Jesus inspires faith
This faith thing is hard to understand. Those who don't have
it don't understand it. Those who have it can't explain it. What
is it that gets us into faith, and what is it that keeps us going
in faith? At the end of the day, it is Jesus Christ himself. In
Hebrews 12:2, the writer of Hebrews will say that Jesus is "the
author and perfecter of faith." It is he, through his work
as a priest, who inspires faith. The priestly work of Christ encourages
us to advance and persevere in faith.
Since Chapter 7, the writer has presented Christ as our priest
and has described his work. Hebrews 7:1-10:18 is essentially descriptive.
In Hebrews 10:19-39, the text is prescriptive. Based on his description
of Christ and his work, the writer offers a prescription of what
we should do. It is important for us to soak up descriptive truth.
If we have done so appropriately, there will eventually be a desire
to respond. We'll want to do something about it. In the passage
before us, the writer tells us what to do. Primarily, we are to
draw near to God.
The passage is framed by the word "confidence," which
appears in verses 19 and 35. The confidence that we have to draw
near to God (verse 19) should not be thrown away (verse 35). One
who has confidence can draw near to God (verse 22), but one who
throws away his confidence shrinks back from God (verse 38).
Moving forward in faith (10:19-25)
Hebrews 10:19-25:
(19) Since therefore, brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, (20) by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, (21) and since we have a great priest over the house of God, (22) let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (23) Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; (24) and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, (25) not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.
Beginning with the words "since therefore," the writer
has words of exhortation based on the priesthood of Christ, which
he described in 7:1-10:18. He draws two initial implications from
his description - namely, two things that we "have":
1) Confidence to enter the holy place. 2) A great priest over
the house of God.
We have confidence to enter "the holy place," which
is actually a reference to the Most Holy Place, or the Holy of
Holies, as it was in Hebrews 9:8 and 24. The Most Holy Place was
the inner sanctum of the portable tabernacle and, later, the permanent
temple. It was the place where the Lord signified that he dwelt
with his people. The writer, though, is talking about the heavenly
temple and its Most Holy Place (9:11, 24). The high priest of
Israel was the only one who could enter the earthly Most Holy
Place, and he could enter it only once a year, on the Day of Atonement.
The writer, however, says that he and his brothers in the faith
- all of them - can enter the better Most Holy Place, the heavenly
one, and experience the actual presence of God. Not only can we
enter into the actual presence of God, we have "confidence"
to do so.
We have this confidence because of Jesus, whose shed blood provides
a better sacrifice than the animal sacrifice on the Day of Atonement,
one that allows for continual and universal access to the heavenly
Most Holy Place. It is a "new and living way" into God's
presence that Christ inaugurated, or opened, for us. The way is
new in that it allows for an entirely different kind of access
(continual and universal) to an entirely different kind of place
(heavenly). It is living in that we don't die in God's presence,
as would be expected under the Old Covenant, and in that it leads
to real life, eternal life (10:38). The way for us was opened
through the veil of the heavenly temple, which the writer identifies
as the flesh of Jesus. When Jesus died, the veil of the earthly
temple that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place
was torn (Mark 15:38), symbolizing not only the doom of the temple
but access to the heavenly Most Holy Place. The shed blood of
Jesus and the broken body of Jesus allow us access to God.
We not only have confidence to enter into God's presence, we have
a great priest over the house of God - that is, us (3:6). Now
that his sacrificial work as priest is done, Jesus, in his ongoing
priestly work, "makes intercession" for us to the Father
as our priest that we might "draw near" to God (7:25).
Jesus is actually asking the Father that he would draw us near.
So his priestly work gives us two things in connection with access
to God: It gives us confidence that we can freely and continually
enter God's presence, and, as the Father responds to the intercession
of Jesus, it gives us encouragement to do so. Jesus has made a
way for us to enter God's presence, and he encourages us to do
so.
Note that we already "have" confidence, and we already
"have" a high priest, who provides for encouragement.
We have confidence and encouragement, courtesy of the priestly
work of Jesus. These are not things we need to get. We have confidence
and encouragement to approach God, whether we know it or not.
Confidence and encouragement are based solely on the work of Christ;
that means it isn't based on any work of ours. We might think
that confidence to approach God is something that needs to be
developed. Or we might think that it is based on our goodness.
If we are waiting for confidence to develop or if we are depending
on some goodness in ourselves to qualify us, we'll never feel
confident or good enough.
Based on the priestly work of Christ that gives us confidence
and encouragement to enter the heavenly Most Holy Place, the writer
now exhorts us to do three things: 1) Draw near to God. 2) Hold
fast the confession of our hope. 3) Consider how to stimulate
one another to love and good deeds. The second and third exhortations
naturally flow out of the first one - drawing near to God.
First, the writer says that we should act on this confidence and
encouragement we have; we should draw near to God in worship.
("God" is not specifically mentioned as the one we are
to draw near to, but the writer speaks specifically of drawing
near to God in Hebrews 4:16 and 7:25, which leads us to believe
he is speaking similarly here.) In addition, he says we should
draw near in a particular kind of way - with a sincere (literally,
"true") heart and in full assurance of faith. We can
draw near to God in this manner because we have had "our
hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed with pure water," the effect of Christ's work on the
cross. Priests were installed through the sprinkling of blood
and the washing with water; then they could approach the presence
of the Lord (Exodus 29:4, 21). We are qualified both internally
and externally - we are qualified in every way - to draw near
to God based on the work of Christ.
What does it mean to have our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil
conscience? An evil conscience is one that is influenced by evil.
An evil conscience condemns. The blood of Christ tells us that
there is no condemnation for those who believe in him (Romans
8:1). Because of an evil conscience, one that whispers condemnation
into our hearts, we might be reluctant to approach God. But the
blood of Christ overrules our consciences, so to speak, and lets
us know that the way is clear for us to draw near to God. We may
tend to think that some sort of improvement in thought and behavior
would be required on our part to influence our consciences to
the point that our hearts would allow us to approach God, but
it is only the blood of Christ that cleanses our consciences.
In fact, the blood of Christ has already cleansed our consciences.
Just as we now already have confidence to enter the Most Holy
Place, we already have been sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.
Our bodies have already been washed with pure water.
We are already thoroughly qualified to approach God in the manner
suggested. We can and should draw near to God with a true heart.
A true heart has nothing to hide, not even its inclination toward
evil. A true heart says, "Here I am, God. This is all of
me. This is me in all the ugliness of my sin." We can approach
God with a true heart because we have "full assurance of
faith" that our true heart belongs in God's presence. The
sacrifice of Christ gives us faith that our sin - even the ugliest
of it - causes God to neither withdraw nor punish. That means
we can approach God as a real person. Only a real person - one
who says what he thinks - is able to have a real relationship.
God is real with us, and the sacrifice of Christ assures us that
we can - we must! - be real with God. Intimacy is predicated on
reality. Only people who are real with each other have a real
relationship. Only people who tell each other what they think
are able to form a true bond.
Otherwise, they are not able to know each other. It's the same
with an individual and God. Under these circumstances, to fail
to draw near to God because of our sin becomes, in itself, sin.
The scripture here commands us as followers of Christ to draw
near to God to receive his love for us, to seek intimacy with
him, to worship and adore him - and to be real with him.
Second, we are to "hold fast the confession of our hope without
wavering." Confession concerns belief, and hope concerns
the future. The priestly work of Christ pushes us toward God,
and in the presence of God we understand more fully that we want
to be with him forever. The reason given for holding fast is that
"he who promised" - that is, God - "is faithful."
God has promised an eternal inheritance in his presence (13:14),
and he is faithful to give that which he promised. We therefore
have every reason to hold onto this forward-looking hope "without
wavering" - without being shaken loose from faith by earthly
circumstances.
Third, we are to "consider how to stimulate one another to
love and good deeds." When we draw near to God, we understand
something of his love for us, which causes us to look outward
(1 John 4:19). How is someone stimulated to love and good deeds?
By love and good deeds! We ourselves are stimulated to love and
good deeds by the love and good deeds God has shown us. As we
love others and show them God's love through our actions, they
are stimulated. Love is an inward disposition, and good deeds
are actions based on the inward disposition. Just as we have had
an internal sprinkling and an external cleansing, we have internal
love and act on that love with external actions. Our sprinkled
hearts motivate our washed bodies to action, which motivates others
to action.
There is a tendency not to do this, of course. There is a tendency
to move away from people in general, not toward them. Some people
in the writer's day did exactly that. So he tells his readers
not to forsake "our own assembling together, as is the habit
of some." He doesn't say why some have abandoned assembling
together, but it's likely that persecution kept them away (10:32-33).
What keeps us away? What keeps us from "assembling together,"
moving toward other followers of Christ in various kinds of groups
and relationships? Whatever our excuses, they are often just a
front for a refusal to invest our lives in people that is borne
out of fear - fear that our needs won't be met, fear of rejection,
fear of failure or fear of giving up valuable time, for example.
Whatever the reason, we should beware that staying away can be
habitual; the writer says it is the "habit" of some.
The purpose given for assembling together is that we might "encourage
one another." The encouragement is mutual. We encourage,
and we get encouraged. The result of such encouragement is the
stimulation of one another to love and good deeds. We should encourage
each other "all the more, as you see the day drawing near."
That day is the day of the Lord, when Christ returns (9:28). Encouragement
is especially important in light of Christ's coming, because on
that day what will be important is people - people who we have
encouraged, and people who have encouraged us.
The second and third commands, to hold fast the confession of
our hope and to consider how to stimulate one another to love
and good deeds, then, are based on the first one - the commandment
to draw near to God, which in itself is made possible and encouraged
by the priestly work of Christ. The writer pulls out all stops
to get us close to God. He goes to great lengths to show us that
the way is clear and that God is calling. If God has cleared the
way, the only thing preventing us from drawing near is our own
wrong beliefs. Have we kept ourselves distant from God in fear?
Have we presented to him a false self? Have we tried to pump ourselves
up for him? Have we settled for something other than nearness
to God? Have we settled for lesser joy, lesser pleasures? We may
not know what keeps us distant from God. We may not know why there
seems to be a wall between God and us. There is a certain mystery
to intimacy with God. Why it is we have it, why it is we don't
have it - who's to say? But it's worth pursuing. It's worth praying
and studying and scratching and clawing for it.
David says of God in Psalm 16:11, "In your presence is fulness
of joy; in your right hand there are pleasures forever."
Fulness of joy! It comes from being in God's presence. Pleasures
forever! They come from God. The psalmist in Psalm 42:2 says,
"My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall
I come and appear before God?" The writer of Hebrews answers
that question for us. When? Now! Now and any time, draw near.
This is living - drawing near to God, holding onto hope, involvement
with others that motivates them to move out in love and good deeds.
Judgment for abandoning faith (10:26-31)
Hebrews 10:26-31:
(26) For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, (27) but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. (28) Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. (29) How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? (30) For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay." And again, "The Lord will judge His people." (31) It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Verse 26 begins with the word "for," which means
that what follows somehow explains what has gone before. The day
that is drawing near (verse 25) is not only a day of salvation
but a day of judgment. Not only because it is a day of salvation
but also because it is a day of judgment, we should draw near
to God, cling to hope and stimulate one another to love and good
deeds. Some will be judged. But our perseverance in faith ensures
that we won't be among them, and our involvement with others helps
them and is especially important in light of the judgment that
will be incurred for abandoning Christ.
The author, addressing the congregation as a whole with the first-person-plural
"we," talks about those who "go on sinning willfully
after receiving the knowledge of the truth." The consequences
in view here are for those who have been fully exposed to the
truth of the gospel. What it means to sin willfully will become
clear as we move through these verses.
For those who do sin in this manner, "there no longer remains
a sacrifice for sins." The once-for-all sacrifice of Christ
can't be repeated, and the willful sinner has placed himself permanently
outside the scope of Christ's sacrifice, so he is left with "a
certain terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a
fire which will consume the adversaries." As opposed to one
who has "full assurance of faith" (verse 22), this one
has no assurance. The writer, in speaking of God's judgment, invokes
Isaiah 26:11, where the Lord spoke of judging his enemies. It's
quite clear that there is such a thing as the wrath of God, and
that those who have made themselves God's enemies will experience
it.
The writer then uses rejection of the Mosaic law as a point of
comparison. Someone who set aside - or repudiated - the Law of
Moses would be put to death, provided that the repudiation was
properly attested. The writer does not have a casual transgression
in view. The word translated "set aside" could be more
strongly translated "declare invalid" or "nullify."
It was used in the context of declaring a will invalid (Galatians
3:15). The writer is speaking of outright rejection of the Lord
and his law. (Deuteronomy 17:2-7 would be an example of what the
writer is talking about.)
That was then. What about now? Someone who could have expected
death for repudiation of God under the Old Covenant can expect
something worse for repudiation under the New Covenant, which
involves God's fullest expression of love and grace.
In verse 29, the writer defines someone who goes on sinning willfully.
Already he has hinted that this person has rejected the sacrifice
of Christ. Now he says that this person has done three things:
1) Trampled under foot the Son of God. 2) Regarded as unclean
the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified. 3) Insulted
the Spirit of grace. The title "Son of God" implies
kingship, and this person "tramples under foot" the
king, treating the king with utter disdain and refusing to submit
to his rule. The blood of the covenant is Christ's blood, which
ratifies God's covenant with his people. This person has considered
that blood to be unclean, or of no account whatsoever. Finally,
in rejecting God's Son, this person has insulted the Spirit of
grace, rejecting the Holy Spirit through whom God longs to express
his grace to people.
What, then, can be said about someone who "sins willfully"?
It can be said that this person wants no part of Christ, that
he has utterly rejected the salvation that God has offered after
being fully exposed to that offer. In being exposed to the offer,
this person received the knowledge of the truth and was "sanctified"
by the blood of Christ. This is not a person who ever believed
the gospel; this is someone got a good look at it and then rejected
it. Although the writer used the word "sanctify" in
describing a believer (10:10, 14), the broad meaning of the word
is to be set apart for something. The blood of Christ set apart
this person for exposure to the gospel, for apart from the blood
of Christ, there is no gospel. The word is used by Paul to describe
an unbelieving spouse who is "sanctified" by his or
her believing partner (1 Corinthians 7:14). Paul clearly doesn't
mean "saved" here, because he says in verse 16, "For
how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband? Or
how do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife?"
He means that an unbelieving spouse is exposed to the gospel and
its benefits through the believing spouse. The writer of Hebrews,
just as he did in Chapter 6:4-8, is describing someone who has
seen the benefits of the gospel and then rejected it. This person
has chosen to be God's adversary. This person, therefore, will
experience God's judgment, which will involve "severer punishment"
than the punishment of death called for in the Law of Moses.
The certainty of this judgment is explained in verse 30. God himself
has said, "Vengeance is mine; I will repay" (Deuteronomy
32:35), and, "The Lord will judge his people" (Deuteronomy
32:36). The Lord's people are those who have gathered to the community
but, as always, constitute a mixed bag - those who are truly believers
and those who aren't (Romans 9:6-7, Matthew 13:24-30). Just as
there is a "terrifying" expectation of judgment for
those who have rejected Christ, it is "terrifying to fall
into the hands of the living God" - it is terrifying to experience
God's judgment. God is "living": he is not like dead
idols in that he can actually do something about those who oppose
him. For those who do, it will be terrifying.
So, there is a warning to be heeded. The evidence for saving faith
is persevering faith. Because there will be a terrifying judgment
for those who don't persevere, we are motivated to persevere,
and we are motivated to encourage others to persevere.
Reward for persevering in faith (10:32-36)
Hebrews 10:32-36:
(32) But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, (33) partly, by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. (34) For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one. (35) Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. (36) For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.
As a means of exhortation, the writer calls to his readers'
minds "the former days" when they endured great suffering.
The suffering that the writer wants them to remember came in two
forms - that which they incurred directly and that which they
incurred by identifying with those who were suffering. In the
former days, they suffered great persecution for their faith.
Verse 34 further explains this two-fold suffering, but in reverse
order. In identifying with others, they "showed sympathy
to the prisoners" who were incarcerated for their faith,
no doubt caring for them in practical ways. In incurring direct
suffering, they "accepted joyfully the seizure" of their
property. This introduces an element of incredulity to their response.
It's one thing to endure this kind of treatment; it's quite another
to accept it with joy. Somehow, in the former days of their faith,
they accepted suffering with joy.
How did they do it? The answer is in the last part of verse 34.
They knew they had for themselves "a better possession and
an abiding one." The better and abiding possession is their
eternal inheritance, the country where they would know, serve
and reign with Jesus forever (1:14; 2:5; 5:9; 9:15, 28; 11:16,
35; 13:14). Therefore, they let earthly possessions gladly slip
through their fingers. They were even joyful about it. The seizure
of their property served only to remind them of the more valuable
property they had in their possession - the heavenly land filled
with the presence of God that can never be taken away. The writer's
description of these people is reminiscent of the parable Jesus
told about the man who, motivated by joy, sold everything he had
in order to obtain a treasure - the treasure being representative
of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 13:44). Something that allowed
them to experience such joy in the midst of otherwise agonizing
circumstances must be precious indeed. In asking them to remember,
the writer is asking them to remember how much their eternal inheritance
meant to them in the past and to recognize in the present how
valuable it is.
All this is to tell them that they should not "throw away
your confidence." The word "confidence" was used
earlier in this passage in connection with access to the presence
of God (verse 19). The word here has a broader meaning, as it
does in Hebrews 3:6, where the writer said, " ... if we hold
fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end."
Our overall confidence includes the confidence to draw near to
God, but it also embraces all of faith. This confidence has a
great reward - our eternal inheritance.
The writer recognizes that his readers, though they formerly "endured"
suffering, currently need "endurance." They need to
endure in their faith, just like they did before, regardless of
the circumstances. Endurance includes doing "the will of
God," which involves drawing near to him, holding on to faith
and stimulating others to love and good deeds. Then, at the end
of our lives, or when Christ returns, we will "receive what
was promised" - our eternal inheritance.
Perhaps we too would do well to remember the former days, when
knowing Christ reigned supreme in our lives, when the prospect
of knowing him forever in a new and perfect creation enabled us
to endure great suffering. A spiritual slump after initial enlightenment
is a common experience. Sometimes, we long for those days again,
when Christ was fresh and life was full. We try to find a way
to recover the zeal, but our recovery projects fail. Perhaps other
concerns have choked our first love, like the "worries of
the world, and the deceitfulness of riches and the desire for
other things" (Mark 4:19). Perhaps it is time to ask questions
like these: "Has anything else given me the joy that Jesus
did? Has anything else filled me with hope the way he did? These
other things that seem so important - how satisfying are they,
really? How long will they last? What kind of reward does anything
other than faith in Christ have?"
What is it that gives us endurance? What is it that keeps us holding
on to faith? What is it that gives us joy even when suffer loss?
It is the better possession, the lasting possession, the great
reward, the promise. It is God's promise that we will be with
him forever. The promise of a glorious future and everlasting
possession, then, frees us from the paralyzing fear of loss in
the present - loss of possessions, loss of money, loss of work,
loss of reputation, loss of relationship.
C.S. Lewis beautifully illustrates persevering faith in "The
Screwtape Letters," where Screwtape, the senior devil, gives
this advice to his young nephew: "Do not be deceived, Wormwood.
Our cause [the Devil's cause] is never more in danger than when
a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's
will [God's will], looks round upon a universe from which every
trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been
forsaken, and still obeys." There are times in life when
every trace of God's goodness in our lives seems to have vanished
- when we have suffered tremendous loss of some kind. What is
it that keeps us going? It is the belief that we will receive
something infinitely more valuable than whatever it is we just
lost. The belief, then, this confidence, should not be thrown
away.
Christ is coming to judge, reward (10:37-39)
Hebrews 10:37-39:
(37)For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
(38)But My righteous one shall live by faith;
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.
(39) But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.
The concluding verses in this passage sum up the concepts of
judgment for rejection of Christ (10:26-31) and reward for faith
in Christ (10:32-35). The writer uses words from Habakuk 2:3-4,
when God promised judgment and vindication in connection with
the coming of the Babylonians against Judah. In this case, it
is only "a very little while" before "he who is
coming will come" - that is, Christ (Hebrews 9:28, Matthew
11:3). He is coming to judge, and to reward. If in the writer's
framework, Christ was to come in a little while and not delay,
when did that happen, or has it happened? In one sense, Christ
already came to judge and reward, just as he said he would, in
70 AD. It wasn't the Babylonians this time but the Romans who
sacked Jerusalem, executing God's judgment against Israel but
vindicating Christ and his followers. That happened shortly after
the writer penned Hebrews. But 70 AD doesn't exhaust the day of
the Lord, so there's more to come. And even if several hundred
years might not be considered "a very little while,"
the human life span is short, and at the end of it, a man or woman
meets Christ. He who is coming comes.
What happens then? If someone is one of God's righteous ones who
has faith, he will live.
Literally, the text reads, "But the righteous of mine out
of faith will live." A righteous one of God is simply one
who belongs to God - he is "the righteous of mine."
God's righteous ones are characterized by faith in Christ and
the promises of God. On the basis of this faith, they will "live"
- they have, and will enter into the fulness of, eternal life.
If, on the other hand, someone "shrinks back," or withdraws
from faith in Christ and the promises of God, he is not among
God's righteous ones. Therefore, God takes no pleasure in him,
and his fate is not eternal life but destruction, which is a punishment
worse than death (verse 29).
But the writer is confident that "we" - meaning, his
readers - will not be among those who shrink back from God but
people of enduring faith "to the preserving of the soul."
The word "soul" can also be translated "life,"
and that nuance is consistent with the passage, and with Hebrews
as a whole. People who persevere in faith enter into eternal life.
He offered similar encouragement in Hebrews 6:9-11 after his similar
warning in Hebrews 6:4-8.
Start now
The message, then, is clear: Draw near. The opposite of drawing near is withdrawing, which some insist on doing to the point that they completely reject the gospel and are subject to the wrath of God. But that is not what God wants. He wants us close to him. He wants us with him forever. And he wants us to start getting close to him now. Those who draw near to God receive fulness of joy and pleasures forever.
- SCG, 10-12-97
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