Rev. & Mrs. Wayne McCullough

Church of God (Holiness)

Proclaiming the Cross of Christ, Anchored in God's Word

A Better Sacrifice - Hebrews 10:4-18

By David Woods

A wife once did something that hurt her husband deeply. She confessed it to him and their marriage survived. Some year later, the wife was asked by someone else if her husband had forgiven her.

She said, “Yes, I know he forgives me because he tells me so every day.”

Think about that for a moment. If the husband truly forgave his wife, why did he bring up the issue every day?

A man who was telling his friend about an argument he'd had with his wife commented, "Oh, how I hate it, every time we have an argument; she gets historical."

The friend replied, "You mean hysterical."

"No," he insisted. "I mean historical. Every time we argue she drags up everything from the past and holds it against me!"

Big Idea:Christ’s perfect sacrifice delivers us from all sin.

Discussion: Why was the Old Testament system unable to deliver the people from sin? (Note: The following list may not be exhaustive.)

• The Law was simply a shadow of Christ.
• The continuing practice of offering sacrifices indicated that guilt for sins remained.
• The continuing practice of offering sacrifices indicated a powerlessness to avoid continued sinning.

Discussion: Why was not God pleased with animal sacrifices?

(Note: God does not take pleasure in the killing of animals. More importantly, while animal sacrifices indicated the people’s consecration to God, they were unable to remove the people’s guilt of sin. Yet Old Testament believers were saved, not by but through the use of these ineffective sacrifices, as they looked forward in faith to the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ.)

Discussion: What is the significance of the position of the priest (v. 11) and the position of Christ (v. 12)?

(The priest stood because his work of atonement for the people was not complete; Christ sat down because His work of atonement was finished - a once-for-all sacrifice.)

Note the verb “hath perfected” in verse fourteen. Hotle writes, “The word perfected is a perfect indicative. The perfect tense looks at an action as having been completed in the past but that leaves continuing results or effect.”

Hotle writes that the verb “are sanctified” in verse fourteen is a present passive participle. Therefore, it should actually be translated “are being sanctified”. He writes, “In essence, the author is saying, ‘Christ has sanctified those who are being sanctified,’ or ‘He has made perfect those whom he is perfecting.’”

The person who accepts Christ as his/her Lord and Saviour is said to be “initially sanctified.” This person is made holy in God’s sight even those this person’s nature is still corrupted by carnality. While the new birth is powerful and effective for regeneration, there is a greater work God wishes to do in the heart of this believer. This second work of grace in which there is the eradication of carnality from one’s nature and the infilling of the Holy Spirit sanctifies one wholly or entirely (1 Thess. 5:23). While experiencing both works of grace enables one to realize that “state of perfection” Christ’s blood purchased on the Cross, God’s desire for His people is not that we merely have two wonderful experiences of His saving, sanctifying grace. Rather, God desires that we maintain our holiness of heart and life. Further, He desires that we continue grow in holiness. We cannot grow into either the experience of salvation or entire sanctification. However, there is a growth in holiness that is to begin immediately after one’s salvation experience and that is to continue after one’s experience of entire sanctification.

Discussion: What is the significance of the Christian being in a state of perfection?

(We can be delivered from all sin - committed and inbred sin. We can live in victory over sin.)

Discussion: What is the implication of the Christian being continually sanctified?

(It shows our need for growth in holiness. Christ is still working on us to make us who He wants us to be.)

Discussion: How does “I will put my laws into their hearts….” (v. 16) relate the deliverance from sin possible in Christ?

(For the Christian, obedience to the Law is not something we have to force ourselves to do; rather, Christ puts the want-to in our hearts.)

Discussion: What is the deliverance from sin promised in verses seventeen through eighteen?

(Complete and final.)

A nun once confessed to her bishop that Christ had revealed himself to her in person. The bishop was surprised, but he knew this nun and the deep walk she had with the Lord. So he said to her, "Look, the next time he reveals himself to you in person, ask him about the sins of the archbishop, because I'd like to know some of the bad things that he's been doing."

Because he was her confessor, the nun said that she would act in obedience and do exactly that. A number of weeks later she came back. The bishop said, "Well, did he reveal himself to you?"

She said, "Yes."

The bishop said, "What did he say?"

The nun replied, "He said, 'I don't remember.' " -- Steve Brown, "Forgiven and Forgotten," Preaching Today, Tape No. 139.

Verses seventeen through eighteen say, “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no offering for sin.” (KJV)