THIS MAN. Hebrews 10:11-14 Priests in the Old Testament were always standing because their work was never finished. The sacrifices they offered did not take away sins but covered them for a period of time. When Christ came, He finished the need for sacrifices once and for all by the perfect sacrifice of Himself, so He is able to sit at the "right hand of God." The crucified Christ has sat down forever because of the perfection of His sacrifice. The crucified Christ is now the crowned Christ. His sacrifice, His blood, "cleanses us from all sin." Those who add anything to the work of Christ are rejecting Him. That would deny the validity and value of all that He did.
The Lord Jesus Christ has completed the work of atonement. When He said, “It is finished,” just before He dismissed His spirit, that was a public declaration of a spiritual reality. He has completely dealt with the problem of sin legally and forever. There are no more sacrifices that God accepts. Then He “sat down at the right hand of God.” That is the position of ultimate authority; there is no higher authority in the universe. There is nothing more to do, or that could be done to satisfy divine justice and holiness. He offered, as the high priest, a sacrifice sufficient to meet every need of every person, so that we can approach God. Of even greater importance, God is eternally satisfied with what He has done for us.
For anyone, especially the Jewish believers to whom this letter was written, returning to the old system of sacrifices is like saying the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross was not enough to satisfy God. Adding anything to what He has done diminishes the validity of what He accomplished there. Good deeds, church attendance, sacrificial giving of money, suffering pain, or any addition to the sacrifice of Christ is to reject Him and what He has done on our behalf.
Our relationship with Him is rooted in the sacrifice He made for us, which we gratefully and wholeheartedly accept. When we believe in Him, He makes us right with God. We are “accepted in the Beloved.” An indication of the reality of that relationship is the willing obedience and sincere service we are privileged to show Him. His laws are in our hearts and written in our minds.
The daily sacrifices offered by the standing priests could not remove sins. Our Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself as the one sacrifice for sins forever and is seated at God’s right hand, waiting for the final triumph when believers in the Millennium Kingdom will reign with Him. There are no other offerings for sin that are acceptable to God, and His offering has “perfected” His people forever. Our standing in Christ is secure. The “once” of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection settles all issues between God and us forever. The impact of His victory will last forever.
Also, His offering has brought us into the blessings of His own perfection. We have His life in us; His nature and life have set us apart for Himself. There are two parts to sanctification. Our standing in Christ is an accomplished fact—positional sanctification. The process by which our new life in Christ is shaping us to be like Him is ongoing sanctification. We are being sanctified, so we press on toward perfection, “the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
He has already made us complete in Him regarding our standing. We are being made holy in our state. He is "expecting" or waiting for the end of the age when all opposition to the effects of His grace in redeemed people will cease. Now, we need His daily intercession for our lives to be holy as we continue to grow and apply the truth of the Scriptures. He guides and disciplines us as we surrender control of the ambitions and goals we are striving for.