Hebrews' Testimony to the Atonement of Christ

Alpha & Omega Ministries

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00:00

I really appreciate the program.

00:13

I've been a long -time listener, and I feel like everything that you've been talking about recently has kind of been revolving around me.

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I'm an ex—well, I guess I'm an alumni of Calvary Chapel Bible College out in Marietta, and I don't know if you remember your debate with Bob Wilkins, but I actually go to—I went to his church when

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I was down in California. Oh, okay. I've just kind of been seeing all of this kind of develop around me, and it's been pretty amazing to watch some of the things that have been said.

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And being a student, you can't exactly come out and pick a side, if you would. But I just wanted to let you know it's been a total blessing.

00:49

I've been following all the videos on YouTube and just really learning a lot. Oh, great. And— What brought you all the way over to New Mexico, though?

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Are you in church there? Oh, I actually got married about two weeks ago. Oh, well, congratulations.

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And that's where she lives. Thanks, I appreciate it. I did two weddings a weekend before last, so it's about two weeks ago, interestingly enough.

01:09

So I performed two weddings, so it's—I don't know. I'm starting to feel old when

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I realize that these young kids I'm marrying are about the age of my kids. It's like, oh, brother, man.

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So anyway. It's a little scary when time crawls up on you there. Oh, it'll—believe me, it's crawling up on you, too.

01:30

I'm still in denial. I'm still in denial. Yes. But anyway, I just wanted to ask a few questions, or maybe just kind of give you leave to go where you want here.

01:39

But I was—I'm just newly Reformed, especially kind of developed that theology as I was at Bible college, ironically enough, just started looking at what the

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Word said instead of taking preconceived notions that I had grown up with. And unfortunately, limited atonement's not really something that you can mention at that particular school without really becoming a pariah yourself, you know?

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Yes, yes. Kind of like the four -letter word of Bible college. Well, that and James White.

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James White and that, those would be about the same, yeah. Right, right. I mean, I've been in class at times where I was thinking about asking because it kind of came up, but I've actually had teachers throw out the word heresy with conversation like that.

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So I figured it'd be better if I just kind of sat in the back and didn't really ask that question. But I was hoping you could take just limited atonement and talk about it as it's discussed in the

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Book of Hebrews, because I've been hearing you say a lot about how it's clearly taught there, but I've been having trouble really developing that just because—I mean,

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I'm new to the Book of Hebrews, and I've got a whole bunch of preconceived notions and churchyology coming up in the

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Church, so if you could just go at that. Sure, sure. Well, a couple things.

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I think you might be able to find—I know I have given this presentation at some churches. I don't remember if it's on Sermon Audio or whatever, but I know

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I've given a presentation on particular redemption, especially out of the Book of Hebrews. And of course, right now,

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I am preaching through Hebrews, so I'll be preaching right at the end of June and then twice in the middle of July.

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And Lord willing, I'll be in Hebrews for each one of those as well. And I'm now getting into the real meat of that section and in Hebrews 7 especially, which is what we'll be starting in the next sermon.

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So we have now—and for those of you who—this is sort of a general announcement. For those of you who have been upset with our real audio website at prbc .org

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and the fact that there hadn't been anything posted there for a year, I have signed up a Sermon Audio, and so our stuff will now be appearing on Sermon Audio, including the sermons and Bible studies.

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And I'll be uploading a Bible study from John chapter 10 that I did Sunday morning later today.

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So anyway, there will be more there, and I would really direct you to those fuller explications.

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But just to lay it out in six minutes, seven minutes, which I have here at the end of the program, fundamentally, the beauty of the presentation of particular redemption in the book of Hebrews is found in recognizing the beauty of Christ as sacrifice as high priest, the two together.

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He is not only the sacrifice, but he is also the one offering the sacrifice, and hence he is the one who then, having obtained eternal redemption, goes into the holy place, and he offers that, and he becomes the intercessor, the one who intercedes.

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When we see the Old Testament backgrounds, when we see the presentation that is made of the work of the high priest, where on that day of atonement, he not only offers the sacrifice, you have the shedding of the blood, but that's not all.

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He then, it's not a separate work, it is the one work of the high priest. He then has to take that sacrifice to the place of atonement, to the place of covering, and he sprinkles that blood upon that holy place, and only he is able to go in there and do that.

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That is part and parcel of the one work that is his on that day of atonement. And the writer of the

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Hebrews takes that as his primary argumentation that the pressure being placed upon these

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Hebrew Christians to go back and offer sacrifice, to, by offering that sacrifice, deny what

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Jesus did, deny that he was a final sacrifice. He develops that from 7 all the way into the middle of chapter 10.

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So, there's a whole section there, and he develops it along different lines.

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At first, he develops it along the line of the high priest, and because he has an indestructible life, he is able, according to Hebrews chapter 7, to save forever, or to the uttermost, those who draw nigh unto

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God by him, which would be the particular people there in the Old Testament.

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It wasn't the Babylonians, it wasn't the Egyptians. When the high priest went in, he represented only those people who drew nigh to God by faith to worship.

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It was a particular audience that he was propitiating their sins. It wasn't even all the people of Israel.

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It was only those who drew near to worship. And since he enters into that place, and he has an indestructible life, unlike the old high priest who have to keep going in and out, in and out, they can never offer a perfect sacrifice, and they can never intercede perfectly because they are prohibited by their fallen nature and by death.

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He, having conquered death, enters into the very presence of God himself, the

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Father, and since he there provides a perfect sacrifice, then he is able to save to the uttermost, seeing he always lives to make intercession for them.

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That recognition of the relationship of sacrifice and intercession is what makes the beautiful presentation of 7 through 10 so powerful.

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But then he picks up, especially beginning in chapter 9, on this idea of the repetitiveness of the old sacrifices.

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The fact that every person who drew nigh unto God in worship in that Old Testament, Old Covenant context would remember that they had done this before.

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And the high priest, this has blown me away to consider this, the high priest. Think about what it was like to be the high priest. You go in, and let's say you are high priest for 20 years.

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You go in on year 18, and what do you see in the holy place? No one else but you has been in there for the past 18 years.

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Only you are in there. What are you going to see? On the place of atonement, you're going to see the dry, crusty blood of every offering that has been made before this one.

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And you're going to remember having sprinkled that blood. And the whole point of Hebrews is, it's imperfect.

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It becomes, as Hebrews chapter 10 says, an anamnesis, a reminder of sin.

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Sin has not been removed by this. This is a shadow, a foreshadowing of what is to come.

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And so, the fact that it is this repetitive sacrifice points to the fact that there is coming a day when there is going to be a single sacrifice.

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And that's the point of 9 and 10. He enters into that holy place having obtained eternal redemption, not a partial redemption, eternal redemption.

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He enters in, and by that one will, that one covenant, he perfects for all time those for whom that sacrifice is made.

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So we take this high view that most people miss because it's based upon the

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Old Testament. Let's face it, most evangelicals today are canonically challenged. They don't know anything about the Old Testament.

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They don't know anything about the sacrifice. Ah, you know, it's all that blood stuff. Ah, you know, let me go read in the

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Psalms someplace, something like that. And so, they miss the fulfillment language that is found in the book of Hebrews, in the work of Christ as high priest, as intercessor, the one who is both the offerer and the offering.

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They miss all of that stuff. And so, as a result, the text that gives the clearest, longest, didactic explanation of the purpose and intention of the

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Atonement is missed. And in its place, what most people have is an emotional doctrine of the

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Atonement, a traditional doctrine of the Atonement that simply doesn't fit. It's the idea of Jesus making it possible for us to be saved.

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By his Atonement, he makes us savable rather than Hebrews chapter 7 telling us he is able to save to the uttermost.

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And so, there is the contrast that ends up being drawn as I drive people to that text and say, listen to what the argument was.

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This is what the writer thought would be so effective to keep people who are under such tremendous pressure to go back to the old ways, to deny

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Christ. What would they find to be, in those glorious words of chapter 6, a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul that goes into the holy place and is unmovable?

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Jesus, who has gone in as our forerunner, what are they going to find to be that kind of beautiful, proper foundation that will stand up against that pressure?

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The finished, perfect, sacrificial work of Jesus Christ that perfects those for whom it is made.

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That is that sure anchor that is given to them in the book of Hebrews. How's that?

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I appreciate it. Yeah, that's perfect. And you said the sermons that you're going to be giving are going to be on Sermon Audio? Yep. In fact,

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I'm going to be going back and getting all of them from the beginning from Hebrews 1 and uploading them over the next couple of weeks.

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And so, the whole series will be available there. And then as I'm preaching them, they will be posted as well. Most of them are on YouTube right now, on my

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YouTube channel, but we'll be putting them on Sermon Audio as well. Great, I appreciate it. Okay, thanks for hanging on there,