Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one 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.” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:19–39)

This is the first in a three-part series looking at Hebrews 10:19-39. In many ways this is a follow-up and conclusion to the last several posts on the New Covenant and its implication (see “A Better Word than Abel“, 5/13/21, for the start of this series). Now, the author of Hebrews is going to turn practical. Here, he gives some practical directions based on what he has said before. We can break this passage into three parts:

• Drawing Near to God and Others (vv. 19-25)
• The Danger of Shrinking Back (vv. 26-31)
• Confident Baby Steps and Maturity (vv. 32-39)

Drawing Near to God and Others

Notice that the passage begins with “therefore.” This links back to what has previously been said. Since context is important to understanding any passage of Scripture, we’ll briefly mention that the author of Hebrews has gone to great lengths to show the superiority of the New Covenant and of Jesus. In fact, his two statements beginning with “since” (vv. 19, 21) are really a summary of what he has argued up to this point. He tells us:

Since we have confidence to enter the holy place.

The author starts out by reminding us that we have “confidence” to enter the holy place. First, what does it mean to be able to enter “the holy place”? Simply put, it means that we now have direct access to God. Previously the author of Hebrews had said, “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). We can now approach the very throne of grace. In the Old Testament this was represented by the ark of the covenant. The top of the ark was covered with gold, with golden cherubim on either side. It was referred to as the mercy seat. The ark was in the innermost part of the Tabernacle and Temple, the most holy place (the holy of holies), which was separated from all the rest by a thick curtain. No one was allowed to enter behind the curtain except the High Priest, and then he could only enter once a year.

Now, however, not only can we enter the holy place and approach God’s throne, but we can do so in confidence. On what is our confidence founded? We don’t enter by our own works, but “by the blood of Jesus.” He has opened the curtain, giving us a fresh and living way, “through His flesh,” that is, His death and resurrection. And what does this confidence do? It helps us “receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” We can ask God, our heavenly Father, for help, without fearing judgment or condemnation. In fact, He delights to help us.

Since we have a great high priest over the house of God.

Recall that Jesus is called the Great High Priest, and He is a far better priest than Aaron (see “Jesus, the Highest Priest“). While he can empathize with the temptations and sufferings of His people (as could Aaron), He did not submit to the temptations but lived .a perfectly sinless life. So what advantage is this for us? We have an Advocate, who can say (at the same time) “I’ve been there” (empathizing with us) and “you can do it through My grace” (a statement of encouragement).

Let Us Draw Near and Love

Since we have such a new confidence and new access to God, the author says, we should act in that confidence.

Let us draw near

This is an echo of the verse we already mentioned, Heb. 4:16, which encourages us to “come confidently (some translations say boldly) before the throne of grace.” We are invited to draw near to God, to His very throne. In the Old Testament, God was always at a distance. When He gave the law to Israel at Mount Sinai, there were barriers around the base of the mountain to prevent the people and animals from even touching the mountain. Only Moses was allowed to go up.

Now, though, those barriers have been removed. We can approach God as our heavenly Father. In fact, He desires us to draw near. He delights in us drawing near. He invites us to draw near (James 4:8). We can approach Him in confidence knowing that He, because of His great love, saved us so that we might come near. We can approach Him in confidence knowing that He’s a good father, who has a good plan for us.

We are to draw near “in full assurance of faith” or “with a full measure of faith.” How do experince tha? The author tells us: having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. When we have things weighing on our conscience, it hinders both our faith in and our fellowship with the Lord. Not from His side, mind you, but from ours. We tend to want to repeat Adam and Eve’s behavior. They tried to hide from God, and we tend to draw away also.

But we have the promise of cleansing and forgiveness. John tells us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, emphasis added). Not only are we forgiven, but we are cleansed. We can experience a clean conscience, and thus we can again draw near to the Father.

Let us hold fast

Not only are we told to draw near, but because we can now approach the throne of our Father, we are told to “hold fast.” We are told to hold fast to “the confession of our faith without wavering.” To me, this gives the since of holding on with everything we’ve got, holding on for dear life. When we hold to our confession of faith, we are holding on to Him.

Why can we hold fast to our faith? Because “He who promised is faithful.” Our Father has promised to forgive our sins, transform us into His image, use us to impact the world, and ultimately take us to be with Him forever. And He has shown Himself faithful over the centuries. He keeps His word. That is one of the most fundamental characteristics of God: faithfulness. Because He has promised, we have a solid rock to cling to.

Let us consider

As we move toward God and hold fast to Him, we are also to move toward others, specifically our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to consider how we can stir one another up to love and good works. This isn’t a Christian “pep rally,” though, to simply stir up emotions (as is often common in the modern church). Rather, it’s giving spiritual encouragement, appealing to the desires of the Spiritual Heart (the new heart), with practical ideas.

This encouragement, the author of Hebrews tells us, comes mainly in the corporate setting of the assembly. He contrasts stirring up one another to love and good works with neglecting to meet together. Can we encourage each other outside that setting? Of course, and we should! But there is something deeply strengthening about encouraging one another in the midst of the church assembly. To me, this suggests that the way we “do” church needs to change, allowing for more people to actively participate in such encouragement.

And we are to give this encouragement all the more, the author says, as we see the Day approaching? What Day is he talking about? The Day of the Lord, when He returns in victory and judgment. Often as we run a race, the end part of the race is harder and harder, and we are more tempted to quit. This is why we need more encouragement the closer we get to that Day.

In our next post we’ll talk about the danger that we face in shrinking back from these encouragements and from the faith.

Let us draw near, hold fast, and encourage one another in confidence and faith in the Risen Christ.

Go to Part 2