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11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. ~ Hebrews 10:11-18
Today, we continue our study of Hebrews 10 where the writer has been reminding us that daily the Old Testament sacrifices brought a reminder of the people's sin. With each sacrifice the people were reminded that the sacrificial system did not procure permanent forgiveness from God. This preceded their downward spiral into religion and ritualism wherein their hearts were less and less captured by God.
In v.11 of today's passage we read, "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins."
In this verse we are reminded yet again of the insufficiency of the Old Covenant sacrifices. Underscored was the fact that throughout the entire Old Testament period, there was a clear distinction between conditional and unconditional covenants. Only the unconditional covenants made only by God endured. And, at the heart of the conditional Mosaic Covenant was the Levitical sacrificial system which was incapable of completely removing the people's sin and bringing permanent forgiveness.
In v. 12-13 of today's passage we read, "12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool."
The priest here is the Lord Jesus Christ who came in the order of Melchizedek which is an eternal system. Here, the permanence of God's forgiveness of our sin is accentuated through the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. And, once we recognize this issue is over, that we are completely forgiven, we can focus on that which is most important: learning to give our hearts to God.
Once again, we are reminded the Mosaic system could not render a heart change in the human heart. But, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was made once and forever. His sacrifice is so unique that it could never be repeated, so, He sat down at the right hand of God. His sacrifice was the masterpiece of the ages. It accomplished everything it was ever intended to accomplish. His sacrifice was complete and there isn’t anything that needs to be added to it.
All of the sacrifices in the Old Testament didn’t do a thing to get rid of Satan. And, when the Lord Jesus died on the cross, the devil and His values were destroyed. And now, the Lord Jesus is merely waiting until all of His enemies are under His feet. The image given here is that of a king who sits on His throne and His subjects are beneath Him. He is the preeminent One because of His cross. All of the enemies of God throughout all of the ages gathered together all their strength, and the best thing they could come up with was to crucify Him.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."
In this one verse we see justification and sanctification. Justification is seen in the phrase, "he has made perfect forever." And, sanctification is seen in the phrase, "those who are being made holy." Christ has fully accomplished and guaranteed the positional and the practical holiness of those who trust in Him as our Savior. And, of course, our positional holiness is our justification and our practical holiness is our sanctification.
The Greek word used here in v.14 for "perfected" is the very same word the Lord Jesus spoke while He was on the cross: "tetelestai" or "IT IS FINISHED!" The Lord Jesus did not just make us perfect until our next sin. He didn’t bring us into access with God until we blew it and deserved to get kicked out of God's presence. No, He brought us into God’s presence "forever." Those who say the believer in Christ can lose His salvation are sorely mistaken and this verse proves it.
The Old Covenant forgiveness was as good as the last sin. It covered yesterday, and when we sin today we have got to perform another sacrifice. This merely underscores man's complete inability to save himself. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ covers the believers sin forever. And so, there is a permanent state of completeness in salvation brought about by His one act of ultimate love.
In v.15-16 of today's passage we read, "15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 'This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.'"
The permanent nature of this unconditional covenant based solely upon the person and worth of the Lord Jesus Christ was foretold in Jeremiah 31. The New Covenant is only realized in and through the Lord Jesus. It is not written on stone, but in the hearts of the willing. As a result of sin being removed, the very presence of God can now come into the once dead spirit of the believer in Christ.
The covenant keeping God of the Bible has chosen to make His home in the life of the believer in His Son. Through the presence of God in our hearts, God is writing His truth in our hearts and minds. As a result, the believer in Christ now has the ability to recognize truth from error. We have assurance that we stand perfected and completed in the eyes of our heavenly Father not because we are practically perfect now, but precisely because we are not practically perfect now.
In v.17 of today's passage we read, "Then he adds: 'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.'"
The law of Moses prescribed repeated animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin. And the very repetition of the sacrifices showed that the sacrifices never perfected sinners. Because if the sacrifices had perfected the people once for all, the sacrifices would have stopped being offered. There would be no need for them.
In v.18 of today's passage we read, "And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.'"
We do not go to the temple every day to make more sacrifices because the sacrifice of Christ was most effective. It has removed our sin from us for eternity. The cross of Christ has destroyed the enemy and his work in our lives forever. It has eternal security built into it. It is so perfect, we can’t add anything to it. The realization of these truths is now based on our willingness to believe in such a scandalous idea as this: undeserved forgiveness.
