King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Tuesday, December 23, 2025
Chapters: Hebrews 10-13
Message: Hebrews: Faith is The Substance
Hello My Friend,
I apologize for the delays this week, I am house/dog/adopted aunt sitting while my family is on a cruise. It has been a quiet, humbling week as she is in a nursing home for rehab and it is bringing on a slew of memories. I do not know what it is but when it comes to babies and the elderly, they flock to me and I just want to care for them all. Meanwhile my husband is back home and it is probable that we will not spend Christmas day together. This is definitely not the Christmas I expected, but apparently one that God did. As we come to the end of the reading of Hebrews we learn that all saved, born again Christians have a race to run and they are to do so with patience.
[Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.]
This race is not a sprint, nor is it a competition against other believers. It is a lifelong journey of faith, endurance, and obedience until we get to heaven. God calls each of us to lay aside every distraction and every sin that slows our progress. He urges us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, because He began this work in us, and He will bring it to completion. When we look to Him, we find the strength to keep running, even when the path becomes difficult, [Hebrews 10:35-39 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. 36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. 37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. 39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.]
God promises a great reward to those who do not remove themselves from the faith. The proof of our faith is the Holy Spirit Himself, for He is the One who not only testifies on our behalf, but also indwells us. His presence within us is the seal that we belong to God and the assurance that He will complete the work He has begun in us. Christ did not enter an earthly tabernacle made with human hands, nor did He offer the blood of animals that could only cover sin for a season. Instead, He entered the true Holy Place, heaven itself, presenting His own blood, perfect, sinless, and eternal. Paul, explains that while the animal sacrifices served their purpose at the time, it was not possible for them to remove sin completely.
[Hebrews 10:1-4 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.]
In other words, if the animal sacrifices had truly removed sin, there would have been no need to repeat them year after year. Our conscience knows this, unrepentant sin never finds peace because it lingers in our minds, unresolved and ever‑present. But redemption through Christ changes everything. It shifts our entire perception of sin, because it points us to the One who not only removes it completely, but also chooses to forget it altogether. Christ’s one time sacrifice not only made atonement of sin permanent, it was forgotten by God completely.
[Hebrews 10:5-10 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; 9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.]
God never found pleasure in the sacrifices and offerings of the law, because they could not accomplish what His will required. Instead, God prepared a body for His Son, and Christ came into the world with a single purpose: to do the will of God. By doing so, He removed the first covenant with its temporary sacrifices, and He established the second, the New Covenant, through His own perfect offering. Through this will of God, we are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now, we who believe in and receive Christ as our Saviour have permanent salvation and are made perfect through Him.
[Hebrews 10:12-17 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.]
Christ, sitting at the right hand of God really does speak as much terror to His enemies as it speaks happiness to His people. Just think how much terror Satan has toward God, I mean, while God does use him to send judgment and test His people, he is still under His subjection and trembles at Christ, [James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.]
Now, that does not mean that he will repent anytime soon nor give up the fight until it is over. We who believe in and receive Him are saved by a new and living way. It was never about the sacrifice with God, it was about fearing Him, loving Him, and being faithful to Him.
[Hebrews 10:19-24 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:]
God knew from the start that we would sin, all He ever wants from anyone is respect and love Him. And the reason why God hates sin so much is because it breaks our connection with Him. He wants willing and faithful bodies to be living sacrifices, which means letting go of the sin, and this goes beyond our sin nature sins that we are custom to.
[Hebrews 10:26-29,31 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. 28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.]
This is in regards to the apostasy within the Church. Once a person has converted to a Christian it is impossible for them to return to a life of sin, they will either die a premature death in their sin or become worse than they ever did before they were saved, [Luke 11:24-26 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. 25 And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. 26 Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.]
It truly is fearful to fall into the hands of the only living God. Those who are saved and just living life by the thread of their salvation, with not one concern about removing sin from their lives, suffer more than anyone because they are sinning against God here and starting a war with Him.
[Hebrews 11:1-6 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.]
To be raptured out of here and not see death at all would be our greatest hope fulfilled, and that will happen one day. Right now our hope rests on the very fact that those who accepted Christ as their Saviour will not face the second death, [Revelation 21:7-8 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.]
Those who overcome through faith in Christ will inherit all things, and God will be their God, and they will be His children. But those who reject Him, those who remain in unbelief and rebellion, will face the second death in the lake of fire. This solemn warning makes the promise of salvation all the more precious for those who believe. And that is what our faith is all about. Paul goes on to list some incredible people who stepped out in faith.
[Hebrews 11:7–10 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.]
Abraham understood that this world was not his final home. Even while he lived in tents and traveled through a land that was not yet his, Abraham kept his eyes on something eternal. He was not simply looking for a physical place. He was longing for the heavenly city that God Himself designed and prepared.
[Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.]
Even though these great men and women of faith did not always see or was forfeited the earthly promise because they did something that provoked God, that did not stop God from fulfilling His promise of giving them eternal life. After listing so many examples of faith, he acknowledges that time would not allow him to recount every story of those who trusted God with their whole hearts.
[Hebrews 11:32-35 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: 33 Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:]
I am in tears as I read this. To think of the faith that these people had, and what they faced, having never even come close to seeing Jesus in the flesh, is something that makes my suffering a cake walk. Their steadfast faith should humble every one of us, because we have the full revelation of Christ, and they trusted God with far less in their hands and far more in their hearts. Consider Jesus Himself, the One who endured hostility, rejection, and suffering at the hands of sinners. When we look to Him, we are strengthened so that we do not grow weary or faint in our minds, even when being chastened by Him.
[Hebrews 12:3-6,11 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.]
Although chastening is never pleasant in the moment, and often feels grievous, God assures us that it produces something precious in the lives of those who submit to it. In time, His discipline shapes our character, strengthens our faith, and draws us closer to Him. Through discipline, God removes what harms us, refines what weakens us, and forms within us a heart that reflects His holiness. Believe it or not, we much rather deal with the chastening that we get from God than what we received here from man as God is much more merciful. This is not a call to perfection in our own strength, but a call to live in a way that reflects the transforming work of Christ within us. Peace and holiness in the world are the outward evidences of our faith.
[Hebrews 12:14,17-18,22,24 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 17 For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 18 For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.]
The mountain that the people dare not touch as it would destroy them instantly, [Exodus 19:12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:] had the very presence of God and the reason they would be destroyed is because they were defiled with sin. Until we receive Christ as our Saviour we are defiled with sin and cannot stand before Him.
[Hebrews 12:25-27 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.]
Before Christ’s passion, any believer would go to a prophet or ordained priest to get answers from God. They could pray, but could not get into the Temple itself nor hear God respond to them directly unless they were blessed to have the Holy Spirit with them. Today, because we have Jesus, we can stand before God, speak to Him one on one, and if we pray anything in His name, He will answer us, [John 14:13-14 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.]
We are not under the law that condemns, but under the covenant that saves. We are not approaching God through trembling and distance, but through Jesus Christ, who has opened the way for us to draw near with confidence. Those who reject Christ can mock, ridicule, and even go as far as to kill the body of believers, but they will answer to God for that, and we will be safe in Sion (Zion), the city of the only living God. Because we belong to Christ, our lives should reflect His character.
[Hebrews 13:1-6 Let brotherly love continue. 2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. 3 Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. 4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.]
This again is in reference to those who just play the part of a Christian, but never received Christ as their Saviour. God, is not so angry that He strikes down anyone who looks at Him the wrong way, He is a just God, but He is also a loving, forgiving, faithful God, who accepts all who come to Him through His Son. Yet so many people believe in the Gospel, but fail to believe every word of God and that is worse than not believing at all.
[Hebrews 13:8-13 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. 9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. 10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.]
This is in regards to the priests when they would eat at the table that was before the veil, but no sin sacrifice was accepted, it was actually burned on the altar outside of the Tabernacle/Temple. In other words, we are to never mix the Gospel with any other doctrine as doing so will bring eternal death and if we are saved, keep pressing forward because the day will come when we will see the same promise as those whom have gone before us are.
[Hebrews 13:16-18,20-21 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. 17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. 18 Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. 20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 21 Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.]
These verses remind us that the Christian life is both deeply spiritual and intensely practical. Our hope is anchored in heaven, yet our conduct on earth must reflect the holiness, love, and confidence that come from knowing Christ. We walk in peace, purity, generosity, and courage, because the Lord Himself walks with us, [1 Peter 1:13-16 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.]
Today’s Prayer: God, You know that I live by faith in my salvation, having never seen Your Son, fully trusting in what He did for me on the cross, but I want the rest of my life here on earth living by that same faith. Jesus, teach me Your ways, lead me and guide me on the straight path, and let me live a life that is most pleasing to You. Let me not be entangled by those who rebel against everything You stand for, let me also have compassion and boldness to speak Your truths to reach a lost and dying world. Fill me with Your mercy, grace, protection, and power against all evil, perfecting me by making me a reflection of You as I live by faith. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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