CONFIDENT, BUT NOT TOO CONFIDENT
Hebrews 10:19-39
“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
Having spent much of his sermon—Hebrews feels more like a sermon than a letter or book—establishing how Jesus was the superior sacrifice that is able to fulfil what the Law and the Sacrifices, established in the Old Testament, were not able to because they were intended to foreshadow the blood of Christ as the perfect sacrifice, and how Jesus was the perfect High Priest, the writer concludes that we can have full confidence in the way of Jesus to enter into the presence of God.
That confidence rests solely on the perfection of Christ and not in any way on ourselves and therefore we are encouraged to “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings.” There is nothing more for us to do except to draw near to God sincerely and in faith.
The writer also encourages us to “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” because God is faithful. And finally he calls us to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together” because the Day draws near.
Draw near to God, trust him to deliver his promises, and encourage each other to love and good works: Having done everything so we can come to God, it is now up to us to take advantage of it. As the saying goes, we can be brought to the water but we have to drink it ourselves and we keep on drinking.
Why is this important? Because judgement is a fearful reality. All the theological debate regarding the “once saved always saved” position is deceiving and dangerous because it misrepresents what our salvation is all about. We like to pretend that salvation is a transaction at a single point in time because it is convenient and simplifies the Gospel while the truth is that it is a relationship that is enabled by the sacrifice of Jesus.
“Draw near to God, trust him to deliver his promises, and encourage each other to love and good works” tells us succinctly how we should respond to the work of Christ in order to benefit from it. Do so and experience the faithfulness of God to ensure that you will reach the promised destiny. He does not say, “raise your hand”, “sign on the dotted line”, or “say the sinner’s prayer” and your destiny will be guaranteed.
Spurn that relationship and you slap away the hand of God stretched out to help you. Is that the end for you? Probably not because God has reached out to us while we were yet sinners and surely will continue to do so. But The writer of Hebrews does not allow us to be comfortable in such a position and rightly so.
“If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.”