“…how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard…”

The people of our writer’s time were well aware of sin, perhaps more so than we are today. They knew about transgression, and they had inherited a history of a people who had continually broken God’s covenant. They had long cried out for salvation and for the Messiah that God would send that would bring that salvation. The Messiah had come and with Him, the long-promised salvation. God was finally, through this Messiah, making things right between man and Himself. We sing, “Salvation has been brought down,” and so it was, in the person, life, and death of Jesus the Messiah of God.

They couldn’t escape the wrath of God for disobedience under the Old Covenant, and they would not escape it if they dismissed the New Covenant and the one who declared it. This salvation was declared by Jesus as He walked and taught all over Palestine. Many heard Him and believed Him and on Him. They, in turn, repeated His message just as the prophets did in the former times. These witnesses were many, and they attested to the veracity of what Jesus said. They heard His words, and they saw His miracles.

Task for Today: Without a doubt, you cannot afford to neglect God’s salvation either. He offers it to you through the death of His Son. He calls upon you to listen to His Son’s words and to obey those words. His words are in the gospels, and you should read them. Read a few of His teachings every day. Start today. As you read His words, ask yourself if you are in compliance? The New Testament writers explain some of the things Jesus taught and so you might want to read what they say about His teachings as well.