The Grace Commentary – Your free verse by verse grace Bible resource!Hebrews 9

Hebrews 9:10

since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.

Washings. The original word for washings (baptismos) is related to the word for baptism (baptisma) and means immersion (see Heb. 6:2). To be baptized means to be dipped or immersed. See entry for Baptism.

Hebrews 9:12

and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

(a) Once for all. God doesn’t do partial redemptions. On the cross, everything that needed to be done was done and no further sacrifice for sin remains (Heb. 9:26, 10:18). The blood of Jesus completely satisfied all demands against you (see entry for 1 John 2:2).

(b) Eternal redemption. In Christ you are eternally forgiven and eternally saved. See entry for Heb. 5:9.

Hebrews 9:14

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

(a) The blood of Christ is the remedy for all your sin and all your guilt (see entry for Heb. 10:22).

(b) Cleanse your conscience. It is possible to have a conscience that is good, clear, and perfect before God (Acts 23:1).

Burdened by guilt we turn to religion to find relief only to encounter the ceaseless demands of the law. With religious zeal we try to make the guilt go away but it’s no use. We keep nine laws but break the tenth. We’re good six days but stumble on the seventh. No matter how hard we work, the guilt pile just keeps growing. The only cure for a guilty conscience is the cleansing blood of Jesus.

Hebrews 9:16

For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

Death. On the night before his death, the Son of God announced a “new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). He was declaring his last will and testament, a new covenant that would come into effect when he died.

Hebrews 9:21

And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.

Sprinkled. The tabernacle of Moses and the various implements and garments used in Old Testament worship were sanctified by the sprinkling of blood (Ex. 24:6, 29:21).

Hebrews 9:22

And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

(a) Cleansed. Old covenant cleansing rituals were a shadow of a new covenant reality; we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb (Heb. 12:24).

(b) The Law refers to the Law of Moses (Jos. 8:31, John 1:17). See entry for The Law.

(c) Forgiveness. The original word (aphesis) for forgiveness is a noun that is sometimes translated as remission and means a letting go or dismissal (see entry for Luke 24:47). Because of his great love, God chooses to remember your sins no more (Heb. 8:12, 10:17), and he is no longer holding your sins and trespasses against you (2 Cor. 5:19).

Hebrews 9:26

Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

(a) The consummation of the ages was the cross. The era of the old law-keeping covenant came to a glorious culmination at the cross.

(b) He has been manifested. Christ appeared in human form.

(c) Put away sin. As far as God is concerned, your sins have been done away with. Your sins are no longer the issue. The only question is whether you will come humbly to his throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace (Heb. 4:16).

A sign that you have not received his grace is you are trying to make yourself right with God. “I have to repent and confess and deal with my sin.” Such a mindset reveals that you have forgotten that you have been purified from your former sins (2 Pet. 1:9). Your sin was dealt with once and for all at the cross and no more sacrifice remains. Jesus will never come and die for your sins again (Heb. 9:28, 10:18)

Hebrews 9:27

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

Judgment. The word for judgment means decision or verdict. Every one of us makes a decision about Jesus, and in the end, every one of us gets what we want. Those who desire life shall have it and in abundance, for Jesus is the Giver of Life. And those who prefer to have nothing to do with him shall get their wish too.

Hebrews 9:28

so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

(a) The sins of many. Why does Jesus bear the sins of many (Is. 53:12), when his sacrifice was for all (Heb. 7:27, 1 John 2:2)? Jesus paid for all but not all receive his grace. Many do; some don’t. All who come to the throne of grace shall get grace, but not all come. See the entry for Matt 20:28.

(b) A second time refers to the second or final coming of the Lord. This event is also referred to as the day of Christ (Php. 1:6, 10, 2:16), the day of the Lord (Acts 2:20, 1 Cor. 5:5, 1 Th. 5:2, 2 Th. 2:2, 2 Pet. 3:10), the day when the Son of Man is revealed from heaven (Luke 17:30, 2 Th. 1:7), or the days of the Son of Man (Luke 17:26).

(c) Salvation. The original word means deliverance or rescue. Jesus is the great Deliverer who rescues us from our enemies (Luke 1:71). See entry for Salvation.

(d) Without reference to sin. All your sins – past, present and future – were dealt with once and for all at the cross and no further sacrifice for sin remains (Heb. 9:26, 10:18).

When Jesus returns, he will not come to deal with your sin because everything that needed to be done was done at the cross. “For Christ also died for sins once for all” (1 Pet. 3:18).

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Hebrews 9