“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Heb. 10:23)
The author of Hebrews encourages us to “hold fast to the confession of our hope”. What does this mean? In order to know the answer, we must study the context in the previous verses:
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” 17 then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 18 Now where there is [remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb. 10:16-22)
To hold fast to the confession of our hope is directly connected to the reality we live in because of the New Covenant. When Jesus poured out His blood as an atonement for our sins, this did not accomplish a temporary forgiveness until next time we sin, which was the case with the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant. Jesus’s sacrifice of Himself on the cross lead to that the world’s past, present, and even future sins were put away. Because of this fact, there is no longer a need for any more sacrifices for sin (v. 18). Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrificial lamb who – once for all – took away the sins of the world.
Previously, in the same chapter, we read:
10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb. 10:10)
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. (Heb. 10:14)
God has forever perfected those who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We are not made perfect until the next time we sin. We are made perfect for all future! Because of this, we can always – even in moments when we have failed or sinned – draw close to God with boldness, with a heart that has been sprinkled from an evil conscience (v. 19, 22).
In other words: To hold fast to the confession of our hope is to hold fast to that we are righteous and perfect before God – not because of us being perfect in ourselves, but because of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf.
In moments of failure, when we don’t feel clean or righteous, we stand firm in faith in what Jesus has done for us. Without wavering, we hold fast to the hope and confession that we are righteous by grace through faith in Jesus – as opposed to as a result of our own performance.
