Hebrews, James, and Jude

by Rousas John Rushdoony

Publisher:

Mark R. Rushdoony

, 2001

Overview

There is a resounding call in Hebrews which we cannot forget without going astray: "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach" (13:13). This is a summons to break with Judaism, i.e. the reigning, commanding culture of the Hebrews, and to serve Christ, the Redeemer-King, fully and faithfully, without compromise. In our time, it calls for a break, not only with the prevailing culture of humanistic statism and its messianic claims and pretensions, but also with a wayward church that has made itself the handmaiden to Christ's enemies.

When James, in his epistle, says that faith without works is dead, he tells us that faith is not a mere matter of words, but it is of necessity a matter of life. We are dead men if we no longer can breathe, and we are spiritually dead if our faith is unaccompanied by works. Too many churches are like graveyards because too many members have no living faith. "Pure religion" requires Christian charity and action. Anything short of this is a self-delusion. James' letter is a corrective the church needs badly. Jude similarly recalls us to Jesus Christ's apostolic commission: "Remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ." Jude's letter is usually classified as an apocalyptic tract, but we cannot forget that all the Bible speaks of is a division between fallen and redeemed humanity, between the saved and the lost, of the necessity for a new creation beginning with us, and of the inescapable triumph of the Kingdom of God.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Man by his human faith can hope for certain things, but this does not make them a reality.” (Page 103)

“Modern man’s idea of truth is Hellenic: it is an abstraction, an idea, whereas the Bible sets forth the fact that truth is God and His word, His law, justice, uprightness, and purpose. To sin against the truth is here to sin against Christ and His atonement. If the Hebrews prefer the Temple sacrifices and services to Christ’s atonement, no atonement is possible for them. Rather, they face God’s judgment and ‘fiery indignation’ for despising the Son.” (Page 100)

“In James 1:19–27, we are plainly told, first, that our Christian faith does not make us into judges over other men but enables us to grow, to improve ourselves. He thus begins, in v. 19f, ‘Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.’ Men are quick to spot the evils of others, but not their own.” (Page 155)

“The Sabbath rest of God is not something handed to a people for their readiness to give merely verbal assent to God. It recalls us to God’s triumphant rest after creating all things. We have a task to do under God, and we have the revelation of His justice, His law, whereby we can overcome the powers of sin and injustice and make this world the Kingdom of God.” (Page 29)

“Whatever the part of other persons or of the devil, we ourselves are responsible for our own sins, and we cannot legitimately blame anyone else, God, man, or the devil. The sin of Adam and Eve was not only to succumb to temptation, but also to blame God, the devil, and, in Adam’s case, Eve as well.” (Page 152)

Product Details

• Title: Hebrews, James, and Jude
• Author: Rousas John Rushdoony
• Publisher: Ross House Books
• Publication Date: 2001
• Pages: 238

About Rousas John Rushdoony

Rousas John Rushdoony (1916–2001) was was a well-known American scholar, writer, and author of over thirty books. He earned degrees from the University of California, received theological training at the Pacific School of Religion, and received an honorary Doctorate from Valley Christian University for his book The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum.

Rushdoony was an ordained minister and served as pastor at two California churches. He served for almost nine years as a missionary to the Shoshone and Paiute Indians in a remote area of Nevada. It was during this time as a missionary that Rushdoony began writing. The Institutes of Biblical Law and Commentary on the Pentateuch are just a few of the titles that Rushdoony has penned.

The Chalcedon Foundation, an educational organization devoted to research, publishing, and cogent communication of a distinctively Christian scholarship to the world at large, was founded by Rushdoony in 1965. He served as the editor of The Chalcedon Report, the monthly magazine of the Chalcedon Foundation.

Rushdoony also published the Journal of Christian Reconstruction and was an early board member of the Rutherford Institute which was founded by John W. Whitehead.