He Who Promised is Faithful

[Christsfreeservant]

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, through His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let’s approach God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let’s hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:19-23 NASB)​

The context of the book of Hebrews was mainly, I believe, to help the Hebrew Christians to transition from the Old Covenant God had with his people Israel (Jews only) to the New Covenant God has with his people Israel (Jew and Gentile by faith in Jesus Christ), his church, his body. Under the Old Covenant they went to a physical temple where there were priests who interceded for them, where only the high priest, once a year, I believe, could enter into God’s holy presence in the Holy of Holies, behind a curtain.

But in Jesus’ death on that cross, that curtain that stood between God and humans was torn in two, representing that, by way of the cross, and by faith in Jesus Christ, we who believe in Jesus with God-honoring and God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him can now enter into the presence of God without having to go through a human priest. Jesus Christ is now our great high priest over the house of God, which is no longer a physical building, but a spiritual building with us as the living stones and Jesus as the cornerstone.

Therefore, we are to be those who, by faith in Christ, approach God with sincere hearts in full assurance of faith. And this faith comes from God, it is authored by Jesus Christ (God), it is gifted to us by God, it is not of our own doing, but it is persuaded of God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to die with Christ to sin and to walk with him in submission to his will, in obedience to his commands. So, by faith, we die to sin and we now walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands.

And if we hold firmly to the confession of our hope without wavering, this is not about just making a verbal confession of faith in Jesus Christ and then assuring ourselves that we are now children of God, born of the Spirit, forgiven of our sins, with heaven guaranteed us when we die. For we are saved out of our slavery (bondage, addiction) to sin so that we will now follow our Lord in obedience. But if sin is our practice, and not obedience to God, we do not have salvation from sin and we will not inherit eternal life.

Yes, God is faithful to all his promises. But all of his promises have conditions which we must adhere to in order to be able to claim those promises for ourselves. And among those conditions are many “IF” clauses, like if we do this or that, then this is true. So if we die with Christ to sin, not just once, but in daily practice, and if we follow him in obedience to his commands, in practice, then we have the promise of salvation and eternal life with God. But if sin is our practice and not obedience, it’s a no go.

[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 10:27-30; Ac 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]

Songs in the Night

An Original Work / December 18, 2013
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25 NIV ‘84

Lord, I praise You forevermore.
You, my Savior, I now adore.
Hope in heaven awaiting me,
Because You died at Calvary.

I have been forgiven,
And I’m bound for heaven.
Jesus set me free from
All my sin, I say.
I will praise Him always!

Lord, I love You for all You’ve done:
Overcame death, my vict’ry won!
Jesus saved me, and now I’m free!
I rejoice in His love for me.

I will walk in vict’ry!
My sin is but hist’ry!
I am free to please Him
With my life today.
I will love Him always!

Lord, I thank You for giving me
A new life bought at Calvary.
Loving Jesus, I meet with Him.
Tender mercies now flow within.

Lord, I am so thankful;
Through my Lord, I’m able
To sit at His table;
Fellowship with Him.
I will thank Him always!

He Who Promised is Faithful
An Original Work / April 26, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love