Abide

Read: Hebrews 9:1-15

The sacrificial system in the Old Testament was a piecemeal operation: it required the fallible high priest to make sacrifices for himself, then on behalf of the people of God, enter into the Holy of Holies (a place that was only entered once a year) and make offerings using the blood goats and sheep and the ashes of heifers. The author of Hebrews even goes to argue that the Holy of Holies was shown to signify that the holy presence of God was not revealed to man just yet. And even more so, he continues to make the argument about the temporality and incompleteness of the Old Testament system in light of the “true” temple in heaven.

When Jesus came, he entered into the Holy of Holy as high priest and offered himself as a sinless sacrifice for the sins of the world. This offering was, as the author of made in a “greater” and “more perfect” tabernacle in heaven by a sacrifice that he made by the eternal Spirit of God for eternal redemption. This sacrifice was not required year after year, rather once and for all and it was done by him who could accomplish it without fear.

Because Jesus’ sacrifice is a perfect sacrifice, there can be no doubt about the implications of it: those who believe in Jesus are indeed redeemed and their conscience is clear. In other words, they do not have to worry about even the possibility that sin could keep them apart from God because Jesus has made the way possible, enabling those who believe to serve God all the more. There is no need to do the rote rituals year after year, nor does one have to rely on this for redemption. God’s sacrifice is perfect and true, and Christians can live life free of guilt and religiosity for that reason.

Lord, you freed my conscience! Help me to find confidence in your redemption and not my religion!