Yesterday I touched on the topic of eternal security, and why it’s so important to settle this question for the benefit of our spiritual growth. Hebrews 7-10 gives us even more assurance as the writer repeatedly reminds us of the effectiveness of our high priest, Jesus’ death on the cross … once for all.

Hebrews 7:26-27 – For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 9:11-14 – But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Hebrews 10:10,14 – By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. … For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.

If the blood of Jesus has been applied to your sin account, it is wiped clean for all time. Jesus took care of our sins – past, present, and future. God does not renege on His covenant with us. We may stumble and fail, but our eternal security rests not in our perfect behavior or obedience, but in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

For those who fear this teaches a liberal grace that will result in freedom to sin, the writer of Hebrews goes on to explain that those who willfully sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth are in danger of the judgment of God (Hebrews 10:26-31). There’s a difference in willful sin and the normal Christian life of battling the desires of the flesh. A person who sins without regret or conviction, knowing what they are doing transgresses the commandments of God gives evidence that they may not be saved. The one who has experienced the sorrow over our sin that leads to repentance will avoid sin at all costs, having a desire to please God because the Holy Spirit indwells them.

I’m so thankful my salvation is secure in Jesus’ work, not my own. This gives me the confidence to come to God when I need forgiveness for my failures. Jesus is my faithful and perfect high priest, sitting at the right hand of my Heavenly Father, making intercession for me. When I act like a wayward child, the Holy Spirit convicts me and convinces me to make my way back home into fellowship with God as quickly as possible. My eternity is secure, and my hope is in heaven.

Hebrews 7:25 – Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

Hebrews 10:19-25 – Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

These verses are a prescription for when we doubt or falter in our faith. I can’t skip over how important each one of these is to our spiritual growth.

Draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.

Hold fast your confession of hope without wavering.

Consider how to encourage one another to love and good deeds.

Do not forsake the assembling together of the body of Christ.

That last one…how vital it is…and how we are being deceived in these last days concerning church! How many have abandoned the body of Christ! We need the accountability and encouragement from our brothers and sisters and attending church online is not a solution or substitute. Unless you are truly homebound, if you claim to be a Christ-follower, you should be regularly gathering in person with other brothers and sisters to worship and pray and study and learn and serve.

If you read the “signs of the times,” you must surely conclude that the return of Jesus is near. Scripture tells us that the last days will be hard, and we need perseverance and endurance. Don’t substitute technology for the face-to-face encouragement you need to stand firm until He comes! Jesus has done the work; we are secure in Him. Let us be faithful to Him to the end.

Hebrews 10:35-39 – Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.