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"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."
(Hebrews 10:23)
Hebrews 10:19-25 is a very rich passage that speaks of Christ, salvation, and the church. Scholars vary in their belief as to who wrote Hebrews; the four leading candidates are Paul, Apollos, Barnabus, and Luke. Hebrews was written around AD 65 before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. It is written to Hebrews, Jewish believers, both in Jerusalem and scattered abroad in the Roman Empire. Our text consists of seven verses, but in the Greek New Testament, these verses are one long sentence. There are three main imperative commands in the text: let us draw near, let us hold fast, and let us consider one another.
What does it mean to hold fast? It means to keep secure, or keep firm possession like a sailor at the helm of the ship (BlueletterBIble.org). This is a word of activity, a command to stay the course and be true to our confession of hope without wavering.
Why the command to hold on and be faithful? Like the church in the 1st century, the church in the 21st century is daily assaulted with temptations to give in and not hold fast. What a sacred trust deposited, given to us, that we are a part of something so grand as the church of Jesus Christ, and we are to hold fast to this awesome faith once and for all delivered to us by the apostles. Jude 3 teaches us "to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."
The Reformers called this holding fast the perseverance of the saints. We hold on to Him who is holding us, and we do this in faithfulness, not in order that we might be saved but because we are truly saved, and our holding true to Him gives evidence of that salvation. (See MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, p. 266.) Jesus said in Revelation 2:25, "But hold fast what you have till I come."
Jesus is faithful to His Word. He will be with us, never leaving or forsaking us, and He will come again for us. Philippians 1:6 states, "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."
Allow me to encourage you to hold fast, be faithful to Him who is always faithful to you. It is not easy serving Christ in this world in which we live. And yes, even church can get difficult. We are constantly bombarded with messages that are just the opposite of how we are to live. Pew Research has indicated that about 25-30% of Americans attend religious services weekly or almost weekly. But the average American in one year's time watches 1,200-1,600 hours of TV, spends 1,500 plus hours surfing the Internet, several hundred hours watching streaming videos, and 2 plus hours a day viewing videos on their cell phones! I can assure you that most of the content of these messages has little to do with the blood of Jesus or holding fast to our faith without wavering. Unfortunately, many sermons in churches in America have little Bible content, or mentioning the blood of Jesus, or calls to holiness—yet we scratch our heads in bewilderment as to the current state of our country and world.
I join in with the biblical author of Hebrews and admonish you to hold fast to Jesus and the truth!
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