Hebrews 10:17-25 - The Confidence of the Saints

Chad Werkhoven
14 hours ago
3 min read

Confidence doesn't come from what you've done, but from what you have.

Text from Hebrews 10:19 on a rustic brown and red curtain background, emphasizing "BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS" in bold red letters. — Faithlife.com

Hebrews 10:17–25 (NIV)

¹⁷Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more.”

¹⁸And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let 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. ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵not 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.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Point 3 - Total Depravity

Point 4 - Irresistible Grace

Point 5 - Perseverance of the Saints

Article 6: God’s Saving Intervention

For God,
- who is rich in mercy,
- according to his unchangeable purpose of election
does not
- take his Holy Spirit from his own completely,
- even when they fall grievously.
Neither does he let them
- fall down so far that they forfeit
  - the grace of adoption
  - and the state of justification,
- or commit the sin which leads to death
  - (the sin against the Holy Spirit),
  - and plunge themselves, entirely forsaken by him, into eternal ruin.

Summary

There's a lot riding on the phrase Therefore... since we have. First, it reinforces that you as the reader is included and participating right alongside the author. He isn't just telling us of some obscure feeling he discovered for himself, but rather what we have together.

And what is it that we have? Nothing less than the confidence that comes from receiving our Father's full forgiveness of our sins and lawless acts. What a comfort this is after a couple of weeks reading about the moral failures every saint falls into!

Secondly, this phrase makes clear that those who've experienced such salvation have an obligation. Since you have been forgiven, you must enter the Most Holy Place, draw near to God, hold unswervingly to the hope you profess, spur one another on, and not give up meeting together. In other words, since you have been forgiven, you must live a saintly life (notice the order there; you don't live a saintly life to be forgiven, but because you've been forgiven!).

And don't miss how you've been equipped to meet this obligation we have: with the confidence that comes through the new and living way through... Christ's body. You have the full assurance that faith brings; your heart has been sprinkled to cleanse your guilty conscience. And most of all, you can have all of this confidence because you know that He who promised is faithful. His grace is stronger that you.

Dig Deeper

We've been unpacking this fifth and final doctrine of grace - the Perseverance of the Saints - for six weeks now. So far we haven't read much about our saintliness. Quite the opposite, in fact: the focus has been on our persistent sinfulness! As Martin Luther famously declared, Christians are simil justus et peccator - at the same time saints and sinners.

So we've learned that although our continuing sins can cause us to lose sight of God's grace for a time, they can never pry us away from it. This week, article six informs you that despite your sins, your Father will never take his Holy Spirit from you completely, or let you fall down so far that they forfeit the grace of adoption and the state of justification.

So it is that the writer of Hebrews reminds you of what it is that we have because He who promised is faithful, not because we who followed are. You can be confident, bold, assured, and certain knowing that you are firmly held in your Fathers omnipotent hands.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, the One who promised, is faithful;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will live as the saint you are in the confidence that comes from confession and repentance;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: