by Jonathan Koehler | Jun 19, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense, how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3a) The warning is to “pay attention…lest we drift away from it”. In the first chapter of Hebrews the author details the superiority of Jesus over angels and prophets. In fact, he says Jesus is God’s word spoken to us in these final days. Pay attention to Jesus and salvation because He is the “radiance of His [God’s] glory, the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all thing by the word of His power”. In other words, Jesus Christ is God with skin on. If we do not pay attention to Jesus, then we will drift away from Him. “Drift” means to “slip away” or “pass by almost unnoticed”. Drifting away from Jesus can be almost imperceptible, at least in the beginning. This might entail a subtle shift in our thinking, perhaps illustrated by denial of conscience because we think we can afford the consequences of the action we are considering, or that circumstances justify our action. Or drifting might involve a re-definition of sin, labeling “OK” what God says is wrong. A lack of vigilance leads to drifting, ending up in neglect of our salvation. For us in the 21st century, this can mean misunderstanding the gift of grace in the gospel. The modern concept of grace too often considers grace as permission to do anything we...
by Jonathan Koehler | May 21, 2024 | Articles, Mentors Corner
The book of Hebrews has a series of warnings to those professing Christ, but drawn to the safety of the past. The epistle is an enigma at times, but also a key to a treasure trove of understanding the Old Testament . It is also a book of worship as it emphasizes the superiority of Jesus and is the only place in Scripture where Jesus is called our High Priest. I would suggest that besides the Epistle to the Romans, the Epistle to the Hebrews has some of the most theologically concentrated, complex, and challenging concepts in the Bible. Hebrews also contains several passages that engender some of the most intense debate among Christians. It is generally well accepted that the book was written, perhaps as a sermon, to some number of professing Christians in a church in or near the city of Rome, a portion of whom were suffering persecution for their Christian faith. These recipients were likely Jews very familiar with the Old Testament , and were either tempted to turn or had turned back to the relative safety of Judaism in order to escape persecution meted out to those claiming to be followers of Christ, or were drifting from their faith. Perhaps the key theme of the book is the exhortation to hold fast to their faith, to persevere, to endure. As modern readers of Hebrews we are challenged to discern the relevance of a book written for a people with whom virtually all of us have little to nothing in common-at least at first glance. But as we face the continuing decline of our culture...
by Jonathan Koehler | Mar 29, 2021 | Articles, Mentors Corner
Some time ago, I completed a nearly year-long process of review of a book with another brother. It was his first time to read the book whereas I had read it some 25 years ago. We had agreed to read this book together and interact over our impressions of the content due to a mutual interest in the subject matter. It was an interesting exercise for me to re-read a book I had read so long ago. In my previous reading, I had been impressed by the points made by the author and thought it an accurate, uplifting book. During this current process, however, I was struck by the liberties the author had taken with certain tenets of the faith, his inappropriate application of Christian doctrine, and his inaccurate definition of words used in the Christian life. It became apparent to me how much God had matured my thinking in the intervening years and how He had increased my discernment to the point of providing this new knowledge as a basis for discussion with my brother for his edification. For example, it seems that reasoned discourse between individuals is a somewhat sparse occurrence nowadays. Because “tolerance” has been re-defined to mean “accepting all viewpoints that agree with mine”, “intolerance” re-defined to mean “any viewpoint that either disagrees with mine or proposes the existence of an absolute”, and the elevation of “offending someone” to a crime of near-capital proportions, many people are reluctant to engage in discussion (what in days of yore was termed “argument”) over differing perspectives in order to arrive at a better understanding of a matter. It...
Recent Comments