When Jude wrote his warning to the saints of the first century, he certainly had reason to be alarmed. There seems to have been a tremendously dangerous problem at large; those who were disrupting the ecclesias were not even described as brethren; they were “certain men…. ungodly men” (Jud 1:4). Jude’s other terms for them are even worse: lascivious, brute beasts, greedy, lustful, mockers, sensual. It is hard to imagine sins heinous enough among the brethren of today ever to justify such terms.

Even though Jude says that these men “deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jud 1:4), it is most unlikely that they would deny association with Christ altogether. More likely they were such as those against whom John warned in his second epistle: teachers who so confounded the nature and the work of the Saviour that in their minds the gospel message was hopelessly distorted.

In judging from the catalogue of vices of these men, and considering those with whom they were compared, it would appear that they were of the “libertine” school. To such men nothing done in the flesh was truly sin, for they possessed a superior knowledge. It was the old lie of the serpent: that there is nothing wrong in “experiencing” all aspects of life — the evil with the good. “Let us continue in sin, that grace may abound.”

“The question must be asked: were these monstrously dangerous false brethren in fellowship with those to whom Jude wrote? From verse 12 it would seem they were: ‘these are a blot on your love feasts, where they eat and drink without reverence’ (NEB). On the other hand in verse 19 Jude says of them; ‘it is they who set up divisions.’ Presumably if they were in the ecclesia it was only in order to draw it away from the faithful brotherhood into an orbit of their own in which they would be ‘wandering stars’ ” (AE, “Problems of Fellowship in the First Century Ecclesia”, Xd 108:210,211).

In such a distressing situation it is certainly understandable that Jude would rise to sound an alarm. If ever there were a time to protect the flock from the wolves, it was then.

However, considering the enormity of the errors rampant (worse, it must be admitted, than anything that has troubled the brotherhood in modern times), Jude shows a remarkable restraint in his instructions as to the type of contention to be waged. First, he emphasizes the positive actions which should counteract the evil influences:

“Build up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God…” (Jud 1:20,21).

And secondly, he implies that God will judge these sinners in due time; all of his examples and comparisons tending toward this view: it was God Himself who singled out the generation of Israel to die in the wilderness (Jud 1:5); it was God who sent forth the fire and earthquake against Korah and his followers (Jud 1:11). Even Michael, an archangel, does not bring a railing accusation against his adversary (whoever that might be is irrelevant to this discussion), but merely promises that God will rebuke him (Jud 1:9). These evil men against whom Jude warns were present at the “love feasts” (Jud 1:12) — the Breaking of Bread! — yet Jude writes not a word commanding their exclusion!

Despite the seriousness of the sins, Jude does not command a blanket disfellowship of the false teachers, much less of their deluded followers. His view is the same as that of Brother Thomas, who, in writing of the same period, stated his belief that the “Antipas” class could “contend earnestly for the faith” quite effectively and Scripturally even while continuing as members of very imperfect ecclesias (Eur 1:335).

Much more is inferred from Jud 1:3 than the context will bear. True, there are times when brethren must “contend for the faith”, but must that “contention” involve the excommunication of guilty, possibly guilty, and uninformed “toleraters” alike? And how much of all the “contention” which seeks its justification from Jud 1:3 is contention for one’s own views and opinions and importance rather than contention for the faith?

“It is easy for men to deceive themselves into thinking that unrighteous and unjust extremes are simply the evidence of their zeal for truth. Even a readiness to listen to the accused is regarded as weakness. Such extremists cry shame on the very effort to be fair, and in their determination to have no compromise with error they sometimes exaggerate faults, and so grossly misrepresent the objects of their attack that they become guilty of offences worse than all the error against which they are trying to fight. We must not fall into the mistake of taking an extreme view even of the extremist. God has been merciful to such men in the past, and we must be merciful now even in our thoughts. We may state most emphatically, however, that it is wrong to exaggerate the faults of anyone or to find ugly and misleading names with which to label those who do not quite see eye to eye with us. It is quite possible to be valiant for the Truth and zealous for the Lord without being unfair even to those who are mistaken, and it is always wrong to be unfair. In faithfulness we must point out the danger that in great zeal for the jots and tittles of the law men may lose sight of the foundation principles. All their faith and works may become valueless through lack of charity” (IC, “The Scriptural Principles Governing Controversy”, Xd 61:344; see Lesson, Collyer on Controversy.)

It is not necessarily true, then, that all contention is proper or profitable. Jude has more to say of contention than simply in Jud 1:3: It is possible, he says, that men, in thinking they do God service, may “speak evil of those things they know not” (Jud 1:10), and in their accusations and antagonisms become as “raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame” (Jud 1:13). “Indeed there is a spirit which strives against impurity which is itself impure; furthermore where the spirit is right but the method is wrong there may be a generation of heat without light” (C Tennant, “The Epistle of Jude”, Xd 104:404). James adds his voice to the same effect: “Whence come wars and fightings (contentions!) among you?” Because you are zealous to contend for the truth? Not always! “Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?” (Jam 4:1)

We must always remember that the greatest abhorrence of sin is not necessarily found in the one who is most condemning of the sinner, and that in contention for truth the loudest and most self-confident voice is not always the best. The example of Christ should serve us well when we are faced with ecclesial problems. From him we learn that patience and tact and love and prayer are our most effective tools. We do possess a “sword”, and we may finally have to use it. But let us not rush headlong into every controversy with it drawn. Like the surgeon’s scalpel, it must be the last resort, after all other possible healing attempts have conclusively failed.

We have all heard genie stories about a man finding the magic lamp and getting three wishes.

Here is my version:

An old man finds a lamp on a beach. While rubbing the lamp, a magic genie pops out and grants him three wishes. The old man wishes for health, wealth and a beautiful wife. Immediately the wishes are granted. The man has the body of a twenty-year-old body-builder. His fortune puts him in the class of the weathiest people in the world. He has a gorgeous, young wife.

For many months, the man is elated at his new-found wealth. He enjoys his lovely bride and his new body. He buys things he never dreamed of owning and sees places he never dreamed of seeing. Everywhere he goes he is envied and admired. Men covet his life.

And now, as Paul Harvey says, you get “the rest of the story.” As times wears on, little by little he starts to question his wishes. Should he have asked for extremely high intelligence rather than wealth? He could then have used his intelligence to make a lot of money, but he would still have the high intelligence. Should he have asked for things that were not so self-centered? If he had asked for a cure for cancer, he could have become wealthy and also made a tremendous contribution to mankind. He would not only be envied, but beloved. Should he have asked for a soulmate rather than the outward beauty of a wife? He loved his beautiful wife, but sometimes she wasn’t very easy to talk with about what he was thinking and feeling. If he had thought about it a little more before answering, he would have asked for it differently. Thoughts such as this plagued the man for the rest of his life. He was very glad that he had met the genie and was thankful for what he had been given, but always, in the back of his mind, he thought he could have done better in making his wishes.

The point of the story is this: most of us are in some way, shape or form that old man. We have been given blessing upon blessing in our lives that we appreciate, but yet we are not content. We are always thinking that we could have done better. We are always looking for the next genie to come along so that we can make things right. We second-guess where we are in life. Do we have the right job, friends, spouse, neighborhood, faith and so on? Open and honest self-examination is healthy. Yet, if we cannot balance the need for self-examination and self-improvement with the idea of being content, perhaps we have something more to learn on the subject.

It may appear that to be content is the same thing as being complacent. Complacency is never a good thing. One can be both complacent and content, but one does not have to be complacent in order to be content. One can be content and still have a burning desire to improve. I would suggest that you can be diligent in self-examination and self-improvement while at the same time being content. We can learn Paul’s secret when he said “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Phi 4:11).

We will focus on Paul’s comment to see if we can learn the most published, but least understood “secret” to having a contented life.

---

There is a scene in the book “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, by J.K. Rowling, where Harry finds a mirror. In this mirror, he sees his dead parents and himself together. He spends hours looking into this mirror. Only later does he find out that the secret to the mirror is that it shows you whatever it is you desire. People waste their entire lives looking at this mirror because in it they see their deepest unfulfilled desires.

The modern media bombardment — TV, movies, advertising, etc — is a lot like that mirror. We blame Hollywood for all kinds of ills from materialism to teenage pregnancy. I am not defending the entertainment and advertising industry at all, but if you understand that the media is just like that mirror, you have an insight that many people do not possess.

I am pretty sure that the media moguls don’t have an annual meeting and say, “How can we destroy the fabric of morality in the world this year?” These guys have companies. Like most companies, they are motivated by profits. If they could make a lot of money on wholesome, family-oriented programming, they would. I believe they don’t care much at all about what is on the TV as long as you and I will watch it and buy the products or services of the advertisers. Day in and day out, the average American spends 6 hours a day staring into this mirror.

Contentment doesn’t move much product. If you are happy and content, you are less likely to buy the next big thing. If they can make you feel a little less content and provide you with the magic solution, you are just the chump — I mean consumer — they are looking for. The real shame is that the majority buys into it. If we just buy the next big thing, we can be younger, healthier, more attractive, happier, more admired by our family and friends, wealthier and all-around better off. Why wouldn’t you plunk down $39.95 for that set of knives with all of those accrued benefits? You would be crazy not to!

This plays right into human nature. Starving people want food. People who have food want it to taste good. People who have good-tasting food want it presented pleasantly and someone else to cook it. This same principle of discontent applies to clothing, housing, recreation and so on. We are always looking for something better unless we are content.

The Bible says in 1Ti 6:6-12 that “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”

Contentment is great gain. We think of riches as great gain and are convinced by the media that buying whatever they are selling is great gain, but think of how many miserable people there are who have all of the trappings of wealth.

We have to learn that even with all of this against us, we have an opportunity to be content. God has provided us the answer to this secret.

---

The first principle of contentment is: “Seek first the Kingdom of God.”

Imbedded in this advice from Matthew is belief in the King. If we seek for the Kingdom of God and along with it the King who rules that Kingdom, we have the essential element of contentment. If we honestly and sincerely believe in the King — not an academic concept or abstraction — but truly believe in a living Jesus Christ, we will not be easily swayed by the garbage that the world would have us believe brings contentment. The more we believe in him, the more we will seek him. The more we seek him, the less we will seek what the world wants us to seek. Fame, fortune and all of the cares of the world shrink in proportion the more we know the son of the living God.

Imagine yourself with a bloodied back from a severe beating with a whip. But that is not all, you are locked in a dark, stinking dungeon with your feet locked in between two blocks of wood. Now I want you to imagine, if it is possible to do so, that in these terrible circumstances, you are content enough to break forth into song praising God and to offer prayers of thanksgiving. This might seem too unusual even to imagine, but that is exactly what happened to Paul and Silas (see Acts 16). What could possibly possess two people to have such a profoundly unusual disposition in the most horrible of conditions? They knew the King. They knew the Kingdom. Nothing could take that contentment away from them. The King and the Kingdom were not abstractions or academic exercises to Paul and Silas but a strong relationship with a living Christ.

By God’s grace, few of us will have to undergo such horrible treatment. Most of us have not had to develop characters that would allow us to be content under torture. We only have to develop characters that allow us to be content under the most benign circumstances. We need to learn to be content in our jobs, in our families, in with our homes, with our clothing and so forth. While Paul was content while in jail, we need to be content when that person cuts us off in traffic or our friends do not treat us well.

I would suggest that part of our problem is that we treat seeking the Kingdom of God like it was finished business rather than a relationship with a living being. For example, if we see our marriages as completed when we say “I do”, we are really missing the point, aren’t we? A marriage is an ever-changing and evolving relationship. We must constantly work at that relationship and build upon it day by day. While we can view the Kingdom of God as an event yet future or even a place we secured when we believed (both of which are true), we miss the point that behind these facts is a living relationship with the King. To seek the Kingdom is to seek the King in day-to-day living. It is an act of transformation from the things of this world to the things from above. If our focus is intent upon that relationship and seeking to enhance that relationship, all of the things that the world seeks after do not enhance our ability to improve that relationship — rather, they detract from it. Hence, if we sincerely seek for the Kingdom of God, we become content by virtue of things that cannot be bought at a store. We find that the greater the relationship with the King, the greater our contentment regardless of other circumstances.

The ultimate irony is we fret so much about those who we perceive as in control of our contentment. The government takes too much of our precious money. Our boss didn’t give us that well-deserved promotion. Our children don’t appreciate us enough. We fret and fume because if “they” would just do the right thing, we could be content. It is ironic because the only person that stands in the way of our contentment is the one that we view when we look into the mirror. The only “they” that stands in our way is, in fact, “us.”

There are a few more “secrets” concerning contentment other than seeking first the Kingdom of God.

---

The next principle of contentment is simple to say, but hard to do: “Trust God.”

One of my favorite sayings is: “A fanatic is defined as someone who does what God would do if He had all of the facts.” Another one of my favorite sayings is: “Worry is the illusion of control.” Both worry and fanaticism stem from the same problem — not trusting God.

It is impossible to be content if you are constantly concerned about things that are out of your control or fighting battles that are not yours to fight in the first place. Contentment comes from having a good idea of what your job is and what God’s job is. The fact of the matter is that one of those two parties — you and God — has a high probability of royally messing up his job. (Hint: It’s not God!) So if this is true, we should focus on things that are our job. God will do just fine of His responsibilities without our help.

Yet another of my favorite sayings is: “Do your best and leave the rest to God.” God knows what we are made of and understands that we will fail. At the same time God knows we will fail, God expects us to make the effort to succeed. The key is for us to know — despite all the malarkey of the self-help, motivational gurus — that success is completely out of our control. We may do all the right things, push all the right buttons, know all the right people and make all the right moves only to find that God has made the decision that we will not succeed. Failure may come in one of a million packages — a brain tumor, corporate downsizing, an unfaithful spouse, a lost letter, a fall down the steps. These examples are reasons for failure that are beyond our control. We could certainly add to it a longer list of reasons for failure that are directly of our doing. Whatever the package of failure, the contented know that their job is to do their best despite the pitfalls of life, and remain content knowing that God is in control. We can surely minimize the pitfalls of life by doing the right thing. Eating right, getting a good education, staying away from illicit sex and drugs, flossing regularly, working hard and being honest can all minimize our risk of trouble, but, in the end, we are all left helplessly dependent upon the mercy and wisdom of God. What better place is there to be left dependent on mercy and wisdom that with our loving Father in heaven?

Here is where we need to define the difference between contentment and apathy. Both words carry the connotation that we are satisfied with things as they are. However, apathy implies that we have no motivation or desire to change. Contentment, on the other hands, has no implication on our desire to change; it just means that we are happy regardless.

Let’s take an example of a person who is seriously overweight. The apathetic person doesn’t care. They have no desire to change and are not taking any steps to change. The contented person may also be apathetic, but not necessarily. The contented person may see a real need to change. He may change his diet or exercise in an effort to reduce his weight. However, in the process, the spiritually contented person is happy regardless of the state of her progress or the way the new diet and exercise regime makes her feel. Neither is the contented person in a constant state of worry until she achieves her goal. She simply do her best and trusts God.

Once again, it bears mentioning that trusting God is not easy. We are people who want results. When we have pain whether physical or emotional, we want it taken away. When we see something that needs to change, we want it done sooner rather than later. The point is that being discontented by worrying, fretting, or fuming doesn’t help achieve the goal any sooner, it just makes us miserable in the process.

So we see that trusting God is not just a sound theological principle, but a key to leading a contented, God-centered life.

---

The state of being content is defined by what you desire. If all you desire is to please God and help your fellowman (think about the two greatest commandments — love God and love your neighbor), contentment is readily obtainable. If we understand this, verses like 1Ti 6:8 make sense: “And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.” If we read this verse in context of what the world would have us believe, 1Ti 6:8 seems ludicrous. The world wants us to read it this way: “And having food and raiment (by the right designer) and a new car and a large home and the perfect body and the perfect spouse and a great job and a fat retirement account and a good golf swing and smart, athletic children, let us be therewith content (until our neighbor gets something as good or better and then we need to outdo them).” Following the world’s prescription will never bring contentment. Never. No matter how successful you are in this world’s terms, there is always something more to attain, and the contentment is fleeting at best.

There is a soon-to-be-released WCF video about a Bible school in Russia. In this video, there is a clip of a sister in Christ who has nothing that this world has to offer. She is homeless. She is old. She has no living relatives. She lives on $30 a month. She lives day to day and hand to mouth. When the interviewer, Steve Johnson, asked her what the brethren could do to help her, this was her response:

“I’m happy that I’m living a new life with Jesus, that I’ve started my sad life over and that I have Jesus with me. I realize now that I can’t complain about what God hasn’t given me because He’s given us sunshine, He’s given us the earth, He’s given us the stars above. I actually have no house at all, I have nowhere to live. In the winter months, because I literally have nowhere to live, an old people’s home that is run by the government allows me to live there. It’s a hostel for homeless people but the conditions there are absolutely terrible. In the summer months when I’m not allowed to live there I go around to people and I offer to do housework for people. I offer to work in their gardens. I offer to work on their farms if they let me sleep on their farm. So that’s how I survive in the summer months. But in the winter I have to stay in this hotel for homeless people. But also I consider myself so happy because I have found spiritual fellowship with you. I’m an optimist.”

“It’s totally awkward for me. I can’t even entertain such thought. All my life until this happened, until we got chased away, I’ve all my life worked and I’ve helped other people, not the other way around. When my brother-in-law died I spent a lot of time and effort helping my sister raise her three children. I’ve never been in such a position where I’ve had to ask other people for help. It’s such a terrible thing for me. The concrete help you already gave me. You gave me the Bible. You gave me the Truth. That’s the material help. You already gave it.”

“Let your life be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5).

(KT)

Corinth was a very wicked city. This is both specifically stated and implied in the Corinthian letters:

“I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with immoral men; not at all meaning the immoral of this world…since then you would need to go out of the world” (1Co 5:10).

This letter which Paul wrote to these converts needs rereading today. It sets out seven reasons why believers should shun, or flee from, immorality (1Co 6:18):

(1) The immoral will be excluded from the Kingdom of God: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral… nor adulterers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1Co 6:9,10; cp Gal 5:19-21).

(2) You were separated from immorality at baptism: “You have been washed… separated… and justified” (1Co 6:11).

(3) Your body belongs to the Lord: Therefore you are not free to do as you wish with your body: “The body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1Co 6:13).

(4) The body will be the subject of a future resurrection: “God who raised Christ by His power will raise your body by the same power” (1Co 6:14).

(5) Your body is a member of Christ: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (1Co 6:15).

Immoral unions violate the oneness with Christ. The believer is one spirit with his Savior. The “one spirit” is a oneness in thinking and attitude (Joh 17). You cannot be of “one spirit” with the Savior and of “one flesh” by union with an immoral person (1Co 6:16).

(6) Fornication is a sin against one’s own body (1Co 6:18).

(7) You are not your own: “You have been purchased with a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (1Co 6:20).

Of course, the world around us thinks nothing of premarital relations. Indeed, how can it when it tolerates or encourages intercourse between those who have no intention to marry? But it should not be so among us. Intercourse is intended only for marriage and is an expression of heart and mind by one person for one person. Premarital relations destroy the proper joy of marriage. Indiscriminate intimacy, apart from being wholly unChristian and loose, makes nonsense of the sanctity of the marriage bond and encourages unfaithfulness after marriage. Right behavior begins in the mind. Christian behavior follows the precepts of Christ.

The Call of God

There is little harm in making friendships outside the Faith, if two things are thoroughly clear and firm in one’s mind. First, that God has “called you out of darkness into his marvellous light”. The spectrum of this light includes the knowledge of God and of Jesus, the awareness of His kindness and severity, and the revelation of His truth. God called us to this light and we obeyed His call. This is the important factor. Paul wrote that upon those who “do not obey the truth” would come “indignation and wrath”.

This call of God must be kept firmly in mind, for upon faithfulness to it depends one’s eternal future. Thus everything must yield to one’s loyalty to God and to Jesus, even an affair of the heart — that is if the Faith is a reality. Jesus was clear and uncompromising about this: “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”

Obviously each will love his own close relatives — and each will love his (or her) sweetheart — but make sure that neither is elevated above Jesus. Otherwise why wait for his coming and for all the great things that are promised us?

The second fact that needs to be clear is that whoever has not obeyed the truth is still in darkness in God’s sight. This is His judgment, not ours. So however charming, tender, kind and gentle a person may be, he (or she) is in darkness until the truth has been obeyed. God wants all these attributes in a person, but they must be the qualities of a person obedient to Him.

If one meets and is attracted to someone who is not of the Faith, what is one to do? First remember that mutual attraction is not only physical, it is also intellectual. There will be similar interests in books, art, music, games and hobbies. And in a world of hate and violence, racial discrimination and political struggles, when so many young people dread the future with its threat of nuclear warfare, one has a fine opportunity reasonably and tactfully to reveal one’s supreme interest in and loyalty to a Father who, through Jesus, is to sweep these things away. Here is the place to start a relationship.

This introduction of one’s spiritual interest in the Faith should be made at the start of a friendship, and its overwhelming importance for you should be emphasized. If your friend can be persuaded to join you at your meetings and to meet the brothers and sisters, so much the better.

The danger of friendships outside the Faith is that one’s hope of the coming Kingdom may not be revealed until one is emotionally and deeply involved — when, frightened by the thought of the possible consequences of marriage out of the Faith, one makes every effort to persuade the friend of the merits of the Truth. How can he (or she) be expected to understand at such a late date? The response is likely to be: “What is all the fuss about?” Or “Why wasn’t I told before?” Thus one’s last minute efforts may have an adverse effect on the friend, rather than otherwise, and one has done a disservice to God and His Truth.

Paul’s primary reason in writing this letter was to convince Jewish Christians not to return to Judaism — toward which some were wavering. He is showing that in every respect the believers in Christ had a high-priest and a law far superior to the old. We have a high priest.

Christ was a “minister of the true Tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.” The word “true” signifies real, in contrast to the typical or the shadow of v 5. There, “example” may be more faithfully translated as “representation, outline, copy.”

And the “shadow” of v 5 implies something of no substance which depends on something else for its very being. The Law of Moses depended for even its existence upon the great Law in Christ.

The Law of Moses was merely the pattern, or the type, of the true system. God instructed Moses concerning His first Tabernacle: “See that thou make all things according to the pattern (Greek- “type”) showed thee in the mount” (Heb 8:5).

In God’s mind there was already the plan for the building of a greater Tabernacle — of which Moses’ Tabernacle was just a feeble representation.

In contrast to the old, Christ was the true Tabernacle where God might commune with men. The old Tabernacle was a place where God might meet with man, and where man might worship God. But both of these things could be done only very imperfectly in Moses’ Tabernacle.

God’s glory was in the Most Holy Place, hidden except for once a year, and then only seen by the high priest. Common Jews could not approach there. And all of man’s offerings and sacrifices only emphasized his own sin, and their inability to take it away.

Everything under the Law of Moses pointed forward to something better to come. To the eye of faith, every item of the Law truly cried out for a more perfect way — the way of Christ. Of him John said:

“The Word was made flesh, and dwelt (‘tabernacled’) among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Christ spoke of his own body as “this Temple” — and in Mat 12:6 he called himself “One which is greater than the Temple”. Man must serve God in and through Christ, the true Tabernacle. Here in Christ, we find true worship and the means of fellowship with God.

***

“For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer” (Heb 8:3).

On our behalf, Christ offers sacrifices to God, of which we shall consider these aspects:

The High-Priest of the Old Covenant brought blood into the inner sanctuary once a year. But Christ entered there by his own blood once for all time, for himself and for our benefit (Heb 7:27)-

“By his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12).

Even now, Christ acts as our High-Priest — by which we approach the Father. Christ offers our prayers to Him-so that we might come, with confidence, to the throne of grace, and obtain mercy (Heb 4:16).

And finally, a third aspect of the offerings of our High-Priest is this: Our good deeds, our righteous actions, are a sacrifice (Heb 13:16): all of our activities are “living sacrifices” to God (Rom 12:1-2).

Through Christ, these offerings have meaning and serve to present us to God as acceptable sacrifices. Only in Christ can our works be worthwhile. Only in him can they have any value.

Christ was the true Tabernacle or dwelling-place of God, by himself. But believers, upon being baptized, come into Christ-thus becoming a part of the true Tabernacle, pitched by the Lord:

“The House of God, the Ecclesia of the living God” (1Ti 3:15).

“Living stones, built up a spiritual house” (1Pe 2:5).

What a glorious promise is presented here, as we read in Eph 2:19-22:

“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints and of the Household of God. And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief Corner Stone; In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”

Heb 8:7-13 present the crisis of Paul’s whole argument. He proves that the Old Covenant, the national covenant with Israel, was not final; and he proves this from the Jews’ own Scriptures:

“For it that first, covenant had been faultless…” (v 7)

It was faultless in morality, in its own commandments — for it came from God. Paul himself calls it, in another place, “holy, just and good” (Rom 7:12).

But the Law could not save men; it could only condemn them, because all have sinned. There must be a more perfect way, a more powerful way, to which it pointed, in Christ:

“For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through flesh, God sending His own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8:3).

***

“For finding fault with them, He saith, ‘Behold, the days come,’ saith the Lord, ‘when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’ ” (Heb 8:8).

God found fault, not with the Law, but with Israel and Judah who could not keep it.

In referring to the “New Covenant”, Paul is quoting from Jer 31: “I will complete a New Covenant” (Diag). He had promised the New Covenant even before the old one began — with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But its effects are eternal; it will not be concluded until Christ returns to reign from David’s throne and to give the inheritance to all the true seed of Abraham.

***

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts; and I will be to them a God and they shall be to me a people” (v 10).

In v 8, both Israel and Judah are mentioned. But here, Israel alone is mentioned. The two houses are now one house — as Ezekiel saw in his vision. They will be united:

“I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all. They shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all” (Eze 37:22).

The future Kingdom, with Israel as one nation, will be the culmination of that New Covenant which had its beginning in Christ, the beginnings of which the Hebrews had been invited to share.

(Never from the time of Solomon until Paul’s day, had the two houses been one. So therefore, never had this New Covenant been realized for them. It must come in the future, with Jesus Christ as its mediator.)

“I will put my laws into their minds” (that is, into their inward parts)…” and “write them in their hearts.” The Jews’ former heart of stone will then become “fleshly tablets of the heart” (2Co 3:3), ready and able to receive the engraving of God’s Word, in the spirit. (This is also what happens for us when we enter the New Covenant).

“They shall be to Me a people”: God told Hosea of the nation, “they are not My people”; but Paul promises them here, “They shall be My people”.

The New Covenant did not come simply to destroy the old, but to improve it. It offers what the Old Covenant could not: recognition as God’s people.

***

“And they (the Levitical priests) shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest” (Heb 8:11).

At the culmination of the New Covenant, Christ will reveal himself to his brethren, the Jews, who mourn that their forefathers have crucified the true Messiah, and that they themselves have long ignored his teachings.

And God will give teachers to Israel, to bring them into obedience to the New Covenant:

“And I will give you pastors according to Mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer 3:15).

“And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand and when ye turn to the left” (Isa 30:21).

***

“In that He saith, a new covenant, He hath made the first old” (Heb 8:13).

He hath pronounced it old, even as early as the time of Jeremiah.

***

“Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” (Heb 8:13).

What God had promised 600 years before Paul’s writing was then (63 AD) about to occur. At that time, the Mosaic system had indeed grown old, and it was ready to vanish away — as it did in the fall of Jerusalem, 70 AD.

Paul’s warning undoubtedly saved many Jews from returning to the old Law. Those who listened to him fled from the onslaught of the Romans and were saved from death in the horrible siege of Jerusalem.

All of this is strikingly typical of us today, and Paul’s words are therefore important to us: We have all left the old system of so-called Christianity, which can offer us nothing.

We have come “outside the camp” to Christ. Let us not return in any sense, to the ways of the old man — nor to the systems of the world, which will soon be completely destroyed.

The sacrifice of the covenant victim is described in Jer 34:18-20: “The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf, I will hand over to their enemies who seek their lives. Their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.”

It was first referred to in Gen 15:9,10,17:

“So the LORD said to him, ‘Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.’ Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half… When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.”

In this ritual, an animal is sacrificed, and separated into parts: all parties to the covenant must pass between the separated pieces of the sacrifice. Such a practice was common in the Middle East — evidence of such a practice has been found among other peoples of the area, and not just Jews. Two individuals, or two groups, would decide to make a solemn covenant, or contract, with one another; it might be a purely secular matter, having to do with property rights or business arrangements. To confirm the agreement, they would sacrifice an animal, cut the animal in pieces, separate the pieces, and then pass between the parts, or meet in their midst. They would also participate in a common meal of fellowship, each partaking of the animal which they had sacrificed and separated. Thereby they would confirm, by a gesture of great solemnity, their mutual understanding of the terms of their agreement.

They were saying something else as well, something very profound and sobering: if anyone violated the terms of that covenant, then he was deserving of the same fate that had befallen the covenant-victim; he was deserving of death. In fact, he would have already eaten his own condemnation, in the meal itself!

1. Quite possibly, this is the basis, too, for the oft-repeated and rather enigmatic vow: “The LORD — or God — do so to me, and more also, if…”: Rth 1:17; 1Sa 3:17; 14:44; 20:13; 25:22; 2Sa 19:13; 1Ki 2:23; 2Ki 6:31; etc. May God do WHAT, exactly? The same thing that was done to the covenant-victim!

2. Likewise, it explains the Hebraism, where “to make a covenant” — as we might put it — is, literally, “to CUT a covenant”!

3. Also, it may account for the rather gruesome procedure adopted by the Levite, when he cut up his dead concubine into twelve pieces and sent the pieces around to the various tribes (Jdg 19:29).

4. …As well as what Saul did, similarly, with two oxen (1Sa 11:7), and what Samuel did with Agag (1Sa 15:33).

5. …And the words of Jesus in Mat 24:51, where the fate of the unfaithful servant was to be “cut in pieces” or “cut asunder”!

6. Notice also how Isaac and Abimelech (Gen 26:28-31), and Jacob and Laban (Gen 31:44-54) confirm their agreements by a “sacrifice” and a meal.

An old proverb warns against “throwing out the baby with the bathwater”. (In societies where almost everyone has a bathtub and running water, and where the bathwater drains out of the tub at the flip of a switch, the reader may have to reflect on this proverb just a bit!) The point, of course, is to distinguish between primary and secondary matters, and to treat each accordingly.

A well-known Bible story deals with a baby also. Once the wise king Solomon was called upon to judge a case involving two women and one baby (1Ki 3:16-28). It seems that one mother had accidentally smothered her baby, and, discovering this, had switched her dead baby with the living baby of her neighbor. Now both mothers stood before the king, each claiming that the remaining live baby was hers.

“Then said the king, ‘The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living… Bring me a sword.’ And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.’ Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for she yearned upon her son, and she said, ‘O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.’ But the other said, ‘Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.’ Then the king answered and said, ‘Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.’ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment” (1Ki 3:23-28).

The wise king understood clearly that the true mother would desire more than anything that her baby live, even if it were in the hands of another woman. Its life was infinitely more precious than anyone else’s “property rights”! But the impostor (to satisfy her pride, or her injured feelings, or out of sheer spite?) said, “Divide it!”

Sometimes (almost always!) “dividing the baby” will have disastrous results, for everyone concerned. New and young converts to the truth are characterized in Scriptures as “babes” (Mat 1:25; Luk 10:21; Rom 2:20; 1Co 3:1; Heb 5:13; 1Pe 2:2), easily influenced and even manipulated by their elders — their fathers and “mothers”.

Ecclesial controversies may have (or may seem to have) an invigorating effect on some “elders” and “parents”. It can be exhilarating to “stand firm for the truth”, regardless of the circumstances, to fight for purity, to defend one’s fellowship stand, to attack the faith of others, etc, etc. But the same controversies can be very damaging, even perhaps fatal, to the “babes” in the truth who (not really by their own choice) become a party to them.

So this exhortation is especially to the older, experienced brother and sister: Be careful how you “fight” for the truth. Be careful that any “charges” you bring against others are true, and fair, and fairly stated — not colored by prejudice or pride or anger. Be careful how you treat others who may be part on the One Body as well as you.

And be very careful before you do anything that could be construed by the wise King and Judge as “cutting up the baby”! Because… the “baby” belongs to him!