Life in this world is shifty, changing, and uncertain. Society’s views can change in a generation, leaders in an instant, lives upturn in a moment. In this uncertain world we can trust in the unchanging nature, will and purpose of Jesus (Hebrews 13:8), who has secured our salvation and fulfilled all the types and shadows of the Old Testament.

Because Jesus is unchanging, his message is also unchanging. So the author of Hebrews can encourage us to focus on Jesus’ teaching (Hebrews 13:9-14). To do this, we ought to avoid false teaching, embrace the gospel of grace, and follow Jesus outside the camp.

Jesus is unchanging, and the truth is too, so the message which we receive and pass on should not change either. In verse 9, the author exhorts us to “not be led away by diverse and strange teachings”. The Greek word for diverse can also mean “many coloured”, which helps us understand what is meant.

The teachings described here are false, because they are in some shape “colourful” or “strange”. A teaching which is dazzling to see, beautiful to the eyes yet complex and unclear, leading to destruction. Or, a radical “insight” or a new and different teaching received, which is completely foreign (and often contradictory involving mental gymnastics) to the teaching of Scripture. We must stay away from false teaching.

Instead, we should embrace the gospel of grace. The author continues in verse 9 to say “for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.” For his original hearers, the context was the Old Covenant system of food sacrifices, fulfilled and replaced by Christ.

Our hearts should find strength in God’s grace, fed to us through his Word and the administration of the sacraments. This is made clear in verses 10 through 12, where we are reminded that we “have an altar from which those who serve the tent [Jews] have no right to eat” (v.10). The altar is in heaven, not earth, and is that on which Jesus offered himself, not the earthly copy (see Hebrews 9).

Jesus fulfils the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, when “the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” (vv.11-12). Placing hope in any old Jewish sacrifices is pointless, because they pointed forward to Jesus. And now that Jesus has come, we find forgiveness only in Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice, not by any other way of salvation.

Avoiding false teaching and embracing the gospel of grace will not find adoring fans in this life. So he exhorts us to “go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (vv.13-14).

The atoning sacrifice was removed from the camp to symbolise the removal of sin, and Jesus likewise was crucified outside Jerusalem, despised and rejected by men (Isaiah 53:3). We should go to Jesus where he is found, outside the camp, despised and rejected. If that means the same for us, so be it. Our home is not here on this earth, in this present evil age, but in the heavenly city which Abraham looked to (Hebrews 11:10), capital of the kingdom which cannot be shaken (12:18-29).

This passage encourages us to learn more of the faith once for all delivered to the saints, and avoid false teaching. The best way to discern a counterfeit is to study the original, and so we should devote ourselves to learning more of God’s grace, gaining strength from it.

We should also expect to see plenty of false teaching, which looks slick and enticing with smooth talking and with great entertainment values. There is plenty of that in our city, on television, and the internet; together with the worldly radical insights which preach a message foreign to Scripture, sometimes bending and twisting God’s Word to try and make it fit. As appealing as it may be, the end is destruction. Jesus is unchanging, and his truths never change, so we must stick with the message which does not change.

Nor should we expect our desire for the gospel to make us “Mr. Popularity”, but instead accept that at best we will be tolerated, but some will certainly despise us and reject us for our faith in Christ. We trust in him whom the world rejected, but has become the cornerstone. We cannot expect to be loved by this world for our stand.

Yet as we avoid false teaching and embrace the unpopular message of Jesus, we can take encouragement that Jesus is unchanging, and his promise to bring us to his side in the city not made with hands endures. Because there is where our true home is.

Come worship with us this Sunday at 10:30am. We worship together at Kelburn Normal School hall, 16 Kowhai Rd, Kelburn. We hope to see you there!