A Confident Faith
“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. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (For He is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:22-23
Under the Old Covenant, the only person allowed into the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was the high priest, and he could only enter once a year on the day of Atonement to offer the sacrifices for the people. Think about this: what if we were only allowed to communicate with God once a year and only by way of another human who also struggled with sin? Why should God even listen to either one of us? Our sin and the sin of the intermediary are barriers between the two of us and of God, the Father. And, on top of that, scripture tells us that the animal sacrifices that God commanded were only a temporary measure to hold off judgment, and the blood of animals could never bring a total and permanent forgiveness of man’s sin and make him righteous before God. To live with a question mark over one’s head is a horrible way to live.
What a difference that Christ makes! No longer does man have to be burdened with the debt of his sin and now has direct access to the Father through the Son by way of the Holy Spirit 24/7. The folks who lived under the Old Covenant not only were forbidden to enter the Holy of Holies, but they also couldn’t even peek inside. They didn’t know how it was arranged, how it appeared, or the exact process that the high priest went through on their behalf, thus they consequently had little knowledge of the God that they worshipped. They likely heard by word-of-mouth what the high priest was responsible to do at the altar, but it was not like experiencing it themselves. On the contrary, when Jesus died on the cross, it was in full view of all who witnessed the crucifixion and made available to us through the written word. He made God known to the world. No longer was God some mysterious Entity to them in a “galaxy far, far away” who was not approachable and only available to a select few, but now Jesus had made a way whereby “whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
Folks are now permitted and encouraged to enter boldly through the vail of Christ’s sacrifice into the Holy of Holies, God’s presence without the fear of reprisal. Jesus never scolded anyone who came to Him in humble submission. Prior to Christ’ sacrifice, as stated before, only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies. Otherwise, it would be “curtains” for anyone who violated the most sacred place, an appointment with death. Perhaps the phrase “it’s curtains” originated with a violation of the vail, or curtain, which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the tabernacle. Or perhaps we could use the phrase “light’s out”. The commands that God gave concerning worship and sacrifice were very precise and had to be carried out exactly as given. There was no “wiggle room” to modify His commands. The high priest had specific garments to wear. Any variance in them could bring death.
When we approach God in prayer, we don’t have to wait on a priest to make the sacrifice, sprinkle the blood, and wash the parts of the animal before burning it. Those things were absolutely required under the Old Covenant. Christ’s sacrifice did away with these laborious and tedious commands on the part of the priest. Jesus, as our High Priest, has already done the work required to give us access to the Father. It was His one-time sacrifice of which His blood was sprinkled spiritually on all those who come to Him in repentance and faith has made us clean and acceptable to God. For that reason, we have “full assurance of faith” that we can “draw near” to our heavenly Father. Our hearts have been made true and pure, and there is no reason to fear the future for God has secured eternity for all those who wear the name of Christ.
It is our faith in the true and living Lord which gives us our hope for the future. The writer of Hebrews encourages believers to not waver in faith, but to hold onto it as if nothing else matters, which, in the overall scheme of things, faith is really all we have. Everything else is fleeting at best. Our faith is in the One who cannot fail and who will not go back on His promises to us. That is the only thing in life that we can truly depend upon. Jesus said in Luke 21:26, that in the last days “men’s hearts (would) fail them for fear” of what was “coming on the earth”. We hear daily of catastrophes, mass shootings, riots, crime, accidents, political turmoil, wars and rumors of war which only lead many of us to believe that these are the “beginnings of sorrows” that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24. It likely will continue to become more dangerous and volatile in this sin-cursed world, so much so, that folks will be afraid to leave their homes. In some big cities, it has almost come to that now. That’s why it is so vital for believers to “hold fast to the profession of (their) faith” because God is holding on to His and will honor His promises to all those who believe in Him.