews 8:6) In what sense is Jesus the "mediator" of a new covenant? What did he do to mediate this? Jesus stepped in between God and man, shed His blood as sacrifice to atone for our sins, and repaired the rift between God and man forever! Glory to God!

Q4. (Hebrews 7:26-28) How is Jesus described in verse 26? How does Jesus differ from human high priests? What about Jesus' role as High Priest gives you special confidence? Jesus is described as holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens. Human High Priests had to offer up sacrifices for themselves, and the people. Jesus offered himself up one time-His blood covered everything! I know that, when I stand before the Father to answer, Jesus' blood will have covered all my sins, because I am not perfect like He is, and He bore all as He was dying on the cross.

Q3. (Hebrews 7:24-25) Why is Jesus able to save people "completely" -- "to the uttermost" according to verse 25? What is the essential function of a priest? Why is intercession the essence of being a priest? God the Father sent Jesus to die-shed His blood-for us. Now, because Jesus was obedient, He is forever our intercessor, and our High Priest. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the only way to the Father. He sits at God's right hand, making sure that we have what we need, and that we are good to go, as far as having our sins covered! Jesus covered everything for us! Praise God! I love Him so much!

Q2. (Hebrews 7:22) What is a guarantee or surety? In what sense is Jesus the guarantor of the New Covenant? It's like when we go to the hospital or emergency room-we sign documents stating that we are responsible for the bill-the guarantor. I guarantee that I will pay this bill! In that sense, Jesus is guaranteeing that His blood will cover our sins. The new covenant is that which states that, because Jesus was a more sure sacrifice, then His blood on the alter will cover everything, and when we stand before God almighty to be judged, Jesus' blood will have covered us completely, and we wiil be found acceptable in God's sight! It just doesn't get better than that! Thank You, Jesus!

Q1. (Hebrews 6:18b-20) In what sense have we "fled to a place of refuge"? Why are we to "take hold of" this hope actively? How does Christian hope differ from hoping that something is true? In what ways does an anchor illustrate the idea of hope? We hide in Jesus, Who is our place of refuge. God can not lie, and He is our anchor when the storms of life beat against our spirit. We know that God is real, and Jesus died for us, and the hope that we have is more knowing that, in the future, we have a place to go where Jesus is, and we are moving toward that promise, because we trust His word.

Q4. (Hebrews 6:12) If we take seriously the writer's exhortation to exercise both faith and patience for the long haul, what effect does that have on our Christian life? On our perspective? How can we resist the subtle temptation to think that our salvation depends upon our endurance rather than Christ's atonement and the grace of God? All of this boils down to one thing-if I am a serious Christian, then I will pray, I will study the word of God, and I will trust God's provision for my life. It is His life anyway-He purchased it when Jesus went to the cross. We cannot, in and of ourselves, do anything to secure our salvation-it is free. But-after we get saved, we must stay in the Word, and get in the practice of telling God about our issues. He does want to hear from us, and we're just cheating ourselves when we don't communicate with Him! And-the more into the Word we get, the more endurance we will have-more patience, more ability to resist temptation-it's great!

Q3. (Hebrews 6:4-6) What is apostasy? Why is it impossible from a practical standpoint to restore apostates to Christian faith and practice? What point was Jesus making in his Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23)? What is Jesus' point of the Parable of the Tares or Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30)? Like I indicated in the last question, I know for me that it is impossible for me to turn away from God. For one thing-I don't want to. For another-I just don't think a person can, after being sealed with the Holy Spirit. A person who is a true believer can not go away. Apostasy describes a person who has only been a Christian a short while. Like the seed parable. They were sown on rocky soil, or they didn't grow roots, and so they didn't survive. Or, they were planted with weeds, and the weeds chocked them out. Christians go to church with unbelievers and fake children of God. They grow together until harvest-then in goes the sickle, and the weeds are thrown in the fire. I just don't think that a true child of God can go back. It's kind of like the girl that wanted to sail around the world. She got so far, and then realized that turning back was no longer an option-she had gone too far.

Q2. (Hebrews 6:4-5) What difference, if any, would you find between the description in verses 4-5 and a Spirit-filled Christian today? What is the writer's point in forming this description? Back when I was just a new believer, I back-slid for a time. I had only been a Christian for a short time, and I just walked away. Now that I have been a Christian for many years, and have studied the Word of God and have grown in my understanding somewhat, the thought of withdrawing like I did before never enters my mind. I have come too far, and learned too much to go back now. I believe if I went back now, then there would be no chance for me to come back to God through Jesus Christ ever again. Also, how can one go away from God when they have been sealed with the Holy Spirit? One can't! The Holy Spirit will be calling us back. I know He dogged me all the time to get back where I belong! I thank God Almighty that I listened! If I offened any one, I am sorry-I just thought it would help if I shared my experience-that's all.

Q1. (Hebrews 5:14) How does a person become mature in God's Word according to verse 14? What can you do to grow in maturity? We become mature, or "grow up" in the word by constantly studying the word of God, and learning the truth. I have a Bible Reading Plan that I follow and I read every day, according to this plan. If I miss reading for one day, I can not sleep at night! I have acctually had to get up in the wee hours of the morning and read the portion that I missed, in order to get sleep!

Q5. (Hebrews 5:9) In verse 9, what does "made perfect" refer to, since it obviously isn't talking about Jesus' moral growth and perfection? (Hint: The word teleioō means "bring something to its goal or accomplishment.") Jesus did what He was suppose to do-He was obedient. He died on the cross, securing salvation for us. Jesus was and is already perfect. But-He did what He did because we are not perfect, and He wanted us to be where He is, so He became like us to make an example. We don't have to die to be saved, but we need to put all our trust in Jesus, and do what He says. We owe Him that, and besides, it is going to be supercalifragilisticexpialidoshious-or something like that-when we get to where He is, and see all that He secured for us! I can't wait!

Q4. (Hebrews 5:8) In what sense did Jesus "learn obedience from what he suffered"? How did Jesus' learning process differ from ours, since he didn't sin and suffer the consequences of his sin -- the way we usually learn? Jesus had to suffer the way we do, in order to understand and appreciate what we go through. He loves us, and knows, first hand, what we are going through. But, the other side of that coin is, Jesus is perfect, and therefore, it must have been excruciating for Him to be separated from His Father, to bear our sins, and know that He asked for relief from His Father, but was rejected. I can't even begin to imagine! But-He was obedient, did what He had to do, and won the victory through obedience! That is how we can have victory-trust and obey! Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it doesn't make sense to our carnal understanding. Jesus knew the outcome-we don't. We can't think like god can, and we can't know like God can. We just trust and obey.

Q3. (Hebrews 4:16) Why should we approach the "throne of grace" with boldness and confidence? What are the promises contained in this verse? On what basis is God able to offer us unrestrained mercy and grace for our sins while still retaining his justice as judge? When Jesus died on the cross and went to the Father, He secured our salvation. In addition, He also secured for us a way to approach the Father without fear of reprisal. We now can come boldly to the throne of grace, and find mercy and help in God's way, and in God's timing. This throne is not a throne of judgement-it is a throne of mercy and grace, and love. Therefore, we have no need to fear, because our High Priest, Jesus, has gone before us, and He is already talking to the Father on our behalf. When we get there, the Father is already pondering and figuring out the best way to help us, and get all the glory! Which we will give Him anyway, cause He deserves it!

Q2. (Hebrews 4:15) In what ways did Jesus share our weaknesses? In what ways was Jesus' tempted? Because we know he didn't sin, were his temptations easier or more difficult than ours? Do we have any temptations he didn't have? Why does it comfort us that he can sympathize with our temptations and weaknesses? The bottom line-Jesus was tempted as we are, but He did not fail! He threw scripture back at His tempter! He refused to give in! Were His temptations more difficult than ours? No, because verse 15 says that He was tempted in all ways just like we are! But He didn't sin! So, even though Jesus was exposed to the same kinds of temptations that we are, He did not give in-He knew no sin. But, at the same time, He understands our weaknesses, and knows that we are not able to turn away as He did, because He is perfect man. We, on the other hand are not perfect, because of the fall. Jesus died on the cross, because there was no other way to secure our salvation, because we are not perfect.

Q1. (Hebrews 4:14) What is so important about "holding fast to our confession." What is our confession or profession of faith? Why is maintaining this confession so vital? Because of what Jesus did to secure our salvation, and because the powers of the "air" are fighting against our profession of faith,trying to trick us into failing and/or turning our back on Jesus, we need to shout it from the mountain what great things God has done for us! Confess Jesus as Lord of our life, and take the message to the people! If we don't do this on a regular basis, we will find ourselves on the outside looking in when the time comes to go home! The longer we go without our profession and confession, the harder it will be to come back when we finally decide that we want to! And, if we wait too long, we may get the door shut in our face!

Q4. (Hebrews 4:12-13) What do these two verses have to do with what precedes them? How is the Word described? What effect does the Word have on us? Why do we need to continually expose ourselves to the Word of God? If we are not reading and studying the word of God every day, our actions, thoughts, intents will tell on us. We can hide nothing from God, and the word can be used to punish us when we try! If we are entering the rest, then we don't have to worry about condemnation. Cause if we aren't doing right, the word will cut us up! It does not take very long at all to start falling away! I know if I skip reading and/or praying one day, I will get spanked! The Father doesn't like lazy children!