Perseverance
Hebrews 3:6
“But Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.”
Perseverance
How do you know that you are truly a saved person? You persevere! Jesus is quoted as saying in Matthew 10:22, “you will be hated by all on account of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” The one who confesses Jesus as Lord and Savior through all sorts of trials, tribulations and persecutions, is the one who is truly saved.
The NASB will put words in italics that are not part of the earliest Greek manuscripts. The translators will add words to help make the English words flow better. The case is seen in our verse today as the translators put, “was faithful,” in the first part of the verse to make, “but Christ as a Son over His house,” flow well. We have learned in previous posts that the term, “Son” in reference to Christ means He is God represented visibly. All that God is can only be known through the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature which is His Son. When the writer uses the term Son, they are saying that Christ is God visible, the owner of all things and the one who created all things. He is the will, the power, the speech, and the heart of God almighty on display! Out of the abundance of God’s heart comes forth the Son.
The house refers to a dwelling place, a place where someone lives. We know this but what is precious about this is that we are Christ’s house. The Spirit of Christ comes and lives in us. Those who confess Christ are the dwelling place of God. He has chosen us to live in and through. How do we know if we are the dwelling place of God? The word “if” describes a condition of someone with the condition being, Christ living in them. The result of Christ living in us is, “we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope until the end.” He lives in us and as a result we confess Him as Lord and Savior in both word and deed. His life begins to live in and through us.
If a person is the dwelling place of Christ then what is evident in them is the fruit of His life. The believer experiences, a change to Christ centered thinking, new Christ centered attitudes, God is known as our Father, spiritual sacrifices, talking to and about God, Christ centered relationships, Christ centered conduct and Christ centered evangelism. These are all things that will be present and visible at some level in every true believer despite their circumstances. What helps this fruit mature and persevere is prayer, being saturated with the Word, and Christ centered relationships.
Circumstances could include struggles with one’s own pursuit of holiness, being in a family of non-believers, non-believing spouses, temptations at work, worldly pursuits, the only Christian in a class or workplace, being picked on because of Christ, persecution for being a follower of Christ and a host of other struggles that are designed to prove ones faith. The evidence that you are truly saved is if you continue to confess Christ as Lord and continue to hold fast to who He is with confidence even during some of the harshest times this world can offer. Why, because the life of Christ is in us by the power of His Spirit.
The power to persevere does not come from us but from the Lord. The writer is encouraging their readers and us to remember who owns them as Paul also states in Romans 8:38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Hebrews 3:6 is one of those tests that we can use to see if we are in the faith as the author may have been encouraging their readers to do. A statement like this may make one take notice and examine their confession if they are tempted to do otherwise. It is love on the part of the writer to do so. We need to examine ourselves, as well as, encourage others to examine themselves. Please be encouraged that the strength to confess comes from the Lord and if you desire this strength ask and continually ask. He knows how to give His children good gifts!
