We have seen how
the law is simply a shadow of the good things to come. Since it is not
the perfect form of these ultimate realities, the offering year after
year of these imperfect sacrifices cannot bring perfection to those who
come forward to worship. 2 If
they had served this purpose, wouldn’t the repetition of these
sacrifices have become unnecessary? If they had worked—and cleansed the
worshipers—then one sacrifice would have taken away their consciousness
of sin. 3 But these sacrifices actually remind us that we sin again and again, year after year. 4 In the end, the blood of bulls and of goats is powerless to take away sins. 5 So when Jesus came into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings were not what You wanted, 8 Now when it says that God doesn’t want and takes no real pleasure in sacrifices, burnt offerings, and sin offerings (even though the law calls for them), 9 and follows this with “See, I have come to do Your will,”[b] He effectively takes away the first—animal sacrifice—in order to establish the second, more perfect sacrifice. 10 By God’s will, we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus the Anointed once and for all time. 11 In the first covenant, every day every officiating priest stands at his post serving, offering over and over those same sacrifices that can never take away sin. 12 But after He stepped up to offer His single sacrifice for sins for all time, He sat down in the position of honor at the right hand of God. 13 Since then, He has been waiting for the day when He rests His feet on His enemies’ backs,[c] as the psalm says. 14 With one perfect offering, Jesus has perfected forever those who are being made holy, 15 as the Holy Spirit keeps testifying to us through the prophet Jeremiah. After he says, 16 “But when those days are over,” says the Eternal One, “I will make then He adds, 17 I will erase their sins and wicked acts out of My memory 18 When there is forgiveness such as this, there is no longer any need to make an offering for sin. |
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