Hebrews 9 Devotional

A Conscience Made Clean

“how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!”Hebrews 9:14 (BSB)

Hebrews 9 walks through the old tabernacle room by room: the lampstand and bread in the Holy Place, the ark and the mercy seat behind the second curtain (9:2-5). Only the high priest went into that inner room, only once a year, and always with blood (9:7). By this the Holy Spirit signaled that the way into God's presence was not yet open, because those sacrifices could not cleanse the worshiper's conscience (9:8-9).

Christ did what they could not. He entered not a man-made copy but heaven itself, once for all, with his own blood, securing an eternal redemption (9:12, 24). If animal blood could make bodies ceremonially clean, how much more will his blood cleanse our consciences from dead works, so that we can serve the living God (9:13-14). Guilt that lingers after confession is not answered by more effort or more sorrow. It is answered by a sacrifice already offered, once for all. And the same Jesus will come again, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (9:28).

To think about: What past sin do you keep paying for in your own mind, and what would it mean to let Christ's blood settle it?