Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Where does your hope lie? And what do you hold fast to?
The Word of God is always expedient. It is the one thing in this world that we can fully trust in and rely on. The word of man will almost always fail, but not God’s Word.
Today I was making note of all the things that we are told to hold fast to. But first, what does it mean to hold fast?
It means to lay a strong hand on, to seize and don’t let go! Kenneth Wuest says it is to hold down. It speaks here of a firm hold on the thing that is necessary and worthy of being held.
We are to:
Hold fast to the gospel 1 Cor 15:1,2
Hold fast what is good 1 Thess 5:21 (Phil 4:8,9)
Hold the traditions 2 Thess 2:14,15 (stand fast and hold)
Hold fast the pattern of sound words 2 Tim 1:13,14
Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope Heb 3:6
Hold fast our confession Heb 4:14
Hold fast the confession of our hope Heb 10:23
These are challenging words to me. Why? Because at first I think that the ability to hold fast is all on my shoulders. But is it? No! It is not about our power of holding that gives security. It is about the power of the One we hold on to and the power of the Word that keeps us. The power to hold on to these things is in God Himself and His Word.
In studying this closer I learn that holding on to these things is the proof that I did believe the gospel and that I do believe God’s word and that I fully placed my faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.
“…whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end” (Heb 3:6).
The average Jew, the writer of Hebrews explains, looked to the law, the prophets and the keeping of rituals but these things could not save anyone, Jew or Gentile. Our salvation has never been in what we do but in what Jesus did. As well, the security of salvation is in God’s strong hand (John 10:28,29) and the Holy Spirit who sealed us when we trusted in Christ (Eph 1:13,14)
To sum this up, true Christians hold fast to God and His Word because our God holds fast to us! What are you holding fast to today?
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. John 10:28,29