Strengthened by Grace
Hebrews 13:1-10
do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them."
(Hebrews 13:9)
In every age there is no lack of "strange teachings." They purport to make you more spiritual or insightful, more in God's favor as a result of something you do. That "something you do" could be eating the right way or fasting. It could be speaking the right words in some sort of mantra or "good confession" of what you have in Christ. A teaching that is not really all that strange to seekers today is that something you do will make you stronger. It melds self-reliance and biblical teaching so that we no longer hold fast to faith alone in Christ alone.
The writer of Hebrews says, "It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace." Grace is God's goodness poured out for us because of His great love for us. It's not something we can or should do. All of our righteous deeds would still get us nowhere in this world (or the next!) were it not for grace.
Human efforts don't make our hearts stronger; grace does because it grants us God's strength. Grace gives us a new heart that rests on Christ alone.
INSIGHT
Don't confuse the latest teaching with the grace of God. Only the grace of God in Christ truly strengthens your heart.
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Jeremiah 23-24
Psalm 115
1 Corinthians 5-6
Hebrews 13:1-10
Concluding Exhortations
1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you."[a]
6 So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?"[b]
7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat.
Footnotes:
a. Hebrews 13:5 Deut. 31:6
b. Hebrews 13:6 Psalm 118:6,7
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