esus Christ is faithful. The faithfulness of Jesus can be clearly seen in His unwavering dedication to accomplish the salvation of His people from the penalty and power of sin. Jesus suffered great temptation to forsake the will of His Father, to leave the task God had given Him. But in obedience to that will, and for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, purchasing for us peace and forgiveness.
Consequently, we can have full assurance that Jesus will be faithful to accomplish our sanctification and eventual glory. He is a faithful Carpenter; He will complete the work that He began, the building of the house of God, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end (Heb. 3:6). Christ's faithfulness over His house manifests itself in the faithfulness of the members in the house. We remain faithful to Him because He is faithful to us.
Nearly every reference to God's faithfulness in the New Testament epistles teach that His faithfulness is demonstrated by causing His people to be faithful. Paul thus concluded his first letter to the Thessalonians: Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it (1 Thess. 5:23-24). Paul had the same confidence in God for the Corinthian church, saying that Jesus will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:8-9; cf. 1 Cor. 10:13; 2 Thess. 3:3-4).
Paul's confidence that the church would be sanctified and preserved blameless at the Lord's coming was not based on the faithfulness of the Thessalonians or the Corinthians (whom Paul rebuked for being carnal), but on the faithfulness of Him who called them. God is faithful, and He will do it. If our sanctification were finally dependent upon our abilities to obey, we would have much over which to despair. But because it depends upon the faithfulness of God to complete the task that He began in us, we can be confident and secure.
Given that the foundation of our security is in the faithfulness of God rather than in ourselves, we can move on to examine our responsibility to remain faithful. The Hebrews were told that they are Christ's house if they hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end (Heb. 3:6). This is not written as an exhortation, but rather as a rule by which they can measure themselves. It is only those who maintain their confidence and hope that have assurance that they are part of God's house. But if we have that assurance, we should hold it firmly, because we know that He holds us firmly: I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand (John 10:28). The rope is not made strong because the climber holds it tightly. He holds it tightly because he has confidence that it is strong.
The author of Hebrews then quotes Psalm 95 as a basis for discussing practical ways of holding on to confidence in Christ: Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, `They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.' So I swore in My wrath, `They shall not enter My rest.' (Heb. 3:7-11). Those in the wilderness who did not remain faithful to God had two heart problems: they always went astray in their hearts, and they hardened them. Verse twelve states that the heart which strays from the living God is an evil heart of unbelief. The rebels complained to Moses in the wilderness and refused to enter the promised land because they did not believe; they were not confident in the God who had delivered them, nor did they have hope. This lack of confidence is evil; it is sin. Yet to the people in the wilderness on the border of Canaan, the land of the giants, refusal to believe God and enter the land may well have appeared to be prudence. This is because sin is deceitful. Going the sinful, unbelieving way is always portrayed as doing what is wise, or good, or prudent, or fair, or satisfying. "It's only right that I am angry. Do you know what he did to me?" "Stay married for life? Doesn't that sound boring?" and so on.
Those who follow the deceitful lies of sin will find their hearts being hardened to God and His ways. So the author of Hebrews instructs us to exhort one another daily, while it is called "Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin (Heb. 3:13). To keep the soil of our hearts from being hardened through sin, we must keep it plowed by the exhortation of the brethren. This plowing is to be done persistently and perpetually, daily -- while it is called "Today." Private sin unconfessed today will lead to public sin tomorrow. Public sin unrebuked by the brethren leads to gross immorality and departure from the living God. How many times have you not confronted a brother when the sin appeared small, only to watch him later stray from fellowship, and then from God? "I knew he had those magazines, but I never thought he would fall into adultery." We must keep ourselves and our brothers accountable.
The author of Hebrews explains why we must remain faithful in a verse parallel to verse 6:
For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold
the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end . .
. (Heb. 3:14). Notice that he did not say you
will become a partaker of Christ if you hold on.
Holding on to your confidence shows that you
have become a partaker of Christ, because Christ holds His own. When you come up against trials or
temptations, which you will, do not look to yourself but take confidence in Christ, the Faithful and True. As the author of Hebrews says in 10:23,
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is
faithful.
