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HEB R EWS 9
page 1115
high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place,
and only once a year. And he always offered
blood for his own sins and for the sins the
people had committed in ignorance. 8 By these
regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the
entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely
open as long as the Tabernacle* and the system
it represented were still in use.
9 This is an illustration pointing to the present
time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests
offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of
the people who bring them. 10 For that old system deals only with food and drink and various
cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations
that were in effect only until a better system
could be established.
— promises —
from God
And just as each person
is destined to die once . . .
so also Christ was offered
once for all time as a
sacrifice to take away the
sins of many people.
H E B R EWS 9:2 7-2 8
Christ Is the Perfect Sacrifice
11 So Christ has now become the High Priest over
all the good things that have come.* He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in
heaven, which was not made by human hands
and is not part of this created world. 12 With his
own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—
he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time
and secured our redemption forever.
13 Under the old system, the blood of goats
and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could
cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood
of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful
deeds* so that we can worship the living God.
For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our
sins. 15 That is why he is the one who mediates
a new covenant between God and people, so
that all who are called can receive the eternal
inheritance God has promised them. For Christ
died to set them free from the penalty of the sins
they had committed under that first covenant.
16 Now when someone leaves a will,* it is nec9:8 Or the first room; Greek reads the first tent. 9:11 Some
manuscripts read that are about to come. 9:14 Greek from
dead works. 9:16a Or covenant; also in 9:17. 9:16b Or Now
when someone makes a covenant, it is necessary to ratify it
with the death of a sacrifice. 9:19 Some manuscripts do not
include and goats. 9:20 Exod 24:8. 9:26 Greek the ages.
essary to prove that the person who made it is
dead.* 17 The will goes into effect only after the
person’s death. While the person who made it
is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.
18 That is why even the first covenant was
put into effect with the blood of an animal.
19 For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood
of calves and goats,* along with water, and
sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all
the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet
wool. 20 Then he said, “This blood confirms the
covenant God has made with you.”* 21 And in
the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship.
22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly
everything was purified with blood. For without
the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything
in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had
to be purified by the blood of animals. But the
real things in heaven had to be purified with far
better sacrifices than the blood of animals.
24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place
made with human hands, which was only a
copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into
heaven itself to appear now before God on our
behalf. 25 And he did not enter heaven to offer
himself again and again, like the high priest
here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place
year after year with the blood of an animal. 26 If
that had been necessary, Christ would have had
to die again and again, ever since the world
began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age* to remove sin by
his own death as a sacrifice.
27 And just as each person is destined to die
once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also
Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He
• Salvation
HE B R E WS 9:11-15
Like a well-written dramatic masterpiece,
the entire history of the Old Testament
sacrificial system culminates in this
triumphant moment. But instead of the
priest shedding the blood of one more
bull, goat, or lamb in a religious ritual,
the Lord Jesus spills his own blood. On
the cross, Christ accomplished once
and for all what ritual sacrifice could only
prefigure—the cleansing and rebirth of
the human heart. Are you entrusting your
soul to the ultimate sacrifice of the living
Savior or to some familiar yet inadequate
religious system or ritual?