The Finished Work and the Believer’s Confidence
Rev. Aniekan "Mbomboyo" Okokon ·
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. — Hebrews 10:19, 22
Confidence before God sounds presumptuous until you read where Hebrews locates it: not in the believer, but in the blood of Jesus. It is not confidence in yourself. It is confidence in the work, and the work is finished.
Confidence is not arrogance
The arrogant man draws near because he thinks he deserves to. The confident believer draws near because Christ has opened the way and told him to come. The first is presumption; the second is obedience. To hang back out of "humility" when the curtain is torn is not humble. It is a quiet doubt that the blood was enough.
Where the confidence rests
- On a finished sacrifice, offered once for all.
- On a living Priest, who is there now.
- On a new and living way, opened through His flesh.
- On a sprinkled heart, a conscience actually cleansed.
None of these move when your mood moves.
When your record argues
Your record will argue. The accuser will read it to you, and it will be accurate. The answer to an accurate record is not a denial; it is a Person. "If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Your confidence was never in your record. It was in His, and His is spotless.
Confidence for the day of judgement
John says love is perfected with us "so that we may have confidence for the day of judgement, because as he is so also are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). As He is - accepted, righteous, at the Father's right hand - so are you, now. If the day of judgement holds no terror for Him, it holds none for those who are in Him. Draw near. The way is open, the Priest is waiting, and the work is done.