What Will You Do With Jesus? (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 11)

I can’t believe we’ve made it this far, everyone. Welcome to week eleven of our Hebrews Bible Study. Only two weeks left, and I can’t wrap my head around how fast the time’s gone by.

 

So before we hop into this week’s study, let’s review what we covered in week ten.

 

The four points we discussed last week:

 

*Following the law and making sacrifices is not the way we attain perfection.

*Our holiness is because of Christ’s sacrifice alone, ONCE FOR ALL. The Old Covenant is null and void.

*We can have full assurance of faith, and total hope – we are clean, and God is faithful to us.

*You cannot lose your salvation, but you can reject grace. And that leads to ultimate judgment.

 

And last week’s takeaway? Jesus is our holiness, our perfection, and our hope. He forgives us, He cleanses us, and He gives us grace – the sacrifice happened one time, and yet it covers all of our lives.

 

Previous Posts in This Study

 

// Welcome to The Hebrews Bible Study!

// Who is Jesus to You? (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 2)

// How Simple Belief Rescues Our Souls (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 3)

// Why Grace Brings Us To True Rest (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 4)

// We Are Redeemed! (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 5)

// Our Only True Hope (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 6)

// Why Jesus Is Truly Enough (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 7)

// Where Do You Find Your Identity? (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 8)

// It is Forgiven. (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 9)

// Jesus Has Made You Enough (Hebrews Bible Study: Week 10)

Let’s Get Started!

 

Today we’re reading from Hebrews 11. Go ahead and read that now.

Number One:

 

Faith is the ultimate way that we please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

 

So many Christians place such a huge emphasis on what we can do for God. They make it all about what we need to do, how great we can be to please Him.

 

But that’s not right at all.

 

Yes, it’s noble to do good things, to help others, to live our lives in a holy way, so to speak.

 

And yet, unless we live our lives stemming from our faith in Jesus alone, in His finished work and not just our achieved goodness, we’ll be wanderers, still lost, always feeling restless.

 

Good deeds don’t impress God when our hearts aren’t believing that Jesus is enough to save us. To reject some of Jesus – that is, to believe that we must add our goodness onto His perfection – is to reject all of Jesus. Because when we believe on Jesus, we are trusting that He was fully enough, and that believing on Him is the first step to pleasing God.

 

That is enough.

Number Two:

 

We can confidently walk by faith, for this world is not our home. Faith is living with eyes on Jesus – living for Him as opposed to for man’s approval. (Hebrews 11:10; 16; 26)

 

I love this chapter of Hebrews because it shows how so many of these well-known Bible characters lived by faith, even before Jesus came.

 

Because their faith was one of believing that God knows best, that God can always be trusted to do what He promises, and that His way is the best way – even when it’s hard to see it.

 

These people knew that ultimately, the popular way of doing things wasn’t the way that was worth it in the long run. That they could view Heaven, and then see earth. They looked to the finish line, and lived in light of that.

Number Three:

 

We have salvation now, formed by believing that Jesus, God’s long-awaited promise, really is enough. This thing that God has planned is perfect. (Hebrews 11:40)

 

God’s grace is amazing, for us now, and for the people that lived by faith in the Old Testament – and I love that so much.

 

We live by faith, now – and we have received the promise of new life, of eternal life, of being Children of God, of being washed white as snow.

 

There is nothing more beautiful or breathtaking than knowing these truths, and I am simply speechless.

Recap:

 

*Faith is the ultimate way that we please God.

*We can confidently walk by faith, for this world is not our home. Faith is living with eyes on Jesus – living for Him as opposed to for man’s approval.

*We have salvation now, formed by believing that Jesus, God’s long-awaited promise, really is enough. This thing that God has planned is perfect.

 

In short? Faith is what saves us. Not works, not empty attempts at pleasing God, but believing fully in Jesus, and that God has kept His promise to us. What will you do with Jesus?

 

Questions of the Week:

 

1. Have people ever pushed it on you to please God without emphasizing that faith is the center?

 

2. When you think of God’s promises, what comes to mind?

 

3. What is one way that you can apply grace to your life today?