The author of Hebrews already told us back in chapter 6 what the easy and the deep truths of the faith are. Consider the mysterious figure of Melchizedek, priest and king, as one of those deeper truths pointing straight to Christ.

Good works may be one of the most controversial subjects in all of Christianity, going back to Jesus’s own rebukes of Israel’s man-made, selective obedience. Consider the confession’s careful balance: works that can never save us, yet are still the necessary fruit of real faith.

We’re wired to be creatures of hope, as Proverbs 13:12 puts it, hope deferred makes the heart sick, and the sobering scale of suicide worldwide proves what happens when hope runs out. Consider Hebrews’ anchor of hope, God’s own unbreakable promise and oath.

Say you’re sorry, parents tell their kids, and we all remember mumbling the words without meaning a bit of it. Consider the confession’s chapter on repentance, and what it looks like when sorrow for sin is actually genuine.

God wants every believer to know they’re truly his child, not left wondering whether they’re loved or provided for, any more than a good father would leave his own children in doubt. Consider Hebrews’ call to the full assurance of hope, and the diligence that keeps that assurance alive.

No one comes to the Father except through me, Jesus says in John 14:6, a claim the world finds increasingly offensive, as a Phil Donahue Show clip once illustrated. Consider the exclusivity of Christ as the way, addressing pluralism and secularism head on.

I think I’ve committed the unforgivable sin, is a fear more than one young Christian has voiced, and a fear plenty of believers have wrestled with themselves. Consider Hebrews’ hard warning about apostasy, and why genuine, persistent faith is proof you haven’t committed it.

Faith gets associated with irrationality, a leap off a ledge despite what sound reason tells you. Consider the confession’s teaching on saving faith as something profoundly reasonable, grounded in real evidence rather than blind hope.

Have you heard of the anonymous Christian? The idea traces back to Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner and into modern Catholic teaching, that someone can be saved without ever consciously believing in Christ. Consider Hebrews’ call to move on from elementary teaching to maturity, without ever leaving those basics behind.

Last week’s lesson gave a great explanation of the confession’s positive view of holiness; this follows up with the errors most of us have probably run into. Consider Keswick holiness and other flawed views of sanctification the confession rules out.