PATJOE

The second element of "Believe that God rewards those who seek after Him" - to me is just as essential because it confirms that God is listening for us and hears every prayer -- the reward being His loving guidance into His righteousness. To seek God is to dwell on Him as the foundation of our lives. - to depend on Him to answer our prayers with His guidance - to learn how to relinquish our human nature "need to control" our own lives and turn everything over to Him. It also means to be continually thanking Him as we start to realize how lovingly attentive He is to our personal lives. Knowing God will reward seekers by drawing us closer to Him -- guiding us into His righteousness, is so important because that is the very road He puts us on - to the eventual destination of Eternal Life with Him. We are in a walk with Him. It is a reward just to have this privelege alone. All of this is such assurance of His love for us.

According to Hebrews 11:1-3,- 1 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for" (our believing and accepting ownership of God's promises) "the evidence of things not seen" (we believe in what the word of God tells us, without having to see the evidence) 2 For by it, the Elders obtained a good report ("it" being, I think, the death of our Messiah on the cross, which was approved by our Lord as having been carried out by Christ perfectly) 3 "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God" (I believe refers to creation of every living thing by God's word) "so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear" (I believe means that we know that in the beginning there was only God, and all of creation that can be seen, was created through God's words, and He did not draw on anything that already existed - for there was just Him, and the void of nothingness, until He spoke "Let there be light, ............." --- until He spoke our entire world and all of its inhabitants into being for us. What does this faith do for us? We can love Him and live our lives through this love and relax because the job of saving us has already been done. Instead of worrying and feeling guilty, we can repent of our sins and know that Jesus has already atoned for them for us. Instead of fretting, we can rejoice. We can stop trying to be perfect, as God knows that will only happen when we enter into His glory. When we truly love God, we live in His light and constantly strive to stay in our walk with Him. We are released from the bondage of sin, and are free to get closer to Him every day.

Faith is knowing that in Old Testament times, God spoke to the prophets in many different ways, and foretold the detals of the life of His Son, who was to come, the Messiah, which all came to pass in the same way in which it was told. During Jesus' life, He obeyed His Father, died on the cross and was appointed Heir of all things and was glorified in the radiance of His Father and in His exact image. He finished the work of His Father perfectly for our sake. These facts give us the basis to know certainly we can rely on God's promises to us. This kind of faith diminishes our worries and stress as we can turn them over to God and trust Him for the best outcome. This is a much easier and happier life than one of depending only on ourselves and failing without Him.

It seems to be human nature to feel hurt and insecure when we are openly persecuted. If we are not sincerely walking with, loving, and trusting in our Lord for ALL things, these moment of persecution will be shattering. They are indeed shattering momentarily to all of us. It is in the "picking ourselves us" (with God's help) and persevering in our trust of Him, that we grow closer to Him. It is a fact, proven many times over in my life, that God works through each of us for each other as we love Him. Our Christian fellowship then, is precious and so supportive and present for us right in the middle of our challenged moments. For this reason we need to make ourselves "ever available" to God and each other, so that God has us ready and waiting for the times He wants to use us in His ministry to others. We don't have many of the answers during these difficult times, but we do have the Source for our answers in God, and we have the strength of God flowing to us in our united front as we support each other. When we pray together He also imparts His patience to us, so we can confidently wait for His answers. Praise God, For They ALWAYS come. Thank you Pastor Ralph for this wonderful Bible Study. I am so grateful. Thank you.

I believe the phrase "deliberately keep on sinning" is talking strictly about apostasy -- any one who has deliberately turned away from God in total defiance and rejects the saving grace of our Saviour permanently. This could never refer to those who love God and temporarily succumb to temptations, as we all do, and who repent -- these are the sins that Jesus died to forgive us for. In verse 10:29, the phrases "trampled the Son of God underfoot" "treated as unholy the blood of the covenant that sanctified him" and "insulted the spirit of grace" - are all phrases that could never be said of those of us who know, love and trust our Lord and Saviour, even though we are sinners. These phrases belong to the purposely defiant and are indeed referring to apostasy.

We should personally need to meet together regularly with other Christians, so that we can encourage each other and not miss the opportunity to use the gifts and ministries God has given us on each others behalf in a sacred trust. Quite often we attend church with the priority of having our needs met first. When we miss going to church, with all of our excuses, we harm ourselves and we weaken our own resolve to attend regularly -- the very thing Satan is waiting for. This could lead us onto the wrong road to be on, of self-serving existence - a way that is never permanently successful. We can be there for each other to take each others spiritual hand to guide us back to the pathway to God.

The heavy veil guarded the Holy of Holies place, where the Ark of the Covenant was,(the dwelling place of God) from being entered by humans directly, other than the High Priest, who entered once a year to offer the blood offering of animal sacrifices to atone for the sins of the people. At the time of Jesus' death, this veil ripped open from top to bottom, literally opening the way for all of us to personally come directly into God's presence. There was no longer a separation between God and man. Our access to God was new, as it had never been possible before, until Jesus opened the way for us through personally dying for our salvation from eternal death. It is "living" to this day, as our resurrected and living Saviour interceded for us when He died and rose again. He lives for us today as well.

Bulls and goats, being less than humans, were not capable of taking away the sins of life forms greater than themselves. It took the greatness of Jesus, being perfect and Holy, to take away the sins of we "lesser" humans. Also, aimal sacrifices did not touch human hearts to bring about true repentance. In the Old Covenant, God did accept their animal sacrifices for atonement for their sins, knowing that He was also sending His Son, the Messiah, at a later perfect time, who would, in His Holiness and perfection, be the greater sacrifice once, and for all, for the sins of the world - past, present and future, including the people with "atoned for sins" under the Old Covenant.

In Christ's first coming, He lived on earth to teach and to become the human sacrifice, once and for all, for many people. In so doing He took away our sins and He was our sacrifice. In the second coming, through His resurrection, which proved He was the true Son of God, He brought us our salvation, which will release us "from the oppression and confines of our earthly bodies, unto the glorious liberty of the children of God in our resurrection bodies" (Romans 8:21). The Jews always expected their Messiah to come as their Saviour, bringing salvation. Jesus, the suffering servant had to remove our sins first and purify us to be in God's Holy presence, so that we are ready and waiting for Him to come again and take us into our salvation and eternal home with our Lord and Saviour.

When Jesus died on the cross for us, He mediated on our behalf and brought us (sinners) and God together. He removed the obstacle of sin that kept us apart from God. His life, He offered to God for us, to set us free from the slavery of our sinful natures. He paid the ransom for our sins with His very life, so that He might set us free. We should thank Him every day of our lives for this gift alone.

The sacrifice of the blood of animals in the old covenant only cleansed the outer being and did so indirectly through a mediator high priest. Jesus, being without sin, Holy and Sanctified, offered Himself to the Father on our behalf. The effect of Jesus' sacrifice of His blood is the cleansing of our conscience -- our inner heart and being. He created our own sanctification before God for us. He brought about our own forgiveness and did so in such agony, and so willingly according to the Will of God. We can be sure our sins ARE forgiven - that He saved us from eternal death - that we can approach God directly and be acceptable before Him, and we can go forth to serve Him. The more these facts penetrate my awareness, the more awesome this totally wonderful and loving gift becomes. The gift of Life Eternal, -- Thank you my Lord and Saviour!

Redemption in this case means the releasing of our existence from the bondages of sin and eternal death. We were redeemed from our slavery to sin and from the death of our souls because of sin. The price that was paid for our redemption was Christ's own blood - His loving sacrifice of His life for us. Our redemption was paid for once and for always by Jesus and will last us for the rest of our earthly lives. Jesus covered EVERY sin for us - even those we commit over and over again. This was the ultimate sacrifice for us and it will never be matched again.

In the old covenant, an individual's free access to God personally was barred, both by a thick veil in front of the Holiest of Holy places, and by their not knowing how to enter God's presence. Therefore all of the blood offerings in the world were not capable of giving peace to guilt ridden consciences. If we allow our guilty consciences ongoing room in our lives, we are not accepting the grace and forgiveness that Jesus died to give us. When we don't accept God's plan for our lives, we keep ourselves separated from Him. We need to humble ourselves before God to thank Him for Jesus having redeemed us on the cross. We need to understand and trust that at the moment of Jesus' death, the veil in the tabernacle that once barred us from entering into the presence of God, ripped from top to bottom -- God's way of letting us know we now have personal and clear access to Him, and He alone can relieve our guilt and grant us peace in Him. God invites us to approach Him boldly and with confidence, because His throne is no longer a throne of judgment -- it is now a throne of God's grace and forgiveness, when a true believer approaches Him. He offers this to us 24-7. We don't have to wait to be invited each time. The atonement for OUR sins took place on the cross, ONCE and for always, giving us this ever present offer for the rest of our lives. We sure need to praise our Lord daily. I thank you, and praise you Lord. It is not within our grasp to deserve any of this.

No, the Old Covenant did not include sacrifices to atone for intentional, defiant sins, including refusal to accept God, but rebelling against Him instead. In the new Covenant, Jesus' death on the cross was the one and only Sacrifice for all time, and God made that sacrifice for us. This sacrifice of His Son, covered all of our sins -- intentional and unintentional. All we need to do to receive this "undeserved" forgiveness is 1) Know and believe in our Creator, Lord. 2) Use this knowledge and belief as the foundation to build on our faith in Him. 3) Give "legs" to our faith and live daily through Him, (knowing the truth that God will NEVER leave us), to the point where we can relinquish control of our lives and trust our Lord with EVERYTHING, instead -- at ALL times, and in ALL circumstances. That's ALL, not just SOME (or the more difficult ones). Our inborn sin of the need for SELF-CONTROL, presents a challenge to the strongest and most devout Christian, to obey the little word "ALL". We therefore need to be in God's word daily and study as much as we can, to get all of the help we need to grow and eventually be victorious over the word ALL when we enter God's kingdom with Him. Our life here is a walk with Him toward that goal and promised reward.

The old covenant failed because the people of Israel did not remain faithful to the covenant, or to God and God turned away from them. The four promises God makes in His New Covenant are: 1) He will put His laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. (As I learn and study this, its as if God is so faithful to the people (and us), that because they chose rebellion, which invited judgement on themselves, God wanted them back and this time He is willing to "imbed" His word in them (and us) to keep them with Him. His power of forgiveness (and such abounding love) is always available for us.) 2) He will then be their God (now totally accepted and honoured by them (us) as He always wanted). 3) They will all personally know their Lord (and know His Love) 4) He will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more. He loved them (and us) that much, that He gave them another chance. He has done everything to encourage their faithfulness and bury their rebellion so they could escape judgement. What love He shows us. He wants us with Him. He does not want us to fail. He seems to always have a plan B or C waiting for us, when we need it and turn back to Him. He wants us to understand His mercy. Thank you Lord for loving us that much.

Jesus is the mediator of a New Covenant between God and man as / when He died on the cross, which removed our sins and the sins of the people of Israel who broke the old covenant by touching the Ark of the Covenant and not keeping it in its holy place, among many other sins. No earthly high priest could do this - mediate between God and man for the purpose of removing the sins of man and starting fresh again with a New Covenant given by God. Only Jesus who reigns as High Priest in Heaven at our Father's side, could possibly do this.

In verse 26, Jesus is Holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners and exalted by God above the heavens as our most perfect High Priest. Jesus atoned for all of our sons, once, on the Cross. He reached His goal for us once and for all by offering Himself. Human high priests make offerings daily (they never offer themselves). A human high priest makes atonement offerings for himself first and then for the people. Jesus was and is perfect and He sacrificed His very life for us totally. Jesus is made perfect forever and is in God's power and glory. Human priests are just as weak as all of us. Jesus, our perfect and Holy Saviour will never let us down. He will never weaken. He will always be there for us and we are totally confident in Him as always doing the will of God for us.

Jesus, who lives forever and has a permanent high priesthood with God, is able to save people (completely and to the uttermost) who come to the Father through Him. He is commissioned by God to do this for us, as he suffered and became obedient unto the cross. No other human being can do this as we are all sinners. Only one who is Holy and without sin can approach the face of God. Jesus, the most Holy does this for us and pleads our case with God. His God-given assignment was that He be our intercessor with God. Human priests have been given God's sanction to lead people to atoning for their sins, and in this manner partially play the role of intercessors, however they cannot save us even temporarily.

A guarantee/surety is a promise made, which holds one "answerable for the fulfillment of the obligation which he guarantees When God declared Jesus a Priest forever, Jesus became God's guarantee of a better covenant. Jesus Himself brought about The New Covenant on the cross.

Satan is in the world. Christians flee the world to the refuge of Jesus, and God's promise to us through Jesus that we hope for and believe in - our forgiveness of sins and eternal life. We must actively take hold of these truths and hang on to them, while living in this world, where Satan is so subtly and powerfully at work. Christ overcame Satan's power over us, for us, and we need hour to hour reminders of this truth, so we can stay in our walk with God. Christian hope is knowing the truth, and knowing we are heirs to God's kingdom. We don't just hope it's true - we know it. A ships anchor holds the ship fast in its safety zone. With Christ as our anchor, we already own God's promises. We are spiritually safe with Him on earth and will be with Him and in His glory in heaven.

To exercise faith and patience for the long haul, we must diligently read and absorb God's word daily. We need to be reminded daily that we are never left alone, God is always with us and will never forsake us. The world can operate in such a way as to push that truth away from us. We need to return to God daily so we can maintain the prospective of hope and fulfilment of God's promises to us. We resist the thought that our salvation depends on our own endurance by believing Jesus words "No man can come to the Father except through me", and knowing through past experiences when we choose to go it alone, God allows us our choice and we ultimately fail without Him. We can resist this temptation by being in God's word daily and believing in the Cross of Glory and live with the spirit of thankfulness that we receive such abounding love from our Lord and Savior. Thank you Jesus.

Apostasy is rejection of a religious belief that was originally accepted as truth. In the case of a Christian who rejects Christ after knowing Him, they join with the crowd that crucified Him. I think it is impossible to restore this person because their rejection is viewed as a final deed and deliberate and not reversible. In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus was making the point that those who accepted Him, with anything less than genuine belief in Him and full acceptance of their salvation by the grace of God, was compared to infertile ground, wayside, stony areas, where the seed, even if it rooted would not be nurtured and would wither and waste. In the Parable of the Wheat and Tares, Jesus refers to Himself as the man who sowed good seed. When the tares appeared among the wheat, refers to Satan's attempt to corrupt the truth and claim unbelievers. The tares are left in place until the wheat is ripe. At this point the tares are bundled for burning (at the final day, the unbelievers will be lost) and the mature wheat is gathered (believers) for the barn (heaven). This represents the believers who will enter the gates of heaven at the resurrection.

In my opinion, the statements in both verses 4 and 5 refer to a spirit-filled Christian's experiences. It may be the writer's point in forming this description, is to caution us as Christians that once we really know who our Lord is, and what loving grace He shows us -- which is the ultimate Christian experience -- if we are real in this belief, we have it all and accept God's full existence, love, grace and forgiveness, and that to revert back, away from God, after living in His truth, is an unforgiveable sin in God's eyes. In some way, it would seem to crucify Jesus all over again. I firmly believe that if a devout Christian who loves God and accepts His promises, falls away from God temporarily, sometimes without realizing it, that this human weakness is already covered by God, once the Christian sees his error and repents. I believe He can and will be accepted back by our Father. I feel the scripture we are studying, is referring to a person who was once Christian, and deliberately walks away from God and rejects all that God offers. As well, I hope there are very few of these people in our world with us.

We become mature in God's word when we stay in God's word daily (constant use); when we study His word, not just read it (trained) -- both of which teach us to know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil (distinguish). To grow in maturity we need to be committed to God, wanting to learn more every day so that we have discernment of how the world's rules stray from God's, so that we are guarded against apostasy which can be a very subtle pitfall. If we talk to God every day and read His word, He alerts us to His real truth, and we are helped to stay on track with Him. Apostasy can be a deliberate act for some, however an unattentive Christian can be lured off track, away from God's word without realizing it. We need to be committed, and attentive to God's word to remain alert to His will. Jesus spent 40 days alone with His Father in His obedience, and he overcame temptation.