Acts 22:12
"And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there."
You see, none of those believers in Jesus as the Messiah, had yet severed themselves from that part of Judaism, which was Law-keeping.
And so, what the whole Epistle of Hebrews is really all about is to convince those Jewish believers to now, move away from the dead works religion. To cut the apron strings to Judaism, not to just throw it away as trash, no way. It’s the very foundation of everything that has come on up through even into Paul’s apostleship, but nevertheless, they were to cut the strings to the legalism and religion of Judaism and step into this Gospel of Grace. After all its still the first estate where God places us all after we've received redemption or are saved, its where or when we receive of His Holy Spirit. But we're not, no NOT, to remain within its corral. Its there that we're to learn Christ and His obedience and its through it we must come to our crisis in the power of the Holy Spirit. Its there that God begins His working on our new heart by the Holy Spirit but its only after we've learned Christ that we're prepared for the crisis which demands our freewill surrender to the Holy Spirit and say NOT my will but YOUR Will oh LORD be done and then see our selves on the cross in Him, in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension, then seated in Christ hid in God in the heavenliest.
Now back to our study. Consequently then, we’ve been looking at the priesthood of Melchizedek, who was not a priest of Israel. He was not after the order of Aaron and the tribe of Levi but rather he was a high priest of the Most High God, you remember, which we stressed was the term for God of the whole human race and not just Israel. And so now we come to this whole idea that the Law has to be put behind them - and then step out into Grace. Alright, let’s look in verse 19.
Hebrews 7:19a
"For the law (the law of Judaism - the Mosaic law) made nothing perfect,…"
In other words, the Law of Moses, as holy and as pure as it was from God’s vantage-point, so far as men were concerned it was weak and it was beggarly, because no man could keep it. And so it was not perfect. It was not the final answer to man’s dilemma. There was no wiggle room in it. There was no redemption offered nor salvation available within its framework. Only judgment and death of sin, unbelief and disobedience to it.
Hebrews 7:19b
"But, (flipside) the bringing in of a better hope did;…"
Did what? Make something perfect! Isn’t it amazing what language can do? The Law as pure and holy as it was didn’t finish it for the human race. Nobody was saved by keeping the Law, and we’re going to see that in a moment. But, the flipside is now God has introduced something that is perfect and it can’t be improved upon. Now you remember what I said, and I’ve been sharing it over and over wherever I open the Word. Twice in Scripture, God did something so perfect that He couldn’t add to it, He couldn’t embellish it, He couldn’t correct it and so what did He do? He rested.
What’s the whole idea? Well, if something is perfect, what more can you do? And so you just leave it there. The first one remember, was at the end of Creation, the last verse of Genesis 1 says:
Genesis 1:31a
"And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good…."
There wasn’t a thing that He could improve on those days of creation. You jump into chapter 2 and what did he do? He rested! Nothing more He could done.
Genesis 2:2
"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested…"
And then we have the second one when Hebrews tells us that after Christ had purged us from our sin by virtue of His and our death, burial and resurrection. When He had purged us from our penalty of sin, He did again what? He sat down, denoting a finished work. He could rest. The penalty of sin was the separation from the Living God the God with whom noting is impossible who calls those things that be not as though they are. It is He who by His Faith and the faith of Jesus Christ in His faithfulness to do as He had promised Him as revealed in scripture. One to have a body made for Him this in Genesis 3:15, then in the Psalms it reveals more of Christ's work as the son of man placed among wicked men to proclaim the message of our salvation through His faith.
Alright so this is what we’re coming back too, see? The Law wasn’t perfect. But, the flipside is that now the bringing in of a Better hope, that is our Gospel of Salvation through faith and Grace based on His death, burial and resurrection. It did what? Made it perfect! So that there was nothing more that could be added. And isn’t it sad, oh, mankind has walked it underfoot ever since Paul the Apostle began to introduce it to the Gentile world. Mankind has made light of it ever since.
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