Obtaining The Promise

OBTAINING THE PROMISES Heb 6:9-12 But, beloved, we are confident of better things concerning you, yes, things that accompany salvation, though we speak in this manner. 10 For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love, which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. NKJV Most of the time we think of salvation only in terms of when we die, that it is our great reward we receive when we get to the gates of heaven. However, when we read this passage we come to understand that there are things that accompany salvation. The word salvation comes from the Greek word soteria (so-tay-ree'-ah), which is a noun, meaning it is something of substance, something we can take possession of. The word means, deliverance, healing, safety, preservation, prosperity and salvation. If these are the things that accompany salvation, why is it that most Christians are not living in the fullness of this salvation? We know that Rom 2:11 tells that, “There is no partiality with God”. This would indicate that what God has provided for one of His children, He has for all His children. Could it be that the reason most Christians are not living in all of the provision’s of salvation is that we have failed to fulfill the rest of what is written in this passage from Hebrews. Can we become sluggish, and thus waver in faith and patience? The author of Hebrews states that it is his desire that we do not become sluggish. This would indicate that if we do become sluggish, then we do not inherit the promises of what accompanies salvation. So what does the word sluggish mean? Sluggish comes from the Greek word nothros and it means to be slow, sluggish, indolent, slothful, lazy, dull, or languid (Thayer’s). It stands in contract to the word diligence or spoude (spoo-day') in the Greek, which means to make every effort possible to do one’s very best. Our diligence is to be like those that have gone before us. Those that have inherited the promises. That brings us to the question. How did they obtain this inheritance? Through faith and patience they inherited the promises. Most of us know that faith is simply believing God with our whole heart, soul and being. But what part does patience play in having this faith? In this passage, we learn that Patience is the instrument of measurement by which we know whether we are in faith or not. However the word patience is not a good translation of the original Greek word used in this passage. The original Greek word used here is makrothumia (mak-roth-oo-mee'-ah) and it only translated twice as patience, but twelve times as longsuffering. The reason that it is important to note the difference is that the word most related to and translated as‘patience’ in the New Testament is hupomone (hoop-om-onay'), which means hopeful endurance, or constancy. Hupomone is used thirty one times in the New

Testament. So why would the Holy Spirit instruct the writer of the Book of Hebrews to use the Greek word makrothumia, rather than the word hupomone? While the word makrothumia connotes, endurance, constancy, steadfastness, and perseverance (Thayer's), it goes further in that it also addresses the attitude by which these things are achieved. Makrothumia represents a high degree of passion, fierceness or zeal during this time of steadfastness. Our zeal or passion is something we can all measure. We know to what degree we have zeal and passion. When the Apostle Paul tells us to “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor 13:5), we have a way to do that. Maybe you have stood in faith for one of God’s promises in the past or you are believing God for one of His promises today and have become discouraged because it has not manifested as quickly as you would like. Measure your faith; examine your zeal and passion for what God has promised. Only you and God will know the results of the test. Only you and God will know if you have become dull or sluggish in your zeal and passion. When we know what we believe to be true, we will not be moved by what we see or hear. God’s word and His promises are true. Let us keep the zeal and passion to obtain those promises! Love and blessings to all, In His Service,

Dr. Rod and Maggie Have these messages been a blessing to you? Please forward the blessing on to other friends and family. If you would like to be added or removed from this mailing list, please email us at [email protected] and type in subscribe or unsubscribe. Thank you. All scripture references are taken from the New King James Version unless stated otherwise