10:30,31
The writer then quotes from Deut 32:35,36. God has not changed. There is still a day of judgement ahead, a day of retribution. Indeed, it is because there is such a day that God sent His Son to die on the cross for us, so that we could escape that judgement. Never, ever be taken in by the notion that judgement went out of the window with the New Testament. The New Testament is all about judgement!
10:32,33
The writer now reminds them of the things they had endured. It seems that earlier on there had been a time of persecution, but now things had eased off. The early church did endure persecution. Sometimes it was severe, but it did not last forever, it also varied greatly from place to place. We live in a time in the West when the Christians are now being discriminated against, though it is not yet really persecution, certainly not to the extent to which Christians in some other parts of the world are experiencing. We need to realise that suffering for our faith is a normal state of affairs as far as the Bible is concerned.
No comments:
Post a Comment