HRC New Testament Reading Plan: daily NT reading devotional thoughts.
22 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. 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,
Hebrews 10:22-24 NIV
What are you doing to grow in your relationship with God?
In Hebrews 10, the author continues his explanation of the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood, concluding that “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10 NIV). He then provides the fourth of his five exhortations: draw near to God.
The exhortation begins with three “let us” passages: draw near to God (v. 22), hold unswervingly to the hope we profess (v. 23) and consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds (v. 25). He has previously given reasons why they should not turn back, including Jesus being superior to the old covenant messengers of God and that his sacrifice is superior to that of the old covenant priesthood. He now turns toward how they can persevere in their faith with this and the next exhortation.
As mentioned in previous day’s posts, exhortations are both warnings and encouragements. First the warning: if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the truth, no sacrifice remains but only a fearful expectation of judgement. Repeated deliberate sin is related to treating Jesus’ blood as an “unholy thing”, deserving of punishment.
He follows that up with the encouragement: remember how you suffered persecution and joyfully accepted it because of the promise of salvation before you. He encourages them to “not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded” (Hebrews 10:35 NIV).
By drawing near to God and not shrinking back, we also will persevere and have the rewards of faith and salvation. Let us draw near, hold unswervingly and consider how we spur one another on.
Questions:
- What does the passage say about having confidence as we live out our faith?
- What does it say about perseverance? How does this perseverance give us confidence?
- What are some ways you can draw near to God? Find something you can do for your prayer life or Bible study to draw nearer to God and begin doing that today.