Infinite Redeemer (Hebrews 7:23-28)
I have a confession to make—I’m a “perfect” perfectionist. In fact, after we were first married, things were bad. Tammy sent me to a doctor and a therapist, and I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
That diagnosis didn’t shock my family and friends at all. You see, one summer when I was home from college, my grades for the previous semester arrived in the mail. I had 4 or 5 A’s, along with an A- and a B+. My poor mother made the fatal mistake of telling me how proud she was of me. I bit her head off and told her there was no reason to be proud of me—I didn’t get straight A’s.
You need to ask Tammy about how I fixed my hair before the chlorine ruined it, because she used to laugh and laugh at me. I used just the right amount of hair gel and then I spent 30 minutes or so with a blow-dryer making sure every single hair was in place. I wouldn’t leave the house with a single hair out of place.
I’m sure a few of you are perfectionists, too. Maybe you hate being late for an appointment. Perhaps you always doublechecked your work. You might keep your house immaculately clean or maybe you wash your car a couple times a week or you make sure there is nothing out of place in your yard. You might spend a lot of time in front of a mirror making sure you look just right before you leave the house.
I hate to break it to you, but you’re not perfect. As much as it pains me to say it, I am not perfect. However, Jesus Christ is perfect: “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Pet 2:22). This morning’s text makes clear: “Jesus is the perfect high priest.”
Scripture (Hebrews 7:23-28)
verses 23-24:
Under the Old Testament system, the high priest would die and be replaced; that happened every few years, for those men were mortal. However, Jesus, because he was raised from the dead, never to die again “holds his priesthood permanently.” In the Greek, “holds” is in the present tense and denotes a continual action: Jesus never ceases being a priest.
verse 25:
Because Jesus is always a priest, “he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him.” The Greek phrase rendered “to the uttermost” literally means “unto completion.” The phrase can mean, as the English Standard Version renders it, “fully or completely.” However, the phrase can be used in a temporal sense and mean “for all time.” It’s extremely likely that the author of Hebrews meant both ideas—Jesus saves completely from all sin at all times and for all time.
However, Jesus only saves those “who draw near to God through him.” Jesus is the only way to salvation; no other path exists.
Jesus is always before God’s throne making intercession for sinners.
verse 26:
Jesus is holy—he is separated for service to God. Jesus is innocent—the Greek term describes the absence of all that is bad or wrong. Jesus is unstained—the Greek term means to be without defilement or stain, and the author of Hebrews surely used it in an ethical manner, i.e., to be free of the defilement and stain of sin. Jesus is separated from sinners—he is unlike the sinners he came to save. Jesus is exalted above the heavens—he sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
verse 27:
Jesus doesn’t need to offer daily sacrifices for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, for he made a one-time-for-all sacrifice of himself. The author used some hyperbole here, for the high priest didn’t actually offer the daily sacrifices, but he did oversee those sacrifices. Jesus’s sacrifice is so much more powerful than the other sacrifices, for he only needed to offer himself once for all the sins of all the world.
verse 28:
The Son has “been made perfect forever.” Many of the ancients believed whatever was eternal was perfect; Jesus is both eternal and perfect.
Application
“Jesus is the perfect high priest.” Therefore, you need to act on two truths:
One: Sin
Understand you are going to Sin. Do not hear me condone or excuse sin. As Christians, you and I put that sinful way of life behind us: “We were buried . . . with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4). You absolutely cannot live in sin and call yourself a Christian—it just doesn’t work.
However, the reality is that while you seek to live a holy life, you will still commit some sin. “All have sinned [past tense] and fall short [present tense] of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 Jn 1:8). The Apostle Paul wrote about his struggle with sin: “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom 7:15).
The question isn’t whether or not you’ll sin, but what you’re going to do when you sin. Will you be like Adam and Eve and make excuses: “It’s the woman you gave me. . . . It’s the serpent?” Or will you be like the prodigal son who came to his senses and went home?
Another question you need to ask is: What kind of sin are you committing? Are you committing the same sin over and over without seeking repentance? If so, that’s a problem. Or are you committing sin from time to time because you are a weak mortal?
Two: Savior
You must decide what you will do with sin, for in Jesus, you have a perfect high priest who is your Savior. The question becomes if you will live with and in your sin or if you will allow Jesus to save you to the uttermost.
Jesus saves from sin. “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk 19:10). “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim 1:15). Jesus “himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet 2:24).
However, notice what the author of Hebrews wrote: “He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him” (Heb 7:25). Jesus doesn’t save everybody; he only saves those who come to the Father through him. He said, after all, “No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn 14:6). Absolutely the only way to find forgiveness and salvation is through Jesus Christ: You cannot do it yourself, your spouse cannot help you, your parents cannot help you, a psychologist cannot help you; only Jesus can save you to the uttermost.
Since Jesus is your Savior, you must take your sins to him. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9). When you have sinned, go to the one who can save you to the uttermost and confess your wrongdoing and leave it there! As you leave your sin at Jesus’s feet, don’t go to either extreme: Don’t go back to your sin (“Go and sin no more”) and don’t wallow in guilt, for Jesus has forgiven you.
Is Jesus your Savior this morning? Has he saved you to the uttermost, or do you need to seek that saving as we stand and sing?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.