14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
    after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
    and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts
    I will remember no more.”

18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Verse 14 beautifully and economically expresses the heart of our salvation experience.

First of all, we are saved because of the Cross. We are now in the era of the New Covenant, inaugurated by Jesus. He offered the one sacrifice of Himself, and it is enough; He is enough. There is no more need for that repetitive cycle of animal sacrifices dominaing the old era.

But there is the now and not yet involved in this salvation: the positional and the practical. When we come to Jesus by faith we are justified. We are ”made perfect forever”. This is the positional aspect. Now, in God’s sight, we are perfect: clothed in the perfection of His Son. He completely forgives our sins. It isn’t simply that He forgets them. Rather, He refuses to remember them.

But not only are we ”made perfect forever” when we come to trust in Christ; we also enter into a process in which we are ”being made holy”. We are justified now. We are being sanctified now. But we are not yet everything we are going to be at journey’s end.

Justification makes us perfect positionally; sanctification enables us to become who we are practically. We are being made holy.

So I can say, ‘I’m not what I want to be; and I’m not what I’m going to be; but, praise God, I’m not what I was.’

“The growth of trees and plants takes place so slowly that it is not easily seen. Daily we notice little change. But, in course of time, we see that a great change has taken place. So it is with grace. Sanctification is a progressive, lifelong work (Prov 4:18). It is an amazing work of God’s grace and it is a work to be prayed for (Rom 8:27).” John Owen