HEBREWS 10:21

The Bible says in Hebrews 10:21-22, “And having an high priest over the house of God; 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.” Verse 21 is a great verse. It says that Jesus is “an high priest over the house of God.” In this context the house of God is not a physical building. The “house of God” is speaking of the household of God. It is made up of all the true believers in God. Because Jesus performs the duties of High Priest for every one of us, we have great and eternal benefits. One of the benefits is that because of Jesus, we can draw near to God.

There is a requirement to drawing near to God: “a true heart.” There is such a thing as a false heart. Human beings are easily deceived, and they also can deceive themselves. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Romans 3:4 says, “Let God be true, but every man a liar”. Because God is true, the only way to have a relationship with God is to be truthful about yourself and your sins. The Apostle John spoke of this requirement to be truthful and he wrote in First John 1:8, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” This kind of truthfulness means to bow before Jesus and say, “Be merciful to me, a sinner.”

When we draw near to God, we are supposed to do it “with full assurance of faith.” Once we know the teachings of the book of Hebrews in regards to what Jesus has accomplished for us as our great high priest, it should have an impact on our faith. It should make us “full of faith.” Jesus is the new covenant. He sacrificed Himself once for all. He is forever at the right hand of God making intercession for us. All of our sins and iniquities have been forgotten by God because of Jesus. He is our high priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. Because of Jesus, we can draw near to God with full assurance of faith. Our faith is not in ourselves. Our faith is in Him.

The heart is mentioned twice in Hebrews 10:22. First it mentions what we can do to our own hearts. We can make sure that our hearts are true. Secondly, it mentions what God does for our hearts once we are truthful about our sins. God cleanses us from an “evil conscience.” What a wonderful thing it is to be a believer in Jesus. He even takes away from us a consciousness of the guilt of our own evil!

It is interesting to note that in Hebrews 10:22 the cleansing of the conscience is mentioned before the washing of the body in water. You must become cleansed spiritually before you can be cleansed in the practical things of human life. Some people try to clean up their lives before they let Jesus clean up their heart. Make sure that you get things in the right order. Jesus spoke of what happens when there is a human reformation without a change of heart. Jesus said in Luke 11:24-26, “When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”

After you have gained full faith in Jesus Christ, the challenge for the rest of your life will be to keep it. This means to retain a living and active faith that daily trusts in the Lord Jesus. The Bible says in Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering: (for he is faithful that promised.)” When we are first saved, our faith is placed in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. On that day of salvation we start a new life of living by faith, which means living by trusting in Jesus each moment of each day. That is the goal. Each moment that we do not trust in Jesus, we are failing to live by faith. Some weak Christians stop living by faith altogether for days or weeks or months or even longer. That is a great failure. The most important thing in life is to become saved by faith in Jesus Christ. The second most important thing is to live each moment by faith in Christ. It is no wonder that Paul was happy at the end of his life when he could say, “I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.”

Notice the phrase in Hebrews 10:33, “for he is faithful that promised.” The way to keep practicing an unwavering faith in Jesus Christ is to remember His promises. There are many great and precious promises that God has made in the Bible. Of the Bible verses that you learn, make sure that you learn the promises. Jesus has promised to be with you. He said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Jesus promised to answer your prayers. He said, “Ask, and it shall be given unto you.” Jesus promised to take you to heaven to live with Him. He said, “I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am there you may be also.” Learn the promises of Christ and think about them. The promises will keep your faith strong.

The Bible says in Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” It is one thing to say you have faith, but remember that your actions should prove that you have faith. “Faith without works is dead.” Good works in general are mentioned, and one good work in particular is mentioned: love. Love is the most important of all good works. All other good works will be possible, only if we have true love. Christians should love God. Christians should love each other. Christians should love lost souls. Christians should love their enemies. Without love we are nothing. Without love everything that we do is in vain.

The Bible says in Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” The will of God is that true Christians be united in fellowship. Christians benefit greatly from each other because each Christian has one or more spiritual gifts. The use of these gifts benefits other believers. Believers are strengthened and encouraged by the right kind of contact with each other. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” “Not forsaking” is a strong term. Jesus used the same word when He was on the cross and He said to the Father, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” When you forsake other believers, you are causing them to suffer. They need you in order that they can be everything that they can be. The body of Christ needs you because you are part of the body of Christ.

It says in Hebrews 10:25, “and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” There is a day that is getting closer and closer. All of human history has a day of destiny: a day when everything will come to its final climax. That day is the Day of the Lord. Jesus Christ will come. Jesus Christ will be manifest on that great day of the Lord. Judgment will come. Time as we know it will end. The promises of the Lord will finally be gloriously fulfilled. As that day grows nearer, it means that the time to serve Him grows shorter. Those who know the Lord need to serve Him as much as they can, and they will only be able to do that if they help each other.

What about those who know the Lord, but who do not serve Him? Hebrews 10:26 begins speaking of those who believe, but who are not following the Lord. It says, “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” This verse and the next several verses are talking about chastisement and judgment that will certainly come into the lives of those who are saved but who have turned away from the Lord. The phrase “if we sin willfully” is not referring to individual sins. Believers are not perfect. But they can still be forgiven of their individual sins by confessing those sins to Christ. But Hebrews 10:26 is speaking of something more permanent than individual sins. The phrase “if we sin willfully” is in the present tense and it means literally, “if we are sinning willfully.” This is referring to continuous sinning and thus to a long-term condition of alienation from God. You are either walking in the flesh or walking in the Spirit, and if you are walking in the flesh, you are heading away from Christ.

This continuous sinning is done “willfully.” That is much different than sinning because of weakness. Hebrews 10:26 says that a Christian can get into a place spiritually where “there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” In other words there must be punishment in this situation. There must be a consequence to the sins that have been committed, and to the wayward path that has been followed.

Hebrews 10:27 tells what happens to those who wander away from God and who stop confessing their sins, “But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” This verse speaks of a “fiery indignation.” This is God’s zeal to punish sin. He is holy and He hates sin. He must punish sin. Those who do not seek God for cleansing will find that God seeks them for judging. This is especially true for Christians. Notice that believers are called “adversaries” in this verse. Jesus said in Matthew 12:30, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”

God punishes His people when necessary even more than He punishes unbelievers. God is trying to bring unbelievers into the faith. But believers are supposed to be walking in fellowship with the Lord who has saved them. Believers have already received the benefits of forgiveness and faith in Christ. And there is nothing worse than an ungrateful believer, especially in this age of grace. God punished His people in the Old Testament. Hebrews 10:28 says, “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.” The Old Testament reveals the character of God, and remember that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.

Hebrews 10:28 tells us about one of the punishments that can happen to believers: “He that despised Moses’ law died…” It is a privilege and a great opportunity to live on God’s green earth. Such a challenge will never come again. It certainly will not be this way in heaven. The temptations and the trials will be gone, but so will the opportunities to face them by faith in Christ. Once God saves a person, God expects that person to grow in faith and to use their years on the earth for His glory. If a believer is not going to do that, there is no reason to leave such a person on this earth. It is time for them to go to heaven and to serve Him there in whatever limited way that He chooses.

If the people of God were punished in the Old Testament, when they did not keep following God, then certainly the people of God in the New Testament will also be punished if they do not continue following the way of Christ. The Bible says in Hebrews 10:29, “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace.” There are not many things worse than having a lack of gratitude, especially a lack of gratitude for what Jesus did by going to the cross of Calvary. This is talking about someone who “was sanctified,” but who later goes into continuous sin. This is someone who benefited from the blood and the covenant and the grace of God. Yes, such a believer deserves punishment and such a believer will receive punishment. God will punish His children, if He must. Repent before you receive such punishment. First Corinthians 11:31-32 says, “If we judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord that we should not be condemned with the world.”

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