More than 50 years ago, I began to read, then study, and finally teach the Bible, and through those years the ‘Letter to the Hebrews’ has fascinated me; an interest I gained after reading Andrew Murray’s exposition, ‘The Holiest of All’.
Yet, after reading his book and the commentaries I was left with the nagging feeling they had missed something. After drawing entirely valid themes and topics out of this ‘letter’, its central message had been overlooked; highlighted truths did not capture the reason for the author’s ‘ exhortation’ (13.22).
Now, because it meant facing up to a topic I had long regarded as ‘taboo’, it was only in recent years I found the courage to study this book of the N.T. in depth. To do it justice, meant grappling with the controversial topic of ‘perfection’ and its association with heresy in the past. Wrestling not only with the notion of full maturity for believers but the $64,000
question, ‘Can this perfection be reached in the present age’?
And by this I mean the moral perfection most would say is unattainable on this side of heaven, with many regarding it as heresy to say otherwise. I beg to differ. So, if you hold to the conventional view, I hope what is presented in this book will go some way to changing your mind.
Incidentally, what I present rests on the premise the book of Hebrews is of eschatological (study of last things) significance.
Why? Because it addresses important issues concerning the
‘perilous times’ ahead, especially concerning the painful trials soon to test the household of God and their aiding believers in reaching this moral maturity. In reading what I have written, my appeal is simple; please be open to fresh truth, yet at the same time, carefully evaluate the arguments I put forth to show Hebrews indeed has the hope of reaching perfection in this age.
CHAPTER 1