Knowledge vs living faith, Hebrews 10:26-39

Hebrews, as many of you have probably realized by this point, has some pretty difficult passages.  And we are looking today at what should be the last of such passages that present for many people theological difficulties, or perhaps what they even might consider theological inconsistencies.  And I say inconsistencies, because on the surface it would seem that certain verses in this book are at odds with the teaching of the New Testament as a whole.  

But I hope to dispel any such concerns here today by treating this passage in a way that is first of all consistent with the greater message of the gospel.  It is a dangerous thing to let a verse or two in one passage become a dogmatic doctrine, especially at the expense of other scriptures.  As I have often said, scripture is best used to interpret scripture, and scripture should be used to confirm scripture.  As we saw last Wednesday in our study of Gideon, he asked three times for confirmation of the Lord’s word.  And God did not rebuke him, but confirmed it to him.  Scripture will never contradict scripture.  

Many theologians, in attempting to address this passage, tend to enter the debate on the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, or on the opposing argument, that you can lose your salvation.  I would readily confess that I am not as smart or as educated as many of those theologians and so I am not going to debate them on those issues.  In fact, call it ignorance on my part, or hopefully divine illumination, or at the least common sense, I don’t really see those issues addressed here at all. But rather what I see presented here is a contrast between faith and knowledge.  

The author in the next chapter is going to address the type of faith that is required for salvation, and for living the Christian life.  In fact, both require the same thing.  One cannot have saving faith, and another type of faith that is for living the Christian life.  But what the author is doing here I believe is setting up the next chapter, called the faith chapter, by giving something of an introduction to faith, and doing that especially by showing what faith is and is not.  In chapter 11, he tells us what faith is, and gives us many examples of living faith.  At the end of this chapter, as I see it, he tells us what faith is not.  

Now let’s take a look at our text from that standpoint.  As we finished up the last section prior to this passage, the author spoke in vs23 of holding fast the confession of our hope.  Hope is another way of expressing Christian  faith.  He could just have easily have said, hold fast the confession of our faith.  Isn’t that what our creeds consist of?  Our salvation is based on our faith. But as I said last week, faith looks backwards at what Christ has done, and hope looks forward.  But hope is still an essential element of faith. In the very next chapter, vs 1, it says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” So faith and hope are essentially related.  In vs 38 of this chapter, we are told that the righteous one shall live by faith.  “Shall live” refers to forward looking faith, or another way to express it is hope. You shall live.  That’s hope.

In describing this hope, the author goes on to say don’t forsake the assembling of yourselves together, love one another, and encourage one another as you look forward to Christ’s appearing.  That is living faith, living in hope, confidently trusting in God’s word.  And we said last week that exhorting one another was primarily  the preaching of the word of God, among other things.  

Now as to the preaching of the word of God, we are told in Romans 10:17  “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”  So we know that the preaching of the word of God is essential to the building up of faith. But the point that is made here, is that knowledge of the truth is not in and of itself saving faith.  In other words, it’s possible to know a lot of facts about God and our Savior Jesus Christ, to even believe in God, and yet not have saving faith.

That is what he is saying in vs 26. “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.”  In other words, it’s possible to sit under the preaching of the word, to hear the word of God, to believe in it in an intellectual sort of way, and yet not be transformed by faith in Christ, not be reborn by faith, not be a new creature by faith, but yet still be enslaved to the same sinful passions, and still willingly engaged in them. 

Such persons have a knowledge of the truth, but still continue in sin.  Now this is not talking about sinning occasionally, or even becoming backslidden, but this is talking about someone who has heard the truth, but it never goes deeper than skin deep. They have never truly repented of their sins, but instead, they willfully, intentionally, continued in their sin.

Now how do I know that is what is being spoken of here? Because the author himself delineates this willful sinful lifestyle in vs29.  Notice the three aspects of this kind of willful behavior as outlined in  Vs29.  “How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

First of all, this is someone who has heard the truth, they have a knowledge of the truth, but in deliberately continuing in their life of sin they essentially  trample underfoot the Son of God.  That means they have a contempt for the work of Jesus Christ.  Secondly, such persons consider the holy blood of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ as lesser value than the value of their own autonomy. In effect, Jesus giving up His life has not resulted in them giving up their life.  And third, such a person has insulted the Spirit of Grace.  He has blasphemed against the Holy Spirit.  He has rejected the conviction that comes from the Spirit of God, resulting in eternal damnation.  If you reject the conviction of the Holy Spirit, then you cannot be saved.  If you have contempt for Jesus Christ then you certainly cannot believe in Him and have faith in Him.  And if you consider HIs sacrifice as an unclean thing, then His sacrifice is of no benefit to you.  As it says in vs 26, for such people “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” 

Now it is patently clear that such a person who meets all the characteristics outlined in vs 29 cannot be a Christian, they never were a Christian, and unless they have a dramatic change of heart before they die they will never become a Christian.  In fact, I think all of us would be in agreement that if they did in fact express the rebellion and disdain for Christ mentioned in vs 29, then they wholeheartedly deserve to be consumed by the fire as described in vs 27. They are actually enemies of Christ. They give homage to another sovereign, who is no less then themselves. And so they deserve the terrifying judgment which is to come upon the adversaries of Christ.

I think we all would agree with the author, that if the Israelites who rebelled against the law of Moses received the penalty of death in their human bodies for their rebellion, how much more should those who have rejected one greater than Moses, Jesus Christ our Great High Priest, who ministers in heaven for us, how much greater punishment should these persons receive,  even to their very souls?

The Bible makes it clear that judgment is certain, it is promised, and it is coming soon.  And lest you take it lightly, God Himself warns us in vs30, which is quoted from Deut. 32:35-36,  "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” Now He is speaking in the sense that all the people on this earth are His people.  Both saved and unsaved.  2Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”  He is sovereign over all, and those that rebelled against Him as their Lord will suffer the judgment of that rebellion.

Now for the good news, the gospel is simply that for the Christian; good news, which is that for the man of faith, God has placed our judgment upon Jesus Christ.  His sacrifice took away our judgement. Isaiah 53:8 says “by oppression and judgment He was taken away.” In vs 6, “But the Lord has caused the inquiry of us all to fall upon Him.”  That’s the good news for those who have saving faith in Him.  But for the one who has rejected His sacrifice, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, and so that person must bear the judgement of God upon themselves.  And that is a terrifying thing to consider.  Vs.31, “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

So that’s a picture of the person who rejects Jesus’s sacrifice, scorns the blood of the covenant, and disregards the gospel; they are without hope, without faith, and destined for judgment and destruction.  I don’t find any indication that this could ever be referring to a person who has become a true believer by faith in Christ.  I don’t find any reference to someone that has been saved but then fell into sin.  I don’t find any reference to someone that has backslidden.  Such Christians will receive discipline, without which it would be evident that they are not the children of God, but illegitimate children.  God does discipline his children when they sin. 

In the next chapter he makes it clear the distinction between discipline and judgment. Hebrews 12:6-11 “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."  It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father does not discipline?  But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He [disciplines us] for [our] good, so that we may share His holiness.  All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

So God does reserve discipline for His children so that they may share in HIs holiness.  But our passage today is not talking about discipline of His children, but of judgment towards those who are clearly not his children, nor were they ever.

Now my assertion that those were not ever truly saved is born out by the author of Hebrews as well in the next section, starting in vs 32, in which he states that he is convinced of better things concerning his readers.  We aren’t sure who his readers are particularly, but it’s believed to be a Christian church made up of primarily Jewish converts somewhere near Rome.  But irregardless of exactly who he is referring to, we can be confident it was to an early Christian church, probably prior to the fall of Jerusalem.

And so he says in vs32-35, “But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings,  partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated.  For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one.  Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.”

Now obviously, he is describing a congregation who has first of all been “enlightened.”  This same word was used back in chapter 6 vs4, and in that case, it is clear from vs 9 which follows, that it is a referral to salvation.  Hebrews 6:9 “But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way.”

So in this passage, he says that his audience after being enlightened, or born again, endured a great conflict of suffering. Now I don’t think it is important that we identify which particular persecution of the early church he was referring to.  I don’t believe there is any consensus among theologians anyway.  But the point is that suffering and tribulations are part of parcel of the Christian life.  Jesus Himself said in this world you will have tribulations.

1Peter 4:12-13 tells the early Christian church, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;  but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”  

Their perseverance in the midst of persecution was an indication of their faithfulness. Their faithfulness in persecution, in suffering, was evidence of a life of faith.  He says because of their faith they were made a public spectacle.  That makes me think of the public spectacle that went on last week in the Senate confirmation hearing regarding Judge Kavanaugh.  I don’t know the extent of that man’s faith, or his innocence for that matter.  But I can easily see a template there that there are those in government who would make a public spectacle out of anyone who professes to be a Christian or to hold onto Christian values.  I’m sure the day is coming when a lot of us will have to pay the  price of being a public spectacle because of our faith.  

James called such trials, tests of our faith.  These Jewish Christians, the author is saying, are evidenced as Christians by the perseverance in their faith.  They were not sunny day Christians.  But when they had to suffer, even as Christ suffered, they bore that suffering well, without renouncing their faith.  Though their possessions were taken, they accepted it joyfully knowing that they had a better possession and a lasting one in heaven reserved for them.

I wonder if we would have the same attitude in the midst of persecution.  If our possessions were taken because of our faith, I wonder if we could manage to continue joyfully to worship the Lord, to assemble together, to risk our lives for the sake of others who were suffering?  I wonder.  Because I must confess I see most Christians today as unwilling to suffer the loss of anything for the cause of Christ.  They give lip service to God, but when church or service to God interferes with the kid’s soccer game, the soccer game wins and church loses.  When an important job or contract interferes with our worship of the Lord, then it seems that God’s priorities take a backseat to our needs.  I’m afraid that outside of some  imaginary dramatic time in the future which we might have to bear persecution, in reality in the here and now we dutifully avoid even the most innocuous affronts to our faith by caving in to demands of the world.

But nevertheless, the author commends the Christians here for standing firm in persecution, and looking for a lasting kingdom which will not fade away.  So their faith is commendable, and their faith is made up of three elements which he describes in the next couple of verses.  First he says, your faith needs confidence. The Greek word there is parrēsia, which means freedom, boldness, assurance, especially in speaking.  I think he’s indicating a boldness in proclaiming the gospel, which he says has great reward.  The rewards of proclaiming boldly the gospel has the reward of winning souls for the kingdom of heaven.  I think there will be no greater reward  given in heaven, than to those who lead others to the Lord.

Then he says, you need endurance, or perseverance, steadfastness.  But endurance for what?  To do the will of God.  That’s so important.  We are saved to do the will of God.  Paul reprimanded the Galatian church in Galatians 5:7 “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?”  You need endurance to finish the work which God has called you to do.  Do not be weary in well doing.  It’s more than possible for a Christian to get distracted from what is really important. It’s very easy to get discouraged in this life of faith.  It’s easy to become despondent when you see the world seemingly prospering in their rebellion, but we are suffering in our obedience. But there is a great reward for those who finish the race that is set before them.

This is another evidence of faith, that you do the will of God.  Peter had a lot to say about the will of God.  In 1Peter 4:1-2 he sys, “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.”  That is really the essence of the life of faith, to live for the will of God, rather than according to our will.

So we live in faith, with endurance and boldness, doing the will of God, with an eye on the future hope of Christ’s return, that we might receive our reward.  Notice, the Christian looks forward not to judgment, but to a reward.  Christ has taken our judgment, and our reward is to be with Him forever.  

Verse 37 and 38 contain another quote from Habakkuk, in chapter 2 vs 3 he says,  “FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY. BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE SHRINKS BACK, MY SOUL HAS NO PLEASURE IN HIM.”

This is really the key verse of this whole chapter.  And it sets up the next chapter as well.  On the one hand it is an Old Testament prophecy  regarding the coming of the Messiah.  But on the other hand it is a prescription for the life of a Christian.  This quotation from the second part of the verse, the quote “my righteous one shall live by faith,” is used in the New Testament three times.  It’s used in Romans 1:17, Gal.3:11, and here in this verse in Hebrews.  And the emphasis that it is given here in this instance in Hebrews is on the word “live.”  That’s really the key to this passage, the idea that faith is not just a head knowledge, but it is a way of living, in trusting in Christ, in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, no longer living for the lusts of the flesh, but for the will of God.

This is the distinctive of a Christian.  It’s not knowledge of the gospel, it’s not knowing a lot of facts about God, it’s trusting and obeying the word of God.  It’s living in faith, living by faith, not only in the past work of Jesus Christ on the cross, but in the present work of Christ in me and through me.  Do you have faith enough to let Christ have control of your life?  Do you trust God enough to give Him everything to be used for His service?  That is how we really live, by the power of Christ in us.  No longer for ourselves or in our own wisdom or strength, but in faith we submit to the Lord all that we are, and in all that we do.

The author of Hebrews has confidence that the church he is addressing does in fact have that kind of faith.  And so he gives them an encouraging word in vs39, “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.”  Now the first part of that verse obviously refers to the people in the first example, those who had a knowledge of the truth, but continued to willfully sin by rejecting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and spurning the offer of salvation He sacrificed Himself to procure.  Those people he says are those destined for destruction.   When they saw the cost of Christianity they drew back, or shrunk back, and they do so to their ultimate destiny which is destruction. 

But he is convinced this church he is writing to who have suffered for the cause of Christ, and persevered in faith, those folks he says have faith to the preserving of the soul.  There is your case for the perseverance of the saints.  A living faith, a faith that continues to the end, results in the preservation of the soul.  Our faith in the Son of God, who is eternally seated in the heavenlies, interceding on our behalf, having made a perfect, effective, once for all sacrifice, is able to keep that which I have committed to Him.  

The question today is do you have that living faith in Jesus Christ.  It’s possible to have gone to church your entire life, and have all knowledge, and yet not be saved.  I pray that if you’re here today and have never trusted Jesus Christ with your life, turned from your sin, and asked Him to change you and remake you into a child of God, then you would take advantage of this time to do so today.  Do not harden your heart.  Do not consider HIs sacrifice as a common thing that is of no interest to you.  In a very little while,  He is coming again, and He will not delay.  His righteous one shall live by faith.  Are you righteous in the sight of God?  You can be through faith in Jesus Christ.

How to worship God, Hebrews 10:19-25

In our study in the book of Hebrews, we have learned much doctrine regarding who Christ is, and what He has accomplished on our behalf.  Now there is a switch of emphasis in the book, and from this point on the emphasis is not primarily doctrine, but application.  And so in this passage we are considering certain duties and responsibilities we have as Christians.  It’s not enough to believe in facts about Christ, but we are exhorted to act in response to them.  Faith requires both the acceptance of facts, and the application of faith.  

In the next chapter, that two fold aspect of our faith is clearly stated.  Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who [diligently] seek Him.”

So in this passage then is an invitation to enter the heavenly sanctuary, and by the means of that, we are exhorted to three specific solemn duties. You’ll notice the statements in verse 22, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.” Verse 23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope.” And then verse 24, “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works.”

The life of a Christian is sometimes stirred up by exhilaration to run the race, to soar to new heights, but other times it is a disciplined, step by step march in what seems like an uphill battle.  The life of a Christian is not always going to be a celebration.  It’s not something that our feelings are always going to support or agree with.  But our faith is not founded upon our feelings, which may be up one day and down another, but our faith is founded on the promises of God, and to that we must maintain our duty to uphold.

So if we divided the book into two parts, then we could classify the first 10 1/2 chapters as phase one, as having to do with doctrine; and the remainder as phase two having to do with application. In vs 19, the author says, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter.” In one sense, that’s the summary again of the first half of the book. Then, “let us draw near” is the summary of the second part of the book.

Usually when you see a passage beginning with the word “therefore” you need to go back and review the previous passage in order to determine what it’s there for.  However, in this case, the author provides a summary for us in vs 19-21 which is one great, contingent doctrinal statement of the ministry of Jesus Christ, which has been the subject of the first 10 chapters. Another summary can be found in the words of Jesus Himself, in John 14:6, as He said “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except by Me.”  

The point in this passage being therefore, knowing all the doctrinal aspects of Jesus’s work on our behalf, let us draw near to God. And as I said, in the first three verses are a summary of that work.  In vs 19, he says that we may enter into the Holy of Holies by the blood of Jesus Christ. Even as the old covenant priests could only enter into the Holy Place by the blood, so we can enter in by the blood of Jesus.

In vs20 he says we may enter by a new and living way which Jesus inaugurated by His death. The point in review here is that it is a new way to draw near to God, as opposed to the old way under the old covenant.  That way is dead, and done away with, and a new living way is opened up, because Christ ever lives to make intercession for us.

And the author adds a beautiful analogy there in vs 20, in which as the temple veil separating the Holy of Holies was rent in two from the top to the bottom at the crucifixion of Christ, so he says that this new way to God was opened up by the rending of Christ’s veil, ie, His flesh.  

The third point of his summary is in vs21, in which he says, we may enter because we have a great high priest over the house of God.  And of course all of that doctrine of the high priesthood of Christ according to the order of Melchizadek we have covered thoroughly in previous chapters.  The only point we might add is that when it says over the house of God he is not talking about the temple, or the sanctuary in the wilderness, nor of any cathedral or church building, but the house of God means the people of God.  We are the temple of God who dwells not in buildings made with hands, but in the hearts of His people.

Now having given us three points of doctrinal review in regards to our privileges in Christ, he now gives us three injunctions, or three exhortations, or three responsibilities of worship.  That is the point of our salvation, that we worship God in the way that is acceptable to Him.  As Jesus Himself said in John 4:24  "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

So the author of Hebrews begins with an invitation to worship.  He says in vs22, because of all that Jesus has done on our behalf,  “let us draw near.” The invitation to confidently enter the holy of holies, to draw near to God.  To draw near to the source of all life. Come to  the headwaters of the spring of living water, let us come and drink freely.  This is really the purpose of divine redemption; to enable us to draw near to our Lord Jesus Christ and to live in communion with him, He in us, and us in Him. 

This Hebrew audience might have heard this invitation to draw near to God and were reminded of Isaiah 29:13 where the Lord said: "Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me.”  I suppose that same sentiment could be made in regards to the modern church today, “They draw near with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.”  The heart is the seat of our affections, and for many of us our affections are towards the world and not God.  Outwardly we may feign interest in God, but God sees our hearts.

But nevertheless, God calls us to draw near to Him in truth.  James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”  that connection between drawing near to God and purifying your heart is the concern of the author of Hebrews as well as evidenced by the next phrase in vs 22.  

Draw near to God, he says, with a sincere heart, or a true heart. Now a lot of people may be sincere, but sincerely wrong.  Sincerity does not guarantee acceptable doctrine or worship.  But sincere in this application is better rendered true, a true heart.  As opposed to a disloyal heart, or an adulterous heart.  A heart which is torn between two loves is not a true heart.  Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and mammon.”  1John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” So a true heart is a heart totally devoted to the Lord.

And then he says draw near with full assurance of faith. This speaks of the boldness, the confidence with which we may enter the Holy of Holies.  This confidence is in our High Priest which has already been established in Hebrews 4:16 which says, “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 

But it’s not just confidence bordering on arrogance by which we enter, but in the assurance of our faith.  Now if you read what chapter 11 says faith is made up of, then that almost seems like a contradiction of terms; assurance and faith. Hebrews 11:1 says,  “Now faith is the assurance of [things] hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”  How can we be assured of things which we cannot see?  The fact is that all of us daily have faith in things we cannot see, or understand.  We have faith that our cellphones can send photographs through thin air, thousands of miles away, to just one person. We have faith in scientific works that depend upon sub atomic particles that cannot be seen.  Assurance of faith then is simply to trust that such promises of God are true, and then to act in accordance with them.

So our assurance of faith is not in ourselves, but it is in Christ.  Our assurance of faith is not in experiences that we might have had, it’s not in dreams that we have had, it’s not in some mystical thing by which we determined God spoke to us.  But our faith is in Christ and that His finished work has satisfied the Father’s requirements of righteousness.  Our faith is in Him, and He is our assurance.

Next, he says we draw near  “having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”   In referring to blood and water I think it refers to an inner and outer cleansing from sin. Our hearts are sprinkled clean by the blood, and our bodies are washed with the water. One cleansing is inside, and one is outside.  The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. The hymn Rock of Ages speaks to this double dose of cleansing.  It says, “Let the water and the blood, from thy riven side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, save from wrath, and make me pure.”

Now some theologians want to correlate the water to baptism.  And though I don’t believe that is what is being indicated here, yet is is true  in that baptism symbolizes  dying to the flesh, and being raised to newness of life in the Spirit. However, perhaps a more appropriate reference to the washing of the body with pure water is found in Ephesians 5:25-27, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,  so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,  that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” So the effect of the word of God upon the body, soul and spirit is that we might be washed, having no spot or wrinkle, but holy and blameless.  That certainly is in keeping with the intent of our text.  And as Psalm 119 says, “Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

In the Old Testament as well, there was an emphasis on the new covenant’s ability to cleanse us from sin as evidenced by Ezekiel 36:25-27 "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.  Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.”

Those who have been cleansed inwardly by the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse themselves outwardly from every defilement of flesh.  2Corinthians  7:1  “Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”  So when we worship God, we can come into His presence in assurance of faith, because we have a clean heart and a body that is in submission to HIs word.

   

The second injunction is  “Let us hold fast  the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful.”  Holding fast is our response to be steadfast, to hold on to what we have confessed, our faith in Christ.  Satan loves to try to shake our confidence in Christ.  He raises objections and questions as to why God allows this thing to happen, or why did God allow that to happen, to make us wonder if God really cares.  

But the injunction is to hold fast without wavering in our hope, because He who promised is faithful.  What is meant by hope?  What are we hoping for? Let’s look again at 11:1, which says, Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  So hope is the invisible object of our faith, that which is not yet evident.

   

Someone has said that “Faith is the beginning of our spiritual life, and hope is the continuance of it.” Faith looks to the past. Hope looks to the future.  And our future is founded upon the promises of God. 

He says, “For He who promised is faithful.” That is, the promises are connected with the promisor, so  the promises of God are the words of God and, thus, their authority, their power, is the fact that they proceed out of the mouth of God. 

Our salvation is dependent upon whether or not we have faith, but our hope is dependent upon God’s faithfulness.  Our eternal life is dependent upon God’s faithfulness to complete that which He has begun, to fulfill that which He promised.  2Timothy 2:13 says,  “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”  Our hope is not in our faithfulness, but in His faithfulness.

I’ve often told the story of my kids when they were little and we had to cross a busy road.  And I would always tell them, “Hold on to Daddy’s hand.”  I wanted them to hold on tightly.  To stay close to me.  To obey me. But their security was not in their ability to hold on tightly.  Their security was in my ability to hold them tightly.  Thus he says hold fast your confession, but God’s faithfulness is the reason for our confidence.

The third responsibility we are given is let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds.  Notice the three Christian virtues we have seen so far in this passage; faith, hope and now love. Faith looks backward, hope looks forward, and love looks outward. That’s so important to understand.  Love from the world’s standpoint is all about me.  How I feel.  But Christian love is sacrificial love for others.  It is outward, not inward.  True Christian love is outward.

Now the means by which we can love one another is found in the second part of this injunction; "not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together.”  We can’t stimulate each other to love one another unless we’re in the presence of one another.  You can’t stimulate a TV set to love someone. You can’t encourage anyone through your car radio.  Church is not just a Sunday service, it’s not just hearing and singing songs, it’s joining with the body of Christ, the communion of the saints, assembled together before the Lord. 

Let’s read vs 25 in it’s entirety again just for emphasis; “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.”  If the characteristics of someone who is spiritual is having the virtues of faith, hope and love, then you can be sure that when a person forsakes the meeting of the saints, that’s a sign of declining faith, decaying hope, and dwindling love.

I want to emphasize the point he is making about stimulating one another to love and good deeds, or to encourage, or your version may even say provoke one another.  The Greek word there is parakaleo, which is usually translated as encourage, or exhort.  And it’s meaning according to the Greek lexicon is to call to one’s side, to address, to speak to, to exhort, entreaty, instruct, admonish, beseech, to encourage, to strengthen, to teach. In other words, its the teaching of the word of God, the preaching of the gospel. That’s how we stimulate one another in the assembly of the saints.

In fact, you remember the disciples, as they are walking down the road toward Emmaus, and talking with the Lord who they thought was a stranger, and he was drawing out from them what they felt about the things that had been happening. And then he expounded to them the Scriptures and, you remember, they said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us along the way?” And so they walked with him as he spoke from the Old Testament about himself. They listened to his word. Their hearts were stirred and then the Scriptures said, they gathered together. So they gathered, met together, and then our Lord departed from them. It’s almost a parable of what it means to grow in the knowledge of the Lord, spend time with the Lord, listen to him as He, through the Spirit, expounds the word of God, enjoy the fellowship with him, eat with Him and grow in grace in the knowledge of the Lord.

So in closing, he says we should assemble together so much more as we see the day, the day of our Lord’s appearing, approaching.  We don’t know the day when the Lord will return, but each day brings us closer to His appearing. We are looking for that day, waiting for that day, working for that day, when we will receive our inheritance.  Let us be found faithful when He comes, and let us encourage one another to love and good deeds in keeping with His word.

I extend an invitation to all who are here today, that you draw near to God through the blood of Jesus Christ, through a new and living way.  Come in faith, with assurance that Christ has gone before us, providing the perfect sacrifice for our sins, that we might be reconciled to God and have full access to the Source of all life.  Draw near to Him today in faith, and be cleansed from all unrighteousness.  The price has been paid in full, the invitation has been given to all, it depends on you to accept this gift of God, even everlasting life.  

Jesus our complete sacrifice, Hebrews 10:1-18

So far in Hebrews we have been learning the doctrines of our salvation through Jesus Christ.  And to that end, we have seen that Jesus is superior to the prophets of old, He is superior to the old priesthood in that He is our great high priest of a different order, an eternal order since He forever lives to make intercession for us.  And as our great high priest He ministers in a better sanctuary in heaven, a spiritual sanctuary of which the temple on earth was only a copy.  And as our high priest He mediates a new covenant, having replaced the old covenant with something better.  

Now today, we are going to examine the superior sacrifice that Jesus offered as our High Priest. And to do that, the author of Hebrews begins by making a familiar comparison, at least it’s familiar if you have been following us in this book.  The comparison is to the old covenant, and all the attendant elements of that.  And what he tells us in vs one is that it was an inferior covenant because it was only intended to be a shadow.  

A shadow refers to what we might call a type, or a symbol, or a picture of something still in the future.  If you could imagine a timeline starting with Moses and going to today, you would have approximately 4000 years represented on that timeline.  And right in the middle, at ground zero, so to speak, is the cross.  And the cross is casting it’s shadow back over the time period to Moses. Under the law, the Jews could not see the cross clearly, but it’s purpose was foreshadowed in the sacrificial system which was given to teach them of it’s future reality.

So when the author speaks in vs 1 of the law being only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very image, or form of things, then we can recognize that in the old covenant, in the sacrificial system under the law, the Jews saw an outline of atonement, an outline of redemption, a symbol of redemption, but not the actual image of atonement.  Just as you might see your shadow on a sunny day, and you can see certain features that are true to life there, but for the most part you only see an outline, or a silhouette.  The details are not filled in.

Even when the old covenant was well in effect, the Jews knew that there was a new covenant which was promised in the future.  Jeremiah prophesied about this new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-33 saying "Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,  not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.  "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

So the Jews knew that the covenant they were under was due to one day be changed. The old covenant was weak, not because of some fault in the law, but because of the weakness of man on whom it was dependent to observe. Yet they found comfort in the rituals and ceremonies, and they mistakenly put their trust in keeping them, rather than their faith in God for forgiveness and righteousness.  And not only is that true of the Jews in that day, but it is true of professing Christians in our day as well.  Many people go to church every week, or even several times a week, to reenact rituals and ceremonies which they believe will absolve them of their sin, and yet there can be no forgiveness through rituals, or even through sacrifices of bulls and goats.  But as Paul said in Phil. 3:9 “[that we] may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of our own derived from [the] Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which [comes] from God on the basis of faith.”

The old covenant then, was a system of sacrificial shadows.  And as a shadow, it lacked the substance in itself to take away sin.  Notice what it says in vs1, "since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form or image of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.”

Now please understand that this word perfect refers to completeness.  It carries with it the sense of accomplishment or finishing. The fufillment of it’s intended purpose.  So in that sense, in vs 2, he says that if it could accomplish completion of their atonement, then it would have ceased to be offered.  If the blood of bulls and goats actually completed atonement, then it would not need to be done again and again.  

What the sacrifices did in a technical sense was express confession and repentance of your sin, and offered a token sacrifice of an animal’s life as a covering for sin. You remember when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, and they hid from God because they recognized their sin, then God killed an animal, or animals, and made coverings for them.  So the sacrifice of animals indicated a covering for sin.  But even more to the point, such sacrifices foreshadowed a future sacrifice which would cleanse completely from sin.  1John 1:7, 9 “but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. ... 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

But complete atonement was not appropriated under the old system, for it says in vs3, that “in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.”  Every year they had to go through the Day of Atonement again, because once again their sinful nature had caused them to sin against God.  So the old covenant actually served as a reminder of their fallen nature, of their hopeless situation to live as God required. As Paul said in Gal. 3:24  “Therefore the Law has become our tutor [to lead us] to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”  The daily offerings for sin and the yearly offerings on the Day of Atonement served to remind them of their hopelessness to be freed from sin.

So every year there was more animals killed, and more blood poured over the altar, and then the next year it had to happen again, year after year.  And what became apparent was that according to vs4,  “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” The sacrificial system was only a shadow of what was yet to come.  

That’s why the author called it the good things to come in vs 1.  Because it was a great day when that imperfect system would be superseded by a superior sacrifice.  God never delighted in the death of bulls and goats.  I was talking to someone  the other day about how that in the book of Jonah, God speaks with compassion about the livestock of the Ninevites. And He spoke of wanting to spare them, because they too are His creation to which He gave life.  That’s at least a part of what He is talking about in vs 6, when He says, while quoting from Psalm 40, “IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND [sacrifices] FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE.” But in total, He says such sacrifices do not satisfy God.

So the old covenantal system was only a shadow of the sacrifice that God desired. And so God prepared a superior sacrifice.  And we read of that in vs. 5 and 6, which is a quote from the Septuagint translation of the Psalms, chapter 40, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew text.  And what the author of Hebrews recognizes in that passage, is that it is referring to the Messiah, who is Jesus Christ. 

And what he is saying is that the superior sacrifice, offered by the great High Priest of the new covenant, is the offering of Himself.  Let’s look at the quote from Ps.40,  Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME;  IN WHOLE BURNT OFFERINGS AND [sacrifices] FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. "THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'"

Notice first that it says when He comes into the world.  This speaks of the incarnation of Jesus Christ, when according to John 1:14 “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  What God desired was not the bodies of bulls and goats, but the body of a person.  The bulls and goats were only intended to be a temporary picture of the person that was to come, and that person was Jesus Christ.

And let’s understand something; Jesus came to offer Himself as a guilt offering for us.  Isaiah 53 makes that clear. Isaiah 53:10-12 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting [Him] to grief; If He would render Himself [as] a guilt offering, He will see [His] offspring, He will prolong [His] days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see [it and] be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.  Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

 What Jesus did was voluntary. He poured out Himself to death; He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins to satisfy the judgment of God upon sinners.  Make sure you understand that.  The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, because the penalty for sin was man’s death.  That was promised at creation, that if they ate of the tree they would die.  Romans tells us that the wages of sin is death.  The death of a lamb or a goat never took away sin.  It merely provided a temporary covering, pointing to the day of God’s full atonement when He would appoint His only begotten Son to come to earth, to take on flesh, to bear our sin, to die in our place, so that we might be spared  eternal death.  Christ came to do for sinners what sinners could never do for themselves.  We could never offer a sacrifice that would take away the penalty for our sin.  But Christ could and He gave up His life for our sakes.  As John said when he saw Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

So not only does Psalm 40 say Jesus had come to do the Father’s will, but He conformed His will to the Father.  He desired to do His will.  And the will of God was that a person would die for his sin.  That was God’s standard, God’s law.  And God would not be so unjust as to deny His law.  But in His grace to us, God designed a way to fulfill the requirement of the law, but do it through a substitute.

Notice especially the phrase; “Behold, I have come to do your will.”  What the old covenant could not do, Christ has done in the new covenant.  He kept the law to perfection.  He kept the eternal council of God in redemption.  He did what the Father told him to do and said what the Father told him to say.  He kept the law because we could not keep the law. The grounds for the new covenant is based on what Jesus did, not on what we must do. What the priests did day after day and year after year was the basis for the old covenant.  They themselves however were sinners, offering sacrifices first for themselves and then for the others.  But Christ, as the superior sacrifice, had no need to offer a sacrifice for Himself, as He perfectly kept God’s will, and He completed what they could only point to.  And as such, according to vs 9, “He takes away the first in order to establish the second.”  When the fullness of the type was manifested, the first became obsolete and as such is done away with.

When I first was married, I worked as a manager in a hotel downtown.  And I kept a picture of my wife on my desk.  But after work, when I finally made it home, I did not need to look at a picture anymore. I enjoyed the reality of my wife.  And in a similar way, when Jesus had come as the superior sacrifice, there was no more need of the picture presented in the old covenant.

So the will of God was that Christ would offer Himself as the complete offering for sin, once for all.  We have looked at the sacrificial shadows, we’ve looked at the superior sacrifice, now last point, let’s consider the sanctifying sacrifice.  The sacrifice of Christ as our High Priest is superior not only because it is sufficient to pay the penalty of sin, which is death, but it is sufficient to provide the reward of righteousness, which is life.  In other words, Christ’s sacrifice not only justifies sinners, it sanctifies sinners.  

Sanctified is one of those church words we throw around that perhaps a lot of people don’t know what it means.  What sanctified means is to set apart, to consecrate for holiness.  In the temple service when the tabernacle was being built, they made vessels for use in the temple.  And they were different than ordinary cups and bowls you might use in your house.  They were made of gold or silver or brass for use only in the tabernacle.  And to show that they were set apart for holy use, they were sprinkled with the blood of a sacrifice that they might be useful in the temple.  Now that was another picture, a picture of sanctification, that we might be set apart in our salvation for good works, and then useful to God in service to Him.  

So Jesus’s sacrifice accomplished both of those things. Vs 14 says by one offering he has completed both of these things. He saved us from the penalty of death, and gave us a new life, made a new creation, and set us apart for holiness unto the Lord to be useful to Him.  He uses us as we yield to the Holy Spirit.  And that continual usage and obedience to His will is the process of sanctification.  

Now notice two types of sanctification are mentioned here.  In vs 10 he says, “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”  So Jesus’ obedience to the Father’s will by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins, sanctified us.  That means positionally, He transferred us from the dominion of darkness into the kingdom of light.  We now belong to God, made holy by the righteousness of Jesus Christ, set apart from the world.  

But then having been set apart for holiness, having been set apart for good works, now we ARE BEING sanctified, according to vs.14, “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”  The tense of that word means continual.  We are sanctified past tense in vs10, and are being sanctified present tense in vs14 in one offering.  In other words it’s a process.  Whereby we are continually offering up to God the service of our lives.  

Romans 12:1,2 says that this acceptable service is nothing less than the sacrifice of our body, even as Christ laid down His body. Romans 12:1-2  “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, [which is] your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Listen, Romans just gave us the secret to being sanctified.  It’s renewing your mind.  That’s the other benefit of Christ’s sacrifice - beyond just forgiveness, its’ the ability to be free of sin, not only free of the penalty of sin, but free from the power of sin.  Sin no longer has dominion over us.

Rom 6:5-9, 12 says, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be [in the likeness] of [His] resurrection,  knowing this, that our old man was crucified with [Him], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,  knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. ... 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Now the secret, like I said, to this sanctifying process is found in renewing the mind.  And just as our sacrifice was not something we could do, neither is our sanctification something we can do all by ourselves.  But Christ does it for us through the sanctifying work of the Spirit.  And He does that by renewing our mind.  And our new mind, the mind of Christ comes through our willingness to crucify our will, to lay down our life, that we might do His will.

Notice in our text in vs16 is a quote from Jeremiah 31 which speaks of this new mind that we are given by Christ. ““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.”

Another Old Testament passage in Ezekiel 36:26,27 says practically the same thing.  "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” He’s speaking of the new covenant.

The Spirit of Christ renovates our minds and our hearts, so that we might have new desires.  And so the sanctifying work of the Spirit is to renew our minds, through the washing of the word of God, that we might desire to do things which are pleasing to Him, and then He gives us the strength of the Holy Spirit to fulfill that desire, so that we might do the things which God desires.  That’s the purpose of the Holy Spirit; to equip you to do the will of God.  

The gospel say that when Jesus came up out of the water of baptism He was filled with the Spirit and was being led by the Spirit, and in the power of the Spirit began to preach and do might works.  That is the template for us as well.  We must like Christ, submit to the Father’s will, laying down our lives for His sake, and being raised to new life, now to live for Him through the power of the Spirit in obedience to the word of God.

Let me just say one last thing in closing by way of practical application.  This renewing our mind is not a once and done thing.  Our justification was once and done.  Jesus’s sacrifice was once for all as it says in our text.  But our sanctification is a process.  And when we slip up and fall back into sin, when we become mired once again in the world, we contaminate our minds, our consciences become corrupted.  We begin to think like the world.  We begin to listen to the world and believe the lies of the devil.  And so when God as our Heavenly Father brings correction and discipline to our lives to bring us back, we can confess and repent and God will forgive us.  But we need to ask Him to renew our mind.  We need to get on our knees and implore God to do a supernatural restoration of our minds once again, that we might have the mind of Christ, that we might have the desires of God.  

David was a man after God’s own heart.  He wrote scripture which Christ and the apostles quoted from extensively.  He was God’s anointed.  And yet he sinned, not just once, but many times.  And in Psalm 51 we find there a template of how we need to approach God after such corruption has entered into our hearts and implore Him to renew our minds and create  a right spirit within us.  Listen to David’s prayer and if necessary, make it your own.

I’ll just read a few excerpts from Psalm 51 in closing.

“Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom. Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. ...  Hide Your face from my sins And blot out all my iniquities.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. ...  Restore to me the joy of Your salvation And sustain me with a willing spirit. ...  For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.