Image: CRBC baptism service, August 2015
Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that
is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession (Hebrews 4:14).
At the
end of Hebrews 4:14, the inspired author draws to the point. Given the reality of Christ, the great high
priest, he exhorts his hearers not to abandon the faith which they have
embraced and professed. Thus, “let us
hold fast [krateo, the verb means to
grasp, to hold, to seize, or even, to arrest] our profession.”
What
is meant by the term “profession”? The
Greek word is homologia and it is
usually translated as profession or confession.
It is the declaration of one’s fundamental faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Compare:
Matthew 10:32 Whosoever
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father
which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also
deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt
confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Christianity
requires public identification with Christ and public confession of one’s faith
in Christ. In the revivalistic days of
the American frontier making a profession of faith came to be associated with
having some special religious experience or “walking the aisle.” This became an almost third sacrament (alongside
the Biblical ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper) in many
churches. But when we look at Scripture,
it appears that the public stand for Christ and the public declaration of faith
in Christ came at one’s baptism. The experience
of the Ethiopian Eunuch sets the pattern:
Acts 8:35 Then Philip opened
his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36 And
as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the
eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with
all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still:
and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he
baptized him.
The
inspired author of Hebrews is likely urging those who have professed faith in
Christ and who have been baptized upon that profession not to waiver from that profession.
We might
add that the foundational means the Lord has given us for the renewal and
reaffirmation of our faith in Christ is the Lord’s Supper. Again, frontier evangelicals invented the
idea of “rededication.” But Biblical
rededication comes through the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper as a man examines
himself and then takes the bread and cup in obedience to Christ’s command and in
renewal of his commitment to Christ (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:28).
Indeed,
seeing that we have Christ as our great high priest, let us hold firmly to the
faith we profess in him.
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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