L-T Hopper
Hebrews 9.
L-T Hopper
Luke 1:1-4
This morning in my RE class I asked:- Put you hand up if you think you do good deeds to get into heaven. Many of the students put up their hands. They actually thought that’s what I had been teaching. Of course I took the time to explain the answer to this question:-
“If you were to go to heaven and God were to ask you why should I let you into heaven what you say?”
I said the wrong was to say:- I did good deeds.
The right as is:- Because what Jesus did.
That it is because of God’s GRACE not our WORKS. Or another way to say it is to say it is what Jesus has DONE not what we DO.
What verses make this clear?
- Ephesians 2:8-9
- Galatians 3:1ff
- Titus 2:11-12
We have been studying Hebrews recently and are now about to look at chapter 10. The book is nearly finished and we haven’t really had a behavioural command. This is the pattern in the New Testament letters. They are heavily waited towards teaching on God’s grace. The teaching on behaviour comes only after the teaching of God’s grace particularly in Jesus.
If the consistent teaching we give our children is on behaviour we will not be teaching them the Gospel and so how to be right with God. We will be teaching them how to be GOOD and so they will think being a Christian is about being GOOD. They will become good moralists or self-righteous but not know the Gospel of grace in Jesus. We are to teach them they need to be saved.
As we come to the Bible we recognise that there is a ‘prior’ message. It is a book about God so we read it to learn firstly about God not us. As we read it to discover God we will see the prior message of grace ie what God is like. We will see what God is like. This will then shape what we emphasise in our teaching.
Most people’s perception of the Bible is that it is a book of do’s and don’ts. This is not the case. It is a book about God’s gracious dealings with people. We can easily fall into the trap of teaching it as though it is a book of do’s and don’ts.
One preacher, Bryan Chappell calls sermons he used to give where he would say to his church go and ‘be this and be that’ ‘KILLER BE’ talks. Over time he was preaching a message that was the opposite to grace. He was teaching that the Christian life is all about what you did. He repented of this preaching. He says it is so fundamental to life even his parenting. So instead of saying to his son:- “Johnny your naughty.” He says:- “Johnny you’re my son so don’t be naughty.” He is acknowledging his son’s identity is not based on what he does but who he is in relation to his father. This is the reason for calling him to change his behaviour. The same is true of us as Christians. Our identity is based on who we are in Christ because of grace not on what we do or have done.
Whatever teaching on behaviour we give it must be given in the context or the basis for why we live they way we live as Christians. Romans 12:1 is a perfect example of this:- “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.”
Paul is saying because of what God has done for you in Jesus you are to live a certain way ie living your life whole life for God.
Here are 2 questions you ask of any passage that will help you get to the prior message of God’s grace:-
1. What does the passage say about God or Jesus?
2. What does the passage say about people or us?
In answering these questions you will no doubt discover that God is good and we are not and so need God’s grace.
Try them out on:-
- Genesis 4
- Exodus 20:1-7
L-T Hopper
Hebrews 10:1-18