What the Bible says about Holding Conviction to End
(From Forerunner Commentary)
The author implies the faith that we had at the beginning of our conversion, the faith that led us to believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and that it is by His blood that we are saved. It led us to repent, to change our minds in relation to God and the way that we were living, so that we were baptized, made the new covenant with God, and began to live His way on the strength of the conviction we had about the teachings we had accepted at that time.
In saying, "For we have become partakers of Christ," he is now referring to an end result—"if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast to the end." Just a few verses later (verse 17), He speaks about the corpses of the Israelites being strewn all over the wilderness. His point is that the Israelites did not hold their conviction to the end. When they left Egypt, they were full of joy. When God divided the Red Sea, they danced around and had a real celebration (Exodus 15). But it seems that, from that time on, God's great miracles on their behalf began to recede into their minds, and they did not hold onto the joy and faith and conviction that they had then.
John W. Ritenbaugh
Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part Four)Related Topics: Conviction | Does Doctrine Really Matter? | Holding Fast | Holding to Faith | Motivation for Repentance | Partakers of Christ