22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
We have been walking threw the Epistle to the Hebrews-- ancient Christians in the first century who turned from traditional Judaism to believe in the Messiah their race had awaited for the previous four thousand years. The writer explained, step by step, how Christ fulfilled the role of ultimate Prophet, ultime King, of ultimate High Priest, and of ultimate sacrifice for sin-- not only of the Hebraic people but of all people. In chapter 10 the writer explains that because of this great sacrifice we are cleansed from all sin so that we can even enter directly into the very presence of God. And, we can do so with full sincerity, free from any and all guilt over our past, our failures, our self-centered ways, and even our evil thoughts. All was cleansed from us through our faith in Christ the 'perfect sacrifice.'
The Writer cheers us on to fulfillment of God's promises--"hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm." He challenges us to 'think of ways' by which we can positively motivate each other. We are to encourage one another 'to do acts of love and good.' We are now capable of good acts-- of loving acts, whereas before faith in Christ we were not. He ends this challenge by reminding us that we really do need to be in mutual fellowship with other believers for this mutual encouragement. I pray that you are able to be an encouragement to another today in his or her journey with Christ.
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