Hebrews 10

1-18 Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

• The law has only a shadow of things to come, and not the true form. Is there any significance in the fact that we see the shadow before we see the real thing?
• It required continuous sacrifices. If these sacrifices had made men perfect, they wouldn’t have had to be repeated year after year.
• Their purpose? Not to take away sin, but to remind people of the cost of sin. As many have said before, one of the benefits of reading the Book of Leviticus is to help us realize the constant blood-letting necessary for sin and appreciate the enormity of what Christ’s sacrifice accomplished.
• Christ acknowledged that God didn’t want the blood of animals, so he offered himself in order to sanctify us. In Psalm 40:6, David uses this phrase to refer to himself, but ultimately it is a prophecy of Christ, who had already offered himself as a human sacrifice. In the Hebrew, “You have prepared a body for me” is translated “You have opened (or dug) my ear,” indicating complete submission, as a freed slave whose ear has been pierced to show he’s a servant by choice.
• “He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.” With a change in sacrifice comes a change in the law.
• He had to make the sacrifice only once, after which he sat at the right hand of God.
• He is waiting to conquer his enemies, having perfected all those who were sanctified, for all time. His sacrifice cleansed not only those who had sinned, but sinners yet to be born. The conquer of his enemies is explained well in 1 Corinthians 15:20-34, particularly verses 25 and 26:

25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

• This is a fulfillment of the promise made through Jeremiah 31:33:

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

• And he adds to it “I will no longer remember their sins” (a reference back to verse 3 – under the old law, sins were to be remembered year after year).
• Since our sins are forgiven, what’s the use of more sacrifices?

19-31 A Call to Persevere

Note: In verses 19-25, I see a pattern for salvation.

Since through Christ we have confidence and a great priest, we can approach God:

1. with a true heart (repentance),
2. in full assurance of faith,
3. with our hearts sprinkled (repentance) and our bodies washed with pure water (baptism),
4. holding fast to the confession of our hope,
5. encouraging one another to love and good deeds (pure and undefiled religion, as in James 1:27),
6. not neglecting to meet together to encourage one another.

• The sacrifice of Christ is our last hope. If we willfully reject his salvation, nothing remains.
• In fact, it will be worse for us than for those under the old law, because our salvation is so much greater than theirs, bought by the sacrifice of the Son himself.
• Remember the early days, when you endured persecution, abuse, the loss of your possessions, having compassion on the imprisoned?
• Don’t abandon the confidence you had in those days.

My soul takes no pleasure in one who shrinks back.