Hebrews 10:19–25

Original Meaning

Let Us Draw Near to God (10:19–22)

THE FIRST EXHORTATION, echoing 4:16, challenges the hearers with “let us draw near to God.”3 Once again the old covenant worship and, especially, the role of the high priest under that system form the appropriate conceptual grid for understanding the author’s words. Whereas this exhortation to “draw near” concludes the series of exhortations at 4:14–16, it initiates the series in 10:19–25. In the latter text the author addresses the bases 4 for the exhortation, the manner in which the action is to be carried out, and the means by which one may draw near to God:

basis for exhortations: Therefore, brothers, 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

2^nd basis for the exhortations: and since we have a great priest over the house of God,

EXHORTATION 1: LET US DRAW NEAR TO GOD

manner: with a sincere heart

2^nd manner: in full assurance of faith

means: having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience

2^nd means: and having our bodies washed with pure water

(1) The author begins with two bases for his exhortation. (a) The first one states, “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.…” As in 4:16, the approach to God is characterized by “confidence,” but in 10:19 the hearers’ possession of that confidence is assumed.5 The word “confidence” (parresia), a rare word in Greek literature, has to do with free and open expression or conduct6 and, in an ancient Jewish context, relates especially to approaching God in prayer.7 This is a “reasoned confidence”8 or boldness with which a believer approaches God, the worshiper being emboldened by the work of Christ. Just as the older covenant high priest was able to enter the earthly Most Holy Place by the blood of animals, the blood (i.e., death)9 of Jesus has won us confident entrance to the Divine Presence.

Our entrance, moreover, is “by a new and living way.” The path is “new” in that it departs from the perennial, ritual requirements as detailed under the old covenant system and also in that it constitutes a way first walked by Christ “through the heavens” (4:14). Yet the word translated as “new” (prosphaton) can also carry the meaning “previously unavailable,” which seems to fit the broader context nicely (9:8). Jesus has opened a path for us, a path unknown and inaccessible to people before the completion of his high-priestly work. Moreover, this way is “living” because we walk it in association with our resurrected Lord. The “way” into God’s presence, therefore, is no longer characterized by death but by following the path of the Living One,10 who has opened, or inaugurated, a route for us “through the curtain.”

“The curtain,” an allusion to the veil separating the outer and inner rooms of the tabernacle, ultimately points to a greater (i.e., “heavenly”) reality—the spiritual barrier through which one must pass in order to enter the presence of God. Closed to any but the high priest under the old covenant system, this passage has now been opened to God’s people by Christ’s sacrifice. The author further draws an analogy, which has been the source of much discussion among commentators, between this curtain and the “body” of Christ. The best interpretations take the phrase “his body” to refer to Jesus’ sacrificial death.11 The whole phrase, then, reiterates a main assertion concerning the effect of that death: The new covenant priest’s sacrifice has made possible our entrance to God’s presence. As the old covenant priest had to pass through the veil, the new covenant people of God enter his presence via the sacrificial death of Christ.

(b) The other basis for the exhortation to “draw near” (10:21) also restates elements of earlier thoughts in Hebrews. The clause “since we have a great priest” mirrors the “since we have a great high priest” of 4:14 and carries the full force of the intervening discourse on the appointment (5:1–10; 7:1–28) and offering (8:3–10:18) of our heavenly high priest. Because of his person and work, our priest is “over the house of God,” a reference reverberating from the writer’s earlier discussion in 3:1–6, which sets forth a comparison of Moses and Christ as leaders of God’s people. Christ’s superior offering has established him as the one who by his work has brought into existence and has responsibility for a new people intimately related to God.12

(2) The writer goes on to present two thoughts concerning the manner with which we are to draw near to God. (a) We must come “with a sincere heart” (10:22). In the Scriptures the heart often represents the inner life of a person, which may involve one’s thoughts, will, emotions, or character. Thus it is significant that the new covenant, with which our author has been greatly occupied, involves the writing of God’s laws on the human heart (8:10). As the reservoir of inner resources (e.g., Prov. 4:23), the heart determines outward behavior. God sees the motivations and commitments of the human heart and requires that the worshiper’s heart be in the right condition. Thus, we must come with a “true” (alethine) heart, the word connoting the idea of being “real, genuine, loyal.” Therefore, if we are to draw near to God, we must do so with hearts genuinely committed to him.

(b) This genuine commitment is closely associated in this passage with a second thought on how we are to approach God: “in full assurance [plerophoria] of faith” (cf. 6:11), a phrase that can also be translated “conviction” or “certainty of faith.” Plerophoria describes the clear-headed confidence and stability generated in true believers as a result of Christ’s work on their behalf.13 To many in modern culture the concepts of “faith” and “full assurance” seem contradictory since faith, especially in the context of religion, communicates a blind leap. Yet in the biblical literature, faith suggests a firm trust placed in God, who has shown himself faithful in his dealings with his people.14

(3) The discussion now follows with the means by which the heart is prepared and, consequently, the believer receives confidence to draw near to God. The two concepts of “hearts sprinkled” and “bodies washed” must be understood against the backdrop of the old covenant purification rituals. The author alludes to the ceremonies for the establishment of the covenant and the purification under that covenant for one who would approach God.

Commentators have been too quick to find in “having our bodies washed” a reference to Christian baptism;15 who can deny that the phrase may have been intended to draw such a connection? Yet the author gives no overt signals that he has the Christian rite in mind. What we do have in Hebrews are uses of the washing imagery in connection with the purification rites found in the Pentateuch (e.g., Heb. 9:13). Thus, the writer continues his use of Old Testament imagery to communicate that the work of Christ has prepared believers to enter the presence of God. To suggest any more moves the interpreter into the realm of speculation.

Bridging Contexts

WE HAVE SEEN these topics before. When I was first asked to do this commentary and grasped the three-step process with which each passage was to be addressed, one of my first reactions had to do with the challenge of application in the great central section of Hebrews (4:14–10:25). In this section the author weaves a “tapestry” of certain prominent theological themes, and this reiteration of common motifs presents the expositor wishing to draw application with an exciting and sometimes daunting task. How does one deal faithfully with the material without repeating the same themes time and again in the task of preaching or teaching the text?

We should remember that repetition is a good teacher. Those whom we teach or to whom we preach need to hear important doctrinal truths repeated. At the same time, however, we must guard our own hearts and minds so that we do not slip into a “been there—done that” attitude. We must remember that each section of the book of Hebrews has a unique role to play, and we must ask, “What specifically does the author wish to accomplish by his material in this section?” and, “What does this mean for our application?”

One role of this passage. As to its roles, we have already noted that 10:19–25 echoes 4:14–16, forming the close of an inclusio that marks the great central section of the book. Nevertheless, 10:19–25 does more than restate 4:14–16; when compared to that text, it demonstrates a development of ideas based on the intervening discussion of Christ’s superior ministry. In a sense, the author has more theological material built into his exhortation at this point, material manufactured in his carefully developed arguments on Christ’s person and work.

For example, note how in 4:14 the author asserts that Jesus “has gone through the heavens,” and in 6:20 that Jesus has gone before us, entering behind the curtain on our behalf. By contrast, the emphasis in 10:19–20 is our entrance into the Most Holy Place, an entrance made possible by the sacrifice of Christ. Also, in 4:16 we are challenged to “approach the throne of grace with confidence”; but the same imperative in 10:22 is accompanied by a strong statement both of the manner in which and means by which we may draw near to God. Both the manner and means have been explicated in the author’s previous treatment of Christ’s sacrifice for sins. Finally, whereas the hearers are challenged to draw near with confidence in 4:16, the possession of that confidence is assumed in 10:19 (i.e., echontes = “having”), based on the author’s Christological exposition in the previous chapters.

Thus the theological content developed so carefully in 5:1–10:18 has a noticeable impact on 10:19–25. This once again emphasizes for a contemporary audience the important, foundational role theology must have in relation to application. Therefore, our applications of the passage will flow from the theological messages woven throughout Hebrews, especially those focusing on the impact of Christ’s death.

Grammatical structure and a second role of the passage. As important as theology is to this passage, we must also recognize the text’s organization around three imperatives: the challenge to draw near to God, to hold unswervingly to our hope, and to encourage one another. Grammatically, the rest of the material in this passage functions to support these three exhortations.22 These commands demonstrate a second important role of this text: The author wishes his hearers to put their Christian profession into action. In fact, 10:19–25 serves as an introduction to the exhortation material running from here to the end of the book.

With 10:19–25, therefore, the author of Hebrews once again demonstrates the important connection between the truths concerning Christ and the implications of those truths for the Christian life. Theologizing alone is not sufficient for a holistic vision of the Christian life. We are called to action. Therefore, the author gives us clear statements of what we should do to put our faith into action. We too are called to (1) draw near to God, seeking intimacy with him, (2) to hold unswervingly to our hope, and (3) to encourage one another consistently—all on the basis of a sound and vibrant Christology. Our Christianity, in order to be in line with the author’s view of the Christian life, must be both doctrinally grounded and energetically acted upon. To neglect doctrine robs our practice of its motivation and means. To neglect acting upon our faith truncates God’s twin goals for us of our maturation and perseverance.

Missteps to avoid. As with other passages in Hebrews, this one has a few hermeneutical stumbling blocks we should mention before moving on to application. (1) For example, when the author calls us to “draw near to God,” he has an activity in mind that transcends time and place. Most have probably seen movies in which a character goes to a church building to ask God for something special. The physical structure is treated as “holy,” a place where “God lives.” We must remember that in terms of New Testament theology, God lives in us, his people (1 Cor. 3:16). Consequently, we should not think of “drawing near to God” as an activity limited to a church worship service, although that should be one important place in which we draw near. No, we should cultivate lives in which we practice the daily presence of God through prayer and the reading of his Word. To yearn to know him means that we will set aside planned times of fellowship with God and pray continually in the midst of demands of each day (1 Thess. 5:17).

(2) It is my opinion that commentators have rushed too quickly to reading baptismal imagery in the references to “sprinkling” and the washing of our bodies “with pure water.” The author here gives no indication that he is doing other than continuing to draw on important images found in the old covenant system. Such sprinkling and washing are pictures the author uses to point to the greater and more perfect cleansing from sins found in the sacrifice of Christ. One can argue that the words at this point would certainly raise thoughts of Christian baptism, but there is no firm indication of that. The danger is that one might too closely associate the physical waters of baptism with the cleansing of sins. Rather, the images of sprinkling and washing here are figurative symbols of the effect of Christ’s sacrifice. Any other suggestion is based on pure speculation rather than on any indication supplied in the text.

(3) Another caution is in order with regard to the author’s challenge to “not give up meeting together.” This exhortation has been used at times to exhort church members to attend every meeting offered by the church during the week: Sunday School, Sunday morning worship, evening worship, visitation on Monday night, prayer meeting Wednesday night, Bible study Friday noon; all are held up as part of the standard for “let us not give up meeting together.”

The principle behind this part of the author’s challenge, however, has to do with consistent involvement in the life of the church rather than frenetic activity in all the programs of the church. We as Christian leaders must not burden people with a guilt trip if they are not at the church five nights a week. The question is whether they are meaningfully engaged in the life of the body on a weekly basis. Are they involved in worship? Are they being educated through preaching and teaching of God’s Word? Are they ministering, exercising their spiritual gifts? Are they experiencing Christian fellowship? We should teach these aspects of healthy Christian living and allow the Holy Spirit to show them how these are to be lived out consistently.

Contemporary Significance

FOR WHAT DO we yearn? The call to be God’s person is often given in terms of right belief coupled with right personal desires and actions—to live “from the head” and “from the heart,” to believe and to yearn for the right things. In the Shema (Deut. 6:4–5), the focal text for the life of a Jewish person, we see this kind of call: “Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one [right belief]. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength [right desire and action].” The command to love and serve with all the heart and soul is repeated in 11:13, with an accompanying promise of blessing if the directive is followed, and again in 13:3, suggesting the Israelites’ devotion would be tested. One finds this call to love God from the heart’s wellspring peppered throughout the Old Testament (e.g., Ps. 27:8, Jer. 29:13–14a). God calls us to draw near and then directs the call to our hearts.

Yet we have a problem, perhaps the focal challenge of life, for our hearts are not always what or where they should be. We go seeking to find our hearts and are led to treasure troves hidden in dark caverns shunned by God (Matt. 6:21). We find there hearts in need of cleansing (Ps. 51:10) and surgery (Deut. 30:6), which are deceitful (Jer. 17:9). We yearn for the wrong things in life, things that crowd out God’s voice and love for him (Mark 4:19). I must ask myself daily, “For what am I yearning today? To what are my energies and efforts being drawn?” Am I, like Moses, drawing near to God in a “face-to-face” intimacy, crying out to God, “Teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor with you” (cf. Ex. 33:11, 13)? Or am I like Solomon, whose heart was divided as he turned after other gods (1 Kings 11:1–6)?

To come to God, to draw near to him, must be done with a “sincere heart,” one that has been sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience. This cleansing is only possible if one has a right understanding, a right belief in who Jesus is and in what he has accomplished on our behalf. Even for those who have new covenant hearts, to persevere in this drawing near we must keep right thinking in place and yearning hearts engaged in the pursuit of God. A. W. Tozer writes:

To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart. St. Bernard stated this holy paradox in a musical quatrain that will be instantly understood by every worshipping soul: “We taste Thee, O Thou Living Bread, and long to feast upon Thee still: we drink of Thee, the Fountainhead and thirst our souls from Thee to fill.”

Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking.23

Some may object that an emphasis on feeling “the heat of” desire opens the way for emotionalism. But we should ask ourselves regarding the alternatives. Are we suggesting that we should be emotionless? Are not emotions God’s gift and a part of our humanness? If the answer to the first question is “no” and the answer to the second is “yes,” what is worth being emotional about if not our relationship with God? Our commitment to God is not based on or grounded in emotion, but it must surely engage our emotions sooner or later.

There is another difficulty. “Day and night, in season and out.” We may ask, “Who has time for that any more?” Such seeking, such drawing near to God may seem archaic, conjuring pictures of medieval monks. How does one fit God into a day planner? How does one seek God in the rush and crush of corporate (or even small-town) America? If we are to draw near to God, our yearnings must be cultivated in the right direction because, if they are not, our culture will consume us, siphoning off our energies, our desires.

In an incisive article called “Fast Folk,” which appeared in … Harpers, Louis T. Grant dissects an article published earlier in Woman’s Day in which the life-style of one working mother is praised and presented as a model of sorts. Listen to this woman’s life. She rushes from home to work in the morning, eating yogurt in the car for breakfast; has lunch at the spa where she works out; leaves child care to her husband, who also has a managerial position forty miles the other side of home; pilots a small plane in her leisure time for pleasure; teaches on the side a class at a local women’s college; leaves the kids with Grandma; leaves the kids with sitters; leaves the kids.… Grant likens this life-style, which he calls “fast folk,” to keeping up with the gerbils. In his immensely perceptive piece, he illustrates the shallowness of relationships in a fast-folk family. There’s no time in such a family for one another, for intimacy, for communication, for listening. That’s for slowpokes.24

We can add that such a lifestyle also leaves little place for intimacy, for communication, for listening to God. It takes time to keep our lives focused on the right things. We are called to draw near to God on the basis of the completed work of Christ. Will we heed that call today, or will our hearts be yearning for other things? “Let us draw near with a sincere heart.…”

To what am I committed? Little Martin Rowe lived on a farm with his family in rural Georgia. When he was six years old, Martin was riding the tractor with his father when the massive machine turned over. The little boy was hurt so badly that he lost the use of one of his arms and suffered damage to the other. While in the hospital, the family incurred a $32,000 debt. One day he heard his mother and father talking outside the hospital room door, his mother weeping and wondering how they were going to pay off such a large amount of money. When they came into the room Martin informed his mom that he was going to pay off the bill himself. She responded as you and I would, thanking him for his concern, but knowing silently that such a goal was fantasy for a child.

But when Martin Rowe got out of the hospital, he began to pick up bottles along the side of the road every day after school, redeeming the bottles for cash. After several months he had collected $400 and brought that to his mother (may my children be so industrious some day!). About that time, Martin learned that aluminum cans could be redeemed and began collecting those as well. The Reynolds Aluminum Company heard of the little boy’s endeavor and put him in touch with the Bear Archery Company in Gainesville, Florida; the two companies began donating their scrap aluminum to this young man. Every day after school for five years Martin continued to pick up cans after school, and at eleven years of age walked into the hospital and paid off his $32,000 debt.

Martin’s story is amazing because a little boy, motivated by his great love for his parents, seized on a goal and, having put his feet on the path to attain that goal, stayed on it “unswervingly” until its end. He was tenacious because he had a worthy, though formidable, task that called him away from other distractions. He lived a long-term “obedience” to his calling and was rewarded in the end.

It takes resolve to live a “long obedience” to the call of God. To “hold unswervingly to the hope we profess” demands a mature response to the obstacles and oppositions built into the warp and woof of a fallen world rebelling against God. To “hold unswervingly” demands a choice to be faithful, but our hope is well-grounded in the faithfulness of God. “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:31b–32). Indeed!

Here rests our ultimate basis for perseverance. Ultimately we do not have the resources within ourselves to stay with the goal God has set before us. We must choose. We must tighten down our resolve. We must hold. But at the end of the day, we must rest in the goodness, the resolve, and the faithfulness of God, who has promised an inheritance to his children. We hold on even as he holds us and takes us all the way to the end of the path.

With whom will I walk? Our associations in life make a tremendous difference, for good or for ill, in our outlook and endeavors. Peers can wield heavy influence on our actions, our goals, and, yes, our perseverance in given tasks and treks. Thus, for the believer who wishes to hold to the Christian hope, the community of the saints is vital, offering the needed mix of accountability and encouragement. As different parts of the human body need the resources and abilities supplied by the other parts, so those in the body of Christ cannot exist apart from the rest of the body. Our identity in Christ is a “corporate identity,” in which we are individuals meaningfully related to the whole. Neither are we self-made nor self-maintained; we need others.

It is said that the giant redwood trees of the Western United States have a relatively shallow root system. Their enormous weight is supported, in part, by the interlocking of a tree’s roots with those of the other trees around it. As Christians we need “interlocking roots” with other believers in the church to withstand the enormous weight of life. We need others spurring us “on toward love and good deeds” in a world so bent on self-centeredness and self-gratification. Speaking of the importance of spiritual friends, Tilden Edwards writes:

Unless we are particularly heroic or saintly persons, each of us needs a relationship with at least one other person who also seeks and trusts the simple way, the Simple Presence. Such a “spiritual friend” can be enormously supportive to us, and we to them.… You feel a little less alone, a little less tempted to fall mindlessly into complicating traps. Someone else is there who knows whether or not you are trying to pay attention to the simple way; that brings a kind of accountability that is important. When someone else knows and cares, then we pay that much more attention to what we are doing.25

And Thomas R. Kelly asserts of Christian community:

We know that these souls are with us, lifting their lives and ours continuously to God and opening themselves, with us, in steady and humble obedience to Him. It is as if the boundaries of our self were enlarged, as if we were within them and as if they were within us. Their strength, given to them by God, becomes our strength, and our joy, given to us by God, becomes their joy.26

This spiritual community can take at least two forms. (1) The foundational assembly is that of a local body of believers, meeting together regularly for fellowship around the Word and worship of God. The person who asserts that God can be known, worshiped, and followed “out in nature” apart from the church knows little of Scripture, church history, or true Christian experience. Thus, we are called to gather together regularly for encouragement and accountability. We must not forsake this aspect of the Christian life.

(2) The other form that Christian fellowship can take is that of spiritual friendships, friendships that transcend the boundaries of individual local churches. Most Christian gatherings of the first century were in house churches, which existed in a network reaching throughout a given city. Therefore, we may find meaningful fellowship with like-minded believers outside our immediate church group. Bible study fellowships, accountability groups, and times over coffee or tea should be encouraged as long as they are doctrinally sound and do not detract from one’s commitment to the local church. Such groups can be wonderfully enriching and supporting for the Christ-follower. These relationships can enhance our sense of community with the broader body of Christ as we seek to live each day in light of the great Day of Christ’s return.

Therefore, as I begin to seek to apply Hebrews 10:24–25, I might ask myself: “To whom in the body of Christ am I giving encouragement this day or this week by my presence, my actions, and my words? Am I receiving encouragement by remaining faithful to my association with the body of Christ?” Such reflection, when followed with action, serves as a foundation stone for healthy Christian living.

Original Meaning

Let Us Hold to Our Hope (10:23)

THE AUTHOR NOW encourages his hearers with the verb katecho, which the NIV translates with “let us hold” (the same verb used in 3:6, 14 and a synonym of krateo, used in 4:14). The writer’s use of the present tense in 10:23 perhaps emphasizes the hearers’ call to “hold on” as an ongoing call. An ancient author variously used the word to mean “hold to, keep, detain, retain, contain, occupy, or possess.” In extrabiblical sources students could be said to “retain” a body of teaching, which calls to mind early Christian exhortations to hold onto the traditions of the faith (e.g., 1 Cor. 11:2; 15:2).16 The author of Hebrews uses katecho to speak of keeping a tight grip on the Christian faith, keeping it from slipping away.

At 10:23, the writer intensifies the concept of “holding on” with the adverb akline, which the NIV renders as “unswervingly.” This rich word literally means “that which does not bend” or “that which is straight,” which communicates the concept of stability or immutability. It could be used, for example, of a lasting friendship, or of one not being moved from a given perspective or judgment.17 Philo employs the word to speak of God’s immutability—creatures are fickle, vacillating back and forth between various directions and positions, but God does not change his will or his ways.18 Thus in 10:23 the believer is challenged to hold onto the Christian hope, which the author so clearly has depicted as grounded in the person and work of Christ, without being moved by changing circumstances.