The Letter to the Hebrews goes to great lengths to make the point that salvation is not separate from the Savior.
A consistent theme of the letter is that Jesus is the long-awaited Savior, who is the Ultimate High Priest and sacrifice for sins. He is seated at the right hand of Majesty, making intercession for humans.
If humans want another savior, God has only one, his Son Jesus Christ.
Even the sacrificial system that God provided was only a shadow or pattern of what Jesus would accomplish.
Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these (Hebrews 9.23).
Our Savior sat down at the right hand of God on our behalf. His obedient sacrifice made this possible.
For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (Hebrews 9.24).
Jesus appeared in the presence of God to receive divine acceptance and favor for us.
Priests entered the Holy of Holies with sacrifices for the sins of the people. Jesus conquered the power of sin for humans through the sacrifice of his life on the cross.
Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the holy place year after year with blood that is not his own,
For then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself (Hebrews 9.25-26).
As our Savior, Christ has done away with sin as a principle and a force. Sin no longer determines the lives of God’s people and excludes them from God’s presence.
The consistent message of Hebrews is to have our eyes fixed on the all-sufficient Christ at God’s right hand and on our final destiny.
Humans don’t need a Savior unless there is a coming judgment. Let’s accept the appeal of this letter and choose the Savior who delivers us from sin and judgment.
And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once and after that the judgment,
So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (Hebrews 9.27-28).
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I talk about Hebrews today on YouTube. You can see the video on the Bob Spradling channel.
I am indebted to Gareth Lee Cockerill’s commentary on Hebrews for the information contained in this blog.
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