“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.”  Heb. 10:36-38

The inspired writer of the Hebrew letter has moved the reader step by step to this point preparing them to stand and persevere through the trials of rejecting the Old Covenant system which had been taken away in the eyes of God through the offering of the His body (Heb. 10:9) and His blood, and was now ready to disappear physically (Heb. 8:13) as had been prophesied by Jesus Christ (Matt 24).  

“And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; as it is written, ‘He scattered abroad, he gave to the poor, His righteousness abides forever.’ ” 2 Corinthians 9:8-9

The apostle Paul, in exhorting the church in Corinth to follow through on their “previously promised bountiful gift” (2 Cor. 9:5), quotes from the context of Psalm 112, in particular, a portion of verse nine. 

“..who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Thy servant, didst say, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples devise futile things? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ.’ ” Acts 4:25-26 (NAS)

The apostles, after receiving their first taste of persecution in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, quote Psalm 2, verses one and two, as a prayer for the Lord to intervene on behalf of the fledgling church. 

“And some Pharisees came to Him, testing Him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause at all?” And He answered and said, ‘Have you not read, that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female’ ” Matthew 19:3-4

There are many out there in the religious marketplace who say that Jesus never directly condemned homosexuality so therefore, He didn’t condemn same sex marriage.

“But the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. I have certainly seen the oppression of My people in Egypt, and have heard their groans, and I have come down to deliver them; come now, and I will send you to Egypt.’ ” Acts 7:33-34

Last week we covered the first part of this Old Testament quote, “Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is Holy Ground”, lifted from Exodus 3:5 and proffered by Steven in his defense before the Council. 

“But the Lord said to him, ‘Take off the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Acts 7:33 (NAS)

Steven’s defense of Jesus Christ as the Messiah, and the church as the intended spiritual temple of God before the Council (San Hedrin) as recorded in Acts chapter seven, is chock full of references to Old Testament passages. 

“Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall live by faith.’” Galatians 3:11

Three times in the New Testament the above noted Old Testament passage is alluded to, in Romans 1:17, here in Galatians, and the third time in Hebrews 10:37-38. 

“Wherefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written,  ‘Therefore I will give praise to Thee among the Gentiles, and I will sing to Thy name.’ ” Romans 15:7-9

As the Holy Spirit moved the apostle Paul to dictate his letter to the Roman church through the stylus of Tertius, the obvious central theme is justification before God by means of faith in Jesus Christ versus justification by means of the works of the law. 

“And after He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ ”   Acts 13:22

We return once more to the thirteenth chapter of the book of Acts and its rich content of Old Testament quotes cited by the apostle Paul when given the opportunity in the synagogue at Psidian Antioch (in Syria) to give a “word of exhortation for the people” (Acts 13:15).