38 Victor (Sung-Yul) Rhee of the new covenant.18 The next participle λελουσμένοι is not related to the blood of Jesus, but instead is related to Christian baptism. Whereas the first participle has a reference to the cleansing of the inner heart, the second one refers to the external sign of the inner reality. In other words, the phrase “washing of the body with pure water” refers to “the outward application of water as the visible sign of the inward and spiritual clean- sing wrought by God in those who come to Him through Christ.”19 The two phrases indicated by the participles are significant in the present context because they refer to “the application of the benefits of Christ’s sacrifice to the Christian at some decisive moment in the past”.20 These participles are directly tied to the main verb προσερχώμεθα (let us draw near) and express the reasons that one must draw near to God in full assurance of faith. An examination of the participial clauses both in 10:19–21 and in 10:22 indicates that they have Christological implications: while the for- mer emphasizes the finished work of Christ as the high priest, the latter stresses the response of believers to the work of the high priesthood of Christ. In this sense, it may be concluded that the exhortation to draw near with a true heart in assurance of faith in 10:22a is Christologically oriented. Even if the author does not use the phrase, such as “faith in Christ”, the context and the literary structure make it evident that the concept of faith in this passage has Jesus as the object. B. Let Us Hold Fast (10:23). In the second exhortation (10:23) faith is expressed in terms of holding fast to the confession of the hope (ὁμολογία τῆς ἐλπίδος) without wavering. What is the object of the confession of the hope that the believers were exhorted to hold fast? Although it is not stated explicitly, the clause “he who has promised is faithful” (10:23b) suggests that hope is somehow related to the promise of God in Hebrews. The author’s use of the noun ἐπαγγελία (4:1; 6:15; 8:6; 9:15) and the verb ἐπαγγέλλομαι (6:3; 10:23; 11:11; 12:26) indicates that the promise of God refers to the word of God as a whole. More specifically, in 10:23 the promise refers to the word of God which is yet to be fulfilled in the future. It is the promise of entering His rest in the eschatological sense (4:1), an eternal inheritance (9:15), an unshakable kingdom (12:27–28). In other words, “the confession of hope” (ἡ ὁμολογία τῆς ἐλπίδος) refers N.A. Dahl, “A New and New Living Way: The Approach to God according to He- 18 brews 10:19-25”, Interpretation 5 (1951) 406. F.F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, New International Commentary on the New 19 Testament (Grand Rapids 1964) 251. Lane, Hebrews 9-13, 287. 20