All this month on the blog, we’ve been exploring the #onceforall theme found in Hebrews 10. Check out previous posts in this series.
At one time in my life I had this horribly wrong idea about God and His plan for the Cross. In my misinformed mind I believed that God sent Jesus to the Cross in order to say “there you go, now you owe Me one.”
Can you imagine!? Our loving Father sending His beloved Son, not to pay for our sins permanently but only to temporarily give us time to pay Him back!? How awful!
I am thankful my ideas were so, so, so wrong. And these verses in Hebrews are just a few of many that tell us that Jesus didn’t do us a favor. No, instead He paid our debt in full FOREVER!
And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “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,” then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. ~ Hebrews 10:15-18
The author of Hebrews quotes the prophet Jeremiah, who quoted Yahweh when he wrote “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them…Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” The phrase “I will write” implies that the laws would be permanently affixed to the hearts and minds of God’s people. It gives the impression that God would etch His divine will into them, just as He did when He wrote the the ten commandments on to the stone tablets with His finger (Deuteronomy 9:10). When God spoke through Jeremiah, He was promising a new covenant in which transformation would take place within His people. He would forget their sin forever and they would have the privilege to draw near to God by faith, not works — faith in Jesus, not works of the law (see Hebrews 10:22).
What a gift! What grace!
(On a not-so-little side note, the way the author words verse 15 and 16 has great significance. They clearly show us that the Holy Spirit is Yahweh. He is just as much God as the Father and the Son. “But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD…’” [emphasis mine])
The author of Hebrews goes on to say, “Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.” The Greek word for remission means forgiveness or pardon of sins, as in letting them go as if they had never been committed. We should owe for our sin. There is a penalty for breaking God’s perfect law. We deserve to die, not just a physical death, but an eternal spiritual separation from God, for the sins we have committed. But we don’t have to die because, like Cheli said in the last post, Jesus’ mission is complete. He took our penalty and in doing so offered a perfect and final sacrifice for our sin. On the Cross He died our death. Then He rose again and sat down at the right hand of God.
God is perfect and holy and has every right to require us to pay the penalty due for our sin. He could have said, “There you go, now you owe Me one,” but God’s divine will is not to punish us. His will is that we draw near (Patti will write more on this next week in her post covering verses 19-22). Scripture illuminates this time and time again.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~ Jeremiah 29:11
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ~Matthew 11:28
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16
This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. ~ 1 Timothy 2:3-4 (NIV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ~ 1 John 1:9
Thank You, Lord, for this new covenant You have established with us. Thank You for Your Son, the Cross, and the forgiveness of sin. We know it was our debt that You paid. We know that it is by Your mercy and grace we are forgiven and our sins is forgotten. O, how great is You love and compassion. May we never take it for granted. Please continue to transform us from the inside out. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
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