Hebrews 4:1-10 - Sabbath Rest from Our Works

Hebrews 4:1-10

The Promise of Rest

1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest,’”

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; 5 and again in this place: “They shall not enter My rest.”

6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, “Today,” after such a long time, as it has been said:

“Today, if you will hear His voice,
Do not harden your hearts.”

8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Christ accomplished all the work needed to procure our salvation and good standing in the eyes of God by becoming our Sabbath rest.  We now rest in His work and rest forever from our works that attempt to earn His grace and therefore do not need a certain day to call our Sabbath (Romans 14:5) as we rest in Him and His forever except as a personal reminder of God’s work of creation.  His work of re-creation in our regeneration of our new birth allows us to enter His rest without needing to continue to work and rest in endless cycles anymore; our works now are the ones prepared for us as Ephesians 2:10 reminds us right after assuring our salvation is by faith in Christ and His work in Ephesians 2:8-9 as our comfort of eternal security in His works alone appropriated by supernatural faith.  Since then we have heard the gospel and enter His Sabbath rest by faith, we find eternal profit which our feeble efforts can never earn for us (Romans 3:20, 23, 6:23).  We who have heard stop our efforts to work our way into God’s favor as we lay hold of His work on the cross and our of the grave and enter His rest from then on.  His works to save us have been finished from before the world was created!  When we then hear the gospel to enter His rest and do so by faith, we are ceasing being disobedient and obey the gospel of grace to enter His rest in Christ.  This moment of a day when we hear and obey by trusting His word of His work is our salvation promised from the beginning as God’s work.  This is the Sabbath rest for the people of God in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  We have stopped trying to earn God’s favor that has been worked for us and instead now do the works He prepared for us instead out of thankful hearts of willing obedience and not to earn our place in heaven or on earth.  Christ is our Sabbath we rest in just as He is our Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7) that paid our sins’s price by His sacrifice.  May we rest confidently in Him and His work as we go about our Father’s work.