Members gathered for Wednesday service on October 11, continuing in the study of the book of Hebrews. The main passage was in Hebrews 5:4-10 speaking about Christ as the only source of eternal salvation.
 
Verses 4-5 teach us that the true salvation comes only from God who himself appointed His Son to become our high priest. No man can take this role for himself, the way and the opening of the way to God is provided by God Himself against whom we have sinned. That is where the security of our salvation and our confidence lies. Moreover both Father and Son consider it an honor for Christ to do the work of atonement for our sins, so we should never think that our weaknesses, no matter how numerous they are, can distance us from His grace.
 
Verses 6-7 teach us that Christ’s role as our high priest that reconciles us with Father and intercedes for us is eternal. His sacrifice for our sins was perfect and sufficient for all our sins, past, present and future. He is a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek whose priestly line unlike Aaron’s has no beginning or end, so the author of the letter interprets the promise of Messiah in Psalm 110 as the one who provides eternal salvation.
 
Lastly, verse 7-8 teach us of the importance of obedience as a result of salvation as we see from life of Jesus who himself had to be tested through suffering. In Matthew 26:41, we see that Jesus was weak in flesh just as we are and the way he overcame the weakness is through receiving the power from above in prayer. If we don’t rely on God but our flesh, our weakness when exposed to temptation will lead us to sin, but if we rely on God, we receive the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of obedience and the power to overcome our weaknesses. When Christ is in us, he strengthens us and produces obedience according to His own heart.