Hebrews 3:1 - Meaning and Application

These verses apply the truth Paul has already taught about the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He now urges Christians, warmly and earnestly, to keep Christ much in mind and give him their close attention. No one in heaven or on earth deserves that more than Jesus.

To make this appeal stronger, Paul first uses a loving title for his readers: “Holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling.” They are brothers, not only to him, but to Christ, and in Christ they are brothers to all God’s people. All God’s people should love one another and live like family. They are holy brothers, too, holy not just in name or profession, but in heart and life.

Some have used this title as a joke or insult, but it is a dangerous thing to mock holiness. Let those who are scorned for belonging to Christ aim to be truly holy, and then they need not be ashamed of the name. One day, those who now mock it will think it the greatest honor and happiness to belong to that holy family. These believers are also partakers of the heavenly calling, because they share in the means of grace and the Spirit of grace that comes from heaven. Through that call, God brings people out of darkness into marvelous light and shapes them for life with him in heaven.

Paul then gives the titles of Christ whom they are to consider. He is the apostle of our profession, meaning the chief messenger sent by God to reveal the faith and hope we confess. He is also the high priest of our profession, the one who offers himself for our sins and now intercedes for us so we may be accepted by God. He is the Christ, the Messiah, fully anointed and fitted for both offices. He is Jesus, our Savior and healer, the great physician of souls, like the bronze serpent Moses lifted up in the wilderness, so that those who looked to it would be saved.

The duty, then, is to consider Christ carefully. Think about who he is in himself, what he is to us now, and what he will be to us forever. Fix your thoughts on him with close attention, and act toward him accordingly. Many who profess faith in Christ do not think of him as much as they should. Yet those who hope for salvation from him ought to keep him often in mind.

This kind of careful thinking about Christ would greatly help us. It would deepen our knowledge of him, stir up our love and obedience, and strengthen our trust in him. Even holy brothers and partakers of the heavenly calling need to urge one another to think more of Christ. The best believers still think of him too seldom and too lightly. We must also think of Christ as Scripture presents him, not according to our own guesses or fantasies.

Paul gives several reasons for this duty. First, Christ is faithful to the One who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. Christ is the appointed Mediator, that is, the one who stands between God and sinners by God’s own sending and approval. He faithfully carries out every part of that mission and fully performs the trust given to him by the Father and by his people. In this, he is as faithful to God as Moses was in the Old Testament church, and that mattered greatly to Jewish readers who honored Moses so highly.

Paul also argues from Christ’s greater glory and excellence above Moses, so believers are even more bound to consider him. Christ built the house, but Moses was only a member of it. By “the house” Paul means the church of God, the people gathered together under Christ their head, with leaders and order according to his law. Christ made this house in every age. Moses served within it, under Christ, to help govern and build it up, but Christ is the maker of all things, because he is God. Only God could build the church, just as only God could create the world.

The church needed the same almighty power that made the world, because God formed it from people who were not fit for such a work. Christ drew the plan, provided the materials, and by his power shaped them into a people for himself. He has joined and ordered this house, and he has crowned it with his own presence, which is its true glory. Christ is also the master of this house, as well as its maker. The house is called his house as the Son of God. Moses was only a faithful servant, bearing witness to things that would be revealed later. Christ, as the eternal Son, is the rightful owner and ruler of the church.

Paul ends by applying this to believers with comfort: “Whose house we are.” Each believer is personally God’s dwelling, because the Holy Spirit lives in them and Christ dwells in them through faith. All believers are also one together, joined by grace, truth, ordinances, church discipline, and shared worship.

The people who belong to this house are marked in this way: they hold fast their confidence and the joy of their hope to the end. That means they keep a bold, open confession of the gospel truths, the truths on which their hope of grace and glory rests. They live in the light of those hopes and find a holy joy in them, and they keep doing so firmly to the end, no matter what troubles come their way.

So we see that it is not enough to begin well in the ways of Christ. There must also be steadiness and perseverance until the end. Here is the path for those who want to share in the honor and privileges of Christ’s household.

First, they must take the gospel truths into both mind and heart. Second, they must build their hope of happiness on those truths. Third, they must openly confess those truths. Fourth, they must live in a way that matches them, so their faith stays clear and they can keep rejoicing in hope. Then they must continue in all of this to the end.

In short, they must walk closely, consistently, courageously, and steadily in the faith and practice of the gospel. In that way, their Master, when he comes, may own them and approve them.