3/07/16 Hebrews 2:1-9 “How shall we escape if we neglect so
great a salvation?”
Hebrews 2:1 – Therefore we ought to give the
more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we
should let {them} slip.
So far the writer has established some impressive credentials for Jesus, Son of God, to speak, not only on behalf of God, but as God! So this chapter begins with an admonishment to take earnest heed to what we have heard through Jesus who is Son of God. “Therefore” means “as a consequence of what you have been told”.
the more earnest – more; that is, meaning to a greater degree; especially; above others. It is a term of comparison, such that it emphasises a greater amount or degree than that with which it is compared. Note the words “the more exceedingly” and “the more abundantly” below.
Mark 15:13-14 – 13 And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” 14 Then Pilate said unto them, “Why, what evil hath he done?” And they cried out the more exceedingly, “Crucify him.”
2 Corinthians 12:15 – And
I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly
I love you, the less I be loved.
Thus it isn’t just to pay attention, but to pay more (much
more) attention to what has been said. It isn’t saying to merely heed what’s
been said but to greatly increase our level of heeding. And why should
we greatly increase our earnest heed to the things that have been said? Answer
– “lest at any time we should let {them} slip.”
let {them} slip – pass us by; that which escapes my
attention; slips my mind; that is … lest the salvation which these things we
have heard show us how to obtain, slips away from us. It has the idea of a boat
drifting away or past while we are not watching, or a prisoner who slips away
because we haven’t been watching carefully enough. Or something that slips out
of our hands and falls, through inattention.
Today’s passage is all about that which is more
essential to our well-being and future than anything else we could ever
possibly need. It’s like buying a car; without fuel it can do nothing. You can
hitch up a horse to the car and it might go, but why not just ride the horse?
If you buy a car but vow to never buy any fuel for it, then what’s the point of
it all? So it is with us: without salvation there is no escape from the torment
of eternal death. No matter what you might want out of life, without salvation
it is nothing. And what if you have salvation but somehow don’t think of it as
important enough to match the attractions of the world? Could you somehow let
your salvation slip through inattention to its value? See Vs 3 for further
comments.
Paul clearly knew that without Christ in his life, he
had literally nothing.
Acts 20:24 – But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my
course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to
testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Philippians 3:8 – Yea doubtless, and I count all things {but} loss for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them {but} dung, that I may win Christ,
(Also note 1
Corinthians 15:12-20)
Even Jesus taught that without Him we could do nothing
(of value, that is).
John 15:5b – for without
Me ye can do nothing.
We must be prepared to give all else away for the sake
of Christ and our salvation.
Matthew 13:44-46 – 44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid
in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth,
and for joy thereof goeth and selleth
all that he hath, and buyeth that field. 45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a
merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price,
went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
So don’t let your opportunity for salvation come and go
without doing something about it – see Vs 3!
Hebrews 2:2 – For if the word spoken by angels
was stedfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
It was generally believed by the Jews that God’s
revelations came through angels.
Revelation 1:1 – The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to shew unto His servants
things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified {it} by His
angel unto his servant John:
It was also through angels that the messages were sent
to the seven churches in Revelation Ch 2 – Ch 3. Angels spoke directly to John
in many places. For example:
Revelation 11:1 – And there
was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, “Rise, and
measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.”
Revelation
14:6-7 – 6 And I saw
another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and
tongue, and people, 7 Saying
with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His
judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and
the fountains of waters.”
Revelation
17:1-2 – 1 And there
came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me,
saying unto me, “Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great
whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With
whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of
the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”
This word of angels
(as in other places) had proved steadfast (firm; reliable; consistent; able to
be trusted). In particular, every wrong-doing and disobedience spoken of by
angels was consistently punished. They were, after all, the ministers
(servants) of God. If a person sinned, his guilt was upon him as a matter of
certainty.
Numbers 15:31b – his iniquity {shall be} upon
him.
There was no getting
away with even the slightest crime without receiving justice.
Hebrews 2:3 – How shall we escape, if we neglect
so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard {Him};
If the word spoken by angels brought sure and certain
justice, then how much more the certainty when spoken by the Lord! If we
couldn’t escape when angels delivered the judgment, then even less so when God
delivers the judgment!
neglect – to be careless of; make light of; neglect.
In other words, we should take it seriously. It’s no laughing matter, as the
saying goes.
confirmed – established, by those who had
experienced it. That is, those who knew what they were talking about because
they were eye-witnesses; they were there!
2 Peter 1:16 – For we have
not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power
and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
Hebrews 4:11 – Let us labour therefore to enter
into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
unbelief (Hebrews 4:11) – (obstinacy, obstinate
opposition to the divine will) translated “unbelief” 4 times, “disobedient” 3 times.
Note that neglect itself is sufficient to condemn to the
uttermost – how indeed shall we escape? As it is said of the road rules:
ignorance is no excuse!
Also note the word “neglect”: the main area of neglect
is of those things we are responsible for. (Eg.
neglecting our responsibility) As we read further through Hebrews we’ll see
that a lot of emphasis is placed upon holding onto or holding fast to the
things of our salvation (Eg. Hebrews 3:6, 14; 4:14; 6:18; 10:23) and labouring to enter our
rest (Hebrews 4:11) and so on. We cannot ignore the context here in Vs 1-3 that
“neglect” in Vs 3 may also refer to those who let their salvation slip away
through inattention to responsibility.
Hebrews 2:4 – God also bearing {them} witness,
both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the
Holy Ghost, according to His own will?
bearing
witness – attest together with; to join in bearing witness; to
unite in adding testimony. God attested to the authenticity of the disciples’
message through signs (usually something that demonstrated that a prophet was
indeed speaking God’s word) and wonders (portent – a sign or
warning that a momentous or calamitous event was likely to happen) and
especially miracles (translated as “power/s” in most places) and the giftings of the Holy Spirit (eg
tongues, healing etc.)
1 Corinthians 12:7; 11 – 7 But
the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. ……. 11 But
all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit,
dividing to every man severally as He will.
miracles – dunamis or dynamis (generally translated “power” and could represent
the power for performing miracles) Another word semeion was used in the N.T. for
actual signs and miracles, but dunamis was more used to describe the power of miracles.
Paul taught that the apostles were given these signs and
wonders and mighty deeds:
2 Corinthians 12:12 – Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among
you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds (dunamis).
And all was according to the will of God. That is,
nothing of this was ever outside the will of God but had the full support of
God’s will. Thus, it is also fully backed up by God’s judgments and
consequences. Therefore do not trifle with this!
Hebrews 2:5 – For unto the angels hath He not put
in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak.
The writer continues with the superiority (“better”) of
Jesus who is God. For even though angels might be powerful and well-able under
God’s direction to rule the world, God has not put the world (here it is oikoumene – the
inhabited world, the world of men, rather than kosmos – the world or world
system)
The “world to come” could mean the world after this
current world is destroyed, or the Messianic reign of Christ, or this current
dispensation (see Hebrews 1:2). In this context “of which we speak”, it would
seem most likely to refer to this current dispensation at the time Hebrews was
written. That is, the world where the church has taken over the role of Israel
until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled (Romans 11:25). This dispensation
would therefore be subject to the authority of Christ, rather than angels.
Also note “the world to come”, using a different Greek
for “world”, in Hebrews 6:5 – And have tasted the good word of
God, and the powers of the world (aion)
to come,
Hebrews 2:6-8a – 6
But
one in a certain place testified, saying, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of
him? or the son of man, that Thou visitest him? 7
Thou
madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over
the works of Thy hands: 8a Thou hast put all things in
subjection under his feet.”
(from Psalm 8:4-6) It is probably referring to David
although the wording suggests more that “it has been stated somewhere”, a
certain place – pou
(where? in what place?)
The Psalm is probably not directly messianic, yet it
appears to have a double level of meaning, where Jesus the Messiah is the most
complete fulfilment of this in His incarnate (human) form. (Although some
commentaries suggest that this is speaking directly about the Messiah, the
general view appears to be that it is only Messianic through the taking of the
form of a man by the Messiah.)
Barnes says – The same question would not have
been inappropriate to David, if the Psalm be supposed to have had reference
originally to the Messiah, and if he was speaking of himself particularly as
the ancestor of the Messiah. "What is man; what am I; what can any of my
descendants be, who must be of mortal frame, that this dominion should be given
him? Why should any of a race so feeble,
so ignorant, so imperfect, be exalted to such honour?" We may ask the
question here, and it may be asked in heaven with pertinency
and with power, "Why was man so honoured, as to be united to the Godhead?
Why did the Deity appear in the human form? What was there in man that should entitle
him to this honour of being united to the Divinity, and of being thus exalted
above the angels?" The wonder is not yet solved; and we may well suppose
that the angelic ranks look with amazement – but without envy – on the fact,
that man, by his union with the Deity in the person of the Lord Jesus, has been
raised above them in rank and in glory.
The term “son of man” can be used of Jesus; He even used
it of Himself many times.
Luke 19:10 – For the Son
of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Because the quoted Psalm refers to the elevation of man
(human nature), it is likely that the Son of man (Christ) was the ultimate
elevation of this term in Scripture. But in the end it is still a statement
that in context appears to follow on from
Hebrews 1:14 – Are they not all ministering
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Thus while the Psalm appears to wonder about the honour
given to man by God, the writer to the Hebrews appears to be considering the
honour to man because of the One who came in human form to bring salvation to
all mankind (if only they would accept the sacrifice). While man was made a
little lower (inferior) to the angels, yet he has been elevated to a higher
position than them. He has been crowned with glory and honour because of the
glory and honour of the One who was first-born from the dead. Man, that
inferior creature, has now been united to the Godhead through the Messiah who
came as a man to redeem mankind. Man is associated with Christ the Messiah, and
even though the angels are more powerful and capable than man, yet man is
nevertheless placed above them because we are joint-heirs with the One who will
inherit the kingdom of the Father. All things are put in subjection under man’s
feet, yet not of himself but only because of the imputed authority that was
first claimed by Jesus:-
Matthew 28:18 – And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.”
Note that the following verse does state that the
placing of all things under His feet is directly applicable to Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:24-25 – 24 Then {cometh} the end, when He shall have delivered up
the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and
all authority and power. 25 For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His
feet.
Hebrews 2:8b – 8b For in
that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing {that is} not put
under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.
The Psalm says that man has had all things made subject
to him. Note the following:
Genesis 1:28 – And God
blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth
upon the earth.”
This dominion of man over the earth has never yet been
rescinded, so is still applicable, which is why satan and his demons must work
through man in order to have control – they do not have any right in themselves
to have anything to do with dominion over anything on the earth unless it be
through mankind! That is, mankind was supposed to have dominion over all the
earth, with everything subject to his authority; there was nothing that was not
put under him! However, with the fall of Adam, this was no longer absolute
dominion; man had dominion which was now under the control of satan and his
demons.
1 John 5:19 – {And} we
know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in
wickedness.
Jesus also called satan the prince of this world (kosmos – “world”)
(John 16:11), and Paul called him the god of this world (aion – which can be translated as
“age”) (2 Corinthians 4:4). Thus, while man was given this dominion over all
the earth, man has also handed that dominion over to satan who now has effective
dominion over all the earth as regent who rules on behalf of mankind. In other
words, we do not yet see all things put under man because of the dominion man
effectively handed to satan and his demons.
But one day the whole earth will be in subjection to man
through God who came as the Man Jesus; then man will finally have dominion, for
all eternity, as joint-heirs (Romans 8:16-17) and rulers with Christ (2 Timothy
2:12)! It hasn’t happened yet, but it will – 1 Corinthians 15:24-25 (see
above) – “Then {cometh} the end, when He
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God …..”
Hebrews 2:9 – But we see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and
honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Jesus was, as man, made a little
lower than the angels (Psalm 8) in order to suffer death for all mankind. God
cannot die, but God who has become man can and does die for His creation, man.
Thus Jesus is crowned with glory and honour because He achieved what He was
sent to do: to die for the sins of all mankind, and that God the Father would,
by His grace and mercy, offer this as a gift to all who would call on the name
of the Lord.
Philippians 2:5-11 – 5 Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made Himself of no
reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a
man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given
Him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow, of {things} in heaven, and {things} in earth, and
{things} under the earth; 11 And {that} every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ {is} Lord, to the glory of God the
Father.
1 John 2:1-2 – 1 My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And He is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for {the sins of}
the whole world.
Romans 5:18 – Therefore as by the offence of one {judgment came} upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one {the free gift came} upon all
men unto justification of life.
Romans 10:13 – For
“whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
every man – Note carefully: 1/. In 1 John 2:1-2, John is writing to
all those who have an Advocate with the Father, that is, all those who will
believe.
1 John 2:1-2 – 1 My little
children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins:
and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole
world.
Note
the words “we”, “our”, “ours”. They all apply to the
same group of people, clearly those who are believers, which means that “also for the sins of
the whole world” must apply to those who are not believers. Yet calvinists
prefer to teach that the smaller group is just those to whom John is writing,
and that the “whole world” refers to all the other believers from all the world who are not part
of the group John is writing to (Piper subscribes to this view), or that it was
just Jewish Christians that John was writing to, so the “whole world” refers to those
Christians who weren’t Jews (MacArthur subscribes to this view).
Piper – The
“whole world” refers to the children of God scattered throughout the whole
world.
(John Piper “What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism” Revised March
1998)
This has apparently been reviewed and changed in his 2014 revision, but still
appears as above in
“For Whom Did Christ Die? & What
Did Christ Actually Achieve on the Cross for Those for Whom He Died?” By John Piper https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/piper/piper_atonement.html
MacArthur
– So, we
look at the term “world” and we always qualify it. There’s another
passage – two more – that need our brief attention. I’m just going to
comment briefly. First John 2. First John 2. “Jesus Christ
the righteous – ” verse 1. Verse 2. “He Himself is the propitiation
for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole
world.” What is that saying? That “He is a propitiation not only
for our sins – ” again this is very Jewish in its context “ – but for the whole
world.” It’s making the same point that John made over and over and over
again, the same point that they made in the book of Acts, the same point that
Paul makes in Romans 11: That the gospel is not limited to the Jews.
http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-278/the-doctrine-of-actual-atonement-part-2?term=90-278
For, if it were just the Jewish
Christians (or just a small group of believers) that John meant by “our” & “ours”, then it’s also only
the Jewish Christians who are the ones (“we”) who have an Advocate with the
Father! Calvinists therefore would have to teach that the Advocate is only for
Jewish Christians, and not for the Christian church in general. So when is the
last time you heard a preacher (even a calvinist one!) teach that the Advocate
was only for the Jewish Christians that John was writing to? Thus the context
has to mean that “we”,
“our” and “ours” all apply to Christian
believers in general and thus the sins of the whole world (kosmos
– 1 John 2:2) cannot mean believers at all, but instead all those who are not
believers! When MacArthur claims that the sins of “the whole world” (kosmos)
applies to only believers, then it makes nonsense of the context preceding
this. If only people would test all things!
Note
the following from “One Perfect Life: The Complete Story of the Lord Jesus”
excerpts from Pages 509 & 510 – By John MacArthur.
“And if
anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also
for the whole world. …..”
(Footnote) FOR
THE WHOLE WORLD. This is a generic term, referring not to every single
individual, but to mankind in general. Christ actually paid the penalty only
for those who would repent and believe.”
Add
many other proofs from 1 John of what the “world” (kosmos)
means, such as “Love not the world, neither the things {that are} in the world.” (1 John 2:15); “therefore the world
knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.” (1 John 3:1); “Marvel not, my
brethren, if the world hate you.” (1 John 3:13); “greater is He that is
in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4); “God sent his only
begotten Son into the world” (1 John 4:9); “the Father sent the Son {to be}
the Saviour of the world.” (1 John 4:14); “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, {even} our faith.” (1 John 5:4); “{And} we know that we
are of God, and the whole world lieth in
wickedness.”
(1 John 5:19)
There
are even more times the word “kosmos” = “world” is used in 1 John, but
this is more than sufficient to demonstrate that “world” in 1 John 2:2 cannot
mean believers only unless specified clearly, which it most certainly isn’t.
Note “whole
world” is
used in both 1 John 2:2 and 1 John 5:19, where the only logically
consistent interpretation has to be the world of all people, and not just a
group called “believers”.
2/.
MacArthur also has a problem with Hebrews 2:9, where it says clearly that Jesus
tasted death for everyone. Because MacArthur cannot bear the truth to be known,
he has to write in his study Bible words that mean the following: taste death for
everyone. Everyone who believes, that is. However, nothing in the context
says (or even slightly implies) that this tasting was only for believers. The
word “taste” is geuomai
can mean “to taste” or “to try the flavour of” but it
can also mean “partake of”, “to take food”, “eat”, or “to take nourishment”. It
is present in the N.T. 15 times and in the KJV is translated 12 times as
“taste” and 3 times as “eat”.
Acts
20:11 – When he therefore was
come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while,
even till break of day, so he departed.
MacArthur
also clearly defines his views on the atonement, views which can be considered
blasphemy to those who consider the absolute truth of the Bible.
“God did
not intend to save everyone. He is God. He could have intended to save
everyone. He could have saved everyone. He would have if that had been His
intention. The atonement is limited.”
(http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-277/The-Doctrine-of-Actual-Atonement-Part-1)
In
Hebrews 2, mankind is discussed as a general group, that is, mankind, those who
are descended from Adam, in fact (some of whom will be of those who will rule with
Christ as joint-heirs of salvation, but the promise of Psalm 8 was to all
mankind). There is nothing in the context that limits it to only a select
(elect) few. Nor is there any inconsistency with the rest of the Bible to
accept this as meaning all men.
Eg 1 Timothy 2:3-4 – 3 For this {is} good and
acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men
to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
I
did read recently that calvinists still define this “all” as meaning only the elect
(they have to or else their house of cards comes tumbling down) but cannot
understand how they can even consider such a suggestion!
“But any
Bible student will soon discover there are verses which say God wants all men
to be saved. For example, “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who
wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” (1 Tim.
2:3-4, NIV). The question, then, is if God predestines only some to salvation,
why are there verses that say God wants all to be saved?
The answer is simple: The “all” are the Christians.”
(http://www.calvinistcorner.com/all-men-saved.htm)
I’d
laugh if only it weren’t so serious!
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