Hebrews 10, Part 2

There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States. Dr. Christianson taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course his or her freshman year, regardless of his or her major.

Although Dr Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.

This year, Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going on to seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor's class.

One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Dr. Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know.... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" again asked Dr. Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," said the professor.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can...yeah, I can do it"

Dr. Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. No, these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy big kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited about it because was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christianson's class.

Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?"

Cynthia said, "Yes."

Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

"Sure." Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Dr. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes." Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?"

Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut.

Walking down the second aisle, Dr. Christianson came to Scott. Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship.

When the professor asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"

Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Dr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Dr. Christianson shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten pushups.

Scott said, "Hey! I said I didn't want one!"

Dr. Christianson said, "Look!, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.

Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry. Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Sternly, Jenny said, "No."

Then Dr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten more push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?"

Steve did ten....Jenny got a donut.

By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.

Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Dr. Christianson asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely.

Dr. Christianson started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Dr. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Dr Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"

Dr. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want." And Dr. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "No! Don't come in! Stay out!"

Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Professor Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him?"

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut"

Dr. Christianson said, "Okay, Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on. "Yes," he said, "give me a donut."

"Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?"

Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Dr. Christianson finished the fourth row, and then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity.

By this time sweat was profusely dropping off of his face, there was no sound except his heavy breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular. Dr. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?"

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Professor Christianson quietly asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.

Then Dr Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. "Dr. Christianson, why can't I help him?"

Dr. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone, I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes."

"Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Dr. Christianson turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, 'into thy hands I commend my spirit.' With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."

Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.

"Well done, good and faithful servant," said the professor, adding "Not all sermons are preached in words."

Turning to his class, the professor said, "My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He spared not only His Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid."

"Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?"

The call of the gospel message goes out to everyone, to al the world. No one will die without opportunity to know God and to repent, placing their face and trust in Him.

Christ died for people who, at the time, did not want it. None sought God, none desired Him, all turned aside. They did not ask for or desire the act that was being committed on their behalf. Only later, when the spirit drew them and extended an internal call would any respond to God with anything but hatred and malice. God made a choice in eternity past to create the world, allow the world to rebel, and then to intercede again on their behalf. We had not say in it. He chose to do this on His own, for His own purpose, and glory.

Christ, the only perfect one to ever live, paid the price and took the penalty for our shortcomings so that we might be able to enjoy the benefits that came with.

The only difference between this story and the true reality of salvation is that everyone for whom Christ died (Steve did pushups) would accept the gift that was offered, even it if was resisted at first.

For those of us who have received such a gift, who have been called (not just externally but internally) and now have repented and received the gift by faith, how foolish would we be to just allow the gift to sit idle on the desk and do nothing with is!

Our salvation demands and expects our lives to be transformed by it. And yet, we are often content to sit on and do nothing with it.

This morning, we finish the sermon we began last week as we look at and are reminded of the superiority and the riches of Christ’s greater sacrifice.

As we look at this superior sacrifice, we will see seven reasons why it is superior.

PART ONE – WEEK TWO

Superiority of Christ’s Sacrifice – Vs. 5-18 (Here I borrow MacArthur’s Outline)

The Eternal Will of God – Vs. 5, 7

Heb 10:5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;

Heb 10:7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'"

Having looked at the first part of verse 5 above, we will now look at the second half and verse 7.

A Body you have prepared for me….Then I said, Behold, I have come to do you will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book”

A Body you have prepared for me…What does this mean?

Hebrews 2:7

Heb 2:7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor,

Heb 2:8 putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him.

Heb 2:9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

Heb 2:10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

God brought Jesus down and made Him man. He gave Him a human body and for a time made Him lower than the angels. He ‘prepared’ a human body for Him to possess in order to carry out the work of redemption that was necessary for man to be restored to right relationship. He needed a human body in order to sacrifice it in the once for all perfect sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of God against sin. We needed this sacrifice because none of the OT, Old Covenant sacrifices could ever accomplish this.

If you recall our study on these verses in Hebrews 2, they were written by David about mankind, not about Christ. Later they were applied to Christ as prophetic but they also had application to man. God gave man dominion over all creation and man lost then when He sinned. This reminded us that Christ became man in part because it was required that the sacrifice for mankind, a sacrifice to correct man’s rebellion and turn back man’s sin, had to be from among men. It has been a perfect sacrifice from among men in order to restore man to their former position before God and reconcile our relationship to God.

No perfect man existed on earth and so God had to come in the form of man to accomplish what man could not.

This body was prepared from before time began.

Romans 8:29-30

Rom 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Eph 2 points to this predestination before the creation.

This body was prophesied and spoken of in the OT

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

NT fulfillment…

Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Mat 1:19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.

Mat 1:20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

Mat 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

Mat 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

Mat 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).

We know these things to be true.

So, sacrifices and offerings were not what God truly desired. He ordered and commanded them for a purpose, but they in themselves accomplished nothing. Instead, God prepared a body for Him.

Vincent’s Word Studies - Hebrews 10:5

Confirming the assertion of Heb_10:4 by a citation, Psa_40:7-9, the theme of which is that deliverance from sin is not obtained by animal sacrifices, but by fulfilling God's will. The quotation does not agree with either the Hebrew or the lxx, and the Hebrew and lxx do not agree. The writer supposes the words to be spoken by Messiah when he enters the world as Savior. The obedience to the divine will, which the Psalmist contrasts with sacrifices, our writer makes to consist in Christ's offering once for all. According to him, the course of thought in the Psalm is as follows: “Thou, O God, desirest not the sacrifice of beasts, but thou hast prepared my body as a single sacrifice, and so I come to do thy will, as was predicted of me, by the sacrifice of myself.” Christ did not yield to God's will as authoritative constraint. The constraint lay in his own eternal spirit. His sacrifice was no less his own will than God's will.

Then I said, Behold I have come to do you will, O God, as it written of me in the scroll of the book.

From Psalm 40:7

Psa 40:7 Then I said, "Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

Psa 40:8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."

Jesus Christ existed and lived to give glory to God, to delight the heart of God. Jesus desired to be obedient to His Father’s will.

Christ came because the will of the father expected it in order for the better, more superior, once for all sacrifice to be made.

Jesus came in obedience to the father.

Joh 14:31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.

Christ repeatedly emphasized that He was here to do His father’s will, that He could do nothing apart from his father’s will.

What is the scroll of the book in which this is written of Him?

Luk 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luk 24:44 Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled."

Gen 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

Jesus taught from the scriptures and revealed the prophecies that concerned Himself and showed, even if unclear at the time, how they pointed to Him, how it was “written of Him in the scroll.”

His arrival was no mystery. The religious leaders of the day should have seen it.

It was always the will of God to accomplish this through His Son. It was His eternal will to prepare a body for His Son and to send Him to do His will.

Replaces the Old – Vs. 8-9

Heb 10:8 When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law),

Heb 10:9 then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second.

When he said above…He does away with the first in order to establish the second

The first, the ritual, day by day, year by year sacrifices were done away when Christ came in obedience to His father’s will. He came and fulfilled, completed, perfectly obeyed the law and the commandments and thus satisfied them and then through His death accomplished something even greater

Does away with, take away (in some translations) literally means to abolish. Christ, by coming with a new will, a new way, fulfilled and abolished the old in order to establish the new.

The old was never satisfactory and never will be especially in light of the new.

Sanctifies – Vs. 10

Heb 10:10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

AND by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL.

What does it mean to be sanctified?

Greek Word Hagiaz means to be made holy. To make clean, to make pure.

Metaphorically speaking it means to clean in a moral sense, to purify and cleanse.

What the sacrifices under the old covenant could not do, what the old earthly priests could never do, Christ did by the offering of Himself for us.

He SANCTIFIED, past tense, us through the offering of his body!

We are cleansed, we are purified. We are forgiven and clean. We are set apart and declared forgiven and holy.

The Greek verb is a perfect particle with a finite verb, which shows the strongest way the believers continuing and permanent salvation. John MacArthur rephrases the verse this way to show the power of it’s statement. “You have been permanently made holy.”

Think about this. We know this truth to be true, but do we realize the power and significance of it? One person, in one moment, performing one act, for ALL Time and ETERNITY permanently sanctifies and makes those who believe Him and repent of their sin HOLY.

The sanctification the writer has in mind here is a judicial declaration that places our standing before God on secure ground.

Practically speaking, we are far from holy and sanctified. We still fight with our sin nature. We still do wrong and have to seek repentance and forgiveness repeatedly.

We are admonished in scripture repeatedly to put off the old nature, and to put on the new. We are told to walk in the spirit, to put to death the behaviors of the old nature.

However, positionally, judicially, we are sanctified and holy, set apart BY God FOR God, ONCE FOR ALL ETERNITY. Nothing can steal this reality away.

The Old Covenant had no power to do this.

Removes Sin – Vs. 11-12

Heb 10:11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

Heb 10:12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

Vs. 11 – Again we see that the priests was a daily service. This daily service could NEVER (again the word is repeated) take away sins, or the penalty for it. The sacrifices could neither remove the power and presence of sin from their lives nor the penalty and guilt for committing those sins.

The law, the animal sacrifices could never make complete expiation for sins. They could never remove the guilt, penalty, power, or presence of sin.

The new, better covenant did both.

Vs. 12 - Having offered His single, once for all sacrifice of Himself, Christ sat down at the right hand of God, that place of power and authority.

Notice the contrast between the priests STANDING to offer their sacrifices, and Jesus SITTING at the right hand of God. This contrast is done deliberately to show that the priests work was never done and Christ has accomplished His work and completed His and now sits.

We have seen this picture before, but now we see it here again in stark contrast to each other.

The priests were never able to sit while “on duty” because there was always work to do. There were always sacrifices to be made.

And yet, Christ (in contrast to many priests) offered one sacrifice (in contrast to their many sacrifices) and is now seated having finished His work.

His work, His one sacrifice took away the sin that the Old could NEVER DO, that it was IMPOSSIBLE to do.

His one work, His one sacrifice took away the sins for those for whom He died. He bore those sins on His body and took the punishment you and I deserved.

Others throughout time have chosen to die in the place of another. But none other than Christ has ever offered to bear the sin of their enemies, of the very ones who cursed, mocked, and crucified Him.

Christ did this and through this one act, once for all time, took away sin. A hope the Old could never provide.

Subjugates the Enemy – Vs. 13

Heb 10:13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.

Again, we have seen this picture before. The idea of the enemy being made a footstool is the idea of them being under your power, authority and control.

To be used as a nothing more than a footstool is degrading and shows your complete powerlessness and magnifies the power of the one who has you under their power, control, and submission.

It was common practice in days of old when one king or kingdom invaded and conquered another that the conquering king would place his foot on the neck of the conquered king in a show of superiority and power.

How much more degrading can you get.

This is the idea in this verses communicated by the enemies being made a footstool.

This has not completely happened yet.

Jesus defeated all his enemies, including death. He defeated the devil. He defeated sin. He defeated every enemy in this once for all sacrificial act.

The Devil still lurks about as the prince and power the air, as the ruler of this age destroying and dragging God’s creation into more sin and depravity.

The sinful flesh still lives on in us and still holds sway over us.

Death still claims our lives.

The powers may still manifest themselves in the world today BUT CHRIST HAS DEFEATED THEM. They have not yet be fully subject to Him, He may yet be permitting them some power and rule, but He has defeated them.

Heb 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,

Col 2:13-15

Col 2:13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

Col 2:14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

Col 2:15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

He has defeated death and the devil. He has disarmed and triumphed over the prince of power of the air, of all the principalities and evils lurking in our world.

He now sits and waits for them to be made a footstool for His feet. There will come a day when this happen.

Philippians 2:10 tells us that one day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, things in heaven, things on earth, and things under the earth, that Jesus Christ is Lord. They will bow to His authority. They will recognize His power and subject themselves to it.

Perfects For All Time – Vs. 14

Heb 10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

By a SINGLE offering, not the multiple, continual, repeated offerings of the Old Covenant system with his MANY human priests. ONCE SINGLE OFFERING BY CHRIST IS ALL IT TOOK.

His work completed in one sacrifice what the priest could not accomplish in thousands upon thousands.

This much has been emphasized over and over. But what does the rest of this mean?

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

Are you perfect? Am I perfect? Does this mean that if we are saved, we will never sin, never get sick, never die? If he has already perfected us, how do we explain the sinfulness of our own lives and the lives of the believing world around us?

To make matters worse, this verse says that we are BEING SANCTIFIED but verse 10 that we look at moments again said were ARE SANCTIFIED.

What?

This bring us back to what we discussed before. POSITIONALLY we ARE sanctified and holy, set apart BY God, FOR God. Practically speaking, we are not yet holy in practice and behavior.

We have been perfected in the sense that God has achieved and obtained our salvation. He has accomplished our salvation, the forgiveness of sins, the removal of guilt and given to us a new nature that is able to please Him.

At times, we understand the idea of perfection to be maturity, having obtain the finalized and complete goal of spiritual maturity and perfection.

That is not the sense in which this word is used here. It is the idea of being perfected by having our eternal salvation secured through the sacrifice of Christ, the forgiveness and removal of sins, and the imparting of a new nature.

Our forgiveness and salvation are permanent, PERFECT because of Christ sacrifice even if we are not yet fully perfect in action, behavior, practice.

So, are salvation is perfected but we are still in the process of being sanctified in practice.

Fulfills the Promise – Vs. 15-17

Heb 10:15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

Heb 10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,"

Heb 10:17 then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

The Holy Spirit also bears witness to us…

The Holy Spirit testifies and confirms the realities of these things. What better confirmation could you ask for! We all want verification of the things being told to us. There is so much information out there in the world and at times we question how much of it is real, how much of it is valid, how much of it can be trusted. This is reasonable to ask. In this case, we have a rock solid witness, a rock solid and trustworthy source that we can trust that all of this is true, that indeed we have been perfected for all time, that our sin has been removed, that the enemy has been subjected and will be further subjected in the future, and that forgiveness is a ever present reality. We can trust these things.

Why? Because the Holy Spirit says so.

How does He bear witness you ask?

Verse 16 repeats the promise of the new covenant, the better promise that brings with it a change in heart, in nature, that promises an internal heart change as opposed to the external nature of the old covenant.

Verse 16 is a quote from Jeremiah 31:33

Jer 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares 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.

But verse 17 adds something. After making the promise of the new covenant, the Holy Spirit adds…

Heb 10:17 then he adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more."

Back in Jeremiah, verse 34 goes on to make this incredible promise!

Jer 31:34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

The old covenant could never promise this! The new covenant promises forgiveness and a “forgetting” of their sins!

Now, a clarification on what it means to “forget” their sins.

Forget does not mean that He ceases have to have knowledge of our sin.

God is God. And God cannot FORGET or else He would not be God.

So, what do we mean by this “forget?” The answer is really very simple. To forgive and forget means that we forgive the person their transgression, their sin against us and choose (this is the forget part) never to hold it over their heads or against them again. This means that once forgiveness is granted, we do not bring it up to them, to others, or to ourselves again.

We do not use it to guilt them into some course of action. We do not use it to justify our actions. We do not talk about it to others in order to earn sympathy or favor.

This does not mean it never gets mentioned again. If the behavior that was forgiven is continually repeated, it may need to be brought up in the context of counsel, intervention, or help to help the person overcome the sinful habit, but it is never used to guilt, harm, or slander them.

This is the promise that God makes to us and this is the promise we should be making to others when we extend forgiveness. We do not bring it up again to them, to others, or to ourselves unless it is needed in order to help the person grow and reach maturity in Christ and even then it is done with discretion, love, compassion, and grace.

The Holy Spirit bears witness that these things HAVE been accomplished.

John MacArthur comments, “…the new sacrifice of Christ is effective because it fulfills the promise of a New Covenant. In other, words, the new sacrifice had to be made and had to be effective because God promised that it would be…the new sacrifice was effective, therefore, because it HAD to accomplish these things…in order for God to fulfill His promise, which cannot be broken.”

The Holy Spirit testified in the OT that this New Covenant would come and indeed it has and the readers are being shown evidence and proof of this reality from their own cherished scriptures and prophet.

The HS bears witness through the prophet Jeremiah that the new covenant would come and now through the indwelling he testifies that it has become a reality.

Forgiveness – Vs. 18

Heb 10:18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Forgiveness through the sacrifice and grace of Christ through faith and repentance has been granted and where this has been granted, there no longer needs to be any more offerings for sin.

Christ’s ONCE FOR ALL sacrifice was enough to provide salvation and forgiveness for eternity.

Christ need never die again. No animal need ever die again on account of man’s sin. There has been a NEW, SUPERIOR, ONCE FOR ALL, Blood Sacrifice that is sufficient for all time and eternity for ANY and ALL who believe and repent and come to God for forgiveness of sins.

Jesus is SEATED in heaven, having completed His work. The Holy Spirit is drawing, convicting, illuminating, guiding, teaching, protecting, and sealing mankind for salvation.

The new covenant has come with its internal changes and trumps that of the old which merely dealt with external realities.

We have received the ultimate forgiveness in Christ which should be the most humbling of realities, driving us to our faces pleading for more grace to make us holy in practice as we are in position.

MacArthur comments, and we end with this, “Salvation – glorious and perfect salvation – is promised in the Old Covenant and purchased in the New.”