Hebrews 10:13 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Hebrews 10:13

Comments

The meaning of the verse is this: he is waiting and he is also acting in the full expectation of the subduing and the conquest of all his enemies. Christ is now at the right hand of God the Father, equal with the Father, and he is currently engaged in the work of subduing all things unto himself; that is the work of the King of Glory. What does that work consist of? In the first place he is saving souls. He is bringing people by his Spirit to repentance and faith and the discovery of new life in Christ. We come to him; we cast ourselves at his feet; we call upon him in urgent earnest prayer: ‘Lord forgive me my sins. I trust in what my Saviour has done on Calvary alone. Forgive me and give me life’, and he transforms us, gives us a new nature, and subdues us to himself. We who were once enemies are now friends: more than friends, we are his children; we are those who love him; we gladly put ourselves under his government.But Christ also has many vicious enemies: they too will all be made his footstool. Here is an enemy, maybe he is in his 40s; maybe he is very eminent; maybe he captures the attention of the television and the media; maybe his face is known to everyone, his pictures are constantly published, his words constantly heard, his programmes broadcast. Then he passes into his 50s and he reaches a kind of zenith of fame, and into his 60s. But Christ is subduing all things and making his enemies his footstool. He doesn't change his mind; he doesn't alter his antagonism. What will happen to him? His powers will begin to fail; the ageing process will take its course. He will become old and just a shadow of his former self. He will not be able to cause all the fuss that he used to cause for the people of God, and then God will take his life and he will breath his last breath. We stand back and we say, even the enemies of Christ have got to fade, they have got to fall, they have got to go and stand before Christ: he is bringing all his enemies to his feet.Satan also will be subdued by Christ, so that he can never again harm God’s people. All his weapons will be taken from him, and he will be made a demonstration of failure of sin and evil, of its weakness, its foolishness.

Application

This is one of the ways you tell the difference between a true convert and a false convert: a true convert wants to do what pleases God. You say, ‘I am seeking a new job. I have got to plan my career. I need to decide where I shall live. I desire God's guidance about marriage: who is to be my future life's partner. I want to do what God wants. O Lord, help me and guide me, deliver me from putting a foot wrong. Bring to life my thinking, my sense of discernment and wisdom. I want to be under the rule of God.’ ‘O no,’ say other people, who claim to have come to Christ but they make up their own minds what they do from day-to-day. They choose where they are going to live, what job thy are going to do, what they are going to buy, who they are going to marry. It is all a matter of their decision and God is not consulted. There is no difference between them and worldlings. But if Christ is subduing all his enemies to himself, and we been saved by his grace, then we our under his government and gladly and willingly submit to him. Every year, that we are left on earth the Holy Spirit is working in our lives and we are being challenged about our sins; we are becoming more Christ-like. One day when we enter glory there be a tremendous final work of transformation and all sin will be removed, but right now we our being subdued.

Over the centuries wave after wave of enemies of the cross of Christ have risen and fallen. Not so long ago, people were saying, ‘Communism – will this be the Antichrist?’ It has gone: at least, it has gone in that form. It has fallen, and we have seen enemy after enemy fall, and people who seem so influential today have passed from the scene. Like an arsenal of weapons that runs down, the great crowd of enemies have almost been spent. They have lived their lives, they have had their say, they have been brought to the grave: we are near the end of time; there are not many years left. Time has to run its course. When the final day of judgement comes it will not be possible for anyone to say to God – even if they were given the opportunity – ‘What you are doing is unfair. People are not so bad as this judgement says they are.’ Time has shown the full sinfulness of the human race. We shall see all the trouble that unbelief has caused, all the wars, all its unreasonableness and obduracy.

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Hebrews 10:13 Commentary and Bible Study