The book of Hebrews confronts us with a decisive call: Will we heed God’s word and stand in the fullness of what Christ has accomplished, or will we drift back into the shadows of an obsolete system and forfeit the confidence and joy that are our birthright in Him? This is not a secondary matter. The stakes are nothing less than our experience of salvation, our assurance before God, and our participation in the very house Christ is building.
Christ: The Fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant and the True Builder
God’s promise to David was not ultimately about a physical temple or a lineage of kings. The Davidic Covenant pointed forward to Christ, who alone is qualified to build God’s true house. Solomon’s temple was a shadow; Christ Himself is the substance. He is the Son, faithful over God’s house—not as a servant, but as the heir, the builder, and the cornerstone.
This house is not constructed with human effort or religious striving. It is a spiritual building, a living fellowship where God indwells man and man abides in God. When Jesus declared, “In My Father’s house are many abiding places,” He was not offering sentimental comfort about heaven; He was revealing the reality of the New Covenant: God has prepared an eternal, secure place for us in Himself. Through Christ’s finished work, we are brought into an indwelling union—God in us, and we in Him—something the Old Testament saints could only anticipate from afar.
The Word of Abode: Our Secure Position
Christ’s preparation of abiding places is not a vague promise of future bliss, but a present reality for every believer. He has made a way for us to dwell with God now. This is the “new and living way” Hebrews proclaims—a way that surpasses the old paradigm of distance, fear, and ritual. To neglect this is to treat lightly the blood of Christ and to despise the privilege of sonship and inheritance.
The Critical Warning: Do Not Neglect So Great a Salvation
Hebrews issues a sober warning: “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away.” Drifting is not neutral. It is the inevitable result of neglecting God’s revealed word and the salvation Christ has secured. If we turn back to the old system, or simply grow indifferent, we do not merely lose out on spiritual “extras”—we risk forfeiting the very confidence, joy, and maturity that mark the New Covenant life.
The consequences are clear: drifting leads to judgment, loss, and the squandering of a greater salvation. This is not a hypothetical threat. To neglect what Christ has accomplished is to step outside the sphere of blessing and to invite the discipline of God. The fullness of salvation is not experienced by those who treat it as common or optional.
Edification: The Means of Confidence and Perseverance
God has not left us to maintain this confidence in isolation. The New Testament ministry is given for our edification—for the building up of the body of Christ. This is not mere encouragement or positive thinking; it is the Spirit’s work through the Word and the ministry of the saints to anchor us in Christ, to mature us, and to produce in us a boldness and joy that cannot be manufactured by human effort.
When we embrace this ministry and pursue edification, several things happen:
- The church is built up as God’s true house, a dwelling place for His presence.
- Confidence toward God and among the saints is established and strengthened.
- We persevere in faith, unmoved by accusation or fear, because our position is secured by Christ, not by our performance.
- We experience the fullness of our inheritance, living as sons and heirs rather than slaves to religious anxiety.
What Is Lost If We Accept the Error
If we ignore this call—if we treat the New Covenant as a mere improvement on the old, or if we allow ourselves to drift from the centrality of Christ’s finished work—we lose everything that matters. We forfeit the confidence that comes from a cleansed conscience. We lose the joy and assurance that belong to sons, not servants. We abandon the superior position that Christ died to secure for us, and we risk falling back under the shadow of judgment and fear. This is not a theoretical loss; it is a practical, daily forfeiture of the very life God intends for His people.
The Only Way Forward
The answer is not to redouble our efforts or to romanticize the spirituality of the Old Testament saints. The answer is to heed God’s word, to fix our eyes on Christ as the builder and the guarantee of God’s house, and to pursue edification in the context of the New Testament church. Only then will we stand firm, confident, and rejoicing in the hope that is ours in Christ.
Let us not lose sight of Him or of the great salvation He has accomplished. To do so is to drift, to diminish the work of Christ, and to rob ourselves and others of the inheritance that is freely ours. Instead, let us build each other up, hold fast our confidence, and walk in the fullness of our superior position as sons and heirs in the house that Christ Himself is building.
