Alt Description: Light on Life Podcast artwork for “Hold Fast to Your Confession: How to Overcome Through Faith,” featuring a majestic tree firmly rooted in rocky ground, its glowing roots gripping the rocks beneath a dramatic sunrise. The image symbolizes being rooted in Christ, holding firmly to faith, and overcoming opposition through God’s Word.
The enemy has a way of challenging what you believe, especially when you've taken a firm stand on what God has said. What does it mean to hold fast to your confession of faith when opposition comes against you? Hebrews 4:14 tells us to hold fast our profession, but how do you actually do that? Is believing in Jesus enough, or does holding firmly to Him involve something more? Colossians 2:6 gives us the answer—receive Jesus as Lord and walk in Him. You cannot separate Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord. It's a package deal. And when you hold firmly to His Word and allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen you in your love walk, you become rooted in Christ. That's how you stand your ground when the winds of opposition blow. Believe God. Hold fast to your confession—that’s our focus today. So grab your Bible, and let’s jump into “Hold Fast to Your Confession: How to Overcome Through Faith” all on this week’s Light on Life.
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This Week: Discover what it means to hold fast to your confession, hold on to your faith when opposition comes, and become firmly rooted in love through the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit.
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Accept the Challenge
Hold Fast. Stand Your Ground.
Hebrews 4:14 (KJV) — 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Here's your challenge this week.
Are you really holding fast to Jesus as YOUR Lord?
I'm not asking whether you believe God exists. I'm asking whether you're giving His Word the place it deserves in your life.
When the Word of God shows you something in your thinking that needs to change, what do you do with it?
Do you make the adjustment, or do you keep going the same way?
Remember, receiving Jesus as Lord and walking in Him is a package deal.
And what about your love walk?
Take Ephesians 3:14–19 and pray that prayer for yourself. Ask God to strengthen you with might by His Spirit in your inner man.
Ask Him to strengthen you to love people—even when they're not acting very lovable.
And when opposition comes—and it will—don't let go of what God has said.
Remember: Holding fast means holding persistently, being resolute, and refusing to let go of your confession.
Hold fast to Jesus. Hold fast to His Word.
Believe God. Hold fast to your confession.Join the Conversation
Each week's podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony. Testimony is vital to a believers life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11).
This week's question:
Join This Conversation
Question:
Have you ever faced opposition that challenged what
you believed God had said? Did you hold firmly to
His Word, or did the pressure begin to move you
away from your confession?
Share:
What Scripture has helped you hold on to your faith
when opposition came against you? And how has
allowing the Holy Spirit to strengthen your love
walk helped you stand your ground?
I'd like to hear from you. Join the conversation and share your thoughts in the comments. Your experience may help another Jesus follower hold firmly to God's Word.
Remember:
The opposition comes, but it doesn't have to
move you off what God said.
Believe God. Hold fast to your confession.
About Emery and Sharon
For nearly five decades, Emery has devoted his life to helping people grow in Christ through the power of the Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Together with his wife, Sharon — his partner in life and ministry for 44 years — he equipped believers to live Spirit-filled, practical lives of faith.
At the heart of the mission is this: helping believers apply God's words so faith becomes active and unstoppable.
If this episode helped you, would you share it with a friend and leave a quick review?
Podcast Notes:
Well again, welcome.
Let’s pray.
Father God, we love you with all our hearts, and we love people the same way strengthen us with might by your Spirit in our inner man so that we might be even stronger and more like Jesus in this area. Thank you for that. In Jesus’ Name, we pray, Amen.
Summary — Moving Toward Hebrews 4:14
Well, last time, we looked at five marvelous characteristics of God’s Word from Hebrews 4:12.
Hebrews 4:12 (KJV) — 12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
The Word that comes out of God’s mouth and into the hearts of men is quick, powerful, sharp, piercing, and discerning.
Five attributes of the Word of God.
The Living God speaks the Living Word.
Life produces life.
God’s Word lives. God’s Word delivers.
We also learned that God’s Word is effective.
Energy is about activity.
Effectiveness is about results.
God’s Word is effective—when God speaks, it’s always headline news because stuff happens.
We also saw that God’s Word is sharper than any two-edged sword.
The Word of God penetrates and discerns at a level no physical instrument can reach.
What a Word—what a God!
God’s Holy Word discerns or judges the thoughts and intents of the heart.
You can have wrong thinking and not even know that your thinking is wrong.
But here’s the blessing in this—you have the Word that will judge right in your lap.
You have the Holy Spirit, and you have the Word.
What tremendous resources God has given us!
You don’t have to manufacture power in God’s Word.
The Word already has the ability.
Your part is to believe God and give His Word the place it deserves in your life.
With all of this came this question: ‘Do you have increased confidence in God’s Word knowing what it means when the Word of God is described as quick, powerful, sharp, piercing, and discerning?’
If you need to brush up on last week’s podcast, you can find the link here.
The Word of God Sees What You Cannot See
With that, now let’s move on to verse thirteen and pick up a couple of things.
Hebrews 4:13 (KJV)—13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
So the holy writer of Hebrews told us that God’s Holy Word discerns or judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
This is not a condemnation type of judging but a revealing of the intentions of the heart.
That means your motives.
That means your thinking.
That means things you cannot see.
You cannot see the spirit and soul and what’s percolating in there.
The Word of God can.
But that’s not all that the Word of God can see.
There is no creature that is not manifest in His sight.
The word creature [ktisis] means that which has been brought into existence by God.
The word manifest gives us the idea of being invisible or hidden.
So literally nothing God made with the Words of His mouth can stay hidden from the Word of His mouth.
Man, if that doesn’t grab you in your gut.
Think about that.
There are over 8 billion humans on Planet Earth, and He sees them all, one by one.
People go off and hide in the wilderness, trying to get away from society, and God can still see them.
They put on disguises—cloak their identity, and God’s eye pierces through the mask.
Religious garb is not a barrier to the all-seeing Word.
You can hide your feelings about God behind philanthropy—become a ‘good-deed-doer’ and all that can be seen by the Word.
That’s what the next word naked [gymnos] implies.
There is no creature hidden—all things are naked.
That’s what the word [gymnos] means—naked.
It’s part of the family of words that the word gymnasium comes from.
Greek athletes of the first century would exercise in the gym with no clothes on.
Olympic wrestling competitions?—same deal—no clothes.
No clothes mean no protection—it means complete exposure.
So in light of this verse, the word [gymnos] is communicating that you can’t buy enough clothes to cover stinking thinking.
You can’t put enough layers on to bury bad motives.
All things are absolutely naked before God.
There is no protection from His all-seeing Word.
Now, since that’s true—and you are going to stand before Him—why wait for His thoughts concerning your thinking when you have His thinking right in your lap?
Everything is opened [trachēlizō] to the Omniscient One.
The word opened describes something being laid bare or exposed.
One picture associated with this word is the neck of a sacrificial animal being exposed to the knife.
What a word picture this is!
My-my—utter helplessness.
This is the God of the universe.
Do you get that?
Now, with all that in mind, Hebrews 4:14 has some sound advice for us.
Hold Fast Your Profession
**Hebrews 4:14 (KJV)—14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
*Now, in verse twelve, we saw some tremendous attributes of the Word of God.
Mind you, Jesus is the living Word of God—that’s John 1:1, and verse 14.
The Scripture says we are to hold fast to our profession.
Profession is the Greek word [homologia].
It’s a compound of [homos], which means the same, and [legō], which means word or speech.
Putting these two words together [homologia] means saying the same thing.
We are in the realm of speech—the realm of confession—what you say with your mouth.
If you are saying the same thing as Jesus is saying, that means you agree with Him, and you bear allegiance to His teachings.
Okay, so we verbally commit to Jesus, and we take His Word on our lips.
What else is left here for us?
…let us hold fast our profession.
Jesus’ followers are to ‘hold fast’ their profession.
They are to cling to both the Living Word and the written Word.
And with that thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The word we are looking at is the word hold fast [krateō].
Hold fast means to adhere strongly to or keep hold of something that belongs to you, so that it cannot be taken away.[1 William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 565.]
Instead of saying holding strongly to—you could say hold on tenaciously to, and you wouldn’t do this Greek word a disservice.
Holding fast means holding persistently, being resolute, unwilling to let go, firmly maintaining your confession.
These working words mean that there must be an opponent that’s wanting to take your profession from you.
Otherwise, you wouldn’t be encouraged to hold on to it with tenacity.
And so the writer of Hebrews stands forth and says, “Because Jesus, the divine Son, is our exalted and sympathetic High Priest, let us remain tenaciously attached to—and openly maintain—the Christian confession about him, refusing to abandon it.”
Wow! That should get your engines revved up.
Listen to it again now.
Hebrews 4:14 (KJV) — 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
Let us tenaciously hold what we believe about Jesus in the face of fear-mongers.
Let’s hold strong because we have an enemy that’s trying to take away or move us off our stand for God.
So hold strongly to Jesus—hold tenaciously to the Word that came from His mouth.
In Bible words: hold fast to your confession.
That’s what Jesus said.
John 14:15 (NASB 2020) — 15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
The question for us now is how we do that?
Is going to church on Easter Sunday and Christmas holding fast to Jesus?
Is that holding fast your allegiance?
What about praying a little over your food—is that holding tenaciously to Jesus while you’re downing potato chips?
What about positive thoughts about God and His existence—how does that rate in the ‘holding fast to Jesus’ category?
To answer that, go with me to the Book of Colossians, and we will look and see if we can answer some of these questions.
Holding Fast—Colossians Style
We’re going to start reading in Colossians 2:18.
Colossians 2:18–19 (NASB 2020) — 18 Take care that no one keeps defrauding you of your prize by delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding firmly to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.
Look at the words ‘holding firmly’ in verse 19.
It is the same word used in Hebrews 4:14.
Here, it’s in the negative context.
Verse nineteen describes a group of people who were NOT holding firmly to Jesus, the head of the Church.
Who were these people, anyway?
They were a bunch of spiritual lunatics.
They had some crazy doctrine totally foreign to the New Testament.
Their version of spiritual included legalistic restrictions on food (see Colossians 2:16) and severe treatment of the body (see Colossians 2:23).
And they coupled all of this with a whole ton of ‘thou shalt not’s—do not handle, do not touch, and do not taste (see Colossians 2:21).
To build credibility with inexperienced Jesus followers, they added to their already extensive collection of religious junk the claim that they had visions and worshipped angels.
And so you have this ultra-spiritualness that came along with a heavy dose of pride.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NASB 2020) — 9 What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. there is nothing new under the sun.
The opposition that rose against the Church in the first century didn’t just stay in the first century.
Opposition became like a changeling—morphing into different forms.
All throughout the ages, the Body of Christ has had a reason to hold fast to its confession.
It’s no different today.
To help recognize this junk, you must know what real spirituality is.
The only definition of spiritual that you, as a Jesus follower, should subscribe to is God’s definition.
Those thoughts are in God’s book, the Bible.
You see, none of the things that this fringe group in Colossi said were worth holding firmly.
You don’t hold tenaciously to junk doctrine.
Just like the questions above—is going to Church twice a year strongly adhering to God?
Is minimal contact with God holding tenaciously to Him?
How can it be if you’re not coming to Him?
Anybody with one eye and half sense can see that’s not holding firmly to Jesus.
Don’t let yourself believe that living a barely-committed-to-God life is the right way to live.
To grasp what holding firmly to Jesus actually means, let’s back up in Colossians two to verse six. over to the book of Colossians.
Here, we will see what God’s idea is of holding firmly to His Son.
What Does It Mean to Receive Jesus?
Colossians 2:6–7 (NASB 2020) — 6 Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
To hold firmly to Jesus, you must receive Jesus, THE LORD.
Emphasize the word LORD.
You could say, ‘Jesus as Lord.’
The words you have received [paralambanō] hint at this.
Let’s drill down into it.
You have received is one word in the Greek New Testament.
It’s a compound word consisting of para, which means besides, and lambanō, which means to take or grasp.
And it conveys this thought of gripping authoritative teaching from an approved source.
I’m still talking about holding firm now.
I’m talking about grasping—clutching—gripping.
Receiving is not passive.
It involves actively taking hold of the teaching that’s been given.
It’s not just saying “Jesus is in my heart.”
Some people have gotten a divorce from the Lordship of Jesus.
They’ve separated Jesus as Savior from Jesus as Lord.
What God has joined together, you must never part.
Believing in the sacrifice of Jesus and living for Jesus is a package deal.
And that’s what Paul says here.
Listen to Colossians 2:6 again.
6 Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, SO WALK IN HIM.
Package deal.
Let’s look a little further at this word, receiving.
You understand that the first-century church didn’t have physical Bibles like we have today.
The ordinary Israelite didn’t own a copy of the Torah.
Synagogues had a copy.
Back in the first century, if you wanted to hear the Word, you had to attend the synagogue and watch the scroll being unrolled for the Sabbath reading.
You remember that Jesus grabbed the Isaiah scroll at His home synagogue in Nazareth and found the spot where it was written, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me.’
I want to say this again—the masses did not have copies of the Scriptures.
So how did they learn about Jesus?
This way.
1 Corinthians 11:23 (NASB 2020) — 23 For I received [paralambanō] from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread;
There it is [paralambanō]—the same word as in Colossians 2:6.
What did Paul receive from the Lord?—words.
Bible words—anointed words—words that came from God.
Paul said, “I received these words from the Lord.”
But get this—you cannot separate a man from his words any more than you can separate your head from your shoulders.
John 6:63 (NASB 2020) — 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh provides no benefit; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit, and are life.
Jesus and the Word from His mouth are one.
They are spirit and life.
So to receive Jesus is to receive Him and His Words.
To receive Jesus is to live like He lived.
1 John 2:6 (NASB 2020) — 6 the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.
That’s what Paul is saying—as you have received Jesus, walk in Him.
Hold fast to your confession.
Now, let’s look at verse seven.
The First Key to Holding Firmly to Jesus: Being Rooted
Colossians 2:6–7 (NASB 2020) — 6 Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
Notice what it means when one holds firmly to Jesus.
That person is firmly rooted—built up in Him—established in faith, and overflowing with gratitude.
These four phrases all hook back to the word walk.
If you are walking in Him, Colossians 2:7 is true of you.
And the first thing that’s true is that you are firmly rooted.
Receiving Jesus the Lord, as you now understand it, and walking in Him brings you to a place of being firmly rooted.
This horticultural word is only used two times in the entire New Testament.
Here and in Ephesians 3:17.
Firmly rooted [rhizoō] to be established, conceived of as if a plant were being or becoming fixed in the ground.
This is not something that you do—it’s something that happens to you because you hold firmly to Jesus as your Lord and cling tenaciously to His words.
There’s another part to this word [rhizoō] the way it’s used here—this Jesus person is not only rooted—he is continuing to stay rooted.
These roots are not in a state of disrepair—these are not roots that are withering but continuing to grow deep and establish the ground they’re planted in.
Oh, thank God for being rooted!
We need to be firmly rooted in this crazy, storm-tossed world we call a planet.
Now, what specific part of the Jesus’ life is responsible for this rooting?
I mean, ‘walking in Him’ is a rather broad subject.
Go over to Ephesians three.
Ephesians 3:14–19 (NASB 2020) — 14 For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.
The thing that causes you to stick in the ground—fixed so that no matter what way the storms blow, you won’t move—is your love walk.
Faith is tied to your love walk.
Galatians 5:6 (KJV) — 6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
The word works is the same word we looked at last week [energēs] in connection with the Word of God being powerful.
Faith works by love.
Love is the thing that makes faith effective.
Love is what makes your life effective—it’s what causes you to be rooted.
You see in Ephesians three a prayer that Paul prayed for the Church.
It’s a prayer that you should pray along with the one in Ephesians one.
Pray that God would strengthen you with might so that you may be rooted in love.
Now, you can see where the strong roots come from.
It’s not you trying to love—it’s you being strengthened to love others.
And that’s why this word is passive in Colossians 2:7.
Rooted is not something you do—it’s a byproduct of you being strengthened to walk in the love of God.
And I am telling you what—we need this kind of strength.
That’s why Paul prayed for the Church in Ephesians three.
They needed to be strengthened in their inner man, and you do as well.
And what happens when you’re strengthened like that?
You’re not going to be moved every time the winds of opposition blow.
And that’s what overcoming looks like when you the stare down opposition.
The opposition comes, but it doesn’t move you off what God said.
You’re still believing God—still walking in His Word—still holding fast to your confession.
That’s how you overcome through faith.
You have Jesus—you have the Holy Spirit, and you have the Word of God.
How can you lose?
So hold fast to Jesus—hold fast to the Word that came from His mouth.
Believe God. Hold fast to your confession.
That’s what Hebrews 4:14 is telling us.
Application — Are You Really Holding Fast to Jesus?
Now, here’s something I want you to think about.
Are you really holding fast to Jesus?
I’m not asking whether you believe God exists.
I’m asking whether you’re holding firmly to Jesus as YOUR Lord.
Are you giving His Word the place it deserves in your life?
When the Word of God shows you something in your thinking that needs to change, what do you do with it?
Do you make the adjustment, or do you keep going the same way?
Remember, receiving Jesus as Lord and walking in Him is a package deal.
You can’t separate the two.
And what about your love walk?
Are you allowing the Holy Spirit to strengthen you to love people—even when they’re not acting very lovable?
That’s where being rooted in love becomes more than just a nice Bible phrase.
It’s how you live.
So here’s something you can do this week.
Take Ephesians 3:14–19 and pray that prayer for yourself.
Ask God to strengthen you with might by His Spirit in your inner man.
And when opposition comes—and it will—don’t let go of what God has said.
Hold fast to Jesus.
Hold fast to His Word.
Believe God. Hold fast to your confession.
If this podcast helped you, consider sharing it with others.
You’ll find the Companion Study Guide and Teacher’s Guide for this episode on the Episode Resources page at emeryhorvath.com, as well.
Use those resources to go back through the Scriptures we covered today and get these truths down in your heart.
And remember the title of today’s podcast: “Hold Fast to Your Confession: How to Overcome Through Faith.”
And join me next week as we continue talking about holding firm and overcoming.
So tune in next time.
You guys have a great God week, and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.
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If “Hold Fast to Your Confession: How to Overcome Through Faith” encouraged you, don't miss “Why God's Spirit Will Teach and Transform Your Life.” Holding fast to Jesus means more than simply acknowledging Him as Lord. It means continuing to walk in Him and allowing His Word to shape the way you think and live. Discover how the Holy Spirit teaches you God's truth, helps transform your thinking, and strengthens you to walk in obedience to what God has said. The same Spirit who teaches you the Word also strengthens you to stand your ground when opposition comes.
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- William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 565. ↩︎