John Brown, Hebrews Quote 8
Hebrews by John Brown p. 168
This figurative view of the state of believers in Christ Jesus as the family of God, under the management of His Son, suggests many very important truths in reference to the relation in which they stand—to God, to Jesus Christ, and to one another—to the privileges which they enjoy, and to the duties which are incumbent on them. The idea which the words of the Apostle seem intended to bring before the mind, is the honour and happiness of the situation of the believing Hebrews as members of this family of God. God is their Father; the incarnate Son is their Elder Brother; angels are their ministers; the heavenly Canaan is their inheritance. They are “heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus.” This is the truth in reference to all genuine believers, of every country, in every age; but it is the truth only in reference to genuine believers; and the only permanently satisfactory evidence of the genuineness of their faith, is their continuing to manifest by their conduct that they are under the influence of this faith. Accordingly, the Apostle adds, We are the family of God, “if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.”
These words are not intended to suggest the sentiment, that persons may belong to the family of God under the government of His Son—in other words, may be the children of God through faith in Christ Jesus—and yet not “hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope stedfast unto the end;” for this is plainly inconsistent with many plain declarations of Scripture. While their inheritance is “reserved for them in heaven,” they are “kept to it by the mighty power of God through faith.” But it is intended to teach us this important truth, that none but those who “hold firm to the end the confidence and rejoicing of their hope,” really belong to the family of God which is entrusted to the care of His Son Jesus Christ.
The hope here spoken of is what by way of eminence may be called the Christian hope—the expectation of everlasting happiness through Christ Jesus. This is the hope which has been brought to us in “the word of the truth of the Gospel,” and which is awakened in every heart into which the faith of the Gospel enters.
But what are we to understand by the “confidence of this hope,” and “the rejoicing of this hope?” The primary and ordinary meaning of the word rendered “confidence,” is freedom and boldness of speech, as expressive of full conviction and the absence of fear—opposed to silence and hesitation, as expressive of doubt and timidity. The force of the word is illustrated by the following passages in which it occurs:--John vii. 26, xviii.20; Acts iv.13; 2 Cor. iii.12. vii.4; Phil. i.20; 1 Tim. iii.13. Open , unhesitating, fearless profession of the Christian hope, seems to be the Apostle’s idea. The Apostle Peter exhorts Christians to be “always ready to give an answer to every one who asketh them a reason of the hope that is in them.”
This constant readiness to state and defend those truths and their evidences on which rests our hope, is what is here termed “the confidence of the hope,” the free and fearless profession of the hope. This was indeed dangerous in the primitive times, and the Hebrew Christians were exposed to very strong temptations to desist from it; but it is absolutely necessary to the continuance and progress of the Gospel in the world, and it is very plainly enjoyed by our Lord, Matt. x. 32, 33.
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