Hebrews Chapter Three, Over His Own House

 

Hebrews 3:5 And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, [6] but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.

 

The author takes pains to reiterate Moses’ fidelity toward God. Though in verse 3 we learn that Christ is worthy of more glory than Moses, this is by virtue of His very nature. Verses 3 and 4 clarify this point: Jesus, the maker of all things is worthy of more glory than Moses since He is the Creator. Hebrews 1:4 stated that Jesus is superior to the angels by virtue of the inheritance of His name. 

This was accomplished by, “the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone,” Hebrews 2:9. Yet we learn that before the Word clothed Himself in flesh He was the Creator, and, “in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,” Hebrews 1:10. Before there were angels, or Israel, or Moses, there was the Word of God, ordained to become the Son of man in due time.

 

We read in Revelation, “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth,” Revelation 5:9, 10. Again, we read, “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would not have told you. I go to prepare a place for you,” John 14:2. Our Lord has redeemed (emancipated, delivered) us from the bondage of sin and death. Specifically referring to the saints, we are told in Revelation that Jesus chose people from every nation under Heaven. It is we, the saints that may enter this joy like no other can. We have been ransomed back from sin, and set at liberty, adopted into the household of God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ and partaker of the glory He obtained through His fidelity to the Father. We will not be partakers of the glory uniquely His as deity, however, but as glorified men and women that are the brethren of the God-man who deigned to share His glory with us.

 

This glory will be manifest when the saints, beside our Lord, judge the world; sharing the throne the Father gave Him to judge the nations because He obeyed unto death to bring many sons to glory. Those who are Christians by faith in Christ as the risen and glorified Savior, who died for our sins and through Him find forgiveness, are indeed of His house, or rather a part of it. Christ went to Heaven to prepare us a mansion for His brethren to dwell in upon their arrival. By this my understanding of this passage refers to the glorified, immortal body Jesus Himself was clothed with when He rose triumphant from the dead. To clarify, I believe that “mansion” is our resurrection body, whereas our current body is what Peter referred to as a “tent,” 2 Peter 1:13. This appears to be reinforced by Paul when he says, “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” 2 Corinthians 5:1, NASB. Paul speaks about how the believer groans within their present house, desiring to be clothed with our dwelling from Heaven, verse 2.

 

A contingency appears to rear its head in the midst of verse 6, with a qualifying “if” acting as the hinge. The contingency seems to rest on two criteria: holding fast the confidence of our hope firm to the end, and holding fast the joy of our hope firm to the end. Much has been made of this passage, and portions of the remainder of chapter three to suggest the doctrine of falling away. To explain: the doctrine of falling away teaches that a believer obtains salvation through Christ but may through negligence and sin forfeit eternal life. Read in the light of those who hold and advance this teaching, the verse would appear to indicate that believers must hold fast both confidence and joy firm until the end, if they are truly Christ’s house and a partaker of the heavenly calling.

 

Recall Hebrews 2:11? We are told that Christ is the sanctifier, and we His brethren the sanctified, or set apart ones. A life truly sanctified by the Holy Spirit manifests spiritual life, however poorly or sporadically. James commends us to be doers of the word of God, or else we merely fool ourselves, James 1:22. We know from Scripture that believers are to manifest the fruit of the Spirit, for a tree is known by its fruit. Yet we are also told that works can be an act of the flesh, void of spiritual efficacy, but rather replacing the Spirit’s leadership with an attempt to manufacture holiness, Titus 1:15, 16. And further still we read that a saint can suffer the loss of all reward and yet, through the fire of testing still remain saved, though he has nothing to show for his salvation, 1 Corinthians 3:15.

 

No verse may be isolated and expounded upon. Eisegesis begins when we, from the error of human teaching, adopt a bias and then search the Scriptures not for truth, but to defend the doctrine our favorite teacher expounds. Contextually, the writer of Hebrews contrasts the unbelieving masses (Hebrews 2:8, 10, 12, 19) with genuine believers who do not err by turning away from how we were each saved, verse 14. The blessed hope is in Jesus. Our confidence and joy is in this: “Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works,” Titus 2:13, 14.

 

Our confidence then is in Christ who gave Himself for us to redeem and purify us, see 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 17, 1 Peter 1:3, 4. Our joy is in His imminent return, or His appearing, see 2 Peter 3:12, 1 Corinthians 1:7. We are to look for it, and pray for it, anticipating His Second Advent eagerly as the apostles of the first century did. Jesus, after telling His disciples about the many mansions, said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also,” John 14:3. We are Christ’s house, His dwelling in the Spirit, if we continue as we began: through obedient faith to the doctrine that delivered us, Romans 6:17. The power to keep or be kept is not, and never was, ours. Salvation is referred to as eternal or everlasting life: a state of being that, by its namesake, demands a complete lack of cessation.

 

The writer of Hebrews is cautioning Christians to walk worthy of our calling, and not to fall into legalism (substituting grace for works) or license (mistaking grace for permission to live sinfully). The narrow path and straight gate are hedged by deep gulfs that swallow many well-meaning souls. But salvation is not of man. Its reception, retention, and completion are entirely an act of God’s unending grace and love for fallen man through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. As we go further into this chapter we will see the writer suggest that those who stray from the hope may be victims of, “an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God,” Hebrews 3:12. Why? “The word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it, “ Hebrews 4:2, see also Romans 10:17.