Bible Studies

---

We continue this ten part verse-by-verse study of Hebrews chapters 8-10 here in Part 7, starting with Hebrews chapter 10, which is a very important chapter, especially on the topic of righteousness, holiness, and victory over all sin.

HEBREWS CHAPTER 10

"For the Law [the Mosaic Law, which was the foundation for the old covenant], since it has only a shadow [Heb. 8:5] of the good things to come [referring to new-covenant salvation] and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near [[See under Heb. 9:9 above. To "make perfect" here includes total forgiveness, the new birth, being sanctified (which includes our being enabled to live in an abiding state of holiness; especially see Heb. 10:10, 14 below), and our having access to God in heaven, all by the saving, sanctifying grace of God in Christ, through faith. None of these things were provided under the old covenant. Essentially all evangelical Christians would agree with what I said here, except for the fact most evangelicals deny that we are called and enabled to live in an abiding state of holiness in this life. (Also, many evangelicals believe that the believers under the old covenant were born again.) Most evangelicals believe that we are called to a sanctifying process (where we will progress in holiness and have less sin as time goes on, but that we cannot stop sinning this side of glory; I believe we are called to live in a state of holiness, with the victory over all sin - this is the ideal - and to keep on growing, which is a process), or they speak of a positional holiness (which doesn't deal with how the Christians will live). They don't believe the New Testament gives us the basis to have faith for the victory over all sin now. (We certainly won't have the victory over all sin if we don't have faith for that victory.) We will speak more of these super-important things as we continue, and we have discussed these things under Hebrews chapters 8 and 9.]]. (2) Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? [[The worshippers under the old covenant understood in their hearts and consciences that the sin problem had not been solved; sin had not yet been dethroned. The fact that the sacrifices had to be offered day by day, and year by year (on the Day of Atonement, Passover, etc.), in itself, demonstrated that the sin problem had not been solved, and would not be solved, under that covenant. They clearly could not stop offering the sacrifices for sin while the people continued to sin, and they understood that they would keep sinning day after day, and year after year.

As Jeremiah had prophesied, it would take the new covenant, which includes, for one thing, the Law being written on the hearts of the worshippers, which will enable them to fully keep God's moral law. I'll also list some other verses from the Old Testament that prophesied of God's ultimately solving the sin problem and making His people righteous and holy through new-covenant salvation: Isa. 32:15-18; 45:8; 46:12, 13; 52:13-53:12; 56:1; 60:21; 61:1-3, 10, 11; and Ezek. 11:19, 20; 36:25-27. These prophecies include the Messiah, His atoning death, and the outpoured Holy Spirit that come with the new covenant.

I'll quote two sentences from what Gareth Lee Cockerill (see under Heb. 9:14) says here (on his page 430): "The cleansing in question is the true inner cleansing of the person effected by Christ according to 9:14. ... The perfect tense of the participle [translated "having been cleansed"] suggests a definitive cleansing that determines the subsequent lives of the cleansed." See what I quoted from Cockerill under Heb. 9:14. I bought this commentary and a few others for this study. Based on what he says on chapters 8-10 I highly rate this commentary, which is the replacement edition for the Epistle to the Hebrews in the scholarly, well respected, "New International Commentary on the New Testament" series by the Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.]] (3) But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. [[No matter how much the believers in Israel would rejoice on the Day of Atonement, for a prime example, they knew in their hearts that those sacrifices were scheduled to be repeated the next year, and the year after that, etc., because the people were going to continue to sin - God did not give the old covenant to solve the sin/spiritual death/Satan problem. They also had sin offerings on a daily basis under the old covenant.]] (4) For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. [["It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins," but "He [the Lamb of God] has been manifested to PUT AWAY SIN BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF [my emphasis]" of Heb. 9:26, which we discussed in some detail above. And as I mentioned there, less than ten percent of the commentaries on Hebrews that I looked at (more than fifty commentaries) understand the primary point that the writer of Hebrew meant by "to take away sins" in Heb. 9:26. The same thing is true here in Heb. 10:4 and in 10:11. (The Greek verb for "to take away" in 10:4 is "aphaireo

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE AS A MEMBER OR VISITOR