Beholding the Finished Work of Christ

Hebrews 10:11-14 ESV

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

As we have been working through Hebrews, chapter 10, verses 1-18, what we have been doing is looking at is that old-time heresy of non-biblical legalism, rejecting it through the testimony of Scripture, and revealing the orthodox faith.

And two of the reasons why I believe that we who truly worship God in spirit and in truth and who know Him through His Word as He truly is should vehemently be opposed to legalism are because one: it is unbiblical and dishonoring to God, and two: because it prohibits legitimate Christians from thoroughly experiencing their salvation and enjoying God.

You see, I believe that all people are born with a sort of legalism, believing that righteousness is achieved through doing more good things than bad things. That righteousness and the salvation that comes through righteousness is a never-ending process that must be worked at for one’s entire life in order for it to be achieved.

And because this is how we all naturally reason, I also believe that basically every new Christian, and every immature Christian, even if they are not particularly “new” to the faith will still reason as though their salvation and the maintaining of their salvation is contingent on their own good works. You know, back to that whole, doing more good things than bad things line of reasoning.

In fact, there are entire Christian denominations that reason this way. There is one in particular, that I won’t name here from the pulpit, that actually says that one is to keep track of every single sin they commit every day. And then, at the end of the day, you must name every last sin and repent of them. And according to their reasoning, if you don’t do this, you’ll lose your salvation.

Well, I don’t know what you call that, but I call it nonsense. The only thing that manages its adherents to do is be fearful that they could lose their salvation at any minute, or even worse, be prideful as they reason that they maintain their salvation by checking all the boxes and doing everything right.

In fact, I remember a family at my old church who had came out of that particular denomination, and I remember how they were constantly fearful that maybe they had forgotten to mention a specific sin in prayer and repent of it and were now without hope.

Such reasoning is never what God intends for us who are legitimately saved to have. I too used to reason such a way and I know that it is terrifying, there may even be some of us who are in attendance today who reason such a way as this.

Therefore, may it be that whoever is present this morning who reasons such a way, hear the words that God has graciously given to me that you may be set free from the bondage of fear in this regard and truly rest in the finished work of Christ.

And today, what we are going to be looking at is the difference between what is a works-based righteousness, which in reality is no righteousness at all and everything that involves, and legitimate righteousness given to us freely and how we should truly respond to it.

We see first in verse 11 of our reading what a supposedly works-based righteous entails, when it says:

Hebrews 10:11 ESV

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

What we see here is the process and nature of the sacrifices that the ordinary priests in the temple would offer every day.

The author says that the priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices. This sacrifice was a 2-year-old lamb that be given as a burnt offering on the altar twice a day, once in the morning, and once in the evening.

Now, notice again the position of these priests who sacrificed day and night; they were standing. Standing daily, as their work of sacrificing was never complete.

But though they were always standing and sacrificing, these sacrifices could, as the end of this verse says, never take away sin. Thus, the priests were always at work, sacrificing every day, but it was necessary that these sacrifices be offered every day, because they were incapable of legitimately expunging the sins and guilt of anyone.

And just as the animal sacrificial system is a continuous work that never ends yet is incapable of removing any kind of sin and thus is incapable of causing one to be made righteous through it, so is a works-based righteousness.

Believing that your salvation is contingent on your own good works is an exhausting exercise to say the least, it never ends, for as I said earlier, this line of reasoning results in one being fully convinced that if they don’t keep up this work of being on their best behavior for the rest of their lives, then they’ll lose their salvation.

But the reality is that good works save no one, good works keep no one saved, and performing good works makes you no more saved than you were before.

It’s like that daily sacrifice, it never ends, and it is ineffective at truly removing any kind of sin. Thus, as we said before, works-based righteousness is not true righteousness. For true righteousness is righteousness that does not originate within ourselves in any way. It is freely given to God’s people, and it is offered once for all time.

We see this once for all time righteousness that is given to God’s people in verse 12 of our reading, where it says:

Hebrews 10:12 ESV

12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

So, we see here in this verse and in the previous verse, the sacrifice of Christ and the animal sacrifices of the priests compared and contrasted.

While the priests offered a daily sacrifice and were ever standing, offering these sacrifices, as their work was never done, our author here in this portion of our reading tells us that when Christ offered His sacrifice, that is, when Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice on behalf of God’s elect people, it was a single sacrifice for all time.

And also, unlike the animal sacrifices that were made that foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice, this sacrifice of Christ was for sins.

Now, like we had said before, the animal sacrifices were in a sense for sin in that they reminded the one who sacrificed that they were guilty of sin and needed to be saved by the grace of God.

But the sacrifice of Christ for sins serves a completely different purpose in that while the sacrifice of animals could never remove a single sin, the sacrifice of Christ effectively removes every last sin from His elect people, past, present, and future.

Thus, the one-time sacrifice of Christ was truly effective in accomplishing exactly what it was meant to accomplish as it expunged every last sin of God’s elect people before, during, and after Christ’s ministry in this world.

And because this one-time sacrifice was absolutely effective concerning what it was meant to accomplish, it is written here in our reading that after it was offered, Christ sat down.

Now, this is important because in the verse before this one, verse 11, it says that the priests who offered animal sacrifices were always standing as their work was never done, they were always sacrificing. But concerning the sacrifice that Christ made on behalf of His people, this verse, verse 12 says that after making this sacrifice, Christ sat down.

Thus, this plainly signifies that after Christ had offered Himself as a sacrifice, His work was done. He didn’t need to sacrifice again, for the sacrifice of Christ was what every animal sacrifice foreshadowed; the full salvation from sin of every one of God’s born-again people.

Now, Christ, in His resurrected body, sits enthroned at the right hand of God the Father patiently waiting for the time when He will fully receive what is His.

In the 13th verse of our reading, we see this, where it says:

Hebrews 10:13 ESV

13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.

The author here says that “from that time” which signifies from the time when Christ offered His sacrifice on behalf of God’s people and sat down at the right hand of God the Father, from that time, having completed His work here on earth, He sits, waiting.

And what the author says that He sits waiting for is the time that His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet.

Now, the enemies spoken of here in this verse refer to those who are not saved and are thus opposed to Christ. You see, in order for Christ to be the sacrifice for His people, there had to be those who were opposed to Him and who were desirous to put Him to death.

These were the enemies of Christ. And His enemies are not just those who put Him to death, they are also those who in all times, have not believed on Him and trusted in Him, for to not trust in Christ means to be an enemy of Christ.

And when Jesus ended His earthly ministry, it seemed as though His enemies had the upper hand as His lifeless body hung upon the cross. But we know that He did not remain dead long as He powerfully caused Himself to rise from the dead and as our reading says, ascended on high and is now seated at the right hand of God the Father.

But as He ascended, so will He descend once again, but this time it won’t be to humbly suffer death at the hands of His enemies, rather, it will be to make these enemies of His, His footstool.

To say that one is your footstool is to say that you have conquered and humbled such a person to where they are now recognizably your inferior.

Thus, Christ will return and make His enemies His footstool. But that day is still to come. It obviously has not yet occurred. And until that day comes, He sits at the right hand of the Father, waiting.

And as He waits at the Father’s right hand, we continue to witness the reality of what He accomplished through His once for all sacrifice. We read of this in the last verse of our reading, verse 14, where it says:

Hebrews 10:14 ESV

14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

This verse begins with the word, “for” which signifies that what is going to be said is a summation of what was previously said. And of course, what was just said is that after presenting Himself as the sacrifice for His elect people, Christ sat down at the right hand of God until the time comes when He returns and makes His enemies a footstool.

Therefore, what the author attempts to do here in this last verse is describe the full effect of Christ’s sacrifice for His people.

The author says that Christ can now sit and wait for His second coming, because through His single offering He has perfected, or fully cleansed His people, those who are being saved through His sacrifice.

So, what does all of this tell us today who have already been saved? It tells us that Christ has done the heavy lifting for us. No longer do we need to worry about our eternal destination, it has been sealed and guaranteed for us through what Christ has done for us on our behalf.

Stop anxiously worrying that you haven’t done enough, that you need to do more, because you can never do enough. The more that you try to gain or maintain salvation through your own strength, the more you will see that it is not enough.

Beloved, God did not graciously save you so that you can sit around worrying that you haven’t done enough, or that you have somehow done something to lose your salvation.

God graciously saved you for His own glory because you cannot save yourself and as a result of an eternal love that is beyond comprehension. Therefore, enjoy your salvation, enjoy what Christ has done for you, and rest peacefully knowing that what He has done for us on our behalf is more than good enough.

And for those here who have not come to trust in the finished work of Christ, the Lord calls you here this morning to enter into His eternal rest, for you to trust in what He has done when He offered Himself once and for all-time.

Enter that rest today…