Good morning. We saw
before that we have confidence to enter into the holy place because of the
blood of Jesus: by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the
veil, that is, His flesh. And since we
have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere
heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an
evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Remember in 9:13 the
sprinkling of those who had been defiled in order to sanctify for the cleansing
of the flesh - here we have our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.
What was done back then was a symbol of what is done now. And we are to hold
fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is
faithful. Remember – hope seen is not hope. We can't let circumstances cause us
to waiver. Because God is faithful, we can be certain that we will have what He
promised us. Remember: never, never, never give up! And so what should we do?
Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. When you
do that, it helps to take your mind off your own problems. You are
others-centered instead of self-centered. Father thank You that the reader has
a sincere heart, sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. He/she stimulates
others to love and good deeds by his/her own example.
Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me
Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
Comments
Post a Comment