898. False Assumptions: God Convicts Believers of Their Sin

Believers in Jesus often throw around a talking point that sounds something like this: "The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins." It's another false assumption which is probably the result of misunderstanding something Jesus said in the gospel of John. Jesus is looking forward to the New Covenant as He speaks to His disciples and begins to tell them how He will be departing, but the Spirit of God would be sent as a helper. Jesus explains the conviction of sins by the Spirit would be directed at unbelievers. The Spirit is with believers to convict, declare and remind them that they are the righteousness of God.

Not understanding the plenitude of God's forgiveness and the taking away of sin through the blood of Jesus will leave people in a sin consciousness instead of a righteousness consciousness. Hebrews 10 explains how the Spirit of God bears witness to us that God would no longer remember sins in this New Covenant. They were removed, and the Spirit isn't going to convict us of something that is no longer on the record.



   
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738. Hebrews 4: The Word (Jesus) Is Alive and Powerful

Our walk through Hebrews has us in Chapter 4, where we discover Jesus allowed us to enter into rest by faith, contrasted with those under the first covenant who did not enter because of unbelief. Verse 12 declares the word of God is living and powerful, able to divide soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

A collection of books known as the Bible, which gradually came into existence over a lengthy period of time, is not able to do this. But Jesus can. He is the Word that was manifested among us. He is our only High Priest. He was the focus leading up to Verse 12, and He remains the subject in the spotlight throughout this writing.



   
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737. Hebrews 3-4: We Enter His Rest Through Belief

In the third program of our series in Hebrews, the writer illustrates how the gospel was proclaimed to the Israelites during the first covenant … as well as to those alive on earth after the cross. The difference is that those who were under the first covenant did not enter God’s rest because of a disobedience called unbelief. They did not mix the message with faith because the law wasn’t based upon faith … but works.

We have entered God’s rest within this new and better covenant which is based upon the work of Christ. “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.” The Person of Jesus has become our Sabbath in whom we rest.



   
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635. Summarizing the Scripture (Part 6): Abraham Did Not Waver at God’s Promise

In this sixth part of the series, we wrap up our brief look at Abraham and the significance of his part in God’s redemptive picture, which is a picture described throughout Scripture. Interestingly, in spite of what appears to be a fleshly effort by having a child through his servant Hagar, the Bible declares Abraham was not weak in faith, and did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith. Righteousness was credited to him because of belief, just as it is to us today, apart from law or works.