9:11 But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things,
through the greater and more perfect tabernacle,
not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation,
II. The New Covenant's Sacrifice
A. The Effectiveness of the Blood of Christ
9:12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his
own blood,
entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal
redemption.
9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of
the flesh:
9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ,
who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God,
cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
9:15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant,
since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions
that were under the first covenant,
that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal
inheritance.
B. The Necessity of the Blood of Christ
1. Because an Inheritance Can Only be Gained with the Death of the Testator
9:16 For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity
be the death of him who made it.
9:17 For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never
in force while he who made it lives.
9:18 Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without
blood.
9:19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the
people
according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats,
with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book
itself and all the people,
9:20 saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has
commanded you." 9:21 Moreover he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the
ministry
in like manner with the blood.
9:22 According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood,
and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.
2. Because the Sacrifice Must be Ideal to Provide Its Intended Benefits
9:23 It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the
heavens
should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these.
9:24 For Christ hasn't entered into holy places made with hands,
which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us;
C. The Finality of the Blood of Christ
9:25 nor yet that he should offer himself often,
as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood
not his own,
9:26 or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the
world.
But now once at the end of the ages,
he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
9:27 Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this,
judgment,
9:28 so Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many,
will appear a second time, without sin,
to those who are eagerly waiting for him for salvation.
10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image
of the things,
can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually,
make perfect those who draw near.
10:2 Or else wouldn't they have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers,
having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of
sins?
10:3 But in those sacrifices there is yearly reminder of sins.
10:4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should
take away sins.
10:5 Therefore when he comes into the world, he says,
"Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire, But a body did you
prepare for me; 10:6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had
no pleasure. 10:7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of me) To do your will,
God.'"
10:8 Previously saying,
"Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin you didn't desire, neither had pleasure in them" (those
which are offered according to the law),
10:9 then he has said,
"Behold, I have come to do your will."
He takes away the first, that he may establish the second,
10:10 by which will we have been sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
10:11 Every priest indeed stands day by day ministering and often offering
the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins,
10:12 but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever,
sat down on the right hand of God;
10:13 from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool
of his feet.
10:14 For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being
sanctified.
10:15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them: 'After those days,' says the Lord, 'I will put my laws on their
heart, I will also write them on their mind;'"
then he says,
10:17 "I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more."
10:18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
Discussion Questions
What do you suppose was the purpose of the animal sacrifices that God ordained
in the Old Testament?
What does it mean in vs 14 to "cleanse our consciences from acts that
lead to death" and vs 15 "to set them free from the sins committed under
the first covenant"? As a Christian, have you experienced these in your
life? Or are these more like things that we simply reckon by faith to be
true, but may not have any particular experience associated with them?
Also in vs 15 what is "the promised eternal inheritance"?
According to a Will, who must die for an inheritance to be gain? vs
16,17
So who died for us to gain the eternal inheritance? vs 26
Who does that make Christ to be?
vs 19-22 What is so special about blood?
(Xref Lev 17:11"For the life of the flesh is in the blood:
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your
souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.")
What does 9:27 say about the idea of reincarnation?
vs 25+ Is it necessary to continually resacrifice Christ (as on a weekly
basis like the Catholics practice in their communion service) as under
the Old Covenant?
Do you feel that the blood of Christ is sufficient for you to obtain
the eternal inheritance, or do you feel you must add on to it perhaps your
own sweat and blood to make up for its deficiency? (Compare with 10:14)