Heb 7:22-25 - Christ - The Guarantor for All Believers

Heb 7:22-25 - Christ - The Guarantor for All Believers


Heb 7:22-25 This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. 23 The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. 25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

The new covenant in the blood of Christ is better than the old covenant - whether we take it to mean the old sacrificial system or the covenant of law in which it was given. The new is both simpler and permanent. There is but one High Priest Who remains in that office forever because He is the One Eternal God. Yet, having lived a perfect human life He is also representative man. As Adam was the federal head of all mankind, so Christ is the federal head of all the redeemed. The acts of each of them have consequences for all who are their descendants. Once born men are still under condemnation and the wrath of God abides on them. Twice born men have passed from death to life based entirely upon what God has done in Christ.

So when there is mention of saving to the uttermost what can this mean? Isn’t a person either saved or not? And once a person is saved can he become more saved? Obviously not. The word "salvation" must take its meaning from the context in which it is used. "Salvation" can refer to regeneration, justification and sanctification - and it can include all three. But the sense is sometimes limited by the context. What this most probably means is that God is able to both save and to keep safe those who draw near to Him through Christ.

If while we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly, then how much more shall we live through Him? If by dying God justified us, then what can His (resurrected) life mean for us but continued acceptance, assurance, forgiveness, life and joy? We may not "feel" saved sometimes, but faith holds fast to the truth that we are, and comes boldly to God through Christ in the knowledge that acceptance and forgiveness is freely given. And that assurance is, of course, tied to the fact that true faith has given us a heart that is always repenting. We may sin and fall and wander, but the child of God is miserable in his wanderings until he is right with God - and he always comes back for the forgiveness that God holds out to him all the day long.

For the Hebrews this is another reminder that they ought not to even think about going back to the impermanent, imperfect, ineffectual sacrificial system. A single sacrifice of eternal and infinite value has been made by which believers are always and ever able to approach God in the full confidence of their adoption as sons for Jesus’ sake. Their approaching Him through faith does not make them safe, but it does lay hold of the One Who does. It believes in the love of God and apprehends it personally. It identifies the believer as an object of God’s infinite love in Jesus Christ. It believes that Christ is both perfect and acceptable, and that His perfections are what make the believer acceptable to God and that nothing more needs to be done. It abides in love and grows there.