# 17 2020 Dev. Hebrews 8:12. Forgiveness! Read all of Ch. 8,9,10. The purpose of these devotionals is to draw closer to God and grow spiritually by applying His Word to our daily living. All passages are taken from the NIV.
Heb. 8:12 “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
We are taking these three chapters at one time because the author is using the proven method of instruction, known as repetition. At the same time, he is going deeper into the theme of Jesus as our High Priest and the Mediator of the New Covenant. The author is is writing to Jewish Christians who are being influenced by Judaizers; those who wanted to Judaize the Gospel. The New Covenant (New Testament) is like the Old Covenant but that Jesus is High Priest, Mediator and is the one time and only sacrifice that is required for the forgiveness of sins. This was already prophesied in the Old Testament; you can read it in Heb. 8:7-13 where the author quotes Jer. 31:31-34.
Chapter 9 compares worship in the earthly tabernacle(vs.1-10) with the worship in the heavenly temple (vs.11- 28). The end result is; “Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” For followers of Jesus, Jesus has taken upon himself our judgment, sanctifying our souls. When He comes again our bodies will be renewed to immortal bodies reuniting body and soul once again, completing our salvation.
Chapter 10 again emphasizes faith, pointing back to Ch.9: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” If faith is needed it is now in the face of the uncertainty, we face at this time. We need to look past this disturbing virus situation and we need to look past this present life; this world is not our home, we “need to persevere, for, in just a little while he who is coming will come and will not delay but my righteous one will live by faith”.
The author of Hebrews gives us the heavenly view that followers of Jesus must always keep ahead of them: whatever happens is for our good and for the building of the Kingdom of God. Praise God, He is in control, Amen!
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