The writer of this Scripture has given us a depiction of Jesus Christ as the high priest, which is superior to the priesthood from the Old Testament. He also presents us with a portrayal of the sacrifice of Christ as far greater than the multitude of sacrifices offered by the old priesthood.
Under the old law, sacrifices were continual and short-term, and their success rate was inadequate. The primary characteristics of Christ’s sacrifice are its complete permanence and its universal sufficiency.
Sacrifices and Offerings Before Christ
In the past sections, the writer of Hebrews clarified how the old covenant was implied as an image of the new covenant.
The actual characteristics of the sanctuary were intended to clarify both the shortcomings of the old covenant and the predominant idea of the new covenant. Specifically, the author brought up how the blood of the animals was a blemished penance.
Here, similar thoughts are summed up. The old covenant was not wrong or futile. Regardless, its actual intention was not timeless salvation. The genuine motivation behind the old covenant was to direct the people towards Jesus Christ as the satisfaction of God's definitive plan.
The expression “make perfect,” as utilized in the first verse of Hebrews 10, is not a reference to an outright sinful life. In this specific circumstance, the word perfect conveys a similar importance that it does in the New Testament, which is that of maturity and completion.
The penances of the old covenant could not completely purify man to remain before God. The new covenant, in any case, can change the soul of man and absolutely eliminate sin, permitting us to be perfectly developed and finished according to God.
Next, the writer makes a point like in Hebrews 7:27 and Hebrews 9:25-26. The penances of the old covenant must be consistently repeated.
This permits the writer to pose a logical inquiry: assuming those penances could scrub the heart, meaning a total elimination of transgression, then should not the priests be able to quit offering them? Why keep on offering penance for transgression, except if those penances are not adequate?
This streams into the next verse, which gives a more straightforward clarification of what these continued penances are truly intended to do. Previously, the Book of Hebrews clarified that parts of the old covenant were images of the new covenant.
They had significance and a reason. However, they were just duplicates of the genuine work of Jesus Christ. In the following verse, the writer will clarify that the old covenant sacrifices served more as a token of sins than as an answer for sins.
By consistently redoing the yearly, the priest not just demonstrated that animal sacrifices were lacking, they additionally showed that human sin remained un-pardoned.
At the point when individuals gathered for penance on the Day of Atonement, they were reminded of their transgressions and felt regretful once more. These penances reminded the Israelites that the conciliatory framework was not finished.
What they required was pardoning. The perpetual, amazing, sin-annihilating absolution we have from Christ.
When we have admitted a transgression to Jesus, we need never consider it again. It has been forgiven, forgotten, and never to be remembered forever. When Christ cried out, “it is finished,” then it was finished and completed.
Animal sacrifices could not remove sin; they gave just a brief method to manage sin until Jesus came to manage it forever. Old Testament believers were following God's order, and He charitably excused them when, by confidence, they made their sacrifices.
However, the practice anticipated Christ's future perfect sacrifice. Christ's way was better than the Old Testament way on the grounds that the old way just highlighted what Jesus would do.
The blood of animal sacrifices only covered the transgressions until the Lamb of God came to remove the sin of the world (John 1:29).
This citation is not referred to in any other New Testament book. In any case, it is a basic education in the Old Testament that God wants obedience and a correct heart, not an unfulfilled consistency to the sacrificial framework.
Christ’s Sacrifice Once and for All
The author of Hebrews applied to Christ the expressions of the psalmist in Psalm 40:6-8. Christ came to offer his body upon the cross for us a penance satisfactory to God. God's new and living path for us to satisfy Him is not by keeping laws or, in any event, refraining from transgression.
It is by coming to Him in confidence to be forgiven, at that point following Him in adoring compliance (loving obedience).
The expensive sacrifice of animals put forth for the sinner the reality of his transgression before God. Since Jesus shed His blood for us, His sacrifice is limitlessly greater than any Old Testament offering.
Considering this boundless blessing He gave us, we ought to react by giving Him our service and devotion.
Removing the first system for a much better one implied getting rid of the arrangement of sacrifices contained in the ceremonial law. It did not mean dispensing with God's ethical law — the Ten Commandments.
The ceremonial law prepared individuals for Christ's coming. With Jesus’ death and resurrection, the ceremonial law was never again required. Through Christ, we can satisfy the ethical law as we let Him live in us.
Christ's work appears differently in relation to the Jewish priest’s work. The work that they performed was not completed, so they had to make continued penances.
The death and resurrection of Christ in our place completed it. The sacrificial framework could not totally eliminate sin; only Christ's sacrifice could successfully purge us from all sin.
If the readers of this book went back to the old sacrificial system, they would infer that Christ's penance was not adequate for pardoning their transgressions. Adding anything to his sacrifice or taking anything from it denies its legitimacy.
Anything to acquire salvation through acts of kindness is dismissing the meaning of Christ's demise and scorning the Holy Spirit's work.
We should be careful with any individual who infers that Christ's penance left us deficient or that something different is expected to make us satisfactory to God.
When we have faith in him, he makes us right with God. Our caring relationship drives us to follow him in willing submission. He is satisfied with our service, yet it cannot be a way to salvation.
We have been made complete in Christ, yet we are being made holy. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, he unequivocally made his children perfect in the sight of God.
Simultaneously, he is making them sacred (continuously scrubbed and put aside for his unique use) in their day-by-day journey.
We should not be astounded, embarrassed, or stunned that we actually need to develop. God is not done with us yet.
We can support this development cycle by intentionally applying Scripture to all aspects of our lives, by acknowledging the direction and discipline that Christ gives, and by giving him control of our longings and objectives.
What Does This Mean?
The author finishes his contention with this strong explanation that God will never recall our transgressions. Christ pardons us totally, so there is no compelling reason to admit our previous sins over and over again.
As Christians, we can be sure that the sins that we admit and disavow are forgiven, forgotten, forever, Amen!
For further reading:
What Does a Sacrifice of Praise Mean?
Are We Willing to Be Offered as a Living Sacrifice?
Why Did God Require Animal Sacrifices in the Bible?
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