Profess and Hold

DEVOTION HEBREWS PROFESS AND HOLD Heb 4:14-16 14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. NIV Without this faith we profess, what do we have? The answer is nothing. Our faith in Jesus Christ as our high priest, as our great high priest is the only thing which is worth having. For not one of us is able to be tempted in every way and yet be without sin. We are unable to be without sin, and we have to admit that, for if we dare to say that we have no sin, we enter into the sin of spiritual pride and therefor have yielded to that temptation and have sin. For this very reason we cannot approach the throne of grace, much less with confidence. We cannot stand in the presence of the Almighty Father in heaven because of our sinful condition, even those of us who try with all our effort to live free of sin. But we do have a high Priest who has gone through every one of the temptations that we face and was able to withstand them and live completely free of sin. This is so that he might be offered as the one and only perfect sacrifice for all sin. If we could live without sin, than we would not have to hold firmly to the faith we profess, for we could stand before God based on our own merit, our own perfect condition, but that is not so, we need Jesus. He knows our weaknesses and he is sympathetic to our human condition. So because of Jesus we can therefore stand in the presence of God Almighty, we can approach His throne with confidence, knowing that His great love for us will be shown in His mercy and grace. We can ask Him for help whenever we are experiencing a difficult situation, even a temptation of great magnitude. Whenever we have a time of need we can know that He is there willing to show mercy and grace toward us because of Jesus. We could not expect either of those without our high priest standing in the gap for us, because we simply cannot ever be holy enough, pure enough, and sinless enough to stand on our own or to receive His help, His mercy, and His grace. But we profess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, as our great high priest and so we are able to receive it all. Whatever we do, we must always, continually, constantly profess our faith and hold firmly onto it.