The Perfect Christian

Everton Park - 9th July 2017 am

The Perfect Christian
by Ken Zylstra

Hebrews 10

a. The ineffective washing of animal sacrifices (verses 1-4).

• The blood of the covenant (Exodus 24:8)
• Ground Hog Day- ‘the reminder of sins’ (Hebrews 10:3)
• Washing greasy hands

b. God wills a perfect washing through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ (verses 5-10).

• Not a change of plan- God’s eternal will to cleanse sin through the offering of His own Son (Hebrews 10:10)
• Jesus’ ‘new’ covenant was not brand new- the clarity of the original text (καινὴ -‘fresh’; a renewed version of something old rather than νέος- brand new).

c. The perfect washing produces a perfect result (verses 11-18).

• Key verse- v14. “…by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
• “We live under grace; not under law”
• Law is ‘written on their hearts.’ (God gives them a heart to love his law- eg David- Psalm 119:27)

d. Washed clean but not yet perfected (verses 19-39).

• “Those who are being sanctified” are not passive in this process
• Note the imperatives in the passage eg ‘draw near’, ‘hold fast’, ‘consider one another’, ‘stir up’, ‘exhort’.
• ‘Sinning wilfully’ means to reject God consciously and determinedly – those who reject the knowledge of the truth in this way have no hope of salvation (vs26-30). This behaviour is a mark of an unbeliever or an apostate.
• The mark of a believer is a life lived ‘by faith’ (v38).
• The work of the Spirit in a Christian’s heart will see him/her living positively for Christ, rather than drawing back from Him and living deliberately in sin.