Such a Great Salvation!
April 14, 2024
Read Hebrews 2:1-6; 10
2 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
Chapter two begins with the word, therefore. Whenever you see the word, therefore, you must look to what was written right before it so you know why the word is there for!
And so, we read in 1:14 --
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
The “they,” as the subject of the sentence, refers to angels. Angels are ministering to those who are meant to inherit salvation. What does the author mean by the word salvation? Contemporary Christians most often use the word salvation to mean initial salvation, that is, salvation from the lake of fire, salvation from eternal condemnation. Of course, the word carries this meaning quite often in the New Testament.
However, the NT uses the word in other senses too. Our spirits are saved from eternal condemnation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. After this, we need to be sanctified. That is, our soul (our mind. emotions, and will) needs to be transformed, changed, sanctified. We may call this ongoing salvation. Our bodies also need to be saved from their corruption and mortality to incorruption and immortality. This will happen when the Lord returns to the earth and we are resurrected in new, celestial bodies. We may call this consummate salvation.
The author uses the word inherit to describe salvation. The word inherit is very often used in conjunction with the kingdom that the Lord will establish upon his return. Therefore, this salvation is our consummate salvation. It is the salvation we experience when we enter the kingdom.
Because there is a kingdom to inherit we must pay attention to what we have heard. When we were children, sometimes we had trouble paying attention to what our teachers taught us. Children have trouble focusing at times. Their minds wander and they daydream. Hopefully, as adults we have outgrown our daydreaming ways. But this is not always so. Even as adults we must be intent on paying attention to what we hear.
Note what the inspired author says in verse 1 of chapter 2: he writes, we must pay attention. If you wish to inherit the kingdom then you must pay attention to what you hear.
But he says more than this, does he not? He writes that we must pay closer attention to what we have heard.
We must really apply ourselves to the teachings that have been given to us through the New Testament. We do this by both studying the Bible and by paying closer attention to our teachers in the church.
2 For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
When the author refers to ‘the message delivered by angels” he means the law received and proclaimed by Moses. When Steven was preaching, he said:
52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
So, when the author writes that every “disobedience received a just retribution,” he refers to the chastisement that the Israelites received when they disobeyed the Lord. It is a fact that visitations of displeasure, even unto death, fell upon the transgressors. We read of this on many occasions.
With this in mind, is not verse 3 a frightening verse?
3 how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard,
The inspired author is saying that we, too, under the new covenant are amenable to retribution when we disobey the Lord. Now, God is not out to get us. Even his retribution is for our good in order to teach us to heed his good counsel and his commands which are always for our benefit.
But the principle still holds true. As one commentator has well said:
On the basis of this action of God in relation to His people of the earthly calling is rested the assurance of His like conduct towards His people of the heavenly calling.
The salvation to which verse 3 refers is not our initial salvation but, as was already demonstrated, our consummate salvation, including our entrance into the kingdom that is coming. Remember that this letter is written to believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, not the lost. This is attested to by not only 2:1 but by 3:1 --
3 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,
The lost cannot be called “holy brothers.”
(Also see 3:12-14 and many such passages in this letter.)
We have “such a great salvation!” We have such a great salvation! It is greater than the salvation that they had under the old covenant. I wish to share with you why our salvation is so great.
First, our salvation is great because of who Christ is. Last time we saw from chapter one that Christ is more than just a created being (as cults like Jehovah Witnesses teach). He is the Son of God. We saw also that the term, “Son of God,” means more than just being related to God. It means that he is God! Chapter one made this clear.
What a Savior we have! He is God Himself!
Even though he is God, he is also a man. He is a human. This qualifies him to be our substitute.
6 It has been testified somewhere,
“What is man, that you are mindful of him,
or the son of man, that you care for him?
The author is quoting from Psalm 8 and applies this passage to Christ. He is both God and man!
Our wonderful Jesus is also the Founder of our salvation:
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
The first part of verse 10 reminds the reader that Jesus is the Creator. Not only the Creator but everything was created for him! If everything was created for him, that means that you were created for Christ too!
Because we were created for him and because we have been bought by his blood, we surrender our lives for him. In the song, Shortcut to Salvation, by the Neal Morse Band, Christian sings:
But I have seen the place called home
And now my life is not my own
For I was bought with the highest price.
What can I do but give my life?
For I have seen the place called home
And now my life is not my own.
I hear the call to Kingdom Ground
And all I am, I lay it down for You.
I lay it down for You.
Because we have such a great Savior, let us lay down everything we are for him! Stop wavering between the world, your own flesh, and the call of Christ.
See that he is called the Founder of our salvation. Depending on what version of the Bible you have, this word for founder has been variously translated as:
Author
Pioneer
Initiator
Source
Leader
These are all good descriptions of our Lord’s role in salvation. I like the rendering in the KJV:
10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Jesus as our Captain reminds us that we are in a war. To be saved from hell we only need a Savior. But to enter the rest that God has prepared we must fight those who would prevent us from entering. We need a Captain to lead us. Moses was like a captain to the children of Israel. He led them through the wilderness. Then Joshua was a captain to them, leading them into the good land, fighting the enemies of God.
If you have been saved then you are in a war. Are you fighting? Or are you just seeking comfort like the rest of the world? We need a Captain to lead us as we fight. You are either following the Captain as he goes into battle or you are staying behind in your bunker. Where are you? In your bunker or in the field? I’m actually asking you. What is your answer? Think about it. If your answer is, “I’m in the bunker,” what will you do? Are you content to remain there? Or, are you ready to engage in battle?
Our Savior is also great because he is our High Priest. He is called our high priest in Hebrews 7:26.
After Abraham had fought the enemy and released Lot, Melchisedec, the high priest, came to him ministering bread and wine (Gen. 14:14-20). The bread and wine do not signify the Lord’s supper in that passage. The bread signifies strength supplied after efforts exerted. The wine signifies enjoyment (Psalm 104:15). In order to enjoy the ministry of Melchisedec you must fight.
Only when you fight will Melchisedec come to you and minister to you. Christians sometimes complain that the Lord seems far away or that he seems to ignore their prayers. He is never far away in reality because, if we have been regenerated he is living within us! But we may have the sense that he is distant because we are not experiencing his strengthening and we lack enjoyment. One reason for this lack of experience is because we are not fighting.
If you are ready to fight, I assure you that after every bit of fighting Christ will come to you as the ministering Melchisedec and you will enjoy the supply of bread and wine. This is wonderful. It is another factor that makes our salvation so great.
Do not think that you are too young in the Lord or too immature to fight. Everyone can fight. David was a young shepherd boy when he went out to fight and defeat Goliath. He won that battle because the Lord was with him. The Lord will be with you, too, if you step out in faith. What is the worst thing that can happen? In the Middle East you might be killed. But in our country the worst thing that will happen is that you will be challenged about what you say and maybe you will not have an answer. In that case, you just tell the person with whom you dialogue that you do not have answer but you will consider what he (or she) said and have an answer next time you talk. So simple! Not threatening at all. There is no reason to keep silent!
[Conclusion and Application]
We have seen that we have a great salvation. This salvation includes our present salvation from hell. But it mostly has to do with our consummate salvation expressed in the kingdom that is coming.
Our salvation is great because the One who procured it is great. He is both God and man! He is the Captain of our salvation and our High Priest, having been sacrificed for those who will believe in him.
Because we have such a great Savior and Captain and such a great salvation, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard. If we do not we may drift away!
Because we have such a Captain and High Priest, we must follow him into battle and resist following our comforts. When we follow him to the battlefield and engage, he will then minister bread and wine to us. If we never fight then we will not have strength for the conflict when it touches our own soul. Neither will we experience the enjoyment of the Lord’s wine.
The battles we face are not flesh and blood, but the battle of ideas. We fight by speaking.
So, let us pay closer attention and demolish strongholds! Even today.
