The Weekend Word
Hebrews 10:11-20
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
- So what did it do? The coming of Jesus.
- The priest performs his service (bless his heart) but no matter what he does, it cannot deal with the basic problem – removing sins.
- If you remember the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray, this was the ultimate frustration of the priest.
- Read the daily details the priest had to perform Num 28:3-8
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
- In the tabernacle, when we went through the furniture – what was missing?
- No chair.
- The priest stands the whole time he performs his duty – no time to rest and the work is never done.
- Standing, sacrificing, standing, sacrificing …
- Jesus sacrificed and sat down – done! Restating Heb 1:3
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
- Let the enemies of God know – Jesus is just waiting.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
- The one offering happened at the cross. It is finished means finished. It was not something just up to that time – but for all for all time.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
- Note the present tense – note that the holy spirit not only authored the original words but even down to today his witness is present.
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
- God does not forget … he chooses not to remember. Ponder the difference.
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
- A done deal
- Why aren’t all Jews Christian?
- Paul says the cross is an offense (note how many independent evangelical churches have removed crosses.)
- Anyone who hangs on a tree is accursed – Jesus must be under the curse of God … but the truth is He was.
- Not for being a malefactor or a blasphemer or an evildoer.
- But because the father was pleased to place the guilt and the punishment of the people on him.
19 Therefore, brothers since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
- Therefore – our rule? Find out what the therefore is there for. (V 18)
- All of this talk / teaching about Jesus is superior in all these things …
- We can therefore have confidence.
- Confidence to do what? Approach God in confession and repentance to receive Absolution.
- Confidence that when we pray “in Jesus name” that he hears us.
- Confidence that we will go to heaven
20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
- Torn curtain – was it the tearing of the curtain or the tearing of the flesh?
- What kept us out of the temple – we are / were unclean
- Read Numbers 19;
- 11 “Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. 12 He shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. 13 Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.
- Romans 6 says “3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
- What is applied to us in our baptism? Water – we have been washed.
- Titus 3 explains washing
- 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
- So why do we need it? When were we in contact with a dead body? Who is the dead body? — Us!!
- How contrary to those who think that baptism is their act of obedience, or their public testimony or however they see baptism – they miss the whole part, baptism is the washing of their dead and rotting flesh.
MLD,
Well done!
I am personally floored by verse 13. The author didn’t say, “Jeremiah said” or “The prophet said”, but “the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us”. Amazing!
So, essentially:
1) the new covenant prophesy in Jeremiah 31 is for “us” (i.e., the Church of Christ);
2) the new covenant prophesy is fulfilled by Christ at the cross; and
3) The Holy Spirit speaks presently to us and each generation in Scripture (this is not mere inspired historical data).
Thank you for pointing this out!
Praise God! Thanks, MLD, for commenting on these wonderful truths in Hebrews 10!
MLD,
Could you help us understand what is going on eschatologically in these verses:
“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.”
This appears to track consistently with Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians:
“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For ‘God has put all things in subjection under his feet.’”
Thus, it appears that Christ currently is reigning from heaven at the right hand of the Father; when all his enemies have been made a footstool for his feet (the last enemy being death), Jesus will return, the dead in Christ will be raised (those living will be “put on immortality”), that is the end, and Jesus then will deliver the kingdom of God to the Father.
Jean, you have stated it well. Jesus is now sitting on David’s throne as discussed in the OT and as testified to by Peter in Acts 2.
All things are done, Jesus is just waiting for the consummation of the age as we see in Matt 25:31-46
Doesn’t sell many books and makes for a terrible movie plot – but what the heck
hmmm… floods and an “ark,” brick builders, burning bushes and parting seas, crucifixions and lions and crusades and witches, searches for an ark of another sort… lots of folk have made some good money off of the Faith, haven’t they?
“Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days”
washings? did those complying with the Law of the Old Testament understand the risk of microbes? …simple, unquestioning obedience to God has its merit, does it not?
em, I don’t know what folks in the OT times knew about ‘the risk of microbes’ and if they were deadly.
But I do have concern for those who deny the word of God today about the cleansing and salvation that God delivers through His holy baptism. People need to stop telling God what His word really means.
Preachers today, along with booksellers etc are making even better money in this type of denial.
i can understand that you find it offensive that people are interpreting baptism(s) differently – not giving water baptism the mysterious efficacy that lines up with early Church, perhaps?
but to “deny the word of God?”
people do need to stop telling God what anything means – including His word, i agree
if we offend, well, the intent is not to deny God’s word OR to offend, but to be obedient to God … some of us by faith see the shed blood of Christ as the sum total of sacrificial atonement – no act on our part adds to it
I am unoffendible – so never worry about that.
It’s not a matter of how people interpret baptism – it’s how people don’t take God’s word for what it says.How is one obedient to God’s word when the word says baptism saves or through baptism you receive the holy spirit and then turn around and say – “no it doesn’t.”
I always stand amazed.
How many biblical passages affirming the efficacy of Baptism to save would you require in order to believe that God’s Word teaches such?
Jean and MLD, you folks have thought this thru and made your choice as have i…
unlike you, however, i am not a scholar or a theologian and so i have made my choice as to whom i trust to teach me… i surely won’t presume to teach here, but neither can i amen all of what you follow… the baptism of the Holy Spirit is IMV and experience an acceptable baptism unto salvation – yet, water baptism is an act of obedience that has its rewards also…
i am in debt to both of you and Michael for this thread – for truths highlighted and interpretations questioned – the old song says, “everybody talkin bout heaven ain’t a goin there” … but i have not seen anyone post on the PhxP who’s destination is doubtful in my mind…
well maybe an occasional one – God knows, i don’t 🙂
God keep
I didn’t know God’s word was up for grabs – as if individual choice of what to accept and what to toss (nuance at best)
em, understand I am not arguing against you – just against the evangelical mind. 😉
How is baptism an act of obedience if you don’t take it for it’s stated purpose.
The scripture says there is only one baptism – the bible knows nothing of a baptism that is not of both water and the spirit. No such thing as a dehydrated baptism.
My comments on the passage above is that we need water baptism (water washing) as we have been in contact with a dead body — our own.
No problem Em. I offered up the question in the event that you or anyone else reading is genuinely interested in exploring the issue of Baptism in greater detail. I am happy to do the spade work of providing the passages. Both the Reformed and Lutheran traditions, as well as Orthodox and Roman Catholics all affirm the efficacy of the sacrament of Baptism – that being the Holy Spirit’s application of grace unto salvation to the baptized individual through water and the Word.
As full disclosure, I am not a scholar or theologian, however, I am working towards the status of armchair theologian or occasionally pub theologian.
argue away, MLD… 🙂
i have no desire to be vindicated; it’s not about me, is it?
i think that it is permissible that we can get tired of dialoging, but if we get offended we may need to reevaluate a bit…
“Note the present tense – note that the holy spirit not only authored the original words but even down to today his witness is present.” that’s a ‘like’
is it not all toward the goal of developing more and more the mind that was in Christ Jesus?
Baptismal regeneration…ugh.
G, that’s right. God promised to regenerate us through the waters of baptism.
Could you imagine there are folks out who think they were saved by their own mind & will?
MLD, your stand on regeneration through baptism has to come through the teachers that you follow… i’m not able to see the concept as at all clear in the Word… what i do see is John’s baptism identified as for repentance and remission (of sins)…
our Lord’s reference to His baptism? well, … you go your way and i’ll go mine, but do not accuse those who can’t accept the application of John’s baptism (yes, Jesus was baptized by John) as salvific – water baptism as the means to salvation is something that i cannot identify, nor do those scholars i respect and trust in the “evangelical” branch of the family
i appreciate what you’re presenting here of the Lutheran dogma, but to be honest the most that i can concede is …?… that not all of the Redeemed are able to march to the same drum beat? … but, hopefully, we’re all headed in the same direction… i’m pretty sure we are
Em, the Bible itself, church history and the fact that all Christians up to the late 16th century baptized to salvation,, and that probably 80% still do is good enough for me.
But let me just say this. I think there are something like 225 references to baptism in the scriptures and not a single one would lead anyone to think it is not associated somehow with salvation.
Move to the next study and see what I say early on.