Hebrews Chapter Ten, The Definition Of Insanity

 

Hebrews 10:18 Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

 

Verse 17 indicates that God has remitted Israel’s lawless deeds and sins, forgetting them. Verse 18 informs us that where there is remission (also translated forgiveness) of sin, no more offering remains. In short, one cannot make another offering for something that has already been paid for.

 

Christ paid for sin by the sacrifice of Himself, one time for all humanity forever. The writer emphasized this point starting at Hebrews 9:25. Ten out of the twenty-one verses between these two passages comment upon the futility of continual sacrifice, verses the completion and perfection of Jesus’ singular sacrifice. See Hebrews 9:25, 26, 28, 10:1, 2 4, 10, 12, 14.

 

Proper exegesis demands contextual congruity. The Bible explains itself perfectly, since it is written by the Holy Spirit, through the agency of prophets and apostles. The writer takes great pains to demonstrate the sufficiency of Christ, contrasted to the inefficiency of human effort. Yes, this goes beyond adherence to the Mosaic Law, as though a different law or different works would achieve different results. The author focused on the Law of Moses because his audience (entirely Jewish) understood this frame of reference. But today this could be written to former Mormons, or former Roman Catholics, or former Jehovah’s Witnesses, who want to backslide into the works prescribed by their various religions to supplement, supplant or otherwise diminish or corrupt the sufficiency of Christ’s offering.

 

Listen to the language of the epistle. “He should not offer Himself often…He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself…Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many…the law…can never with these same sacrifices...make those who approach perfect…” et al. Unbiblical teachings begin with poor exegesis. Either one misunderstands a passage, or outright rejects what it is saying. But it is not the position of the student to admonish the teacher; neither is it the position of the servant to correct his master. We must, as His saints, accept Scripture as the harmonious, progressive, complete revelation of God’s will for our lives, or we must reject it. To resist the Holy Spirit’s clear expression of truth through its pages will have us fighting, not against men or women who preach the truth, but against the God in whose name they preach, Acts 5:39.

 

The verse following reveals the purpose for the first portion of this narrative: to give the readership boldness to approach the living God, but ONLY through the blood of Jesus Christ, Hebrews 10:19. If we, as the professing body of Christ, would unite in this belief, that Christ is sufficient for our every need as the Bible declares (2 Peter 1:3), religion would vanish, leaving a simpler, purer Christianity with its demise. Gone would be factions and cults perverting truth from within; gone would be science falsely so-called corrupting the saints from without, such as psychology, which claims to treat mankind in a way only Jesus Christ can. The church, purged of unnecessary, cumbersome, toxic baggage, would rely solely on Scripture, and the sufficiency of our Lord, who commanded us that our genuine faith would be displayed when we heeded Him and loved our fellow believers, John 15:17, 1 John 3:14, 19.