'Heb 9:15-22

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Sacrifice under the old covenant (Heb 9:15-22)

Under the old covenant, repentant sinners offered sacrifices for their sins, but the sacrifices themselves could not bring forgiveness. They brought no more than ceremonial cleansing. The actual cleansing of those sins depended on the sacrifice of Christ. Whether sins were committed before the time of Christ or after, the death of Christ is the basis on which God forgives them. Through Christ, God has made a new covenant, and the inheritance he promises under this covenant is one of total and eternal forgiveness (Heb 9:15).

An inheritance can be received only after the death of the person who promised it. So also people can receive forgiveness of sins only through the death of Christ (Heb 9:16-17).

Events at the making of the old covenant point to the necessity of Christ’s death for the making of the new covenant. The old covenant was established with sacrifices, though the ritual of killing animals and sprinkling blood was more than just a dramatic way of swearing to keep the covenant.

It signified also the removal of past sin, so that Israel entered the covenant cleansed (Heb 9:18-21; cf. Exod 24:3,6-8).

The principle of cleansing through sacrifice was basic to the old covenant (Heb 9:22).