9. Don’t Quit Hebrews 10:19-39
HEBREWS CHAPTER 10 VERSES 19-39
9. Don’t Quit
9. Don’t Quit Hebrews 10:19-39
Do you ever wonder what the theme of the whole Bible is? What’s the single concept that holds it all together? There are many possible answers to that question. But arguably, Jeremiah 31:33 captures it pretty well: “And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” In fact, our author already cited this passage earlier in the book (Hebrews 8:10).
But that is not the only place in which it occurs. In fact, this concept—in one form or another—recurs throughout the whole Bible (Genesis 17:8; Exodus 29:45; Ezekiel 14:11; Zechariah 8:8; 2 Corinthians 6:16). Indeed, this is the crescendo at the end of the book of Revelation: “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (21:3).
In short, God desires to be with us. That’s the big point of the Bible.
At the same time, we need to acknowledge that being near God is a scary place to be. Whenever people come into God’s presence, it can be crushing. Remember the story of Isaiah 6: even a holy prophet like Isaiah declares, “Woe is me!” when he encounters the living God.
So, drawing near to God is a complex affair.
But with Christ’s perfect sacrifice paving the way, drawing near is not just a possibility; it’s what we are called to do! So, in the next section, Hebrews 10:19-22, our author reminds us again of the wonderful privilege of drawing near to God. Then the rest of the chapter encourages us to live in a way that is worthy of the God who has been so gracious to us—we are to persevere and not to fall away.
Draw Near!
In a few verses (v 19-22), our author summarizes all the themes in the prior chapters about Jesus and what he has done for us.
“We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (v 19). By now we should be clear that “the holy place” doesn’t mean the earthly temple but heaven itself. We can now enter God’s presence with confidence.
Jesus’ blood has opened the way “through the curtain, that is, through his flesh” (v 20). This imagery comes from the tabernacle. Remember that big curtain that blocked off the inner section of the temple? When Christ’s flesh was torn for you, the temple curtain was also torn—literally torn in two (Matthew 27:51). It was a physical sign of a spiritual reality. Now you can “walk” straight into the Most Holy Place.
What does this do for us as believers? It doesn’t mean that we draw near to God physically but that we draw near to him spiritually. We can come into his holy presence without fear and doubt. Now, through Christ’s blood, we can approach God’s throne in prayer with confidence that he loves us and hears us. It means that we can confess our sins to God, not out of fear of judgment but in hope of forgiveness.
This pathway to God is a “new and living way.” It is “new” because Jesus has inaugurated a new covenant. It is “living” because we do not have a dead Savior. Sacrificed animals would stay dead, but Jesus came to life again at the resurrection. Now he lives to intercede for us; he is eternally there for us. He is “a great priest over the house of God” (Hebrews 10:21).
If you said in the Old Testament context that someone was a priest over the house of God, you would mean over the physical temple or tabernacle. But now the term is used to refer to God’s people. Wherever God’s people are, that is where God’s house is—and Christ is over that house.
When Jesus spoke with the Samaritan woman at the well, she brought up the disagreement between Jews and Samaritans about where people should worship (John 4:20). But Jesus answered, “The hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father … The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth” (v 21, 23).
Geography and physical buildings no longer matter: under the new covenant you can worship God wherever you are. That means that everybody all over the globe can draw near to God through what Christ has done.
That is the culmination of Hebrews 10:19-22. Since we have this better sacrifice, and since we have this better priest, “let us draw near” (v 22).
We do not need to have the fear and trepidation that an old covenant believer would have had—uncertain of whether they really wanted to draw near to this holy God. No, we have “confidence” (v 19) and “full assurance” (v 22).
This confidence does not mean saying, “God is lucky to have me on his team.” Our confidence is about who Christ is and what he has done. So, our approach to God is humble: we recognize that we do not deserve what we have been given. We can walk into God’s presence with assurance that he loves us; yet this is not because we are great but only because in Christ he has redeemed us.
At the same time, we can also have assurance about the state of our own hearts. We can draw near “with a true heart” (v 22). Why? Because “our hearts [have been] sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Under the old covenant, as we read in 9:19-22, the priests would sprinkle the blood of animals over objects in the temple to purify them. Likewise, Christ’s blood—figuratively speaking—has been sprinkled on your heart, renewing it so that you have new life.
Similarly, under the old covenant, if you became ritually unclean for any reason, you would have to wash. All these washes pointed to the real cleansing that Christ would bring. Our author is not saying that you have literally had a bath; he is saying that you are clean in the eyes of God. You’ve not just been washed with earthly water; you’ve been washed with “pure water” (10:22), the kind that only Christ can offer.
The promise of Jeremiah 31, which our author quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12 and 10:16-17, has been fulfilled. We have a new covenant, a clean conscience, and a new heart. That is why we can draw near to God in confidence and assurance.
How to Hold Fast
One of the heroes of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is a hobbit named Frodo Baggins, whose quest throughout the trilogy is to travel to Mordor and destroy the evil Ring of Power in the fires of Mount Doom. But Frodo is accompanied by his loyal friend Samwise Gamgee, who walks alongside him, encourages him, and reminds him of the truth—that their journey is the only hope for their world. There is no way Frodo would ever have made it to Mordor without Sam, who even carries his friend up the mountain at the very end.
Tolkien’s work is a vision of the Christian life. If we are to remain faithful in the long and difficult journey of the Christian life, Sam is an example of what is needed. Sam embodies two principles that are key. First, he holds fast to his beliefs about their mission without wavering; and second, he walks together with Frodo as a friend and encourager.
In other words, he provides both truth and community. These are the two principles that our author presents in verses 23-25, which will keep you from falling away and bring you to your destination.
First, our author addresses the issue of truth: “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (v 23).
“Confession” refers to the content of what we believe. We must not waver from what we know is true.
Sometimes people have a negative perception of theology or doctrine. Perhaps they are tired of hearing about disagreements between theologians or denominations, and they decide that it is better not to talk about theology at all. Or perhaps they have listened to the world’s message: that what matters is not truth but your own subjective experience—that you can feel your own way to God, and that is more important than knowing the truth about him.
But if you are going to stay the course, you need to know what you believe and why.
In our modern day we are bombarded with every reason to give up on what we believe. People think Christianity is ridiculous or offensive or crazy. People attack core Christian truths on the internet and in books. We need to be careful to hold on because we are under great temptation to drift away.
Of course, we do sometimes doubt the truth of what we believe. But I think that’s why our author adds this little phrase at the end of verse 23: “for he who promised is faithful.” Remember, God is trustworthy in what he’s promised. His word will prove true in the end. That is the motivation for our perseverance.
The second thing you need is not doctrinal but relational: “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (v 24-25). Faith is one of those things you can’t do alone. Many people try to. Perhaps they have had bad experiences in church or perhaps they just don’t see why they should make the commitment. But we need each other. We need to “stir up one another to love and good works.”
You need someone to stoke the fire in you, to keep you on the right track, to help you get up when you don’t want to, and to shake you occasionally and tell you to get it together. You need to be part of a team—with teammates who will help, encourage, push, rebuke, and love you, and whom you can help, encourage, push, rebuke, and love.
Are you a committed member of a Bible-believing, Christ-loving church? If not, you are going to have to face all the challenges of life by yourself—with no one there to lift and stir you up. You will find it hard to keep going in the Christian faith.
This is the theme picked up in the next passage.
Don’t Fall Away
Verses 26-31 are another warning against apostasy. Don’t fall away! Specifically, do not be those who “go on sinning deliberately” (v 26).
The words “go on” and “deliberately” are important here. Even true believers fall into sin sometimes. But an apostate is someone who knows how serious sin is—who has “received knowledge of the truth” (v 26)—but goes on sinning, repeatedly and deliberately.
It is people who repent of their sin who have a right relationship with Jesus. Think of the story Jesus tells about the Pharisee and the tax collector who both pray in the temple (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee boasts to God about what a good person he is. But the tax collector says, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” And Jesus comments that it is the tax collector who goes away justified.
If you know about the grace of God in Christ, yet sin unrepentantly and chronically, you are actively rejecting Christ. This is expressed in Hebrews 10:29: the person who does this “has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace.”
“Mock,” “show disdain,” or “insult” would also be good renderings of the word translated as “trampled underfoot.” That is what you are doing to Jesus when you stubbornly and willfully embrace sin.
When someone in the church turns their back on their faith, they are also rejecting all the gifts they have been given as part of the visible church.
They have received the knowledge of the truth (v 26). Perhaps they have professed belief in Christ without ever really directing their hearts toward him. It is important to realize that mere intellectual assent to truths is not what is meant by being a Christian.
They have also lived God’s way, at least in an external sense. They were “sanctified” (v 29). It’s clear from the context that “sanctified” here is not a genuine heart change but an outward conformity. This person lives the right way. But even this doesn’t make someone a true follower of Christ. You don’t have to believe in Christ to live in a moral way.
Think about all the blessings and privileges a person has enjoyed who has been part of the church and professed to be a Christian! They have the truth of God’s word preached to them; they have the fellowship of Christians; they enjoy the presence of the Holy Spirit in that community, even if not in them personally. And yet in the end some still reject Christ.
A Terrible Path
Our passage offers a frightening description of anyone who turns their back on Christ. They are among God’s “adversaries”—that is, his enemies—and this means that they are awaiting “a fury of fire” (v 27).
Our author is probably alluding to Old Testament examples of judgment. God rained down fire on the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24), and consumed Nadab and Abihu with fire when they made false offerings (Leviticus 10:1-2). You may hear stories like that and wish they weren’t in the Bible. But they show us who God really is. God is holy and just as well as loving. He sent Jesus to save us; but if we reject Jesus, we are left only with judgment.
We have learned in the previous chapters of Hebrews that Jesus is the only way into the true throne room of God—the only way we can safely stand before the holy God. If you reject him, what other path do you have to get to God? There is none. So “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26).
If you reject Jesus by embracing sin, then when you stand before the holy God, there will be no intercession and no mediator—just your sins, laid out bare. That is why all the apostate is left with is “a fearful expectation of judgment” (v 27).
But our author takes things one step further. It’s not that the apostate will just receive judgment—all unbelievers will receive that. No, apostates will receive “worse punishment” (v 29). Why? Because they have received immense and unprecedented privileges and still, after all of that, they have spurned Christ.
To make this point, our author draws a comparison with the situation under the old covenant. Sure, people “who … set aside the law of Moses” were subject to judgment (v 28). But if God punished people for sin under the law, “how much more” (v 29) will he punish those who reject his Son even after fully understanding the truth of his grace? If people were punished for rejecting Moses, then how much more for rejecting Jesus! After all, God is the one “who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people’” (v 30). These two quotations are from Deuteronomy 32:35-36. God has always been a God who judges sin. He repays those who reject him.
That is why the passage concludes, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).
This is a Bible verse worth memorizing. It is theological ballast which will prevent your ship from listing. When people try to tell you that God doesn’t do judgment, this verse will remind you that he is a holy God who cares about sin.
And he is “the living God”—not an idol, not made of wood and stone. He is alive, and you can have a relationship with him through Christ. But without Christ, what are you left with?
That is the somber warning of this passage. Do not turn your back on all the great things God has done for you already. If you do, the only thing left for you is judgment.