Transcript

Podcast Introduction

Today is epistles Sunday. We’ll read Hebrews 5-7. I’m calling today’s episode “A Clean Slate.”

Comments on Hebrews 7 and 8

Melchizedek is a bit of a mystery man. As it said in chapter 7, we don’t know anything about his genealogy. Verse three tells us “There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life.” Well that’s kind of strange, especially for those times when genealogies were kept in great detail, because it was important to know what tribe of Israel a person was from. 

We are told that his name means “king of righteousness” and “king of peace.” Now we’re beginning to see that Melchizedek prefigured, or foreshadowed Jesus, because these are titles that He holds.

We are told that the priesthood of Melchizedek was perpetual, it never ended.

Also, the author goes into great detail as to why he (Melchizedek) was greater than Abraham, and therefore greater than Levi. This is important when we remember who the primary audience of this book is…the Hebrew people, or Jews. To them, the Law was paramount. Establishing that the priesthood of Melchizedek was superior to the Levitical priesthood was key, since the object of this book is to help the Jews to understand that the priesthood of Jesus supersedes the old Law, or old covenant. 

Why is this important? Because the old Law was not able to bring man into perfection, or righteousness before God. The old Law could only put a band-aid on the wounds caused by sin. Only the new covenant, with Jesus as our Great High Priest can do that.

By the way, it might be helpful to give a brief definition of the word “priest”. A priest is a person who intercedes for man to God. Being sinful, we are unable to approach a perfect and holy God. We must have, as it were, a representative who takes our case to God. Jesus, having been a man and having lived a sinless life, is qualified to do just that. And if we are His, when we are in relationship with Jesus, we approach God the Father through Jesus. He is our mediator. He is our representative. He is our Priest. Without Him, we have no standing before God.

Now, I quickly want to mention what God said near the end of chapter eight. He said,”The day is coming when I will make a new covenant…”  And then at the end of his statement He said, “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

What a marvelous promise! “I will never again remember their sins.” When we are in a relationship with Jesus, when He is our Great High Priest, God forgives our sins, and they are never again remembered! Once we ask for forgiveness, God forgets that we ever sinned! If we go back to him again because *we* remember them and ask for forgiveness again for the same sin, God says, “What are you talking about?” 

The enemy likes to bring up our past to us all the time. “Remember that time you did this?” “What about the time you did that?” “You can’t serve God. You stole. You committed adultery. You lied. You cheated.” And on and on and on. If you’ve confessed your sins to God and asked forgiveness, all of that stuff is gone. Done away with. Jesus paid the price for those sins on the cross. And God has forgotten them. You have a clean slate.

If you think you can’t come to God because you’re not good enough, you’re right. But you can come to God through Jesus, and when you do that, God sees you as perfect and righteous and holy. You *can* come to God just as you are, because when you  are in Jesus, God sees you as righteous.

Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 5-6 NET; Ch. 7 NLT

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Transcript

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STEVE WEBB – 0:00
He’s a bit of a mystery man.

INTRO S12E277 – 0:09
Coming to you from Riverside, California, this is the Lifespring Family Audio Bible, and podcasting since 2004, I’m your OG Godcaster, Steve Webb. This is the daily show where we’re reading through the entire Bible in a year. Today is Epistles Sunday. We’ll read Hebrews 5 through 7. I’m calling today’s episode, “A Clean Slate”. The show notes page for today’s episode is at lifespringmedia.com/e277. My email address is st***@*************ia.com. Let’s begin.

HEBREWS 5 (NET) – 0:40
Hebrews, chapter five. (1) For every high priest is taken from among the people and appointed to represent them before God, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. (2) He is able to deal compassionately with those who are ignorant and erring, since he also is subject to weakness, (3) and for this reason he is obligated to make sin offerings for himself as well as for the people. (4) And no one assumes this honor on his own initiative, but only when called to it by God, as in fact Aaron was. (5) So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming high priest, but the one who glorified him was God, who said to him, “You are my Son! Today I have fathered you,” (6) as also in another place God says, “You are a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

(7) During his earthly life Christ offered both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. (8) Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. (9) And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, (10) and he was designated by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

(11) On this topic we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in learning. (12) For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. (13) For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. (14) But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.

HEBREWS 6 (NET) – 2:26
Hebrews, chapter six. (1) Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, (2) teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. (3) And this is what we intend to do, if God permits. (4) For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, (5) tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, (6) and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt. (7) For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. (8) But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; its fate is to be burned. (9) But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation. (10) For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. (11) But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, (12) so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises.

(13) Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore to himself, (14) saying, “Surely I will bless you greatly and multiply your descendants abundantly.” (15) And so by persevering, Abraham inherited the promise. (16) For people swear by something greater than themselves, and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute. (17) In the same way God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, and so he intervened with an oath, (18) so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope that set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. (19) We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain, (20) where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.

HEBREWS 7 (NLT) – 4:57
Hebrews, chapter seven. (1) This Melchizedek was king of the city of Salem and also a priest of God Most High. When Abraham was returning home after winning a great battle against the kings, Melchizedek met him and blessed him. (2) Then Abraham took a tenth of all he had captured in battle and gave it to Melchizedek. The name Melchizedek means “king of justice,” and king of Salem means “king of peace.” (3) There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors—no beginning or end to his life. He remains a priest forever, resembling the Son of God.

(4) Consider then how great this Melchizedek was. Even Abraham, the great patriarch of Israel, recognized this by giving him a tenth of what he had taken in battle. (5) Now the law of Moses required that the priests, who are descendants of Levi, must collect a tithe from the rest of the people of Israel, who are also descendants of Abraham. (6) But Melchizedek, who was not a descendant of Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham. And Melchizedek placed a blessing upon Abraham, the one who had already received the promises of God. (7) And without a question, the person who has the power to give a blessing is greater than the one who is blessed.

(8) The priests who collect tithes are men who die, so Melchizedek is greater than they are, because we are told that he lives on. (9) In addition, we might even say that these Levites—the ones who collect the tithe—paid a tithe to Melchizedek when their ancestor Abraham paid a tithe to him. (10) For although Levi wasn’t born yet, the seed from which he came was in Abraham’s body when Melchizedek collected the tithe from him.

(11) So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron?

(12) And if the priesthood is changed, the law must also be changed to permit it. (13) For the priest we are talking about belongs to a different tribe, whose members have never served at the altar as priests. (14) What I mean is, our Lord came from the tribe of Judah, and Moses never mentioned priests coming from that tribe.

(15) This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. (16) Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed. (17) And the psalmist pointed this out when he prophesied,

“You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

(18) Yes, the old requirement about the priesthood was set aside because it was weak and useless. (19) For the law never made anything perfect. But now we have confidence in a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

(20) This new system was established with a solemn oath. Aaron’s descendants became priests without such an oath, (21) but there was an oath regarding Jesus. For God said to him,

“The Lord has taken an oath and will not break his vow:
‘You are a priest forever.’”

(22) Because of this oath, Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.

(23) There were many priests under the old system, for death prevented them from remaining in office. (24) But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. (25) Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.

(26) He is the kind of high priest we need because he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin. He has been set apart from sinners and has been given the highest place of honor in heaven. (27) Unlike those other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices every day. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he offered himself as the sacrifice for the people’s sins. (28) The law appointed high priests who were limited by human weakness. But after the law was given, God appointed his Son with an oath, and his Son has been made the perfect High Priest forever.

COMMENTS – 9:07
Who is this Melchizedek guy? He’s a bit of a mystery man. As it said in chapter seven, we don’t know anything about his genealogy. Verse three tells us, “There is no record of his father or mother or any of his ancestors–no beginning or end to his life.” Well, that’s kind of strange, especially for those times when genealogies were kept in great detail, because it was important to know what tribe of Israel a person was from.

We are told that his name means “king of righteousness” and “king of peace”. So now we’re beginning to see that Melchizedek prefigured or foreshadowed Jesus, because these are titles that he holds.

We’re told that the priesthood of Melchizedek was perpetual. It never ended.

Also, the author of Hebrews goes into great detail as to why he (Melchizedek) was greater than Abraham and therefore greater than Levi. This is important when we remember who the primary audience of this book is, the Hebrew people or the Jews. To them, the Law was paramount. Establishing that the priesthood of Melchizedek was superior to the Levitical priesthood was key since the object of this book is to help the Jews to understand that the priesthood of Jesus supersedes the old Law or old Covenant.

And why is that important? Because the old Law was not able to bring man into perfection or righteousness before God, the old Law could only put a band-aid on the wounds caused by sin. Only the new Covenant with Jesus as our Great High Priest can do that.

By the way, it might be helpful to give a brief definition of the word “priest”. A priest is a person who intercedes for man, before God. Being sinful, we’re unable to approach a perfect and holy God. We must have, as it were, a representative who takes our case to God. Jesus, having been a man and having lived a sinless life, is qualified to do that. And if we are his, when we are in a relationship with Jesus, we approach God the Father through Jesus, the Son. He is our mediator. He’s our representative. He’s our priest. Without him, we have no standing before God.

Now, I quickly want to mention what God said near the end of chapter eight. He said, “The day is coming when I will make a new covenant.” And then at the end of his statement there, he said, “And I will forgive their wickedness and I will never again remember their sins.”

When we are in a relationship with Jesus, when He is our Great High Priest, God forgives our sins, and they are never again remembered. Once we ask for forgiveness, God forgets that we ever sinned. If we go back to them again later, because we remember them and ask for forgiveness again, for the same sin. God in effect says, “What are you talking about?”

Now the enemy likes to bring up our past to us all the time, right? “Remember the time you did this? What about the time you did that? You can’t serve God. You stole, you committed adultery, you lied, you cheated,” and on and on and on. But if you’ve confessed your sins to God and ask for forgiveness, all of that stuff is gone, done away with. Jesus paid the price for those sins on the cross. And God has forgotten them. You have a clean slate.

So if you think you can’t come to God, because you’re not good enough, you’re right. But you can come to God through Jesus. And when you do that, God sees you as perfect and righteous and holy. You can come to God just as you are. Because when you’re in Jesus, God sees you as righteous.

What do you think about that? Let me know. Comment at lifespringmedia.com/s12e277. Tomorrow’s Monday, so we’ll read from one of the books of the Law. We’ll read Numbers 29 through 32.

Boost!

ON THIS DATE IN CHURCH HISTORY – 13:17
On this date in church history, June 5, the year 988, Kyiv’s Grand Prince Vladimir formally embraced the gospel on this date, and he ordered his people to be baptized into the Orthodox Christian faith. He was considered the Apostle to the Russians, and he became the first Christian ruler of that nation and afterward he erected numerous churches, promoted education and aided the poor.

And on this date in church history, 1900, William E. Sangster was born. He was the English Methodist preacher who published numerous devotional books including, “He is Able”, “The Pure in Heart” and “The Secret of Radiant Life.”

CLOSING PRAYER – 14:06
Let’s pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for grace which is free to us, but cost Jesus his life. Thank you, Jesus for being our intercessor before the Father. Lord, I thank you today for the Lifespring family. I ask that you bless them today. And I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Well, I’ve got prayer.lifespringmedia.com fixed so when you have a prayer request or a praise, that’s the place to go. When you send me your prayer requests and praises I’ll pray for you and I’ll praise with you in my private prayer time and we’ll pray together and praise together on the show.

OUTRO S12E277 – 14:48
Please do share the show and comment at lifespringmedia.com/s12e277. You can email me at st***@*************ia.com. Kirsty, Sean of San Pedro, and Denise… Thank you for all you do.

And beloved thank you for sharing your time with me today I do not take it for granted and I’m honored. Support the show please at lifespringmedia.com/support.

And until tomorrow may God bless you richly. My name is Steve Webb.

Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Corrected by Denise