Why can't the law "make perfect" those who draw near to worship? The shadow, not the substance • Hebrews 10:1: “The law is only a shadow of the good things to come, not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.” • A shadow points to something real but cannot deliver what the real object provides. • Colossians 2:17 calls the ceremonial aspects “a shadow of the things to come, but the body is of Christ.” • Shadows reveal outline and direction, yet lack life, power, and finality. Repeated sacrifices prove incompleteness • Hebrews 10:3-4: “But in these sacrifices there is an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” • Constant repetition shows unfinished business—sin still stands between worshiper and God. • Hebrews 7:18-19: “The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect).” • Isaiah 1:11 records God’s weariness with endless offerings unaccompanied by inner change. Perfection defined: a heart made clean • Biblical “perfection” (Greek teleioō) speaks of completion, full maturity, nothing lacking. • Hebrews 9:9-10 says those gifts and sacrifices “were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.” • Hebrews 10:22 describes the goal: “having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” • The law addressed outward defilement; only an internal cleansing—new birth—meets God’s righteous standard. Christ fulfills what the law could only foreshadow • Hebrews 10:14: “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” • 1 Peter 3:18: “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” • 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” • Single, sufficient, substitutionary sacrifice replaces countless animal offerings, accomplishing: – Complete forgiveness – Cleansed conscience – Bold access to the Father (Hebrews 4:16) Living implications for worship today • Approach God confidently, not in self-effort, but in the finished work of Christ. • Reject any ritualism that tries to add to His one perfect sacrifice. • Continual gratitude replaces continual guilt: “Let us draw near” (Hebrews 10:22). • Holiness flows from a perfected standing: what the law demanded, grace now empowers. |
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