Pt. 1 - Drawing Near or Shrinking Back?

Introduction

2 Timothy 4:7–8 (NIV)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Hebrews 10:19–39 (NIV)

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,

And since we have a great priest over the house of God, let 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. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not 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.

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering.

Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

For, “In just a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay.” And, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Drawing Near or Shrinking Back

The writer is sending the party invitations. All the arguments have been made, the collection of key passages from Scripture, all the ideas and images that would have been familiar and unfamiliar used. The exposition of the greatness of Jesus as God’s Son, Greater than Moses, Faithful He is, Truly and fully human, The Great High Priest, and our Mediator of the new Covenant come to a head with a climactic exhortation to the believers proper response to Jesus’ ministry.

deSilva, David says:

“As the author urges them to take advantage of their access to God by drawing near to him in assembling themselves together for worship, he establishes the Christian assembly as the hub or center of their lives in this world. Motion away from this hub (i.e., defection or “shrinking back”) signals motion away from the divine center of the cosmos.”

Ultimately, it is an exhortation to draw near to God and each other and a warning to those who don’t.

The Writer Gives us (And I say, “The Writer” because we don’t actually know for certain who wrote this, sounds like Paul in some areas but could be Apollos or someone else… Needless to say, the Holy Spirit inspired it):

2 “We Haves”

3 “Let Us”

The first refers to personal devotion

The second to consistency

The third to social obligations

My prayer is: To unpack this climactic exhortation to empower and inspire us to be the people that the writer says, “We do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”

1. We have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body

Confident Access to His Presence

Incredible, never dreamed of access to God. The exclusivity of the presence of God “behind the curtain” was great. Only 1 person, 1 time a year, with much preparation and care could enter in for a moment.

There was no offering which we could offer that would make us acceptable to God for free access.

The entrance to the “most holy place” was forbidden to all but now because of Christ, access to the “true” holy of holies is granted to all with faith, something that no previous generation enjoyed.

Not only do we have access, but we have confident or boldness in our access.

παῤῥησίαν—properly means boldness of speech, or freedom where one speaks all that he thinks; and then it means boldness in general, license, authority, pardon.

By the Blood of Jesus, by a New and Living Way

Again, bringing in the Old - the Jewish High Priest had to bring in the blood of bulls and goats. Jesus brought His own.

His blood is the means by which we have access and the source of our confidence.

Where does your confidence lie? For every bit of confidence you have in yourself and performance you will have defeat and you will shrink back.

Our confidence lies not on the strength of our performance but on the strength of all that has been said about Jesus “our High Priest” and His effective offering. In light of what Christ has done, there is no reason or justification for why we should not approach God with confidence and boldness. We now can go where the holiest of holy priests in the Old could not dare to go.

Philippians 3:3 (NIV) For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh

Ray Stedman says: “We can, therefore, enter with boldness and with no uncertainty as to our acceptance, since everything rests on the blood of Jesus.”

Then there is this “New and Living Way”

πρόσφατον [New] - newly killed, just dead; and then fresh, recent.

This New and Living Way supposes by Ray Stedman:

The allusion is to the fact that under the old dispensation the blood was to be offered as soon, as it was shed, and that it could not be offered when it was cold and coagulated. The way by Christ was, however, always open. His blood was, as it were, always warm, and as if it had been recently shed.

Every moment of every day, after you have messed up for the thousandth time, to God, it’s as if Jesus just shed His blood so freshly and you - completely forgiven with access to the throne of grace for everything needed.

The second “We Have”:

2. We Have a Great High Priest Over the House of God.

The High Priest represents the people to God. The greatness and holiness of the priest correlates to our level of access to God’s favor. The access to God’s favor was provided by the “Mediator”. Jesus provides a superior level of access to God’s favor… We may now “approach the throne with boldness” in order to “receive mercy and find favor for timely help.”

How Good is your High Priest!?

The reappearance of the term “household of God” to describe the Christians reminds them of their kinship bonds with, and obligations toward, one another (this will become the direct basis for exhortation in 13:1–3), the nobility of their household, from which their individual honor derives, and the security that they have in the world from having God as the head and protector of this house and guarantor of the honor of its members.

In Summary of the 2 “We Haves”, Jesus has brought us into the presence of God, we belong there, have liberty there, unparalleled access to all previous Old Testament generations. We are in the presence of Him who has the will and power to provide help

Psalm 27:1–3 (NIV)The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.

The writer now moves to what this blessed access we have means lived out. The result of all this is: 3 “Let Us”

1. Let Us Draw Near

Draw Near - a technical term in this epistle’s context is worship. Hebrews 1:1 “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,”

Not just any kind of worship or any state of mind, verse 22 shares: 2 manners by which we “Draw Near” followed by expressing 2 reasons for the basis on which we “draw near”.

With a Sincere Heart (Sincerely)

Worship in Spirit and Truth

This is the fulfilled promise of God from the Old Testament and quoted throughout the book of Hebrews, that the New Covenant would result in a “New Heart”. God said He would write His laws and desires on our heart and mind. Everything now begins in the heart and works outward.

With the Full Assurance that Faith Brings (Believingly)

This assurance comes from (as one commentator put it), understanding the Gospel of Jesus Christ

No room for doubt - because God has revealed Himself through Jesus our Redeemer in every way that deserves our fullest confidence and trust. Tom Wright says,

Hebrews for Everyone So—Come to Worship! (Hebrews 10:19–25)

Faith isn’t something you can just drum up like that by your own efforts. It’s what comes when you are looking hard at the object of faith, namely Jesus—or, if you like, God seen in the light of, and in the face of, Jesus.

Our Hearts Sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience (Without Guilt)

Power of Guilt and Shame - blinds us from the love of God and the Gospel

There will never be a day that we access because we have qualified ourselves.

Clean conscience: the sacrifice offered by the Saviour was designed to give peace to the troubled mind, and to make it pure and holy. An “evil conscience” is a consciousness of evil, or a conscience oppressed with sin; that is, a conscience that accuses of guilt. We are made free from such a conscience through the atonement of Jesus, not because we become convinced that we have not committed sin, and not because we are led to suppose that our sins are less than we had otherwise supposed—for the reverse of both these is true—but because our sins are forgiven, and since they are freely pardoned they no longer produce remorse and the fear of future wrath.

Bodies washed with pure water (With Integrity)

It was common for the Jews and heathen’s to “purify” themselves by washing their hands, etc. They had to use water from a spring, well, or fountain… Sea-water also worked.

The outward and visible sign of this interior cleansing is the washing of their bodies “with clean water.

Baptism is frequently interpreted in the NT as a symbol for the appropriation of the purifying effects of Christ’s sacrifice

We see that we are not only cleansed on the inside, but the outside as well. God doesn’t ignore your flesh and just look at your spirit - that is a dualistic / gnostic approach. God loves you and has purified you - your whole self - inside and outside | Heart and Body… So you can draw near.

The addressees, then, are reminded of their identity as those who have been cleansed by baptism and the blood of Jesus from every external and internal defilement that bars safe access to God. They have been made “holy,” having crossed the boundary between the profane and sacred, separating the defiled from the clean.

We Draw Near sincerely & in faith because we are without guilt & cleansed.