Chpt 7 – Eternal Redemption
Hebrews 9:11-12 (NKJV) The Heavenly Sanctuary
“But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Hebrews 9 contrasts Old Testament Law with New Testament grace. What we’ve received through Jesus in the New Covenant is far superior to the Old! BUT now that Jesus has given His life as the sacrifice for sin, it never again needs to be repeated. Through Christ, the perfect sacrifice for sin has been made once for all!
Our born-again spirit never needs to be re-cleansed, re-purged, or born again again! Our salvation is eternal! God doesn’t do partial redemptions. On the cross, everything that needed to be done was done and no further sacrifice for sin remains (Heb. 9:26; 10:18). The blood of Jesus completely satisfied all demands against us. “And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world!” (1 John 2:2). Propitiation means our sins have been taken away (1 John 3:5). In Him, we are completely and eternally forgiven of all sin (Eph. 1:7; Heb. 9:12).
Eternal Redemption!
Hebrews 9:13-15 (NKJV) “For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
In Christ we are eternally forgiven and eternally saved.
Hebrews 5:9 (NKJV) “And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him”
Jesus was already perfect before He suffered. This is speaking of how Jesus completed what His Father called Him to do by suffering for us on the Cross. Notice that Jesus is the Author of ETERNAL salvation. People are not saved and then lost and then saved and lost again, as many religious teachings promote.
Receiving this eternal salvation isn’t based on us obeying all the laws and commands of God. Jesus did that for us. We simply have to obey the one command of God to confess Jesus as our Lord and believe He is risen from the dead
The full beauty and purpose of Jesus’ ministry was not realized until the cross. Before he died, Christ’s ministry was incomplete or imperfect. But on the cross everything that needed to be done to save and sanctify you was accomplished: “Knowing that all was now completed, and so that the scripture would be fulfilled… Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’” (John 19:28; 30).
Obedience in the old covenant meant following the rules, but obedience in the new covenant is listening to Jesus and doing what He says. Old covenant obedience was legalistic, while new covenant obedience is relational. We trust and obey what Jesus says because we know how much He loves us.
Because Jesus and his perfect sacrifice, we can receive a salvation that is eternal and everlasting. Jesus doesn’t do partial salvations or temporary salvations or trial salvations. He only authors eternal salvations that are forever and everlasting.
Because Jesus’ blood obtained an eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12), we have an eternal redemption, an eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:15), guaranteed by an eternal covenant (Heb. 13:20, resulting in eternal life (Jn. 3:16), and a welcome into the eternal kingdom (2 Pet. 1:11) by the eternal God (Rom. 16:26). This eternal Gospel (Rev. 14:6) should give us eternal comfort (2 Thess. 2:16)
The old testament tabernacle ordinances and sacrifices were just carnal things to point people toward the true spiritual truths. Now that Jesus has come and brought reality to all the O.T. types and shadows, there is no more reason to keep the old testament symbolisms. Jesus is now the High Priest of the true temple of God in heaven that was not made by human hands, but by God Himself. Those who cling to the Old Testament Laws and ways of serving God are either ignorant of the New Covenant or, at worst, dishonoring what Christ has set us free from.
Eternal Inheritance!
Hebrews 9:13-15 (NKJV) “For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”
Jesus “entered in once into the holy place” and “obtained eternal redemption for us” (Heb. 9:12). In v. 15 we see that He also “eternal inheritance!” A one-time sacrifice that works once for all! We can honestly say that the blood of Christ is the remedy for all our sin and all our guilt. It is possible to have a conscience that is good, clear, and perfect before God (Acts 23:1).
Many of us are condemned by our consciences for things we have done or not done. The only cure for a guilty conscience is the cleansing blood of Jesus, that cleanses continually, like a waterfall! Imagine being under a beautiful flow of living water coming from the top of your down to your feet!!
Once!
Hebrews 9:24-28 (NKJV) “For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another — He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
“Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9:24-28)(KJV)
Jesus didn’t enter into the earthly temple and sprinkle His blood on the mercy seat. He entered into the true temple in heaven and placed His blood on the true mercy seat. And He only did it once for all sins of all mankind (Heb. 9:12; 10:10, and 14). As far as God is concerned, our sins have been done away with. Our sins are no longer the issue. The only question is whether we will come humbly to His throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace (Heb. 4:16).
A second time refers to the second coming of the Lord, also referred to as the day of Christ (Phil. 1:6; 10; 2:6), the day of the Lord (Acts 2:20; 1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:10), the day when the Son of Man is revealed from Heaven (Luke 17:30; 2 Thess. 1:7), or the days of the Son of Man (Luke 17:26).
The original word for salvation (Strong’s Greek 4991 soteria) means deliverance or rescue. Jesus is the great Deliverer who rescues us from our enemies (Luke 1:71).
When He returns, He’s coming “without reference to sin!” Wow! All our sins – past, present and future – were dealt with once and for all at the cross and no further sacrifice for sin remains (Heb. 9:26; 10:18). When Jesus returns, He will not come to deal with our sin because everything that needed to be done was done at the cross. “For Christ also died for sins once for all” (1 Pet. 3:18).
A sign that we have not received His grace is we are trying to make ourselves right with God. “I have to repent and confess and deal with my sin.” Such a mindset reveals that we have forgotten that we have been purified from our former sins (2 Pet. 1:9). Our sin was dealt with once and for all at the cross and no more sacrifice remains. Jesus will never come and die for our sins again (Heb. 9:28, 10:18)!
The word for judgment means decision or verdict. Every one of us makes a decision about Jesus, and in the end, every one of us gets what we want. Those who desire life shall have it and in abundance, for Jesus is the Giver of Life. And those who prefer to have nothing to do with Him shall get their wish too.
This is going back to the point made in Hebrews 9:12, 15. Jesus was only offered as a sacrifice once, and He only sprinkled that blood on the altar for us once. There is no need to reapply His blood every time we sin. We were sanctified and perfected forever (Heb. 10:10, and 14).
In the same way that Jesus put away our sins completely, as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12), He likewise totally removed the Old Testament Law from us. We are not under the Law (the school master) any more than we are still stained by sin. Thank You, Jesus!
The Lord only told Adam he would die once if he ate of the forbidden fruit (Gen. 2:17). He did not die for each individual sin, but all of his sins produced one death. Therefore, Jesus only had to die for us once, and that one death purged us from all sins.
It is good for us, as Christians, to repent of individual sins. Sin gives Satan an inroad into our lives (Rom. 6:16). That’s not good. Satan comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). So, anytime we sin after our salvation experience, we should repent and remove that inroad of Satan into our lives (1 John 1:9). But that sin was already atoned for by Jesus. This freedom in Christ won’t make true Christians run to sin, but it will allow us to run to the Lord when we sin, knowing that He has already “put away” that sin.
Since we die just once, He suffered once, and that one-sacrifice paid for sin forever!! No more conscience of sins” (Heb. 10:1-2). The New Testament sacrifice could and did! If we believe the truth of God’s Word, we can literally reach a place where we are no longer sin-conscious. We would recognize that our spirit has been sanctified and perfected forever. God doesn’t see us as a sinner; He sees our born-again spirit and is pleased. Focus our thoughts on who we are in the spirit! Be conscious of righteousness!!
2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV) “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
You are not an old sinner! You are now “the righteousness of God in” Christ and can draw near to Him boldly any time you want! Jesus didn’t just take our sin figuratively; He literally became our sin. Then He suffered the wrath of God for our sin. He became what we were so we could become what He is. This called the Great Exchange! To say that we accept and receive His payment for our sins but then not accept what He offers us (the righteousness of God) is like saying we will take the heads of a coin but not the tails. They are both sides of one coin. You cannot accept one without the other.
Approach God through Jesus and what He did in your born-again spirit, saying “Father, thank You that through Christ I have boldness to enter right into Your very throne of grace because You have made me righteous!” You’ve been made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus!
Past, Present & Future
You’ve been forgiven of your sins – past, present, and forever! That’s what “eternal redemption” means. When Jesus died, He put a will into effect. “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10). We were sanctified – separated, made holy – through the offering of Jesus Christ once for all time.
It was God’s decision to sanctify us. We have been sanctified through the sacrifice of Jesus (Heb. 10:14). It is God’s will and Jesus’ body that sanctifies us once and for all time. Our part is to believe that Jesus has done it all (Acts 26:18). For the third time the “once for all” phrase appears emphasizing that Christ’s sacrifice was a perfect sacrifice that needs no sequel (Heb. 7:27; 9:12). Anything we might add to His finished work only detracts from its sublime perfection.
One sacrifice made us holy for ALL TIME!
But this man [Jesus] after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God….. (Heb. 10:11-14)
Hebrews 10:11-14 (NKJV) “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
At present, Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father waiting. But when the Father gives the word, he will return speedily to earth in glory (Heb. 10:37).
In Christ, we are 100% holy. Perfected for ALL time! We will never be more holy than the day we were placed into the Holy One! We are the temple of the Holy Spirit! In all history only one person ever succeeded in sanctifying Himself, and He did it on our behalf. “I sanctify Myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:19).
Christ’s one offering perfected and sanctified us forever! Your spirit has been perfected forever – for all time! You don’t lose your right standing with God if you sin. What a radical, wonderful truth for the church today!
Hebrews 10:11 shows that the Old Testament priests’ work was never done. They continually had to be offering sacrifices. But in contrast, Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for our sins and then “sat down” on the right hand of God. That position signifies that Jesus isn’t still offering His blood for our sins. He did that once for all time and is now seated at His Father’s right hand.
We need to sit down with Jesus (Col. 3:1; Eph. 2:6). This verse quotes Psalms 110:1 – “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” If there was any doubt that the “once for all” of Hebrews 10:10 was speaking of “once for all time” instead of “once for all people,” then this verse should clarify the issue. This is the same context, and this verse clearly states that Jesus offered ONE sacrifice for sins FOREVER.
David Saw It
When you are born again, you’re forgiven, cleaned, and you become a brand new person. The Bible speaks of eternal redemption and eternal inheritance. You’re sanctified and perfected forever! God’s Word reveals that your sins were forgiven – past, present and future.
David (an Old Covenant patriarch) saw prophetically the blessedness of your New Covenant relationship with God. Because of your born-again spirit’s righteous nature, the Lord no longer holds any sin against you.
Now that’s good news!
To jump to Chpt 8 – Standard Gospel Questions, Click here: https://www.newidinme.com/chpt-8-standard-gospel-questions/