(Read Part I)

How is it that we saints persevere in the faith? The grace of perseverance becomes ours as we receive and rest upon Christ alone as He is presented to us in the Word. According to Heb 1.1-3, He is the Son greater than the prophets of old. But there is a second answer to our question in Heb 1.4-2.18: our great high priest is the Son who is greater than the angels. The angels come before us in Hebrews in two capacities: 1) as heavenly messengers who delivered the old covenant revelation at Sinai (2.2); and 2) as post-fall guardians of access to God's presence, initially in Eden's holy garden-sanctuary (2.7 with Gen 3.24) and later in the most holy place of the old covenant sanctuary (9.5 with Exod 25.18-22). Let us look in this study at the teaching of Heb 1.4-14.

In 1.4, our teacher contrasts the Son and the angels, encapsulating in that contrast the reason for the Son's rest at the Father's right hand. The Son's exaltation is based, he tells us, especially though not exclusively on what the Son "has become" and the name the Son "has inherited." In 1.5-14 our teacher accents the fact that the Son is in a new state of exaltation. This is not to say that the Son, born as man, has now become God. Rather the Son, who has always been the exalted God, has now been exalted as man. In fact, the seven OT texts in 1.5-14 with which our teacher expands on his statements in 1.4 contain some of the most sublime declarations of the Son's eternality and deity in all of Scripture. In this context, however, the Son's supremacy to the angels does not rest so much on His eternality and deity. Rather, the Son's supremacy rests especially on the new state He has entered and on the new honor He has received. Keeping these things in mind, let us see how our teacher's citations describe the exaltation of the Son.

Heb 1.5-6. First, in 1.5-6 the writer teaches us that the Son who has taken His seat on high is the One whom the Father had begotten, that is, in this context, begotten as the firstborn from the dead (cf. Col 1.18; Rev 1.5). Though other texts will teach the Son's eternal generation and identity as the firstborn of all creation (e.g., Heb 1.2; see also Col 1.15-17), the preceding and following contexts of 1.5-6 imply that it is most probably His re-emergence into the world at His resurrection from the dead that is in view in 1.5-6. It is thus in the new, post-resurrection phase of the Son's messianic role in history that He and the Father are said now to enjoy their unique father-son relationship.

Heb 1.9. Second, in 1.9 our teacher tells us that the Son who has received the Spirit-oil of gladness from His God and Father is the One who had rendered to God the perfect obedience that satisfied His law (cf. Acts 2.33-36; Eph 4.7-11). To be sure, the writer mentions the Son's eternality, deity, and royalty in 1.8. Our teacher's focus in 1.9, however, is the Son's new status: He is the servant who in life and in death subjected Himself to God's law and is now rewarded for His obedience.

Heb 1.13. Finally, in 1.13 our instructor both echoes and elaborates his claim in 1.3. The Son who gave Himself as the final sacrifice for sins (1.3b) is not only seated in heaven: He now awaits the reward of final victory for His obedience. The Son, who is the immutable Lord and builder of the cosmic holy house in 1.10-12, is also in 1.13 the Son who, after humbling Himself, has already been exalted at His first coming and will again be exalted at His second coming (Heb 9.28). Thus, our teacher places the Son before us once more, both in His immutability as the eternal God and in His mutability as the once humiliated, now glorified man - who will be glorified yet again!

All told, then, according to our teacher, the exaltation of the Son our high priest is undeniably connected with His eternality and immutability, but it is not completely or exclusively explained by those attributes. According to Heb 1.4-14, the esteem we are to have for the Son, particularly in contrast to the angels, will come as we appreciate not only His role in the history of creation, but especially His role in the history of redemption. In other words, we understand His priesthood better if we first see Him as the resurrected and ascended God-man.

How, then, is it that the saints persevere in the faith? The grace of perseverance comes to us as we receive and rest upon Christ alone as He is presented in the Word: He is the Son who is greater than the angels. Our high priest is now and forever, in His one Person, God ever-glorious and man at long last glorified.

How is it that the saints persevere in the faith? The author of Hebrews says that our perseverance against the temptations to sin amidst our present sufferings is traceable, in part, to the depth of our appreciation for the surpassing greatness of Christ our high priest. In other words, receiving and resting upon Christ our great high priest alone, as He is presented in the Word, is a means by which the grace of perseverance comes to us His people. In this three-part series, we hope to grow in our knowledge of the glory of Christ our high priest from the letter to Hebrews and, in turn, to enlarge our hearts in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience.

In Heb 1:1-3, Christ our great high priest is introduced to us as one who is first and most basically the Son. Though, overall, the writer emphasizes the Son's priestly office, our esteem for the Son comes first by seeing Him in His relationships with God and others who are part of the history of creation, revelation, and redemption. Remarkably, in those relationships, we see that the Son has not always been a high priest in the same state in which He is now a high priest: yes, God the Son has always been a priest to His people but He has not always been such in His present incarnate state. Each of the descriptions in 1.1-3 carries implications that we must consider all too briefly.

Heb 1.1-2a. The Son in whom God now speaks appears "in these last days," that is, at the culminating point in the history of special revelation. Positioned as He is in this final, eschatological position, we see the Son in relation to those who preceded Him historically, namely, the prophets - presumably Moses and the prophets who follow him. Through them God spoke during a long and varied history of special revelation. Yet the Son, we are told, supersedes them all. The Son is that prophet for whose appearance they had waited since Deut 18.15: He is the one who would lead God's people to spiritual liberty and who would mediate a better covenant (Deut 30.6-10; Jer 31.31-34; Heb 8.10; 10.16). In other words, the Son is superior to the prophets because He has spoken the final revelatory words and has accomplished the final liberating (i.e., redemptive) work!

Heb 1.2b-3a. Moving beyond the Son's present place in the history of revelation, our writer draws our imaginations to the eternal covenantal purpose of God (see also 10.7; 13.20; Eph 1.9-10; 3.11; Acts 2.23). According to that eternal purpose, the Son, anointed by the Spirit, was to obey His Father's will and thereby become the firstborn heir of all creation. In other words, we behold the Son not only as He has come to be in history, but also as He was in the pre-creation situation in relation to God and all things. As the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, we see that the Son has been a distinct person from the Father but of same essence as the Father. As the One through whom the Father made the worlds of time and space, we see that the Son was the builder of the visible temple of heaven and earth (1.10 with 3.4): He was before all things, and all things are from Him. As He governs all things by His powerful word to their proper goal, we see that all things are to Him. So before we properly consider the Son as priest, we consider Him as someone not only greater than the prophets in the history of revelation, but also as a "before creation, above history" Person equal to God in essence and distinct from the Father, the Alpha and Omega of creation and history.

Heb 1.3b. With the extraordinary portrait of the Son in relation to all things as prelude in 1.1-3a, our preacher sets our high priest before us in 1.3b, referring both to His sacrifice and to His post-sacrifice session. The two clauses in 1.3b carry deep and broad theological implications. Suffice it to say that in 1.3b we are already being told that this priest is greater than Levi (Aaron). Particularly by using the wording of Ps 110.1, our teacher brings the joyful news that the Son is a priest at rest. No longer standing but rather seated (Heb 10.11-14), the posture of our great high priest signals that Zion's priest has succeeded where Sinai's priests could only fail. The ramifications of the Son's work and rest are staggering. He has done the work of offering the sacrifice that cleanses sinners: sacrifice is finished; forgiveness is granted! Now the sons of Levi are purified; now the worshipers they represented are reconstituted as a holy nation of priests (cf. Mal 3:1-4)! Now the cleansing of the cosmic temple is begun, for earth was the site of His sacrifice and heaven is the site of His session!

How is it that the saints persevere in the faith? The grace of perseverance becomes ours as we receive and rest upon Christ alone as He is presented to us in the Word: He is the Son who is greater than the prophets of old.

On a dark Friday afternoon two thousand years ago, an itinerant preacher and miracle worker hung on a Roman cross just outside the ancient city of Jerusalem. A small crowd gathered to observe the agonizing death of this man who, with His claim to be the very Lord of the universe, had aroused the ire of the temple authorities. Many in this crowd believed that they were doing a service to God and country by executing this popular teacher. Others remained bewildered that the one they called Messiah was suffering a death reserved only for the worst of criminals.

Neither friend nor foe understood exactly what was going on that day. Though many strange things happened at the moment of His death, few realized that in Jesus, God was fulfilling His plan of redemption. Scarcely any knew that when He cried out "It is finished!" (John 19:30), Jesus fulfilled the will of His Father and brought satisfaction to Israel's longing for salvation.

If there is one theme that underlies the entire book of Hebrews, it is that of accomplished redemption. In conjunction with the author of Hebrews, we could approach this theme from a variety of different angles. We could emphasize Jesus as the final revelation from the Father (Heb. 1:1-4). We could point out the truth that Jesus alone brings His people into their eternal Sabbath rest (3:7-4:13) because He alone brings us rest from sin. We can highlight Jesus' role as the perfect High Priest who satisfies the wrath of God once-for-all for His people (9:12-14). From beginning to end, Jesus' cry of "It is finished!" reverberates in the epistle to the Hebrews.

Because of the clear emphasis on the work of Christ found therein, Hebrews is a book well-loved by systematic theologians. The doctrines of substitutionary atonement, Christ's humiliation and exaltation, faith, perseverance, and the deity of Jesus are all so clearly presented, and they provide rich material for our understanding of the nature of God and His plan.

Perhaps James has been less used than Hebrews in the formulation of systematic theology. Nevertheless, James has also been a well-loved book in the church. The brother of our Lord is so intensely practical in His work that his epistle is mined to answer the question: "How am I to live as a Christian?"

This is a question that we all must ask because the gospel not only puts us into right standing with God, it also transforms our daily lives. Paul and the author of Hebrews recognize this, placing the practical applications of the gospel near the end of their epistles. James, however, stands out in that his practical admonishments are found so clearly enumerated and highlighted throughout His epistle. His teachings regarding systematic doctrine are somewhat less obvious, and so James is sometimes ignored when Christians pursue the study of theology.

Unfortunately, it is far too common to separate the study of doctrine from the pursuit of holy living. Many people study theology without asking questions like: How does a right understanding of God instruct me regarding my treatment of other people? Others focus rigidly on living moral lives without asking, How do the commands of Christ reveal the gracious and forgiving nature of God? However, as James shows us, if we do not ask such questions, we have not really understood doctrine at all.

The practical ways to live out the gospel are clear throughout James. The doctrinal assumptions that underlie this instruction, though no less important, are somewhat less clear at first glance. But James does in fact have a rich understanding of Christian theology. That he is sometimes ignored when we are systematizing the teaching of Scripture points more to our inadequate understanding of the nature of theology than to James' supposed lack of doctrinal instruction.

James has a thorough knowledge of the character of God. We see this mainly in his use of the names of God. God is Father (James 1:27) and therefore loves His children deeply. Yet God is Judge (5:9) and thus is required to punish sin. God's love and righteousness, we know, motivated Him to accomplish redemption for us based on the sacrifice of His perfect Son who suffered the punishment we all deserve.

James also clearly understands that God is sovereign, in control of all things, bringing all creation to glorify Him. God's providence necessitates that we recognize that only those things that He has decreed will come to pass (4:14-15). God is called "Lord" (3:9), emphasizing His rule over all things. This sovereignty works itself out in election. By His will alone God has called out those whom He has saved (1:18). It is God who sovereignly implants His Word in those whom He has chosen to receive Christ (v. 21). And if James understands election, He understands that redemption was accomplished for the sake of these elect.

James wants us to apply the gospel even to the most "ordinary" circumstances in life. But make no mistake, the gospel he knows is based upon the perfect merit of Christ and His redemption fully accomplished more than two thousand years ago. Even in James, the cry "It is finished!" is heard loud and clear.

Seek Ye First
by R.C. Sproul Jr.

The culture wars are heating up again. Such, I suppose, ought not to surprise me. Evangelical professor of sociology James Davidson Hunter published his book Culture Wars in 1992. Therein he argued that the real dividing line in modern culture was not between right wing and left wing, not between Christians and non-Christians, but between the orthodox and the progressives. The orthodox, he argued, were all those who affirmed some sort of transcendent source of truth and morality. The progressives denied the transcendent. The orthodox included then not only evangelical Christians, but conservative Roman Catholics, orthodox Jews, fundamentalist Muslims, and even old-school Mormons. The latter, by contrast, included liberal Protestants, nominal Roman Catholics, unobservant Jews, non-strict Muslims, and doubting Mormons. Our "allies" in the culture war together affirmed that there was a God and that this God has revealed Himself and His will for men. What they disagreed about was who this God is and what He has told us.

Hunter's work begat more books on the same theme. Michael Horton published Beyond Culture Wars. Peter Kreeft wrote Ecumenical Jihad. Hunter penned a sequel, Before the Shooting Starts. Even David Wells' trenchant series of theological books, beginning with No Place for Truth, carried a heavy sociological tinge to them. But then, for some reason, the culture wars seemed to die down. Perhaps it was the shock of September 11 that directed our focus elsewhere. That the same kind of rhetoric is rising again, however, at least suggests a different explanation. Could it be that we beat our cultural plows into swords when a Democrat occupies the White House and beat our swords into plows when a Republican holds court?

The culture wars, rightly understood, are ultimately only one manifestation of the broader war first declared in Genesis 3. There God promised the serpent that He would put enmity between him and the woman, between his seed and her seed. He promised in the end that the serpent would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman but also that his head would be crushed. As we remember this reality, and that this war will not be fully finished until Jesus returns, we remember to live our lives in light of this war. We prepare ourselves for battle, and we seek the wisdom to discern who our enemies and friends are, as well as where the battle lines have been drawn.

It is not difficult, for instance, to discern the Devil's hoof prints all over naturalistic Darwinism. That this is folly is easy enough to discern. Those, on the other hand, who stand ready to affirm the historicity and the inerrancy of the Genesis account of creation are our friends and co-belligerents. Where though, do we place that movement known as Intelligent Design? Are these scholars and scientists friend or foe?

Advocates of Intelligent Design have a great deal going for them. First, they rightly reject the obvious folly of Darwinism. In an age where the acceptance of Darwinian dogma is virtually a loyalty test for acceptance into the academic realm, these men have stood firm and faithful. They have been wounded grievously by our enemies. Second, these good men have made strong, even compelling cases for the necessity of design in the creation of the universe. They are, in a manner of speaking, not only thinking God's thoughts after Him, but are teaching others to do the same. And third, they have, happily, embarrassed our enemies. Darwinists come off rightly as half-armed when battling wits with ID advocates.

For those of us glass-half-empty people, however, there remain important questions. It is well and good to reject Darwinism. However, this is not at all the same thing as championing the truthfulness of the Word of God. Do we long for the day when the world affirms that there is a maker of heaven and earth or do we long for the day when the world confesses that Jesus Christ, by whom all things were made, is Lord of heaven and earth? Are we, when we seek to answer the question of origins without appealing to the revelation of the Originator, answering a fool according to his folly, as we ought (Prov. 26:5), or are we answering a fool according to his folly as we ought not (v. 4)?

In the end, Christian advocates of Intelligent Design at least have this right -- that the God who made the world reveals Himself in and through the world. We need never fear learning from the creation. It, after all, declares His glory day after day. On the other hand, it is not merely the general revelation of God where we must stand, but on the Word of God. There is the solid ground. There is safety and security. We need not seek to curry favor with those who would gainsay the Word of God. We need instead to call them to repentance.

Our allies in the great war are all those for whom our Commander has died. That includes, of course, not just Christians committed to the biblical account of creation. It also includes those committed to Intelligent Design. It even includes those who trust in the finished work of Christ alone, while affirming theistic evolution. All of us, wherever we are on this spectrum, however, need to strive daily to be more faithful to His Word, to be set apart and distinct from the world around us. And all of us are called to love one another along the way.

*****

Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. is founder of the Highlands Study Center in Mendota, Virginia, 
and is author of Believing God: 12 Biblical Promises Christians Struggle to Accept.

Dr. R.C. Sproul Jr. explains how the kingdom is advanced in our everyday lives and gives us a picture of how all things in life fit into the battle between God and the Devil in his column Seek Ye First.

by R.C. Sproul

René Descartes intentionally doubted everything he could possibly doubt until he reached the point where he realized there was one thing he couldn't doubt. He could not doubt that he was doubting. To doubt that he was doubting was to prove that he was doubting. No doubt about it.

From that premise of indubitable doubt, Descartes appealed to the formal certainty yielded by the laws of immediate inference. Using impeccable deduction, he concluded that to be doubting required that he be thinking, since thought is a necessary condition for doubting. From there it was a short step to his famous axiom, "I think; therefore I am." At last Descartes arrived at certainty, the assurance of his own personal existence.

The lesson we learn from Descartes is this: When assailed by doubt, it is time to search diligently for first principles that are certain. We build upon the foundation of what is sure. This affects the whole structure of apologetics. It is a matter of order.

Coram Deo: Reflect on what Paul calls the foundational principles of Hebrews 6:1-3. Do you have a good basic understanding of these principles?

1 Corinthians 3:10-11: "According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

1 Timothy 6:18-19: "Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

2 Timothy 2:19: "Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: 'The Lord knows those who are His' and, 'Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'"

by R.C. Sproul

If we think the Bible teaches universal salvation, we may arrive at a false sense of assurance by reasoning as follows: Everybody is saved. I am a body. Therefore, I am saved.

Or, if we think salvation is gained by our own good works and we are further deluded into believing that we possess good works, we will have a false assurance of salvation.

To have sound assurance, we must understand that our salvation rests on the merit of Christ alone, which is appropriated to us when we embrace Him by genuine faith. If we understand that, the remaining question is, "Do I have the genuine faith necessary for salvation?"

Again, two more things must be understood and analyzed properly. The first is doctrinal. We need a clear understanding of what constitutes genuine saving faith. If we conceive of saving faith as existing in a vacuum, never yielding the fruit of works of obedience, we have confused saving faith with dead faith, which cannot save anyone.

The second requirement involves a sober analysis of our own lives. We must examine ourselves to see whether the fruit of regeneration is apparent in our lives. Do we have a real affection for the biblical Christ? Only the regenerate person possesses real love for the real Jesus. Next we must ask the tough question, "Does my life manifest the fruit of sanctification?" I test my faith by my works.

Coram Deo: What is your response to the questions posed in this reading: Do you have the genuine faith necessary for salvation? Do you have a real affection for the biblical Christ? Does your life manifest the fruit of salvation?

Psalm 9:14: "That I may tell of all Your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation."

Psalm 13:5: "But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation."

Psalm 20:5: "We will rejoice in your salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners! May the Lord fulfill all your petitions."

Generation to Generation
by Rod Rosenbladt

In this article I want to address a particular problem: What we might do as Christians with those who see themselves as "alumni" of the Christian faith. By that I mean those who once professed that Christ shed His blood, freely justified them before God, forgave their sin, gave them eternal life -- but now they don't believe it.

Given my limited space, I can only deal with today's "sad ones," the "having-given-up-on-it-all" ones. (In the full address of which this article is a condensed version, I also talk a little about the gospel of Christ for today's "mad ones," the angry ones.)

For some reasons that I think are fairly specifiable, more people than we would like to think leave "Bible-believing" Christianity. Some are sad about it. Some are mad about it. In our day, there are so many of these people that it is hard not to come into contact with them. Many of these people were broken by the church. I know that sounds harsh. As Christians, it's upsetting to hear words like that. But for many people, this is how they really see what has taken place in their lives.

By the "sad alumni" of the Christian faith, I mean the hundreds whose acquaintance with the Christian church was often one in which they were helped to move from unbelief (or from rank moralism) into professing faith in Jesus Christ. They heard the preaching of God's law and then heard the announcement of Christ's work on their behalf on the cross -- Jesus as the God-man who met the Law's demands for them and died for their sin, died to save them, died to give them eternal life. And they came to believe that the cross of Christ was their salvation.

But something happened after that, something that broke them. And, in many cases, I think what happened is nameable. It has to do with what our first president at Christ College Irvine called "law-gospel-law." It's that third point that, if executed badly, results in a lot of the "sad alumni" of Christianity. If Reformation folk execute this badly, the sensitive Christian believer can be driven to a slavery as bad as any slavery done by any totalitarian dictator. If the Ten Commandments were not impossible enough, the preaching of Christian behavior, of Christian ethics, of Christian living, can drive a professing Christian into despairing unbelief. Not happy unbelief -- tragic, despairing, sad unbelief.

In the beginning, it seemed that now that we had been justified by the death of Christ, we were equipped to obey verses like "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). Or in 1 John 3:9: "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning." Or Paul in Philippians 4:13: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." And then, the unexpected. Sin continued to be a part of our lives; it stubbornly would not allow us to eliminate it the way we expected. Continuing sin on our part seems to be evidence that we aren't really believers at all. We start to imagine that we need to be "born again again."

When the major stress in pulpit and curriculum shifts from "Christ outside of me, dying for me" to "Christ inside of me, improving me," the upshot is always the same: many broken, sad ex-Christians who despair of being able to live the Christian life as the Bible describes it. So they do what is really a sane thing to do -- they leave. The way it looks to them is that "the message of Christianity has broken them on the rack." To put it bluntly, it feels better to have some earthly happiness as a pagan and then be damned than it feels to be trying every day as a Christian to do something that is one continuous failure -- and then be damned anyway.

The key question here is a very basic one: Can the cross and blood of Christ save a Christian (failing as he is in living the Christian life) or not? Most of us would say, I hope, that the shed blood of Christ is sufficient to save a sinner all by itself. So far, so good.

But is the blood of Christ enough -- all by itself -- to save a still-sinful-Christian? Or isn't it? Is what Luther said about the Christian being simul justus et peccator biblical or not? Can Christ's righteousness imputed save a still-sinful Christian? And can it save him all by itself? Or not? I think the way we answer this question determines whether we have anything at all to say to the "sad alumni" of Christianity.

Has the Law done its killing work on these "sad ones?" Boy, has it ever. They need more of the Law like they need a hole in the head. For them, the gospel often got lost in a whole bunch of "Christian-life preaching." And it "did them in." So they left. And down deep there is a sadness in such people that defies description.

C.F.W. Walther said that as soon as the Law has done its crushing work, the gospel is to be instantly preached or said to such a man or woman. What the "sad alumni" need to hear (perhaps for the first time) is that Christian failures are going to walk into heaven, be welcomed into heaven, leap into heaven like a calf leaping out of its stall, laughing and laughing as if it's all too good to be true. It isn't just that we failures will get in. It's that we will get in like that. "You mean it was just Jesus' death for me, that's why I'm here?" But, of course. That's the point isn't it? As a believer in Jesus you won't be condemned! No believer in Jesus will be. Not a single one!

*****

Dr. Rod Rosenbladt is a professor of theology at Concordia University at Irvine and is also co-host of The White Horse Inn and author of Christ Alone.

In order to promote the unity and growth of the body of Christ, Generation to Generation endeavors to provide the wisdom of elders to younger readers and convey what young Christians need to hear as they mature in the Christian faith.