Hebrews 10:1-18

In this closing part of the theological discussion the writer dwells further on the finality of Christ's one sacrifice, and shows how it has brought to an end the annually repeated offerings under the old covenant.

Hebrews 10:1. The OT sacrifices cannot effect their purpose of removing sins. By its nature the Law could only reflect the higher realities, and did not present them in their actual substance; thus the priests who carry out the behests of the Law do not, by means of the annual sacrifices, bring the worshipping people into a real and enduring fellowship with God. Continually (Hebrews 10:1) is better taken with make perfect. The writer wishes to show that the annual offering of the sacrifice implies its merely temporary value. A lasting relation to God cannot be effected by a sacrifice that needs to be constantly repeated. If the worshippers were conscious that their sins had been removed by the Levitical sacrifice, what need would there be for its repetition (Hebrews 10:2)? But, instead of giving this sense of deliverance from sin, it only serves to remind the people that they have sinned during the year past as they did before (Hebrews 10:3). Indeed the point does not require to be argued: any man can feel for himself that the blood of mere animals cannot take away sin (Hebrews 10:4).

Hebrews 10:5. Proof is adduced from Scripture that Christ's sacrifice alone is adequate to fulfil God's will, and has put an end to the old ineffectual sacrifices of the Law. A psalm (Psalms 40:6 *) is quoted which was regarded by the Church as Messianic, and in which Christ Himself was supposed to be speaking. As usual the writer quotes from the LXX, which reads a body thou didst prepare for me, instead of mine ears thou hast opened, as in the Hebrew. In this passage, therefore, Christ appears as declaring, before His entrance into the world, that the surrender of His body, not ritual sacrifice, was required by God as the condition of forgiveness. He was to come in accordance with prophecy (in the roll of the book it is written of me) to give fulfilment to that will of God. Thus the passage may be held to teach (a) what God does not desire, viz. the sacrifices demanded by the Law; (b) what He does desire. Christ has taken away the first i.e. He has abolished the sacrifices to which God attaches no value in order to give effect to the genuine will of God (Hebrews 10:8 f.). This will He accomplished by the offering of His body; and we have been sanctified i.e. have been brought into the true condition for making our approach to God by that offering which He made once for all.

Hebrews 10:11. With these words the thought returns to the subject of the finality of Christ's sacrifice; and this is illustrated by a striking contrast. The priests of the Law perform their ministry standing, for they remain in the sanctuary only for the moment; and in this posture they offer the same stated sacrifices year by year, with no enduring result (Hebrews 10:11). Christ, when He had offered His one supreme sacrifice, sat down at God's right hand. His work was all completed, and henceforth He is able to rest until in due time comes the great consummation (Hebrews 10:12 ff.).

Hebrews 10:15. After his manner the writer concludes his argument for the finality of the sacrifice by an appeal to God's words in Scripture. In the passage concerning the new covenant (quoted in Hebrews 8:8) the chief promise was that when God had brought men into the new relation to Himself all sins would be forgiven. But the very object of sacrifice was to make possible the forgiveness of sins. If, then, all sins are now forgiven by the establishment of the new covenant, there is no place left for a second sacrifice.

The theological discussion of the high priesthood of Christ has now come to an end. In order to understand the argument we must bear in mind that in the ritual of the Day of Atonement the sacrifice and the entrance into the sanctuary were two inseparable parts of one act. After offering sacrifice in expiation of the sins of the people, the High Priest bore the blood into the holy of holies to present it before God. The sacrifice itself was, in a sense, only the necessary preliminary to this priestly intercession. So in Hebrews the death of Christ is inseparably connected with His entrance into the heavenly sanctuary. He made the sacrifice of Himself on behalf of His people that He might enter into God's presence with His offering, and so bring them into the true relation to God. Inasmuch as He abides in the heavenly sanctuary this relation is one that can never henceforth be broken. It is difficult to say how far the writer conceives of the sanctuary as an actual place. The probability is that, in accordance with Jewish ideas, he believed in the existence of a temple or tabernacle in heaven, the eternal counterpart of God's house on earth. But in any case his thought can easily be detached from the framework of ancient ritual conceptions in which it is set. He seeks to impress upon us that Christ has entered into an everlasting fellowship with God, and that we also may enjoy that fellowship through Him.

Having completed his theological argument the writer proceeds to enforce the practical consequences which flow from it, and which have been in his mind throughout. In the ensuing section (Hebrews 10:19 to Hebrews 12:29) he exhorts his readers to avail themselves of that access to God which Christ has wrought for them, and to resist all temptations to fall away.