Salvation To Those That Obey Him Hebrews 5:5-10
We can see it at every level of society. There is a tremendous lack of respect for authority today, and this has led to a weaker, less secure society. Lawmakers, in many cases, have failed their constituents in Washington, abused their offices and flaunted their authority. The frailties of every recent president have been placed under a microscope. Kids talk back to parents, and while some kids have always done so, today it is often with new levels of venom and resentment. Teachers at some schools fear for their lives. Police departments in many places are looked upon as corrupt.
In fact, many politicians do not deserve a whole lot of respect; and
many judges are corrupt; and many religious leaders do not deserve
admiration. But what has happened to our society is an open rebellion
against almost all rules and regulations, moral and otherwise. Anarchy
and lawlessness will not make our nation better. And when it comes to the
Scripture this rebellion against law is also seen, as many today dismiss
the teachings of the Bible with the same ease as they cheat on their
taxes, or on anexam, or lie on their job application. Most who do not
cheat say they do not do so because they are afraid that they might get
caught. Only a small minority say they do not cheat because it is
dishonest or immoral.
And as we have lowered our standards of conduct, we think God has
lowered His as well. If you remember, a few week ago I spoke on the
subject: "Thinking that God is like man," in two lessons. I point out
various way that man acts, and he then thinks that God acts the same way.
Society suggests that God doesn't really care if we lie a little, cheat a
little and steal a little. Many think it is unnecessary to obey God, one
must only believe in Him to be saved, they insist. But let us turn our
attention to salvation that is offered by our high priest, Jesus Christ,
and what the Bible says about it.
In am now reading from Hebrews 5:5-10: "So also Christ did not glorify
Himself so as to become a high priest, but He said to Him, 'Thou art My
Son, today I have begotten Thee'; just as He says in another passage,
'Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.' In the days
of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud
crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard
because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from
the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to
all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated
(named) by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek."
Jesus Was Appointed To His Office By God the Father. Listen to the
inspired writer of the Hebrew letter. "So also Christ did not glorify
Himself so as to become a high priest, but He said to Him, 'Thou art My
Son, today I have begotten Thee'; just as He says in another passage,
'Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek'...being
designated by God as a high priest according to the order of
Melchizedek." (Hebrews 5:5,6,10). Jesus has all authority because God
gave it to Him. Following Jesus' resurrection, He makes the grand
announcement concerning this, with the added admonition to teach "them to
observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:18-20). When we
reject the authority of Jesus' covenant by refusing to obey it, then we
are rejecting God. In Luke 10:16, our Lord when speaking to His chosen
apostles, said, "He that heareth you heareth me; and he that rejected you
rejecteth me; and he that rejecteth me rejecteth him that sent me. And
again in John 13;20, he states, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me
receiveth him that sent me." When it comes to the teachings of Jesus, we
ought to be very concerned about obeying them. There quite simply is no
other mediator between ourselves and God. The inspired apostle Paul, by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit states: "For there is one God, one
mediator also between God and man, himself man, Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy
2:5).
It may be fashionable today to think it a clever thing to disregard
laws and get away with it. A favorite religious belief is to think that
actually obeying the words of Christ is unnecessary as long as one at
least believes the right things about Him. But if we treat King Jesus is
such a disrespectful way we will stand before Him in judgment, and be
condemned for our disobedience. John 12:48 reads, "He that rejecteth me,
and receiveth not my sayings, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I
spake, the same shall judge him in the last day." And again in 2
Thessalonians 1:8, "rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to
them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus, who shall suffer
punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from
the glory of his might." reading through verse 9.
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ experienced life in the flesh. He
knows the "feelings of our infirmities," as Hebrews 4:15 very clearly
points out. In Hebrews 5:7, we read, "In the days of His flesh, He
offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to
the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His
piety." "The days of His flesh" refers to the time Jesus walked on
earth. As the eternal Son of God, His days did not begin with His
conception. He has existed from eternity. So states the writer John in
John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things
were made through him; and without him was not anything made that hath
been made." In verse 14, we learn, "and the Word became flesh, and dwelt
among us (and we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the
Father), full of grace and truth." Read John 8:56-59 for more information
as to Christ's eternal existence. It was because of His unselfish love
that Diety became man. Though He had existed in the form of God, He did
not hold on to His equality with God. Instead, He emptied Himself by
becoming a man. In Philippians 2:5-8, we read, "Have this mind in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus: who, existing in the form of God, counted
not the being of an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming
obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross."
But the incarnation of the Son did not mean He ceased to be God, but
only that He also became man. Thomas came to understand this. When Thomas
demanded to see the place where the sword entered the side of the Master,
Jesus told him "to reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be
not faithless, but believing." "Thomas answered and said unto him, My
Lord and my God." (John 20:28). It was an entirely appropriate thing to
do to fall down and worship Jesus when He walked on earth because He was
and is still Deity. Matthew 28:9,10 reads, "And behold, Jesus met them,
saying. All hail. And they came and took hold of his feet, and
worshipped. Then saith Jesus unto them, Fear not: go tell my brethren
that they depart into Galilee, and there shall they see me."
There are things that Jesus experienced as a man that as God in heaven
He had never experienced. For this reason, the Bible speaks of Him
"becoming poor" when it tells of His leaving heaven and coming to earth.
Listen to Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:9, "For ye know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became
poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich."
In His body of flesh, Jesus suffered temptation, exhaustion, tears,
pain and ultimately death. But one thing He did not experience was
personal sin (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:14-16).
It seems as if the Hebrew writer specifically is mindful of the scene
in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46). The Father could and did save Jesus
from death; not from dying but from the bonds of death. Jesus was saved
"out of" death by the Father (Acts 2:25-28; 31-32).
Jesus Learned Obedience
"Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He
suffered." (Hebrews 5:8). Jesus learned by experience. When He suffered
in Gethsemane and later on Calvary's hill, He experienced something
completely foreign to His experiences in heaven, for there is no pain,
tears or death there. Of course, being omniscient, Jesus had always
known what pain and death was, but had not experienced it until He
became a man and suffered.
The Bible says, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a
cross." (Philippians 2:8), as we read earlier in this lesson. Because of
Jesus' experiences in the flesh, and because of His obedience, we are
assured that He understands, and we have a perfect example to follow as
we live by faith. Peter states, "Because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps." 1 Peter 2:21.
Jesus Became The Source of Salvation to Those That Obey Him. "And
having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the author
of eternal salvation..." (Hebrews 5:9). The word "perfect" here
means "complete". Jesus became perfectly able to function as our high
priest by becoming like us. Old Testament priests had to meet certain
qualifications to become consecrated as priests. Jesus completely
fulfilled all the qualifications of the priesthood, not according to the
Levitical qualifications, but rather "according to the order of
Melchizedek".
Thus, Jesus became the "author of eternal salvation to all those that
obey Him." We must respect the authority of Christ by obeying His word,
else He is not the source of our salvation. Enough of this sinful and
rebellious attitude that obedience isn't necessary to be saved. It is
necessary if we are to be saved by Jesus, and there is no other who can
do the job. "And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there
any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be
saved." (Acts 4:12). Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the
truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me."
We need to follow the example of the winds and the waves in this. The
Greek word for "obey" (hupakouousin) is the same one used in Matthew
8:27; "..even the winds and the sea obey Him!" When Jesus said, "Peace,
be still!" the winds and waves immediately stopped. Quite simply, if we
do not obey Jesus, then we cannot be saved by Him, for He is the "source
(author) of eternal salvation to all those that obey Him."
From Material by: J. W. Quinn
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