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And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. ²⁰ By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. ²¹ And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, ²² let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

²³ Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (NLT)

In John 10:10a, Jesus says: ”The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”

It is because of the relentless and ruthless prowling activity of this ”thief” that we need to hold on tight to everything God promises us in Jesus. As at the beginning, in the garden, his approach will be to question God’s Word – to try to undermine it and get us to doubt it.

I read an article recently, written by a seasoned pastor for younger leaders. One of his pieces of counsel was: ‘Always act like the Bible is true.’ He said this, I believe, because he knows how regularly the enemy of our souls will try to get us to doubt it is so. We need to remember:

”Every word of God is flawless…” (Prov.30:5).

‘I have decided, I’m gonna live like a believer, turn my back on the deceiver, I’m gonna live what I believe.’ Amy Grant

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 

Biblical theology has practical implications. Look at the word ”since”, (coming twice in verses 19 & 21), and then the logical conclusion drawn out in verse 22.

Let us pray!

In the ‘New Living Translation’ our passage reads:

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. ²⁰ By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. ²¹ And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, ²² let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

We have been cleansed both inwardly and outwardly: washed by Christ’s blood internally, and by the waters of baptism externally

You may recall that in Acts 9:11, a man by the name of Ananias was commanded to go to the newly converted Saul of Tarsus with these words:

‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 

The fact that he was praying was an indicator of his new spiritual state. It is always a mark of conversion. One of the most practical implications of experiencing the Cross is that we pray; indeed, that we have the desire to pray. It is as natural as breathing.

So…let us pray.

 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God…

“Christianity is not a cafeteria line where you say, “I’ll have a little salvation, but no Lordship right now.” Adrian Rogers

I have heard it said that people leave managers rather than companies. Good leaders inspire love, loyalty and respect, whereas bad ones send people in search of the exits.

As believers, we are not a law unto ourselves. We are a people under authority. But we are not an oppressed people; we are rather truly liberated. Because look at who is ”over” us (21): Someone who sacrificed His life for us, and who lives to represent us before the throne of God in heaven. He is our loving Lord.

“When Jesus is truly our Lord, He directs our lives and we gladly obey Him. Indeed, we bring every part of our lives under His lordship – our home and family, our sexuality and marriage, our job or unemployment, our money and possessions, our ambitions and recreations.” John Stott

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body…

 So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body. The Message.

Just to recap: for centuries, only one person was allowed to go behind the curtain into the presence of God: i.e. the high priest on the Day of Atonement. But at the moment Jesus died ”the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” {Matthew 27:51). This was clearly a supernatural event, and the fact that the tear went ”from top to bottom” signifies the work of God. Hebrews now goes one step further in telling us that the most important curtain to be torn was the body of Jesus. Through Him we can now live in the presence of God. What happened in the temple on that most momentous day, is a picture of what was being brought to pass at the Cross.

Hallelujah! What a Saviour!

Let us (metaphorically) remove our shoes. We are on holy ground.

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus…

Verses 11=18 read like this in ‘The Message’:

Every priest goes to work at the altar each day, offers the same old sacrifices year in, year out, and never makes a dent in the sin problem. As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it! Then he sat down right beside God and waited for his enemies to cave in. It was a perfect sacrifice by a perfect person to perfect some very imperfect people. By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done for everyone who takes part in the purifying process. The Holy Spirit confirms this:

This new plan I’m making with Israel
    isn’t going to be written on paper,
    isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;
This time “I’m writing out the plan in them,
    carving it on the lining of their hearts.”

He concludes,

I’ll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins.

Once sins are taken care of for good, there’s no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them.

We now come into a section in which the practical implications of Christ’s ‘once for all’ sacrifice are drawn out. Here is the first in verse 19. Under the Old Covenant, only the high priest could enter ”the Most Holy Place” once a year. As we have seen, He had to first offer sacrifice for his own sins and then for the people. But no one else could enter that sacred place. If they tried, they would die. So let’s not lose sight of how revolutionary the truth of this nineteenth verse is. It’s not even that we can now all visit God once a year. It is rather that we have constant access to God’s presence. Furthermore, we can draw near to Him with ”confidence”.

‘The Message’ puts it like this:

So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. 

PRAYER: Lord God, I thank you that Jesus died for me. Help me to never take for granted the gracious privilege you have given that I can approach you, walk with you, have intimacy with you through Jesus’ precious blood.

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

⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;
⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
    I have come to do your will, my God.’”

⁸ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. ¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

‘Jesus was the temple to end all temples, the priest to end all priests, and the sacrifice to end all sacrifices.’ Timothy Keller.

As we saw yesterday, the Old Testament sacrifices had to be offered (see verse 8b), but they were imperfect. They could only be a temporary measure, preparatory to the coming of Christ Himself.

Their imperfection is seen in their repetition. Listen to the language used regarding these offerings: ”Day after day…again and again…” (Note also the word ”endlessly” in verse 1, and the expression ”year after year”).

The Old Testament priest stood to perform his duties. His work was never completed (11). Contrast this with Jesus who offered the ”one” sacrifice of Himself ”once for all” (10, 12, 14) and ”sat down”. In a very real sense, His Work here was done, and we will take a little time tomorrow to consider the wonderful implications of verse 14.

 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. ² Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. ³ But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. ⁴ It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Verse 4 underlines the imperfection of the Old Testament sacrificial system. Here is the author of Hebrews’ verdict on it:

”It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins”

Those sacrifices were required. They had to be offered. They were prescribed. But they were ”only a shadow of the good things that are coming…” Jesus is the substance however. As we are going to see as we work through this chapter, Jesus can and does bring in perfection for those who put their trust in Him.

 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. ²⁵ Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, ²⁸ so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

This paragraph, at the culmination of chapter 9, speaks of two appearings of Christ:

• He appeared the first time to make salvation possible;
• He will appear a second time to complete it.

With regard to the former, Hebrews has been repeating and reinforcing the message that the Old Covenant sacrificial system was only a temporary measure, preparing for the coming of Christ who has now offered Himself as the final, perfect sacrifice. He came the first time to bring in the era of salvation. He will come a second time to put the finishing touches to it. However much we may be enjoying salvation today, we can be sure there’s much more ahead:

 ‘…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.‘ (Philippians 1:6).

Francis Schaeffer spelled out something of what the finished work of Christ means in practical terms:

“When my conscience under the Holy Spirit makes me aware of a specific sin I should at once call that sin sin and bring it consciously under the blood of Christ. Now it is covered and it is not honoring to the finished work of Jesus Christ to worry about it, as far as my relationship to God is concerned. Indeed, to worry about it is to do spite to the infinite value of the death of the Son of God. My fellowship with God is restored.” Francis Schaeffer.