with the object of obedience

"For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me." For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief." (Hebrews 3:7-19)

St. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1109 AD), often recognized for his ontological argument for the existence of God, coined the phrase in Latin credo ut intelligam, or "I believe so that I may understand." It is an intriguing proposition, and one on which I must admit to vacillating with regard to accepting. Still, I bring it up here to segue into the epistle to the Hebrews and use its formula as the basis for another proposition that encapsulates the thrust of much in Hebrews 3. Namely, I believe so that I may obey. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, sometimes there exists an extreme tendency in parts of Christianity to view belief and obedience as conceptually and practically antithetical. These are, clearly, distinct concepts. But, we do err if we fail to recognize the degree (however large or small that may be) of semantic overlap shared between these two terms, especially as it pertains to biblical usage. The intimate relationship between belief and obedience for those who are in Christ, with unbelief and disobedience as sharp contrasts, is clearly evinced in chapters 3 and 4 of Hebrews. The following examples illustrate these relationships:

1) We are to "take care" that we do not have an "unbelieving heart" (Hebrews 3:12)

2) God swore to those who were "disobedient" that they would not enter His rest (3:18)

3) Yet, their inability to enter was predicated on "unbelief" (3:19)
4) Those who "believe" enter into God's rest (4:3)

5) Those in the wilderness did not enter because of "disobedience" (4:6, 11; compare this with point [3] above)

6) Numerous exhortations toward particular actions implicate "obedience" (3:12, 13; 4:11, 14, 16)

The descriptions and exhortations found in these passages are entirely unambiguous: the Christian ought to seek, by the grace that God provides, to be characterized by belief and obedience. For, if we, as members of Christ's body, claim one then this will necessarily entail the other. Although we are by no means perfect, in terms of our aim neither obedience without belief nor belief without obedience profit anything. The question we might ask is why obedience is so important for the believer. The answer is that it relates directly to our identity in Christ.

This notion of Christian identity is made explicit in the phrase "For we have become partakers of Christ" (3:12). As Christians, we are claiming to be united with Christ, having been made one with Him by Him, partaking of His Body by "eat[ing His] flesh" and "drink[ing His] blood" (John 6:54). But this unification necessarily involves a process of transformation wherein we must be changed to be made more like Christ, the process that is typically termed "sanctification" by Protestants, and "deification" by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians (see John 17:21). As Jesus Himself declared, those who "come" to Him "will never hunger," and those who "believe" in Him "will never thirst" (6:35, emphasis added). Moreover, if we, drawn by the Father, "believe" in Jesus Christ, we will have "eternal life," and if we "eat" of His "flesh" and "drink" of His "blood" we will be granted "eternal life," for "the bread that [Jesus] give[s] for the life of the world is [His] flesh" (6:44, 47, 51). Therefore, believing in Him unto eternal life (that He both won and gives), consuming His body so that we are transformed by partaking of Him, has the effect that we abide in Him, and He in us (6:56).

At this point, especially as it pertains to the Johannine passage, we have clearly established that belief inheres to our identity in Christ, but what about obedience? Importantly, Jesus returns to the profound notion of "abiding in Him" when He is alone with His disciples before He goes to be crucified, in the section of John that is often referred to as "the upper room discourse" (John 13-17). After proclaiming that those who "believe" in Jesus "will do greater works" than He, and stating multiple times that if we truly love Him we "will keep His commandments," Jesus invites His disciples to both "abide in" Him and have Him "abide in" them (14:12, 15, 21, 23-24; 15:4). The language Christ uses harkens back to John 6, but, significantly, His invitation is related to both unification and the production of "fruit," which is obedience - "keeping" and obeying His words and His commands (15:4, 5, 10). Our claim to abide in Christ is validated by belief that produces obedience.

The lurking danger behind all this is our sinful propensity to see our obedience as a means of attaining righteousness rather than admitting to imputed righteousness through Christ. We must always remember that our ability to obey and our producing the "fruit" of good works and obedience is never purely our own. This not only keeps our pride in check, but it is an encouragement that we can be strengthened by, knowing that God Himself is granting us His ability to "work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in [us] both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13). This is why Paul writes to the church at Ephesus:

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Obedience and works do not save us, and even the faith we have is a "gift of God." This is why He alone is to be worshiped and glorified for the salvation that He wrought through Jesus Christ our Lord. But, we should never lose sight of the fact that "we are [God's] workmanship," and that He has "created [us] in Christ Jesus" with the object of obedience. And these works God Himself has "prepared beforehand"; all that is required of us is that we humbly "walk in them."

With these thoughts in mind, we return to the passage at hand in Hebrews 3:14-19. Prior to these verses, the author has explicitly urged the readership towards steadfastness and obedience in contrast to the example of unbelief and disobedience of the Israelites in the wilderness who were refused entry into God's rest, the Promised Land (3:6-11). Then, the writer cautions believers to guard against an "unbelieving heart" and "encourage one another" as co-members of the body of Christ. But why should we do such things? Why should we "encourage one another" so that we will not be "hardened by the deceitfulness of sin"? Essentially, because such hardening and disbelief is contrary to the reality that Jesus Christ has obtained for us now. Jesus became God in human flesh, He lived a perfect, sinless life, He suffered, bled and died, He rose again - all for the glory of the Father and to invite us to believe in Him so that we might abide in Him and, thus, obey Him in love: if we love Him, we will keep His commandments; if we keep His commandments, we will abide in His love (John 14:15; 15:10).

For this reason the author of Hebrews refers to a present reality: "we have become partakers of Christ" (Hebrews 3:14, emphasis added; see also 3:6). Still, this, too (as with verse 6), is paired with a conditional that pertains to obedience:

[W]e have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, while it is said, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me." For who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. (3:14-19)

If we are humble and willing to obey in love, knowing that it is not truly our own doing, but Christ in us, we will realize that we have been empowered to obey as a result of our identity in Christ. However, we must choose to obey in love, and we must choose "Today," so that we are not deceived by the intangible tomorrow that belongs to a temporal framework we are not guaranteed. "Today," the Holy Spirit is speaking. "Today," we hear His voice. "Today," we must not harden our hearts as those who "provoked" God in the wilderness, never to enter His rest. "Today," we must not be "disobedient." "Today," we must not be characterized by "unbelief." "Today," God is working in us to do these things - His good will and His pleasure - so that we might walk in the good works He has wondrously and beautifully prepared for us. "Today," we believe so that we might obey, and obey in love.

one to another: the corporate Christian life

"Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, 'They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know my ways'; as I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.'" Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." (Hebrews 3:7-13)

At times I am rather perplexed at those who fell in the wilderness, not to enter into the rest of Canaan. These individuals and their ancestors had spent years (actually, centuries) as slaves in Egypt, yearning and longing for redemption that seemed to never arrive. Then, they hear of a man named Moses, along with his brother Aaron, whom God had raised up to deliver His people out of bondage. They witnessed plague after plague upon the Egyptians, while the Israelites remained unharmed. They witnessed how God worked through Moses so that Pharaoh would allow the Israelites to go and worship their God, the One True God. They witnessed how God protected them from Pharaoh and his army even after he granted them leave. They witnessed the miracles of God at the hands of Moses when he made the Red Sea as unto dry land for them to cross over to the Sinai Peninsula. They received God's protection and provision as He cared for them and met their needs, even providing their daily bread that came down from heaven in the wilderness. They witnessed the effects of the presence of God upon Mt. Sinai as God met with Moses and revealed to Moses His commands for the well-being of the people and for His own glory. And all this was firsthand witness; they saw the works of God with their very own eyes.

But, despite all this, they doubted the Lord, they questioned his benevolence and His presence, and they tested Him (see, for example, Exodus 17:1-7). As Hebrews states, quoting Psalm 95, the people "provoked" God and "tried [Him] by testing" Him, even though they "saw [His] works for forty years" (Hebrews 3:9; Psalm 95:9-10). The concrete horribleness of their prior experience that endured for generations began to vanish in their minds and they longed, at times begging, to return back to Egypt, back to enslavement. They feared when Moses delayed upon the mount as He met with God on behalf of the people who did not want to draw near to Him, and created idols to worship, proclaiming a golden calf that was fashioned by their own hands to be their strong redeemer out of Egypt. They disbelieved in the ability of God to fulfill His promises when they saw those who dwelled in the land of Canaan and their fortresses, ignoring God's works when He saved them from Pharaoh's destruction. Virtually every Israelite that God had tenderly brought out of Egypt, cared for and protected, failed to enter into God's rest because they refused to admit His providence, presence, and listen to His voice, although they ungratefully received His goodness and provision. They saw God's glory and the signs He performed both "in Egypt and in the wilderness," but they rejected Him and His ways, shunning His voice. Therefore, "[He] swore in [His] wrath" that they "should not enter [His] rest" (Numbers 14, especially vv. 22-23; Psalm 95:11; Hebrews 3:11).

What should this tell me when I find that I am so perplexed about these people and these events? It tells me that I perhaps still do not understand the depravity of my own heart, which is in constant need of renewal by Christ. Apart from the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, my heart is "deceitful above all else and desperately sick;" like the Israelites whom God led out of Egypt, and like the scribes and Pharisees that demanded signs from Jesus, so I, too, crave signs and wonders even while refusing to listen to the voice of God (Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 12:38-2). Still, even if I may know part of this deceitfulness, What, then, is the remedy? How do we Christians overcome the proclivity to, as the great hymn declares, "wander" and "leave the God [we] love"? In the above portion of the third chapter in Hebrews, we find that the answer is threefold (though bear in mind that these points are really quite related): 1) we must listen to God's voice and respond by obedience in love, 2) we must guard our hearts against unbelief, and 3) we must encourage one another as co-members of the body of Christ.

As we have discussed beforehand, the epistle to the Hebrews is rather unique in the New Testament in terms of its use of Scripture. That is, it is unique in the manner in which it attributes authorship to scriptural passages. In chapter 1, for example, we read that God the Father has spoken in times past, and this concept is reinforced by attributing divine authorship to the psalms which are quoted. Thus, the human author, though quite important, is typically ignored in Hebrews in order to emphasize the fact that God has spoken and is speaking, and this pattern does not appear with the same frequency outside of this book in the New Testament. In the second chapter, we see two types of Old Testament quotations: one in which the human author is dismissed (2:6), and another where the speech is attributed directly to Christ (2:11-13). In the present passage under consideration, we find yet another means of attribution of authorship wherein it is said that the Holy Spirit is speaking: "Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today if you hear His voice'" (3:7, emphasis added). As a result, we get a glimpse of every Person of the Triune God actively participating in God's Self-revelation through Scripture, a Trinitarian pattern that pervades the epistle to the Hebrews. This gives us blessed assurance to believe, trust, and appropriately respond to the Word of God that is being spoken.

The disbelief on behalf of the people in the wilderness that was evidenced at the waters of Meribah was but one demonstration of a constant mindset of refusal to listen to and obey the voice of God. And, it was ultimately their resolute disbelief and unwillingness to "know [God's] ways" that resulted in God's disallowing their entrance into the Promised Land, into His rest. We too, as believers in Jesus Christ, await the rest of God, the rest that Joshua could not grant (Hebrews 4:8-9). For this reason, we must "be diligent to enter into that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience" as the men and women who disobeyed in the wilderness (4:11). We must hear and obey the voice of God the Holy Spirit who exhorts us toward "Today," allowing the Word of God to render its proper effect of reaching toward and transforming the depths of our being, even unto "the thoughts and the intentions of the heart" (4:12). We are indeed of the house of the Son of God "if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm unto the end" (3:6). For this reason, if we are not to follow the example of going astray, as did those in the wilderness, if we are to not have "an evil, unbelieving heart," we must first listen to the God who has spoken and is still speaking, urging us to "Today," inviting us to respond now (and continually) in belief, and obedience in love (3:7, 10, 12).

In addition to actively listening to the words of God, we must guard our hearts against unbelief. Again the writer of Hebrews provides a strong exhortation that moves us toward action: "Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God" (3:12). Although it is indeed true that "faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ," we must bear in mind that in a sense we can "hear" God's words and yet fall short because we do not allow it to penetrate our innermost being (Romans 10:17). This is not something we can generate ourselves, we must continuously depend upon God Himself, and the strength and grace He provides through the Comforter that He has sent to dwell within us. The Israelites that fell in the wilderness were not deaf to the audible characteristics of God's words being proclaimed through Moses. Rather, they did not "hear" because they were unwilling and allowed their "hearts" to be "hardened" (Hebrews 3:7; Psalm 95:8). But God has "sealed us" and given us "the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge"; if we are to not "fall away from the living God," we must guard our hearts against unbelief by being washed continually by His Word, which by the New Covenant that Jesus Christ has Himself inaugurated, is written directly on our hearts (2 Corinthians 1:22; Hebrews 3:12; Ephesians 5:26; Hebrews 8:10; 10:16; Jeremiah 31:33).

The third way in which we can overcome our propensity to wander lies in the very nature of the body of Christ. In order that we not become "hardened by the deceitfulness of sin," the writer exhorts the readership to "encourage one another day after day, while it is still called 'Today'" (Hebrews 3:13). Again, reference is made to Psalm 95 by invoking the temporal present, but another crucial element is the implicit notion of corporate communion that necessarily inheres to the Christian life: "encourage one another." This is a theme that recurs later in Hebrews, since the communal aspect of Christianity relates directly to the spiritual health of both the whole and the individuals that comprise it (10:24-25). Individual belief and responsibility are indeed paramount, but we must be careful not to overemphasize these aspects by (unintentionally) negating or diminishing the corporate nature of the Christian life. The call to "encourage one another" necessarily implies that there are others to both encourage and be encouraged by; barring extreme circumstances, lone Christianity is neither supported nor advocated by biblical texts. Instead, we repeatedly encounter the opposite in the New Testament, for example:

[D]o not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)

And concerning you, my brethren, I myself also am convinced that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able also to admonish one another. (Romans 15:14)

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)

[B]e subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (Ephesians 5:21)

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Collossians 3:16)

Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)

Perhaps, then, it should not surprise us to see emphasized this "one to another" ministry among the members of the body of Christ, the Church. These three principles we encounter in this passage of Hebrews all relate to the greatest commandments: love God and love one another (knowing that it is not possible to leave out one and in truth fulfill the other). We have a responsibility toward both God and toward each other, by God's grace believing His words and "encourag[ing] one another day after day," that is, continuously (Hebrews 3:13). Sin is ever deceitful, and so are our very own hearts if we will be humble enough to acknowledge this, inviting God to transform every facet of our being more and more into the image of His Son. God is indeed gracious to reveal Himself and to speak to us, inviting us into the sublimity of a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus Christ, "whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end" (3:6). But we cannot forever afford to delay; "Today" will not be such for much longer.

while it is still called 'today'

"Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, 'Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts..." (Hebrews 3:7-8a)

I have a quaint memory from my younger days of a certain bar sign displayed in a restaurant that my family ate at every once and a while. Albeit, this may seem strange for a "childhood memory," but, nevertheless I'll proceed with the description: this sign hooked its viewer with the enticing phrase "Free beer tomorrow" prominently displayed in large, bold lettering. What was the catch? Just a minor caveat detailed in the fine print towards the bottom: "Tomorrow never comes." Now, this is, of course, no starting point for developing a robust philosophy of time, but it still resonates with me regarding the subtle deceptiveness of supposed future expectations and fulfillments. This last statement needs qualification; it should not be taken as though the future holds nothing for which we might long, and this is especially the case for the believer in Christ. For, the imminent, but (from our perspective) still future prospect of His glorious return provides the Christian with an unparalleled sense of hope at the thought of being united with Him in an even fuller sense than we now know, that of seeing Jesus "just as He is" (1 John 3:2). We have great and enduring hope in Him who we will soon see "face to face" with utter lucidity, and not as in a "dim mirror" (1 Corinthians 13:12). And, assuredly, "this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us" (Hebrews 6:19-20a).
But this is in no way what I have in mind by invoking "supposed future expectations and fulfillments." The assuredness of Christ's future return and our being gathered together with Him (in perfect fulfillment of His High Priestly prayer [see John 17, especially verse 21]) are not merely "supposed," they are grounded in Christ's eternal faithfulness, which He can never deny as it would be a denial of His eternal Self (2 Timothy 2:13). The type of expectations to which I am referring are not so grounded, for they are ultimately based in a false sense of reality. That is, often we hold ourselves as principally sovereign individuals in control over our own "destiny." As such, we feel we have more or less a "right" of individual self-determination, including, say, putting off certain decisions under the pretense that we can in some way validly enact a guarantee of the future. If we were to carefully consider our own lives, I'm sure that we would discover that the tendency to delay some particular action - the attitude of "I'll get to it on the dawn of the evasive tomorrow" - hauntingly pervades much of what we fail to do. Fortunately, most of these instances we would find to be rather mundane and, taken individually and in isolation, to be of little or no consequence (except as it might pertain to our character). But, What is the consequence of applying this mindset toward weightier matters? What is the consequence of applying this mindset toward perhaps the weightiest matter that pertains to us as individuals - the response of a believing heart that falls into the hands of the living God?
This mindset that I speak of is at the root of those that harden their hearts against God and do not hear the Holy Spirit's invitation to hear God's voice today. This mindset evidences an attitude of unbelief and disobedience (see Hebrews 3:7-19). This is the mindset which the epistle to the Hebrews urges its original readership, and urges us today, not to participate in. Why is it so dangerous? Primarily, because it deafens us to hearing and accepting the purposes for which God has created us; it numbs us to the ability to, by God's grace, be a part of Christ's "house' (3:6). One striking feature of this particular verse is the content of its conditional nature. We ought to note carefully that it reads, "if you hear," and not "if He speaks." The implication, which accords with the reality, is that, God the Holy Spirit has already spoken and continues to speak today. We are strangely quick to admit that we would believe or obey God if He were to speak, but we do this to the betrayal of our consciences. Furthermore, we do this to the explicit denial of God and His Self-revelation. This is why failure to "hear" in Hebrews 3 is equated to a hardening of the heart. Here it is important to recall that the primary audience are already believers in Christ. Therefore, it is not due to an inability to hear that the heart is hardened, it is rather a direct refusal that makes the whole of our being callous to the voice of God. Still, He speaks, He reveals, He beckons, He draws; and all while it is still called "Today" (3:13).
Somewhat recently, I heard a sermon from Pastor Alistair Begg who mentioned the following rather astute observation:

"The devil's favorite word is 'tomorrow'; the Bible's exhortation is always 'today'" (Begg 2010)

Additionally, C. S. Lewis expands on this notion (though in a completely different manner) by communicating the idea of the devil's desire that we should idolize the future so that we may forget the present:

To be sure, the Enemy[1] wants men to think of the Future too - just so much as is necessary for now planning the acts of justice or charity which will probably be their duty tomorrow. The duty of planning the morrow's work is today's duty; though its material is borrowed from the future, the duty, like all duties, is in the Present. This is not straw splitting. He [that is, Christ] does not want men to give the Future their hearts, to place their treasure in it. We do. His ideal is a man who, having worked all day for the good of his posterity (if that is his vocation), washes his mind of the whole subject, commits the issue to Heaven, and returns at once to the patience or gratitude demanded by the moment that is passing over him. But we want a man hag-ridden by the Future - haunted by visions of an imminent heaven or hell upon earth - ready to break the Enemy's commands in the present if by so doing we make him think he can attain the one or avert the other - dependent for his faith on the success or failure of schemes whose end he will not live to see. We want a whole race perpetually pursuit of the rainbow's end, never honest, nor kind, nor happy now, but always using as mere fuel wherewith to heap the altar of the future every real gift which is offered them in the Present. (Lewis 1943:78-79)

Thus, we must remember that we have an adversary that is all too willing (and wanting and waiting) to perpetuate our propensity to wait. The devil wishes us to be so enraptured by the future because, if we are, it will draw us away from that which God has presently given to us, including the words that He speaks. The devil wants us to begrudge the elusive nature of "today" (for it will not always be called such) so that we become fixated upon a future that overlooks what God has given to experience and obey now. But, God is stronger, and it is of great encouragement to remember that "greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Despite this elusive nature of "today," which will soon become yesterday, it is (at present) the very temporal vehicle through which we experience God's presence and promises, and through which we respond in obedience by grace through faith. When it comes to calling of God in our lives that we, by His strength, remain faithful to the end, the stakes are too high to give in to the weak tempter whom Christ has already definitively defeated and made an open spectacle through His victorious cross. We have no overbearing burden to seek and grope after God in the dark; He has shined His glorious light and illuminated our hearts (John 1:4-5). He has revealed Himself, and He has indeed spoken. Even the temporal reality itself that presently bears upon us all urges us to respond to the loving God who is there and is not silent. Today, we must make a decision; then, we will rest in the faithfulness of God, who has and does keep us, in the eternal day without evening which is to come.

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Footnotes:
[1] For those who have not read Lewis' The Screwtape Letters, it is crucial to note here that he is writing from the perspective of a demon/devil named Screwtape training his nephew, Wormwood. In this unique context, then, "the Enemy" refers to Christ (as the enemy from Satan's perspective).

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References:
Begg, Alistair. (2010). Who Do You Say that I Am?, Part A. (ID# 0117). Aired on July 20, 2010.

Lewis, C. S. (1943). The Screwtape Letters. New York: NY, The MacMillan Company.