“Therefore, brothers and sisters, 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, and since we have a great priest over the house of God…” (Hebrews 10:19-21 NIV)

Because of who Jesus is and what he has done we should have confidence as Christians. We can have confidence in Jesus has providing forgiveness for our sins. We can have confidence in the hope we have of spending eternity as part of the house of God. This is our hope, but it means more than wishful thinking – this is what we confidently expect because of all that Jesus has done for us. Because we have this confidence it should change the way we live.

“…let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:22)

Since Jesus died for us and has cleaned us of our sins we can draw near to God. With our sins washed away we have been given a new heart, a ‘sincere’ heart. The Greek word talks about a genuine heart, one that is true. Because our heart has been cleansed it is now pure. With our sins forgiven we no longer have a guilty conscience. All this happens when our bodies are “washed with pure water” when we are immersed into Jesus. When we become a Christian we in essence have a “heart replacement”, replacing our guilty conscience with one that is true to God. But that is not all.

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)

We now have a new relationship in Jesus. This gives us hope, our confidence in the promises Jesus has given us of eternal life with him. We can be sure of eternity because Jesus is faithful. He was faithful to his mission given by God; he will be faithful to the promises he has made to us. This is something we can old on to! We can grasp hold of our hope and be confident that it isn’t going to change.

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

We also need to be encouraging each other. This hope is not just for us. This isn’t a selfish hope but one we want everyone to be part of. Because of this we need to be encouraging each other. When we are with other Christians it isn’t just to enjoy their company but it is to incite each other to live better as Christians so that we all have this hope. In fact, the Greek word can also mean ‘irritate’ – and perhaps that works well. We become an irritant to people to encourage them in their living for Jesus.

What does this mean in practical terms? In order to spur each other on we have to know each other well enough to know in what areas of life need encouragement. It also means we need to spend time together. A brief ‘hello’ at our weekly assemblies is not going to suffice for us to “spur one another on towards love and good deeds” – we need to set aside time to spend with other Christians so we can better encourage them. But it starts at our weekly assemblies.

There are times when life is more difficult and we might be tempted not to assemble with our local Christian family. But think about this: meeting together isn’t just for us (that is selfish) but it is to be a time to encourage each other, and especially when people are struggling.

Let us be the Christians that Jesus has called us to be.

Photo by Jon Galloway, East Kilbride, Scotland.

Readings for next week: James 1-5; Matthew 1-4