Our Forerunner

Hebrews 6:18-20 says that the believers “have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us, which we have as an anchor of the soul, both secure and firm, and entering into that which is within the veil, where the Forerunner, Jesus, is entered for us, become forever a High Priest according to the order of Melchisedec.” The Lord Jesus has entered the heavens as the Holy of Holies within the veil, and with Him is the heavenly haven for our refuge, which we can now enter in our spirit (Heb. 10:19). The anchor signifies that we are on a stormy sea and that without the anchor of hope we may shipwreck (1 Tim. 1:19). The entering is the entering into the heavens, the Holy of Holies within the veil today, where the Lord Jesus entered. Our hope, as a secure and firm anchor, has entered there, and we also may now enter in spirit.

The Lord as the Forerunner took the lead to pass through the stormy sea and enter the heavenly haven to be the High Priest for us according to the order of Melchisedec, the order of the priesthood that is in both humanity and divinity. As the Forerunner He has cut the way into glory.

In order to enter into the Holy of Holies within the veil as our Forerunner, the Lord Jesus fled everything. He fled His mother and His brothers (Matt. 12:46-50), and He fled Judaism, so that He entered “into that which is within the veil,” that is, into the presence of God, where He is now the Forerunner and High Priest to minister to us that we may be brought into glory. He is the Forerunner in glory; He is also the Captain leading us into the very place where He is as the Forerunner.

(Witness Lee, Conclusion of the New Testament, The (Msgs. 021-033), Chapter 9)

Life-study of Hebrews (45)

Have you ever been asked whether your salvation is eternally secure? Today some are theologians are peddling this teaching of an "elevator salvation" which blatantly undermines the pure revelation of the Scripture. Imagine that you could wake up one morning as a called, redeemed, and regenerated person but then loose your salvation by the end of the day? Such an erroneous concept actually exposes a huge cavity of misunderstanding in today's theological circles regarding regeneration (more on this later). Anyway, in this chapter Witness Lee addresses this pernicious teaching and unpacks a few verses (e.g. Eph. 1:5, John 6:39, 1 John 4:10, Rom. 8:38-39, Rom. 1:16-17, Heb. 8:8-13, John 10:28-29, James 1:17, Rom.  8:34) to draw a clear line between dispensational punishment and eternal perdition. I'm not going to be able to summarize the main points, but here are two enjoyable quotes:

Both God's selection and calling, being initiated by Him, not by us, are the security of our salvation.

 Our works may often fail, but God's grace never fails. our salvation is secured not by our works but by God's prevailing grace which comes out of His unchanging love.

(Lee, Witness. Life-study of Hebrews, p.501)