"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession."
One way I see this verse is like this: Jesus has ascended into heaven. We, His church, are tied to Him. Where He goes, we go. The author of Hebrews is saying here, as he does elsewhere, that the sincerity of our faith will be manifested in and by our "holding fast our confes-sion," (and our not giving up, or shipwrecking our souls).
Therefore, simply *because* Christ has gone into heaven, and is per-
manently seated at the Father's right hand, the church is to continue confessing the true faith--and by doing so, we have the assurance that we are in Jesus (and that we are not deluded).
[Puritan quote of the day: "We must look to our place wherein God has set us. If we be in subjection to others, their authority in doubtful things ought to [have] sway with us." --Richard Sibbes, in, "The Soul's Conflict with Itself"]
