Hebrews 10v1 For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, [and] not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.
What does that mean.?
Have a good week.
5 comments:
I've also wondered what this could mean. It wasn't until I discovered what the New Covenant really meant until I payed some serious attention to this verse. I think it means exactly the opposite of what the church goes on about all the time: dealing with our sin. Rather, the Word says our sin has been dealt with. As soon as I try and cover my sin up with good works or good behavior, I've fallen away from grace - wow...that is convicting.
I also think it means that as Christians, we're to be Christ conscious, not sin conscious. This one is tough for me. But I find that when I focus on my sin and behavior, I'm never able to have relationship with God because I never measure up in the eyes of the law. So then as soon as I go back under law, I'm convicted as a transgressor. This is why we can draw near to worship with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.
If we have consciousness of our sin, then how can we have a clean conscience? It's funny... people have preached this to scare people not to sin, when it warns people not to go back under law. To paraphrase, I would say the Holy Spirit is saying "Either receive this abundance of grace and free gift of righteousness, or go under law and perish."
Amazing love.
This is a really great passage for us Christians to try to wrap our heads around, because I think it says what it means and means what it says... but what it says sounds too good to be true! :) And so, as Daelon said, the church has turned it around to make it mean the opposite of what it says. Imagine that. LOL.
I agree with all that Daelon said. Christ became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5:21). When He was resurrected, He rose us to life with Him and He came to live in us, to become one with us. Indeed I think this should lead us to a Christ consciousness and not a sin consciousness. :) That is hard for us to wrap our head around though, I'll admit, but the Spirit can do it in us as we daily renew our minds to the truth.
The verses that follow say a lot too. Heb. 10:3-4 "But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins."
Jesus, of course, did what the law and sacrifices could never do. The lawful sacrifices only served as a reminder of sins! They only kept the sin-consciousness alive. Isn't that what the law was meant to do all along? And they never took away sins. But Jesus is the Lamb of God who took away our sins (John 1:29).
Hebrews 10 goes on to say, "'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,' then He adds, 'Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.' Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin."
Woo hooooo! (Forgive me, my introversion turns into extroversion when I talk about these things!)
In this New Covenant, God not only doesn't remember our sins and lawless deeds, but our sins are in complete remission and there is no longer an offering for sin. The once for all offering was completely sufficient! And if God remembers our sin and lawless deeds no more...
Hello again! I just had a few more thoughts, as I was reading in Hebrews 9. I really hope I'm not coming across as preachy or as a know-it-all. ;) This stuff just excites me and I love chatting with others about it!
Heb 9:22-23 - "And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."
I think it's important that we understand the difference between the "copy" and the real thing. The earthly "copies," while purified by the blood of bulls and goats, were only temporary. They provided temporary "remission," but it could never be permanent and it could never take away sin, and again it really only provided a reminder of sins. And it only had to do with the copies of the heavenly things that were here on earth.
But the blood of Jesus was superior, permanent, and the real thing! As verse 14 says, "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?"
Hebrews 10 begins with sort of a summary, speaking about "the law, having a shadow of the good things to come..." The shadow, or copy, could never make anything perfect. It could never remove a consciousness of sins. But by the blood of Jesus our sins were taken away! Therefore there is no sin for us to have a consciousness of. :)
So why do we still do evil things? Romans 7 does speak of "the law of sin which is in my members." I do realize that some people, including Rob Rufus' son (Ryan?) do not believe in the doctrine of indwelling sin. They would say that Romans 7 is Paul's words about himself before he came to Christ. I fully understand that line of thinking, and I really do respect those who think that way, but I think otherwise. I'm always open to discussion on it!
Paul says in Romans 8 that "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. I believe this is speaking of who I am in the spirit, but not about the body in which I live. I know that my body (my members) is going to die. So in my body, I have not been set free from the law of death. In the same way, in my body I have not been set free from the law of sin.
I live eternally, free from sin and death, in my spirit, which I believe is the New Creation that God made me to be. But the natural law of sin and death is still active in my body, until I leave this body and put on a new one which will be free from sin and death.
To me, this makes all the difference in the world when it comes to having a clean conscience. In my body, I can still commit adultery, I can still steal, I can still gossip, I can still do all kinds of unholy, ungodly things. And I will still fall prey to some of those things as long as I'm in this body. But the grace of God teaches me to say "no" to all those things. Only the grace of God!
The things I do in this body may hurt myself and may not sit well with other people! Understandably so. But in my spirit - the part of me that is eternal, holy, righteous and clean - I've been sprinkled clean by the blood of Jesus and I stand before God as holy and blameless, and my sin has been taken away. I have a clean conscience because the Blood has made me clean.
That's my main point, really, and if you don't agree with me about my personal view of "the law of sin in my members," that's fine. :) I'm always aiming for mutual edification in the body of Christ.
Dear Joel.
How many times do I have to tell you that we love you sharing your love, wisdom and heart. So in the words of my wife, Shan, "Build a bridge and get over it" (now that is good advise).
I almost fully agree with what you have posted, but I must admit that I agree with Ryan Rufus on the point that we do not have a sinful nature..
Colossians 2v11 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ,..
But I think that we should have this as next weeks discussion.
Not having a sin conscious really flies against EVERYTHING we have been taught.
I think that between being threateed with loosing our salvation and always having to watch our sin, we have had very little time to actually love our Father.
Thank the Lord we are free from that and we can walk in the cool of the garden with Him
Bless you
Ok, ok, point taken. I shall act on your wife's advice and over it. :D
I fully agree that we do not have two natures... we do not have a sin nature. Our one nature is a nature of righteousness.
I think that where the lines are blurred for me is in speaking about the "law of sin which is in my members" (Rom 7:23). I definitely don't see this as a sin nature, but rather something that is at work in my corruptible, mortal body, as per 1 Cor 15.
At the end of Colossians 2, Paul talks about the indulgence of the flesh (and how rules and regulations are of no value against it, but only Christ). Then in Colossians 3 he goes on to say "therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desires..." etc.
In many ways, this could all simply be a matter of semantics. I think we all agree that we are righteous and that we have no sin nature, but perhaps the terms we use, and perhaps the way we see certain scriptures are different, in regards to the ungodly acts we commit.
In my current understanding of things, what I've said above is what I refer to when I speak of "the law of sin which is in my members." It's definitely not a sin nature, but something is still at work in me (in my flesh, not in my spirit) that would want me to give myself over to those indulgences.
I truly look forward to hearing your point of view, either here, or if you pose a question along these lines next week.
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