In Christ, Be Confident; Endure

March 11th, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 10:35-36 Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

In Jesus’ parable of the soils in Mark 4:1-9 (cf. Matt. 13:3-9, 18-23), He surmises a preacher who sows the word of God like a farmer sows seed in his fields. The seed represents the gospel preached to unbelievers. Likewise, Jesus presents three kinds of hearers to the gospel. The first hears it but pays no attention and forgets it altogether (Mark 4:15).

The second and third soils in Jesus’ parable receive the seed of the farmer, and the seed springs up. These represent those who initially hear the gospel and respond to it. Sadly, however, one of the seeds springs up in shallow ground, withering away with no root when the sun gets hot. This one is representative of those who believe in Jesus when the gospel is preached but who turn away from Him when persecution becomes more than they bargained for: “when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away” (Mark 4:17).

Likewise, the other seed that sprang up did so only briefly. As its roots went into the soil, they were choked out in the rocky soil beneath, causing it to bear no fruit. This one is indicative of those who hear and respond positively to the gospel but who fail to produce ongoing spiritual fruit: “the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).
But Jesus also illustrates a genuine believer in the fourth seed and soil: “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold” (4:20). These represent those who not only hear the gospel and respond positively to it, they bear ongoing, noticeable spiritual fruit that continues to increase over time, bearing more and more fruit.

Of course it is this final seed and soil in Mark 4:20 that Hebrews 10:35-36 is endorsing. Whereas the most recent stern warning in Hebrews 10:26-31 is in reference to the two soils that produced temporary stalks (i.e., transient, casual believers), this last paragraph in Hebrews 10:32-39 is a strong exhortation to believers in Christ being persecuted for their faith and/or becoming burdened by life’s trials and perhaps the love of money to “remember” (v. 32) their former commitment to Christ. Instead of turning away from Him, they are told “Do not throw away your confidence which has great reward” (10:35). Their “confidence” (Gr. parrēsia) was in Christ and the eternal reward He had promised them if they endured to the end (Matt. 24:13).

The negative (“do not throw away”) is now followed by the positive: endure (Gr. hupomonē). This term entails an exhortation to weary Christians to “remain under; persevere; be steadfast.” Whereas there is a great and eternal “reward” for believers who refuse to throw away their “confidence” (v. 35), there is the certain prospect of receiving “what was promised” (v. 36) for those who remain steadfast in their faith in the midst of trials, persecution, and disappointments.

Food For Thought
Some apostates believe one moment but abandon their faith in the next. They lack endurance. This lack of endurance through their trials keeps them from doing “the will of God.” They might say they believe in Christ, and they might be able to point back to a time when no one would have doubted their fruitful Christian works (cf. vv. 32-34). But when professed believers in Christ cease to do the will of God, they become people “who practice lawlessness” (Matt. 7:23), claiming to know and love Jesus but having no works as evidence of love for Him. It appears that former spiritual fruit is not good enough. Unless it continues, it means little to nothing.