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Letter to the Hebrews

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 10, 1890

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 16, No. 10.

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Letter to the Hebrews.

CHAPTER 10: 10-20.

(Lesson 25, March 22, 1890.)
1. FOR what did Christ take away the sacrifices of the law of Moses?
2. What do we learn in the Scriptures is the will of God?
3. What is done for us by this will? Heb. 10:10.
4. What is the law called in Ps. 119:142?
5. What did the Lord Jesus say in his prayer for our sanctification? John 17:17.
6. Is the truth necessary for our sanctification? Ans.—It is; error, however fine in appearance, however firmly believed, has no sanctifying influence.
7. Are we sanctified by hearing the truth? Compare John 3:19; 15:22; Matt. 7:26, 27.
8. Are we sanctified by believing the truth? James 2:14, 17, 20, 26.
9. What is necessary in order to be sanctified through the truth? 1 Peter 1:22.
10. Can all truth be obeyed? Ans.—It cannot. To be obeyed it must be in the form of law. There can be no obedience where there is nothing commanded.
11. Is that truth sanctifying which does not call for obedience? James 2:19.
12. Is it therefore of no profit because it will not sanctify? See note.
13. What did God say the children of Israel should be if they would keep his commandments? Ex. 19:6.
14. Can we, then, be sanctified by our obedience to the law? Ans.—We cannot. See note.
15. How does Paul say that we are sanctified by the will of God? Heb. 10:10. Compare 2 Tim. 3:15.
16. After our High Priest offered his sacrifice, where did he go? Heb. 10:12.
17. What is he expecting—waiting for? Verse 13.
18. Who puts his enemies under his feet? Ps. 110:1. Compare 1 Cor. 15:27, 28.
19. Where have we liberty to enter? Heb. 10:19.
20. What is meant by the holiest? Ans.—It is, literally, the holies, that is, the heavenly sanctuary.
21. By what means do we enter there?—Id.
22. Do we enter there actually, or in person? Ans.—No; we enter in the person of our Priest, as a man is said to appear in court when his advocate is there for him.
23. By what manner of way do we enter there? Verse 20.
24. With what is the new and living way in contrast? Ans.—With the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, which were dead when their blood was offered in the sanctuary.
25. What is that way?—Id. See note.

NOTES.

By 2 Tim. 3:16, 17 we learn that all truth is profitable, but truths are not all of the same nature, and are not all equally profitable. Some truths are primary, some are secondary. In James 2:19 we are told that we do well if we believe that there is one God; that is a very important truth, which, unfortunately, some nations of the earth have entirely forgotten. But it does not call for obedience—nobody can obey an abstract statement of that kind. It only calls for belief. And the demons believe it, and they remain demons still, even though they tremble before that truth. They are not sanctified by their belief, because it works no change of character; it is dead. But he who does the will of that one God is sanctified thereby, because he thereby forms a character in harmony with that will. While the law of God is that primary truth, which directly sanctifies, other truth is secondary; it can only work indirectly in our sanctification. But it leads toward sanctification, even indirectly, only when it leads us toward the law—to the way of obedience.
WE could be sanctified by obedience to the law if we had never forfeited our justification and destroyed our ability by disobedience. Instead of now being justified by the law, we already stand condemned, for we have all disobeyed it. Rom. 3:9, 19, 23. Sin has perverted our natures, so that alone we can do nothing. John 15:5. But that does not destroy the fact that the law is perfect, and is justifying in its nature. That the law cannot justify us is not the fault of the law—it is our own fault. The law did not fail in the fall of man; the law does not become sin because we sin. Rom. 7:7-14. The law is the measure and rule of the righteousness of God; it witnesses to that righteousness. Rom. 3:21. By our fall we are far below the righteousness of the law, and we are now dependent upon another to raise us up to where its righteousness may be fulfilled in us. Rom. 8:4. THERE is a fund of instruction in this expressionin Heb. 10:20. It is not a "way of life," as some have construed it, but a way ever new, ever living. Our Sacrifice is alive forever, and his blood is ever fresh, precious, incorruptible. 1 Peter 1:18, 19. This great truth is denied by the Catholics by their doctrine of transubstantiation. They affirm that there is no sacrifice now available for man, except upon their altars, where the wafer and wine are turned into the actual body and blood of Christ. In that doctrine the sacrifice of Christ is not even new, but needs ever to be renewed; the body and blood need a constant re-creating. By it the contrast between the daily offerings of the old law, and the one offering of Christ, is utterly destroyed.