Hebrews 3:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"For we have become partakers of Christ." What does "we have become partakers of Christ" mean? We have become, he says, partakers of Him. We and He have become one. He is the Head, and we are His body, fellow heirs and members of the same body. We are one body with Him, of His flesh and of His bones. "If only we hold the beginning of our life firm to the end." What does "the beginning of our life" mean? He is speaking here about faith, by which we exist, have been born, and have become, so to speak, one being with Him. Then the Apostle inspires them with hope: "For we," he says, "have become partakers of Christ." It is as if he says: He who loved us so greatly and counted us worthy of such good things that He made us His body will not despise those who are perishing.

"For we have become partakers of Christ." That is, we and He have become one, and we have become partakers of Him as the body is of the head. Here he inspires them with hope, as if saying: He who loved us so much that He even made us His body will not allow us to be torn from Him, unless we ourselves wish it. Together with this, he hints at what is said elsewhere: "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Tim 2:12). Since we are now partakers of the same things as Christ, clearly in sufferings, let us strive to be partakers then also in glory. "If only we hold the beginning of our life firm to the end." That is, faith. Through it we exist, and through it we realize divine and spiritual existence and rebirth. Here also he requires them to stand firm in the faith to the end.

For we have become partakers of Christ from the beginning through our calling, if only we remain firm to the end of time in this true covenant. This is especially so because all the covenants that existed before proclaimed this very covenant beforehand in mysteries and figures. According to the Russian Synodal translation: "For we have become partakers of Christ, if only we hold the beginning of our life firmly to the end."

The first-fruit of every virtue is faith.

For through the death of most holy baptism we entered into communion with the Master Christ. Having been buried with Him, we bear upon ourselves the image of the Resurrection, if only we preserve firm faith. The Apostle called this faith "the beginning of our substance," because through it we are renewed. Through it we enter into union with the Master Christ and partake of the grace of the All-Holy Spirit. Then the Apostle again turns to the prophetic word.

"For we have become partakers of Christ." This means that we form one body with Him. For He is the Head, and we are the members, as is said about this in various Epistles.

"If only we hold the beginning of our substance firm to the end." That is, if we preserve faith in Christ. Faith causes us both to begin being members of Christ and to remain such, forming one body with Him. If the Church of the faithful is one body, if all the faithful are her members, and if Christ is the Head, then we must cling to Him by faith and not tear ourselves away through unbelief.

"If we hold the beginning of our substance firm to the end." The Apostle's thought is this. It is not enough to be called to salvation or to receive the promise of blessedness. Nor is it enough to begin the holy life in Christ. One must carry it through to the end.

The Israelites give the example. They were brought out of Egypt with great power and were counted worthy of very many benefits. Yet they did not complete their journey into the land of promise. They all perished in the wilderness because of unbelief and murmuring.

The discourse just completed above concerning Moses' apostleship gives the Apostle occasion to draw several strong moral exhortations for his readers from the history of that same ministry of Moses. Having become partakers of the heavenly calling and having yielded themselves to Christ's guidance, Christians must firmly preserve their boldness and hope to the end. They must do this despite every temptation from Christ's enemies. In this matter the New Testament Israel should take as an example those Israelites of Moses' time who were steadfast and strong in spirit. Throughout the forty years of wandering, they did not lose their faith and kept themselves from murmuring. Such were Joshua and Caleb, despite all the temptations and calamities in the wilderness.

Otherwise we may lose the great good of sharing in Christ, that is, His help and the enjoyment of all the blessings He has. This sharing is conceivable only when we preserve to the end the living force of hope that marked the beginning of our life in Christ, the arche ten hypostaseos of verse 14.