FAITH THAT HOLDS FAST (1)

“You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall HOLD FAST…” – Deuteronomy 10:20a

An indomitable attitude of More-than-conquerors in Christ is the FAITH that HOLDS FAST: “You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall HOLD FAST, and take oaths in His name.  He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude” (Deut.10: 20-22). This metaphor to “HOLD FAST,” as used in many verses of the Bible means to “be diligent,” “cling to,” or “take a firm grasp of.” It is based on the idea of gripping tightly to an object. 

In Deuteronomy 11: 22-23, the command to hold fast is part of a conditional promise from the Lord to Moses and the people of Israel: “For if you CAREFULLY KEEP all these commandments which I command you to do – to LOVE the Lord your God, to WALK in all His ways, and to HOLD FAST to Him – then the Lord will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves.” The Lord gave the same charge to Joshua and the leaders of Israel (Jos.22:5; 23:8).

HOLDING FAST to the Lord means carefully keeping and diligently obeying His Word, loving Him with our whole being, walking in His ways, following Him closely, devoting ourselves wholly to Him, and serving Him with all our heart and soul. Holding fast involves not compromising in our behaviour, conduct, relationships, or anything that might pull us away from our total commitment to God and obedience to His Word. HOLDING FAST offers this promise of life: “Let your heart RETAIN MY WORDS; KEEP my commands, and LIVE” (Pro.4:4).

Even in the New Testament, the exhortation to HOLD FAST is attended by a conditional promise of life: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, IF YOU HOLD FAST that WORD which I preached to you – unless you believed in vain” (1Cor.15: 1-2). Paul declared his belief that the Christians in Corinth had received the Gospel and were standing firm in it. Salvation comes only through faith in the good news of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection to life (Jh.1:12; Rom.10: 9-13; Eph.2:8-9). Paul then added a qualifier: The Corinthians were saved IF they held fast to the Word he had preached – the Gospel. That is, genuine salvation proves itself in persistence, perseverance, and diligence over the long haul of life.

Paul wanted the Corinthians to examine their hearts. If their commitment to Christ had been merely temporary, then they would have believed in vain. Such a passing belief is of no benefit to anyone because it does not lead to eternal life. Paul wholeheartedly believed that the Corinthians had experienced genuine saving faith, which would reveal itself in diligent obedience to the Word and the One they had received.

HOLDING FAST embodies unwavering perseverance in the Christian walk and life: “And Moses indeed was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which would be spoken afterward, but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are IF WE HOLD FAST the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end” (Heb.3: 5-6). Just as the Lord commanded Israel to keep His covenant, God wants us to hold fast to His Word, our confidence in Him and hope in Jesus Christ. We prove the genuineness of our commitment by holding fast and enduring in faithful devotion (Phil.2: 14-16). Only by clinging to and living by God’s Word can we receive the grace, power, and direction to let God accomplish His work in and through us and keep us pure and steadfast until the end (Rev.2:25; 3:11).