Who is the man for God to remember? How can anyone approach the holy God? In my years of ministry I have lost count of the people who have declared themselves unworthy of any spiritual privilege. And they are right: there is no merit in us. But Hebrews 10 shows that lack of merit does not close the door. It only reveals who opened it.
Boldness to enter God’s presence
This text catches my attention because it begins with a surprising word: intrepidity. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews says we can be bold to enter the Holy of Holies, where God is.
"Having, then, brothers, intrepidity to enter the Holy of Holies, by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way He consecrated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near, with sincere hearts, in full confidence of faith, having our hearts purified from bad conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us keep firm the confession of hope, without wavering, for He who made the promise is faithful." (Hebrews 10:19‑23)
Where does this boldness come from? It does not come from me or from you. It comes from the fact that God Himself has already opened access to His presence through the new and living way, which is Jesus. He performed a perfect work on earth, obeying the Father, and said, “It is finished,” and took His seat at the right hand of the Father.
The result is that everyone who has been forgiven, washed by the blood of the Lamb and transformed by the power from above, becomes worthy to be called a son or daughter of God. My dear one, God has already done His part and calls us little children, as the letters of John say.
Free from the weight of condemnation
Perhaps you live condemned in your own mind. Past sins, a former life, involvement with darkness return as accusations. Or perhaps you consider yourself a good person but still feel unworthy. To both I say the same thing: when God looks at those who are in Christ, He sees someone who has been touched by Jesus and transformed.
I know that weight. Before I met Christ I lived in darkness, involved with everything unclean. I accepted Jesus on a beautiful Sunday and, even then, I began to suffer terrible memories of what I had done. Then God led me to a pastor, one of those true shepherds. That man gave me counsel I will never forget. He said I only needed to do one thing: have the certainty, by faith, that Jesus had already washed and purified me from all sin. And he reminded me that I had made no effort to leave the crooked life I was living. It was Jesus, obeying the Father, who did everything for me.
When you receive this, you stop arguing with your conscience and simply surrender to God’s will. That encounter lasted many hours, and I left completely free. Never again, never again, did I allow any accusation from my past. When my mind, or the devil, tries to present pictures of who I was, I instantly remember that Jesus paid the price and that God received me as a beloved child, with no merit of my own.
So I tell you: if you were carrying any condemnation, lay it down today. When God forgives repentant and confessed sins, He Himself erases and forgets them. I am convinced that one of humanity’s greatest problems is the weight of sin in the mind. And that weight is lifted from our shoulders by the work Christ has already done.
In full confidence of faith
Verse 22 commands us to draw near to God with sincere hearts and in full confidence of faith. It is not religion that does this. It is only Christ, the Only‑Begotten of the Father, the one Savior. Through Him we can call God Father, beloved Father. Even the faith for this comes from God, who gave each of us a measure of faith. You only need to believe.
And let me speak to those thinking, “I do no harm to anyone, I’m a good person.” The Bible says everyone has sinned. Every repentant sinner gains access to God’s presence, not by their own merit, but by trusting in Christ’s merit. And what is the problem of receiving from someone who never sinned? Only Jesus walked this earth as a human without sin. Be humble and receive.
Hold fast the confession of hope
Verse 23 leads us to something also important: hold fast the confession of hope. In other words, tell ourselves, as we preach to others, what Christ has already done. Do not let it fall into forgetfulness.
I have no memorized or written prayer, but I always pray thanking God for complete salvation. And complete salvation is not a change of religion. It is forgiveness of all sins, liberation from every condemnation and spiritual chain, preservation of life, peace in the midst of chaos, and God’s protection and care. It is a guarantee that only works when we believe.
What confession is this? That I am a new creature, that I have been reached by God's love, that my sins have been forgiven. That, by the merits of Jesus, I have access to the Father's presence anywhere, not just in worship. Wherever a child of God walks, God's presence is with him, and he is an ambassador of this wonderful kingdom.
This confession also passes on. I must have been about eight years old when my parents read the Bible to us, and most of the seven children learned to read in the Bible. My father confessed verses about us, and my mother beat her belly and said: I did not bear any child in the womb for darkness. Decades later, those words are still working.
If you become aware of what the Bible says about who you are, what you have, and what you can be in Christ, you will never be defeated. Persecuted, yes. Sometimes discouraged, yes. Defeated, never. Jesus handed the disciples into the Father's hands, and from God's hands no one can snatch us away. Today, at the right hand of the Father, He intercedes for every Christian in the world.
Without wavering, because the One who promised is faithful.
Illness, pain, loss and the daily problems sometimes want to knock us down and make us falter. And I need to warn you: it is at the moment of faltering that darkness gains power..
Therefore the text gives us the reason not to falter: the One who made the promise is faithful. It was God Himself who promised, and He fulfilled it in Christ. Jesus is the way, the bridge, the road, or, as we say here in the South, the highway, the BR that leads us to God.
So, how about starting today?
- Abandon condemnation. Receive forgiveness for confessed sins as a completed fact. When the memory returns, answer: Jesus paid the price.
- Draw near as a child. Pray with full certainty of faith, trusting in the merits of Christ, not in yours.
- Confess out loud. Speak in the mirror, in the bathroom, wherever you are: I belong to God, my family belongs to God, the Lord has already done His work in our lives.
- Teach your household. Gather your children, read the Bible with them and declare over them what the Word says.
My brother, my sister, be bold against the darkness. Say no to everything that rises against your life, your home and God's perfect project: the family. Hold fast to the confession of hope, without wavering, and move from glory to glory, from triumph to triumph, by the merits of Christ Jesus.
