The Typical Sacrifice. Heb. 10:1–4 continues. (103)
“Perfection” means the bringing of a thing to that completeness of condition designed for it. Doctrinally, the production of a satisfactory and final relationship between God and His people. It speaks of that unchanging standing in the favor and blessing of God which Christ has secured for His saints. There should be no guilt of transgression resting upon us, but full, flawless, and rewardable obedience to our account. It is impossible for the slaying of beasts to secure this. The “comers thereunto” are defined in Lev. 1:2 as “the worshippers”. Why did God appoint unto Israel sacrifices so ineffectual? Though the Levitical offerings failed to procure an eternal redemption, they were by no means useless and without value. First, they served to keep in the minds of Israel the fact that God is ineffably holy and will not tolerate evil. They were constantly reminded that the wages of sin is death. They were taught thereby that a constant acknowledgement of their sins was imperative if communion with the Lord was to be maintained. Secondly, by means of these types and shadows God was pointing out to them the direction from which true salvation must come, namely, in a sinless Victim enduring in their stead the righteous penalty which their sins called for. They were to look forward in faith to the time when the Redeemer should appear, and the great Sacrifice be offered for the sins of His people. Third, there was an efficacy in the Old Testament sacrifices to remove temporal judgment, to give ceremonial ablution, and to maintain external fellowship with Jehovah. They who despised the sacrifices were “cut off” or excommunicated; but those who offered them maintained their place in the congregation of the Lord. It must be noted that, in our coming to God, as worshippers, the first qualification in us is that we are legitimately assured of the perfect expiation (cancellation) of our sins. No guilty person can stand before Him. The very first things proposed to us in the Gospel are that we own our undone condition, judge ourselves unsparingly, turn from our sins, and appropriate to our deep need the grace of God as it is tendered to us in Jesus Christ. Only as the heart is truly contrite and faith lays hold of the atoning blood of the Lamb, is any sinner entitled to draw nigh unto the Holy One. Pink Arhtur W
- “For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins” (v. 2). The purifying effects the sacrifice upon the worshipper is in view. The expressions “once purged” and “no more conscience of sins.” In like manner, the principal thing in the verses which follow is the setting forth of what Christ’s atonement has secured for His people: see vv. 10, 14, 19. For then would they not have ceased to be offered?” “That which makes perfect ceaseth when it hath made perfect; but the sacrifices which were offered year by year, ceased not; therefore, they could not have made perfect” (William Gouge). There was a defect in the sacrifices themselves, as will be seen more plainly when we reach v. 4; they were altogether inadequate for meeting the infinite demands of God, they were altogether insufficient to compensate for the wrong done to God’s manifestative glory and could not repair the loss of His honor. None save a sacrifice which possessed intrinsic merits, having an infinite value, could make real and final satisfaction. That Sacrifice has been offered, and so perfect is it that it stands in no need of addition. The Atonement of Christ is of perpetual efficacy unto God and is ever available to faith. No matter how often application be made unto it, its power never wanes and its preciousness never diminishes.
- “Because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.” The application of Christ’s sacrifice to our souls and consciences, whereby they are cleansed, renewed, and changed. It is the purging of sin as takes away its condemning power from the conscience. The Levitical sacrifices failed to do this, as the next verse shows. “No more conscience of sins.” This does not mean that the one who has been “purged” or justified has no further consciousness of sins, for no one is more painfully aware of them and of the indwelling “flesh” than is a regenerated soul.
- “No more conscience of sins” signifies freedom from an apprehensive or terrifying sense of what they deserved. It means complete deliverance from the fear of God’s ever imputing them to us. It is the blessed recognition that “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” Rom. 8:1. Faith has laid hold on the efficacy of the blood of Christ as having satisfied His every demand: “By one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified” Heb. 10:14, thereby providing for them such stable peace and consolation as that they need not a fresh sacrifice to be made for them day by day Ps. 103:12, Is. 43:25; 44:22, Mic. 7:19, Jer. 50:20
