Hebrews Chapter 10: Antitypical Sacrifices, Strong Admonitions
Nov 9th, 2009 | By admin | Category: Hebrews, Verse by Verse --Studies led by Br. Frank Shallieu (Click on Book name)The Christian is not thoroughly purged from sin in every respect, yet Paul reasoned that the typical Levitical sacrifices were much inferior to the atonement that Christ brought because if they really canceled sin, the worshippers back there would have had no further consciousness of sin. How do we explain this reasoning from the Christian perspective? The sacrifices were repeated in the type, whereas in the antitype, Jesus’ personal sacrifice was “once for all” (Heb. 10:10). The continuity of service back there was not efficacious, but Jesus’ sacrifice is ever efficacious, for those who use the robe of Christ’s righteousness to apply daily for forgiveness of sin are cleansed. Christians are assured from the Lord’s own Word that they get a purging, a cleansing, of their conscience. Thus the antitypical Day of Atonement sacrifice occurs only once; the bullock (Christ) died only once, finishing his course at Calvary, and the goat (the Church class) dies collectively only once over the period of the Gospel Age. When the Lord’s goat sacrifice is finished, it, too, will be “once for all.” Stated another way, the goat is a composite class, whereas the bullock represented just Jesus, the Head, personally. If we think of both offerings (the bull and the Lord’s goat) from a detached and finished standpoint, the Head will have been offered only once, and the body will have been offered only once. Because the one sacrifice of the Church has been stretched out over almost 2,000 years, the Christ class members have not been discerned and are described as a mystery: “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
