Hebrews 10:4-14
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. 8 When he said above, You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, Behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
These verses are about the inability to please God apart from Jesus. As verse 4 states, "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins". We don't make burnt offerings anymore, but we sometimes try to take similar action, thinking that by making some sacrifice or doing some good deed, then God will be pleased with us. But that's not the way it works, because our good deeds can never balance the scale enough to make us holy on our own. Instead, the answer is in the one ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, "for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are
being sanctified" (verse 14). Note that it is you and I who "he has perfected" and "are being sanctified". There is a mix of tenses here, as it is both a present process of "being sanctified", a past action of "has perfected", and a promise of it being "for all time". This continuum describes the work of Christ as something that is past, present, and future in our lives.
Lord, thank you for Your great sacrifice. I would be lost without You.
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book. 8 When he said above, You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, Behold, I have come to do your will. He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
These verses are about the inability to please God apart from Jesus. As verse 4 states, "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins". We don't make burnt offerings anymore, but we sometimes try to take similar action, thinking that by making some sacrifice or doing some good deed, then God will be pleased with us. But that's not the way it works, because our good deeds can never balance the scale enough to make us holy on our own. Instead, the answer is in the one ultimate sacrifice of Jesus, "for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are
being sanctified" (verse 14). Note that it is you and I who "he has perfected" and "are being sanctified". There is a mix of tenses here, as it is both a present process of "being sanctified", a past action of "has perfected", and a promise of it being "for all time". This continuum describes the work of Christ as something that is past, present, and future in our lives.
Lord, thank you for Your great sacrifice. I would be lost without You.