Pressing Forward, Not Shrinking Back (Pt. 3)

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. 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 is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one 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 and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. (Hebrews 10:32-39)

In this post, the last in our 3-part series on Hebrews 10:19-39, we’re going to look at the last part of our passage and learn about holding on to our confidence when times get touch. Previously, we’ve talk about the need to press forward in love, moving toward God and man. We’ve also talked about what happens when we fail to do that–when we “go on deliberately sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth.” Now we will apply those lessons.

Confident Baby Steps and Maturity

Let’s begin by looking at the first two verses in this passage. It starts out with “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened . . . ” This suggests first that the author is referring to when his audience was first converted to Christ, and second that the author was present during that time (or at least had knowledge of them during that time). What were those early days like? The author reminds his audience, “You endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”

Have you ever noticed that new believers often start off that way? A great zeal for the Lord. “We’ll do anything, bear anything, for the Lord!” And, as new believers, we seem to have such great faith. We see our prayers answered. Things seem so easy and natural.

Then…. life hits. The flesh reasserts itself to remind us that we haven’t arrived yet. We grow weary. Things suddenly become harder. That’s where the believers are in this passage. Why do we often start off like that, so well-intentioned and full of faith? I believe it’s because God is helping us learn to trust Him in the easy times. When building endurance and strength, and athlete doesn’t start with the hardest things possible. He or she works up to that. It’s the same with our spiritual muscles. During those early years of faith, we learn that God is good and He is trustworthy.

This is why the author of Hebrews wants his readers to “recall the former days.” He wants them to remember how God gave them great faith and they were able to overcome so many things. Now, they are being tempted to return to keeping the law. Why? Because it’s easier to try to follow the rules than it is to walk by faith. And if they were to return to law-keeping they would be “throwing away [their] confidence” (v. 35). The confidence they had as young believers would be for nothing. Everything they had endured to this point would be for nothing. But holding onto their confidence in God has “great reward,” the author reminds them. Indeed the One who is coming (Christ) will come. And when He comes He will give them their reward.

So, we start out in life–both physically and spiritually–taking baby steps. We learn to do the easy things so that we can lean into the hard things. In order to mature, we have to lean into the harder things, and we can do so based on the confidence we gained earlier. Not confidence in ourselves, but in the One who is faithful and is coming with our eternal reward.