When I was engaged to Lora I went to a jewelry store in Orlando where I lived in order to pick up a wedding present for her. I chose a fine set of pearls and began to make installments on it. One day I had come to the store with the last payment ready to pick them up. I paid the final amount and took the pearls home. I was able to say I had completed paying for the pearls. The price the store had asked for them was satisfied. Now had they asked me to pay more or called me once I had taken those pearls home and told me I needed to make another installment I would have protested. I would have brought out the receipt. I would have called the newspapers. I would have made a royal fuss over the fact they were trying to cheat me.
In a way this is what the author of Hebrews describes for us in this passage. There was price that needed to be paid for the forgiveness of our sins. The earthly tabernacle and priesthood was not able to satisfy the cost. But in His one and only payment Jesus satisfied the debt we owed for our sin. And he is indignant at the fact that anyone would try to cheat believers in Christ of their security by saying His sacrifice was not complete.
The key idea the author presents to us in this passage is Jesus has finished His priestly work He came to accomplish on earth. Everything in this passage cries out for us to notice that Jesus’ work is finished. It could be summed up by the choice of the author’s word he uses in both verse 12 and 14. He says, “But [Jesus], having offered ONE sacrifice for sins for all time.” And in verse 14, “For by ONE offering He has perfected those who are sanctified.” In this passage we can see three different ways the author describes the work of Jesus as finished.
I. He Is Waiting
The first way the author describes the work of Jesus as finished is seen in the fact He is waiting. Verses 12 & 13 describe this. “But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.” When Jesus completed His sacrifice by offering Himself upon the cross the Scripture says, “He sat down. The significance of this is He completed His earthly work as priest. Look at the contrast between these verses and verse 11. What is the priest doing in verse 11? As he offers the sacrifices daily, he is standing. The difference between standing and sitting is the difference between doing and done. And this could rightly be seen as the definition of distinction between all “works-based” religions and biblical Christianity. In a works-based religion, even one that might call itself Christian, there is an ongoing attempt to satisfy the demands of a just God through works. The problem with this kind of religion is that it is always “doing.” Since there can be no real satisfaction of God’s righteous demands, the worshippers are never cleansed (as we discussed in last week’s message). And so there is this impetus to continue to do more to try to please God. But in biblical Christianity the work of salvation has been done by Christ and those who put their trust in His work on the cross enter into this rest of which the author spoke in chapter 4. There is a real sense of completion in this that allows an individual to shake off the angst of not being right with God. Jesus has sat down. He is not standing offering daily the sacrifice of Himself because His sacrifice is complete.
Look at how the author describes His offering in verse 12. First, he says, Jesus “offered one sacrifice for sins.” Only one sacrifice was needed. How can anyone get around this truth? How much clearer can the author get? Jesus bore our sins on His body on the cross so we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Those who claim this was not enough to cleanse us from our sins speak against the Word of God. And next he describes the extent of Jesus’ sacrifice. It was “for all time.” This sacrifice does not have an expiration date. It is not for the first 100 callers. Its effectiveness is for all time. So let’s not detract from the truth of Christ’s completed work on the cross. Let’s not continue to put Him there repeatedly. Nor let us say that Jesus did pay for our sins but our works must earn what He did. Salvation is a gift given to all who will humble themselves and admit their need of it not for those who think they could earn it. Neither let us allow someone to give us the excuse that they sinned too greatly to be forgiven. Jesus’ work is complete in every sense.
So what does the author describe Jesus as doing? He describes Him as waiting. Why does He describe Him this way? He is waiting until the appointed time to return and restore law and order and righteousness to the earth. This is what we discussed at the end of chapter 9. “Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation (rescue) without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” When He returns He will not judge His people but rescue them. He will deliver them from the ungodly who seek to harass and harm them. He will appear but it will occur without reference to their sin because the sins of His people have already been judged at the cross.
When is His coming? We don’t know. The apostles asked Jesus this question before He left. In the book of Acts they said, “Is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” And Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know the times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” The Father has planned how earth’s history will pan out. He has all this in His control and will bring it to pass as He has set. And so as far as the scheme of things related to redemption and salvation Jesus has finished this aspect of it in His first coming. Now, He is waiting until the time comes for His enemies to be crushed under His feet.
II. There Is Perfection
The second way the author describes the work of Jesus as finished is seen in the fact there is perfection. We find this in verse 14. “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” Again the author contrasts what Jesus has done with the priest he mentions in verse 11. Whereas the human priest offers “time after time the same sacrifices” Jesus “by one offering . . . has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” 10:1 says, “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.” We saw this last week. And the same word, “make perfect” found in verse 1 is used by the author in verse 14. What the Old Covenant could not do because of its flawed priests Jesus did do. The Law could not bring perfection but Jesus and His sacrifice did.
He makes those who come to Him perfect through the sacrifice of Himself. Though we discussed this in some detail last week let’s review it and add to our discussion. First, we need to understand that unless a person is perfect in God’s sight God will not accept them. If they are not perfect (righteous is biblical term) the wrath of God abides on them. A person can only approach God if this is their true condition. God can make no exceptions or it will mar the character of His holiness. He doesn’t grade on a curve or any such thing. Perfection, 100% is His standard. But the author says the sacrifice of Jesus does this for the worshipper. “He has perfected.”
People get confused when they realize they are not perfect practically and think somehow their acceptance must be on some other basis than Christ’s sacrifice alone. This has some practical implications that affect the way we worship but first let us look at the Scripture to understand it. 2 Corinthians 5:21 is a passage that describes well this positional righteousness we who have received Christ as Savior possess. The apostle Paul says, “[God] made [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Many often understand the first part of the equation well but are a bit hazy on the second. First, Christ removed our sin. He placed it upon Himself on the cross. He who knew no sin became sin for us. Our sin was heaped upon Him and He bore the wrath of the Father in our stead. Secondly, though, we must understand that we are not now somehow just left morally neutral. It is not that our sin is simply removed but that Jesus imparts to us His very own righteousness. It is this righteousness that makes us presentable to God. This is what Isaiah sought to convey in Isaiah 1:18 when he said, “Come let us reason together says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” Those who trust Jesus Christ as Savior are clothed with the righteousness of Jesus. And it is this, not our works or our rituals, that make us clean and right in God’s sight. The basis of our approach to the Father is the righteousness of Christ of which we partake through His death and resurrection.
What implications does this have for us as Christians? I think there are at least three. First, there should be a humility on our part as Christians. Our standing before God as perfect is not of our doing. It doesn’t rely on our obedience but the obedience of Christ. The new heart we possess as Christians is not because of something in us that was good but because we called out to God to deliver us from our sin through the death of Jesus Christ. We can’t boast about the fact we were rescued and others are not. Some might say, “If you can choose Christ that is something to boast about.” But how many drowning people ever stood before a news camera and boasted, “I let the Coast Guard rescue me”? Our helplessness apart from Christ is no reason to boast. And when we speak to someone about our own assurance of salvation we must make it clear that this is not some idle boast in our own goodness but a simple trust in the righteousness of our Savior.
Another implication to the fact Christ has perfected us is that we have full and confident access to the Father. Romans 5:1-2 describe this. “Therefore, having been justified by faith (having been made perfect or righteous by faith), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction (or access) by faith into this grace in which we stand.” This tells us we can always come before the Father whether it is on good days or bad days because our access is through Christ. Unfortunately, as frail creatures who often are run by our feelings instead of the truth we tend to act as if our access was dependent upon how well we are doing. If you really mess up are you less likely to enter the throne room of God because you don’t feel worthy? Or conversely do you feel it is easier to pray when you have read your Bible and been kind to others? The truth is we have access based on Christ’s righteousness not ours and we need to come before the Father at all times not when we think we’ve lived up to some man made standard. And we especially need to come before Him and seek His grace when we have failed. The problem with our man made standard is just that, it’s man made. Whatever we conceive of as good is still not perfect and if we are not perfect we cannot approach God. And if you are seeking to approach God on that basis you are not approaching God. So we always need to come before the Father in the perfection of Christ so He will hear us. And this points us back to implication number 1. There is no room for boasting. We must humbly acknowledge that our confident access comes through faith in Christ’s righteousness on our behalf not from ourselves. Knowledge of this truth should cause us to come boldly to the throne of grace but in humility. Now bold humility almost sounds like a contradiction but not if we understand from whom our boldness should come. And this is the key to confident access.
A third implication to the truth of our perfection in Christ is we ought to live as the citizens of heaven and children of God we are. Because we have Christ as our righteousness we must walk in a manner corresponding to it. Paul leaves such an encouragement to the Philippians in the third chapter of his letter. He says, “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us . . . for our citizenship is in heaven.” Paul tells us because we have been given citizenship in heaven we ought to live like it. And God has given us grace to do so. John says this in his first letter. In 1 John 3:1-3 he tells us, “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when he appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.” John reminds us we are children of God. And this hope of being made like Him when we see Him should be the impetus or the catalyst to seek to live pure lives. This is the Scripture’s premise. “Do not love the world neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him.” Our righteousness in Christ calls us to make a decisive break with the world and its system. John’s words are strong for a purpose. We are not here to live for our own lusts but for the purposes of God.
The righteousness of Christ imparted to us has given us a new heart to desire to put off the old man, Adam, renew our minds in Scripture and put on the new man, Christ. This is our call to live out His righteousness on a daily basis and grow by the grace of Christ that God has lavished on us.
III. There Is No More Sacrifice
The third way the author describes the work of Jesus as finished is seen in the fact there is no more sacrifice. The author discusses this in verses 15-18. He says, “And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws upon their heart and on their mind I will write them,’ He then says, ‘And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” In these verses the author quotes for us, once again, the passage in Jeremiah 31 that speaks of the New Covenant that God will make with the nation of Israel through the Messiah. The point he is making from these quotations is God is providing forgiveness by the New Covenant. He says, “Their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more.” From this he drives his point home, “where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” He tells us that if Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sins and these sins are no longer on our record then there can be no more sacrifice for them. No sacrifice remains. It would be ludicrous to suggest that Christ made this sacrifice that removed all sin and now somehow additional sacrifices need to be made. The question the author poses for us is, “What is it we need sacrifices for? If Jesus wiped away our sin what further need do we have for any other sacrifice?”
We must notice the force of the author’s statement. He isn’t just making this up. It is not his argument from the logic of deduction. The Holy Spirit is speaking. He is the author of the Scripture from which the author is quoting. And to go against this word is to go against God. To say that any other sacrifice is necessary, as we have said before, is blasphemy. It is showing violent contempt against the words of God. And in this the author brings to a close his mini-treatise on the priesthood of Christ as opposed to the Old Covenant.
But what does this say for us? First, to acknowledge any other necessity on our part to secure our salvation is speaking contemptuously against God and His Word. It means that if we view certain rituals as bringing God’s grace to us we blaspheme God’s name. But let’s bring it a little closer to home. I’ve been here and perhaps you have too. When you begin to think, “Wow, I haven’t been living right, am I really a Christian? Will God accept me?” What is happening when we do this? We are looking to shifting external circumstances instead of the unchangeable Word of God. We are looking to our track record instead of Christ’s.
If Christ has died and paid for all your sin why are you looking to your accomplishments for your justification? If you have put your trust in Christ you have been justified. Now God calls us to live in it not question it. If the Spirit of God is pricking your heart because of sin in your life it is not an indication to doubt your salvation but a prodding from Him to turn from our sin and seek to continue to live in Him.
So where are you living today? Not your physical address, you know I already know where you live and your phone number. But where are you living spiritually? Are you dwelling confidently in your relationship with God through the sacrifice of Christ? Do you come to Him confidently on the basis of His Son’s work on the cross? Or does your confidence waver depending on how you have been doing? Don’t let your confident access to the throne room be robbed by wrong thinking. If someone from that jewelry store had asked me for more money for the pearls I would have sent them on their way. Don’t let anything except the Word of God and the Spirit tell you where you stand with God. Let His Word give you the joy of assurance that only it can bring. Stop doubting and revel in it with joy.
Perhaps you cannot say you have that confident access to God by your justification through faith. Maybe you have never asked to receive the gift of eternal life God provided through His Son. If this is the case don’t neglect to do so today. The Scripture says, “Today is the day of salvation; now is the accepted time.” You can receive Christ as your Savior and be born again. God will come to live in you, give you His righteousness and eternal life. I hope if you need Christ you will receive Him today.