Christology, Chiasm, and the Concept of Faith in Hebrews 10:19-39 39 to the eschatological hope of confessing Jesus, whose lordship is to be fully realized in the future.21 Grässer recognizes that the object of hope is the possession of salva- tion which is still open in the future.22 But he is not willing to recognize that this object of hope is Christologically oriented. He considers that the attitude (or behavior) mentioned in 10:23ff is merely a Christian ethics in the assembly of believers.23 Grässer has done well in pointing out the ethical aspect of faith in this passage. Indeed, holding fast the confession in 10:23 and considering how to stimulate one another to love and good works in 10:24 are the ethics of the believing community for worship. However, one must not forget that the parenetic section of 10:19–39 is ba- sed on the Christological teachings in 7:1–10:18. The three exhortations in 10:19–25 have a firm basis in the doctrine of Christ’s high priesthood. For the author of Hebrews the ethical aspect of faith is not detached from Christology. They go hand in hand: Christology is the foundational element for the ethical concept of faith and faith in Hebrews cannot stand alone without the doctrine of Christ. Thus one may conclude that the exhortation to hold fast the confession of hope (10:23) is Christologically oriented. C. Let Us Consider (10:24–25). It is already pointed out that in the first two exhortations (10:22–23) a believer’s faith was directed toward God. However, in the third exhortation (10:24–25), the emphasis is changed to one’s responsibility to other believers; namely, the author instructs the readers how faith should be exercised toward others in the assembly. In 10:24 faith is described in terms of considering one another to stimulate to love and good works. This main idea is supported by the two participles in 10:25, which explain how the exhortation should be carried out.24 The first participle (μὴ ἐγκαταλείποντες) shows that stimulating to love and good works should be done by not neglecting the gatherings of believers. The second participle (παρακαλοῦντες) indicates that the exhortation must be done by encouraging one another to meet together. The author employs these two participles to reinforce the importance of the assembly Attridge, The Epistle to the Hebrews, 289. 21 Grässer, Der Glaube im Hebräerbrief, 33. 22 Grässer, Der Glaube im Hebräerbrief, 40, considers that ὁμολογία τῆς ἐλπίδος is es- 23 sentially identical to παρρησία καὶ τὸ καύχημα τῆς ἐλπίδος (3:6), πληροφορία τῆς ἐλπίδος (6:11). In ibid. 40 he asserts that these phrases show no specific Christological basis for the concept of faith in Hebrews (35). The two participles ἐγκαταλείποντες and παρακαλοῦντες are adverbial participles. 24 Both are used as the participles of manner (i.e., the manner in which the action is carried out). See Blass, Debrunner, and Funk, Grammar, 216-17; Robertson, A Grammar of the Greek New Testament, 1127).