27 Jun Hebrews 15: Once for all

Hebrews 10:1-18

Hebrews 10:5-14 – 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; ⁶ in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 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.’” 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), ⁹ then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 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.

Let me warn you before we start. Our passage for tonight is very strong. It deals with this controversial question, “Can Christians lose their salvation?” If you have been in RSI for a while, you would not be surprised by what I have to say. But I do not want you to ground your conviction on what I say. I want you to ground your conviction on the word of God. And if you have been following the author of Hebrew’s argument in the last few chapters, his answer should not surprise you. Hebrews 10 tells us the logical conclusion of his argument. And we are going to split it into three different sermons. Tonight, we are going to talk about the conclusion of the author’s argument. Next week we are going to talk about the right response to the conclusion. And the week after we will talk about the strong warning that follows the conclusion.

Let me start. Have you ever heard the phrase, “A picture speaks a thousand word?” There is some truth to it. But as wonderful as a picture or a video can be, nothing can replace having him or her face to face. It’s like what we experienced right now. Many of you are not able to come to church for a good reason. So, what you do is you tuning in via the online church. But we understand that even though online church is great when we cannot come to church, nothing can replace the joy of gathering together and meet one another face to face. If you know me, I am an extreme introvert and even I cannot wait to meet all of you face to face. And what happens after we are able to meet face to face? All these media that we use to gather online are no longer necessary. When I can see you face to face, you do not need to see my face on the screen anymore. It’s like a long-distance relationship. If you ever been in a long-distance relationship, then you know how precious a picture can be. When you miss him or her, scrolling through their pictures bring a smile to your face and soothe your longing. A picture of a loved one is wonderful. And video chat is also helpful. Praise God for technology. But listen. As wonderful as a picture or video can be, you know that nothing can replace having him or her face to face. You cannot touch the person in the picture or video. Well, technically, you can. But you shouldn’t. It is weird. There is only so much that a picture or video can do. They are only a representation of the actual person. As good as a picture is, having the actual person is so much better. And when you finally meet your loved one in person, a picture of him or her carries less importance.

Now think about it. How absurd is it to prefer the picture over the person? To love the representation over the actual? Think how crazy it is to say, “You know what babe? I think you are beautiful, and I love you. But I love your picture more than you. So, I think I am going to go back to it. I am going to take your picture to bed with me and I am going to kiss it day and night. I am going to love your picture with all of my heart.” If you know anyone who does that, call the mental hospital. It is unthinkable for anyone to go back to the shadow once they have the substance. And yet there were many Jewish Christians who were tempted to forsake Jesus and return to the old covenant. This is the point that the author of Hebrews was getting at in his letter. He continuously reminded them to not trade Jesus for anything because Jesus is far better. And as we already studied in the last few weeks, the theme of Jesus’ superiority is repeated again and again. Jesus has a better priesthood. Jesus established a better covenant. Jesus enters a better tabernacle. And Jesus offers better blood. And tonight is the conclusion of his long argument that began in Hebrews chapter 7. His argument is simply this. Jesus has done what no other priest of Israel could have ever done. Jesus has achieved what no worldly religion can ever achieve. So don’t run from Jesus but run to Jesus.

Let me put it this way. Do you know what is the greatest obstacle to our enjoyment of God? Do you know what keeps us at a distance from God? Do you know what makes us hesitant to draw near to God and seek him? Do you know why we don’t pray more than we do? Do you know why we lived in constant fear and anxiety? Do you know why we are reluctant to share the gospel with non-Christians? Let me tell you the answer. It is because we fail to understand and embrace what Jesus has done for us. We don’t understand and embrace that God has forgiven us of all our sins. And tonight, my goal is to help us see that Jesus has fully paid the price of our sins once for all and radically changed our lives and our relationship with God.

I have four points tonight. The shadow; The reality; The accomplishment; The enablement.

The shadow

Hebrews 10:1-4 – For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? ³ But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

The author wants us to be extremely clear that the law, as good as it was, it was but a shadow of the good things. It was not perfect. Because if the law was perfect, there would be no need for repeated sacrifice. But the law was not bad; It was incomplete. So, the contrast between the shadow and the reality was not a contrast between bad and good. Both are good. But it was a contrast between incomplete and complete. So here is what happened in the old covenant. God gave his people the ten commandments. And the ten commandments were not complex. They were morality 101. No sane person would argue the goodness and the rightness of the ten commandments. However, even though they were simple, no one was able to follow them perfectly. For example, let’s take one commandment. You shall not lie. Can we agree that lying is bad? Does anyone think that lying is good? None. If you tell a lie recently, raise your hand. If you do not raise your hand, you are lying right now. Do you see what happened? We failed at the most basic commandment. And so did the people of Israel. And God could not just overlook their sins. Every sin must be punished. So, God instituted the tabernacle system. And in this system, the people would come and talked to the priest and said, “Priest, I have sinned against God.” And the priest replied, “Yes, you did. Don’t do it anymore.” And then they would kill an animal to pay the penalty of sin. Problem solved? No. Because the same person would return in the near future and repeat the whole process. Why? Because they continued to sin. It was impossible for them to not sin and therefore, continuous sacrifices were needed. The law cannot make perfect those who draw near.

That’s why the author of Hebrews argued that the old covenant system did not work. If the tabernacle system worked, there would be no need to offer more sacrifices. It’s like this. What do we do when we are sick? We take medicine. And if the medicine works, we do not need to take more medicine. We stop taking it. But if we continue to take more and more medicine to get healthy, it means that the medicine is not working. And in the same way, if the old covenant sacrifices worked, there would be no need for repeated sacrifice. The people did not need to keep coming back to the tabernacle to kill more animals. But the fact that the priests continued to offer sacrifices daily, weekly, and yearly, meant that the system did not work. And the author points out that these continuous sacrifices were actually a graphic reminder of sins. The constant sacrifices reminded the people that they were unable to perfectly obey the commands of God and the sacrifices were unable to cure their sin problem. And it was not only a reminder to the people of their sins but also a reminder that God still remembered their sins. Listen to verse 4.

Hebrews 10:4 – For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Did you hear that? The author has clearly said earlier that there was no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood. But now he takes it another step further. He says that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. It does not matter how many bulls were offered. A rich person could offer a hundred bulls for his sin. It does not matter what kind of bulls were sacrificed. It could be kobe or wagyu bulls. It does not matter what grade of bull meats were offered. Those bulls could not deal with the problem of sins. It means that the sacrifices in the old covenant were not only imperfect, but they were also meaningless by themselves. It cannot remove sins at all. Which lead us to this question. If the bulls and goats cannot take away sins, then why did God set up the tabernacle system? Two reasons. One, even though those sacrifices could not take away sins, they held back the wrath of God for a time. Paul argues in Romans 3:21-26 that those sacrifices enabled God to pass over sins committed in the old covenant. God delayed his judgement on sins on the account of the sacrifices offered in faith. So those sacrifices temporary suspended the judgement of God, but it cannot remove it. And two, those sacrifices pointed to the one sacrifice that could take away sins. It was 2000 years lesson to prepare the people of God to understand what Jesus did at the cross.

The reality

Hebrews 10:5-10 – 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; ⁶ in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 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.’” 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), ⁹ then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

This is remarkable. In these verses, the author tells us why the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. And he quotes David’s word in Psalm 40:6-8 and attributes it to Jesus. Listen carefully. Jesus says that God does not want our offerings and sacrifices. God does not take pleasure in burnt offerings and sin offerings. Why? Because ultimately what God desires is not sacrifices but obedience. Let me give you an example. One day, God gave an explicit command to King Saul to destroy his enemies and not take captive any livestock from them. But Saul disobeyed God and kept the best livestock. When Samuel confronted Saul, Saul told Samuel, “I am saving all these best livestock for God. God would be pleased with these sacrifices.” Listen to what Samuel said? 1 Samuel 15:22 – And Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” This is massive.

In other words, what God is saying is, “Listen, I do not want your bulls and goats. I want you. I want you to trust me and obey my commandments.” But then the people of God respond, “I am sorry God, I cannot obey you. Please take my bulls and goats as my sacrificial offerings.” Do you see what happened? Yes, it was God who instituted the sacrificial system, but it was not the expression of God’s ultimate desire. The sacrificial system showed us the problem and not the solution. What God desires from his people is obedience and not sacrifices to cover disobedience. But it is so much easier to bring God bulls and goats than to obey him. Let me be more specific now. We might no longer sacrifice bulls and goats to God, but we constantly try to bring our sacrifices to God rather than obey him with our hearts. How do we do that? By doing things for God. Instead of trusting him and obeying him in our daily life, we prefer to slave ourselves to serve God. We know how to play the Christian game. We get very busy serving God with our talents on Sunday. We spend few hours every week to be involved in small groups. We give not 10% but 15% of our income to the church to make us feel better about ourselves. And all those things are not bad. Those things are good, but they are not what God is after. And God is saying to us, “You think I want your money? You think I delight in your sacrifice? I own the universe and you think you can please me with 15% of your income? Are you kidding? Who do you think gave you the talent to do what you do? Who gave you the job that you have? Who gave you the oxygen to breathe? I do not need anything from you. I do not want your bulls and goats. What I want is your heart. You are what I want; not your sacrifices.” We need to get this right. Sacrifice is no substitute for obedience. No offering is acceptable to God if it does not come from a heart that loves God. God cannot be bought. What God wants is our obedience and not our sacrifice. And every time a sacrifice is offered to God, it is a reminder of our failure to obey God.

The question is, who can obey God and please God? The bad news is that none of us can. But the good news is that Jesus raises his hand. He says, “I will do it. I will come to earth and do the will of God. I will obey God perfectly. I will obey God no matter the cost. I will please God completely. And in doing so, I will remove the old covenant. It is not working. I will establish a new covenant where I will fulfil all the requirement of the law on behalf of God’s people, and I will offer myself as the sacrifice of sins once for all.” So, God prepared a body for Jesus to enter the world and do the will of God. And do not think that Jesus’ obedience is easy. He felt what we felt. He experienced what we experienced. He was tempted just like we are tempted. But he endured to the end without failing. Jesus went through what we went through times million. He obeyed God completely and fully to the end. Jesus obeyed God perfectly and satisfied God’s demand. And then Jesus offered himself as the sacrifice of sins in full glad obedience to God the Father. That is why Jesus’ sacrifice is far better than all burnt offerings and sin offerings.

And this is good news for bulls and goats. They no longer have to die for us. And it is even better news for us. Because when we put our faith in Jesus, we are not only forgiven of our sins but we are credited with Jesus’ perfect obedience at the same time. Look at verse 10. It is beautiful. Hebrews 10:10 – And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The author says that when we put our faith in Jesus, “we have been sanctified.” This is perfect tense. It means that it is something that already happened in past and has a continuous effect today. The word sanctified means to be set apart; to be made holy and righteous and accepted in the sight of God. But notice the author does not say that we will be sanctified. He says that we have been sanctified. It means that we are already positionally righteous in front of God. It is something that is done. Righteous is not something we will be in the future. Righteous is who we are today. But how are we made righteous? Look at the latter half of the verse. “Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” So, we are not made righteous because of something that we do but because of what Jesus has done. We are made righteous through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. And this sacrifice will not be repeated. This sacrifice is definite. This sacrifice is sufficient for all the sins of God’s people. It is a once for all sacrifice. “Ephapax.” And now listen to what Jesus accomplished with his once for all sacrifice. It is magnificent.

The accomplishment

Hebrews 10:11-14 – 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.

Here is something interesting about the tabernacle. There were no chairs in the tabernacle. The priests were not allowed to sit because there were always more sacrifices to be made. Their works were never done. It didn’t matter how hard they worked, the work was never finished. And what made it worse was that their never-ending work can never do its job. It cannot take away sins. But pay attention to verse 12. Hebrews 10:12 – But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. I love the phrase “Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins.” It means that in a single sacrifice, Jesus has covered the sins of all time. What is incorporated in all time? This is not a tricky question. All time means all time. So that means that in a single sacrifice, Jesus covered sins in the past, present and future. Jesus’ once for all sacrifice covered all sins for all time. And after he made that once for all sacrifice, he sat down at the right hand of God. Notice the contrast between every priest who stood daily and Jesus who is seated. If the priests were not allowed to sit because their works were never finished, Jesus sat down because his work was finished. Jesus sat at the right hand of God, saying, “It is done. It is finished. I have accomplished what I set out to do. I have obeyed God’s will perfectly.” And right now, Jesus is waiting for the day that he will return when all his enemies will be made his footstool. Do not be mistaken, my friends. Yes, Jesus is the Lamb of God who sacrificed himself for our sins. But he is also the Lion of Judah who has all the power and authority to conquer his enemies. And no one can hinder his works. It is done. He is right now waiting at the right hand of God for the moment that he will return and destroy his enemies. And if you have yet to put your faith in Jesus, you are his enemies. But the good news is that you don’t have to remain his enemies. There is an invitation from Jesus for you to put your faith in him. And when you put your faith in Jesus, he will forgive you of all your sins and he will credit you with his perfect obedience. So, put your faith in Jesus today.

And now pay attention to verse 14. This is the grand accomplishment of Jesus’ sacrifice. Hebrews 10:14 – For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. For the next few minutes, I want us to be grammar nerds. I want us to pay attention to the tenses in this verse. I want us to chew on this verse because it is extremely crucial. Look at the first part. “For by single offering he has perfected…” Stop. What tense is that? It is another perfect tense. It is a completed past action that has an ongoing effect on the present and the future. It means that the perfecting of God’s people is complete and forever. There is nothing anyone can add or subtract from it. In other words, Jesus’ single offering not only saves us from our sins but also makes us perfect before God. And if we are already perfect, there is nothing we can do to make us more perfect. And this is what differentiates Christianity from every other religion in this world. Every other religion says we must do A, B, C to be perfect. But Christianity says that God has already made us perfect. This is why the heartbeat of Christianity is not good advice but good news, the gospel. It is not about something that we must do but about something that God has done for us.

Let’s continue. “For by single offering he has perfected for all time…” Again, what is incorporated in this all time? All time. It covered past, present and future. So, Jesus’ sacrifice covered all sins for all time. But pay attention to what comes next. “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” What tense is this? This is a present participle. Now, this is interesting. Because it means that it is an ongoing process. The author says that our sanctification is a present activity that continues into the future. Remember that in verse 10, he says, “We have been sanctified” and now in verse 14, he says, “those who are being sanctified.” What happens? Does the author contradict himself? I don’t think so.

Here is what I think is happening. In verse 10, the author tells us that we are positionally righteous already in front of God because of our faith in Jesus. It means that when God looks at us right now, he does not see us in our weaknesses or sinfulness. He sees us fully covered in the blood and righteousness of Jesus. Our standing before God is righteous, perfect, and blameless. We have been sanctified. But at the same time, our lives are not yet holy, perfect, and blameless. We still battle with sin daily. We are a work in progress. We are currently being sanctified. Martin Luther put it nicely. He said that we are “Simul Justus et Peccator” which means that Christians are both righteous and sinner at the same time. Yes, we are already covered in Jesus’ perfect righteousness, and yet at the same time, God is still in the process of getting rid of our sinfulness and making us live righteously. It means that those whom Jesus has perfected by his sacrifice are the ones who are being sanctified today. So, if we are fighting and battling sin today, it shows that we are the ones whom Jesus has perfected. In other words, we can be assured of our perfect standing in the eyes of God if we are growing in holiness. Let me put it this way. The evidence of us already being made perfect in Christ is our growth in Christlikeness today.

Here is why it is important. It means that there is no such thing as passive Christianity. Christians are those who wage war against sin. Hear me clearly. Sin is not our pet. Sin only has one purpose. Sin wants to eat us and destroy us. It’s like this. It’s like whenever we hear stories of people who welcome a tiger as their pet. We know that this story is not going to end well, right? So, when we hear that a man is being killed by his pet tiger, we are not surprised. We might be surprised when we hear that a man is killed by his cat but not a tiger. Why? Precisely because it is a tiger. At first, a tiger might seem safe because it is still a little cub. It is cute, adorable, and helpless. But not for long. That little cub eventually grows very big and strong. And it won’t be long before that tiger attacks the owner. It is in the nature of a tiger to be a predator. And listen. No one welcomes a tiger into his home thinking that it will someday devour him. And that’s the exact picture of sin. We need to stop fooling ourselves into thinking that sin is our pet. Sin is a predator trying to destroy us. We are never the master of any sin. Once we have welcomed them in, it is just a matter of time before they grow big enough to turn on us and kill us. That is why we should not try to domesticate sin. Sin is not something to be controlled. It is something to be killed. So, when we see sin in our lives, don’t try to pet it. Take out our gospel machine gun and start shooting. Are you with me on that?

But Jesus’ perfect work also means that we do not battle sin without hope. Because Jesus has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. We battle against sin knowing that the war has been won. Jesus has defeated sin once for all. Get this right. The present tense of Christianity is always connected to the perfect tense of Jesus’ finished work. Jesus never tells us to be something we are not already. The present work of sanctification is about becoming who we already are in Jesus. Our salvation is secured. Jesus has perfected our salvation. By one perfect offering, himself, Jesus not only accomplished forgiveness for the sin for Israel, not only for the sins of the people in the past. But in a single offering he has purchased perfect forgiveness for people from every age, tribes and tongues, people in the past, present and future, anyone who believes in his name, Jesus shouts out “It is finished.” Jesus will not die a second time. There is nothing that can undo Jesus’ once for all sacrifice. One single sacrifice is enough to perfect all believers for all time.

The enablement

Hebrews 10:15-18 – ¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 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,” ¹⁷ then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” ¹⁸ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

Here is what’s amazing about the new covenant. Not only that Jesus has perfected our salvation, but God also write his law on our hearts and minds. So the law is no longer something that we have to obey externally but it is something that we want to do internally. It’s less about “You have to dress like this. You cannot dress like that. You cannot eat this and you must eat that. You have to do this and that…” It’s no longer about a set of rules but about a new heart that loves Jesus and wants to please Jesus. It is about God guiding our every step through his words. And note, it is God who takes the initiative to put his laws in our hearts. It is the work of God’s sovereign grace alone. When we put our faith in Jesus, God has given us a new heart that desire to please him and not sin. We have the power to say no to sin. We must remember this.

But we must also remember that God has chosen to not remember our sins. This is crucial. It does not mean that God forgets our sin. God is perfect. He does not gain knowledge and he does not lose knowledge. He cannot forget anything, including our sins. But what God does is he chooses to not remember. This is God’s deliberate choice. It means that when God looks at us, he refuses to bring our sins against us. He will treat us as if we have never sinned. Not because he forgets but because the blood of Jesus blots out our sins forever.

And here is the grand conclusion. Hebrews 10:18 – Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. Listen. Jesus’ offering is sufficient to forgive our sins for all time and because of it, his offering is sufficient to end all other offerings. Where sin is forgiven, there is no longer any need of offering for sin. It means God no longer accept sin offerings. Here is what God is saying through the author of the book of Hebrews. “I am done with the old system of the tabernacle. There is a new and better way you can relate to me.” If in the tabernacle system, we need tons of offerings and sacrifices to be made right with God, in the new way God is screaming from Heaven, “I don’t want your sacrifices anymore. Stop bringing me sacrifices!” “But God, I am a sinner. I have sinned against you.” “Yes, I know you are a sinner and you have sinned against me.” “So, I need to be made right with you. I need to pay for my sin.” God replies, “It’s been paid for.” “But God, I blew it yesterday. I messed up last night. I’m a bad person.” “Yep, I know you messed up last night. In fact, before the foundations of the world, I already knew you will mess up last night. Newsflash, you will mess up again tomorrow. But I’m not taking any more offering. It’s been paid in full.” “How?” “Because the lamb of God was slain. The perfect and spotless sacrifice has been offered. The precious blood of Jesus had been spilled on your behalf. The blood of my son Jesus has paid for all your sin. It is done! No more sacrifices. No more blood. Jesus is the once for all sacrifice of sins. I am no longer taking offerings. There is nothing you can do that will make me change my mind. The shop is closed. Jesus paid it all.”

What a life-changing truth. Let’s put it all together. Jesus’ once for all sacrifice is the sacrifice to end all sacrifice. Jesus’ once for all sacrifice has perfected every Christian at all times. Jesus’ once for all sacrifice has completely blotted out the past, present and future sins of every Christian. Jesus’ once for all sacrifice secured the salvation of every Christian once and for all. My friend, this is the gospel. The gospel tells us there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation and there is nothing we can do to lose our salvation. The work of salvation is the work of God’s sovereign grace alone and it is accomplished through Jesus’ once for all sacrifice alone. It is done. All we can do is simply receive by grace alone through faith in Jesus alone. And once we are saved, we are forever saved. And if this is true, why would anyone forsake Jesus and return to the shadow?

Let me close with this. The gospel is wild. It makes us uncomfortable. I mean, it is such good news. It is too good to be true. It makes us feel anxious. I remember when I first started to preach the gospel, people would often tell me, “Yos, you can’t say things like that. You can’t assure people of their salvation. It will make them complacent in their walk with God. They are going to abuse God’s grace and live however they want to. Grace is too wild. We need rules. We need laws. We need the tabernacle system.” There is a part of us that prefer the shadow over the substance. And let me confess. Even for me who have preached the gospel for years, there is still a part of me that feels uncomfortable with this once for all idea. Because I know there will be some of you who listen to what I said and use it as a license to sin. And it makes me feel a little anxious. But I also know that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. Yes, there might be some of you who abuse grace. But there will be many others who will experience the power of God through the gospel of grace. And my role as your pastor is not to be grace’s police. My role is to tell you that Jesus has perfected our salvation through his once for all perfect sacrifice. And that our salvation is as secure as Jesus’ position at the right hand of God. The all-powerful Jesus is right now interceding for us in front of God. If that is true, who can take our salvation away from us? This is why we can confidently say with Paul, Romans 8:38-39 – ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen. Let’s pray.

Discussion questions:

1. Read Hebrews 10:4. What is the purpose of the constant sacrifices in the old covenant if it cannot take away sins?
2. What does it mean for God to desire obedience more than sacrifice? What does it tell us about the old covenant sacrifices and Jesus’ sacrifice?
3. Explain what the author means when he says that “we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
4. Read Hebrews 10:14. What are the implications of this verse in our Christian life?
5. How does the fact that God no longer accepts any offering for sin affect our relationship with God today?
6. Can Christians lose their salvation? Explain why the answer to this question can be both encouraging and also make us feel uncomfortable at the same time.