Hebrews 10:15-18 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
The Holy Spirit witnesses to our purified conscience and the confidence that comes from this. The Holy Spirit is the source of the purifying as we listen to the Word of God and apply it to our lives. The focus of this is Jesus Christ. In theological terms, we call this the “being.” The “doing” comes as a result of the “being.” The Holy Spirit writes God’s laws on our hearts. The author here links two important passages about the new covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-33 and Ezekiel 36:25-27. The author specifically quotes the Jeremiah passage but the link with the Holy Spirit can be found in the Ezekiel passage. The Holy Spirit brings the cleansing and purifying. Verse 18 should not be interpreted to mean that a person will never sin again after being saved and sanctified. It means that the sins that are removed and the problem of sin that is cleansed are gone. Jesus’ sacrifice is fully effective to remove sin. If Jesus’ blood opened the way to the Father, then several questions are posed: 1) Why would anyone get involved in sin again? 2) Why doubt the effectiveness of Jesus’ sacrifice by saying that people continue to sin every day in word, thought, and deed? 3) By turning back to sin and rejecting Jesus, a person cuts him or herself off from the way of salvation. The author has now come full circle by connecting Jesus’ sacrifice as the only way to the presence of the Father, and this is made effective in each of our lives through the Holy Spirit.
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