Hebrews 10:1-18

Hebrews 10:1-18

This passage is a sort of conclusion and climax of the argument of the superiority of Christ. He is greater than all the Old Testament characters, symbols, and rituals. The rest of this book is about the living out of the faith, the implications, and the applications of who Christ is and what He has done and is doing. These 18 verses are so full of grace, beauty, and hope they can be studied and studied again for a lifetime. But for the moment we can note a few key points.

The old sacrificial system could never effectively deal with the collections of our sins nor could it effectively deal with our fallen and broken nature. All of us must admit two things. 1) I am a sinner, and 2) I have committed many sins. The sacrificial system of the law could neither cure the sin nature nor remove the record of sin. Sins were remembered in the daily sacrifices, then in the weekly, monthly, and annual sacrifices as well. The best the sacrifices could do was to make a person deeply aware of their guilt and the enormity of their record of sin. A cure would require the blood of a holy, infinite, innocent, and perfect volunteer to pay the debt for the infinite punishment of all sin and all sinners. If the old sacrifices were effective, they would not have been repeated. The repetition was proof of their ultimate ineffectiveness. But the sacrifice of Christ is once and for all proof that it was effective in accomplishing the removal from the memory of God Himself of the record of our sin. Easy to say, but mind-boggling in its reality. God forgets our sin. While the ancients entered the divine service to remember their sin and guilt, we enter to remember Christ, who has set all things right.

The law had served its purpose, but it was never more than a shadow of what was to come in Christ. As great and marvelous as the law is, it was to be a shadow that tells us how marvelous the new covenant is. A shadow is an accurate but limited description of the real thing, and that is the law.

One final beautiful picture from this passage: we see the Trinity named and described, a sort of very basic Trinitarian theology. In verse nine we see the description of God the Father‘s will. In verses 10 through 13 we see the work of God the Son. Then in verse 15 we see God the Holy Spirit bearing witness. How beautiful that even the simple can grasp it.

“Lord, thank You that You forgive my sins and make me right. AMEN”