Do Not Neglect Salvation (Hebrews 2:1-4)

In the last post we went through the exposition of Hebrews 1:5-14 which was the writer of Hebrews own exposition of the superiority of the Son to the created spiritual beings (angels, heavenly host). For the things that God the Father said to the Son were never said to the ministering spirits. So, in this regard we should never see Jesus as just an angel or like an angel, and that we ourselves being in Christ are not angels or gods ourselves. There are attributes of God that we share with Him and those that we do not. The same is of the divine Sonship that Jesus has, He is the Son of God and we are the adopted children of God. This is where the writer of Hebrews starts with his next point, as he has made an argument and a conclusion.

“Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” (v.1). The use of ‘therefore’ is basically saying, “Since these things are true, now we must act appropriately with this knowledge that we have obtained.” The writer calls us to perk up with attention and heed what we have heard. Remember the writer is writing to a group of Jewish believers and reminding them of the things they have heard and what the people of God had heard when He spoke to them through the angels and prophets. We must pay “closer attention” since the truth they have heard was now from the Son, lest we drift from it. How easy it is to set oneself up and not throw an anchor to keep us rooted and we drift along with the current. When we look up we find that where we are, is so far from where we were supposed to be. This is why we must inspect ourselves and work out our salvation and keep our salt from being contaminated, otherwise it has lost its purpose and is worthy to be trampled under the feet of men.

“For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution.” (v.2). The message that was declared by angels was the Law of God, this is suggested in Deuteronomy 33:2 “He said, “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten-thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.” This was the common Jewish and Christian view of the events that happened at Sinai. “You who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.” (Acts 7:53). This was said by Stephen as they took him out to stone him. Paul said in Galatians, “Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.” (Galatians 3:19). We are also told that “every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution”, those that violated the Lord’s covenant were purged from the covenant community through death. “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard.” (v.3). The Law did not save anyone, what it did do was give the knowledge of sin. The knowledge of sin does not bring salvation, what it does is point us to God who has given instructions to not do those things for the whole universe was created by this God who was and is and will be. Through His covenant with the people of Israel He told them that if they were faithful then they would be blessed and if they were unfaithful then He would curse them. Those who violated the Law were visited by many curses sometimes in the form of venomous snakes, military destruction, enslavement and exile, sometimes in the simplest forms of getting what they wanted such as wanting meat and hating the manna that God had provided them so He gave them so much meat they would be sick of it. If not from these means, it was the Law itself when it came to capital punishment.

Now that we have heard of the salvation that His Son has given to us, and if when the Law was given if they violated it, it was met with just retribution. How much more would God bring retribution if we neglect “such a great salvation”? The salvation that we have been given includes: inheritance of the world to come, entry into glory as God’s adopted sons, purification from sins, freedom from the fear of death, and the privilege of drawing near to God, to offer worship that pleases Him. The writer gives the exhortation to fellow believers that we should not neglect this salvation as it was not only attested by the Son but also “those who heard” that being the Apostles. The word ‘attested’ also means ‘witnessed’, this is clear on it being the Apostles which is where the writer and the group of believers have heard these things.

There is no better time than now to mention that this is why the New Testament writings are so important, as they were written by those who heard. The Jewish community and the scribes and Pharisees had rejected Jesus such as Jesus points out to them, “Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’ this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?” (Matthew 21:42). The Jews had rejected the Messiah and payed the price for doing so as the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem was prophesied by Jesus in Matthew 24; paralleled in Mark 13 and Luke 21. Which came to pass before that generation had passed away in A.D. 70. Our salvation is found in Christ and the household of God is, “Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:20-22).

These verses do not only mention the prophets but the apostles as well, hence marking how God has spoken and revealed Himself to us. Such as back in Hebrew’s 1:1-2a “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” The Father had sent the Son and we have been given the message of salvation. Jesus had said that, “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:46-47). This same notion is made for the apostles. The Father had sent Moses to the Israelites and God had Moses write of the Messiah. The Messiah was validated by the writings of Moses as God had sent him. Jesus says the same of His apostles saying, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8).

We may be tempted to fall into camps that accept Jesus but reject Paul, or Peter, or James. “We like what Jesus says, but we don’t jive with Paul.” If we reject the Apostles we also reject Christ as they are His witnesses. Those sent have the authority of those who send them, hence why we cannot take Paul over Peter or Jude, we must take them all. If we decide that even one of the writers of the New Testament is not correct then we are saying that Jesus is not correct. Even greater if we think that one book of the Bible (Old and New Testaments; without the secondary writings [Apocrypha]) is wrong then we risk retribution by God as now we doubt His word. Is the Bible sufficient or not? This is a question that every Christian must answer and be sure of.

“While God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.” (v.4). The signs and wonders and miracles were meant to validate the message of those being sent by God. This is how prophets were validated by the words they gave. God would perform miracles that would validate the message that was being given. Nicodemus and other Pharisees knew this as he told Jesus, “Rabbi we know that you are teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2). Peter says as such during his sermon after Pentecost that converted three thousand people. “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.” (Acts 2:22).

This is what happens many times throughout the book of Acts, as the Apostles heal and deliver the Gospel it is followed by miracles and spiritual gifts such as prophecy and tongues and healings. Tongues in of itself was meant to truly validate the message by the Apostles through its usage and the hearing the Gospel by unbelievers in their own tongue. These gifts were distributed to the believers by the Holy Spirit according to His will. Not everyone had the same gifts as they made up the Body of Christ and to be truly edifying not one part of the body was superior to the other.

In the end, we must not drift away from the salvation and its message given to us by the Son and witnessed by the Apostles and Prophets. If God gave just retribution to the violation of His Law how could we escape if we neglect the salvation given by His Son? This question is rhetorical as we know the answer, we could not escape. We know we would be in utter darkness without His grace and mercy.