Christ, as our great High Priest, has lived out the truth to which the ceremony of the Day of Atonement pointed. He has carried His own blood through the veil into the presence of God, laying down His life as a sacrifice for us, providing a complete atonement for the sin of all those who trust in Him. But what difference should His work make in our daily lives?

Most obviously, verse 22 says that our hearts have been washed clean. That means there is no longer any need for all the guilt and regret that we have been carrying around for so long. But more than that, our bodies are also clean – we are no long under the power of sin, having to give in to temptation. In short, the good news is that because of the shed blood of Christ, we are forgiven and free.

And that means that we have been restored to a right relationship with God. As verse 22 says, we no longer have to be content with an annual ceremony, where only the High Priest can go into the presence of God. No, because Christ shed His blood for us, all who trust in Him have access to God all the time through prayer and Scripture and the sacraments.

So, if all of that is true, such assurance should affect everything we say and do. Of course we should hold fast to our confession of faith in Christ (v. 23), for why would we want to deny Someone Who has done so much for us (v. 29)? Of course we should stick close to other Christians, for who better to encourage us than others who have experienced the same love and grace, the same cleansing and forgiveness that we have (vv. 24-25)?

Of course we should be willing to endure the same kind of persecution and self-sacrifice that Christ accepted on our behalf (vv. 32-34). And of course we shouldn’t go on sinning deliberately, trying to take advantage of the grace of God to go on living just as we please (v. 26). In fact, our author reminds us that such callous presumption is deadly to our very souls.

So today, let’s live in hope and assurance and forgiveness and freedom – let’s live in the very presence of God.

Hebrews 10:19-39 (ESV)

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses.
29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?
30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.”
31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings,
33 sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
34 For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
35 Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
37 For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;
38 but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.