Hebrews 10 - Made & Being Made

You can do nothing to save yourself, but having been saved by Christ, you must make every effort to be holy.

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Hebrews 10 Summary

Hebrews 10 has three main sections.

First it emphasizes that there's nothing you can do to pay for your sin:

It's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (v4)

There's no amount of sacrifices you can make, good deeds you can do, or penance you can offer to pay the overwhelming cost of your sin to a Holy God.

This is why we understand that we're saved by grace alone.

Second, this chapter goes on to indicate the one and only hope that people have to be reconciled with God:

We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all (v10).

This is why we often say that our salvation comes through Christ alone.

Third, it gives instructions for how sinners who have been made holy ought to live. It gives us two key reasons we must live differently from the world:

- v19: since we have confidence to enter the holy place (God's presence)

- v21: since we have a great high priest (Jesus)

Dig Deeper

This final section of chapter 10 is full of calls to action you must heed since Christ has paid for your sins with His blood and brought you into His covenant:

v22 - Let us draw near to God;
v23 - Let us hold unswervingly;
v24 - Spur one another on to love and good deeds;
v35 - So do not throw away your confidence;
v36 - You need to persevere;
v39 - We don't belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

We confidently say that we're saved by grace alone, because of Christ alone through faith alone, but in reading a passage like this, it becomes clear that these divine gifts never remain alone, but must be coupled with hard work and effort made possible by the new life you've been given.

AAA Prayer:

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father who is holy and unapproachable by those who remain in their sin (v31)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will strengthen you so that you do not shrink back (v38-39)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: