Jesus actually Saves
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[00:00:00] Uh, I'm gonna start reading in verse six, and I'll read down to verse 14. So Hebrews chapter nine, beginning in verse six. Um, and just to fill in a little bit of the blanks, 'cause we started this passage last week, uh, in the first five, uh, verses, uh, the author just lays out the tabernacle and the different furnishings and things like that.
So we'll pick it up in verse six. If you can. If you would please stand for the reading of God's word, and please hear this for what it is. The words of the living God. Hebrews chapter nine, beginning in verse six. Now, when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle, performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest once a year, not without blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance.
The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place. Has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still [00:01:00] standing, which is a parable for the present time. Accordingly, both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience since they relate only to food and drink and various washings regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. That is to say not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood. He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption for if the blood of goats and bulls, the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who have, who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh.
How much more will the blood of Christ who through his eternal spirit, offered himself [00:02:00] without blemish to God? Cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. May God add a blessing to the reading, the hearing, and the correct understanding and application of his word. Please be seated and join me one more time for prayer.
Father in heaven. Help us this morning 'cause it's a hard topic. It can be an uncomfortable topic for many. And yet, father, we wanna get your word correct. I, I want to get your word correct, so father guard your word this morning. And challenge us spirit of God, open our hearts, open our eyes, open our minds that we would be challenged, that we would simply take the text for what it says, that we would not impose our own views upon the text, but we would simply let your words speak to us, [00:03:00] teach us, mature us, for we ask it in the name of Christ Jesus.
And all of God's people said, amen. Amen. Hebrews is a hard book. Chapters nine and 10 are hard chapters, and I think that's illustrated by the number of evangelicals who actually ignore this book. Ignore the truths that are spoken of in this book. As I said earlier, uh, we're gonna start in verse eight today, um, and basically prior to verse eight.
Uh, the author has talked about the tabernacle, the original ta tabernacle that Moses had constructed in the wilderness, and he talks about the furniture and their arrangement. He makes some theological points, and then he talks about the priests, and he's been talking about the priests. And the point that he continues to emphasize is over and over and over.
Day after day, after day, morning, after evening, after morning after evening, the priests surrendering the outer tabernacle and they're performing the divine [00:04:00] worship. But only once a year does the high priest enter into the holy place, the Holy of Holies. And yet even that is only to be repeated. And so we'll pick it up in verse eight, but number one on your outline.
And there's a sermon outline in your bulletin. It's kind of a fill in the blank. And then there's another full page with some other notes I'll refer to momentarily. But number one on your outline, old covenant worship could not perfect the worshiper. Old covenant worship could not, cannot perfect the worshiper.
So look at verse eight. The Holy Spirit is signifying this, in this word translated signifying. It means that he is making it clear to the understanding. And something I said, uh, last week, and I'll say again this week, many, many, many Old Testament Jews understood the ceremonies. God is a master [00:05:00] teacher and we tend to, to look at the Jews and, and we act as if they didn't understand anything they understood.
And yes, this understanding grew in time. It started with the seed of the woman and then the seed of Abraham, and it grew and eventually they were waiting and expecting a Messiah. And when they came to the temple and they offered sacrifice, especially on the day of Atonement, many understood that it was pointing to something greater.
And so the author says The Holy Spirit is signifying this, the high priest entering into Holy of Holies only once a year, and then he has to offer blood for his own sin and for the sins of others. And he had to like incense so that the incense would, in a sense guard him as he entered in this holy place.
And I don't know what you think, but I think it would've been a frightening job. To be the high priest. I don't think personally, if the [00:06:00] high priest, whoever was serving at the time, if the high priest really understood his job, really understood that the day of atone, atonement was just pointing to something greater, really understood that God could strike him down 'cause he simply offering bulls blood.
I don't think anyone would've wanted it, but it was a calling. And the high priest would enter it once a year, and the Holy Spirit was signifying by this. Yes, the Holy Spirit was alive and active with the old covenant people. The Holy Spirit was signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed, while the outer tabernacle is still standing.
And that's why all of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, mark, and Luke, all of them, emphasize that when Jesus gave up his spirit on the cross. That veil that separated the holy of Holies from the holy place was ripped into. But listen to the words of Matthew. In Matthew 27, beginning in verse 50, Jesus cried out again with a loud [00:07:00] voice and yielded up his spirit.
And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Now, I don't know what that would've looked like. I don't know if somebody actually witnessed it to see it happen, but the fact that it was torn from the very top to the bottom illustrated, at least two things illustrated, that no man did it.
It's not as if there was an accident. Somebody fell against the veil and it ripped. It ripped completely into, and it was from the top to the bottom. It was heaven down. In other words, this was something God did. And when Jesus died on the cross, he opened up the way into that Holy of Holies. And now we're commanded in the book of Hebrews to approach the throne of grace with boldness.
With humility. Yes, but with boldness. Verse nine, which is a symbol, literally a parable. The fact that the high priest can only enter it once a year, it's a parable. It's it's trying to communicate something. It's a [00:08:00] type, it's a shadow. Remember what Paul said, the Mosaic law in the book of Galatians, where the emphasis is, the ceremonies, the Mosaic law was a tutor.
It was a guardian, it was a manager. It was a guide. It instructed, it taught the immature people of God and it taught them exactly what God wanted them to learn. It is a parable for the present time. Accordingly, both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience.
And I think Paul gives us a really good definition of what the conscience is. And literally the word, literally the word means to see with, we see with our conscience, we examine things with our conscience. Usually it's our, our inner self. It's our behavior that we examine with our conscience. In Romans chapter two, beginning in verse 14.
For when the Gentiles do not have the law for when the Gentiles who do not have the law do instinctively [00:09:00] the things of the law, these not having the law or a law to themselves. Now it's easy to confuse it. It doesn't mean they're making up their own rules. Yes, in part they are. 'cause they're rebellious.
But you gotta let Paul keep writing in that they show the works of the law, the works of the law, written in their hearts. Thus their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them. So that's how the conscience works. And the Old Testament system could not cleanse the conscience.
Yes, you might go to the Day of Atonement and you might feel better, but eventually it would set in, I have to do this again next year. My sins have not really been taken away. And you see that's the difference and that's one of the points that I wanna make this morning. If you are in Christ Jesus. Your sin is gone.
It has been removed. But that didn't happen for the Old Testament believer. They had [00:10:00] to still, their faith looked forward. Verse 10, it didn't cleanse the conscience because, or sins they relate only to food and drink various washings regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation. And again, I just wanna remind you.
Many of the people got it. Not everyone did. We read that in our Bibles. Clearly the Pharisees didn't get it. Clearly the priesthood at the dur at the day of Jesus Christ, they didn't get it. They didn't understand these ceremonies, but many, many saw Christ. Many saw the Messiah. Many saw the seed of wom of the woman.
Many saw what Noah represented rest from God. When they came to the temple, when they brought a sacrifice and they did it through the eyes of faith, they looked forward to the coming seed. They looked forward to the seed of Abraham, to David's seed. They looked forward to one like the son of man entering into the holy of Holies and receiving [00:11:00] a kingdom from the ancient of days.
And all of this pictured it and it did a really good job for the eyes of faith.
Number two on your outline. Christ cleanses the conscience. Christ cleanses the conscience, thus perfecting the worshiper. You see, he had the Old Testament system that pointed forward, that pointed to future realities, and now you have Christ who brings those realities, verse 11. But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.
He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands. That is to say not of this creation and kids, if you're paying attention, this is your fill in the blank verse verses 11 and 12. I want you to fill in the blanks on your handout. Christ appears as high priest. He brings better things.
He enters the true tabernacle, the heavenly [00:12:00] tabernacle, not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood. He entered the holy place once for all. Having obtained eternal redemption, and my mind immediately goes to second Corinthians. Second Corinthians chapter one, verse 20. For as many as are the promises of God in him, they are, yes.
Therefore, also through him is our amen to the glory of God through us. But I want to spend a little bit of time on verse 12 because we need to understand what the author is saying. It speaks of time and extent. The author says, once for all, he entered the holy place In this word in the Greek, it means one time never to be repeated.
Now, if you think back about what I said last week, on the Day of Atonement, it took five different animals [00:13:00] to picture what the death of Christ would bring about. Forgiveness of sins, sin being taken outta the way our lives being dedicated and made holy to God. Five different animals. Christ did it one time and one time only, never to be repeated.
And what did he get? What did he accomplish? And this is where I want you to really pay attention. This is where it gets really serious, and this is where some of us get really uncomfortable. Jesus obtained eternal redemption. Jesus obtained it, and the grammar is very clear. He secured it, he owns it, it's done.
And my point is Jesus did not make redemption a possibility, and that is how most evangelicals share the gospel. It's as if Jesus came and he made salvation or redemption a possibility. No, Jesus secured it. [00:14:00] That's what the words mean. He secured. He obtained, he now owns to give to his people eternal redemption.
Redemption is secured for those whom Jesus died. If Jesus died for you, it is not a potential. It is secured. Yes, you may experience it in time, but it is a guarantee. Jesus took you to the cross and it is eternal. And this answers another question that many evangelicals ask. Can we lose our salvation? And yet the writer of Hebrews describes it as eternal never ending.
You can't, if you have something that's eternal, you can't lose it. If you are saved, if you've experienced redemption. And earlier in the book, the author speaks of eternal salvation. Here he speaks of eternal redemption. It is never ending. It's not like you can [00:15:00] have it and then lose it because it's eternal.
Those who have salvation, it is eternal because Jesus Christ has secured it. And this redemption means liberation. It means that we have been purchased. We have been released, and we read elsewhere in scripture. And in the book of Romans, we have been released from the slave market of sin. And I want you to think about this for just a minute.
What did he purchase it with? Not the blood of animals, but with his own blood. And I just want you to think for a minute how precious. How expensive, how Inestimable, uh, I'm not even gonna try that. That word. How much value does his blood have? Is there anything more valuable than the blood of Jesus Christ?
You see, I'm just gonna be honest with you, and I don't mean to offend anyone, [00:16:00] but for us to ask, can I lose my salvation? We often think that's a humble thing to say. Yes ma'am. We often think that's humble. It's not. It's arrogant. It really is. It's equal to those churches that don't practice church discipline.
Paul says, if you don't practice church discipline, you're being arrogant. If you think you can lose something that the blood of Jesus Christ paid for, that's arrogance. At least at the very best, a complete and utter misunderstanding of the value and the preciousness of the blood of Jesus Christ.
He entered once for all, not once for everyone. If the Bible teaches that it's not here one time, never to be repeated. He obtained, he secured, didn't make possible, secured, eternal, [00:17:00] never ending redemption. We have been purchased from the slave market. We have been saved in Christ Jesus. If your faith is in Christ Jesus, those words apply to you.
Look at verse 13, for if the blood of goats and bulls in the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who have been defiled for the cleansing. Let me do that again. For the blood of goats and bulls in the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh. And he's again describing the old covenant system.
And what he's saying is these are outward, okay? The old covenant was mostly outward. We need to be careful and we can't fall into the trap to think there was nothing eternal, or I'm sorry, internal in the old covenant system that there was, that the Holy Spirit wasn't working in the lives of his people.
That the insides didn't get cleaned up because they did through the eyes of faith. But the, the system was designed to be outward because it was a [00:18:00] type and a shadow and a pointer. And I want you to hear the argument because what he's saying is it did work outwardly. These things did cleanse because God set them up to cleanse outwardly.
But verse 14, how much more. You see, he's arguing from the lesser to the greater. If the lesser worked outwardly, how much more? How much greater will the blood of Christ who through his eternal spirit, offered himself without blemish to God? Cleanse your conscience from dead works to the living God.
And I wanna spend a little time here. Kids, there are some questions on this verse in your outline as well, and I wanna say seven things about this passage that we need to understand. The phrase, how much more communicates certainty. Again, this is an argument from the lesser to [00:19:00] the greater, and what the author is communicating here grammatically and with his word choice is certainty.
It is certain that the blood of Jesus Christ is going to accomplish these things. Again, this is not a possibility, but certainty. Jesus went to the cross. He was, he died, he was buried. He rose again. He ascended into heaven. He has seated at the right hand of the Father, and thus, it is certain that what Christ did is gonna work.
It is certain it has greater value. It has a higher degree of surety. That's how this verse starts. What's, what is to follow? If you understand the words of scripture is certain
will the blood of Christ, and I've already talked about the blood and I just wanna remind you the preciousness of the cost, the perfect preciousness of this spotless lamb of God. How much more will the [00:20:00] blood of Christ through his eternal spirit? Now this is one of those passages that you can translate one of two ways, okay?
Without, you're not changing the text. It's not, it's just, you can translate it one of two ways. You could translate it through the eternal spirit, and if you do it that way, it might refer to the Holy Spirit. Okay? And if you want to talk about it later, I'd gladly talk about it. I think there are some reasons for not understanding it that way.
Or you could translate it through his eternal spirit. And that's how I understand it. And the reason I understand it that way is because it took a divine God man. And the book opens up in the first chapter, the first three verses, speaking of the deity of Jesus Christ. And we need to understand Christ had to be divine.
He had to be a man. He had to be a sinless man in order to be the sacrifice we needed. But in order to endure the wrath of God, the eternal wrath of God compacted into a three [00:21:00] hour period. In order to endure that, he had to be divine. And so I believe the author is, again speaking of his divinity, and hopefully you remember John 4 24.
God is Spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth, so to speak of Jesus as a spirit doesn't contradict anything in scripture. Jesus had to be the God man. As the God man with certainty through his own precious blood he offered himself without blemish. Two things to point out about that phrase, and this is number four of what I want to communicate to you, but two things to talk about there.
Number one, he offered himself. Jesus was a willing sacrifice. And so often, uh, we think, and we fall into this trap and unbelievers love to accuse us of this, that, you know, God the Father is this mean ogre like God, and he's committed some kind of cosmic child abuse by sending his son to [00:22:00] die on the cross.
That doesn't even come close to the truth. Because Jesus Christ willingly came. Jesus Christ was part of the planning committee to simplify it. When the triune God got together again, simplifying it, when the triune God got together before creation and decided what they were gonna do, they were all willing participants, and Jesus came to this earth.
Jesus became incarnate. Jesus went to the cross and suffered and died for our sins willingly and lovingly.
He offered himself. And the other thing I wanna say is he offered himself without blemish. And if we were talking about the regular animal sacrifices, we might translate that phrase without defect, but with reference to Christ, he offered himself with moral perfection. He offered himself with perfect righteousness.
You see, he had no sin and so he wasn't under the curse of the law. Law. And because he had no sin and because he wasn't under the [00:23:00] curse of the law, he did not deserve to die. In fact, if you think it through, he had to lay down his life because it was indestructible. He didn't deserve to die. He didn't fall under the curse, but he took the curse on our behalf.
So with moral perfection and perfect righteousness, he laid down his life. Number five. Who did he offer his life to? And this text makes it very clear to God, and hopefully you'll remember several weeks ago we talked about the atonement and we talked about different theories of the atonement. We talked about the lion, the witch in the wardrobe, and in that book, CS Lewis presents the Ransom to Satan Theory of Atonement.
This verse completely and utterly contradicts that Jesus did not offer his life to Satan. Like every other high priest, his sacrifice was offered to Yahweh. His life was offered to his father. [00:24:00] Jesus died for God the father, and only for God the father. Number six, Jesus sacrifice cleanses your conscience.
If you put your faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, your conscience is cleansed and grammatically, when you read this passage, how much more is connected to will it cleanse your conscience? This is a guarantee. The death of Jesus Christ brings about cleansing, like the Old Testament system couldn't.
And if you put your faith in Jesus Christ and it is true, saving faith, your conscience ought to be clear. Yes, we continue to confess our sins out of humility. Yes, we continue to confess our sins because we have violated a God whom we love, but we confess them knowing that he took 'em to the cross. We confess them in faith, knowing that they're forgiven.
That is not arrogance, that is faith. And yes, it can turn into [00:25:00] arrogance. I grant that, but it is faith. It is believing the promises of God. And so even when I confess my sin with a broken heart at times in tears on my knees, at times when I'm alone laying on my face and I confess my sins, it's still done.
If it's done in faith with confidence because my conscience is cleansed. And yes, sometimes I need to remind myself my point. My my, my point here is. It's done. He cleanses the conscience in John six. That, and we'll go visit that again momentarily, but what does Jesus say? I always do the will of my father.
And how does Isaiah present Yahweh? I am Savior. There is no other. He takes all the credit. He is savior. We do nothing. He secures [00:26:00] salvation. He sent Jesus to do that and Jesus said, I always do the will of my father, and thus the death of Jesus Christ cleanses our con, our conscience. That is a guarantee.
And what does it cleanse our conscience from? From sin, from Dead Works and because of sin, everything we do. Apart from Jesus Christ, apart from faith in Christ is sinful, is less than good. Even the unbeliever who performs a lot of outward good, it is sinful and grotesque in the eyes of God because it is not done to his glory.
So Jesus cleanses our conscience from Dead works, but he also cleanses it to service. He cleanses our conscience from dead works to serving. The living God. You see, if you're in Christ Jesus, you're alive. If you are in Christ Jesus, he has not granted you a dead faith. He has granted you a living faith. If you are in Christ Jesus, your faith is [00:27:00] alive, and like James says, and he does not contradict Paul, if you have saving faith, your life will demonstrate it.
And like everything else in this verse, how much more it's guaranteed. Your conscience is clean, sin has been removed, and you ought to be serving God. And if you're not serving God, you ought to be questioning, do I have saving faith? Because saving faith translates into good works. Saving faith translates into service, and this is guaranteed.
I believe this is what the author of Hebrews has written about. I believe this is what he's teaching. So this leads us to number three on our outline. And here's where it gets hard. Is the atonement limited? Is the atonement of Jesus Christ in any way whatsoever? Limited, or the word I like to use, is it [00:28:00] specific?
Did he die for a specific people or did he die for the entire world? Every man, woman, and child. And let me ask you a question as we start to look at this, because the author of Hebrews has answered our question and he's answered it in other places in the book as well. And I think this is a fair question that you have to deal with.
Will all men be saved? Will all men go to heaven? And when I say men, I mean all of humanity. Every man, woman, and child. And we all know the answer Hell is real. Sadly, and as heartbreaking as it is, 'cause we have family members that probably fall into this group or have fallen into this group, not all men will be saved.
So if not all men are saved, then in some sense the atonement is limited. It is either limited because Jesus died for a certain group of men, I believe scripture calls them the elect, or Jesus died for everyone. But it's [00:29:00] limited in the sense that it doesn't secure salvation. It's either limited in extent who did he die for it or it's limited in effect?
What does it produce?
What does the author of Hebrews teach? But before we go to what the author of Hebrews teaches kids, this is on your outline and moms and dads, it's on the kids outline for our sakes. Okay? So we need to ask a few questions before we continue. And the first question is this kids, was God obligated to send Jesus to die on the cross?
And I just want everyone in this room to think about that. Was God obligated? Was there anything in the character of God? Was there anything in the being of God that obligated him to send Jesus to die on the cross? Or another way of asking the question, did Jesus have to die? And the answer is no. There is [00:30:00] nothing in God's eternal being that obligated him to send Jesus to the cross.
Now, if you're thinking covenantal, and I hope that you are, when the triune God made the decision that we're gonna create, man is gonna fall and we're gonna redeem them and, and God enters into covenant with mankind, then yes, there's an obligation, but it's a self-imposed obligation. So the next question we would ask is he, is he obligated to die for everyone?
And again, the question is, or the answer is no. There's nothing in scripture. There's nothing in God's character that would obligate him to die in the first place except the covenant that he enters into freely and then to have to die for everyone. Which leads to my next question. What is the difference between justice and mercy?
What is the difference between justice and mercy? And we need to be careful here. And we need to be honest with ourselves. You see, when somebody sins against us, we demand [00:31:00] justice. When somebody cuts me off when I'm driving, I want there to be a cop around the corner and I want him stopped and I want him ticketed.
When somebody sins against us, we demand justice, but when we sin, we want mercy. We want grace. And sadly, for many Christians, this demand for mercy has become an expectation. We expect mercy as if it's something that God owes us. Justice is what we all deserve. Justice is what we all deserve. We are all sinful.
We have all violated the law of God. We deserve justice. We deserve death. Mercy and listen to my words carefully. Mercy is non justice. Mercy is non justice. It is undeserved and it is of grace, which means it is freely given, which means it is not an [00:32:00] obligation and it ought not be an expectation. But even mercy, and this is why I call mercy non justice, even mercy is not given at the expense of justice.
You see, God cannot because of his holy, righteous character, he cannot simply overlook sin and give mercy. In order to give mercy. Jesus must die. You see, when you receive non justice, if you're in Christ Jesus and you have received non justice. Jesus got your justice. Jesus took your justice to the cross, and Jesus paid the price that you owe.
And God's holy, righteous character demands justice. It does not demand mercy. That was a choice and he chose to be merciful. But even mercy must be founded upon justice, which Jesus accomplished at the cross. So what does the author of Hebrews [00:33:00] say? About the atonement of Christ. Number one, Jesus' death, propitiated the Father.
And I know we've talked about propitiation a number of times, but I think it's important to be clear. So in Hebrews chapter two, the 17th verse, we read these words, therefore, Jesus had to be made like his brethren in all things. He had to become a man. And we read elsewhere. He was made like his brethren in all things.
He took on the form of a slave, a bond servant. Yet without sin, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. And please understand, again, the grammar to make propitiation shows purpose. And remember what I said about John six, because I'll be reminding of you, reminding you of it several more times.
Jesus said I came to do the will of my father. And the father sent him to be the [00:34:00] perfect sacrifice on the cross to make atonement, to cover sin, to make propitiation. And the text of Hebrew says He made propitiation for the sins of the people in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The justice of God was satisfied.
Think about this, for every person that Jesus died for, God's justice was satisfied. He secured it, he made propitiation. This is not a potential. This is a real thing. Jesus makes propitiation so God's justice is satisfied, thus his wrath is removed. Thus, God is no longer angry at those for whom Jesus died.
The penalty has been paid, sin has been taken away for all whom Jesus died. That's what propitiation means. Number two, Jesus' death accomplished its purposes. Jesus' death accomplished its purposes. If you want to, [00:35:00] you can turn back to John chapter six. We're only gonna be there a moment. If not, there's a handout in your bulletin and what I've done.
And I'm looking for a better name. So if somebody comes up with a better, better name, you can tell me. But what I've done is given you, for lack of a, a better word, an explanatory outline. It's not a true outline of the passage, but I'm trying to explain the passage through this outline. So I just wanna walk you through John six real quick.
Now we're gonna get back to Hebrews in John six, beginning in verse 35. And remember we read this at the beginning of the service. Jesus says, I am. That was an a phrase that the Apostle John used a lot, and it was a phrase that referenced the multiple. I am sayings in the book of Isaiah, and when Jesus uses that phrase, he's claiming deity, but he ties something to the phrase, I am the bread of life, and because I'm the bread of life, he who comes to me will never hunger or thirst.
Jesus is setting up an if then clause. [00:36:00] I am the bread of life. If you come to me. If you come to me, then you will never hunger or thirst. And yet the Jews didn't believe, and Jesus makes that clear in verse 36. But you didn't believe. You don't believe in me. And again, the the wording and the construction, this is continuous, you continue to disbelieve in me.
Verse 40, Jesus answers why in verses 37 to 40. Jesus answers why. And again, this is troubling to so many of us. All that the father gives me will come. All that the father gives me will come to me. And the implication in that passage, and we know this because the Jews begin to grumble, the implication in that passage is you haven't been given.
You don't believe because you haven't been given, because all that the father gives me guaranteed will come. But you must be given first. And so the Jews grumble in [00:37:00] verses 41 to 43 and Jesus says, don't grumble. And so he gives further explanation in verse 44. No one can come, no one. And this is an ability term.
Nobody has the ability to come unless you see something has to happen for people to come to me. Nobody has the ability to come unless the father draws him.
If the father draws you, then you have the ability to come. But this is where we have to be really careful with the text because so many people will say, well, the father draws everyone. The father draws everyone. But that's not what the text says because if, if the father truly drew everyone, then we would have to be universalists.
Because the text goes on, no one can come to me unless the father draws you, and I will raise him up. Literally, it says, unless the father draws him, I will raise him up. It's the same [00:38:00] object in both phrases. If you are drawn by the father, you are guaranteed to be raised up, and then in verse 45, he explains it even further.
You'll be raised up because you have heard and learned from the father, and if you have heard and learned from the father, he will come to me. You see, Jesus makes it very clear. The only ones that come to him are the ones that the Father gives him, and he came to do the will of the Father. Last week back to the book of Hebrews, we looked at the imagery and the fulfillment of the day of atonement.
Jesus fulfilled it all. Jesus is the one who actually died for our sins and took them away. Today we've looked at the fact that he has obtained eternal redemption, and I tried to explain that in detail. How much more in verse 14, will the blood of Christ cleanse your conscious? This is guaranteed. What else does the author teach?
And before we take a step back, let's just finish [00:39:00] chapter nine. Look at verse 26 of chapter nine. Now, once one time, never to be repeated. Now once at the consummation of the ages, we'll look at that in a couple of weeks. Now, once at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifest to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And literally this word means. To remove it, to nullify it, and again, the construction is purpose. Jesus came at the consummation of the ages. He became manifest and he had a purpose, and his purpose was to remove sin. He always does the will of his father Sin has been removed. Look at verse 28. Christ also having been offered one same word once never to be repeated.
So Christ also having been offered once to bear the sins of many, and again, the word [00:40:00] and there's just not any debate here. The word means to pick up and carry away. Jesus came having been offered once to pick up and carry away the sins of many. He will appear a second time for salvation without sin. And most of our Bibles will stick in something like without reference to sin.
Why? Because it's gone. He took it away. And when he comes back for salvation, when he comes back for his people, their sin is gone. He whom Christ died for their sin is gone. His people eerily await him. Now, if you wanna follow along, we're gonna back up and we're gonna do this real quick, but in chapter one, verse three.
It speaks of Jesus and it describes Jesus. It says when he had made purification for sin, he sat down and again, the construction, when he had made purification, completed work, it's done. We know it's done because like no other high priest, Jesus sits down. He doesn't have to repeat his sacrifice. [00:41:00] The death of Jesus Christ made purification for sin.
Chapter two, verse nine. Jesus, because of his suffering and death was crowned with glory and honor. Again, this verse points to completed work. It points to successful work. You're not rewarded at failure, but if you succeeded. Your task, you're rewarded. And Jesus was rewarded with glory and honor. Jesus reentered his glory.
Jesus seated as the God man. Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father ruling and reigning the universe. Chapter two, four, uh, verse 14 Through J through death. This is important. Through death, Jesus might render powerless, and this is might render speaks of purpose. Through his death, he might render powerless him who had the power of death.
That is the devil. You see, the author of Hebrews makes it very clear, Jesus crushed the head of Satan. [00:42:00] What did Jesus promise? What did the Old Testament promise? The seed of the woman would come to undo the work of the devil, and he would do that by crushing his head, and the writer of Hebrew says That is what Jesus accomplished on the cross.
Chapter three verses one and two. Consider Jesus, he was faithful to him, who appointed him as Moses also in all his house. Again, a reminder, I always do the will of my father and Jesus is described as a faithful servant. Chapter four, verse 14. Therefore. Since we have such a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the son of God, let us hold fast.
Our confession again, it speaks of completed work. Jesus went to heaven. When he ascend or when he died. When he died and he was buried, he went to heaven and he passed through the heavenly temple, the heavenly sanctuary We've been reading about that he enters the holy. Place, [00:43:00] and then he goes into the holy of Holy where he presents his sacrifice and then he continues.
He doesn't turn around and go out like the high priest. He continues moving forward and he's seated on his throne at the right hand of the father, and it speaks of completed work. What Jesus came to do, he completed in chapter five, verse nine, having been made perfect, he became to all those who obey the source of eternal salvation.
We've already talked about eternal redemption. The same thing applies to this never ending salvation, secured salvation, chapter seven verse 22. Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant, and this word for guarantee means assurance. The death of Jesus Christ assures a better covenant. The death of Jesus Christ assures believers of something.
Many things, but in chapter eight, verse 12, the author puts it this way, for I will be merciful to [00:44:00] their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more. That is what the death of Jesus Christ accomplished. The promise of salvation has always been covenantal In chapter 10, verse 10, by this, we have been sanctified again, completed action by the death of Christ.
His people are sanctified. They're set apart. They're made holy. By what? By the offering of the body of Jesus Christ Once for all. So let me ask you a question, and let's just be honest with the text, as hard as it may be, based on everything we've read, based on everything presented in the book of Hebrews, based on John chapter six, on what possible basis could God send somebody to hell?
For whom Jesus died. You see again, there are two views. There are two limitations placed on the atonement. [00:45:00] Either Jesus died for the elect only, which is why none of the elect will go to Hell because there is no legal basis for God to send them to hell because the price has been paid, his wrath has been set aside, or Jesus has died for the whole world.
But according to the book of Hebrews, even if you believe that certain things have been accomplished, God has been perpetuated, sin has been removed, the father's wrath removed, the penalty paid in full, Satan crushed it is finished. He yelled on the cross. So if that's true, and if we haul to a substitutionary, penal, substitutionary atonement, on what basis can God send a person to hell for whom Christ has died?
And that's a problem. And I don't take glory in this, but that's a problem if you think Jesus died for every man without exception, because if he did, then God is sending people to hell for apparently no reason. Now, let me give you the reason and we'll wrap [00:46:00] it up. Let me give you the reason that most people give.
Most people will say, well, faith, they don't exercise faith so they don't get the gift. The problem is your faith does not turn on or off the work of Christ. And believe it or not, in most cases, the general rule is you must believe to be saved, but you don't have to believe. And what I mean by that is, what about infants who die in the womb?
What about children who die in the womb? Have they exercised faith? No. But if Jesus died for them, all of the benefits of Christ apply to them. In addition to that, and I actually went to the bank to make sure, just to find out if this illustration works. It doesn't matter if Jesus died for you and you don't wanna believe it or you don't accept it, number one, that's a sin, right?
But Jesus died for all sin. But number two, I went to the bank and I asked them if I had a friend that [00:47:00] was in debt. And he was in debt for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I could get ahold of his loan number, could I come in and pay that debt off? Would you accept it if I paid the debt off? And all three tellers, it wasn't busy at the time, all three tellers said Absolutely anybody could come in here and pay off somebody else's debt.
Okay, well, what happens if my friend comes in the next day and wants to make a payment? We're not gonna accept it. What happens if he says, well, I don't believe this happened. It doesn't matter because it happened. The debt has been paid. You don't owe anything. I can't take you to court for not paying and I can't take your money 'cause I have nowhere to put it.
None of this rules out the need for faith and repentance. None of this rules out required faithfulness. None of this rules out the necessity of good works. None of this doesn't weigh with the warning passages sprinkled throughout the book of Hebrews. I simply want to say this. [00:48:00] Faith, repentance, good works, faithfulness.
It's all part of the package of salvation. It is all granted to you in salvation. I have never understood why somebody who is a slave to sin, a slave to sin whose default position is sin, can all of a sudden one day wake up and stop sinning and put their faith in Christ. You see, the Bible says something has to happen first.
Ephesians chapter two, verse eight. For by grace you have been saved through faith and this not of yourselves and grammatically the word. This refers to the whole package. It refers to the by grace you have been saved through faith. It doesn't refer to just one element. It's the whole thing. By grace through faith, you have been saved.
And this has nothing to do with you. It is the gift of [00:49:00] God. And when God saves somebody, he gives you everything you need. Ephesians chapter one, to come to faith, to repent, to trust in Christ. I know this is hard for some of us. I'm just gonna leave you with this. What do the scriptures teach? What does justice mean?
What does mercy mean and what do we deserve? Let's pray. Father in heaven again, I ask that you would work on our hearts. I ask that we would be faithful, that we would go back to the scriptures, that we would look and we would really study these passages from the writer of Hebrews. What does he really say?
Did Pastor explain it properly? And Father, while this is a hard doctrine because we have loved ones that may not have faith in you, father, it is also a glorious doctrine. It is a comforting doctrine. [00:50:00] It is an assuring doctrine that you loved your people and you came to earth and you died for your people, and you secured everything your people needed.
Father, help us to understand your word and help us to understand it accurately. And father bless us as we grow in that understanding and help us to be willing to talk about this, not just to blow it off and walk away, but to be willing to sit down and allow iron to sharpen iron and to really comprehend this.
And Father, may it give us the assurance that is so desperately needed in our world. May we be assured of our salvation. May we have confidence, not arrogance, but confidence. In the completed and finished work of Jesus Christ for we ask this in his name, and all of God's people said, amen. If you take your hymnals, and again, if you're able.
