An Expanded Paraphrase of the Book of Hebrews

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Hebrews Chapter 4

Verse:   1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9   10    11    12    13    14    15    16

Authors Intention: For long centuries God has struggled to get His children to accept that salvation is a free gift. Thanks to human pride, however, and in some measure to an inability on our part to appreciate the awesome dimensions of God's gracious kindness, we are sorely inclined to want to do something to earn our salvation. Thus the author now sets out to help his reader to realise that God does nothing in half-measures, that salvation is full and free, and that, as such, the truly repentant soul can find perfect comfort and spiritual rest in the knowledge that God calls on us to work, not in order to receive the gift, but only out of gratitude for the gift received. Having lifted Jesus to the utmost heights, the author is now in a position to help the reader to realise his own lowly standing in the scale of heaven.

God is Inviting Us To Enter His Spiritual Rest Today

We conclude, therefore, that God is expecting us to learn from the mistakes and the unbelief of the Israel of old. With their tragic experience in mind, He wants us to look ahead and to understand that the two-fold promise of rest that He offered to them, and that they failed to realise, is still being extended to us today, . . .

¤  the physical rest that will be ours when we finally cross over into the heavenly Canaan.

¤  and the spiritual rest that comes . . .

-  to all who acknowledge that the nature of man is utterly depraved,

-  to all who accept that in their own strength they can do nothing to meet the claims of the holy and just law that they have broken,

-  and to all who, realizing their sinfulness and their desperate need, accept Jesus as a complete Substitute and Saviour. (See on 3:10-11)

Therefore, with so much to lose by trying to save ourselves, and with so much to gain by accepting Jesus as our only hope of salvation - as the One who has saved us - let us seriously contemplate our situation and our options lest we too become hard-hearted and proud and, as a result, we lose the promised blessing of rest.

For we, like ancient Israel, have heard the gospel message, . . .

¤  how God gave His Son Jesus to live and die as the representative of humanity,

¤  how Jesus took on humanity, how He paid the price for all sin, for all people, for all time, how He gained the victory over sin and death on our behalf, and how He thus redeemed us from the penalty of the law that we all have broken,

¤  how He removed every barrier that stood between us and God,

¤  how He took away
    our sins,

¤  how He freed us
    from our guilt,

¤  how, at the cost of His own shed blood, He has earned for us a verdict of eternal innocence and absolute righteousness,

¤  how our lives are changed when, in relationship with Him, we feed on His Word and we behold His wondrous love,

¤  how he now stands as our advocate in heaven, pleading His shed blood on our behalf,

¤  and how He he has made a way for all who accept Him as their Saviour, Substitute and Surety to live forever - not merely as redeemed sinners, but as sons and daughters of God.

Having heard this glorious, encouraging gospel message, however, let us again take warning from the downfall of ancient Israel, for we, like them, will derive no benefit whatsoever from the good news unless it triggers a loving response in our lives, and unless we allow it to have an overriding influence on our attitudes, our thoughts, our motives, and our actions.

For it is more than obvious from God's dealings with ancient Israel that only those who respond to His saving initiative with grateful love and working faith will find the restful assurance of salvation . . .

¤  the restful assurance that floods the soul when we accept Jesus as a complete Saviour,

¤  the restful assurance that inspires us to work, not in order to be saved, but because He has saved us.

Let me put it to you this way - God wants us to realise that just as He completed the work of creation without our input or participation, so He has completed the work of redemption without our input or participation and, just as He looked back on His creation and rested in the knowledge that it was complete and good, so He now bids us to look back with Him on His work of redemption and He wants us to find rest in the knowledge that it too is complete and good.

We do need to understand, however, that the rest here spoken of is not one that encourages idleness or spiritual apathy. Rather, it is a deep, spiritual, restful assurance that grows out of genuine gratitude to God. It is a restful assurance that embraces the life, imparts peace to the soul, and inspires its possessor to work diligently, to obey God, and to perform acts of love and mercy with right motives. Please allow me to elaborate:

Then we need to consider this scenario from God's personal perspective.

Once we find rest in the knowledge that Jesus has completed the work of redemption on our behalf, and we obey God, not because we fear loss, but because we have been touched by His loving kindness, this is sure evidence that our love for God is genuine love.

You see, God has feelings and He longs to be loved by His children just as an earthly father longs to be loved by his children and, as in any child/father relationship, our obedience to Him reveals our genuine love for Him. We can appreciate, therefore, that if we obey God only from a sense of duty, or because we fear eternal death, or because we think that we can earn salvation by obeying Him, then it is obvious that our works of obedience are not inspired by our love for Him, but only by what we might lose or suffer by not obeying Him, or by what we might gain by obeying Him - and such obedience is not the fruit of love but merely the product of a mixture of fear and selfishness.

In fact, it was to preserve this understanding that God set aside the Sabbath to serve as a symbol of the rest that He has provided at the cost of His own shed blood. Thus the Sabbath is not only a memorial to God's completed work of creation, but it is also a monument to His completed work of redemption. On the Sabbath day, therefore, we not only rest from our usual daily activities, . . .

¤  we also rest secure as we celebrate the fact that God loves us with a supreme love - a love that would sooner die than live without us, . . .

¤  we also rest assured as we commemorate the fact that God has redeemed us from the condemnation of the law - and that the work for our salvation is complete, . . .

¤  and, more than this, we enjoy an abiding, restful peace as we consecrate our lives to Him, knowing that our love for God is genuine love - in other words, that we love Him for what He is, and not merely for what He can do for us.

Then, with this understanding and attitude, we will observe the Sabbath with the right motives. No longer will we "k - e - e - p" the Sabbath in a vain effort to obey the letter of the law - and to chalk up merit points for heaven. Rather, we will cherish and delightfully observe the Sabbath rest in the true spirit of the law - for now the Sabbath will be to us our special love day with God - a joyous weekly festival during which we spend quality time with our Father, Friend, Creator, and Redeemer, . . .

¤  He who completes whatever He begins,

¤  He who is the author and finisher of creation, the author and finisher of redemption, and the author and finisher of our faith, (Hebrews 12:2)

¤  He who made a complete atonement for our sins, who completely satisfied the law on our behalf, and who now stands as our complete representative,

¤  He in whom we are complete.

This then is the spiritual rest that God has long wanted His children to enter into and to enjoy - and this is the very rest that God is still offering to His children today. Even though the obstinacy of ancient Israel kept them from entering into this rest, God's purpose has not changed and His promise of rest still stands fast.

With eternal patience, and with an unrelenting sense of urgency, God is still inviting us to enter into His rest - not tomorrow - but today. This, in fact, is the very same rest that God offered to His children in the time of Joshua. Sadly, however, though they finally crossed over into Canaan in the physical sense, they, as a nation, never made the spiritual crossing. Had they done so, God would not still have been urging His children to enter His rest some hundreds of years later in the time of David. Then, by the same token, had God's children, as a nation, entered into His rest in the days of David, God would not still be inviting us to enter His rest today.

So the offer of entering God's rest still stands. With eternal patience God is still calling on us to find spiritual rest in the shadow of His grace, to find comfort in the embrace of His tender love, and to find motivating peace in the knowledge that we cannot work for or contribute in any way towards our salvation.

While God requires us to be `zealous for good works,' He wants us to know that it is not our good works but our faith alone that saves us - for, if no-one is righteous, not even one - then who of us can be saved apart from Jesus? If Scripture assures us that all our righteousness is as filthy rags, then how can the "good" things we do compensate for the bad things we have done - let alone compensate for the bad thing that we are?

Therefore, as much as God wants us to obey, and as much as our obedience will result in the blessings of heaven, and as much as our obedience will give glory to God, the inescapable fact of the matter is that our obedience is only ever valued at less than nothing in the scale of redemption. While the saved will obey, while the saved will work, only our faith in the work, the obedience, the life and the death of Jesus will save us. So while God does call us to obedience, He wants us to ever remember that our works of obedience are . . .

¤  nothing other than the fruit of the faith that saves;

¤  nothing other than the evidence that we possess the faith that saves;

¤  nothing other than our grateful response to God's gracious, saving initiative.

In short, therefore, . . .

¤  God wants us to realise how lost we are, so that we will stop trying to save ourselves and be willing to accept the free gift of salvation,

¤  He wants us to know how unrighteous we are, so that we will be willing to accept the righteousness of Another, (see on Heb 2:11)

¤  He wants us to realise how valueless our works of obedience are, so that we will depend solely on Him who perfectly obeyed the law on our behalf,

¤  He wants us to know how unworthy we are so that we will be willing to accept the worthy Lamb of God as our Saviour and King.

Then, realizing how lost we are without faith, we will be in a position to appreciate how saved we are through faith. And this realization will draw us into the shadow of the cross where, with weeping and utter humility, with wonder, gratitude and extreme joy, we will enter into God's rest as we accept Jesus . . .

¤  as the great and only Sacrifice for our sins,

¤  as the One who was slain for us `from the foundation of the world,' (Rev 13:8)

¤  as the one who completed the work for our salvation `while we were still sinners' - even before we who now live were born. (Rom 5:8)

So let us diligently reach out for the gift that God has provided. Realizing that He wants us to find rest of soul as a result of His intercession, let us make a determined effort to enter this rest - remembering always that salvation is a free gift - an unmerited favour that we receive in exchange for faith - and never as a reward for our works. Unless we realise this we, like Israel of old, will find ourselves vainly working for something that we simply cannot earn - vainly trying to weave a holy garment using altogether unholy thread.

Author's Intention. The author has now made his point. Despite our lost condition, we can find rest in Jesus in the here and now, and then we will find rest with Him in the hereafter. Having challenged the reader to diligently pursue this present rest, the author now reduces this challenge to its practical daily application - revealing what is necessary in order for the Christian to discover God's rest. Having drawn our minds to creation - the product of the spoken word of God - the author now points us to the written word of God - this to break down our pride, humble us, and reveal our depravity. After this He points us to the living Word of God, - this to lift us up and to give us confidence in Him who paid the full penalty for depraved sinners.

With these thoughts in mind, therefore, I refer you to the Word of God - for His Word, if faithfully studied on a daily basis, will penetrate into the darkest recesses of our innermost being, even into the closets of our deepest and most private thoughts and motives and, in so doing, it will enable us to see ourselves as we really are - to see ourselves as God sees us and knows us to be.

Then, through the continued study of His word, we will become increasingly aware of the fact that nothing is beyond the all-seeing eye of God - not even our most private thoughts - and that, as such, our only hope is to accept our depravity, acknowledge our weakness, admit our guilt, and flee to Jesus - God's all-encompassing Answer to our spiritual dilemma.

What shall we do, therefore? If we are altogether unworthy, and if even our thoughts are transparent before God, what can we do to be saved?

Fear not, for there is a fountain of hope - a fountain of absolute hope - and that fountain is Jesus. He has journeyed through the heavens in order to petition the Father on our behalf and, even today, He serves as our tender, compassionate High Priest. If we accept Him by faith, and if our trust for salvation rests solely in His merits, then He takes up our case, firstly as our Judge, secondly as our Advocate, and thirdly as our substitute in the bench of the accused.

Then, in that great and final day of judgment, when our lives come into final reckoning, and the Father calls for the evidence in our case, Jesus will not expose our faults and our filthy-rag righteousness - for then we would surely be lost. As the only evidence in the case of the faithful, and as the all-sufficient argument in our favour, He will present before the throne of God His pierced, bruised and broken body, His wounded hands and feet, and His spotless life and perfect character. Then, on behalf of all who have accepted Him by faith, He will present His plea, `Father, I have accepted their guilt as though it were my own, and I have taken the punishment for their sinfulness upon myself. As their representative I have died the death that they deserve to die and I have lived a perfect life on their behalf. The full price is now paid. Because they have accepted me as their Substitute and Saviour, - let them now stand before you innocent.'

In response, the Father will reach out with delighted enthusiasm and write alongside our names the words, . . .

`PARDONED AND ETERNALLY PERFECT'

So do not be discouraged by the thought that Jesus knows all about you. Remember that He Himself has been tempted and tried - though without falling. As such, He can relate perfectly to your situation. Have you a wounded spirit? He had one too. Have you a broken bleeding heart? He had one too. Do you have a burdened, perplexed and tempted mind? He had one too. Are you bowed down in anguish? He was too. Are you suffering? He suffered too - and this for you.

Rest assured, therefore, that because He has experienced all of your trials, pains, sorrows and temptations, - and this without sinning by as much as a thought - He needs to know all about your weaknesses, for He is the only One in all the universe who can comfort you in your sinfulness, cheer you in your sorrow, and give you strength to endure and to overcome.

Just keep in mind that Jesus did not come to rescue a perfect people, He came to help and to save those who acknowledge their imperfection - those who realise their great need, and who rest their hopes for salvation in Him alone.

Therefore, no matter who you are, no matter what you have done, no matter what your present circumstances in life, Jesus is reaching out a hand of friendship to you - and He is inviting you to enter into an eternal partnership with Him. Even now He is watching over you, dear child of God. Wherever you may be, He is there - ever-willing to support you, to contend on your behalf, to sustain you through your trials, to gladden your heart, and to give you strength in the assurance of His unconditional love. Are you tempted? He will deliver you. Are you weak? He will strengthen you. Are you ignorant? He will enlighten you. Are you wounded? He will heal you. Whatever your trouble or perplexity, share it with Jesus - for He is your very best Friend - by infinite degrees.

Rest assured, therefore, that `we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous,' and with an advocate like Him we have nothing whatsoever to fear. (1 John 2:1).

In fact, with Jesus as our representative, we have every reason to be filled with utmost confidence, for He will plead the case of the most lowly, the most oppressed and suffering, the most tried and tempted of His faith-filled children - and in every instance the evidence of His blood, shed on our behalf, and the testimony of His perfect life - the life He lived on our behalf - will weigh decidedly in our favour. (See Zechariah 3:1-5)

Knowing, therefore, that we have a gracious Friend, a compassionate High Priest who intercedes on our behalf, there is no reason why we should become discouraged because of our weaknesses, no reason why our faith should falter because we are prone to make mistakes. God emptied heaven for just such as we are, and He wants us to find perfect peace in the knowledge that . . .

¤  no one is so weak that he cannot find strength in Him,

¤  no sin is too great for Him to pardon,

¤  and no life is too dark and sin-burdened for
Him to save.

Yes, the gospel assures us that even the most spiritually frail may look to Jesus as their great High Priest, and they can do this with a hope that is absolute. Even in their moments of greatest weakness, they may hear His earnest invitation, . . .

Come and enter my rest dear child, `I have engraved you on the palms of My hands, My grace is sufficient for you.' (Isaiah 49:16; 2 Corinthians 12:9)

Let us find peace, therefore, knowing that nobody is excluded from the protecting shadow of His limitless grace, and that absolutely nobody exists beyond the boundaries of His infinite kindness. Despite the fact that `we all, like sheep, have gone astray,' and even though `each of us has turned to his own way,' the Lord has laid on Jesus the iniquity of us all - `the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.'

Let us rejoice in bold assurance, therefore, as we consider the extraordinary dimensions of God's saving grace. As we ponder on the stupendous price that He paid for the joy of seeing us redeemed, it is more than obvious that God wants us to place our full trust and confidence in our Gracious Saviour, . . .

¤  He who was rejected in the person of us, that we might be accepted in the person of Him,

¤  He who became poor, that we `through His poverty might be rich,' (2 Corinthians 8:9)

¤  He who suffered the pain and the shame that only we deserve, that we might enjoy the peace and the joy that only He deserves,

¤  He who was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we have no share,

¤  He who suffered the death that was ours, that we might receive the life that is His,

¤  He who became a son of humanity, that we might become sons and daughters of God.

What mercy! - Boundless mercy to pardon our sins.

What grace! - Amazing grace to penetrate our selfish hearts and to purify our souls.

What love! - Unfathomable love to draw us
into the waiting arms of our kind Heavenly Father.

The Fruit of Grace

Some have great difficulty understanding the place of good works in the economy of salvation. On the one hand, Scripture makes it clear that we are saved by faith and by faith alone - and this without works. On the other hand, James assures us that faith without works is dead? (James 2:17)

We need to realise, therefore, that true faith always works, for true faith is always characterized by works. So while we are saved by faith, and not by works, the faithful will always work - for true faith cannot exist in the absence of works. So while works do not save, they do reveal that we possess saving faith. In other words, works are the fruit of the faith that saves.

The all-important consideration, therefore, is what motivates us to work? If we work, believing that there is merit in our work, we are deceived, but if our work is inspired by love for God, in other words, if it is our grateful response to His unmerited mercy and kindness - to his full and complete redemption initiative - then we are surely on the right path. This grateful response is the focus of the following poem.

By Love Procured

If Thou beheld a worm like me,
and chose to suffer my penalty,
and by Thy grace hast set me free,
then take my life, I give it to thee.

If all that I've done, so foul and mean,
is washed away, and my slate is clean,
not through merit, but love so keen,
then I am Yours to work and to glean.

If through the pain that You endured,
my hope of heaven is fully secured,
and now, under grace, I may rest assured,
then Master I'm Yours - by Love procured.

May be sung to the tune of Scarborough Fair - Canticles  by Simon & Garfunkel
(Substituting "Amazing Grace & Love Divine" for "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme")