Christ's Perfect Sacrifice Part 1

Christ's Perfect Sacrifice in Hebrews 10

This morning I would like to somewhat revisit a passage that we have looked at briefly before. We are going to be going back to the book of Hebrews, chapter 10. It was almost two years ago that we did a series during the summer.

If you are new to our fellowship, we don't get rid of Pastor Fry very often. When I travel, we get rid of me all the time. But when I travel, I discover that if Pastor Fry wanted to be gone more than he is, he certainly could be.

Many of the churches that I minister in express interest in having him come and preach. The fact of the matter is, Pastor Fry likes to be here. This is where he likes to be. It is only about twice a year, normally in July or August, that I get an opportunity to do more than one sermon in a row.

Two years ago, during the summer, we did a series where we looked at the book of Hebrews and we talked about its background, its context, and its overall argument. During that series, we would look at each chapter.

We started chapter 6 and worked through chapter 10. We summarized the chapter and the basic argument of this chapter. Then we used that as a foundation upon which to then have two sermons, two discussions on the subject of baptism and specifically why we do not embrace pado-baptism and the concept of the covenant that is a part of that in regards to the covenant signs and things like that.

In so doing, we summarized Hebrews chapter 10 and really only summarized a portion of it. What I would like to do this morning is look at approximately the first 18 verses, and even that is a tall order in the amount of time that we have.

And then this evening, we're going to look at some very controversial verses. When we look at 19 through 31, there are obviously three verses especially, verses 26, 27, and 29 there that are extremely controversial.

You will see them cited over and over and over again in various literature. It should be interesting this evening if the Lord is able to bring you back for the services this evening. But this morning, let me begin by reading Hebrews chapter 10, verses 1 through 18.

I'll be reading from the New American Standard this morning. For the law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices year by year which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near.

Otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year, for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Therefore, when he comes into the world, he says, Sacrifice an offering thou hast not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have taken no pleasure.

Then I said, Behold, I have come, in the roll of the book it is written of me, to do your will, O God. After saying above, Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law.

Then he said, Behold, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

And every high priest stands daily ministering and offering, time after time, the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.

For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us. For after saying, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws upon their heart and upon their mind, I will write them.

He then says, And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin. Now, once again, any text can become a pretext for anything if we do not read it within its context.

And the book of Hebrews is a mystery to many people for one reason. The book of Hebrews, to understand it as it was written, requires a deep familiarity with the context and content of the Old Testament.

And let's face it, we live in a day in which evangelicalism is, in many ways, canonically challenged. That is, the Old Testament is somewhat of a closed book where many is considered to basically be an irrelevant section of the Scripture there so that we can have nice stories to tell our kids about David and Goliath and things like that.

But as far as it having any meaningful application to us today, for many, the Old Testament really does not rate up there with John or Romans or Galatians or something along those lines. So as a result, the book of Hebrews has suffered because to understand the book of Hebrews is to understand it in the light of its purpose.

And what was its purpose? Well, I think it is very, very important to understand this first and foremost. The epistle to the Hebrews is an apologetic argumentation. What's apologetics? It's a defense of the faith.

It's setting forth a defensive argument for a particular position. This book is an apologetic argumentation for the supremacy of the fulfillment of God's promises in Christ. It is addressed to Hebrew believers gathered in the context of the Church.

It is, in essence, a sermon delivered to the Church, the gathered body of believers. Since it is addressed to the gathered Church, it contains both promises and warnings. For those who stand before God's people must announce both, as we have not been given the ability to see into the hearts of men so as to be able to identify who has true saving faith and who does not.

The promises will ring true in the hearts where they are joined with the divine work of the Holy Spirit in saving faith. The warnings are used by God, and listen to this, both in the exhortation of the saved as well as the judgment of the hypocrite.

The central thesis of the argument is easily discerned. Since Christ is the fulfillment of the promises of God in the Old Testament, there is nothing to go back to. Those who are being pressured by family, by loved ones, by their culture, by their friends, to return to the temple, return to the synagogue, those individuals are warned through numerous forms of argumentation that there is no going back.

Everything in the old way is shown to have been done away with, fulfilled in Christ. There are no more priests, there are no more sacrifices, there is no means of purification outside of the finished once for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Now as we look at all of Hebrews, we see that each section of the epistle builds upon the theme in various ways. Beginning in chapter 7, the writer moves into the demonstration of the superiority of Christ's work as a high priest.

His work as a high priest, including his ability to intercede, the nature of his sacrifice, his never-ending life, etc., etc. When we keep in mind the big picture, we will always ask, how does this passage move forward the author's argument?

How is the passage that I'm studying, how would that apply in the context of the early church, where you have Hebrew Christians, and the person presenting this, the apostolic writer presenting this extended sermon to the church, is seeking to encourage those individuals to remain in the faith?

How would this particular passage, in our passage here in Hebrews chapter 10, how would it push forward that kind of argumentation? And if we interpret any passage in such a way that it does not assist the argument, that it does not ring true in the context of Hebrews, then we know we have lost our way.

Hebrews chapter 10 speaks of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, but it does so within a context that, again, comes directly from the Old Testament. And when you have a translation of the Bible, such as the New American Standard, that has the citations from the Old Testament in all caps, it doesn't look real pretty, but you can certainly see it.

And as you just simply scan your eyes around the text, you'll see how often these appear. And in other translations, sometimes it's put in some other form that will allow you to recognize that this is a quotation from the Old Testament.

And you'll see it's all through this book. So it's very difficult to understand a book that's drawing from the Old Testament if we don't have that context in our mind, if we don't understand the relationship that is there.

Well, time passes us by quickly, so we look to the text itself. The first four verses, verses 1 through 4, present to us an argument based upon the repetitiousness of the Old Sacrifices. And again, we look back at the Old Testament.

You had the daily sacrifices that were offered. So you had that kind of ongoing sacrifice that would take place during the normal functioning of the temple. But you also had the repetitious annual sacrifices.

We just went through a period of time where the Jewish holidays coincided with our holidays. And so you had, again, this reminder of what the nature of the Old Covenant was. And you had the great sacrifice offered on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

And that was done repetitiously on an annual basis. And then in a lesser way, you had the daily sacrifices that were going on within the temple precincts. And so what is the writer arguing? Well, verse 1, Here's sort of a thesis statement being laid out by the apostolic writer.

And he's saying, look, God designed this system. This system contains shadows of the reality that has come in Christ. But we need to understand what their purpose was. And those who are trying to bring you back into that kind of worship don't understand what the true purpose of these sacrifices really is.

You see, since it doesn't have the very form of things, since it was just pictures, in an imperfect fashion, pictures of what Christ would do, then the writer says, What does it mean to be made perfect?

Well, evidently, it's something rather important. It's going to come up a couple of times in this passage. And it's talking about completion. Bring to completion, that is, accomplish what a sacrifice is supposed to accomplish, the removal of sin and its guilt.

And his argument is very simple. He says, Otherwise, verse 2, His argument is simple. Since we have to do it over and over again, and it's built into the system, that's the way God designed it. He said, Here are the daily sacrifices.

Here are the annual sacrifices. This was a part of the system, and it was meant to communicate something. He said, Then once the sacrifice was offered, wouldn't that be it? Wouldn't that bring an end to the need for the sacrifices?

If they had been cleansed, having once been cleansed, If the sacrifice is able to accomplish the remission of sins in and of itself, then there is a cleansing that takes place. Once you've been cleansed, then that sin is taken care of.

It has been borne away. It has been taken away. That's the argument. But he says, Because in verse 3 he says, Year by year. A reminder, and you may recall, I emphasize this term. That's the very same term in the Greek language that is used by Paul.

Last Sunday evening, we celebrated the Lord's Supper. And as it is our habit, and I think it's a very good one, we have some instruction beforehand. And the pastor read to us from 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

And there Paul talks about the establishment of the Lord's Supper. He gives us directions. And we know that our Lord said in the institution of that supper,. And it's the very same term that is used by the Lord Jesus there, remembrance of me, that is used by the writer of the Hebrews here.

In those sacrifices there is a reminder, a remembrance of sins year by year. And so we have emphasized before, but we cannot emphasize it too much. That under the old covenant there was a remembrance, but it was of what?

Sins. A reminder of sins year by year. Under the new covenant, we also have a remembrance, but it is not a remembrance of sins. It's a remembrance of a savior who bore our sins one time in his one sacrifice, which is exactly the point that the writer here is about to establish.

And so when you have repetitive sacrifices, when you have to keep doing it over and over and over again, by nature the repetition proves the imperfection of the sacrifice. So if you're thinking with me, what then must be the character of a perfect sacrifice?

It must take place once. One time, if it is to be a perfect sacrifice. And that, of course, is going to be the whole argument. Verse 4. For it is impossible. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

It was never God's intention to say that man's life can be redeemed merely by the shedding of the blood of one of these animals, these beasts. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

And it was never God's intention to communicate that concept in the first place. Now, verses 5 through 9, then, become an argument that is utilized by the apostle to prove his point. Remember, sometimes we start getting so focused upon the details, we lose the context.

We've got to step back. People being pressured, come back to the temple. Come back to the sacrifices. Buy yourself a lamb. Buy yourself a bull. You've gotten involved with this cult. And believe me, that's the very terminology they use.

That's the very terminology they use. You've gotten involved with this cult, this Christianity thing, this stuff about Jesus. Come back. Give it up. Just offer the sacrifice. And the writer is saying, don't you see?

You offer that sacrifice, you're being reminded of your sins. And that sacrifice can never take away your sins. And now he's going to establish the basis upon which he says that from the text of Scripture.

He says you can't go back. That system doesn't give you anything. It's all taken care of. And here's a biblical example of why. So verses 5 through 9, and this is where having a reference Bible that will give you some background information as to what you're reading.

This is a quotation from the 40th Psalm, verses 6 through 8, at least in our English versions, that's what it is. And the argument's fairly simple. The writer sees in this passage the same contrast that he has just drawn in the first four verses.

He sees the Scripture passage as giving the very same contrast because you notice that it says, sacrifice and offering you have not desired. There's the sacrifices, there's the offerings, offered according to law, you've not desired those things, but a body you have prepared for me.

And what is the nature of the one sacrifice of Christ? Notice verse 10, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. There he's going to focus it upon each one of these terms, the body, a body you have prepared for me.

You've taken no pleasure in the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices to sin. Then I said, behold, I have come to do your will. He uses that term, to do your will. And so he sees this contrast between the offerings that are offered over and over again and then this prophetic word, a body you've prepared for me, I have come to do your will.

And so he says in verse 8, after saying above, sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices to sin you have not desired, nor have you taken pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law.

So what he's saying is, that's the old system. That's the old that you're being drawn back to. That's over there. Then he said, verse 9, behold, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first in order to establish the second.

And so what he's saying is, even the Old Testament scriptures, even the scriptures that they would agree are the word of God, those ones that are drawing you back would agree. Yes, this is the word of God.

In the word of God, you have the taking away of the one so as to establish the other. To do his will is not to be offering the sacrifices of bulls and goats and so on and so forth. Instead, a body you have prepared for me.

And so this will to do your will, it is established, the first is taken away. That then becomes the immediate context of verses 10 through 14, which are probably, in my opinion, some of the most important verses regarding the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ in all of scripture.

It is that context then in verse 10. By this will, what will are we talking about? The one in verse 9. I have come to do your will. You have prepared a body for me. This is a Messianic passage. That will for the Father, the will of the Father for the Son, by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Now we need to dig into those words because each one of them is extremely significant. By this will, we have been sanctified. Now what does that mean? And here's where we need to be careful. What do I mean by we?

Us here at the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church. What do I mean? I'd imagine most of the guys here, I know you folks, a bunch of you guys, you've got a little library at home. And the ladies are going, yeah, I know.

He just buys books all the time. He doesn't buy nice books, but he buys books. You've got a library at home. Some of you ladies have got a library, too. And we have systematic theologies. We have systematic theologies back there in the book room.

I mean, that selection of books back there in the book room is not what you're going to find at your local Christian bookstore. We're a little bit off the bubble as far as what's really popular in most Christian bookstores.

Let's face it. We are a peculiar people, and we're not using the term peculiar there in the normal way. We have systematic theologies. And when we talk about sanctification, most of us can go, oh, well, sanctification, yes, to be distinguished from justification, of course.

And experientially, sanctification is that process whereby we mortify the deeds of the flesh, the lusts of the flesh, and we are conformed to the image of Christ and made more like him. And, of course, it comes in that term to make holy, to set apart.

And there's also positional sanctification, which takes place in the sense that we have been set aside in Christ. But for most of us, when we hear sanctification, we hear it in Paul's use when he writes to the Thessalonians, and he says, this is God's will for you, your sanctification, that you learn how to live in such a way as to put to death the deeds of the flesh, so on and so forth.

But you see, again, this is where we need to allow the text to speak in its own context before we start applying terms of systematic theology. What do I mean? Well, remember, this is the writer to the Hebrews.

And what does it mean to be made holy, to be sanctified, to be set apart to God's use in that context? It obviously is not the idea of progressive sanctification. In fact, the very form that is used here in the text, we have been sanctified, could have been expressed more simply if the author just simply wanted to make a reference to a past event.

But he uses a very particular construction in the Greek language that adds emphasis to the fact that this is a perfected action. It is a completed action. It is an action that has taken place in the past.

It has abiding results of the present, but the emphasis is upon the perfection or completion of the action. And so the writer is saying that in contrast to those old ineffectual sacrifices, which were but a picture, by this will of the Father for the Son, we have been set apart.

We have been made holy. And it's interesting. When we consider the book of Hebrews, that being sanctified and set apart is not mentioned back there in Hebrews 6. Remember Hebrews 6, verses 1 -5, where the writer talks about those who draw back.

He talks about those who have once been enlightened. They've tasted the heavenly gift. But if they fall away, there's no way to bring them back to repentance. You may recall if you were here a couple of years ago, we talked about that.

We talked about the danger of apostasy, not of those who are in Christ, but those in the context of the congregation, that there are those who are not truly in Christ, who are hearing what is being said even this day.

But one of the things that's not said about them is that they have been sanctified. They have been made holy. Another thing interesting to note is while the writer of the Hebrews uses the term righteous to describe people a number of times, the verb to justify never appears in the book of Hebrews.

So why? What's relevant to that? Well, when we talk about Paul's preaching in Romans or in Galatians, what does he emphasize? Justification, how a man is made right before God, and how this is by faith alone, and how Jew and Gentile are made right before God in the exact same way.

Well, where is that in Hebrews? The verb doesn't appear. Why might that be, and what's the significance? Well, I'd like to suggest to you that the significance is found in the fact that for the writer of the Hebrews, communicating to the audience that he desires to communicate to, to express that fullness of salvation for which we use the term justified, to be made righteous by the imputed righteousness of Christ.

For the writer of Hebrews, he uses sanctified. You mean they're making the same thing like Roman Catholics say? No, no. Allow the writer to define his words in his own context. To be made holy, to be set apart for a Hebrew Christian, would speak of the very center of salvation itself, the very heart of the matter.

That's why he can say, by this will we have been sanctified. Not we hope someday to be. It's been made a possibility. We have been made holy through, by means of, the offering, and that's the same term that's used up in the citation from Psalm 40, the offering of the body, same term used up in the citation from Psalm 40 again, the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

It's an offering. Jesus didn't just stumble into this. It was God's intention that the cross take place. The offering of the body, the physical body, Jesus Christ truly had to be the God-man for a sacrifice to take place, the body of Jesus Christ, and then this is an emphasized form of the term once for all.

That's a temporal adverb. It's speaking of time. It doesn't mean once substitutionarily for all people. It means once for all, never to be repeated. Now we see why he emphasizes that last word, because you see the contrast here is between the repetitious daily sacrifices that he's mentioned up above and he's about to repeat again, of the old covenant over against the once for all, one time, never to be repeated offering of the body of Jesus Christ to Calvary.

But please note before we move on, his death accomplished something. For so many, it is merely a theoretical thing. It just makes a possibility come true. It becomes just a hypothetical. Let's see, the writer of the Hebrews could say, we have been sanctified.

We have been made holy, set apart by what Christ has done, not by what we allow Christ to do. I would suggest to you that those are two very different perspectives. Verse 11, and every priest stands daily.

Note the word stands. Stands daily, ministering and offering time after time, the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. Now you want to notice something about a couple things that are said there.

He stands. The priest never sits. He's always standing. He stands daily, repetitively, over and over again, offering present tense, ongoing action, offering the same sacrifices over and over again. The language is very clearly emphasizing this ongoing repetitive nature of these same sacrifices prescribed by the law.

And so what does he say? Which can never take away sins. And folks, that's what these people were being drawn back to. Come back to the priest, that priest who stands daily, over and over again. And don't you see he has nothing to give you?

The very fact that he stands, he's never finished. He never sits down because his work is completed. He's got to get in there the next day and the next day and the next day. Doesn't that tell you there's nothing to go back to?

Those sacrifices can never take away sins. But he, contrast, you have every priest, but he, not but they as in numerous priests, but he, the one priest of the new covenant, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time.

And the contrast here, in verse 11, the writer uses a tense that talks about ongoing action, over and over again. He even uses another phrase to make sure we understand. It's over and over and over and over, but here he uses a completely different tense that says, one time, he, having offered, it's done with, it's over with, it's not something we're looking forward to, he has offered, the death of Christ took place in time.

It took place a long time ago. Now we struggle with that simply because we experience the effects of that in our lives, but the fact of the matter is, the death of Christ took place in history. It was a reality.

He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, what did he do? Sat down at the right hand of God. Psalm 110, the premier messianic psalm. He sat down. Priests don't sit down in the old covenant because their work is never done.

Christ offers his work and he sits down. So what about all the rest of us? What about those of us who had come in generations down the road? Does he have to get back up? Does he have to keep doing something?

What about the rest of us? That's what's so incredible about this passage. Because to see that we have been sanctified of verse 10 applies to every single person who in the providence and sovereignty of God is united to Christ today.

See, here's where the union of the elect of God with their Savior becomes so important. That's why Paul can say, I have been crucified with Christ. We must be united to him. And in that union, his death becomes our death.

His resurrection, our resurrection. He does not have to stand up for each new generation and repeat it over and over and over again. He has sat down and we have a picture of him. We have a picture of him in Revelation chapter 5.

Remember the picture of Christ in Revelation chapter 5? John looks into heaven and he sees a lamb standing what? As if slain. The lamb is standing, but he's bloodied as if he has been sacrificed because he was.

And so when Christ sits down at the right hand, we are not to think that he has now become inactive or irrelevant, but we need to understand that the high priest, the high priest who offers the sacrifice in the case of Jesus, he is both the one offering and the one who is offered.

He is the sacrifice. The writer of the Hebrews has already said, he entered into the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. He now appears in the presence of God for us in our place.

It's not some separate work. It's not some new work. The lamb stands as if slain. His work is finished. His life, his all-sufficient life has been given in behalf of his people. And those who are united to him, when God looks at them, he sees them in Christ.

The work is finished. The work of intercession that he does is not some separate work. It is not something beyond the giving of his life. It is their union with him. He stands in their place as the lamb slain.

He sits down at the right hand of the majesty on high. His sacrifice has been accepted. There is no question of the acceptance of God, of the sacrifice offered by Christ because he sits at his right hand, and the right hand is not a direction.

The right hand is a position of power and authority. That's why, remember when James and John and disciples were arguing, who's going to get to sit at your right hand and your left? Right hand was better than left.

Right hand was a more exalted position because it spoke of acceptance, power, privilege. He sits at the right hand. His sacrifice has been accepted. Waiting, verse 13, from that time onward, until his enemies be made a footstool for his feet.

Continuation of Psalm 110, a psalm that even the Lord Jesus applied to himself as well. Verse 14, for by one offering, one offering, he has perfected, he has made complete. Notice, he's the one who does this.

It does not say, for by one offering, he has made perfection possible. For by one offering, he has opened the door by which we may obtain perfection. Those are none of the concepts that are expressed in this passage.

For by one offering, the same offering that is found in verse 10, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. For by one offering, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. Now some of your translations may express to you the fact that that phrase, those who are sanctified, is in the present tense.

And some translations will say those who are being sanctified. I prefer the New American Standard rendering those who are sanctified for a very simple reason. First of all, it's functioning to describe a certain people.

And who are they? Well, they are the ones of verse 10. By this will, we have been sanctified. Those are the ones who are sanctified in verse 14. And since it is perfect in verse 10, the verb there is perfect, it's a completed action.

Then he's simply referring to the same people in verse 14. And if there be any reason to bring out the idea of being sanctified, it would only be in the sense that this is something that God applies to each generation as it comes along.

There are people who are being set aside. Every time a person is brought into faith in Jesus Christ, converted, regenerated, then they are being set aside in that fashion. But I don't really think that's really the way to look at verse 14.

It's possible, but I'm not convinced that's the best way to look at it. I think he's simply stating the fact that those who are sanctified have been perfected in that by that one offering that Christ has made.

There is nothing to be added to it. There is nothing that can be taken away from it. It is perfect and complete in and of itself. It's not just a stopgap measure. There's not going to be another covenant down the road that's going to add something to it.

It is perfect in and of itself. And Christ accomplishes this by one offering. It is never to be repeated because it says for all time. And nothing can be added to what he has done. Then he continues. He has one last argument.

Before he then applies these things in a very practical way beginning in verse 19, verse 15. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us for after saying, and don't let that run past you, the writer to the Hebrews has the highest view of Scripture.

Have you noticed that? The Holy Spirit said this. We're taught in our seminaries today, men said those words. But in reality, it was the Holy Spirit who says, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my laws upon their hearts and upon their mind. I'll write them. It's Jeremiah 31. Remember that? Hebrews chapter 8, we already saw this. The greater covenant. He then says, verse 17, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

For those in the new covenant, there is forgiveness of sins. So what's the application? It's really a simple argument, verse 18. Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

You see, if the new covenant has come, if the promise given through Jeremiah, I will put my laws upon their heart, upon their mind, I will write them. Their sins, their lawless deeds, I will remember no more.

Well, if that's the case, if God will not remember their sins, if there has been forgiveness, then there is no longer any offering for sin. Remember, context, context, context. They're being drawn back into a system where they're going to have to see offering, after offering, after offering, after offering for sin.

They're admitting by their repetitive sacrifices that this passage has not been fulfilled in them, but it has been fulfilled for all those who are in Christ. All those who are in the new covenant, forgiveness of sins, and where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

So if your system has an offering for sin, we have something better. We have something greater. In reality, if your system is still offering these things over and over and over again, then your system has not come to understand the perfection of the work of Christ.

Are there people like that today? You might say, well, I'm certainly not going to become Jewish after this, but there are a billion people on our planet who are taught that this very day, this very hour, the sacramental authority of a priest on altars and buildings probably within just a few miles of us right now, Jesus Christ is being made physically present as a propitiatory sacrifice to take away sins.