Dec 18 - Hebrews 6-8
Hebrews
1Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,2and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.3And this we will do if God permits.4For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit,5and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come,6if they then fall away, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.7For land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God.8But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and its end is to be burned.9Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things--things that belong to salvation.10For God is not so unjust as to overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do.11And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end,12so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.13For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself,14saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you."15And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.16For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation.17So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,18so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,20where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
1For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,2and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.3He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.4See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils!5And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers, though these also are descended from Abraham.6But this man who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises.7It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.8In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one of whom it is testified that he lives.9One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham,10for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.11Now if perfection had been attainable through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek, rather than one named after the order of Aaron?12For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.13For the one of whom these things are spoken belonged to another tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar.14For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.15This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek,16who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.17For it is witnessed of him, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek."18On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness19(for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.20And it was not without an oath. For those who formerly became priests were made such without an oath,21but this one was made a priest with an oath by the one who said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever.'"22This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.23The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office,24but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.25Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.26For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.27He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.28For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.
1Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,2a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.3For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.4Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.5They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, "See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain."6But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.7For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.8For he finds fault with them when he says: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,9not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.11And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.12For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."13In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.