Salvation Summaries

I am going through each book in the New Testament (again) and writing bullet point comments about how a person becomes a Christian and how a Christian should live.  The following notes are from the book of Hebrews.

Summary

A person should seek to become a Christian in order to be saved from the penalty of sin. Sin includes not only the things you should not do, but also the failure to do things you should do.

God calls a person to be saved. In turn, or as part of this call, a person must hear the good news of salvation and believe it.  A person must also have faith to become saved.  Hebrews provides a prerequisite for faith, a definition of faith, and illustrations of what it means.

To have faith, a person must first “come to” God, believe that He exists, and that He rewards those that who seek Him.  If you don’t believe that God exists, you obviously don’t have faith. But if you don’t “come to” God or seek Him, you also don’t have faith.

Hebrews 11 defines faith as having two similar components: 1) the assurance of something (good) hoped for, and 2) the conviction of things not seen.  With regard to the first, faith means that you are so assured of, or confident in, something good taking place in the future, that it’s a reality to you now.  An example of this is your salvation.  With regard to the second,  faith is knowing something it to be true, even if there is no explicit proof. An example of this is the existence of God.  Thus, faith is not the same as belief in this chapter, even though at other times in the Bible they may be synonymous.  Also, faith in this chapter does not refer to a belief in a set of biblical doctrines, even though in other books of the Bible it is periodically used in this way.

The examples of faith given in chapter 11 give us more insight into what it means.  Faith allows you to understand that God created the world out of nothing that we can see.  With faith, you are willing to make sacrifices for God, to obey Him when you don’t know the details as to what He wants, and to obey what He wants even if it seems humanly impossible.

Repentance from one’s sins is also associated with becoming saved. Also, some verses in Hebrews indicate that you can lose your salvation, though I don’t believe salvation can be lost.

Hebrews contains a lot of good information on who Jesus is. It also contains a number of verses on how a Christian should live.  Here are examples:

• Study your Bible to know God’s word
• Do not love money, but be content with what you have and God’s ability to meet your needs
• Do good and share with others, for such sacrifices please God
• Spur other Christians to love, perform good deeds, and go to church
• Grow in your spiritual maturity and not remain “infants.” Christians who do this have greater confidence in receiving the hope of their salvation, or eternal life.  “
• Get rid of sin in your life, as it can trip you up in your race of faith
• Fix your thoughts on Jesus in your race of faith
• Daily approach the throne of the Lord to confess with Him your shortcomings/sins and seek His grace and mercy.
• Do God’s will and what pleases Him
• Continually praise God

How a person is saved (and other verses relating to salvation)

• Salvation is escaping from a penalty.
  • Every transgression (a willful disregard for God’s laws) and disobedience (refusal to take heed) requires a just penalty (Heb 2:2).
• The deceitfulness of sin can harden a person’s heart (Heb 3:13) and turn them away from God.
• It is not possible to be saved by complying with God’s laws (including the 10 commandments) (Heb 10:1). Thus, you can never be good enough, by your own efforts, to be saved.
• God calls a person to be saved (Heb 9:15)
• You need to hear the good news, or gospel of salvation (Heb 4:2)
• You must approach God, through Jesus, in order to be saved (Heb 7:25).
• You must believe the good news. When you do, you enter God’s rest (Heb 4:2-3).
• You must have faith in the Lord (Heb 10:39)
• What is faith, according to Hebrews 11?
  • Faith can refer to a set of Biblical doctrines, but that is not how it is used here
  • There are two parts to the definition of faith per Heb 11:1:
    • The “assurance” of things hoped for.
      • This means that you are so assured of, or confident in, something good taking place in the future, that – to you – it’s a reality now.
      • An example of this is salvation. Although you will not be completely saved until you die and go to heaven, you believe without a shadow of a doubt that you are saved now and will remain saved.
    • The conviction of things not seen.
      • This means that it is the proof to you of something that you can’t see.  You simply know it to be true, even if there is no explicit proof.
      • An example of this is the existence of God; you are convinced in your mind and it is in essence proven to you that He is real even though you can’t see Him.
  • A third part to the definition of faith is found in Heb 11:6:
    • to have faith, a person must first “come” to, or seek, God.
      • I believe too many “Christians” today say they believe in God without having sought after Him
    • faith assumes that you believe these two things:
      • 1) God exists
      • 2) God rewards those who seek Him (such as with forgiveness of sins or salvation from the penalty of sin)
  • The examples of faith in Heb 11 shed further light on what faith means:
    • Faith allows you to understand that God created the world out of nothing that we can see (Heb 11:3).  Those without faith may not be able to understand this.
    • Faith means you are willing to make sacrifices for God in order to please Him (Heb 11:4, Gen 4:4), for He is very important to you (Abel vs. Cain).
    • Faith means you are willing to obey God even when you don’t know the details as to why (Heb 11:8, Abraham moves to a foreign land)
    • Faith means you are willing to obey what God wants you to do, even if it seems humanly impossible
      • Heb 11:7, Noah builds an ark
      • Heb 11:17-19, Abraham is told to sacrifice his only son
      • Heb 11:11, Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was given the ability to bear a child
      • Heb 11:29, the Israelites passed through the Red Sea without drowning (which the Eyptians did)
      • Heb 11:30, the walls of Jericho fell down after the people of Israel had encircled it for seven days
  • It is critical to note that without faith, a person cannot please God (Heb 11:6).
• Repentance from “dead works” is associated with being saved (Heb 6:1)
• If you know how to be saved from your sins, but reject it with disdain and choose to keep sinning, you may lose your opportunity to become saved. (Heb 10:26-27, 29)
• Some verses indicate that salvation is conditional upon perseverance and can be lost:
  • For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end. (Heb 3:14)
  •  For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, since on their own they are crucifying again the Son of God and are holding him up to contempt. (Hebrews 6:4-6)
    • I believe the above set of verses do not describe someone who has been saved and then loses their salvation. Rather, it describes someone who has clearly been exposed to and known about salvation, and has received benefits from being around those who are saved, but in the end rejected Christ and His salvation. They are like ground that has received repeated rains, but produced thistles and weeds rather than a crop (Heb 6:7-8), and because of this the ground will end up being burned.

Relationship between faith/salvation and deeds

• Jesus became the source of salvation for all who obey Him (Heb 5:9).
  • Belief in Jesus goes beyond a knowledge of Him or profession of faith and includes obedience.

Characteristics of a Christian

• There are two types of Christians:
  • spiritually immature, or infants
  • spiritually mature (Heb 5:13-14).
• Has assurance of salvation (Heb 10:34)
• Should hold fast to the confession of one’s hope without wavering (don’t doubt your assurance) (Heb 10:23)
• Should eagerly await the second return of Christ (Heb 9:28)

How a Christian should live

• Realize that God will discipline you at different times in your life (Heb 12:6)
• Although you will struggle against sin (Heb 12:4), you need to get rid of it in your life, since sin can trip you up in your race of faith
• Continue to fix your thoughts on Jesus in your race of faith (Heb 12:1, 3:1)
• Daily approach the throne of the Lord to confess with Him your shortcomings/sins and seek His grace and mercy (Heb 4:15-16).
• Grow in your spiritual maturity and not remain “infants.” Infants should move past repentance and faith (which is how one is saved) to work hard for God and show their love to Him by loving other Christians (Heb 6:10). Christians who do this have greater confidence in receiving the hope of their salvation, or eternal life.  Those who do not grow run the risk of becoming “spiritually dull and indifferent.”
• Spur other Christians to love, perform good deeds, and go to church
  • And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Heb 10:24-25)
• Study your Bible to know God’s word (Heb 4:12)
• Pursue peace and holiness (Heb 12:14)
• Show hospitality to strangers, for they could be angels (Heb 13:1)
• Remember those in prison as if you were there (Heb 13:3)
• Remember those who are being persecuted and tortured as if you were (Heb 13:3)
• (If you are married) Honor your marriage and do not commit adultery, for God will judge adulterers and fornicators (Heb 13:4)
• Do not love money, but be content with what you have and God’s ability to meet your needs (Heb 13:4)
• Continually praise God (Heb 13:15)
• Do good and share with others, for such sacrifices please God (Heb 13:16)
• Do God’s will and what pleases Him (Heb 13:20)

Who God is and what He is like

• Has a will (Heb 2:4)
• Everything exists for Him and through Him (Heb 2:9)
• Made the universe (includes time, space, energy and matter) through Jesus (Heb 1:2)
• Appointed Jesus to be heir of all things (Heb 1:2)
• Has distributed gifts of the Holy Spirit to others according to His will (Heb 2:4)
• Spoke verbally and in other ways (dreams, angels, etc.) to prophets during the Old Testament.  In the New Testament, He spoke to us primarily via His Son Jesus (Heb 1:1-2) but also through angels and dreams.
• Makes men holy (Heb 2:10)
• Sees and knows everything you say and do. Everyone must give an account to Him and His word. (Heb 4:13)
• Not unjust (Heb 6:10)
• Disciplines those whom He loves (Heb 12:6)
• Equips Christians with what they need to do His will (Heb 13:20)

Who Jesus is and what He is like

• Lord (Heb 1:10)
• The radiance of God’s glory (Heb 1:3)
• The exact representation of God’s nature (Heb 1:3)
• Appointed by God to be heir of all things (Heb 1:2)
• To be worshiped by angels (Heb 1:6)
• Referred to as God by God the Father (Heb 1:8)
• Died to cleanse us from the stain of sin (Heb 1:3)
• Superior to angels (Heb 1:4), but for a little while (in His state of humanity) was made a little lower than the angels (Heb 2:9).All of God’s angels are to worship Him (Heb 1:6).
• Has a throne that lasts forever (Heb 1:8)
• Loves righteousness, hates lawlessness or wickedness (Heb 1:9)
• Founded the earth; the heavens are the work of His hands (Heb 1:10)
• Called Lord by God the Father (Heb 1:10)
• Sustains all things by His powerful word (Heb 1:3)
• Will never die (Heb 1:12), but died (physically) and tasted death for everyone (Heb 2:9)
• His Father is God (Heb 2:11)
• Son of God (Heb 5:5)
• Had to take the form of a human (flesh and blood) and then die in order to destroy the one who has the power of death, which is Satan, and free those who were in slavery by their fear of death (Heb 2:14-15)
• Learned obedience through what He suffered (Heb 5:8).Was made perfect through suffering (Heb 2:10). Once made perfect, He became the source of salvation for all who obey Him (Heb 5:9)
• Was without sin (Heb 4:15)
• Took on flesh and blood like that of other humans (Heb 2:14)
• Merciful and faithful high priest (Heb 2:17).Apostle and high priest (Heb 3:1).  A priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:6). A high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. (Heb 7:26)
• Was a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of His people (Heb 2:17)
• Was faithful to the One (God) who appointed Him (Heb 3:2)
• Offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears (Heb 5:7)
• The guarantee of a better covenant (Heb 7:22)
• Saves those who approach God through Jesus (Heb 7:25)
• Seated at the right hand of the throne of God the Father (Heb 8:1)
• Will return to earth a second time to save those who are eagerly awaiting Him (Heb 9:28)
• Author and perfector of our faith (Heb 12:2)
• The great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb 13:20)

Other

• Angels are ministering spirits who are sent to serve those who will inherit salvation (Heb 1:14)