Perfected in Christ

Perfected in Christ
Words of Faith 3-4-26
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2026
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Hebrews 10
[1] The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming— 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. [2] If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. [3] But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, [4] because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. [5] Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; [6] with burnt offerings and sin offerings You were not pleased. [7] Then I said, 'Here I am— it is written about me in the scroll— I have come to do your will, O God.' " [8] First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). [9] Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. [10] And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Okay. Hang on. Let's go back for a minute. In chapter 7, the Writer argued for the superiority of Christ over the Levitical priests because He is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. In chapters 8 and 9, he argued for the superiority of Christ's priestly ministry based on a superior covenant and a superior sacrifice. Here, the argument is that the superior sacrifice perfects the New-Covenant worshiper.

By virtue of its anticipatory character, the Law could never make perfect those who draw near to worship. By "make perfect," the writer did not mean sinless perfection. He was concerned with that removal of guilt which makes free access to God possible for those who trust in the sufficiency of the Cross.

The continuous sacrifices of the old order, which are "repeated endlessly year after year," testify to the Law's incapacity to "perfect" anyone. Rather than enabling them to achieve a standing before God in which they would no longer feel guilty for their sins, the annual rituals, such as the Day of Atonement, served more as an annual reminder of their sins, since animal blood has no power to take away sins.

The Old Testament prophecy in Psalms 40:6-8 recorded the words of the One who would do what God really wanted. This psalm prophetically pinpointed precisely the work of Christ and some of Christ's words at his first coming.

There is an interesting phrase here that is translated as "a body You prepared for Me. "It is a rendering of the Hebrew expression "You have dug ears for me," meaning I now hear clearly. If God is to "dig out ears," He must "prepare a body." In the "body" which God assumed in incarnation as Jesus, He could say that He had come to achieve what the Old-Covenant sacrifices never achieved, which was the perfecting of New-Covenant worshipers.

Setting aside the Old-Covenant sacrifices, which did not ultimately satisfy God, paved the way to establish what God's will was. It was by that will that we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. The words rendered "made holy" expressed holiness as an accomplished fact. It is the same word that is often rendered "sanctify". Here it occurs in a tense that makes it plain that the sanctification is a completed and accomplished fact.

This is interesting because nowhere in Hebrews does the Writer refer to the "progressive sanctification" of a Believer as we sometimes think of it. The Writer is not talking about the gradual shaping of the Believer into the image of Christ here or the working out of the fruit of the Spirit. Here, sanctification speaks of a functional equivalent of Paul's concept of justification. By this sanctification, which is accomplished through the death of Christ, New-Covenant worshipers are perfected for guilt-free service to God.

So for you who are in Jesus by faith...Is God done with you yet? Certainly not. Are you perfected? Certainly so. Is God still working on you? Absolutely. Are you guilt-free by the work Jesus did so that you can come to worship? Lovingly so.

Father God, thank You for working in Jesus to perfect me for guilt-free service. I cannot really grasp the depth of that work. May I discover it more today than yesterday and more tomorrow than today. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2026
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
SUBSCRIPTIONS - To receive the Words of Faith devotion five days a week, send an e-mail message addressed to church.office@faithfellowshipweb.com. To stop receiving Words of Faith, send an e-mail message to the same address. The Daily Devotion and archive are posted at https://www.faithfellowshipweb.com/blog
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2026 Jeffrey D. Hoy.