From Hebrews: God's Unique Speaking in His Son
Orientation
The assumption that God's revelation through the Law is the primary or enduring standard for righteousness leads to disqualification and forfeits rest.
- The Mosaic Law was a preparatory tool, not the means to secure righteousness or inheritance.
- Its purpose was to expose human inability and point forward to the Gospel.
- To treat the Law as our hope is to remain under its condemnation and miss God's ultimate speaking.
For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10)
— Galatians 3:10
Clarification
The Everlasting Covenant, established with Abraham and fulfilled in Christ, is God's unilateral promise of righteousness and inheritance, entirely separate from the Law's system.
- This covenant was secured by God's faithfulness alone while Abraham was asleep, not by human performance.
- Its promises—righteousness, inheritance, eternal rest—are guaranteed in Christ, the promised Seed.
- Mingling Law with this promise voids grace and makes Christ's work of no effect.
For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. (Galatians 3:18)
— Galatians 3:18
Structure
God's unique speaking in His Son is the final, authoritative revelation, imparting Christ Himself as our righteousness, inheritance, and rest.
- Christ is the radiance of God's glory and the exact impress of His substance—the content of God's speaking.
- As the Mediator of the Everlasting Covenant, He fulfills all promises and secures them for believers.
- Heeding this voice brings transformation and participation in His heavenly reign, which is the substance foreshadowed by the Law.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; (Hebrews 1:1-2)
— Hebrews 1:1-2
Weight-Bearing Prose
God’s speaking has shifted decisively. The Mosaic Law, given as a covenant to Israel, served a preparatory and negative function: it was a ‘ministration of death’ (2 Cor 3:7) that disqualified all flesh, proving no one could be justified by works of law (Rom 3:20). It pointed forward but could not give life. The positive, unilateral promise is the Everlasting Covenant established with Abraham and his Seed, who is Christ (Gal 3:16). This covenant guarantees righteousness by faith and an eternal inheritance—the ‘Good Land’ of rest and blessing. Christ, as the Mediator (1 Tim 2:5), fulfills this covenant. His work is the substance; the Law was the shadow. To reintroduce the Law as a rule for life or a means of blessing is to fall from grace (Gal 5:4) and abandon the promise. The Church’s position is in Christ, seated in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6), sharing in His Davidic reign as co-heirs through the Spirit. This is not a future reward to be earned but a present inheritance received by faith in the Son.
Integration
Your standing is secure. God is not speaking to you from Sinai, with its demands and curses. He is speaking to you in His Son, with all the radiance of His glory and the full substance of His promise. The righteousness you have is Christ’s. The inheritance you possess is Christ Himself. The rest you are called to is found in ceasing from your own works and heeding His voice. There is no pressure to advance or perform to secure what is already guaranteed in the Everlasting Covenant. Christ has fulfilled it. Your assurance is anchored in God’s faithfulness to His promise, not in your faithfulness to a law. You are in Christ. That is your only and all-sufficient ground. Rest here.