Hebrews 4:11-13, The Word of God

Hebrews 4:11-13:

The Word of God

Bibliology, the Christian doctrine of the Bible, is described.  The Bible is inspired, inerrant, infallible, sufficient, clear, comprehensible, sufficient, and able to change lives.  Jesus used it as if all of these adjectives were true.  So should we.  Hebrews 4:11-13 deals principally with the Bible's authority as the basis for our judgment before a Holy God.  It gets to the heart of the matter and leaves us without excuse. My notes follow the video. 

A.    Bibliology: The theology of the Word of God

1.    Scripture is Inspired:

a.    2 Tim 3:16 Scripture comes from the mouth of God, not man.

b.    2Pet 1:20-21 The prophet’s mind is involved, but carried along by the Spirit of God.

1.    Unique vocabularies and idioms, grammar and even language.

2.    Same, unified message.

c.    Examples:

1.    Jer 36:2

2.    Ezek 1:3

3.    Rev 14:13

2.    Scripture is inerrant

a.    “The Bible is entirely truthful and reliable in all that it affirms in its original manuscripts.”

b.    God cannot lie, so if these are the words of God, they are true.

1.    Titus 1:2

2.    2 Sam 7:8

3.    Prov 30:5

c.    It has proved faithful in its predictions and promises: 1 Kings 8:56; Ps 111:7; Eze 12:25

d.    [Manuscripts, historical discoveries, unified message]

3.    Scripture is clear and comprehensible:

a.    Some passages are hard to understand (2 Pet 3:16),

b.    But with the Spirit’s illumination (2 Tim 2:7), the teaching can be understood by children (Deut 6:6-7).

c.    Are you “simple”? God’s word makes you wise (Ps 19:7)

d.    Clear enough that Jesus never assumes that his people haven’t understood, rather they have not read (Matt 12:3, 5; 19:14; 21:42; 22:31)

e.    When people misunderstand, the fault lies with the people (sin, pride, etc), not the word of God.

f.     Teachers are gifted for illumination and explanation (1 Cor 12:28; Eph 4:11)

g.    “5 Solas” Sola Scriptura.

4.    Scripture is sufficient:

a.    The canon of scripture has all that we need for life and Godliness (2 Tim 3:15; Psalm 19:7-9)

b.    All functions of the church are anchored in scripture (2 Tim 3:16-17)

c.    Nothing is to be added to the word of God (Deut 4:2; 12:32; Prov 3:5-6; Rev 22: 18-19)

d.    The Holy Spirit will guide and instruct individual believers for the circumstances of their life (Rom 8:14; Gal 5:16, 18, 25) This will always be in line with scripture and a local thing, not new revelation for the church as a whole.(Gal 1:8)

e.    If there is something God hasn’t given us in scripture, it isn’t something we need to capitalize on.  Focus on what he has said clearly, and leave the mysteries to Him (Deut 29:29)

5.    Scripture is spiritual food, a source of Joy and Confidence:

a.    Food: Dt 8:3; Job 23:21; Psalm 119:103; Jer 15:16

b.    Delight: Jer 15:16; Psalm 1; Prov 2:1-5

6.    Scripture is eternal and unchanging (Ps 119:89; Isa 40:8; Matt 5:18; Matt 24:35; 1Pet 1:25)

7.    Scripture is powerful!

a.    Devouring flame: Jer 5:14

b.    Crushing Hammer: Jer 23:29

c.    Life-giving force: Eze 37:7

d.    Saving Power: Rom 1:16

e.    Sword (below)

B.    Jesus and Scripture:

1.    Jesus believed the literal and simple reading of the OT:

a.    Creation: Matt 19:4-6

b.    Cain and Abel: Luke 11:50-51

c.    Noah’s flood: Matt 24:37

d.    Abraham’s call: John 8:56-58

e.    Sodom and Gomorrah: Matt 11:23-24

f.     Elijah’s drought: Luke 4:25-27

g.    Jonah and the Whale: 12:41

2.    Jesus’ life was saturated with scripture. 

a.    Source of his power. Matt 26:54; Mark 8:31

b.    Resist temptation: Matt 4:1-11

c.    Settle disputes: Matt 19:1-12

d.    Died quoting scripture: Matt 27:46

e.    On resurrection Sunday exposited scripture: Luke 24:13-17

C.   Hebrews 4:11-13

1.    This passage is all about judgment based on your adherence to Scripture.  Belief and Obedience.

2.    Verse 11: Let us hasten diligently to the rest, so that we are not hardened by disbelief.  Hurry up and believe and obey.  The longer you put it off, the greater risk of wrath you incur.

3.    Verse 12-13:

a.    Faith is only as good as the object in which it is invested.

b.    Believe what the word of God says.

c.    The Bible is not dead or in the past, living and active.

1.    Not “living” as if it can grow and change, like the Constitution. It is unchanging, but not dead. 

2.    Active: Energized! ἐνεργής energēs

3.    1 Pet 1:22-23

4.    1 Thes 2:13

d.    Two-edged sword

1.    Common picture (Eph 6:17; Rev 1:16; 2:12; 19:21)

2.    Possessing two powers,

a.    Salvation,  Heb 4:2, Rom 1:16  scalpel

b.    Judgment,  Heb 4:4, 2 cor 2:15-16 Sword

e.    Dividing and Judging are parallel ideas.

1.    The word of God Divides:

a.    Divides the physical world at creation Genesis 1

b.    Divides God’s people from those who are not (Lev 19:19; Deut 22:11; Rom 13:13-14; 2 Cor 6:14-18)

c.    Obedience to it divides those who are living (John 14:15, 23)

d.    Obedience to it divides the the eternal future of all people (Matt 25:31-46)

e.    In this context

                                                                                      i.        Dividing what is inside us, our thoughts and intentions,  from what is spiritual,  soulful,  or merely fleshly

                                                                                     ii.        Two spiritual aspect, closely allied, soul and spirit, and two fleshly aspects, joints and marrow.

f.     it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. In doing this, it is able to discriminate successfully between what is spiritual in man and what is merely “soulish” or natural (it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit), and does so even when these often-contradictory inner elements are interwoven as closely as joints and marrow. The inner life of a Christian is often a strange mixture of motivations both genuinely spiritual and completely human. It takes a supernaturally discerning agent such as the Word of God to sort these out and to expose what is of the flesh. The readers might think that they were contemplating certain steps out of purely spiritual motivations when, as God’s Word could show them, they were acting unfaithfully as did Israel of old.

4.    Vs 13

a.    Discernment has discrimination and evaluation implied. 

b.    You will be judged based on your obedience to and belief in the word of God.

1.    Deut 6:6; 11:18

2.    Ps 119:11

3.    Matt 22:29

4.    Col 3:16

5.    The word of God is a personification of God himself (vs 13).  God is manifested in his word (Hebrews 1:2; Jn 1:1ff).

6.    You cannot hide your unbelief from God.  You will be laid bare on judgment day. 

a.    Naked.  Gen 3:9; 2 cor 5:3

b.    τετραχηλισμένα perfect of a verb based on the noun “neck.”  To “neck” is used in the sense of bending back the head of a victim, prisoner, or sacrifice to expose the neck to the sword or knife for execution.  In the perfect tense, we are, once and for all, on the verge of execution because of our transgression of God’s word.

c.    We are awaiting the judgment from God, who is the one “to whom we must give account.”

d.    In saying this, the readers were reminded that, like all Christians, they would someday stand before the judgment seat of Christ where they must give account to God for their lives (cf. Rom. 14:10–12; 2 Cor. 5:10). If at that time their lives are seen to be marked by the kind of failure they have been warned against, the writer implied they will suffer loss of reward (cf. 1 Cor. 3:11–15). In this context the loss they suffer will be that of their inheritance-rest.

1.    Jer 23:29

2.    2Chr 16:9

5.    “God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else—something it never entered your head to conceive—comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.” --C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

This is my Bible. (James MacDonald)

I am who it says I am. (Matthew 5:16)

I can do what it says I can do. (Philippians 4:13)

I am going where it says I will go. (John 14:3)

God’s Word is milk for my soul. (1 Peter 2:2)

God’s Word is seed for my faith. (Luke 8:11)

God’s Word is light for my path. (Psalm 119:105

God’s Word is power for my victory. (Hebrews 4:12)

God’s Word is freedom for my life. (John 8:32)

When I read God’s Word, it brings me joy. (Jeremiah 15:16)

When I study God’s Word, it keeps me from shame. (2 Timothy 2:15)

When I memorize God’s Word, it purifies my heart. (Psalm 119:11)

When I quote God’s Word, it defeats my enemies. (Ephesians 6:10, 17)

When I meditate on God’s Word, it brings me success. (Joshua 1:8)

When I abide in God’s Word, it gives me confidence. (John 15:7)

I am a Bible-believing follower of Jesus Christ!