Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man - TopicsExpress

Hebrews 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him I once heard a man, when speaking of particular verses of scripture, give sweet and solid exhortation to his hearers. What he said was, be careful not to fall into an Arminian trap. I shall borrow this expression in connection with the above-verse. If any man draw back is not a statement to frighten the elect into thinking they are under a conditional law/works system. Lord willing, I shall touch upon this in a little while. No doubt, babes in Christ who are not as yet established in grace, can sometimes easily be taken in the snares the Arminian sets. And who are these trap setters? The proud have hid a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the wayside;they have set gins for me. Selah. (Psalms 140:5) Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. (Psalms 124:7) I say unto you we need not look to any order of religiously organized people. Instead, grace teaches us to look to ourselves, in this sense, because each and everyone one of us are, by nature, Arminian. That is, human nature can not help but think it can do something to merit favor from God. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD pondereth the hearts. (Proverbs 21:2) All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. (Proverbs 16:2) There is a dangerous sentiment among many. It is the notion that, as far as eternal glory is concerned, we can not merit favor from God. This is absolutely true, but, its not the dangerous part. The dangerous part is when it is stated that, though we cant merit grace for eternity, we can work ourselves into a better standing before God here in time. Let me ask a simple question: If we cant do anything in order to go to heaven, then how can we do anything to merit the Lords favor for our span of time on Earth? I am persuaded that, if I could make my Lord a debtor to me in this life; then I could also work my way to heaven. Some would say, Oh no, we cant merit favor from the Lord but we have to work for our blessings. Poor child. I pray the Lord come quickly unto you and show you the error of your Arminian sentiment. Working for blessings is precisely the same as meriting favor from God. Dear child, may it please the Lord to free thee from thyself, open thine eyes to the language of scripture, and show thee the blessedness and certainty of Ephesians 1:3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HATH BLESSED us with ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS in heavenly places in Christ. Now the just shall live by faith... Who are the just? They are the elect. How are they just? The Just and Justifier justified them. How did He do this? I shall put forth several verses to show how. Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; Romans 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Romans 3:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Ro 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Ro 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Romans 8:33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect? It is God that justifieth. Galatians 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. Titus 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (and a host of other verses) So then the elect are the just. Do they live by a decisional faith? That is, do they decide when to put faith into action and, as a consequence, live thereby? No, no. The word of God says they SHALL live by faith. This shall is based solely upon the veracity of Almighty God, Who is able to perform that which He promised. But, whose faith shall they live by? Their faith? The elect have no faith except that which is the fruit of the Spirit being freely, of His own will, given unto them. When once this faith is given, it is but evidence, to that child, of what Christ has already accomplished and, is the substance and evidence of those things yet hoped for. The fullness of salvation has not yet been experienced by us. I may be wrong but, I believe the fullness of it will be after the resurrection of the bodies of the saints. (Feel free to straighten me out if Im wrong for, I too, am but a poor child) But, as far as the Eternal God is concerned, this fullness is as good as done for, it is written: Ye are complete in Him... (Colossians 2:10) Let us turn to the prophet of old... Habakkuk 2:4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. Did you notice a wee little word contained in this verse? His. Now, our natural Arminian tendencies will rise up here and say, see, it says the just shall live by his faith, so that means we need to have faith in the Lord. Well, all who are born of the Spirit DO have faith in the Lord because there is no place else it can go. It is the fruit of the Spirit. But, that is not the sense we want to look at it here. Notice again what the verse says. the just shall live by HIS faith. Now then, examine the words of one numbered among the just... I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I LIVE BY THE FAITH OF THE SON OF GOD, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) Here is the basis of the shall. They shall live because they live by the faith of the blessed Son of God. No matter how much this is twisted to say, our faith that we put in Him, this verse clearly, plainly, expressly says it is the Son of Gods faith. So then, the just SHALL live by His faith no matter what the Arminian darts of argument might be. Now then, being absolutely certain and sure that the just shall live by faith, let us now touch upon the remainder of Hebrews 10:38... but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. It is right here where the snares and gins are set, in this verse. Not by the writer of Hebrews; rather, by the natural, carnal reasoning of the carnal mind. The trap would be, in so many words: See, there is an if in the verse and it makes it conditional. Its up to us whether we draw back or not. O poor child. I say, with love in my heart, that I pray God open thine eye! Do you not realize when you say as much, you are, in essence, condemning the just? And, in condemning the just, you are pouring contempt upon the effectual work of God. What?! you say, I am doing no such thing! You may not be aware of it but, it is exactly what you are doing. You see, as soon as you attempt to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, you are telling them to do something they can not do. And, if they can not do it, they must be condemned for it. What was the law? How readest thou? In the Corinthian letter, Paul says it was the ministration of condemnation. (2 Corinthians 3:9) So then, any conditional/ works system can only condemn; it can not save. The apostles confidently affirmed in Acts15 that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear that yoke. If natural Israel could not bear the yoke, do you think believers, in general, can keep any other yoke of works? To them which are in Christ Jesus, there is NO CONDEMNATION. None at all. Why? Because of what theyve done, do, or should do? God in heaven forbid! Romans 8 says the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me FREE from the law of sin and death. Dost thou agree this was Gods work? If so, then you ought to agree that no condemnation is not conditioned upon whether we live right. Its right the opposite. If we walk uprightly it is BECAUSE we ARE delivered from the law of sin and death. I say by the grace given unto me that Hebrews 10:38 is not conditional at all. Believers CAN NOT draw back unto perdition. Now, I will start a new paragraph by explaining why. Hebrews 10:39 But WE ARE NOT of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Here, the pen man, being moved by the Holy Ghost, settles the matter. Whereas in verse 38 he does not deny there are indeed those who draw back unto perdition; yet and still he assures believers that WE ARE NOT OF THEM WHO DRAW BACK. The LORD Gods power and grace are irresistible. Belief is the work of God. No man is a believer whom God hath not sovereignly made a believer. I recall some coming to Christ with a question on their lips. What must we do to work the works of God? Jesus said, THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, that ye BELIEVE on HIM Whom He hath sent. (John 6:29) No man can come to me, except the FATHER which hath sent me DRAW HIM... Can they, whom the Lord hath effectually drawn, draw back from it? If they can, Gods power and grace is of no effect unless we co-operate with it. O Lord deliver the souls of Thy turtle doves from such snares of the fowlers. Hearken, dear children, to the comforting words of our Blessed Jesus... All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37) The elect can not draw back unto perdition. They are KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD THROUGH FAITH UNTO SALVATION. Whose faith? His faith; the faith of the SON OF GOD. If ten million devils unite to draw thy soul away from this keeping, they would altogether come short! Blessed Jesus, of Thee we sing! Yes, children of Zion, the just are kept and HE will not let them go. It is not my intention to presently give examples of those who draw back unto perdition. But, I will say that those who, in the Hebrew verse, draw back unto perdition, are not the just. Does this sound like a bold statement? Well, perhaps it is but, again, I ask...what does verse 38 say? The just SHALL live by faith. Now then, if the just are not of them who draw back, what then are they? Lets finish the verse... but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. The just and the we are the same. The just who live by faith are of them that believe to the saving of the soul. That is, as the apostles declared in Acts 15:11...We BELIEVE that through the GRACE of the LORD JESUS we SHALL BE SAVED... O, the precious wills and shalls of God! S.T.