The Finished Work of Christ

Christ's Sacrifice Once for All

¹For since the law has but va shadow wof the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, xit can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. ²Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? ³But yin these sacrifices zthere is a reminder of sins every year. ⁴For ait is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

⁵Consequently, bwhen Christ1 came into the world, he said,

c“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,

but a body have you prepared for me;

⁶in burnt offerings and sin offerings

you have taken no pleasure.

⁷Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,

as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

⁸When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in csacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), ⁹then he added, d“Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will ewe have been sanctified through the offering of fthe body of Jesus Christ gonce for all.

¹¹And every priest stands hdaily at his service, ioffering repeatedly the same sacrifices, jwhich can never take away sins. ¹²But when Christ2 had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he ksat down at the right hand of God, ¹³waiting from that time luntil his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. ¹⁴For by a single offering mhe has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

¹⁶n“This is the covenant that I will make with them

after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws on their hearts,

and write them on their minds,”

¹⁷then he adds,

o“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The Full Assurance of Faith

¹⁹pTherefore, brothers,3 since we have confidence to enter qthe holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by rthe new and living way that he opened for us through sthe curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have ta great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts usprinkled clean vfrom an evil conscience and our bodies wwashed with pure water. ²³xLet us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for yhe who promised is faithful. ²⁴And zlet us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵anot neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and ball the more as you see cthe Day drawing near.

²⁶For dif we go on sinning deliberately eafter receiving the knowledge of the truth, fthere no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷gbut a fearful expectation of judgment, and ha fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ²⁸iAnyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy jon the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one kwho has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned lthe blood of the covenant mby which he was sanctified, and has noutraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know him who said, o“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, p“The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹qIt is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But recall the former days when, after ryou were enlightened, you endured sa hard struggle with sufferings, ³³sometimes being tpublicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴For uyou had compassion on those in prison, and vyou joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had wa better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has xa great reward. ³⁶For yyou have need of endurance, so that zwhen you have done the will of God you may areceive what is promised. ³⁷For,

b“Yet a little while,

and cthe coming one will come and will not delay;

³⁸dbut my righteous one shall live by faith,

and if he shrinks back,

my soul has no pleasure in him.”

³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.