Ah, now, we come to a most excellent and life-changing truth. Jesus Christ died on the cross, rose from the dead, and then sat down at the right hand of God. He sat down because His work was finished. In contrast to the priests who had to stand day after day offering sacrifices for sin (obviously because no animal sacrifice ever annihilated sin, and therefore had to be repeated over and over), Jesus actually accomplished salvation on the cross.
For this reason, the doctrine of transubstantiation (the concept that the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ and not only symbols of them) is an abomination to God. Jesus does not have to continue to die over and over, millions of times, throughout the world. On the cross, Jesus atoned for the sins of His people, brought in everlasting righteousness, stomped on the head of the serpent-devil, and destroyed him through death. He also freed all sin's prisoners who were captive to Satan, purchased eternal life for all who repent and believe the gospel, made us perfect, declared "It is finished!" and then sat down. Jesus finished the work He came to do; He has saved us and made us perfect.
The sacrificial system in the Old Testament only succeeded in making sin exceedingly sinful; it never saved anybody. The ocean of animal blood that was shed in the Temple never washed away a drop of human guilt or sin. It never made anybody perfect or holy or separate from sin. But Jesus did.
The life-changing part of this truth is that because Jesus sat down, we don't need to work our way up. What I mean by this is that because Jesus accomplished and completed the work of salvation, we do not need to work and do and put forth the effort to earn our acceptance with God. Jesus Christ's death on the cross "perfected for all time" all who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). We can tell if we are of those who have been made perfect forever if we are those who are being sanctified (set apart from sin) daily (Hebrews 10:14). Now this truth ought to alter the thinking of the perfectionist drastically.
Yes, the "bar" was set high; God's law required complete perfection. And through Jesus' perfect life, He cleared the bar, met all the requirements, and measured up completely. His perfect life earned all the promises of the Old Covenant.
Then, at the cross, there was a great exchange. Jesus took our place and died our death, thereby removing the curse of the law from us (Galatians 3:13). At the cross, Jesus took all our sins on Himself, and He gave us His righteousness perfection. There is no need to strive to become perfect because Jesus has made us perfect.
We indeed are to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling" (Philippians 2:12), and we are to "strive to enter His rest" (Hebrews 4:11), but these verses must be understood in light of their context. We are to work out our own salvation because it is God Who works in us (Philippians 2:13), and we are to strive to enter the rest of belief (Hebrews 4:3). In other words, we are to make every effort to believe the gospel and to rest in Jesus' finished work on the cross.
This past tense of salvation, that we "have been saved," that we have been made "perfect for all time" is a cause for rejoicing. God sees us through Jesus' blood and righteousness and counts us perfectly.
As far as God is concerned, those who believe in Jesus already look just like Jesus - really. Don’t laugh! OK, so you’re thinking that if this is the case, then somebody up there needs his eyes checked. You see what your life looks like-and it doesn’t look like any Jesus you’ve ever known. That’s where the second half of verse 14 comes in: "by one sacrifice Christ has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." It’s a wonderful juxtaposition of verb tenses allowing for two perspectives of the same fact. From God’s vantage point your transformation is finished. You’re perfected - past tense. But from your side, it’s a work in process. Present progressive tense. Hebrews pronounces you already perfect with a ways to go. Your experience just hasn’t yet caught up to the reality.
Dr. Daniel Harrel, Park Street Pulpit, Right-Hand Man, Hebrews 10:1-18, http://www.parkstreet.org/
Question 11. What are your final thoughts on the teaching of this day?
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Di writes, "I have already told someone that I had a lot to do today, and I have been in the habit of putting a ‘high standard’ for myself to achieve. I am never finished or happy with anything that I do, that’s why I am always worn out, because I never sit down and rest. Because of this lesson, my thinking is changing. I know that I have joy, hope, and a future in Christ, but I have daily been placing too high of expectations upon myself as if my life depended on my performance. Now I know I am perfect in Jesus...Praise the Lord! I will rest in Him today, and forever. He has completed my salvation. I will live for Him and not myself by His grace and power. This is a wonderful lesson for me today. Thank you!"
Mike L. writes, "This is amazingly wonderful news, I am made perfect in God's eyes because of what Jesus did for me on the cross. Like you say it's hard to fathom from my point of view because I am so far from being perfect it's not even funny, but it's not about me it's about Jesus and He is perfect in every way, He is my righteousness, He is my perfection and I will cling to Him until I enter the gates of heave. To think that He did all this for me is so overwhelming and wonderful, I fall more and more in love with Him every day! Lord Jesus thank you for loving me in spite of the ugly sin in my life, blessed be your beautiful name!"