faith

The Better Community

The Better Community

Wrapping up our series in Hebrews, we come to chapter 13. This seems like possibly the author getting out his final thoughts and recommendations for living righteous before he seals his letter, but it’s so much more connected to the rest of the book than that. He has spent 12 chapters making the case how Jesus is better than all else and is the fulfillment of all they had been hoping for. In chapter 12 he referenced Mount Sinai, where God gave the Law AFTER rescuing them from slavery. Now that they’ve come to a new kind of mountain, Mount Zion figuratively, he is reminding them of how they can live now that Jesus has set them free.

The Better Faith

The Better Faith

Chapter 11 of Hebrews is perhaps one of the more well known chapters in the whole bible. Often referred to as the ‘Hall of Faith’, it lists off a number of people from Israel’s history who “by faith” lived a certain way. If we take a deeper look at each of their lives we will also find a lot of failures and acts of disobedience. Yet, there is one who showed an even better faith — the pioneer and perfecter of our faith — who has given us the gift of a better faith to live by now.

The Better Way

The Better Way

This world offers many ways to live, but really there are two: find what seems right or feels good to you, or live by faith in Jesus. One way leads to life, the other to destruction. One way is fulfilling and brings ultimate joy and satisfaction, the other brings chaos and sorrow.

When we say Jesus is better, we don’t mean he is subjectively a slightly better option, though any option is fine. We mean he is the only option if you want to experience life and life to the full.

Faith, Love, Hope

Faith, Love, Hope

The first letter to the Thessalonians is one of thankfulness for their faith and encouragement to continue in it. The church in Thessalonica was made up of new followers in Christ; converts who had recently turned from their cultural gods to trust in Jesus as King. They seemed to be marked by faith, love, and hope. The first chapter of this letter expresses a gratitude for the work God was doing in them, and how news of them had spread.

Faith Lives Out God's Word

The Christian's devotion and obedience to God should be wholehearted, whereas the ‘double-minded’ (1:8) are half-hearted in their relationship to God. Whereas the half-hearted doubt, vacillate, are unstable and restless (1:6–8), the wholehearted are stable and free from doubt because they are wholly devoted to God. This wholehearted devotion to God involves the whole person, since the heart is the inner source of words and deeds and reveals the state of the heart. Therefore, if we are to become "perfect and complete" (1:4) we must examine every area of our lives. James explains that when the true believer is confronted with the truth of Scripture, he or she will respond by conforming to what it teaches. 

First Comes Desire, Then Comes Deceit

James continues with a clear distinction between trials and temptations, knowing that when life gets hard is when we are most often lured away and tempted. How do we fight this temptation? How do we examine our own desires and find a better answer to them? Is the Christian life a continual suppression of our desires, much like stoicism? Or do we just give in to desires because we have grace in Christ? The book of James shows us there is a third way, a better way, a righteous way that fills our desires far more than any other thing can.

When Our Faith Is Tested

When trials come, when you experience suffering, when life doesn't look like you hoped, what is your usual response? Is it joy and thankfulness? Shockingly, that's how James writes we should respond. How can we count it all joy when we meet trials of all kinds? These first four verses of James give away the theme of the entire letter - that God desires to use all we go through in life to complete and whole perfection, that we would lack in nothing, for His glory!

Faith Walks in Wisdom

James makes it abundantly clear that, no matter who you are, you're going to face trials of many kinds. Left to ourselves, we are tossed about like a wave on the sea — directionless and without purpose — and our faith quickly wilts like grass under a scorching sun. Why do trials overwhelm us? Because we lack wisdom and we lack faith. That's why we need wisdom that comes from God; wisdom that compels us to see trials from God's perspective. And this wisdom must involve sustaining faith that involves complete abandonment to God and His purpose for our trials. We learn that in order to become a people "perfect and complete" (1:4) we must be wholehearted and single-minded in our devotion to God, not "double-minded" and divided in our loyalty.