| 1. | Romans 5:12. The Bible tells us from the very beginning that sin, with all its consequences, is in the world because of man's conscious, willful rebellion against God. |
| 2. | Romans 5:14, 21; 7:12-25. |
| 3. | Romans 5:16-19; Ephesians 2:1-3. To say that man is "thoroughly fallen" does not mean that each individual is as wicked as it is possible to be. It means that the entire race suffers these consequences of the sin of Adam, its first head; that no individual (except Jesus Christ) is totally free of sin's power in this life (John 1:8, 1O;2:1); and that even the Christian must always look outside himself for solid ground on which to stand before God (Isaiah 61:11; see references at footnote 32). |
| 4. | Psalm 39:4-6. Man, in the biblical view, is a unity of body, soul and spirit, and his salvation includes the final redemption of the whole being (I Thessalonians 5:23). Only God possesses inherent immortality (1 Timothy 6:16): man is creature, and his life is a daily gift from God. Scripture applies "immortality" to man only in terms of the resurrection body of the righteous. It therefore opposes both ancient pagan dualism and modern pagan naturalism. |
| 5. | James 4:14. |
| 6. | Ecclesiastes 12:14. |
| 7. | Acts 17:31. |
| 8. | Beginning at verse five, the author uses Psalm 8:4-6 to show man's intended dominion, forfeited by Adam’s sin, but regained for man (and as man) by Jesus' perfect obedience offered as a blood-propitiation in death. |
| 9. | On Jesus' true humanity see Hebrews 2:9, 14, 17; 4:15. On His "faithfulness" or sinlessness, see Hebrews 2:17; 3:6; 7:26, 27; 9:14 |
| 10. | Because of man's universal sinfulness, he could never save himself. God therefore came to man in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to effect reconciliation (11 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:20; 2:9). Mary's son Jesus. which means "Savior" is in truth Immanuel, "God with us" (Matthew 1:21-23). |
| 11. | Jesus is so typified in the levitical high priest. See the description of the high-priestly garments in Exodus 28:2-39 (especially verses 9-12, 21, 29-30, 36-38). |
| 12. | Galatians 4:4. In the Gospels, Matthew shows Jesus repeating the steps of Israel (Egypt, water, wilderness, mountain) while Luke stresses His kinship with man (his genealogy, for example, goes to Adam, while Matthew's goes to Abraham). |
| 13. | I Samuel 15:22; Jeremiah 7:22, 23; Micah 6:6-8. |
| 14. | Leviticus 17:12. Those who wish to limit the work of salvation to the actual shedding of Christ's blood miss this important point. They fail to see that it is only His perfectly obedient life which gives merit and value to His blood in reconciling man to God. |
| 15. | Hebrews 10:10. "Will" in this verse is thelema, the same word used in verses seven and nine. It is not diatheke, the testament-will. The author's contrast here between "first" and "second" is therefore between animal sacrifices and human obedience, not between Old and New Testaments as such. |
| 16. | Romans 5:19. While it is certain that Christ's absolute obedience reached a climax in His death (Philippians 2:8), that death had saving value because it presented to God an entire human life of perfect, sinless, conformity to his will for man. |
| 17. | Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16. See also I Corinthians 1:30; Romans 8:1. |
| 18. | Hebrews 9:12. In Romans 4:25, Paul twice uses the preposition dia with the accusative, which the New American Standard Version correctly translates "because of." Jesus died because of our transgressions, and just that surely He was raised because of our justification which He had accomplished. One is as real as the other! |
| 19. | Hebrews 9:14. Again, His blood, as in Leviticus 17:11, stood for His life, and it was "without blemish." |
| 20. | In the case of Jesus, "sinless" means "perfectly obedient." This is easily forgotten whenever justification is reduced to mere forgiveness, to the neglect of a positive declaration based on Jesus' absolute fuflilment of the Law. |
| 21. | The levitical sacrifice for sin consisted of both a ritual slaying and a presentation of the blood (Leviticus chapters 4,16). |
| 22. | I Peter 1:19. 20; Acts 2:23; Revelation 13:8 |
| 23. | Hebrews 9:15-17; 7:24, 25. |
| 24. | Hebrews 9:26; I Peter 1:20; II Timothy 1:9, 10. |
| 25. | Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2; Romans 8:34. |
| 26. | Psalm 2:8 9; Daniel 7:13, 14 22; II Thessalonians 1:5-10. |
| 27. | Leviticus 16:1-22. |
| 28. | Hebrews 9:11-14, 24-28. |
| 29. | Luke 1:21. |
| 30. | I have included the full text of Maimonides' account as an appendix to Our Man In Heaven: An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Baker Book House, 1974), 188-204. |
| 31. | As High Priest of the End Time, Jesus presented His offering to God in heaven. His people still wait, however, for Him to come back where they are. The Holy Spirit came as witness to the finished work of Christ (Acts 2:33, 36; Ephesians 3:5, 6;I Peter 1:12). |
| 32. | The New Testament writers constantly refer to Jesus personally as the grounds and locus (location) of salvation. See Romans 5:18, 19; 8:1:1 Corinthians 1:30, 31; II Corinthians 5:17-21; and Colossians 3:1-4; II Timothy 1:9; 2:10; I John 5:11, 12, 20. |
| 33. | Romans 3:33, 34. |
| 34. | Philippians 3:8, 9; see also II Timothy 4:7,8; I John 3:19-21; 4:14-19. This gets at the heart of the gospel and the doctrine of justification by faith. In the absolute sense, justification takes place only on the Day of Judgment when Cod pronounces His verdict of acquittal. But the one who trusts in Jesus as his substitute and surety can begin even now to enjoy the blessings of salvation, because he can see in Jesus personally the verdict of acquittal. So long as the believer remains in the flesh, however, he must wage war against his old sinful nature, and just that long justification is only by faith. On the Day of Judgment it will become a tangible reality. This is the true meaning of the Reformation motto sole fide (faith alone). |
| 35. | The idea of Christians waiting is expressed in Jesus' parables of Matthew 24:45-25:30; in specific statements of I Corinthians 1:7-9; Philippians 3:20, 21; I Thessalonians 1:9,10; and in the concepts of both "hope" and "endurance." See especially Romans 8:18-25. |
| 36. | Romans 8:18-25; I Corinthians 15:42-53; II Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1-4. |
| 37. | 1 Peter 1:3-5. |
| 38. | Hebrews 9:28. |
| 39. | Hebrews 1:14. |
| 40. | Hebrews 2:11-18; cf. John 6:37, 39; 17:2, 24. |
| 41. | Hebrews 10:22; Titus 3:5-7; I Peter 3:21 22. |
| 42. | Hebrews 3:7-15. |
| 43. | Hebrews 4:1-3, 11. |
| 44. | Hebrews chapter four shows that the eternal "rest" into which God has entered and which He has repeatedly held out to His people, was not fulfilled in either the weekly Sabbath or the land of Canaan. The idea appears also in Matthew 11:28 and Revelation 14:13. |
| 45. | Hebrews 5:1-4. |
| 46. | Hebrews 5:12-6:3. |
| 47. | Hebrews 6:9-11. |
| 48. | Hebrews 6:12-18. |
| 49. | Hebrews 2:1-4. |
| 50. | Hebrews 5:8, 9; 6:18-20. Jesus' perfect obedience enabled Him to be the sin offering. The Christian's obedience, always imperfect at best, is a thank-offering for what God has already done in Jesus. |
| 51. | Hebrews 7:25; 10:20. |
| 52. | Hebrews 8:10-12; Jeremiah 81:31-34. |
| 53. | Hebrews 9:14. |
| 54. | Hebrews 10:19-25. |
| 55. | Hebrews 10:26-39. |
| 56. | Hebrews chapter 11, especially verses 2, 4, 5, 39. |
| 57. | Hebrews 12:1-3. |
| 58. | Hebrews 12:28 |
| 59. | Hebrews 13:1-4. |
| 60. | Hebrews 13:5, 6. |
| 61. | Hebrews 13:7-9. |
| 62. | Hebrews 13:12-14. The ambition to build on earth a "lasting city" typifies the human pride which lies behind all sin. Such pride or vain-glory is at the core of spiritual Babylon. |
| 63. | Hebrews 13:20; Isaiah 63:11. |
| 64. | Hebrews 13:21; Philippians 2:13. |
| 65. | Galatians 3:10-12; James 2:10; Romans 3:20, 23. |
| 66. | Isaiah 69:1, 2; 64:6, 7; Romans 8:9, 10. |
| 67. | John 8:46; Acts 3:14; II Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; I Peter 2:22; I John 3:5. |
| 68. | Isaiah 53:4, 5, 8, 11: John 1:29, 36; Romans 5:6-8; I Peter 3:18. |
| 69. | Luke 24:47; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 17:30. |
| 70. | Romans 1:5; 16:26; I Thessalonians 1:8; Titus 3:8; James 2:17-26. |
| 71. | Matthew 28:18. 19; Acts 2:88; 10:48; 22:16. |