Hebrews 9:12-15 "Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."
The scripture uses the word 'eternal' three times in four verses. It says that Jesus obtained eternal redemption. He did not need it for Himself. He obtained eternal redemption for us, so that we might receive an eternal inheritance. God is trying to give us the security that comes with eternal redemption. We don't have temporary redemption until the next time we sin. The blood of Christ is meant to cleanse our conscience from dead works so that we can serve the Living God. We can enter into God's Presence without fear of punishment. The penalty for our sins has been paid.
It is ironic that Hebrews 6 and 10 are used as examples where Christians might lose their salvation, when the whole book of Hebrews is trying to assure us of our eternal redemption when we accept the Lord Jesus into our hearts.
Hebrews 10:10-14 "By that will (New Testament) we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."
Hebrews 10:2 says that those Old Testament sacrifices can never make anyone perfect in their conscience. The goal of Jesus' sacrifice is that we have no more consciousness of sins before God.
Jesus made one sacrifice for sins forever. He is not dying over and over again each time we sin. His one sacrifice paid the penalty for all sins forever. Notice verse 14. By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. The scripture is saying that our conscience can be perfected forever before God even as we are in the midst of being cleansed or sanctified from sin in our outward actions. We have peace with God forever, even though He is in the process of teaching us to walk in love and holiness toward others! Wow. This is the Good News!
Hebrews 10:19-22 "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
These verses really show the true meaning for the forgiveness of sins. We can draw near to God and enter into His Presence without fear of punishment. That is a heart in full assurance of faith that our sins have been put away and a heart that is cleansed from an evil conscience. He also wants our bodies washed with pure water. This means that He wants us to walk in love and holiness toward others.
Hebrews 10:23-32 "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' Law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy, who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord" And again, "The Lord will judge His people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings....."
These verses can be scary if you take them out of context. What are we commanded to do in verse 23? We are to hold fast to the confession of our hope, that our sins have been purged, without wavering. Wavering is the same as falling away or drifting away, phrases we have already seen earlier in Hebrews. Remember Hebrews 1:2-3. God has spoken to us in these last days, in the New Testament, through His Son. When Jesus had purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. We are to hold fast to this confession. What does it mean to sin willfully in this context? We sin willfully when we waver or let go of our confession that Jesus has purged our sins. What happens when we let go of our confession? We then begin to rehearse or hear again what God spoke under the Old Testament Law to previous generations that is no longer applicable to us in the New Testament. There is only a certain fearful expectation of judgment because we will not be perfect in our own works. We trample underfoot what Jesus did in our thinking. We count His blood the same as the shed blood of an animal sacrifice under the Old Testament Law. We go back to receiving forgiveness one sin at a time. We discount that He made one sacrifice for sins forever. We insult His grace and then try to approach God by our good works again. This does not mean that the person has lost their salvation and is going to hell. It means the person has stopped listening to New Testament truth and has fallen back to Old Testament thinking.
These Jews were suffering reproach and persecution for believing in Jesus. They were surrounded by people who were still participating in Old Testament rituals and sacrifices. They were being persecuted for believing that Jesus had already paid for their sins and that animal sacrifices were no longer needed. They were experiencing a very painful transition from Old Testament thinking to New Testament thinking.
There are hundreds of millions of believers today who have never left or reverted back to Old Testament thinking, believing that they are forgiven one sin at a time. They are in an ongoing cycle of repentance and confession, trying to find rest for their conscience. Rest comes when we trust that Jesus made one sacrifice for sins forever. We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Keith Oliver
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