Hebrews 10:19-39
New Living Translation
A Call to Persevere in Faith
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 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. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”[d] and again, “The Lord will judge his people.”[e] 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
“In just a little while,
he who is coming will come
and will not delay.”[f]
38 And,
“But my righteous[g] one will live by faith.
And I take no pleasure
in the one who shrinks back.”[h]
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.
My thoughts and observations:
We should consider how we can encourage one another on toward love and good deeds.
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth about Christ’s sacrifice, no sacrifice for sins is left, and then we have a fearful expectation of judgment. We lose our confidence in our salvation.
We need to feel confident and hopeful about our salvation; therefore we need a clean conscience.
It is important to persevere in our Christian walk.
Teaching Points from https://studyhebrews.com/hebrews10-1-24.html
1. Verses 19-21 – These verses give us a concise summary of the main points that have been taught in the last several chapters. What are the main points?
a) We can enter the holy place (God’s presence) by the blood of Christ.
b) He has given us a new covenant
c) He tore down the veil through the sacrifice of His own body
d) We have a great high priest!
2. What are we supposed to do based on all the things we have learned in the past few chapters? That is what the next few verses tell us. These verses get to the application of what we have been learning. Remember the goal of studying the Word is life change so pay attention and consider how you can do these things in specific ways in the coming days/weeks.
a) Draw near with a sincere heart – We have a great high priest. He offers us grace and love and mercy and compassion. Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. Do it with a sincere heart. Remember that God cares about our heart attitude more than our external appearances.
b) In full assurance of faith – Do not waiver. Do not doubt. We can have confidence in Him.
c) Our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience… and bodies washed with pure water – If we belong to Christ the above words are true about us. Do not go back to your former way of life. Do not love the world. Put on the new and toss off the old. Be quick to repent of sins and do not allow them to gain a foothold. Also, be grateful to God for the forgiveness which He offers. Be a true worshiper of Him.
d) Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering – Stand firm. Do not allow suffering or persecution or the temptations of this world to weaken your relationship with Christ. Remember that Satan often attacks little by little. He seeks to defeat us through small compromises and little defeats. I remember the words of Gandalf in LOTR. He was encouraging a small group of soldiers when the enemy was about to break through the gates. “Stand firm! You are soldiers of Gondor! No matter what comes through those gates, hold your ground!” Then two enormous giants broke through. For us, stand firm. We are soldiers of Christ. We can stand firm not because of our own power but because He is faithful. He will fulfill every single one of the promises He has made to us.
e) Consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds – This is one of the most famous verses in the Bible on Christian fellowship. Notice the active voice. Don’t wait for other Christians to befriend you. Don’t wait for them to invite you to their house or to a meal. Don’t wait for them to introduce themselves. Take the initiative to reach out. Meet new Christians. Develop new relationships. Offer hospitality. During those times, seek out ways to encourage and help each other spiritually.
f) Not forsaking meeting together – Don’t live your Christian life in isolation. That is a recipe for failure. God made us as social beings. Following Christ is hard enough even with help from other believers, without them it could be said to be impossible (since if you are trying by yourself you are already in sin and disobeying this command). Meet with other believers. Meet with them not only in church, but also throughout the week. In church we often times will not have real opportunities for in-depth discussion or encouragement. Smaller meetings can be more personal and help us really get to know each other so that we will feel comfortable to feed into each others’ lives.
Application: Which principle will you apply in the coming week? How?
Steve Holder 