19 08 2021
Let us begin by reading Hebrews 10. 11-18:
11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
16 “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,
AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”
He then says,
17 “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:11-18 NASB (Olive Tree Bible Software)
Introduction
We need to remember the context of Hebrews. When talking about the priesthood and sacrifice it is in context of the Tabernacle and the Old Testament. John Calvin starts like this too. Later on, he talks about the Papacy and how the Mass breaks the rule of ‘once for all’ sacrifice of Christ. This text has got nothing to do with the Papists. It has everything to do with what our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has done for us. I’m not interested in polemics, but I am interested in what God has to say to us today in the 21st century.
Verses 11-14
Looking at verses 11 -14 again:
“11 Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, 13 waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.”
Verses 11-12
These sacrifices for the people of God were done on a daily basis by the ministering priests. The main point here is that these offerings could never take away sins. This is contrasted with what Jesus has done for us. His ‘sacrifice’ happened once! After the sacrifice of Jesus, the act was completed for ever.
Verse 13
The beginning of Psalm 110 verse 1 starts with the Divine Trinitarian speech; ‘The Lord says to my Lord’ is omitted here. Apollos already covered this ground earlier in the book of Hebrews. Sitting at the right hand of God the Father is a privileged position. Only the Son can sit here because it is his rightful place. All the enemies of Christ will be made subject to Christ.
Verse 14
“14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” NASB
14 ‘Perfected’ used about Christ is to be seen in a negative light as far as the Old Testament law is concerned. The work of Christ brings an end in history for any need of sacrifice after Christ. The job has been done! Calvin would translate this verse a little differently using dynamic equivalence. In verse fourteen where it says ‘perfected’,(perfect, indicative active), he prefers ‘consecrated’ because in the same verse ‘sanctified’ is used. When something is sanctified, it is no longer for common use but only for God’s use.
Verse 15
“15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, NASB.”
The third Person of the Trinity is very important to Apollos and actually for many parts of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit reveals God’s own heart to us, and we need to be more attentive to the prophetic voice of the Holy Spirit who as well as being our Comforter is also our teacher.
Verses 16-18
15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
16 “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM
AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD:
I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART,
AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”
He then says,
17 “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS
I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Hebrews 10:11-18 NASB (Olive Tree Bible Software)
Once the Writer has proven his case, he is upbeat by quoting Jer. 31. 33-34. At this point he is moving away from looking at the works of Christ and looking at the effects of Christ’s work. Namely the benefits that the Jewish Christians have coming from the work of Christ. Hence the benefits for all Christians for all time.
We often here these verse quoted in Church or by believers for their encouragement they give. Actually, when I think about Jesus’ teachings these are not mediocre prophetic words. Firstly, it is the Holy Spirit Who spoke these words to us. This means that these words should be taken very seriously indeed.
A note on The Holy Spirit the third person of the Trinity.
In chapter one we saw the relationship of the Father and the Son, and it is true that the main thrust of the letter is about the Son. The writer however at times touches on the person and work of the Holy Spirit as witness to the Son.
There are those that would only understand the Holy Spirit in impersonal terms. We need to be careful of not understanding the Holy
Spirit as only a power, although we can see the attribute of power working through Him. You can also see the Holy Spirit speaking in chapters 2,4 / 3,7 / 6,4 / 9,8 / 9,14 /10,15 /10,29 As well as these verses closer scrutiny of the prophecies may show that there are also other verses in which the Holy Spirit is speaking as ‘He’.
Chapter 4,3 Just as He has said. 8,8 is another case in point He says… in light of 9,8.
2,4 In this verse we hear about ‘gifts of the Holy Spirit according to his own will’
3,7 Here the Holy Spirit is giving a prophetic speech.
6,4 In verses 4 and 5 we see the disciples spoken of as partakers of the Holy Spirit (third person of the Trinity) and have tasted the word of God (reference to the Father The second person of the trinity).
9,8 The Holy Spirit is giving ‘signs’ in the old covenant.
9,14 This verse refers to all three persons of the Trinity) Here the work of Christ is met through the agency of the Holy Spirit as a gift to the Father.
10,15 Here the Holy Spirit is a witness.
10,29 Here it says that the Holy Spirit can be insulted. i.e., We can only speak of a person being insulted not a power.
The Holy Spirit in relation to the Father and the Son. I would argue that the Writer of Hebrews has an implicit theology of the Holy Trinity, and it becomes explicit in 9,14
From the above argument I have proven that the Holy Spirit needs to be understood in personal terms, just as he is referred in other parts of scripture, such as the speech of Jesus in John 14,16-31. In reality however when Looking at John 14 you can see the workings of the complete Trinity if you also take into account verses 7-15.
Reflection
About our salvific situation before a Holy God
I want to begin at verses 16-17. God says that he will give us a new heart. This is very serious indeed. The standards that God has for us is higher than that of the Pharisees and Sadducees. These people my friends kept the law perfectly, but I have to explain that the standard Jesus sets is even higher than theirs. If they kept the law perfectly you might ask, then how can I stand of any chance of getting into heaven?
That is the main point; in your own strength it is impossible to get to heaven. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus gave us the key when he said, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’. I know that I am going on a tangent but before returning to Hebrews we need to think about our Lords sayings in Matthew 5,6, and 7 in his Sermon on the Mount. If you try to fulfil the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount my friends, you will fall flat on your face. For me these have been written to show how helpless we are before a Holy God. One needs to come to a place in your heart and confess that you are destitute and in complete need of God’s Help. ‘Poor in Spirit’ is no accidental formula. It is intended to disarm us. The Pharisees kept the law perfectly (they thought), but they failed to comply with what ‘has not been written’ as Bavinck would explain to us. Later on, in the book of Acts many priests did in fact follow the way of Christ.
Returning to verses 17-18 then, the Holy Spirit needs to change our heart. Unless we come to a place of repentance (‘poor in spirit’) we would not be able to have a new heart. This is God’s process.
The work Jesus has done for us.
We have now seen that Jesus is our perfect high Priest and our king sitting at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. He is also the one who died for us so that we can have eternal life. As Paul says, “if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” Romans 10.9-10 NASB
Indeed this is our confession that Jesus has been raised from the dead and because of this we will one day be also raised from the dead.
Weaver1has's Blog 
August 21, 2021 at 5:43 pm |
It was because of the Mass and other things that I left the Catholic Church.
August 21, 2021 at 9:28 pm |
The context of Hebrews is in terms of the Tabernacle not the Roman Catholic church and the Mass. We need to be sympathetic to people of whatever background. At the time of the Reformation and the Counter Reformation there were a lot of propaganda. What did Apollos the writer of Hebrews explain to those early Jewish Christians? Let us therefore do exegesis and not eisegesis. Both Roman Catholics and Protestants would agree with the context that Christ died once at Calvary the Lamb of God who takes away our sins.