July 23, 2014
JESUS IS ENOUGH
Hebrews 3:12–19
Jeremy Patty
Central Truth
Believe that the person and work of Jesus is enough.
Key Verse | Hebrews 3:19
So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:19)
Hebrews 3:12–19
12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said,
“Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”
16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Dive Deeper | Hebrews 3:12–19
So far, we have seen Hebrew's author argue for Christ's superiority. He used three contrasts to support this claim: Christ is superior to the prophets' revelation, He is superior to angels, and He is superior to Moses. The author warns that generation about their risk of being guilty of the same thing that the generation under Moses' administration was guilty of -- namely, a failure to believe God's revelation (Numbers 13-14).
This section is a call to those hearing this letter not to harden their hearts in unbelief like their ancestors did, but to believe what they have heard -- Jesus is superior to Moses. It's not about Moses, and it's all about Jesus. They were hearing about the "new way" of grace and forgiveness and were in danger of rejecting it by continuing under the "old way" of Moses or by attempting to hold on to both the old and the new. Either choice demonstrated they did not fully believe the revelation of God through Jesus.
Jesus is sufficient for us as well. We don't have to do anything to earn God's favor. Jesus earned it for us! We get to accept it through faith.
I confess that I have a tendency to focus on myself by focusing on what I "should" be doing. "Am I performing well enough? Did I share the gospel enough? Did I read my Bible enough? Did I pray enough? Was this a sin? Was that a sin?" This spiritual navel-gazing can be exhausting. I find no rest in self-absorption. God doesn't call me to focus on my sin or myself, but to fix my eyes on the Savior (Hebrews 12:2). Obsessing over my works distracts me from obsessing over the finished work of Jesus.
What does God want from us "today"? What if it's simply to believe Him? What if it's to trust that Jesus is enough? "[W]ithout faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11:6, NIV) Today, let's choose to obsess over the work of the Son, not over the work of ourselves. Walk by faith.
Discussion Questions
1. Which believers do you have a relationship with who can encourage you daily with the truth so that you will not be hardened by sin's deceitfulness (Hebrews 3:13)? Who can you encourage today?
2. The author of Hebrews often uses the phrase "once for all." Read Hebrews 7:27; 9:12, 26; 10:2, 10 (NIV). What does "once for all" mean, and what are the implications for you today?
3. What have you been doing to feel clean and close to God? Read Hebrews 9:28; 10:2, 10, 14 (NIV) to see how genuine believers are made clean and close to God through Jesus "once for all." (You may not feel clean and close, but that doesn't mean you aren't. Feelings are real, but not reliable. The truth is real and reliable, and it sets us free.)
4. What do you get to do today now that you don't have to do anything? (Hint: Colossians 3:12-17; Ephesians 2:10)