19) Therefore, brothers, 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 in full assurance of faith, 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) Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage 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. (NIV 1984)
Read the passage several times and note anything that stands out to you or questions that come to mind. THEN, ponder the following questions as a way to help you ponder these verses:
Who is the author of Hebrews addressing in this passage? (v 19)
What does he mean by “the Most Holy Place”? (v 19) Click HERE for help.
v.19 – The author talks about confidence before God. Ponder these 3 questions: 1) Do you have complete confidence that you are indeed saved? 2)Do you have complete confidence that God hears and responds to all of your prayers? 3) Do you have complete confidence that God delights in you as a father delights in his child?
Why is it possible to have this kind of confidence?
v.20 – What is the old way that the author subtly alludes to in this verse?
Make a list of the things the author says to “Let us” do.
- v.22
- v.23
- v.24
- v.25
- v.25
Why are we to do those things on the list?
How can we draw near to God? What have you found helpful to do this? In what ways do you keep God at arms length?
To what is the washing with pure water referring to, both in the Old and New Testaments? (check out this link for help: Washing with Pure Water )
Ponder verse 23. What is the hope we profess? How do you “hold unswervingly” to hope? What does the author implore us to keep in mind?
Continue pondering verse 23. What promises has Jesus made to believers?
In what practical ways can we spur one another on toward love and good deeds?
For what reason should we meet together?
What Day could the author of Hebrews be referring to? What should it prompt in us?
How do you reconcile verses 26-27 with the doctrine that says “once saved, always saved”? (Click HERE for help)
Read the following excerpts from a sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon. Take note of anything that captures your attention or of questions that are provoked by the reading. Then ponder the questions at the end.
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised).”—Hebrews 10:23.
I pray God the Holy Spirit to bless these words as we shall think them over. May he make this evening’s meditation a means of establishment to us, that, while we hold fast the profession of our faith, the blessed truths of that faith may also hold us fast as an anchor holds a ship! Never was there a time in which this was more needful. That exhortation, “Let us hold fast,” might well be written on the cover of every Christian’s Bible. We live in such a changeful age, that we need all to be exhorted to be rooted and grounded, confirmed and established, in the truth.
I shall call your attention, first, to this point—what we have. We have faith, and according to the second rendering, which is adopted by the revisers, we have hope. Then, secondly, what we have done. We have made a profession of that faith—a confession of that hope. Then, thirdly, what we are now to do—to hold fast that profession of faith and hope; and if you ask me, in the fourth place, why we are to do it? I shall in closing give you this reason—because “he is faithful that promised.” If God is faithful, let us be faithful too. Since hitherto he has proved himself most true, let us pray that we may be true also.
- First, then, dear brothers and sisters, let us think of what we already have by the grace of God.
We believe that Jesus is the Christ, and our trust for eternal life is in him alone.
It is not a matter of question with you, dear friend, is it, as to whether you know Jesus to be the Son of God, very God of very God? It is past all question with you that Jesus bore your sins in his own body on the tree. You have no doubt about his wondrous death and his marvelous resurrection from among the dead. You believe that he has offered a sacrifice once, which once offered has ended the sin of his people, and that he has gone into his glory, and is now sitting at the right hand of God, expecting till his foes be made his footstool. You have no more doubt about that than you have about your own existence. You also believe that he will shortly come to be our Judge—that he will gather the nations before him, and that he will reign King of kings and Lord of lords. Your faith, then, in the Lord Jesus Christ is not a matter of “if” and “but”: you stake your salvation on it. I can truly say that if what I preach be not true, I am a lost man. I have invested all that I have in Christ. If this barge sink I drown, for I cannot swim, and I know no other life-boat. Christ is all in all to me: without him I can do nothing, I have nothing, I am nothing. Jesus in the matter of salvation is everything from beginning to end to me. And you can say the same, I know.
Wrapped up in that hope, we have personal hopes of our own, which hopes are, first, that our spirits, when we depart the body, shall be with Christ. We have been with him here, and we believe we shall be with him there. Though in some sense while we are present in the body, we are absent from the Lord, yet in another sense he is with us even now. We expect ere long to be absent from the body, and in a fuller sense present with the Lord. Such is our joyful hope and expectation: glory, millennium, heaven, eternity, all lie within the circle of our hope. Ours is not the larger, but the largest hope.
- Secondly, we have gone a step further than the silent possession of faith and hope. We have made a profession of our faith, and a confession of our hope.
Hold fast the profession of your faith. By the memories of the day when you made that profession, be firm in it to the end. If you were not false then, if you were not deceivers then, hold fast the confession of your hope without wavering, for “he is faithful that promised.” To me it is a solemn memory that I professed my faith openly in baptism. Vividly do I recall the scene. It was the third of May, and the weather was cold because of a keen wind. I see the broad river, and the crowds which lined the banks, and the company upon the ferry-boat. The word of the Lord was preached by a man of God who is now gone home; and when he had so done, he went down into the water, and we followed him, and he baptized us. I remember how, after being the slave of timidity, I rose from the liquid grave quickened into holy courage by that one act of decision, consecrated henceforth to bear a life-long testimony. It was by burial with Christ in baptism that I confessed my faith in his death, burial, and resurrection. By an avowed death to the world I professed my desire henceforth to live with Jesus, for Jesus, and like Jesus. Oh that I had been more faithful to that profession! But there it was, and I am not ashamed of it, nor wishful to run back from it. Ah no! I bear in my body that water-mark, that fulfilment of the Holy Scriptures, which saith, “Having your hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and your bodies washed with pure water.”
III. The third point is to be, what are we now to do? The answer is—we are called upon to hold fast the profession of our faith.
You are Christians, not for time, but for eternity. Your new birth is not into a dying existence, but into life everlasting. You are born again of a living and incorruptible seed, that liveth and abideth forever. Wherefore, quit yourselves like men and be strong. Stand fast, “Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Continue your confession, and never conceal it.
Let us bear our testimonies while we can. Let us speak up for our Master while we may, and by-and-by we shall see him whom our soul loves, and rejoice in him forever.
- why are we to do this? We are to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, because he is faithful that has promised.
Have you found him faithful? Has the Lord failed you? Has the Lord been untrue in his promises to you? If he has, then do not hold fast your profession. If, after all, it has been a mistake and a delusion, then give it up. But if he is faithful that has promised—if he has kept his word to you, and helped you in your trouble, sustained your heart under burdens, comforted you in the dark hour of trial—if till this moment you have proved the power of prayer, the wisdom of providence, and the truth of the sacred word, then deal with my Lord as he has dealt with you. Be not faithless to the Crucified. Oh! be not Judas to him who is Jesus to you. He gave his heart for you, and even after death it poured out blood and water for you: give your whole heart to him. If it be so that these truths are firmly established, and that God keeps his covenant, then let us come at once to the feet of the blessed Lord, and say, “Lord, we do not regret that we entered thy service; on the contrary, we are ready to begin again.” If we had our lives to live over again, we that began to be Christians as lads would begin earlier. We that have served the Lord desire no better Master, and no better service; but we would wish him to find in each one of us a better servant. Lord, we have been happy with thee. When we have been unhappy, it has been our own fault, not thine. We would return to thee and say, “Permit us still to serve thee. We would be thy servants forever.” I have heard of a husband and wife who felt their love for each other to be so strong, that they almost wished to go through the wedding ceremony again, to show how content they were to bear the easy yoke of married love. Many of us could say the same. We would also be joined anew to our Lord. Let us afresh take upon us his yoke. Let us put our shoulder down to the cross again, and commence again to serve the Lord Jesus with the love of our espousals and the freshness of our earliest days. May the Lord bless us to that end. While we are doing this, I hope that others who never did love him before will now say, “We will come with you and begin a new life from this good hour.” It will be a happy, happy circumstance if this should be the case. God grant it may be so with many, for Jesus’ sake! Amen.[1]
- How do you respond to the statement, “That exhortation, “Let us hold fast,” might well be written on the cover of every Christian’s Bible.”?
- Why is it important to remember your own profession of faith and what God has done?
[1] C. H. Spurgeon, “Holding Fast Our Profession,” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 32 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1886), 229–240.
(This study was submitted by Jarrod Gunn and edited by Shay Reyner)