Sometimes we short sell God due to our own broken frame and limited thinking. Paul uses an uncommon word to describe Jesus’ work and deportment: surety. (Hebrews 7:22) This not-oft used word describes the rich beauty of the work of Christ in a way that underpins the vastness of its depth. With a proper understanding of this one word, we can dispel a lot of false teaching and wonky thinking from our lives. I’m convinced that understanding this single principle is paramount to every single doctrine that the church holds to and has stood for down through the generations.
Many today would think that surety is the same thing as security. While they have a lot of similarities, there is a very important difference between the two. Let me illustrate it this way. If you – kind reader – and I were to go to the bank to get a loan for me, you could stand as “security” for my loan. In essence, you are telling the bank, “If he doesn’t pay it, I will.” However, in the same illustration, surety would be you telling the bank, “I’ll pay it no matter what he does.” This is the same principle the Good Samaritan had when he told the innkeeper that he would pay whatever the beaten traveler owed. (Luke 10) It was not a matter of means or opportunity, the man simply said, “I’ll pay it no matter what.”
Looking at Jesus, His surety for us was an absolute payment no matter what. While we understand from Scripture that we could not pay no matter what, Jesus didn’t operate on the, “If you won’t, I will” principle. He operated on the, “I will, period” principle. Just as Judah was willing to stand as surety for his brother Benjamin before going back into Egypt, so Christ stood for his brethren who were already in the darkness of Egypt. Just as Judah promised that Benjamin would be delivered back to Jacob no matter what, Jesus said we would be delivered back to the Father no matter what.
What a simple yet powerful word! This singular thought dispels all notions of means or activity for salvation and eternal glory. It also dispels the whispering of the enemy when he tells us that God could not love someone as rotten as we are. When we find ourselves in the throes of distress and adversity, our Surety is still as he ever has been. There are at least three ways that surety can fail in a natural way, none of which affect our Surety and His standing for and to us.
Means: If someone stands as surety that doesn’t have the means to do so, it fails. With God, no debt is too high or price too great for Him to pay. He redeemed us through His rich, infinite fulness through the blood of His Son. As the owner of the cattle of a thousand hills, all the gold of Ophir, and the fulness of this world, He paid with currency that is beyond compare. Not only does God have the means, He is the only one with the acceptable means as someone as rich as Solomon still didn’t have the currency needed for the transaction.
Integrity: Someone could lie about being surety or go back on what they said. The Bible tells us specifically that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). It is not something He “chooses” not to do. It is so foreign to His character and essence, that it can’t be no matter what. John describes Him as having no darkness in His person and character. (I John 1:5) With such an upright Godman of integrity, there is simply no possibility that He will ever go back on His promise and surety.
Mortality: Someone on earth could be the richest and most upright person we know, but all men are faced with the reality of mortality. Without Divine intervention, such would be our state forever. Men die. It’s a reality seen and faced every day. I can look at myself and see the effects of death creeping in and say assuredly that I am born to die. While Christ did die for us, thank God that He is resurrected at God’s hand never to die again. As He told John, He may have been dead, but now He’s alive forevermore. (Revelation 1:18) Because He ever liveth to make intercession for us, we can rest in the immortality of our God that has freely imparted immortality to us.
Friends, to quote the bard of old, “What high displays of sovereign grace, What love to save a ruined race. My soul adore His lovely name, By whom thy free salvation came.” We can have “security” in the Lord’s “surety.” In other words, our own minds and hearts can be heartened by the fact that no matter the situation or circumstance, we belong to Him. We are blessed and highly favored to live in the time we do. Unlike those of the old covenant who looked forward to His surety with the promise, “I will” from Him. We can look back at HIs surety with the finished promise, “I have” freely given to us by Jesus Christ our Lord. Whether waking or sleeping, failing or succeeding, hungry or full, young or old, our Surety has both done and will one day show He has done by what He will do for us. Until that day, may we take solace in His great fulness and rich grace.