Established In The Grace Of God

ESTABLISHED IN THE GRACE OF GOD
HEBREWS 13:8-10
By Pastor Bill Parker
Reign of Grace Media Ministries

One thing clearly established and revealed in God's Word is the fact that if any sinner is going to be saved, recovered, brought back into fellowship with God, it must be by God's free and sovereign grace. If not, no sinner will be saved. The Bible says plainly in Ephesians 2:8-9 -- "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: "not of works, lest any man should boast." The problem is that by nature we do not know what grace really is. By nature, we are so self-righteous that all we know is salvation conditioned in some way upon ourselves. We think so highly of ourselves that we insist on salvation by works in some way, to some degree, and at some stage. And Satan is so subtle, and we by nature are so ignorant and deceived, we create a cleverly disguised system of works religion and call it salvation by grace.

But God does not leave us in the dark. He plainly and often in His Word tells us the difference. He tells us that in order for Him to be honored and glorified in the salvation of a sinner, His law and justice must be satisfied. He tells us that His law and justice cannot be satisfied by anything a sinner does or by anything done in a sinner (Rom. 3:19-20). He tells us we that in order to be saved, we need a righteousness we cannot produce. God also reveals in the Gospel how He in grace and mercy appointed His only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be the Representative and Substitute of a people, a great number chosen out of Adam's fallen race, and conditioned all of their salvation upon Christ. He sent Christ into the world to become incarnate and to obey the law for them and to suffer the full penalty of their sins. He sent Christ to establish a righteousness that would demand the eternal salvation and final glory of all whom He represented.

In that Gospel God promises to save every sinner who comes to Him for salvation based on the righteousness Christ established. He commands all who hear to believe in Christ and repent of dead works. He forbids all who hear it to think that anything else could save them, keep them, or bring them to heaven. He shows us that real grace is salvation conditioned not on the sinner but on Christ. Real grace is the fact that Christ by Himself met those conditions and established a righteousness that demands all grace here and all glory hereafter. Real grace is the fact that all who are in Christ do not have to earn the least of God's favor and blessings. In fact, it is unbelief and legalism to try to do so. Real grace shows us how Christ earned for us all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). In Hebrews 13:9 Paul tells these believers that it is a good thing to have our hearts established with grace. It is a bad thing, an evil thing, for our hearts to be established any other way than with grace. God shows us the reality of grace and established our hearts with grace by enlightening our minds with His truth, the Gospel and the doctrines of grace.

I. THE GROUND OF ALL GRACE (13:8) -- "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

The apostle had been exhorting these believers to persevere in the faith, to obey God's commandments, to be diligent in worship, good works, obedience, love, devotion, and support of the Gospel and those who preach it. Obedience, in and of itself, is not the issue. There is no argument whether or not God's people should be obedient, moral, dedicated, and kind. The issue has to do with our ground, reason, and motive for obedience. Here he shows that the only right motive and ground for acceptable obedience is the unchanging character and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Mediator and Surety. We who are in Christ, who have His righteousness imputed to us, who trust Him for all of salvation, are in an unchangeable, eternal state of justification, blessing, and salvation, based on His righteousness alone.

Everything about us in our character and conduct changes, but Christ never changes, and we who are in Him are certain to be glorified based on His merits alone. Our love, obedience, diligence, dedication, even our morality, changes at times. Thank God that our final glory in heaven is not conditioned on us. In Christ, there is no possibility of condemnation because of our sins as all who are in Him are "dead to sin" (Rom. 6:1ff.; 8:1). The law can cannot curse me or demand any obedience aimed at saving myself, keeping myself saved, or making myself fit, qualified, or certain for Heaven (Rom. 7:4). In the immutable Christ, based on His righteousness alone, believers are completely pardoned and forgiven of all sin, completely fit and holy for the presence of God, and completely entitled to the whole inheritance of grace (Col. 2:9-10).

II. THE HEART ESTABLISHED WITH GRACE (13:9) -- "For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace."

"Divers and strange doctrines" refers to different doctrines that are foreign to the Gospel of grace. This refers to any doctrine, no matter how good it may sound, that contradicts the believer's standing in Christ based on His righteousness alone. The warning here is for believers not to be tossed to and fro with doctrines that produce uncertainties in our minds concerning the fact that we are dead to sin and dead to the law -- complete in Christ. He is telling them to avoid legalism or any notion that salvation or any part of can be lost or made more certain based on anything other than the imputed righteousness of Christ. Any notion that any part of salvation is conditioned on the sinner is works salvation and opposed to grace, opposed to the Gospel, and opposed to the liberty we have in Christ (Gal. 5:1-4).

The "heart" is the mind, affections, and the will. Being tossed to and fro and being established are both acts of the mind and understanding whereby sinners are deceived by Satan into thinking that salvation or some part of it is conditioned on themselves or sinners are convinced by God that all of salvation is conditioned on Christ alone. God uses the Gospel and the doctrines of grace to convince and establish us in His grace:

Total depravity shows us our need of grace. It shows us the impossibility of salvation conditioned on ourselves. It shows us the need of a righteousness we cannot produce because we owe a debt to God's law and justice we cannot pay.

There are verses in the Bible that tell us that "whosoever will" may come (Rev. 22:17), and this true. Read (Rom. 10:13; John 6:37). These scriptures do not deny the doctrine of total depravity and total inability. They simply tell us that God will save any who come to Him pleading the righteousness of Christ. The problem is that by nature, of our own free will, we will not come this way. God must make us willing by applying His truth to our minds. Now if we deny total depravity and make salvation conditioned on the sinner, then we deny grace. Total depravity establishes us with grace because it leaves us with nowhere to go but to Christ for all of salvation according to God's mercy and grace.

Unconditional election shows us that God chose a people out of this mess of fallen humanity, those who did not deserve salvation or any other blessing, and conditioned all of their salvation on Christ. The Bible says that God left the rest to their own way, what they wanted. God commands all who hear the Gospel to believe and repent. Election does not mean that man does not choose. All men choose, but if left to ourselves, we will choose anything but God's way of salvation conditioned on Christ (Rom. 3:10-18).

Now if God leaves salvation up to man's free will, then no one will be saved. That's not grace. What makes a sinner think he would choose God's way and another would not? It is because he thinks he is better than the one who does not choose God. This is self-righteousness. But what if we realize that none of us on our own would choose God? Then where does that leave us? It leaves us to the mercy of God's grace, and He reveals it in His Gospel and commands you to believe it. If you refuse, you have no one to blame but yourself.

Definite atonement shows us the only ground of salvation. It shows us that Christ came to establish a righteousness that would demand the salvation and final glory of everyone for whom He died. All for whom He died shall be saved. Who are they? He said it (John 10:27-30). Now you are commanded to believe that His blood, His atonement, His cross, His death, His righteousness, makes the only difference between saved and lost.

Universal atonement leaves us to believe that Christ's blood and righteousness, in and of itself, makes no difference, as it says He died for those in Hell just as much as for those in Heaven. It leaves salvation ultimately in the hands of the ungodly sinner, who has no fear of God before his eyes. That would doom all of us. Passages of scripture that use the word all and every do not teach a universal atonement (Heb. 2:9ff.). Which establishes our hearts with grace?

Irresistible grace shows us that God the Holy Spirit brings God's elect into salvation by convincing them of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. It shows that by nature we all hate the light of the Gospel that shows us how we are lost and our deeds are evil. We are commanded to seek and believe that light and to reject all else in salvation.

It is true that man by nature will refuse to believe and resist the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). This is the general call of the Gospel. But why do sinners refuse it? It is not because they do not have the faculties of mind and reason and will. People can choose what they want. But by nature we do not want salvation God's way, so as to glorify Him, exalt Christ, and exclude boasting in ourselves. By nature we want it our way. Those who believe that their faith makes the difference, their choice, which establishes our hearts with grace?

Perseverance of the saints shows us that we are kept by the power of God based on the righteousness of Christ, and all who are convinced of God's Gospel will continue in the faith seeing themselves as certain for heaven based on the merits of Christ.

The established heart has to do with a person who is assured of salvation. Many people have assurance of salvation to one degree or another. This assurance, in and of itself, is not the main issue. The main issue is -- WHAT IS THE GROUND OF YOUR ASSURANCE? If your ground of assurance is not the grace of God in Christ, then your assurance is presumption. Your heart is not established with grace until you see yourself as dead to sin and dead to the law. As long as you see any possibility of condemnation based on your sins, or any hope of assurance, glory, or reward, based on your obedience, your heart is not established with grace. God's people persevere in believing that their final glory is certain based on the righteousness of Christ.

"Meats" here refers to any deeds of the law or anything that men by nature think make the difference between saved and lost, holy and unholy, fit or unfit, certain or uncertain. Any notion of any part of salvation, including assurance of final glory based on anything other than the imputed righteousness of Christ is opposed to the Gospel, opposed to grace, and opposed to the liberty we have in Christ (Gal. 5:1-3). Believers are not to allow anyone to bring them into such bondage. Believers are not to be tossed to and fro with these things that bring uncertainties to our minds. We are commanded to have our hearts established with grace. And any doctrine that serves that purpose is good.

III. THE JUDGMENT OF GRACE (13:10) -- "We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle."

Here we are told not to speak peace to anyone who seeks salvation or any part of it by deeds of law, based on anything other than the merits of Christ. Our altar is Christ. All who reject Him, who are not submitted to His righteousness, have no rights or privileges at our altar. They are lost and their deeds are evil. We cannot have fellowship with them (Gal. 6:14-16; 2 John 9-11). We must follow Christ and be separate from the world in this sense, even though it brings about their hatred (Heb. 13:11ff.). But our hearts must be established with grace.

As to the charge that this will lead or encourage people to sin or to be complacent or lazy in the fight against sin, the Bible disagrees -- Hebrews 10:18-25