The New Covenant Part 2: The Way Opened

When I was serving in Afghanistan, I was given the responsibility of providing chaplain support to an Air Force contingent.

The Air Force compound was surrounded by walls, with only two locked gates guarded by armed personnel.

The guards knew who I was. They knew why I was there. They may even have known that I had been assigned to support the people inside that compound. But none of that gave me the authority to enter.

No explanation or repeated attempt could get me through those gates. Someone with the proper authority had to act on my behalf.

First, the senior chief had to come to the gate and sign me in. Later, the senior chief and the commanding officer signed the paperwork authorizing me to receive an additional identification card. Only then could I enter the compound without being stopped at the gate.

That experience gives us a small picture of the problem in Hebrews 9. My access depended on an authorization I could not give myself. Hebrews confronts us with a far greater barrier: how can sinful people enter the presence of a holy God?Hebrews 9

God Himself has provided the One who can bring us near—the One who deals with the guilt that barred us from Him.

Last week, we saw that the old covenant became obsolete not because God’s Word failed, but because it completed its temporary purpose. Hebrews 8 gave us the new covenant’s better promises: God writes His law on our hearts, makes us His people, and remembers our sins no more.

Those are better promises. But Part 1 left one question before us: How do those promises become ours? How can guilty people come into the presence of a holy God? How can a defiled conscience be made clean? Hebrews 9answers by showing us what our seated High Priest has done.

To answer, the writer takes us inside the tabernacle.

Please turn with me to Hebrews 9. We will begin with verse 1 and read through verse 14. As we read, listen for the contrast between the repeated ministry of the old covenant and the completed work of Christ.

Hebrews 9:1–14 CSB

1 Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was set up, and in the first room, which is called the holy place, were the lampstand, the table, and the presentation loaves. 3 Behind the second curtain was a tent called the most holy place. 4 It had the gold altar of incense and the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 The cherubim of glory were above the ark overshadowing the mercy seat. It is not possible to speak about these things in detail right now. 6 With these things prepared like this, the priests enter the first room repeatedly, performing their ministry. 7 But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. 8 The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing. 9 This is a symbol for the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience. 10 They are physical regulations and only deal with food, drink, and various washings imposed until the time of the new order. 11 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?

The tabernacle was beautiful, carefully arranged, and designed by God. Yet its arrangement declared that sinful people could not casually enter the presence of a holy God.

There was a courtyard, then a Holy Place, then another curtain, and behind that curtain the Most Holy Place. The closer one came to the symbolic presence of God, the fewer people were permitted to enter: the people remained outside, the priests entered the first room, and only the high priest entered the second—once each year and never without blood.

The whole arrangement preached: God is holy. Sin separates. The way is not yet open.

Here is the central truth: Christ opens the way to God and, by His own blood, cleanses our consciences so that we may serve the living God.

We will hear what the curtain declared, see what Christ secured, and discover the freedom of a cleansed conscience.

I. THE CURTAIN DECLARED: THE WAY WAS NOT YET OPEN

Hebrews 9:1 says, ‘Now the first covenant also had regulations for ministry and an earthly sanctuary.’ Notice the writer’s respect for the old covenant. Its worship was not invented by people. God gave it. Its ministry was real, its symbols were meaningful, and its sanctuary was holy.

But it was earthly and temporary by design.

Verses 2–5 describe the Holy Place and, behind the second curtain, the Most Holy Place with the ark and mercy seat. These were not decorations; they taught God’s presence, holiness, law, mercy, and the need for atonement.

The tabernacle was a God-given picture of saving truth, but a picture is not the reality it portrays.

The tabernacle was the picture. Christ is the reality.

Verses 6–7 move from the sanctuary to its services. The priests entered the first room repeatedly. Every day the lamps were tended and incense was offered. The ministry continued because the work was never complete.

But the second room was different. Verse 7 says, ‘But the high priest alone enters the second room, and he does that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.’

Picture the restrictions: one man, one day, one room, one brief entrance—and even he needed a sacrifice for his own sin.

The Day of Atonement was the holiest day in Israel’s calendar. The high priest washed, dressed in sacred garments, sacrificed for himself, and carried blood through the curtain. He entered on behalf of the people, sprinkled blood at the mercy seat, and came back out.

The people waited outside. Their representative entered, but he could not bring them with him.

The ceremony provided real ceremonial cleansing, but it did not provide final access. It dealt with outward defilement according to the old covenant, but it could not remove guilt from the conscience. And when another year came, the high priest had to enter again.

Verse 8 gives the Spirit’s own interpretation: ‘The Holy Spirit was making it clear that the way into the most holy place had not yet been disclosed while the first tabernacle was still standing.’

The curtain was a declaration: the way is not yet open.

Verse 9 says those gifts and sacrifices ‘cannot perfect the worshiper’s conscience.’ They restored outward participation in the covenant community but could not remove guilt before God.

The conscience is that inward witness which knows we have sinned. We may explain our behavior, compare ourselves with someone worse, distract ourselves with activity, or hide our failure from other people. But deep within, we know that guilt cannot be removed by pretending it is not there.

Religious activity cannot cleanse the conscience either. We can attend worship while carrying secret guilt. We can sing the words while our hearts remain far from God. We can serve, give, and pray while quietly hoping those works will make up for what we have done.

Hebrews calls these “dead works.” They may include openly sinful deeds, but they also include religious works used as an attempt to earn life from God. Anything we offer to God as payment for our acceptance is a dead work, because life cannot be purchased by guilty hands.

Verse 10 says the old regulations were imposed ‘until the time of the new order’—the time when things would be set right.

The old sanctuary was not God’s failed attempt but His successful sign. It taught holiness, sacrifice, substitution, and separation while pointing to the One who could bring His people near.

II. CHRIST ENTERED ONCE AND SECURED ETERNAL REDEMPTION

Verse 11 marks the turning point: ‘But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.’

Not another earthly priest or annual covering. Christ has appeared.

He ministers ‘in the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands.’ The earthly tabernacle belonged to this creation; Christ entered heaven itself. The old high priest entered a symbolic throne room. Jesus entered the presence of the Father.

Then verse 12 gives us three contrasts: ‘He entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.’

He entered by His own blood

The old priest brought another creature’s blood. Jesus is both Priest and sacrifice: He offered Himself.

He was not an unwilling victim trapped by events. Verse 14 says He ‘offered himself without blemish to God.’ The Father gave the Son, and the Son willingly gave Himself. The cross was the united saving purpose of the triune God.

He entered once for all time

The old priest returned every year because his sacrifice could not complete the work. Christ entered once because His sacrifice cannot be improved, repeated, or supplemented.

‘Once for all’ means the cross is a completed event with permanent power. Christ does not die again when we sin again. He does not need to reopen the covenant or renegotiate our standing. His one offering is sufficient for every sin of every person united to Him by faith.

He obtained eternal redemption

The old ceremonies dealt with temporary uncleanness. Christ purchased eternal release from slavery to sin and the law’s curse, paying the price with His own life.

Notice the tense: He obtained it. Christ did not merely make redemption possible; at the cross He secured it for His people.

This is particular, effective grace. The Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep. The Bridegroom gave Himself for His bride. The Savior did not go to Calvary hoping someone might be saved. He went to redeem the people the Father had given Him.

That is why our confidence rests outside ourselves. Our repentance is never perfect. Our faith is sometimes weak. Our obedience remains incomplete. But the redemption Christ obtained is eternal because the price He paid is sufficient and the Father accepted it.

The old high priest entered alone. Christ entered heaven as our representative, and everyone united to Him is welcomed in Him.

The way that once said, ‘Not yet,’ now stands open through Christ.

III. A CLEANSED CONSCIENCE IS FREE TO SERVE THE LIVING GOD

Verses 13–14 move from the sanctuary to the human heart: ‘For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ … cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?’

The blood of Christ answers the deeper question: How can I stand before God when I know what I have done?

The cross does not minimize sin. It proves our guilt was so serious that nothing less than the death of the Son of God could atone for it.

Yet it also proves that no payment remains for those in Christ. The judgment has fallen, the debt is paid, and condemnation has been exhausted upon our substitute.

A cleansed conscience does not mean we forget our past or never feel sorrow over sin. Godly sorrow leads to repentance. Nor does it mean the conscience becomes silent when we disobey. The Holy Spirit faithfully convicts His people.

A cleansed conscience means guilt no longer stands as an unpaid charge between us and God. We no longer try to hide from Him, bargain with Him, or pay Him back. We confess our sin and come through Christ, trusting His blood rather than our record.

Some believers act as though forgiveness is true for everyone except them. Their failure feels too dark or too shameful, so they punish themselves, hoping regret will make them worthy of peace.

But self-punishment is not atonement, and shame is not a second savior.

Bring sin into the light. Confess it, turn from it, and make restitution where needed. But do not imagine your suffering can finish what Christ left incomplete.

Grace does not return us comfortably to sin; Christ frees us from dead works for living service.

The word translated ‘serve’ carries the idea of worshipful service. The believer’s whole life becomes an offering to God. We serve Him in gathered worship, but also in our homes, work, conversations, generosity, forgiveness, endurance, and quiet faithfulness.

Under legalism, service anxiously seeks acceptance. Under the gospel, service gratefully responds to acceptance already given in Christ.

We do not serve in order to make God our Father. We serve because the Father has made us His children. We do not obey to purchase redemption. We obey because Christ has redeemed us. We do not labor beneath condemnation. We serve with a cleansed conscience.

This is new-covenant freedom—not freedom from holiness or service, but freedom to serve the living God with joy.

CONCLUSION

The old sanctuary had sacred beauty, but a curtain remained, the people stood outside, and the conscience remained burdened.

Then Christ appeared.

He entered the true sanctuary by His own blood, once for all. He obtained eternal redemption and cleanses His people to serve the living God.

If you are trying to approach God through your morality, your church attendance, your sincerity, or your efforts to improve, you are still standing outside with dead works in your hands. Lay them down. Repent of your sin and trust the blood and righteousness of Christ alone.

Christian, come out of hiding. Bring your guilt to the sacrifice God has accepted. Then rise and serve—not as a prisoner paying a debt, but as a redeemed child responding to grace.

Part 1 showed the better promises; Part 2, the better sacrifice that opens the way and cleanses the conscience.

In Part 3, Hebrews 9:15–28 will show how Christ’s death secures the inheritance, His sacrifice puts away sin, and His return completes our salvation.Hebrews 9:15–28

The way is open. The conscience is clean. And through Christ, we are free to serve the living God.

CLOSING PRAYER

Father, thank You for sending Christ as our perfect High Priest. Thank You that by His own blood He obtained eternal redemption. Cleanse our consciences from dead works. Keep us from hiding sin, trusting performance, or paying a debt Christ has already paid. Teach us to confess freely, rest in grace, and serve with grateful hearts. Draw those who remain outside to Christ, the only way into Your presence. In His name we pray. Amen.