Grace For Your Day October 31

October 31st, 2022

As we continue our journey through the Book of Hebrews, this week we come to Hebrews 10:4 which says:

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

This is a very interesting passage because it raises several questions like: Does this mean that the saints in the Old Testament were not saved? Does it imply that those who sacrificed bulls and goats were wrong? If so, why did God command them to do it in the first place? What was the purpose of them? To answer these questions, A. W. Pink gives the following answer in his Commentary on Hebrews:

"The blood of animals offered in sacrifice was designed of God to represent the way in which sin was to be removed, but not by itself to effect it. Nor did it give the idea that it should. It was impossible for any mere creature to satisfy the demands of the all-mighty Governor of the universe. How could sin be removed by the use of such beggarly means as the death of an animal?

The highest angel could never have adequately made compensation for the tremendous wrong which sin had done, nor repair the loss of God’s manifestative glory . . . Far less could the blood of beasts vindicate the honor of an infinite Majesty, pacify His righteous wrath, meet the requirements of His holy law, and cleanse the conscience and heart of man.

The blood of bulls and goats were external, earthly, and carnal things; but to take away sin was an internal, divine, and spiritual matter. Though the Levitical sacrifices possessed, by God’s institution, efficacy to remove an outward and ceremonial defilement, they could not take away an inward and moral pollution . . .

Are we to conclude that none of the Old Testament saints had a perfect and permanent standing before God? No, indeed, for such an inference would manifestly clash with many plain Old Testament passages and with the promises which the people had under the Old Covenant. The writer is not here denying absolutely that no one had spiritual access to God and real peace before Him in the days of Israel, but is merely affirming that such blessings could not be secured by means of the Levitical sacrifices alone."

A. W. Pink is correct because the Old Testament sacrificial system alone could not atone for sin. We needed something greater than that and what is what the Lord has provided in the sacrifice of Christ which we will be studying this week as a church. We will be learning what Hebrews 10:14 means when it says: “For by one offering [Jesus] has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (10:14). In other words, God did not perfect us for all time through the death of animals. He did it through the death of His Son.

Please join us as we study this exciting chapter of the Bible together. It is a reminder that we
have all that we need in Christ as believers. We do not need to look for another sacrifice in order to be saved. We do not have to find salvation through the mass or confession or the sacraments or baptism or getting sprinkled or taking communion or any other outward deed that we can think of. We can just rest in the finished work of Christ. I look forward to talking about that with you over the weekend. May the Lord bless you and keep you until then!

– Jeremy Cagle

Posted in Grace For Your Day
Posted in Grace For Your Day, Grace Fellowship Church Chilliwack