Hebrews 10:2 Commentary and Bible Study

Here is a wonderful test of the effectiveness of religion, of the ability of an offering to really take away sins: is the conscience of the worshipper relieved by that offering? If there is a sacrifice which is truly recognised by God, then it will also be applied to the consciences of the worshippers, and it will result in a subjective awareness that they have been forgiven. Though we are on earth and God is in heaven, he is able to give assurance that we are no longer under the guilt of our sins. He does this on the basis of his promise revealed in Scripture, which faith takes hold of and sees is genuine and trustworthy. If the conscience has been washed then all sense of guilt is removed. Consider how great a work this is. It amounts to us to be convinced that, while we are still on earth, something so far beyond our control has taken place in heaven: that the Lord over whom we have no power has listened to our petitions. What it is that convinces us is that God himself has initiated this and that he has answered his own law, he has satisfied his own justice; he has done something which stands up to his own infinite scrutiny. If we had initiated this, we would be in continuous doubt as to whether we had done enough, we would be ever looking to heaven for some indication that we needed to do more. But when God has designed the way for sins to be purged, and when he has carried out the work, and when he has raised Christ from the dead in confirmation of success, who are we to doubt the forgiveness of our sins?When Israel had their annual Day of Atonement the people should have known that those sacrifices had not done away with sin, because it had to be done repeated the next year. They should have said, ‘Because we keep making the same sacrifice, it is obvious that our sins are still there; they are not yet taken away. It is God who has commanded us to come back the following year and offer the same sacrifice again. He would not do that if sin was fully taken away by last year’s sacrifice. We must trust in what God will do when we repent of our sin, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin.’ They were taught that in ancient times, even though many of them chose foolishly to believe that those sacrifices accomplished their forgiveness. It is the sense of guilt still not taken away that drives men and women to come to God for forgiveness. If those sacrifices had really been effective in the taking away of sin, then people's consciences would have been truly eased. The sacrifice of Christ puts the believer in an entirely different position.