A Priestly People
Hebrews 10:19-24 and 12:1-3
AT Hargrave
Review:
Disciples of the Internet:
A person is a disciple of the system that tutors them, where one turns on a daily basis for guidance on living and decision making. For most people, that makes them disciples of the internet.
Weary, Skeptical Pragmatists:
The greatest spiritual crisis of our age is not disbelief in God but the erosion of our capacity to experience His presence.
How this effects our souls? CHART
Rest and the Cleaning of the Conscience
Hebrews warns against drifting (2:1)
Old Test example: Israel did not enter rest because of unbelief (3:19)
went astray in their hearts, did not know God’s ways.
There is a Sabbath Rest that remains for the people of God (4:9)
those who believe enter that rest. (4:3)
Let us work to enter that Rest (4:11)
word exposes why we cannot rest (4:12-13)
Christ as High Priest heals what word exposes (4:14)
If we draw near we can receive mercy and grace (4:16)
Why is Rest so Illusive? Drilling down on Main Problem:
-Levitical Priesthood could not perfect the conscience (7:11; 9:9;)
-Self-conscience fruit of the Fall (Gen. 3)
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is not simply about moral awareness. Adam and Eve had that prior to eating.. They rehearsed that God had told them not too to the serpent. Rather it signifies moral autonomy before God.
-Define conscience from Hebrews.
The conscience is our NOT merely subjective feelings, nor psychological self-esteem, nor moral sensitivity alone.
The conscience is our interior awareness of ourselves before God. The inner faculty that knows wether one is truly fit to stand before God! The place where guilt is experienced, fear of judgement lingers, and access is either open or blocked.
Where shame lives. Guilt. Fear. Self-consciousness. Alienation. Memory of sin. Self-consciousness. Covering. Hiding. Fear. The conscience fractured.
Digital life amplifies this. Constant comparison. Performance. Identity construction. Notifications. Metrics. Likes. Image management. Our conscience never rests.
This why the Priesthood comes up in Hebrews:
-Priesthood mediates proximity. Priesthood exits to restore access. From Leviticus onward the ONE primary function of the priesthood is to make it possible for sinful people to line the Presence of a Holy God. But people kept going astray in their hearts. This is why Levitical Priesthood failed.
-Christ our High Priest cleanses the conscience from dead works (9:14)
Cleansed Conscience is perfected not because believers are flawless, but because the priesthood has finally done what it was always meant to do! Nothing left to be resolved between God and believer in Christ. Perfect as in complete.
-Consciousness of Sin: Sin memory (10:2)
God does not remember our sins anymore (8:13;10:17) God does not have divine amnesia. God no longer holds sin in ACTIVE JUDICIAL MEMORY! How God remembers- we are to remember.
Decisive change is who’s memory governs the relationship. God chooses to not remember, which frees the conscience from the self-referential loop of self-monitoring- fear-managing outcomes- etc. Where human actions/agency is more determinative that God’s action/agency.
God dealing with our sin-memory does not eliminate morality or its seriousness. Nor forgetting wrong-doing, avoiding confession, nor denying responsibility… It means repentance happens within assurance, not to achieve it. (10:22) Evil Conscience: refuses to be quieted by Christ sacrifice. Therefore, persistent guilt is treated not as humility, but failure to trust in Christ’s priesthood.
NOW the Question Becomes:
"Now that Christ has opened the way into God's presence, what kind of people should we become?”
Christ Priesthood reframes: Confession, Repentance, and Assurance
How does Christ’s work as High Priest reframe core practices of the church?
Drawing near because access is already granted, confession now happens inside God’s presence vs outside trying gain entry. Confession with honesty that does not fear expulsion. Confession becomes naming reality without self-justification, Agreement with God, not negotiations with Him.
Confession is no longer the door in, it is a conversation that happens once you are inside. Confess Sin- YES, but Confess our Hope- MORE! Confessing where our hope really lies! Keeps us near to Christ. Its more about where we are turning… Turn to the ONE who has ensured my sin does not have the final word!
CONFESSION OF HOPE IS PRAISE!
Confession that comes from safety leads to a vulnerability that is a way of staying close to Christ, rather than drifting away. To say, “I am tired.” Is an act of trust. Or “I am afraid.” A way of staying near rather than drifting away. If our worth is settled in heaven, it no longer needs to be defended on earth.
2. Repentance: From Fearful course-correction to relational re-orientation.
A) Old Cov. Repentance was moral recalibration. Turning quickly before punishment arrives, proving sincerity through intensity, fixing oneself enough to approach God. However, this keeps self at the center constantly asking, “Have I turned/repented enough?”
B) Hebrews reshapes repentance as returning to trustful obedience. Less emotional intensity and more as: endurance, holding fast, not drifting away. Israel’s sin was not primarily immoral acts, but a refusal to trust God’s voice.
Thus, Repentance becomes: a returning to listening God’s voice, a refusal to harden the heart, a renewed submission of desire, not just behavior.
Because the conscience is cleansed, repentance is no longer an attempt to regain standing- it is a reorientation of loyalty.
3. Assurance: moves from self-assessment to priestly confidence.
This is where Hebrews is most radical.
A) False assurance: measuring inward states. Under Old Cov. Assurance is sought by reviewing recent obedience, monitoring emotions, replaying confession for sincerity.
This is the logic of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By examining myself, I can know good from evil. But this only produces two things: either Pride or Despair- NEVER REST.
How one goes about gaining assurance is the measure of if it is false or true assurance. Any reliance on self for assurance will be false!
B) Hebrews assurance anchored outside of the self. Hebrews 6:19-20 relocates assurance entirely. Hebrews 7:25 points to Jesus’ present activity of intercession. Think of Jesus interceding for Peter in Lk. 22:31-32. Hebrews 10:19 places our confidence/assurance squarely on Christ.
Assurance does not come from: how well you repented, how thoroughly you confessed, nor how consistently you obeyed. Assurance comes from: A living Priest, a finished sacrifice, and an opened way that does not close.
This is why Hebrews can command confidence without encouraging complacency. Confession becomes honesty without hiding, repentance becomes faithful returning not fearful retreat, Assurance becomes confidence rooted in Another: Christ.
Why the warning of apostasy or falling away in Hebrews 12 is so severe. It’s the opposite side of assurance. If you reject Christ there is no other alternative that can save and bring you to rest.
Shared Access Eliminates Comparison
Shame thrives where access is layered or tiered. Hebrews erases spiritual hierarchy. “Let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace…”(4:16)
There is ONE: throne, approach, and confidence
No ONE: arrives by merit, advances by performance, nor lags behind because of weakness. This makes comparison irrelevant!
Vulnerability required for Endurance: faith is not a private matter. Sin deceives by isolating, shame protects itself by hiding. Hebrews counters both: Faith must be spoken, weakness must be seen, Encouragement must be mutual. Vulnerability is not a personality trait, it is a survival practice.
What then do we do- as people granted access? The "let us" passages answer that question.
The Flow of Hebrews
Notice the movement. God desires communion. Sin fractures the conscience.
The priesthood temporarily mediates access. God swears an oath.
Christ becomes the eternal High Priest. The conscience is perfected.
The veil is opened. Therefore... Let us...
Every command is priestly.
Every command is relational. Corporate not just individualistic.
Every command is an invitation to inhabit access.
1. "Let us fear lest we fail to enter the rest.” (Hebrews 4:1)
This almost sounds contradictory. Fear… to enter rest?
But notice what Hebrews means. The warning isn’t: "Be afraid of God.” It is "Do not casually drift away from the only place where your soul can finally rest."
The digital age teaches the opposite.
Rest becomes something to earn after productivity. Hebrews says
Rest is where life begins.
Practicing Sabbath: Treat Sabbath not merely as stopping work. Treat it as practicing trust. The conscience says "I must keep producing.” Christ says "It is finished."
2. "Let us strive to enter that rest.” (Hebrews 4:11)
One of Hebrews' beautiful paradoxes. Work… to stop working.
The striving is not earning salvation. It is resisting unbelief. Faith requires intentionality because every competing story invites us back into self-reliance.
Digital Application
The hardest thing today is not working. It is becoming still. Silence now feels like withdrawal. Our nervous systems panic. That reveals formation.
Illustration
A person stepping off a moving walkway.
For a few moments they still feel like they're moving.
Digital life continues moving inside us.
Rest feels uncomfortable because our interior momentum has not yet slowed.
3. "Let us hold fast our confession.” (Hebrews 4:14)
This follows immediately after "We have a great High Priest.” Truth is not held by sheer determination. It is held because Christ holds us.
Notice the order. Priest. Then perseverance. Never reversed.
Modern comparison. Algorithms constantly reshape belief.
Hebrews says Fix yourself to an anchor stronger than the cultural current.
A ship tied to a dock survives storms not because the waves stop but because its anchor remains secure.
Hebrews 6 develops exactly this image:
Hope is "an anchor of the soul" that enters "behind the curtain," where Christ has gone before us (Hebrews 6:19–20). Our security is anchored not to changing circumstances but to the presence of our High Priest within God's very presence.
4. "Let us draw near with confidence.” (Hebrews 4:16)
This may be the central command of Hebrews.
It appears again in Hebrews 10. Everything moves toward this.
Notice what the author does NOT say. Draw near after improving yourself. Nor
Draw near after fixing your life. Nor Draw near after your conscience feels clean.
Rather Draw near because Christ is there.
The priest does not merely forgive. He escorts. He introduces. He accompanies.
Christ does not simply remove guilt. He brings us home.
Illustration: Imagine arriving at Buckingham Palace alone. Security stops you.
Now imagine arriving beside the King's Son. Nothing about you changed.
Everything changed because of who accompanies you. That is priesthood.
Digital Contrast
Technology teaches us Present yourself. Hebrews teaches Present yourself to God. Those are very different lives.
5. "Let us press on to maturity.” (Hebrews 6:1)
Maturity in Hebrews is not primarily information. It is confidence before God. Maturity can rest in relationships.
Digital immaturity: Always refreshing. Always reacting. Always consuming.
Never digesting. Hebrews says Move beyond endless novelty. Become rooted.
Illustration: A tree grows because it remains. Not because it relocates every week.
6. "Let us draw near with a true heart.” (Hebrews 10:22)
Notice the language. True. Full assurance. Heart. Conscience. Bodies washed. Everything is inward. The conscience no longer performs. It simply comes honestly.
Application: Prayer becomes less about saying impressive things. More about bringing your real self.
7. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope.” (Hebrews 10:23)
Because "He who promised is faithful.” Notice again. Not because we are faithful. Because He is. This is where the oath returns. God's promise becomes psychological stability. The conscience rests because God's character never fluctuates.
A mountain climber tied to solid rock. Confidence comes from the anchor. Not the climber.
8. "Let us consider one another.” (Hebrews 10:24)
This one fascinates me. Notice the progression. Draw near to God. Now notice people.
The digital age reverses this. Notice everyone. Never truly see anyone.
Scrolling creates awareness without presence. Hebrews creates presence.
Just as A gardener studies plants. Not to compare them. To help them flourish.
That is the church.
9. "Let us stir one another to love and good works."
The Greek is wonderfully strong. Almost Provoke, Incite.
Wake each other up. Church becomes a formation community.
Not merely information transfer. The church becomes an environment where healed consciences create healing consciences.
10. "Do not neglect meeting together.”
Why? Because Christ's priesthood creates a priestly people. The gathered church becomes a living sanctuary. Every gathering rehearses access. Every Lord's Day announces "The veil remains open."
Digital Contrast: We consume content. The church cultivates communion.
Content informs. Presence transforms.
11. "Let us run with endurance.” (Hebrews 12)
The race comes after the sanctuary. Notice again. Priesthood. Then perseverance. Not Run to earn. Run because you belong.
Marathon runners pace differently because they know where the finish line is.
Hope changes endurance.
12. "Lift your drooping hands."
One of the most pastoral commands. The author expects exhaustion.
Spiritual fatigue. Weariness. Does Not give condemnation, Offers Encouragement. And expects us to give encourage one-another.
Digital age: Everyone is tired. Hebrews says Of course. Now strengthen one another.
13. "Pursue peace and holiness."
Holiness here is not withdrawal. It is living as people who already belong in God's presence. The Holy Place has expanded. Everywhere becomes holy ground.
14. "Offer continually a sacrifice of praise.” (Hebrews 13)
Notice the irony. The sacrifices never disappear. They change.
No more blood. Now gratitude. Generosity. Praise. Encouragement. Doing good. Sharing. The priesthood continues through the Church.
The aroma of the Old Testament sacrifices rose from an altar of stone.
Now the fragrance that rises to God is the daily worship of a transformed people. As Paul echoes in Romans 12:1, our lives themselves become "living sacrifices."
The Great Insight
The commands of Hebrews are not a checklist for self-improvement. They are the liturgy of a healed conscience.
The old priesthood could never produce these habits because it could never produce the kind of person capable of them. A guilty conscience can only oscillate between hiding from God and trying to impress Him.
A perfected conscience, however, is free to rest, to draw near, to persevere, to encourage others, and to worship with confidence.
That is why the repeated refrain of Hebrews is not "work harder," but "let us." These are the practices of a people who no longer stand outside the sanctuary wondering if they belong. Because the Father has sworn an irrevocable oath, because the Son has become our eternal High Priest, and because the Spirit writes God's law upon our hearts, we are invited to inhabit a new way of being human—one marked not by anxious performance but by confident communion.
In a distracted age, these "let us" passages become more than exhortations; they are the Spirit's training plan for recovering the interior life by teaching us to live each day in the presence that Christ has already opened to us.
GP2RL: Confess your hope daily. Encourage someone else to do the same.
