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Salvation To Those That Obey Him
Hebrews 5:5-10
We can see it at every level of society. There is a tremendous lack of respect
for authority today, and this has led to a weaker, less secure society.
Lawmakers, in many cases, have failed their constituents in Washington, abused
their offices and flaunted their authority. The frailties of every recent
president have been placed under a microscope. Kids talk back to parents, and
while some kids have always done so, today it is often with new levels of venom
and resentment. Teachers at some schools fear for their lives. Police
departments in many places are looked upon as corrupt. Many Catholics dismiss
papal pronouncements as unimportant if they do not agree with them.
In fact, many politicians do not deserve a whole lot of respect; and many judges
are corrupt; and there are crooked law enforcement personnel; and many religious
leaders do not deserve admiration. But what has happened to our society is an
open rebellion against almost all rules and regulations, moral and otherwise.
Anarchy and lawlessness will not make our nation better. And when it comes to
the Scripture this rebellion against law is also seen, as many today dismiss the
teachings of
the Bible with the same ease as they cheat on their taxes, or on an exam, or lie
on their job application. Most who do not cheat say they do not because they are
afraid that they might get caught. Only a small minority say they do not cheat
because it is dishonest or immoral.
And as we have lowered our standards of conduct, we think God has lowered His as
well. Society suggests that God doesn't really care if we lie a little, cheat a
little and steal a little. It is unnecessary to obey God, one must only believe
in Him to be saved, they insist. But let us turn our attention to salvation in
our high priest, Jesus Christ, and what the Bible says about it.
The Text
"So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a
high priest, but He said to Him, 'Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee';
just as He says in another passage, 'Thou art a priest forever after the order
of Melchizedek.' In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and
supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death,
and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned
obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He
became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being
designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek." (Hebrews
5:5-10).
Jesus Was Appointed To His Office By God
"So also Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He
said to Him, 'Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee'; just as He says in
another passage, 'Thou art a priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek'...being designated by God as a high priest according to the order
of Melchizedek." (Hebrews 5:5,6,10). Jesus has all authority because God gave it
to Him. Following Jesus' resurrection, He makes the grand announcement
concerning this, with the added
admonition to teach "them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew
28:18-20). When we reject the authority of Jesus' covenant by refusing to obey
it, then we are rejecting God (Luke 10:16; John 13:20). When it comes to the
teachings of Jesus, we ought to be very concerned about obeying them. There
quite simply is no other mediator between ourselves and God (II Timothy 2:5).
It may be fashionable today to think it a clever thing to disregard laws and get
away with it. A favorite religious belief is to think that actually obeying the
words of Christ is unnecessary as long as one at least believes the right things
about Him. But if we treat King Jesus is such a disrespectful way we will stand
before Him in judgment, and be condemned for our disobedience (John 12:48; II
Thessalonians 1:8).
Jesus Experienced Life in the Flesh
"In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with
loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard
because of His piety." (Hebrews 5:7). "The days of His flesh" refers to the time
Jesus walked on earth. As the eternal Son of God, His days did not begin with
His conception. He has existed from eternity (John 1:1-3; 8:56-9). It was
because of His unselfish love that God became man. Though He had existed in the
form of God, He did not hold on to His equality with God. Instead, He emptied
Himself by becoming a man (Philippians 2:4-7).
But the incarnation of the Son did not mean He ceased to be God, but only that
He also became man. Thomas came to understand this (John 20:28) as did the
writer of the Book of Hebrews (Hebrews 1:5-12). It was an entirely appropriate
thing to do to fall down and worship Jesus when He walked on earth because He
was and is still Deity (Matthew 28:9,10).
There are things that Jesus experienced as a man that as God in heaven He had
never experienced. For this reason, the Bible speaks of Him "becoming poor" when
it tells of His leaving heaven and coming to earth (II Corinthians 8:9). In His
body of flesh, Jesus suffered temptation, exhaustion, tears, pain and ultimately
death. But one thing He did not experience was personal sin (Hebrews 2:17-18;
4:14-16).
It seems as if the Hebrew writer specifically is mindful of the scene in
Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46). The Father could and did save Jesus from death;
not from dying but from the bonds of death. Jesus was saved "out of" death by
the Father (Acts 2:25-28; 31-32).
Jesus Learned Obedience
"Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered."
(Hebrews 5:8). Jesus learned by experience. When He suffered in Gethsemane and
later on Calvary's hill, He experienced something completely foreign to His
experiences in heaven, for there is no pain, tears or death there. Of course,
being omniscient, Jesus had always known what pain and death was, but had not
experienced it until He became a man and suffered.
The Bible says, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Philippians
2:8). Because of Jesus' experiences in the flesh, and because of His obedience,
we are assured that He understands, and we have a perfect example to follow as
we live by faith (Matthew 11:28-39; Hebrews 12:2; I Peter 2:21-23).
Jesus Became The Source of Salvation to Those
That Obey
"And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of
eternal salvation..." (Hebrews 5:9). The word "perfect" here means "complete".
Jesus became perfectly able to function as our high priest by becoming like us.
Old Testament priests had to meet certain qualifications to become consecrated
as priests. Jesus completely fulfilled all the qualifications of the priesthood,
not according to the Levitical qualifications, but rather "according to the
order of Melchizedek".
Thus, Jesus became the "source of eternal salvation to all those that obey Him."
We must respect the authority of Christ by obeying His word, else He is not the
source of our salvation. Enough of this sinful and rebellious attitude that
obedience isn't necessary to be saved. It is necessary if we are to be saved by
Jesus, and there is no other who can do the job (Acts 4:12; John 14:6).
We need to follow the example of the winds and the waves in this. The Greek word
for "obey" (hupakouousin) is the same one used in Matthew 8:27; "..even the
winds and the sea obey Him!" When Jesus said, "Peace, be still!" the winds and
waves immediately stopped. Quite simply, if we do not obey Jesus, then we cannot
be saved by Him, for He is the "source of eternal salvation to all those that
obey Him."
By Jon W. Quinn
From Expository Files 4.2; February 1997
