Jesus Christ: Anchor of the Soul

If you are joining us for the first time, please be sure to read the previous posts in this series:

• Part 1: Three verbs that describe someone who has encountered Jesus Christ
• Part 2: Comparing the parable of the four soils
• Part 3: Who is the third soil?
• Part 4: The fourth soil
• Part 5: The meaning of the four soils
• Part 6: God is not unjust to forget your work
• Part 7: Deny yourself and pick up your cross
• Part 8: God’s promise to Abraham
• Part 9: Abraham’s Continuous Need for God’s Grace
• Part 10: The Gift of Faith: Its Origin and Its Action

The last two verses of Hebrews Chapter 6 should actually be the first two verses of Hebrews Chapter 7 since they begin to address Melchizedek, which is who and what chapter 7 is largely about. Let’s look at these two verses as we close out our analysis of Hebrews 6:4-20.

¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, ²⁰ where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
(Hebrews 6:19-20)

The first phrase of verse 19 is significant. “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul.” What do you think of when you think of an anchor? Often, the mind goes to a picture of a boat or ship whose anchor is solidly lodged in the sea bottom, keeping it from moving or being carried away by waves to careen toward rocks that might destroy the boat or ship with a gaping hole and sink it. In the same way, our “hope” in Christ is that sure “anchor” to keep us from self-destruction. Now indeed, just as Jesus said in the parable about the two types of foundation one may choose to build his house upon, regardless of which one you choose, you are going to encounter the “storms” of life:

²⁴ Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. ²⁵ “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. ²⁶ “And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. ²⁷ “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall.
(Matthew 7:24-27)

Having lived in Southern California for a number of years, I have been amazed at the lack of forethought among those who have chosen to build their homes on the side of an erosional cliff overlooking the sea. Indeed, the views can be quite exquisite, and the homes are incredibly beautiful, but it will be a very short-lived time of pleasantry if a major rain storm hits, or serious flooding occurs. In fact, as I am writing this, I can see in my mind the various homes over the years that have collapsed through erosion and fallen into the sea. What a picture that is for you and me!

What we are building the foundation of our lives upon? Is it a true, genuine, born again relationship with Jesus, based on His Word of Eternal Truth, or is it simply being a “church member,” as you have gone to church most of your life, and perhaps even made an emotional response to the Gospel, but the truth of Jesus actually being your only Lord and Savior and forgiving you of all your sins —the only way to have a relationship with the Father (John 14:6)—never really took “root” in your life. Indeed, that is exactly what Paul was writing to the Corinthian believers in the following passage: “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you– unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5). How do we “test ourselves to see if we are in the faith?” The following are the means by which I was tested on October 1. 1965, and I discovered I was only a “church member,” not a born again believer in Jesus, but I soon became one:

1. If you were to die right now, do you have the intrinsic assurance that you would spend eternity in heaven with the Lord? If not, might not have invited Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and Savior and repented and turned from your sin to Jesus to be your only Lord and Savior.
2. Do you have the full assurance that your sins are forgiven in Christ’s shed blood on the Cross, or are you depending on your “works” to somehow get you into heaven? If the former, then you are born again, for that assurance is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in your heart and life that no human being can place there! If, on the other hand, you are depending on your works, then you might not have truly responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit that you are a sinner to the core of your being, and the very best you can ever do is comparable to a “used menstrual cloth” (Isaiah 64:6), versus the blood of Jesus alone cleansing you from your sin, which is the second thing the Holy Spirit convicts us of and points us to—the righteousness of Jesus alone is what takes away our sin. And the third thing the Holy Spirit convicts us of is the reality of Hell—that it is an absolute reality and apart from the Saving Grace of Jesus, and accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, we will spend eternity there.
3. Do you constantly sense God dealing with you and pulling you toward Himself, even when you have compromised and walked in your own willful pride and sin? And have you felt His powerful, but loving hand of conviction and discipline in bringing you back to a point of brokenness and repentance over your sin and failure, and into a deeper walk of holiness with Him? Or, in contrast, do you live a life of willful sin and disobedience without any real concern or conviction that what you are doing is sin and in rebellion against God? And do you have no serious thought of the consequences of your sin? If the former, then you are indeed a child of God as Hebrews 12:4-11 delineates:

If, on the other hand, you have no real conviction of the sin you are engaged in, and you are not experiencing any “discipline” of the Lord in your life, pointing out your sin and its destructiveness to you and others, then you may indeed merely be a “church member” and not a “born again believer.” The good news for you is that Jesus is standing with His arms outstretched to you to receive you unto Himself as His child and your Savior for all Eternity:

⁹ There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. ¹¹ He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³ who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
(John 1:9-13)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
(Romans 3:23)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)

⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart “– that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; 13 for “Whoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved [not “might be saved,” but “will be saved” – my note]. (Romans 10:8-13)

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(1 John 1:9)

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice [regardless of what your sin and past has been – my note] and opens the door, I will come in to him (not, “may come into him,” but “will come in to him” – my note) and will dine with him, and he with Me.
(Revelation 3:20)

Therefore, I want to encourage you that if you think you may have “failed the test” in examining yourself to see whether or not Jesus is in you, and you realize He is not, then I want to tell you once again that there is good news for you! Jesus is standing waiting with outstretched arms to receive you unto Himself as His child for all eternity.

With reference to Melchizedek, there are two prevailing views: The first is that Melchizedek is really a Christophany, that is, an appearance of Jesus Christ in bodily form prior to His incarnation through His physical birth through Mary. Others, however, see Melchizedek as an example of God’s Eternal Truth being ministered through men, in spite of the perpetual darkness in this world, and that God always has his men, to present his truth, throughout the world, in all time periods and places. Thus, even though mankind pursued their own self-deification through their attempt to build the “Tower of Babel,” after its destruction God still had His chosen men to proclaim His truth to a lost and dying world. Thus, the “order of Melchizedek” is that “order” of men and women who are God’s men and women who proclaim His truth, regardless of the culture, religion, or political administration in place. In other words, the “order of Melchizedek” transcends the incredible limitations of man’s “religious efforts” to “share the Gospel,” but for those who trust in God implicitly through His Word and prayer, God will work in and through them far beyond their limitations as the glory and honor will be focused on Him, not any man, nor group of men:

¹⁸ For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. ²⁶ For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; ²⁷ but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, ²⁹ that no man should boast before God. ³⁰ But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, ³¹ that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
(1 Corinthians 1:18-31)

Therefore, regardless of which position you may lean toward or subscribe to, Jesus has been, is now, and will forever be our “high priest,” having taken upon Himself the punishment of our sins and has provided for us through His righteousness an eternal entrance into Heaven to be with the Father: “²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹ He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”
(2 Corinthians 5:20-21).