HF192 - Hebrews 10:1-18 (#17 - Cleansing the Conscience)
To: Hebraic-Foundations@YahooGroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Friday, June 6, 2008
Subject: Bible Study HF192 - Hebrews 10:1-18 (#17 - Cleansing the Conscience)
Hebraics,
As we continue with our studies in Hebrews, we will be dealing even more objectively with spiritual realism's of the new covenant. The Old Testament sacrificial system had no way of meeting the deepest needs of the human heart. For this reason the sacrifices had to serve as a constant reminder of man's sinful state. The Law only contained a shadow of what was to come in the covenant of Christ. Let's continue...
This is Bible Study HF192 - Hebrews 10:1-18 (#17 - Cleansing the Conscience)
Follow this study closely. It reaches into the very fountainhead of the eternal covenant of Christ.
Heb 10:1-4 - "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 which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, 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."
Paul said that the Law of Moses was added because of transgressions and that it was only force until the time of Messiah. Afterwards we would come under the Law of Christ. (Cf. Gal3:19) He went on to say that the Law of Moses was only temporary and that it was not attached to the covenant made with Abraham, The Abrahamic covenant could only be fulfilled in the Messiah.
So the sacrificial system served as a continual reminder that the issue of sin was an ongoing issue. Day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, the sacrifices continued. The tabernacle was a bloody place. Old Testament Judaism was a bloody religion.
But the sacrifices were not the only reminder. This 'voice of the heart' (conscience) reminds the unregenerate man that he has lost the way. For this reason the unregenerate man seeks out all sorts of devices to dull this haunting in his inner man. Righteous men and women of old knew the answer. This is why they longed for the coming of Messiah. They also know that the sacrifices only spoke of a reality to come.
Let's compare two Scriptures, one by David, the other of a man who held baby Jesus in his arms:
David - "My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation and for Your righteous word." (Psalm 119:123)
Simeon - "Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation." (Luke 2:29,30)
Heb 10:5-7 - "Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offerings You have 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 scroll of the book it is written of Me) to do Your will, O God.'
Burnt offerings and sacrifices were never God's desire. Yet it was the sacrifice of innocent animals that kept the people aware of their need for atonement with God. These innocent animals spoke of the innocent Lamb of God who would give His life for the sins of the world.
Where it says 'in the scroll of the book it is written of Me', there is a picture involved. The term for 'scroll' (or volume in kjv) is the Greek 'kephalis'. This word speaks of the head of the rod around which the scroll was rolled. What is being presented is that the whole volume of God's book wraps itself around Jesus Christ. He is what the book of about.
God prepared a body for Jesus. He would fulfill the will of God in redeeming the human race. All the Old Testament sacrifices would have their fulfillment in God's Lamb. So, when Jesus said, *''It is finished,' *these words reverberated across eternity past and eternity future. God's work was finished in the cross. No more shadows. No more sacrifices. No more separations. All men would need to do is to come to God's Lamb.
John said, "My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the those of the whole world." (1 John 2:1,2)
See why it is so important to get the gospel message out? The gospel is heaven's message to the whole world. Your sins have been forgiven through the blood of the Lamb. Come to Jesus and receive your atonement.
Heb 10:8,9 - "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.'"
The first covenant speaks of the covenant of Moses. It was taken out of the way at the cross. What is established now is the covenant of Christ. The new covenant is not the old covenant refurnished, re-established, renewed, or reconditioned. The new covenant is entirely new. The first covenant was made for an earthly people. The new covenant is made for God's heavenly people.
Heb 10:10-13 - "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Every 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."
Now comes the nail in the coffin. Listen carefully to the language. What is the new covenant based upon? It is based upon one sacrifice for sins for all time!
The covenant of Christ deals with all sin, past, present, and future. And, no, it is not a covenant that promotes and entitles sin to work freely. Sin is very much a repelling thing to the child of God. Sin always carries in it a defilement of our conscience. And this is why even the best of Christians need periodic cleansing. I can tell you by experience that the blood of Jesus never loses its power.
John said, "...if we walk in the Light ... the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have not sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:7-9)
The cleansing of our sins is based on the finished work of the cross. The only work that is left to man is what Paul calls 'the law of faith.' (Rom3:27)
When the sign-seeking Jews wanted to know how to do the works that Jesus was doing, the Lord said, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." (John 6:29)
Our works have no place in God's plan of redemption. The finished work is and was God's work.
Heb 10:14-18 - "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies 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 on 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."
As we continue to look at spiritual realism of the new covenant, we find this amazing statement: 'By one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.'
The enemy then says, 'Boy, if you could just get sanctified, then this would apply to you.'
Of course the enemy always seeks to distort the gospel. What he does not want the believer to understand is that at the moment a persons receives Jesus Christ as their own Lord and Savior, it is at that moment that they are sanctified to God. It is at this moment that the blood of Jesus is sprinkled on the human heart. And this is why the New Testament speaks of believers as 'saints.'
This is what one offering for all time is addressing. To be sanctified by faith. And to be sanctified means that we belong to God Himself. Sanctification carries the idea of personal ownership. Every believer receives God's seal of ownership. This seal is call the seal of the Holy Spirit.
The apostolic writer once again reminds his readers of the promise God made through the prophet Jeremiah, concerning His new covenant. Where He says, "I will put My laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,' He is not talking about the Law of Moses.
In fact where we struggle over this is with one word, the word 'Law.' In Greek and in English this word is narrowly defined. But in the original Hebrew it meant more that 'Law' the way we see it. The word 'torah' in the Hebrew language simply means instructions, direction, or even teaching. It comes from the word 'yarah', which means to teach.
In the new covenant the Lord Jesus is going to teach us His ways. This is what Jesus had in view when He spoke of the 'yoke' life. Listen:
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you (This is a double yoke where the believer walks in trace with Jesus) and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matt11:28-30)
Ok, you now have the key! In the new covenant every believer gets to walk step-in-step with Jesus. Think about it.
The study is open.
Buddy
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Lawrence "Buddy" Martin
email: Bro.Buddy <at> ChristianChallenge.Org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org
Forum: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Hebraic-Foundations/
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"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)