Introduction: Have you enjoyed studying this series of lessons on the
sanctuary? The great news in this series is righteousness by faith! A
judgment is going on in heaven in which Jesus, our High Priest, is
presenting Himself as the sacrifice for those who accept Him by
faith. What does this mean for daily living? Our last lesson in this
series closes with a look at the relationship between grace, works
and confidence in our salvation. Let’s plunge into our study of the
Bible and learn more!
- Made Perfect
- Read Hebrews 10:1. What does it mean that the law is a
shadow and not the reality? (It means that it gives us an
idea of what God has in mind, but it is not actually what
God has in mind.) - Read Hebrews 10:2-4. What law do you think is being
discussed? Is it referring to the Ten Commandments? (I
think the Ten Commandments are a shadow of what God has in
mind for us, but here I believe the reference is
specifically to the sacrificial system.) - Read Hebrews 10:5-7. If God established the sacrificial
system, how could He not be pleased with it? (I think the
sacrificial system had two roles: to point to what Jesus
would do for us and to ( Hebrews 10:3) remind us of the
terrible nature of sin. I don’t think God was pleased with
the death of so many animals or the fact that it was not
the true cure for sin.) - Read Hebrews 10:8-10. Is the sacrificial system still in
place? (No. When Jesus died on our behalf, He set aside
the old system.) - Why is that good news? (Because Jesus died for us, if
we accept it, “we have been made holy … once for
all.”) - What does that mean – for you to be made holy
once for all? - Read Hebrews 10:11-14. Notice how this states things a
little differently. It tells us that Jesus has “made
perfect forever those who are being made holy.” How does
that clarify the question about us being holy? (When we
rely on Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we are
perfect. We are perfect because Jesus is perfect, not
because we are perfect people. But, this places us on the
road leading towards holiness – a decision to live a life
in accord with what Jesus has made us – perfect.) - Read Hebrews 10:15-16. “After that time.” After what time?
(After Jesus made us perfect.) - What happens after Jesus has made us perfect? (He
puts His laws in our heart and writes them in our
mind through the Holy Spirit .) - What does that mean – to have laws in our heart
and mind? (First, that we have a heart for God.
We desire to do His will. Second, it means that
we have made a mental decision to do His will.) - How does that accord with your life? I find
myself being attracted to sin. How about you?
(I don’t think the pull of sin ever goes away
this side of heaven. Romans 7:21-25 explains
the pull of sin, but also notes that we want to
do good. A heart for God means that we want to
do good even when our sinful nature pulls us
into sin. We need to make the mental decision
every day to live a life led by the Holy
Spirit.) - Confidence in Our Salvation
- Read Hebrews 10:19-21. What does it mean to “enter the
Most Holy Place?” (Read Leviticus 16:1-2. God appeared in
the Most Holy place – and sinful humans would die in God’s
presence. But now, we can enter into the presence of God
with confidence that we will not die because Jesus has
made us perfect.) - Read Hebrews 10:22. What does “our bodies washed with pure
water” bring to mind? (Baptism!) - Read Romans 6:3-7. What does baptism mean for us?
(“We are therefore buried with Him through baptism
into death in order that, just as Christ was raised
from the dead … we too many live a new life.” When
we are baptized, we participate in Jesus’ death for
our sins!) - Look again at Hebrews 10:22. What is a sincere heart
in full assurance of faith? (While we cannot earn our
salvation through our works, Jesus is looking for
those who really mean it when they say that they are
relying in faith on what He has done for them.) - When Hebrews 10:22 tells us that our guilty
conscience is something that is also cleaned, what
does that mean? (It means that you no longer need to
feel guilt for your sins. Satan is the accuser, not
God. God cleansed us and therefore you should accept
your forgiveness and leave guilt behind!) - Read Hebrews 10:25. What is the potential problem
mentioned here? (We all need to be encouraged in our
faith. We all need to be reminded of what Jesus has done
for us. We need to meet together with other believers to
be encouraged.) - What does that suggest about reading this Bible
study? (It means that just reading a lesson on the
Internet is not good enough! We all need to be
studying the Bible with other believers. We need to
be meeting to praise and worship God with others.) - Warning
- Read Hebrews 10:26-27. That got ugly fast! I know that
you probably sinned today. I’m certain your sin was not an
accident – it is not like you tripped and fell into sin.
You sinned knowingly and deliberately. Perhaps you did not
say, “I think I’ll sin today,” but your sin was most
likely not an accident. Should we all now be expecting
“fire that will consume the enemies of God?” - How could we snap so fast from confidence in entering
the presence of God to fear that we have become God’s
enemy? - How do we explain Romans 7:21-25? Was Paul God’s
enemy? - Read Hebrews 10:28-29. What kind of actions are described
here? Notice the “action words” – “rejected,” “trampled,”
“treated as an unholy thing the blood [of Jesus],” and
“insulted the Spirit of grace.” What do these action words
suggest? (This in not “deliberate” sin in the sense that
most everything you do is deliberate. Rather, this means
that you have rejected God. You have rejected grace. You
have rejected what Jesus did on your behalf. Your mind-set
is hostile to all that God has done.) - Is God being fair here? Is this really a quick and
nasty snap into ugliness? (No! Since God did it all
for us by dying a terrible, painful death in our
place, isn’t God entitled to be upset if we reject
His love and sacrifice? If we “trample” on His love
and grace? I say,”Yes.”) - Is there anything positive in these verses? (Yes. We
do not accidentally become lost. We make a decision
to reject all that Jesus has done for us. All saints
find that they are deliberately sinning. But, that
is not what I believe is being described here. This
is deliberately rejecting Jesus’ sacrifice on our
behalf and choosing a life of sin.) - What if you have a son, daughter, parent or spouse
who you fear has rejected Jesus; is there any hope?
(Yes. Notice that Hebrews 10:26 says, “after we have
received the knowledge of truth.” Most of those who
are rejecting Jesus now never fully understood the
truth. I recall at one point when I was a young man,
because I had been taught righteousness through
works, I concluded that I would never been good
enough and I might as well reject God. I had not
“received the knowledge of truth.”) - Courage
- Read Hebrews 10:32-34. How would you compare the bad
things in your life to this list? - Read Hebrews 10:35. What kind of confidence are we talking
about? (Confidence in God. Confidence that we are doing
the right thing even though it might cause us to suffer.) - Read Hebrews 10:36-39. What does it mean to “shrink back?”
- Read Revelation 21:8. Cowards are listed before murderers?
What message is God giving us in these references to
shrinking back and cowards? (God is looking for those who
trust Him. He is looking for the faithful who have
confidence in what Jesus has done for them. Those who are
confident in their salvation.) - Friend, will you determine today to trust God? Will you
place your faith in Him and His grace? Will you leave
behind trusting in yourself? - Next week: We start a new series of lessons dealing with being
disciples of Jesus.
