Hebrews; Chapter 7
UNDERSTANDING OUR HIGH PRIEST!
[9-26-10]
Review:
Hebrews 7:12) [GNB] For when the priesthood is changed, there also has to be a change in the law.
II Corinthians 5:17) [GW] Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.
QUESTION: When the Law changes, what else must change.
ANSWER: The way we live for God had to change from the way O.T. saints did it.
Hebrews 8:10) [GNB] Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
QUESTION: In what way did the Law change?
ANSWER: It is no longer written on tablets of stone, but now it is written on our hearts and our minds; in other words, it is written into the very fabric of who we are when we become new creations.
Romans 6:14) [GW] Certainly, sin shouldn’t have power over you because you’re not controlled by laws, but by God’s favor.
Romans 7:6) [GNB] Now, however, we are free from the Law, because we died to that which once held us prisoners. No longer do we serve in the old way of a written law, but in the new way of the Spirit.
QUESTION: What is the effect of the changing of the Law on you and me?
ANSWER: We are no longer under the control of the Law of Moses, so we now serve God a new way; we now walk in the Spirit.
Romans 4:16a) [MSG] This is why the fulfillment of God’s promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God’s promise arrives as pure gift. That’s the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it,
QUESTION: How does the changing of the Law effect how God reacts towards us?
ANSWER: The changing of the Law meant that God’s blessings on us no longer depended upon our faithfulness [Deut. 28], but rather, on God’s faithfulness. Because of this, God’s promises to us are now guaranteed.
QUESTION: Under Moses’ Law, man’s obedience was necessary in order to obtain the promise [Deut. 28], now it depends on something different, what is it?
ANSWER: Faith/trusting God is now the necessary ingredient for man to obtain the promises of God. God is treating us the way He treated Abraham! Abraham needed an initial act of obedience [leaving his father’s house], then the fulfillment of the promise was entirely up to God. We need an initial act of obedience [trusting Christ as Savior], and then the fulfillment is up to God. It’s the only way the promise can be guaranteed.