Marks of Confidence in Christ

Notes
Transcript
Many common items have certain characteristic markings that identify them. For example, when I was growing up you could identify a Buick by looking for the decorative hood vents. Every Buick made in that era had them. Until just a few years ago Apple’s products - IPads, IPods, and IPhones all had that distinctive home button at the centered below the display. You saw that button and knew it was an Apple.
Followers of Jesus Christ also have marks that identify them. There are certain things you can expect to see when you observe a Christian.
We have arrived at an important transition point in our study of Hebrews. Up to this point the letter has been very doctrinal. The opening chapters describe the incomparable greatness of God’s Son. Chapters 7-10 focus on the superiority of the new covenant to the old. But at the this point in the letter the emphasis shifts to practical Christian living. The author writes about how those who believe all the doctrines of chs. 1-10 conduct themselves in real world situations.
This morning’s passage identifies some of the marks of those who have put their faith in Christ. Notice how he bridges from the preceding discussion of the superiority of the new covenant to practical matters:
Hebrews 10:19–21 ESV
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,
Hebrews 10:22 ESV
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.
“Since we have confidence and a great priest… let us do something.” The doing is a direct result of the having. There are certain things Christians do because they believe in Christ as their Savior and Lord.
Vss. 22-25 contain 3 exhortations for Christians to live by. You can identify them easily by looking for the words, “let us.” Those words introduce each of the exhortations. And each of the exhortations is to do something that is a mark of confidence in Christ. This morning I’m going to talk about the 3 practices by which Christians show that they are confident in Christ’s sacrifice and high priestly work on their behalf.

1)They draw near to God.

“Let us draw near...” (vs. 22) That’s the instruction given. The basic idea is of moving toward, getting closer to, approaching someone/something. Since the death of Christ and his high priestly work in heaven make it possible for us to have a relationship with God, the obvious meaning is that we are to draw near to Him. The way has been made for us to have a relationship with God. Therefore, let us draw near to Him.
The overarching goal of the Christian life is intimacy with God. The ultimate desire of the Christian life is to be close to God. A saved person will want fellowship with God.
The pursuit of fellowship with God is also a pursuit of personal holiness. Notice how the rest of vs. 22 qualifies the effort to draw near to God:
Hebrews 10:22 ESV
22 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.
Notice the emphasis on purification - hearts sprinkled clean, getting rid of an evil conscience, bodies washed, and not just with water, but with pure water. It’s telling us that purification is essential for fellowship. You can’t have fellowship with God, can’t draw near, if you’re unconcerned about your personal holiness. Let me also point out that this concern for purification includes both inward, spiritual cleansing (the heart) and outward, practical cleansing (the body). I don’t think the mention of our bodies being washed is a reference to personal hygiene. This isn’t, “You smell bad. Go take a shower.” The body is the tool used for behavior. We use our body to perform deeds. So the pursuit of fellowship with God will involve “cleaning up our act.”
The connection between fellowship with God and the pursuit of holiness is made clear in vss. 26-31:
Hebrews 10:26–27 ESV
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
Hebrews 10:28–29 ESV
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 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?
Hebrews 10:30–31 ESV
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 fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
This is a very stern warning to take our sinful deeds seriously. I don’t think the point is to fill us with fear that we are falling into the hands of the living God. It is to remind us that our sinful deeds are not okay. We are engaged in a battle with our own selfish desires. So, out of a desire to draw near to God, we must battle those desires and pursue practical, personal holiness.

2)They hold fast their faith.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope...” The verb is “to hold fast.” The Greek word can mean, “to hinder, restrain, imprison, etc.” It suggests the concept of preventing someone or something from getting away. And that’s what this second exhortation is getting at. Christians are characterized by a desire not to have their confession of hope slip away from them. So they hold fast to it.
So what is “the confession of our hope?” The word used means “a formal statement of allegiance.” Think of a policeman or soldier vowing to defend and protect the people of his community or nation. It is a solemn commitment that impacts every aspect of life from that moment on. And it is a commitment that remains constant even when keeping the commitment is difficult or unpleasant.
Christians are people who have made a confession of hope in Christ. There is a solemn, lifelong commitment to Christ that doesn’t give up when the going gets tough. The danger we must guard against is the danger of fair weather Christianity. The very fact that the scripture exhorts us to hold fast our confession of hope points to the fact that it will be difficult to follow Christ. That’s the point the author of this letter expands on in vss. 32-38:
Hebrews 10:32–33 ESV
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, 33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
Hebrews 10:33–34 ESV
33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. 34 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.
Hebrews 10:35–36 ESV
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 is promised.
Hebrews 10:37–39 ESV
37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one 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 and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
This past week the evangelical Christian community in Alberta was deeply interested in the case of Pastor James Coates who has been imprisoned for his stance on church services in light of covid-19. We were shocked to see it come to a pastor being imprisoned for following his convictions about how to lead his congregation. But why do we think it strange that that should happen? From the very beginning, the disciples of Jesus were imprisoned and ultimately executed for proclaiming Christ. The consistent testimony of the NT is that following Jesus will be difficult and take endurance. What we’re witnessing isn’t something abnormal. If anything, we might be seeing, for the first time in any of our lives, what it means to live a normal Christian life.
This exhortation to hold fast our confession of hope is a reminder to us that following Jesus will be difficult and that perseverance will be demanded of us. The critical question for you and I isn’t what we believe about the stand Pastor James took. It is whether we will hold fast when following Jesus gets really tough for us.
There are certain things which can only be achieved through persistence. But they are worth it. Those who have put their faith in Christ understand that the eternal life offered to them will be attained through difficulty. But it will be worth it. So they hold fast. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

3)They provoke each other to love and good works.

I must point out that the third exhortation in our passage is found in vs. 24, not vs. 25. Without doubt the best known verse in Hebrews ch. 10 is vs. 25. This is the verse we turn to to convince people that they must attend the Sunday morning worship service:
Hebrews 10:25 ESV
25 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.
Don’t get me wrong. Attending the worship service is an incredibly important thing to do. And Hebrews 10:25 can be properly used to support attendance. But it is not the main point of vss. 24-25. The exhortation is not to attend church faithfully. It is to “consider how to stir one another up to love and good works.” (vs. 24) Meeting together has to happen so that we can stir one another up to love and good works. It is impossible to stir some one up if you’re not regularly in the same place as them.
But the mark of a Christian is that he sees himself as someone meant to stimulate his fellow believers to love and good works. He/she attends, not to get a gold star on the church attendance chart, but to have a conversation that stirs a brother or sister up to love and good works.
The word translated “stir up” is paroxyzmos. Literally, it means “a convulsion.” We are to cause convulsions of love and good works in our fellow Christians. It is a mark of our confidence in Christ for us to plot to provoke each to loving relationships and good deeds. It should be the natural product of our salvation to want to cause convulsions of goodness from our fellow believers.
The NASB and King James versions of the Bible use the word “assembling” for “meeting together” in vs. 25. I think we may have the wrong idea of what assembling entails. Most of you have had the experience of purchasing a piece of furniture from Ikea - a bookshelf, desk, or table. When you picked your purchase up at the warehouse, all the parts were together in the box you transported to your home. Someone at the factory had assembled all the necessary parts, ensuring that all the boards and connectors for your TV stand were in the box. But then you took it home, opened the box, and began positioning the boards and connectors in relationship to each other so that they could accomplish the purpose for which they were designed. You assembled your TV stand. It is that second meaning of assembling together that we need to keep in mind when we think about vs. 25. The goal isn’t to have all the parts in the box. It is to have all the parts living in relationship to each other so that they can provoke each other to love and good deeds.
It is a sad fact that many churches have lots of people attending their services but they are not displaying this third mark of confidence in Christ because the attendees never think about how to stir someone else up to love and good works.
May I make this a bit personal? In preparing to participate in today’s service, how much thought have you put into provoking someone else to loving relationships and good deeds?
One more thing: The goal of the togetherness of believers in this passage is not social. It is spiritual. We don’t do what we’re called to in vss. 24-25 by talking about our favorite sport’s team’s accomplishments, or the government’s performance on pandemic vaccinations, or where grain prices are going in the future. It isn’t that we shouldn’t talk about these things or relate to each other on a social level. But it is only when we get beyond all of that and have meaningful conversations that challenge each other to build loving relationships and perform good deeds.
You can be sure of this: If we don’t have someone else stirring us up to love and good works, we’ll probably never get there. Because the Christian life is difficult we need each other to stir one another up to live out the relational and ethical implications of the gospel.
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Christians are people who: 1) Draw near to God, 2) Hold fast their confession, and 3) Consider how to stir one another up to love and good deeds. These 3 practices are completely natural for those who have put their faith in Christ. The life of the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer produces these marks in us. But calling them natural doesn’t mean they are attained automatically by passively sitting back and allowing them to happen. Those who have confidence to enter God’s presence by the blood of Christ, who trust him to provide forgiveness for sins, experience what the Spirit makes natural by actively pursuing these marks. Therefore, since we have confidence in Christ’s blood, and since we have a great priest, let us draw near, let us hold fast, and let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good deeds. Amen.
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