Greetings, Fellow Believers,

I'm glad you're here checking in on shows six and seven of the Hebrews series, recorded in Windber, Pennsylvania in 2013-14.

These shows are about 1) God eliminating sin through Christ, and 2) Christ creating the eons. Also, in Show 7, I highlight the great contrast between forgiveness and justification and that we, in the body of Christ, simply cannot screw up our salvation. The same thing cannot be said of the Circumcision.

Hebrews 1:3 talks about Christ "making a cleansing of sins." You would think that would be enough to make anyone consider the truth that sin is no longer an eternal hindrance between God and man. But no! Christians love sin so much (they hate it, but they love to hate it), they read right past this inspired statement in order to keep sin the thing they want it to be: an eternal problem; an eternal separation between humanity and God. Honestly, what a gaggle of freaks.

Hebrews 1:2 plainly states that God created the eons through Christ. I like how I call the eons "sticky." I need to bring that description back. God wanted do DO things, but in order to DO things He needed to work in a framework of time and so, through His Son, He created this framework of time and He called it "the eonian times." The eons are "sticky" in that there can be no progress made apart from time, as time is the "mucosity" that events must pass through—but must not pass too quickly through. I like that.

But this mucosity is starting to feel like a slog through the freaking mud.

In Show 7 I get into the great difference between Hebrews and Paul's OTHER letters. Israelites are on constant probation while we are justified. Wow, that's a huge difference. There is NO justification in Hebrews. You either behave properly or you're done for the eon. (Which is the teaching of Johnny and Kaitlin Greene, but they make the mistake of dragging grace into that scenario, which is like dragging Marlon Brando into a Scooby-Doo episode.)

Do you want proximity to Christ? How is this for proximity: We are His body. I used to think that being His bride was the closest one could get, but no. The bride stands next to the groom, yes, but: we ARE the groom.

Or how about the difference between eonian and eternal salvation? As nasty as some of the threats of Hebrews are, they all have to do with time and not eternity; that is to say, they are EONIAN.  

Israel must be alert when their Bridegroom returns. But because of the delay (the "Era of the Nations" intercedes), many of them nod off. This is what our Lord's parable about the ten virgins is about. If you're an Israelite hoping for the earthly kingdom, you better have oil in your lamp; that is, you better be spirit-filled and attentive. You better be reading your Scriptures, holding fast to the law—and waiting. Because if the groom shows up and you have to run off to Sam's Club to buy oil, you're going to miss Him. And with that will come much weeping and gnashing of teeth—so back to Sam's Club for Kleenex and some non-fluoridated toothpaste.

The contrast between this and the body of Christ is that we can be watching OR drowsing, and we will all still be snatched away. It is ideal to be watching, but we don't HAVE to be. Wow---is that grace, or what? It is one of the most startling differences between these two gospels.

We can't screw it up. We can't be found lacking. God always sees us as full, through Christ.

I like that I'm teaching at the end of Show 7 on 1 Thessalonians, chapter 5—the same chapter I was teaching on last week on MZTV. Thirteen years have transpired between this Hebrews Series and my current shows on MZTV, but the truth is the same and is just as relevant today as it was thirteen years ago, as it was 2,000 years ago when it was first written under inspiration of the holy spirit.

Thank you to all those who financially support this work. It's the only way this work continues. Supporting the worker is the same as supporting the work. I look back at my life and I see how God has raised me to do this. Everything counted—from the parents God gave me, to being raised in a Catholic school, to growing up with popular culture, to stuttering as a child, to wanting to write, to being introduced to the woman whose father told me about the salvation of all. And then to think of all the unique ways God has introduced me to all of you—and you to me. Who could have scripted this drama but God? So thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I never take you for granted.

Grace and peace from the Floridan peninsula,

—Martin