In the first four verses of Hebrews chapter five we find the writer referring back to the Old Testament priesthood, specifically the high priest.  Being himself a sinful man, the high priest’s job was to offer sacrifices for himself as well as for the people.  The high priest was no different from any other man in the sense that he committed sins. that had to be dealt with using animal blood.  Men brought their sins to the priest and received forgiveness from God as the priest presented their cases before Him by receiving blood sacrifices provided by the deaths of animals.  The supplicant looked to the high priest as his example to follow and, through blood sacrifice, received forgiveness for breaking God’s Law and thereby diminishing God’s glory.  The high priest was Israel’s example to follow in terms of the conduct of one’s “walk” (manner of life).

Beginning with verse five we find the writer bringing the reader forward to the time of Christ.  As was the high priests before Him, Jesus of Nazareth was a man in every way, with one exception.  JESUS PRESENTED HIMSELF AS A SINLESS HIGH PRIEST.  As Aaron, God’s first high priest, proved, it was not a great leap for people to walk on the same spiritual level as did the nation’s human leader–the high priest.  Failure among the people was rampant and unending.  Blood sacrifice spiritually COVERED the people’s sins while assuming that they would continue to sin.  Periodically each family would present an animal whose blood covered their past sins.  The process was repeated throughout one’s life.  Not having the Holy Spirit to empower them against Satan’s continuous temptations, the people were dependent upon the blood of animals to COVER their continuous sins.  The blood of animals could not prevent future sins.  A national sin-sacrifice, sin-sacrifice cycle continued throughout their lives.

Human holiness gives glory to God.  The God of the Old Testament received no glory from the efforts of either the people or their high priest.  That changed with His arrival in the form of a man Who became the sinless High Priest for all who would follow His lead and “walk as He walked” in His earthly role (1 Jn. 2:6).  Read Jesus of Nazareth: God, Man or God-man?  Just as ancient Israel followed the high priest’s example, New Testament saints must follow the example set by Jesus.  By walking in holiness, Jesus brough glory not only to God, but also to Himself.  By keeping Himself sinless through the exercise of His will and by using the power of the Holy Spirit, He could honestly say that when men saw Him (Jesus) they saw the Father (Jn. 14:9).  No previous priest could make that statement.  Was Jesus the ONLY PRIEST who could make that statement?

Herein lies a secret known only by a few true believers.  From all that I have read and heard over several decades, there are probably not more than a few dozen people (if that many) who believe what you are about to read from God’s Holy Scriptures.  I trust that the reader reads the references provided.  Jesus became man’s one-time sacrifice for his (man’s) sins which He (Jesus) spiritually takes upon Himself at the point of man’s justification (removal of all past sins–Rom. 3:25).  Jesus attained righteousness by obeying God.  Because His death made AVAILABLE to righteousness-seeking men the righteousness they seek (Mat. 5;6), man CAN take on the same righteousness which Jesus, his High Priest, exemplified.  Not only CAN man attain the righteousness of Christ, MAN IS REQUIRED TO MANIFEST THAT SAME RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUH THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT RECEIVED AT THE TIME OF TRUE CONVERSION (Acts1:8).  Upon conversion, The Holy Spirit–“the power of God” (Lk. 1:35)–then empowers the true convert to “walk as He (Jesus) walked” and to “… overcome (Satan’s temptations) even as I (Jesus) overcame” them (1 Jn. 2:6 and Rev. 3:21 respectively).  By overcoming all temptations, thereby becoming righteous, Jesus EARNED the right to assume the throne reserved for the Savior of mankind.  By obeying God as did the man Jesus, OBEDIENT MAN WILL SIT WITH HIM ON HIS THRONE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD (Rev. 3:21).  We are told repeatedly from pulpit and podium, from television and radio, from books and c.d.’s, from documentaries and movies that man is incapable of following the example set by Jesus of Nazareth during this earthly walk.  Therefore, church reasoning asserts, man cannot walk as Jesus walked and overcome as He overcame.  But what does God say?

In 1 Peter 2:9,10 we find the Lord, speaking through His apostle, saying the following to God’s ELECT SAINTS who were (are) SANCTIFIED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBEDIENCE (1 Pet. 1:2): “You (obedient souls) are a CHOSEN GENERATION (PEOPLE), A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PECULIAR PEOPLE” who, among all other people, “ARE THE PEOPLE OF GOD.”  In Titus 2:14 such people are described as those who have been redeemed FROM (not in) ALL INIQUITY (LAWLESSNESS–SIN–1 JN. 3:4), who are PURIFIED UNTO JESUS, who are a PECULIAR PEOPLE ZEALOUS FOR GOOD WORKS (OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S LAW).  In 1 Peter 4:17,18 the apostle notes that not all in God’s church are God’s people.  He noted that judgment was (is) ongoing in God’s true church, and that only the righteous within the congregation will be saved, and they just barely.  When is the last time, if ever, you heard that from a church leader?

Jesus of Nazareth was the standard that salvation-seeking man must emulate in order to receive that which he seeks.  There is only one standard; there is no variation from it.  There are no denominations, faiths, etc. within true Christianity (Eph. 4:4,5).  Counterfeit Christianity, commonly known as Catholicism/Protestantism, has hundreds of such Satan-inspired, man-made divisions into which professing Christendom has divided herself.  All such divisions are abominations unto the Lord Jesus Who will say to those within those cults on the Day of Judgment: “I never knew you; depart from Me you who practice iniquity (Lawlessness)” (Mat. 7:23).  For this reason the Apostle Paul tells those within Satan’s counterfeit church to “Come out of her and be separate.  Do not touch that unclean thing.”  Then and only then will God be one’s God and one will be His saint (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).  As he tells us in 7:1, “let us CLEANSE OURSELVES of all religious filthiness and PERFECT HOLINESS in the FEAR OF GOD.”  How? by believing and obeying God’s Holy Scriptures–JUST LIKE JESUS OF NAZARETH.

This is the same fear exhibited by Jesus during His earthly tenure.  As a man, His prayers were heard because of His fear of failing the Father, which would have eliminated Him from becoming man’s Savior (Heb. 5:7).  “Even though He was the Son (of God), yet HE LEARNED OBEDIENCE by overcoming Satan’s temptations.  And being MADE PERFECT (by overcoming temptation), He BECAME the PROVIDER of eternal salvation FOR THOSE WHO OBEY HIM” (Heb. 5:7-9).  As stated, He is the gold standard, the perfect pattern we must follow during this life in order to be saved upon His return to earth when the first-fruits will rise to meet Him in the air during the first resurrection.  Read The Resurrections and The Kingdom of God.  Key words–Resurrections and Kingdom respectively.

In verses 10-14 Paul chastises those Hebrew Christians who had failed to mature in the Lord, telling them that they needed to be taught strong spiritual meat.  However, because they were still babes and accustomed only to God’s “headlines,” they needed more milk before they could handle God’s “fine print” (strong meat).  “Headlines” and “fine print” are my terms.  Paul’s words to the babes in the church perfectly describe those within the Institutional Church during these end times.  If you are in the Catholic/Protestant church system you need to obey God’s command to “come out of her” so as not to “partake of her sins.”  L.J.