Hebrew Chapter Three, Whom To Trust

 

Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, [15] while it is said: “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

 

Verse 14 relates back to the latter portion of verse 6, stating, “whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.” What is the beginning of a Christian’s confidence? It isn’t in our effort or accomplishment. “Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,” Romans 4:4, 5. 

The foundation of Christian faith is not to work, but to believe. More specifically, we are to believe on Him, Jesus, who justifies the ungodly, us. The beginning of our confidence is entirely contingent upon the external revelation delivered to us that we simply call the gospel. Paul further explains, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells…[Christians] worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,” Romans 7:18, Philippians 3:3. Paul writes to the Thessalonian church, “And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you,” 2 Thessalonians 3:4. Paul’s confident trust lay in Christ alone. If a believer’s faith was grounded in his Lord then his motivation sprang from the love God first showed us, now reciprocated by our good works.

 

The deceitfulness of sin strives to rob the believer of joy by moving the root that inspires our actions, from faith to something else. Whatever else that “something” manifests as, it is a work, and contrary to the beginning of our hope and confidence because the focus shifts from Jesus our Lord to us. However, the evil, hardened, unbelieving heart deceived by sin does not sound like a disillusioned saint. The writer encourages exhortation while it remains today to compel the saints to keep their eyes on Christ, implying that he is aware that there are professing Christians who do not have such confidence. This passage is not about sound instruction to retain one’s salvation, but rather an exhortation to demonstrate that one is in fact saved.

 

What does the rest of the New Testament say about those who, in unbelief, depart from the living God? “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us,” 1 John 2:19. “For certain men have crept in unnoticed…ungodly men, who…deny the only God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit,” Jude 4, 19. “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I NEVER knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:22, 23, emphasis added.

 

The tenor of this chapter speaks toward an unbelief that suggests a lack of saving faith. Had the Israelites of Moses’ day had such faith, they would have refrained from wanton rebellion and blatant disrespect toward God and His servant, Moses. As Jesus said above, such people NEVER knew God to begin with, and He tells them to depart, because they have, after hearing of Him, already agreed to do so. Verses 6 and 14 are not commands given to help retain one’s salvation, as if criteria are being asserted.

 

Striving to keep one’s eternal life is both hopeless, and qualifies as a work, which is contrary to grace, Romans 4:4, 5, Ephesians 2:8, 9. The keeping is God’s. We are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time, 1 Peter 1:5. The rest of the chapter speaks to this concept, which we will cover in due time. Consider the author’s words here as motivation not to be impeded by sin’s desire to distort God’s simple truth. God saves. This is our hope, confidence, and joy. We are counseled to hold fast to this, to Christ Himself, to the end. In Him we have peace and can ford the storms of life. For those who depart, we know that tests reveal inner character. When someone turns away from God to seek a substitute or to supplement, it betrays the inner thoughts of the heart that never lay hold of the Savior through faith to begin with.

 

Verse 15 transitions that while it remains “today,” while we live and draw breath and have hope, do not be hardened by sin’s deceit, but respond to God’s calling with genuine faith. The rebels of Moses’ time found comfort in one another; the rebellion was the vocal majority resisting God’s revealed will. Sin’s deceit verses Christ: the beginning. The word “beginning” in verse 14 carries an interesting translation. It is the Greek, “arche,” and can be rendered, “the origin or active cause.” With whom does our confidence originate? What is the active cause that compels us to possess this confidence? The word “beginning” isn’t meant to point us toward where we started in our walk; rather, it is an indicator of where the confidence and rejoicing for our salvation emanates from.

 

This is why the writer says those who have become partakers of Him have this confidence; it is rooted in the One who originated it. Sin’s lie since Eden is to create doubt in God’s word, which impacts how we view God. Eve naively believed that God withheld something that was good for her and sought it by works instead. Abel acted in faith, his works were testimony that he believed in the One who told him what was true. Cain, hardened by sin’s deceit and with an evil heart, offered something contrary to God’s command. The Hebrew Christians were being exhorted not to return to a system that could not save them, but to trust in the One that could.