We all want to change, Christian or not. We try to change by swapping out behaviors, but the radical message of Christianity is that change comes through a set of promises.

God responds to our abandonment of him by binding himself to us with a covenant we can?t break. In his new covenant, God makes us secure by changing what we want, by satisfying us with himself, and by forgetting our sins against him.

Hebrews is a letter full of comparisons, especially comparisons between what Jesus has accomplished and what the system of Moses was meant to provide. This passage introduces two new comparisons that are central in the chapters to come: the new tabernacle, or where Jesus intercedes for us; and the new covenant, or how Jesus intercedes for us.

Hebrews 7, the most challenging section of this letter, has offered a host of minute and obscure details to show that Jesus?s priesthood will last forever. Now, at the end of the chapter, we?re told why this is such good news.

Speaker: Bill Heerman

Why do we need a priest? And why does it matter that Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek? Hebrews 7, the meat of this letter, introduces the mysterious beauty of Jesus?s priesthood.

Few of us would likely claim what makes us confident in the gospel?s promises is the fact that God swore an oath. But this passage suggests that?s precisely how God intended to give us stronger hope and unshakeable confidence. So how does God?s oath make us secure?

Because the power of the gospel transforms, genuine followers of Jesus bear certain marks. This passage presents three of these marks?love, faith, and patience?and why they?re so important.

In one of the most difficult and controversial passages in the entire New Testament, the author of Hebrews warns of the irreversible consequences of falling away from Jesus. What is the nature, purpose, and proper effect of this harsh warning?

Spiritual growth came no easier for the earliest Christians than it comes for us. This passage helps us understand what holds us back from spiritual maturity and how we can press on towards it.