Hebrews 10:19-25

In Hebrews 10:19-25, the author gives us two effects of the Christ-event:


1. Our Worship (vv19-22).

The sacrifice of Christ makes our access to God possible and makes worship of the one God possible for gentiles (i.e. outsiders of the covenant and promises of God). Prior to Christ Jesus, non-Jews would have to become Jews in order to participate in the worship of the one God; Christ makes it possible for all nations to worship God without having to become a Jews. This spells equality for all people before God, i.e. there is no special privilege accorded to any people group. Similarly, today there is no privilege for any one, whether you are rich or poor, adults or children, PhD or ITE, CEO or domestic helper; all are on the same level before God.

He also makes us acceptable to God by becoming our high priest and sacrifice. We are led into God’s presence by Christ through his ‘shed blood’ and ‘broken flesh’. We may have different experiences and talents, but these should not be a wall of division, but gifts to be received with gratitude. Rather than allowing our experiences and talents become a cause of division, use them to foster unity and love by serving each other. And this brings us to the second point.

2. Our Fellowship (vv23-25).

Our fellowship should be encouraging and stimulating flowing from the confidence we have in Christ. Do we come together just to do projects or ‘to serve’? Is there any other value besides coming together to plan for projects and programs? Is this Christian fellowship? According to our passage today, I doubt so. Hebrews 10:24 says ‘let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds’ and v25 says ‘encouraging one another’. When these two factors/ingredients of fellowship are missing, that’s when we will start to neglect ‘our own assembling together’.

Our fellowship is a reflection of the reality of Christ’s work to bring people together before God in worship and mutual encouragement. Our presence in a gathering of God’s people or fellowship should be characterized by what we can contribute to the well-being of the Other, rather than what we can gain. Fellowship does demand for our time and energy, but anything that is worth doing demands our time and energy. The nature and quality of each fellowship depends on our understanding of our role to stimulate and encourage one another. Each time we attend a fellowship or church gathering, we must be prepared to do that.

The Christ-event does not affect individuals only; it too affects our social life as well. Our sacramental life should inform our social life. Our worship of the one God should affect our relationships in His one body.

Exercise on Speech Act and Hermeneutics(Part 1)

Divine speech or God’s speech is one of the cores of Christian belief. The possibility of revelation is supported by the reality that God speaks. This theological assertion is very common in the Bible, especially in the Prophets: “The word of the Lord came to me saying …” The Old Testament prophets have the clear understanding that their message is a direct speech of God (God’s speech). This understanding is reflected also in the New Testament, and distinctly so in the Book of Hebrews.




“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son …” (Hebrews 1:1-2, NASB)

“Πολυμερῶς καὶ πολυτρόπως πάλαι ὁ Θεὸς λαλήσας τοῖς πατράσιν ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, ἐπ᾽ ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ …” (GNT)



The author of Hebrews affirmed that God speaks in the past as well as now, but through different means and to different audiences. The idea of ‘God speaks’ seems to be the guiding principle in understanding the book, and Hebrews 4:12 appear to be the hub of the book.



“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, NASB)

Ζῶν γὰρ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἐνεργὴς καὶ τομώτερος ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον καὶ διϊκνούμενος ἄχρι μερισμοῦ ψυχῆς τε καὶ πνεύματος, ἁρμῶν τε καὶ μυελῶν, καὶ κριτικὸς ἐνθυμήσεων καὶ ἐννοιῶν καρδίας … (GNT)



Go do not only speak, but His word is ‘living and active’ and more effective than any weapon. Hence, it is important to know what God says, and also to respond rightly to the God speech. We will explore in the rest of this paper how this core is played out in the book of Hebrews.



We will here employ the help of the Speech Acts Theory initiated by J.L. Austin and developed further by John Searle. This exercise will begin with an exploration of the theory followed by its application in reading Hebrews.