Active Faith: He is able to save

Today, we're gonna cover Hebrews chapter 7.

You need to understand that Hebrews Chapter 7 is the continuation of the opening statement made in Hebrews 5:9-10

Hebrews 5:8-10 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

Every believer should possess a firm and unwavering confidence in their salvation.

Why is that such a cardinal foundation for your Christian life?

If salvation depends even slightly on our own initiative or participation, there is always a risk that at any moment, if we fail in our own efforts, we might jeopardize our salvation.

If we had an active participation in the process of our salvation, then the consequential thought is that a believer may also choose to renounce such a great gift.

However, Hebrews explains that this is not possible because you cannot lose what you have not gained.

Similarly, you cannot renounce what you have never requested or achieved.

Yes, you heard me right—you did not find Jesus; He found you.

Luke 19:10 (ESV) “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Romans 3:11 (ESV) “no one understands; no one seeks for God.”

You did not choose Jesus; He chose us.

(John 15:16 (ESV) “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you…”)

Ephesians 1:4–5 (ESV) “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world…”

We did not come to Him; we were brought to Him.

John 6:44 (ESV) “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…

Ephesians 2:4–5 (ESV) “even when we were dead… made us alive together with Christ…”

Your confidence in your salvation influences every part of your life, especially your usefulness and ministry effectiveness. (Check again Heb. 6:9-12)

Hebrews 6:9-12 9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.

11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

I understand that in a service like this, some may resemble "those" in Hebrews 6—people who are convinced of the truth but not truly converted to it.

I cannot judge your faith, but I am confident in what Christ has done in me. You also need a personal, unwavering certainty of salvation—not based on emotions or knowledge, but on complete trust, surrendering your life to Christ and His ways. Accepting as true that by His priesthood, His perfect sacrifice and representation, you are completely and fully forgiven.

May the Lord bring revelation to our hearts today.

Hebrews 6:17-20 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath,

18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

I want you to notice how much God wants to give us assurance. Your salvation is not secured by your promise to God; it is secured by God’s promise to Himself.

John 10:28 (ESV) I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

This is eternal life; it never ends. 

I like the expression in Hebrews 7:16

Hebrews 7:16…but by the power of an indestructible life.

When I was a kid, I went through a tropical storm that felt like the end of the world. The wind never stopped—constant, loud, relentless. Patio chairs scraped across the ground and bumped into things like they were alive. The trees bent and groaned, and every gust sounded like it was coming for us next. In my child’s mind, the storm wasn’t just outside the house—it was reaching for me. I honestly believed the wind could pick me up and carry me away. So I did the only thing that made sense to my little heart: I grabbed my father and held on as tight as I could. I remember thinking, If I can hold firm enough, I’ll be safe. If my grip doesn’t slip, I won’t be carried away.

What I didn’t understand then is that my safety was never in my grip—it was in his strength.

My father wasn’t panicking. He wasn’t even unsettled. In fact, he looked almost… peaceful. He had been waiting for that drop in temperature the storm would bring, and while I was trembling, he was calm. Then he did something I’ll never forget: he gently pulled me onto his lap, wrapped his arms around me, and just sat there—steady, unshaken—until my breathing slowed down. And with a quiet confidence, he said, “Son, you’re always safe with me.”

The anchor of our soul isn’t how tightly we can hold onto Him—it’s the fact that He has taken hold of us in Christ, and His promise is unchangeable.

Hebrews 13:5 … “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

That is what the apostles always intended to communicate to the believers. 

You don’t need to be afraid of losing your salvation, as you are losing the grip of the “salvation rope” because you are not holding anything; you are being carried by God.

1 John 5:13 (ESV) I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

We are sealed.

Ephesians 1:13 (ESV) In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

The New Testament is overflowing with evidence that our salvation is secure, and Hebrews makes the reason unmistakable: your salvation is not held together by the strength of your promise to God, or by your flawless dedication, or by your ability to keep every commitment—you and I were never meant to be the foundation.

For those who believe, salvation stands because God promised, and then God swore by Himself—and since it is impossible for God to lie, your confidence rests on His unchangeable character, not your shifting performance (That is how Hebrews 6 ends).

In other words, the anchor of your soul is not what you vowed to God; it’s what God vowed to Himself in Christ.

Unfortunately, many believers wrestle with fears about losing salvation—

What if I commit suicide?

What if I get divorced?

What if I fall into the same sin so many times that God won’t forgive me anymore?

But God already saw these fears and addressed them through the New Covenant by giving us an anchor.

So instead of living tormented by “What if I don’t persevere?” the better question is, “What if God is faithful?”—because He is.

2 Timothy 2:13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.

God has placed His Spirit within us, joined us to His Son, and He will not contradict His own covenant faithfulness.

That’s why this security matters: without it, you live like a boat with no anchor—drifting with every fear, every failure, every emotional wave.

The assurance doesn’t cause complacency; instead, it stabilizes you.

You can’t truly rejoice in salvation if you believe God is constantly threatening to send you to hell.

It’s like a wife who never feels secure in her husband’s love—she may stay in the house, but she won’t live in peace;

Insecurity turns love into anxiety and the relationship into pressure.

Some people assume that’s good: “If believers feel insecure, they’ll avoid sin.” But the gospel logic is the opposite—security produces holiness.

Assurance doesn’t make you careless; it makes you steady, grateful, and free to grow.

Hebrews 6:19-20 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Our High Priest changed everything.

Hebrews 7:1-2 1 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace.

Only after you experience the spiritual reality of God’s righteousness by faith can you enter the kingdom of peace.

Jesus is the one who gives us God’s righteousness and God’s peace. He is our perfect representative.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The author of Hebrews emphasizes that the Aaronic Priesthood has ended. 

Remember that the book often uses comparisons; for example, Jesus is superior to Abraham, the founding patriarch, and to the Levitical tribe, from which the priests descended.

Tithe is a permission for blessings

In Hebrews 7, we are taught the principle of the tithe. Understanding that Melchizedek is Jesus, the author states that Abraham granted God permission to bless him by surrendering.

Tithe is a spiritual statement of honor, not a transaction to manipulate outcomes.

Hebrews 7:4 See how great this man was to whom Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils!

The tithe functioned as worship—Abraham was recognizing the superiority of God’s priesthood represented by Melchizedek, and Scripture adds,

Hebrews 7:7 It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.

Giving is not mainly about “getting something from God,” but about acknowledging who God is and who your true High Priest is; it is a declaration that your supply, your victory, and your future are under God’s rule.

The tithe becomes a way to exalt Jesus as our greater Priest—an act that says, “My confidence is not in my works or my wealth, but in the One who blesses me,” turning giving into faith-filled worship rather than fear-driven bargaining.

Abraham tithed to Melkizedek, Abraham was blessed by him, and even Levi “paid” tithe through Abraham—showing the power of representation and identification.

What the representative does counts for those “in him.” And Christ is the ultimate Representative—His righteousness becomes ours because we are in Him.

Going back to the text, the focus in one: Christ is the mediator of another better covenant.

Hebrews 7:22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

 Since the priesthood has changed, the entire system has changed. You cannot keep the Mosaic system as your way of relating to God if Jesus is your High Priest, because a new priesthood demands a new covenant order.

Hebrews 7:12 For when there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the law as well.

Under the Law of Moses, a priest had to come from the tribe of Levi, specifically the line of Aaron, and Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. That means, within the old system, Jesus could not serve as High Priest; so for Him to become our High Priest, the system itself had to change—a new priesthood required a new covenant order.

And that’s why the message is so confronting: every time you come to God in the name of Jesus, you are no longer operating inside the Mosaic system, because the law never authorized a Judah-priest. So it’s contradictory to claim Christ as your High Priest for salvation and then try to remain under the law as your way of relating to God—if you have changed priests, you have changed covenants.

It really is simple: your priest determines your system. If Jesus is your High Priest, then you are approaching God through a priesthood the Law never authorized—because the Law required a Levi-priest, and Jesus is from Judah.

The Law is based on merit—you obey to be blessed and disobey to be cursed. In contrast, Christ’s priesthood operates on grace—He has already made the once-for-all sacrifice, and now you approach God through Him.

Having Jesus as your High Priest means you cannot also rely on the Law as your ladder to God. Through your new birth, you entered a new system called the New Covenant, where Christ is the high priest of a superior order. You simply need to leave the law behind and live according to your high priest.

The conclusion is straightforward. If you invoke Jesus as your high priest, there is no longer any place for the law in your life.

It simply buries the old once and for all.

The uselessness of the Law

Hebrews 7:18-19 18 For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God.

Why is the Law being revoked? Because of its fundamental weakness and total uselessness. Wow, it's utterly useless. It is the very word of God that makes this claim.

 For the law, never has anything been truly perfected.

That matches Paul’s teaching that the law exposes sin but cannot give life or righteousness

Romans 3:20 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Believers try to use the law for self-improvement, trusting that commandments will perfect us. However, the law has never actually perfected anything.

Galatians 3:21 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law.

When you live under law, sin keeps finding fuel in that pressure. That’s why the gospel solution sounds shocking to religious thinking: weaken sin by removing the law as your system of relating to God—and replacing it with Christ and the life of the Spirit.

It may make people nervous to hear “remove the law,” but that is what the word of God says. The law only exposes sin, but it cannot free the heart; only grace and the indestructible life of Jesus can.

1 Corinthians 15:56-57 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The law is useless for the believer because is now obsolete.

Think about payphones and video rental stores—there was a time they were everywhere, and they were genuinely useful. But then something better arrived: smartphones and streaming. Overnight, what used to be necessary became obsolete—not because it was “evil,” but because it was surpassed.

The law had a purpose in your life one day, to expose sin and point us to Christ, but now that you are connected with the wireless invisible world, the better connection, the better covenant has come; we don’t go back to the payphone when we’re holding a smartphone. We don’t return to the old system when we have Jesus, our living High Priest, and a better hope by which we draw near to God.

Hebrews 8:13 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

The old covenant was set aside because it was “weak and useless”—it could never perfect anyone (Hebrews 7:18–19). That’s why God introduced a new and better covenant with better promises (Hebrews 8:6): not a patched-up version of the old, but a superior system of grace centered on Christ.

You may not often hear Hebrews preached this plainly, but that’s exactly why it matters—because its arguments are so clear and so decisive that they expose the “spirit of the law” that still creeps into many churches and steals gospel confidence. Hebrews anchors you against legalism by showing that Jesus’ covenant is not just different—it’s better, and it was given to replace what could never perfect you.

Jesus the guarantor

Hebrews 7:22 22 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

Hebrews 7:25 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Many people who fear losing their salvation end up living in constant self-evaluation—checking whether they’ve sinned too much, whether they’re still “qualified,” and whether they’ve done enough to stay accepted.

Only when you fully embrace the new covenant and put God’s salvation back over your performance and merit will you have complete peace to live a godly life with joy.

Jesus prays for us always. Think about it. How many of you ask for prayer for yourself, and you expect that brother or sister’s prayer will help you go through life’s uncertainty? But what I learned today is that Jesus continually makes intercession for me so that I persevere till the very end, and I will, because God always listens to Jesus’ prayer for me.

In the everlasting covenant, your security does not rest on how perfectly you behave, but on how long Jesus lives and reigns – which means your salvation is held steady by an unchanging High Priest, not by a fragile human track record.

God’s will for you is not constant anxiety, but settled rest—because your salvation is held up by a living High Priest, not by your fragile performance. Hebrews 7:25 (ESV) says Jesus “is able to save to the uttermost… since he always lives to make intercession,” which means His salvation reaches every part of your life: you are saved now from condemnation and wrath, and He will finish the work by bringing you all the way to glory.

The miracle of the new covenant is that those who are truly saved will endure, because the One guaranteeing their endurance is not them, but Jesus Christ, who lives forever to intercede for them.

1 Peter 1:5 (ESV) who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.