From our Sunday service on March 15, 2026, Hebrews 10:19-39. This is part 7 of our Hebrews series. Watch the full message: Full Faith – Hebrews Series #7 on YouTube.
Last time we finished the section on the new covenant, and saw that God always meant for the Mosaic law to be replaced through Jesus Christ. Now we move into the final section of Hebrews, where struggling believers are urged to persevere. The book was written to encourage Christians not to give up their faith under pressure. God wants you to have full assurance of faith.
A New and Living Way
Because of what Christ has done, we have boldness to enter the holiest:
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 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.
Hebrews 10:19–22
This is a new and living way, consecrated through His flesh. We do not approach God as people who must still prove themselves by ritual. Our hearts are to be sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. That means the guilt that would keep you from obeying God is not supposed to be put back on you. If you live under a settled sense that you are only guilty and broken, you will not want to do what God calls you to do. Healthy faith comes near with a true heart, in full assurance.
That same assurance holds fast and looks outward:
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 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.
Hebrews 10:23–25
Hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, because He is faithful that promised. Consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. Full assurance is not a private feeling only. It shows itself in a steady confession, in encouragement that stirs others up to love and good works, and in gathering with the body of Christ. Some were already staying away, and the writer says we must not follow that habit, especially as the day approaches. We need one another in order to keep walking in confidence while we wait for the Lord’s return.
Do Not Fall Away
Then comes a warning that is often pulled out of its context. It is aimed at a different group than those who have full assurance of faith:
For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Hebrews 10:26–27
The apostate is the one who falls away. These have received the knowledge of the truth. They know it is the truth, and they still choose sin as if it were acceptable. The believer struggles with sin. The unbeliever does not treat sin as a struggle. If you have received the knowledge of the truth, and willful sin is fine with you, and you simply go on, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, because Jesus is the only sacrifice. To reject the one offering God has given is to have nothing left but a fearful looking for of judgment.
The seriousness of that rejection is then set beside the law of Moses:
He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: 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? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10:28–31
If those who despised Moses’ law died without mercy, how much sorer is the punishment for the one who has trodden under foot the Son of God, counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and done despite unto the Spirit of grace? It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The writer does not want true believers to think they are in that group. He will make that plain. We do not have to live in terror that a struggling Christian has already crossed into that judgment. The mark in view is a willful, settled choice against the truth, not the fight of a believer who hates his sin and comes again to the throne of grace. But he will not soften the warning either. To turn away from the only sacrifice is to reject the only path to salvation. The choice in view is between eternal life and eternal damnation, and the people of God should take it seriously enough to keep encouraging one another not to drift.
Cast Not Away Your Confidence
Instead of leaving the church in fear, he reminds them who they already are.
But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.
Hebrews 10:32–35
They had endured a great fight of afflictions after they were illuminated. They had been made a gazingstock, and had taken joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they had in heaven a better and an enduring substance. So he says, cast not away your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. You have already shown your faithfulness. You already chose Christ over the things of this world. Do not throw that away now, as if the hardship of the present hour were bigger than the substance that cannot be taken from you.
For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
Hebrews 10:36–39
You have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God you might receive the promise. He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. The just shall live by faith. If any man draw back, God’s soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. The apostate did not accept Christ. If God punishes the wicked, He will also reward the righteous. What you need is endurance, because the promise is still coming. In a little while He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Until that day, the just shall live by faith, not by shrinking back, and not by trying to stand on a sacrifice God has not given.
God does not want His people to live in uncertainty, fear, or doubt. Because Jesus has changed everything, we can approach God with boldness, hold our profession without wavering, encourage one another, and gather as His body. The warning is real, but the writer does not leave believers holding on to fear. He reminds them that they have already chosen Christ, and that they are not of those who shrink back. Will we be like those who draw back unto perdition, or like those who believe to the saving of the soul? Because of Christ, we can live every day in full assurance of faith, so long as we choose to live in Him. God wants you to have full assurance of faith. So live as a confident Christian today, not as one shrinking back, but as one who believes to the saving of the soul.
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