The Book of Hebrews Contrasts the Two Covenants

It sometimes is claimed that sin was never really forgiven under the old covenant, that the purpose of the animal sacrifices was to point to Christ on the cross. The superiority of the new covenant is that now sins really are forgiven whereas before the sacrifices were merely a shadow of the reality to come. This is not a true concept.

While it certainly is true that the sacrifice of animals portrayed the atoning death of Christ on the cross, nevertheless sins truly were forgiven under the old covenant, according to the Scriptures. The entrance of the Israelites into the land of Canaan is a type of our entrance into the rest of God where all our enemies are put under our feet. Nevertheless the war conducted under Joshua was a genuine battle and there was a genuine inheritance.

Notice the following:

And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein. (Leviticus 6:7)

The Scripture cannot be broken: "It shall be forgiven him." This says nothing about looking forward to Christ. The sin was forgiven when the sacrifice was made. Amen.

There are many similar passages in the Old Testament.

The superiority of the new is not that now sins really are forgiven. The superiority of the new is that the power of sin is broken and finally the presence of the sin is removed.

The believers to whom the Book of Hebrews was written were experienced saints. They had been saved and filled with the Spirit for many years. Now they were lapsing back into sin. The Book of Hebrews was written to warn them that they were in danger of dying in the wilderness, so to speak, just as did the Israelites. In this case they would not be a partaker of Christ.

They were exhorted to enter the rest of God, the position in Christ where sin was removed from them for eternity. Every passage in Hebrews must be interpreted with this warning in mind.

Let us look at some of the verses of Hebrews that contrast the Law of Moses and the new covenant.

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? (Hebrews 7:11)

"If therefore perfection." The Book of Hebrews calls the Lord's people to the perfection of the new covenant. Is this perfection limited to perfect forgiveness of sins only or does the perfection include the perfect removal of the very presence of sin?

For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. (Hebrews 7:18)

The Law of Moses is seen to be weak and unprofitable. How so, if forgiveness of sin was possible? It was not weak and unprofitable in terms of the forgiveness of sin!

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

What does it mean to be saved to the uttermost? Does it mean to be forgiven for eternity so that it does not matter whether or not one is transformed in personality, whether or not a new creation of righteousness has come forth?

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. (Hebrews 8:7)

The Law of Moses was imperfect. What was it, precisely, that it did not accomplish?

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. (Hebrews 8:9)

In what manner did the Israelites not continue in the covenant? Was it that they refused to offer the sacrifices, thereby not gaining the desired forgiveness? Or was it that they practiced sin? If the problem was that they continued to practice sin, then the inference is that there is provision in the new covenant to produce righteous behavior, thus making the new covenant superior to the old.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: (Hebrews 8:10)

We see from the verse above that the new covenant, while it includes an eternal forgiveness of sin, is directed primarily at the creation of a new righteous personality, a personality that obeys the commandments of the Lord.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews was not warning the Jewish believers that they were not eternally forgiven. He was warning them that their behavior was leading them into the fires of judgment and that they would not inherit Christ-even after having been eternally forgiven!

Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (Hebrews 9:12)

The redemption that is through the Lord Jesus is intended to be eternal. It will prove to be eternal unless we neglect to press into the rest of God, into the place where we are candidates for the removal of sin at the coming of the Lord. If this is not the case, what is motivating the writer to warn these believers to exhort one another daily concerning the deceitfulness of sin?

For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:26-28)

At His first coming Christ made an atonement for sin. What, then, does it mean when it says he shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation? What salvation? We would expect the verse to say that Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many and by doing so He saved them. What salvation will come to us at His appearing?

We do not believe that the appearing mentioned here is Christ's return to the world. It says "unto them that look for him." We believe that the salvation here is referring to the removal of the presence of sin from those who look for Him, that there will be a pre-advent appearing of Christ to His Church to remove all the spots and wrinkles. It is the salvation prepared for the last time, the righteousness we are hoping will be ours at the appearing of the Lord.

For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (Hebrews 10:1)

What does it mean, can never make the worshipers perfect? It means that the presence of sin remained with them. Even when they were making their sacrifice they realized that they would be back next year with their offering for the guilt of their sins.

God desires that we come to Him with a perfect conscience, being without condemnation, meanwhile pressing forward to the rest of God. To continue in the same old sins and not enter the Holy of Holies in order to gain the grace to put our sins to death is to neglect our salvation, to not work it out with fear and trembling. We will not escape the anger of God if we do not press forward toward God's perfect will for our life. God wants the "comers thereunto" to be perfect! He has the power to make us perfect if we will keep looking to Him, not neglecting the assembling of ourselves together.

For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4)

Notice it does not state it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could remove the guilt of our sins, rather, the blood of bulls and goats could not remove the sins themselves from us.

The superiority of the new covenant is that it removes the presence of sins from us. It takes away sins.

And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: (Hebrews 10:11)

The Law of Moses forgave sins but could never remove them.

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. (Hebrews 10:12,13)

Christ's enemies are the sins that are in people. Now that He has purchased eternal forgiveness of guilt He is waiting for the Father to remove sin from the creation. The new covenant is superior in that it is designed to make an end of sin itself.

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:38,39)

We must keep on believing until our soul is saved, that is, until it is loosed completely from sin. What the term believing means is defined by the following chapter, Chapter Eleven. We find there that believing has nothing to do with religious philosophy (I believe this, I believe that, and so forth). Rather it concerns our heart's attitude toward God and especially our obedience to His revealed will.

Do we who believe draw back or do we keep on pressing forward to the rest of God? To draw back means to cease pressing forward to the rest of God. Even though we have been eternally redeemed, if we draw back from following the Lord our end will be destruction.

We are commanded by the Book of Hebrews to press forward to the rest of God, that is, to the place where all our enemies have been put under our feet and we are in the Sabbath rest of God's perfect will.

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. (Hebrews 4:1)

Since some of the verses of Hebrews, Chapter Seven through Ten could be interpreted to mean the new covenant is a kind of super-forgiveness, we must remind ourselves of the passages that clearly are speaking about godly behavior, and that the penalty for not behaving in a godly manner is destruction, not salvation in the Day of the Lord.

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)

Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. (Hebrews 12:16,17)

Bible scholars who are attempting to prove that no believer need have any fear of being rejected because of his behavior (because he is saved by grace alone and not by works, as the current deception goes) are maintaining that if a person fornicates he is not a true Christian.

Their position is weak on two counts. First, numerous Christians fornicate. Are we to say they are not genuine Christians?

Second, this position proves our point that Christians are known by righteous conduct, not by an abstract grace unrelated to behavior.

Another passage of Hebrews that demonstrates beyond doubt that the believer who does not move forward in the practice of righteousness is facing dire consequences is as follows:

For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned. (Hebrews 6:7,8)

The above passage means that if the believer is not growing in righteous conduct he is liable to be rejected by the Lord and is near to cursing. His end will be fiery destruction, just as the Lord Jesus warned us concerning the branch in Him that did not bear fruit.

How modern teachers answer these passages we do not know. Hopefully the eyes of many of God's leaders will be opened to the word of righteousness in the days to come. Otherwise the harvest of the present generation will be tragic.

The new covenant is a superior covenant, not because it forgives sin nor because the worshiper need not return again and again with his offering but because it contains the authority and power to make an end of sin.

The new covenant makes an end of the power of sin as we call upon God to help us put to death the unclean urges that reside in our flesh.

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13)

The Lord Jesus will come and remove the presence of sin from those who are looking for Him. This salvation will take place in the last days. We must be eligible and competent for such total deliverance by turning away from the world, by taking up our cross and following the Lord in stern obedience to the Father, and by putting to death through the Spirit the unholy, unrighteous tendencies of our fallen nature.

If we do not obey the commandments of the Lord and His Apostles we will not inherit the Kingdom of God, which is another way of saying we will not be candidates for the removal of the presence of sin from us in the Day of the Lord.

The new covenant delivers us from the guilt, the compulsive power, and the presence of sin. Because of this total deliverance the new covenant is superior to the Law of Moses.