
Hebrews 10:11-18 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. [Heb 9:26 …But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.] 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 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.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Some of the most memorable passages in all the Bible are those that serve as conclusions to great doctrinal portions of Scripture. …we have in this passage another great conclusion. …The central doctrinal section of Hebrews began in chapter 7. In this lengthy exposition the writer has compared Christ and his priestly work to the whole sacrificial system of the old covenant. He showed that Christ is superior as priest to Aaron and his successors and better when compared to Melchizedek, who came before. He showed in chapter 8 that Christ’s covenant is better than the old one in Moses, and in chapter 9 that Christ’s blood is better than that of the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. … In concluding this great argument, our present verses drive home the lesson the writer has been hoping to teach, namely, that while the old covenant offered no real solution for sin, Christ’s priestly work in the new covenant successfully and sufficiently solves this great problem of all mankind:” —Richard Phillips, Hebrews, Reformed Expository Commentary
…”Where there is “FORGIVENESS”—get’s the last say so in this long passage presentation—it is the accomplishment
of Forgiveness that has Put An End to the Concept of “Offering for Sin”
…Of All the Things the Bible Has to Offer You (of all the things you might be seeking from “religion”,
“spirituality”, “church”)—”FORGIVENESS” is written in Capital Letters, in Bold Font!
“Forgiveness” (Gk.) = ἄφεσις aphesis; freedom; (figuratively) pardon: — deliverance, forgiveness, liberty,
remission. …release from bondage or imprisonment; forgiveness or pardon, of sins (letting them go as if
they had never been committed), remission of the penalty
… aphesis, which means “remission”—“to release someone from a legal … obligation or debt.”[10] … The concept of remission hints that forgiveness always brings a cost. When a debt is canceled by the creditor, it means that the creditor, rather than the debtor, pays or absorbs the debt. Forgiveness, then, entails the perpetrator’s punishment or debt being borne by another. —Keller, Timothy. Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? (p. 65).
…How Does this “Forgiveness” Behave? (What is God’s Forgiveness Like?)
(1) It Bestows Blessing on the Guilty …v. 16 “This is the covenant 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”
Eph 2:1-7 1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
(2) It is No Longer Answering to Justice (It is not seeking to “reward”/”punish”)
μιμνῄ́́́σκομαι mimnēskomai; to remind, i.e. to recall to mind: — be mindful, remember
μνάομαι mnaomai; - to bear in mind, i.e. recollect; by implication, to reward or punish
1Jn 1:8-2:2 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness.” [Image: Laying hands on the sacrifice] 1 …if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
…WHY Does God Not Place His Justice-Response to Our Sins on Us (this week or last year)—Because Jesus has SATISFIED Completely God’s Justice, so that Now We Are Continually and Eternally PARDONED …Heb 10:18 “Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
KNOWING IS FOR LIVING
…Our Great, Practical Daily-Living Verse in Hebrews is Heb 12:1-2 (The Design of Heb’s is to Give Us What We NEED to Stay in the Race, to Endure in Faith, to Take the Next Step!) “Looking to Jesus” = Knowing - In Chapter 7-10 …HE is the Means of Finalized Permanent Forgiveness!
…We Are to “KNOW” His Forgiveness—But Not Merely in a “Doctrinal/Conceptual” Way, but in an Experiential Way!
I wrote this book to awaken us out of our street-level theological thoughtlessness. I wrote it to narrow that troublesome gap between what we say we believe and how we actually live. Without ever intending to, so many of us live theologically contradictory lives. (P. 13). …I could give example after example of a dichotomy that exists is so many of us (and still exists in some place in my own life) between what we say we believe and the way we live. And I am persuaded that the gap between the doctrine we say we believe and the way we actually live is a workroom for the enemy. …The enemy of your soul will gladly give you your formal theology, if in your real daily life he can control the thoughts and motives of your heart and, in so doing, control the way you act, react, and respond. —Paul Tripp, “Do You Believe”, p. 13, 17
…But this is a “Learning” that is more like “BREATHING” than it is like Gathering Information on Bookshelves! …
A Familiar Pattern in Script (Heb 10, 12 …Rom 12 …Eph 4)
[LEARNING] Heb 1-10 => [EXPRESSING] Heb 10:19, 22 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus…22 let us draw near…23 let us hold fast…24 let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works
[LEARNING] Rom 1-11. => [EXPRESSING] Rom 12:1-2 “I appeal to you THEREFORE, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, how and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…”
Heb 12:15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
…”Obtaining Grace” NEVER means “Earning or Meriting” …so this is more in touch with “Experiencing”—
Hebrews 12:15 says, “See to it that … no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” The image is telling. You go to a corner of a field that belongs to you, and you say, “I don’t want this tree here anymore,” you cut down the tree and you pull out the stump and you say, “That’s that.” But that’s not that, because some time later you come back to that corner of the field and, to your surprise, you find there’s a young tree that has sprung up again. Why? Because there were roots left under the surface, hidden from your sight, that grew. The Bible means it is hard to admit how angry you are at the people who have wronged you. Our first response is always to say, “Oh, I’m fine. No, I’m not angry—maybe a little upset.” To maintain our image of ourselves as good people, we deny how embittered we are. “I’ve forgiven,” you say (meaning you aren’t actively seeking revenge), “but I can’t forget” (meaning that you are rooting for the person’s downfall and that you are still filled with resentment). When Jesus says to those wronged, “Watch yourselves,” and the Hebrew writer says, “See to it” (a term that means to pay close attention to something), it means we should assume that we are more resentful and less forgiving and more controlled by what people have done to us than we think we are. Hidden roots work in hidden ways; unless you dig around to find them, you may never see them until they have sprouted and you have done or said something cruel that shocks you. Unless you forgive deliberately, thoroughly, and with all the help Christ offers, your anger will “defile” you, as Hebrews says. —Keller, Timothy. Forgive (pp. 162-163)
..Heb 10:19 - Heb 13:25 …Is About “Putting On Doctrine”—it is the “Knowing is for LIVING Section! …It is the Aspect of Our “Learning” that is EXPRESSED!
Col 3:12-13 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
There are at least two words for forgive in the New Testament. This one used here (charizomenoi) means ‘freely or graciously give.’ The idea is that when we forgive, we do not exact a payment. We treat people better than they deserve. So in this sense, you forgive when someone has wronged you, and therefore they are in debt to you, and sheer justice says you have the right to exact some suffering from them in payment for the suffering they caused you. You not only don’t demand the payment, but you ‘freely give’ good for evil. That is the meaning of this word ‘forgive’ (charizomai). —John Piper, “This Momentary Marriage”, p. 58
(1) “We treat people better than they deserve” …That’s what God does to us in His Forgiveness!
(2) “The idea is that when we forgive, we do not exact a payment” … You don’t demand the payment, but you ‘freely give’ good for evil. That is the meaning of the word ‘forgive’. [Heb 10:17-18 “I will remember (mimnēskomai - to call to mind to reward or punish) their sins and lawless deeds no more. 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” …How can we be requiring a payment that God is no longer exacting??!
…But WHERE is the “Strength” and the “Power” in this passage (Col 3)? … (v. 13)”forgiving each other; AS THE LORD HAS FORGIVEN YOU” …Where do I learn about the “manner of the Lord’s Forgiveness”?—Hebrews!!
The first irreplaceable dimension of Christian forgiveness is what we have called the “vertical”—it is recognizing both our need for and our reception of forgiveness from God. Christians believe that an experience of God’s forgiveness is a uniquely powerful motivation—as well as the instructive pattern—for the extension of it to others. —Keller, Timothy. Forgive (p. 121).