“This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings—external regulations applying until the time of the new order.”
- Hebrews 9:9-10 -

In Hebrews chapter 9, the author compares Jesus' sacrifice to that of the Old Testament sacrifices. Old sacrifices were given in the holiest way: "only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance" (7). But they were still incomplete and temporal (8-9). The function of the OT sacrifices was the model of the coming perfect sacrifice of forgiving sins of God's people. The old sacrifices should be abolished when the sacrifice of the new covenant comes in Jesus Christ. Christ's sacrifice is once for all. It is complete, perfect and forever effective.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we are grateful to you for offering the complete, perfect and eternally effective sacrifice for us on the cross. We praise your great love for us.