A Confident Confession of Christ

Hebrews 10:19-25

Main Idea: We have confidence to approach God through Jesus Christ’s priestly work. Because of this confidence, we can encourage one another to grow in assurance as we anticipate Christ’s return.

1. Confidence in Christ (10:19-22)
   1. Entering through the blood
   2. Entering through the priest
   3. Entering with a true heart and full assurance
   4. Entering with clean hearts
2. Holding On to the Confession (10:23-25)
   1. God’s faithfulness to past promises
   2. Present assurance through Christian fellowship
   3. Anticipation for Christ’s future return

When the author sets out the structure and substance of the gospel in Hebrews, he continually reviews its meaning. He will often repeat the same truth, but will do so by emphasizing a slightly different aspect to get the attention of his readers. After considering the “once for all time” aspect of the gospel in Hebrews 10:1-18, the writer turns his attention to another implication of the gospel in Hebrews 10:19-25. He is once again going to summarize its various aspects in order to help his readers remember the glorious realities Jesus’s work accomplishes for his people. Additionally, he will exhort his people to action on the basis of these glorious realities.

Confidence in Christ

Hebrews 10:19-22

The word therefore at the beginning of verse 19 marks a new section and leads us into several implications that are grounded in the truths the author has just finished discussing. The exhortations given by the writer are anchored in the priestly work of Jesus and reinforce just how truly remarkable his work is.

Entering through the Blood

Notice these words: “since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus.” Christian readers can pass over these words without even realizing it, but we must slow down and digest them. “The sanctuary” refers to the most holy place in the tabernacle. No one could enter it except the high priest, who could only go inside it once a year under the strictest supervision. If anyone besides the high priest entered the most holy place without permission, they died. Now, however, on account of Christ’s work on the cross, believers can enter the most holy place with confidence. This does not mean they enter a physical sanctuary, only that they can now enter the very presence of God with confidence in Christ’s work. By God’s grace, the door to his presence is now wide open. That is nothing less than revolutionary.

Some individuals have sought to rid Christianity of blood language, speaking only about Jesus’s love instead. The blood of Christ, however, is integral to Christian theology. His blood divides the sheep from the goats, but unites those it saves. If we lose the language of blood, we lose the gospel. The hymn “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood” by William Cowper captures the role of Christ’s blood beautifully:

There is a fountain filled with blood

drawn from Immanuel’s veins,

and sinners plunged beneath that flood

lose all their guilty stains.

Those words have full biblical warrant.

Hebrews shows that Christians have access to God precisely because the blood of Jesus Christ has made it possible. Without Christ’s blood there is no access to God. There is no remission of sins without the shedding of blood. Just as the old covenant required blood sacrifices, so too does the new covenant require a blood sacrifice. The final and effective blood sacrifice, however, came not through the blood of an animal shed on an altar, but through the blood of God’s own Son shed on the cross. In his perfect and sinless blood, we have boldness to enter the sanctuary.

Entering through the Priest

Verse 20 continues explaining the way Christ opened the door to the presence of God. The author calls this “a new and living way,” words that once again highlight the superiority of the new covenant. Jesus is a better priest of a new covenant, and one who intercedes for his people forever (7:25).

This new and living way is opened “through the curtain.” The curtain in this instance refers to “his flesh”: Christ’s body, broken and bloodied for us on the cross. In the tabernacle, the curtain (or veil) separated the holy place from the most holy place. Christ, by dying on the cross, opened the way to God’s presence. This is represented in the tearing of the temple curtain at the time of Jesus’s death (Matt 27:51). By virtue of Jesus’s priestly work and sacrifice, we no longer enter God’s presence through a curtain. We enter through Jesus, our great high priest over the house of God.

Entering with a True Heart and Full Assurance

On account of all Christ’s work as priest, the author confidently claims that God’s people are to “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” To whom can we draw near? To the Father. And in what manner can we draw near to him? With a true heart in full assurance. In other words, we can now stand before God certain that our sins are forgiven by virtue of our faith in Jesus.

Full assurance of faith has been a matter of Christian turmoil and some controversy throughout the centuries of the church. Many Christians struggle with the certainty of their salvation. But the New Testament exhorts Christians to know they are saved. God grants assurance, not on the basis of man’s faith, but on the basis of Christ’s faithfulness. The apostle John writes in 1 John 5:13, “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” And Romans 10:9,13 promise that the one who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Thus, the believer is to have full confidence, not in self or in personal faithfulness, but in the object of the faith, Jesus Christ. At the same time, believers must heed the numerous warnings the author of Hebrews gives through his letter. A believer necessarily produces fruit. If a faith is fruitless, it will not save.

Entering with Clean Hearts

The language of sprinkling alludes to the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. On the Day of Atonement, the priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat of God, resulting in propitiation (Lev 16:14). Consequently, God would alter his disposition toward Israel from wrath to acceptance. Just as the blood spilled and sprinkled purified God’s people under the old covenant, Christ’s blood purifies us under the new covenant. Jesus’s blood, however, cleanses us with superior power and efficiency. His blood, unlike that of bulls and goats, purifies the conscience. It cleanses us from sin at our cores and perfects our hearts.

The washing with “pure water” also points back to the Old Testament, where washings of the body were required for cleanliness. These washings were unable to truly cleanse the people, though. A washing that truly purifies seems to be the type the author of Hebrews has in mind here. This pure water washes us completely clean from sin. It is a comprehensive cleansing that purifies us internally, not just externally. The language of washing also suggests a beautiful image pointing to baptism as a picture of salvation. In baptism we are graphically buried with Christ and beautifully raised with him in newness of life. It is the external symbol of the internal work accomplished by Christ.

Holding On to Our Confession

Hebrews 10:23-25

In this passage the author of Hebrews brilliantly addresses all aspects of time:

• Past: God’s Faithfulness to Past Promises in Christ
• Present: Assurance through Christian Fellowship
• Future: Anticipation of Christ’s Return

He first comments on the past by mentioning God’s faithfulness to his promises. He addresses the need for Christian fellowship and encouragement in the present. He also extends his exhortations into the future, recognizing the approaching day of the Lord.

God’s Faithfulness to Past Promises

On the grounds of confidence and full assurance, the author of Hebrews implores his readers to “hold on to the confession of our hope.” The confession demonstrates faith. It is the verbal verification of repentant hearts. What is the confession of Christian hope? Jesus is Lord and Jesus saves. The writer of Hebrews is not referencing a lengthy doctrinal statement. The confession on his mind is the central confession that Jesus saves sinners. Christians must never waver or stray from that confession in any capacity. Like the author’s audience, we must hold on to the confession in which we initially place our hope.

The Christian holds on not by his own tenacity, but by God’s faithfulness. We will persevere until the end because God does not abandon his children. God has proved faithful to his promises throughout Scripture. Jesus affirmed the Father’s faithfulness in John 6:37: “Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.” No one who comes to Christ can ever be snatched out of his hand (John 10:28). God’s power guards his children. Man can do nothing by his own power to keep himself. The security of God’s protection and provision allows the church to hold the confession without wavering.

Present Assurance through Christian Fellowship

The author shifts to the present in verse 24. Here he stresses Christian fellowship and the church’s role in helping believers persevere until the end. We cannot have confidence and full assurance of faith apart from the church. We cannot endure in isolation. Each Christian desperately needs the body of believers for encouragement. To obtain assurance, we need continual reminding from other saints.

Christ calls his followers to bring out the best in each other. Believers must actively and verbally stir up one another to love and good works. An unhealthy church fails to do this. Unfortunately, some churches bring out the worst in their attendees rather than the best. The hymn “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” beautifully echoes the fellowship in the Lord Jesus Christ and the value of bearing one another’s burdens.

Christians must not neglect gathering together for corporate worship and for times of prayer and encouragement. Verses 24 and 25 are strong words of judgment against those who are in the habit of neglecting other believers. Those who neglect assembling together cut themselves off from the very means whereby Christ feeds, assures, and protects his people. To say, “I can do this alone,” is to defy the very command of Christ. Some may claim that they can hear better preaching on the Internet or that they are too busy to attend church, but these excuses reveal the reality of a disobedient heart. Instead of searching for an excuse, Christians should be doing everything within their power to meet together. Not only because they need to be fed by the preaching of God’s Word but also because it is part of the faith to stir up fellow believers to love and good works.

Anticipation for Christ’s Future Return

Finally, the author turns his focus on the future. Many English translations capitalize the word day because it refers to a specific day in history. It refers to the day of Christ’s return and God’s judgment (2 Pet 3:10). Christ will call together his church on that day, and he will judge those who do not belong to it.

Faithful anticipation should characterize the church’s daily life. The nearness of Christ’s return makes our encouragement of one another and our gathering together all the more urgent and all the more significant. As time moves toward the Day of the Lord, the author expects the church to grow in faithful commitment. No one knows when that day will come, but God’s Word confirms that the day is imminent. We must remain ready.

Reflect and Discuss

1. Identify the purpose and result of the author’s summaries in Hebrews, particularly in the passage studied above.
2. Why is the blood of Christ an important doctrine for Christians? What would Christianity lose if the blood language were removed? What does Christ’s blood make possible for us? Why?
3. What does the author of Hebrews mean when he says that Christ has opened “a new and living way through the curtain”? How do we enter the presence of God now? Explain the role Christ’s priestly work and sacrifice play in this new and living way.
4. Why are we able to draw near to the Father with a true heart and full assurance? How does Scripture affirm that Christians can have full assurance in their salvation? Give examples.
5. How is Christ’s sprinkling of his blood related to the sprinkling of blood in the Old Testament? How is Christ’s sprinkling superior to the sprinkling of old covenant sacrifices? What does this sprinkling symbolize and accomplish for the believer?
6. How is the washing with water mentioned in verse 22 superior to the washings mentioned in the Old Testament? How do these washings link to baptism? What is the role of baptism in salvation? How significant is baptism for our sanctification? Explain.
7. What is the confession of our hope? Why is it imperative that we not lose this confession? What role does God’s faithfulness play in our holding on to our confession? What role do God’s promises play in encouraging believers? Where in Scripture do you see God fulfilling his promises? How do these instances encourage you to hold on?
8. Why does a Christian need the church? What does the church offer to an individual believer that he cannot get elsewhere or on his own? How does the local church help us endure in the faith and hold on to our confession?
9. What role does discipleship in the local church play in the command the author gives in verses 24 and 25? How can Christians help their brothers and sisters with building confidence in salvation? What are some practical ways that believers can encourage one another to have assurance?
10. How might a church better emphasize living in anticipation of Christ’s coming? How does eschatology influence daily life? How does it affect your daily life? How should it affect our discipleship and church life?