“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)

I don’t know where it originated but I’ve often heard it said that the only certainty in life is uncertainty, usually coming in the form of change.

One day Hebrew 10:23 popped up as the verse of the day on my phone’s Bible app. For whatever reason, it began burning in my mind, burrowing its way into the very core of my mind. I’ve read the verse countless times before, and I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but this time it stuck out to me in a vibrant way. Perhaps this new view was due to it being pulled out of its context and isolated on my phone.

In any case, I couldn’t help but ponder the seemingly impossible expectation I was reading – “without wavering.” Other than this single word, which in the Greek basically means “not floppy” (ἀκλινής), the rest of the verse is fairly positive.

I found that one ancient Greek-speaking Jew named Philo actually used this word to describe God, as one scholar paraphrased, “Creatures are fickle, vacillating back and forth between various directions and positions, but God does not change his will or his ways.”[1] So, this unwaveringness was considered a divine quality. In other words, Hebrews is calling his readers to be like God in this respect.

But, as finite, flawed creatures how can we hope to be anything but floppy! Right?

Now for me, I’m an analytical person. I thrive on logic and understanding the fundamentals of how things work and most importantly, answering the question why. I’m sure I was the most annoying little kid, why, why, why? Perhaps you were that kid too or have that kid!

So, the source of my wavering often comes through my finite rational mind trying to fathom and harness the mysteriousness of the universe and God or how something so grand as eternal salvation could come through such a feeble and intangible thing as faith.

But I also know that for many, the source of wavering may come from a variety of different areas. Perhaps you’re one who is more emotional and social. So, your wavering may come through hurts, betrayals, losses, and so on. How could a loving and good God allow this to happen to me? If I can’t trust that friend, or family member, or that co-worker, how can I trust anyone, anything, even God? Or maybe you’re a person who values career or houses, cars, etc. So, your wavering ebbs and flows with your bank account or personal progress and retirement portfolio. In fact, for each of us, there are likely a variety of things unique to each of us that may cause us to doubt, to waver in the confession of hope.

So, as finite creatures, both in our knowledge and strength, how could we ever expect to live up to this lofty biblical calling?

Well, first of all, we need to see this weighty call in its context. This call was in fact not meant to be a lead weight dragging us to the bottom of the ocean but was truly meant to be a buoy in order to sustain us from sinking into the mire of despondency and self-loathing.

The final phrase of the verse helps provide some clarity, “… for the promiser is faithful.” You see, our hope is ultimately in the faithful promiser, not our power, not how smart we are, how good we are, how successful we are, or even how happy we are. In fact, you can rearrange the verse to say it a little more clearly, “Since the one who has promised is faithful, we can remain steadfast in the confession of hope without wavering.” You see the depth and sturdiness of the confession of our hope is ultimately rooted in the faithfulness of the Promiser.

But digging a little deeper, we can also ask, what is this confession and why does it matter? Well, leading up to this verse, the author wrote several chapters on the Supremacy of Jesus. He is the one greater than the angels, greater than the high priest, greater than Moses, than all others. He is the very Son of God in flesh.

Listen to what it says way back in Heb 4:14-16,

“14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast to the confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, though tempted in every way as we are, he was without sin. 16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace in a time of need.”

Hebrews teaches us here, much like in 10:23, that the firmness of our confession is rooted in Christ, a person. Not a theory, or religious routine, or feelings.

In fact, this passage itself builds on an earlier one in 3:1-2, 6,

“1 Therefore, holy brothers, those sharing in the heavenly calling, consider the sent one, Jesus, the high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to the one appointing him just as Moses was also faithful … 6 but Christ was faithful over God’s house as a Son. Are we not his house, if indeed we hold fast to the confidence and boast of hope.”

You see, by the time we get to Heb 10:23, the book has already deeply established the focus and source of our hope. It is squarely fixed on the Father and the Son, who are perfect in their faithfulness, in grace, even to the most feeble and weak among us, which he understands.

In other words, our hope is not built on transient and temporary things but on the eternal, immovable creator Savior God, the founder and perfecter of our faith (Heb 12:1). Because of this truth, this reality, we are invited not to waver. This isn’t a cruel, impossible command but an offer, a grace, if indeed we will stand on the bedrock of his Gospel truth and put our trust in him.

Unfortunately, though, our perception of the situation really does make a difference. To help illustrate, let’s do a little thought experiment. I want you to imagine grabbing a friend or family member to walk out into a parking lot. You take turns being blindfolded and allowing the other to hold your hand to lead you along one of the straight lines in the parking lot. Now, for most of us, we could do this without too much, if any, fear and trembling.

But what if instead, you were to go up to the top of a skyscraper right near the edge and were asked to do the same. I imagine your knees might rattle a bit and you might waver in your attempt to walk that same simple line. Perhaps just thinking about this is making your hands sweat!

But you see, when we put our trust in Christ, it’s as though we are actually walking the line of life safely in the parking lot as he leads us. For those who have trusted in Christ, it is only our perception, or misperception, that deceives us into thinking we are in a dangerous, precarious situation when in fact we couldn’t be safer. We were never on the edge of death and at risk of falling. In Christ, we are never truly in harm’s way but squarely in the vision and care of our God.  

This reminds me of the old hymn that goes,

“Standing on the promises of Christ, the Lord, Bound eternally by love’s strong cord, Overcoming daily with the Spirit's sword, Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I cannot fall, Listening every moment to the Spirit's call, Resting in my Savior as my all in all, Standing on the promises of God.”

You see, He invites us into a confident, unwavering hope. Because he is the beginning and end of our hope, it’s founder and perfecter.

Now we’ve mentioned hope a bunch already, but what do we mean by it? I don’t know if you’ve noticed but it seems the mega millions lottery keeps getting up around a billion dollars more and more often. Perhaps you’ve even thrown in a few bucks in the far-fetched hope of becoming filthy rich overnight. Honestly, I can’t even fathom that kind of money and I’m pretty sure I’d still end up broke somehow.

But, as Christians, we must be very careful not think of hope in this way, especially as we consider biblical truths and promises.

Listen to what Hebrews goes on to say just a little while later in 11:1,

“Now faith is hoping in a real thing, the surety of a thing not yet seen.”

As we see here, there is a strong overlap between faith and hope, to the point where they are nearly synonymous. It’s so unfortunate that these terms in most other contexts outside the Bible mean little more than wishful thinking.

Perhaps you’ve heard a secular movie or commercial or friend say something like, “Well, you just gotta have faith” or “You gotta hope for a better tomorrow.” But what they clearly do not mean is anything certain or rooted, let alone a confidence in the eternal creator God and his perfect plan. What they really mean is to do is drown out the fear of tomorrow with empty sentiments based on absolutely nothing.

However, we see here in Hebrews a different take, one that’s abundantly clear. We stand in hope and faith as something sure, as though it has already happened. And more than that, we are to grow in the confidence of our faith and hope.

Hebrews teaches that this happens in two basic ways:

1.     first by looking backwards

2.     second by looking forward

First, for Looking back, in order to grow in confidence of hope, we must open our bibles and see the multitudes of promises God has already fulfilled and brought about, in ways we could never have imagined if it weren’t written down. This is actually the entire point of Hebrews 11, sometimes called the Hall of Faith.

Similarly, we are to look back over our own lives and discern the many ways God has been faithful and good to us personally. This is akin to how the Israelites set up stone reminders after crossing the Jordan River. Do you remember this? The priests took 12 big stones from the dry river bed and made a memorial (Josh 4:1-24). By the command of God, this memorial was to remind Israel of God’s gracious and mighty work on their behalf. In a similar way, we too ought to write down and be reminded from time to time of our experiences with the grace and power of God.

Second, we must look forward to “the Day” as it mentions in Heb 10:25. What’s amazing about this “looking forward” is the communal aspect inherent to it.

Listen to the follow up verses for our passage in 10:23-25,

“23 Let us hold fast the confession of hope without wavering, for the one who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir one anther up to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Of course, the Day that is mentioned here is when our hope will be completed. So, while our hope and our faith are ultimately rooted and secured by Christ, we do play a role in the strengthening of one another’s faith and hope. We fan the flame of that hope as we fellowship with those who also hold to that same hope, of real things not yet seen.

We will grow in the joy and anticipation of that hope as we love one another, as we serve and labor for the kingdom together, a kingdom we have already been brought into and that we long for its completion together. As Hebrews teaches, this is a vital part of our unwavering hope. The Church.

So, as we walk daily and yearly through this life, with new chapters and full of uncertainties and challenges, let us take the Bible as true and valid in every moment.

Imagine how different your outlook on tomorrow would be if you woke up with unwavering faith and hope in God’s eternal promises, as though they had already happened. As though, we could remove the blindfold and see we are not at all in harm’s way but on solid ground, walking hand in hand with our wise, compassionate, and faithful savior.

How different would it be if our hope was not rooted in ourselves or others or our circumstances but in the solid Rock, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, who died and rose to life, and who adopts us into the everlasting family of God through his blood and our simple confession and trust in him. May we receive the unwavering hope he so graciously extends to us.

[1] George Guthrie, Hebrews, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1998), p. 344.