The Throne of Grace

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14–16 ESV)

I’ve crossed the Canadian/US border once or twice a year for most of my adult life. One time the vehicle I was in was searched, and my luggage was rummaged through a couple of times, but I’ve never been held up in customs. 

Still, I am nervous every time I approach a customs window. The officer holds all the power, and I have none. He or she could deny me entry into the US for a trivial reason, or for no reason at all. No wonder I’m a little apprehensive at the border!

Come On In. The Door Is Open.

But a believer shouldn’t be nervous when they come before God. No, the author of Hebrews encourages us to approach him with confidence, even though God has more authority over us than a customs agent, and we have all personally sinned against him in ways that are not trivial, but serious. God’s throne is not a throne of wrath for us, but a throne of grace. It is a place where we will be granted mercy for our offenses against him. It is not a place where we will be denied good things, but where we will always find help when we need it.

How can this be? It’s because of the work our high priest, Jesus, has done and is doing for us. The Old Testament high priests, if you remember, passed through the veil and entered the earthly sanctuary—the holy of holies—just once a year. But in his work as our priest, Jesus atoned for sins permanently. He turned away God’s wrath against us (Hebrews 2:17) once for all time. Afterward, he “passed through the heavens” and entered the very presence of God, where he sits forever, giving us permanent access to God. We are always welcome in God’s inner sanctuary (Hebrews 10:19) through Jesus, our high priest.

Help When We Need It

What’s more, because Jesus is human, he knows our human weaknesses from experience. He understands how hard life is for us. And Jesus experienced all the kinds of temptations we face—without succumbing to them, of course. As Tom Schreiner puts it, “The delights and joys offered by sin were no stranger to Jesus.” [1] He understands from experience that it is often difficult for us to say no to temptation. He is truly sympathetic to our plight. 

And he has the power to help us. God’s gracious help is always available to believers because of Jesus’s work and his permanent presence in heaven. If we are in any kind of trouble or trial, we can ask God for help and he will not refuse us. If we have sinned, he will forgive us. When we are weak, he will help us endure. As believers in Jesus, we will surely “receive mercy and find grace” whenever we need it.

Only Jesus

We should cling to Jesus, then, or as the writer puts it, we should “hold fast our confession.” We should continue to embrace the gospel of forgiveness through his priestly work. 

The original readers of Hebrews were tempted to turn back from Jesus to return to the Old Testament sacrificial system, which simply foreshadowed the true forgiveness that came through the sacrifice of Jesus. It could not bring them real forgiveness. There is no access to God through the old system, but only through the work of Jesus. There is no open door, no throne of grace, no real forgiveness, and no timely help except through him. So the writer encourages them to not turn back, but to keep on confessing the truth of gospel of Jesus.

The warning to hold fast to our confession might seem less applicable to us than it was to the first readers of Hebrews. I’ve never been under the Old Testament sacrificial system, so I’m not tempted to return to it. You probably aren’t either. We may never be tempted to go back to Judaism, but I do think we could be tempted to move on from the faith we professed and seek God in less culturally offensive ways than through the message of cross of Jesus. For instance, I know someone who calls himself a Christian but who no longer believes there is only one path into God’s presence. Trusting in Jesus, he says, may be one way, but there are other valid paths to God. He has left his his first confession—that salvation comes exclusively through faith in Jesus—and embraced a more inclusive view that fits better with what everyone around him believes. The Old Testament sacrificial system might not tempt us, but we are always vulnerable to influence from our current culture. We, too, need the warning to hold fast to our confession. 

We must cling to Jesus alone because there isn’t any other way to God. There is only one person who can go directly into the presence of the transcendent God, and who can also sympathize with our weakness and intercede for us. There is only one Son of God who became like human beings in every way “yet without sin.” It is only through his work that we can have confidence to approach God’s throne, where we will find constantly available mercy when we need to be forgiven, and constantly available help when we are enduring trials and temptations. 

There is no open door, no throne of grace, no help when we need it through anyone else. There is no hope except in the gospel of Jesus—not for the first readers of Hebrews and not for us, either. There is one else who can give us access to God. 

[1] Commentary on Hebrews by Thomas R. Schreiner, page 153.