Hebrews: The Finished Work of Christ
Hebrews 10:11-18; Jeremiah 31:33-34 - Perfection and forgiveness and no offerings required!
“Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”
He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
Hebrews 10:11-18 NASB1995
The photo at the top should include one more symbol. The cross equals love equals eternity. The Levitical priests labored daily standing up to make the sacrifices that could never take away sin. Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for all time and now sits at the right hand of God, awaiting that time that His enemies will be made a footstool for His feet.
This section of Hebrews 10 talks about the Holy Spirit and how He testifies for us. With this New Covenant, the laws are written upon our hearts and minds and our sins are remembered no more! This forgiveness eliminates the need for offerings for sin. Enduring Word has excellent commentary on this passage (a bit lengthy):
a. Every priest stands ministering daily: The priests had to stand continually in their work. Their work continued daily and sacrifices had to be repeatedly offered. The priests could never sit down! In contrast, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God, having finished His work of sacrificing for sin.
i. But this Man: “Opposed to the plurality of Levitical priests. One sacrifice, and once for ever, not many and often, as they.” (Trapp)
ii. The sacrifices under the Old Covenant could never cure the sin problem, left us as a patient who continually needed the medicine, or like a weed that only has its head plucked out, not the root.
iii. In contrast, the seated posture of Jesus is important. It shows that His work is finished. He doesn’t need to stand ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices as priests under the Old Covenant had to. Jesus still ministers in heaven – He has a ministry of intercession for His people. But that ministry flows from His completed work, so He can adopt a posture of rest – He sat down at the right hand of God.
iv. Spurgeon pointed out that the comma can be placed differently in the sentence, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. It is possible to translate, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down at the right hand of God. Either one is permitted and either one is correct, though the common translation is probably preferred.
v. When Jesus claimed the place at the right hand of God, the high priest regarded it as blasphemy – as Jesus claiming to be God Himself (Mark 14:62-63).
b. Till His enemies are made His footstool: This looks forward to the consummation of the work of Jesus, and every part connects. The incarnation leads to His perfect life; His perfect life leads to His atoning death; His atoning death leads to His resurrection; His resurrection leads to His ascension to glory; His ascension to glory leads to His return and triumph over every enemy.
c. He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified: This makes it plain that the work of Jesus is effective only for those who are being sanctified. The work of Jesus is capable of saving every human being, but it is only effective in saving those who are being sanctified (set apart to God).
i. “What a glorious word! Those for whom Christ has died were perfected by his death. It does not mean that he made them perfect in characters so that they are no longer sinners, but that he made those for whom he died perfectly free from the guilt of sin. When Christ took their sins upon himself, sin remained no longer upon them, for it could not be in two places at one and the same time.” (Spurgeon)
d. The Holy Spirit also witnesses to us… says the LORD: In this passage, the writer to the Hebrews clearly shows that the Holy Spirit is the LORD, Yahweh of the Old Testament. When the Holy Spirit speaks, the LORD speaks.
i. “We have the threefold revelation of God in this passage, a very definite spiritual and practical exemplification of the Holy Trinity, in the will of God (Hebrews 10:9), the work of Christ (Hebrews 10:12), and the witness of the Spirit (Hebrews 10:15).” (Thomas)
e. This is the covenant: In the passage quoted from Jeremiah, the writer to the Hebrews makes note of the promises of the new covenant, instituted by the Messiah.
i. I will make with them after those days: The new covenant is new. It comes after those days.
ii. I will put My laws into their hearts: The new covenant has to do with an inner transformation. God changes the heart of man, and writes His law into their hearts.
iii. Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more: The new covenant offers complete forgiveness. The forgiveness is so complete that God can say that He doesn’t even remember our sins in light of the new covenant!
iv. The Christian must endeavor to do with their sin exactly what God has done: forget about it. As well, this reminds us that the believer is in no way on probation. Before God his past sin has no bearing on God’s present dealing.
v. “Forgiveness of sin is the characteristic of the new covenant. In Jeremiah complete pardon of sins is promised. If the pardon is complete, there is left no place for the Levitical sacrifices under the new covenant.” (Vincent)
f. Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin: Where sins are really forgiven and forgotten (remission of these), there no longer must be an offering for sin.
i. “In the words, No more offering for sin, we reach the conclusion of the doctrinal part of this great epistle to the Hebrews.” (Newell) What follows after is mainly exhortation.
ii. “The Christ who died on Calvary’s cross, will not have to die again for my new sins, or to offer a fresh atonement for any transgressions that I may yet commit. No; but, once for all, gathering up the whole mass of his people’s sins into one colossal burden, he took it upon his shoulders, and flung the whole of it into the sepulcher wherein Once he slept, and there it is buried, never to be raised again to bear witness against the redeemed any more for ever.” (Spurgeon)
iii. The work of Jesus for atonement is finished. If it is not enough for us, then nothing will be. “God has set forth Christ for you as guilty sinners to rest on; and if that is not enough for you, what more would you have? Christ has offered himself, and died and suffered in our stead, and gone into his glory; and, if you cannot depend upon him, what more would you have him do? Shall he come and die again? You have rejected him once; you would reject him though he died twice.” (Spurgeon)
Some key takeaways from this commentary:
The seated posture of Jesus at the right hand of God is important. This is a recurring theme in Hebrews. His atonement is a one time, once for all who believe.
He perfects those who are sanctified (set apart to God)! Jesus does not have to die again for my (or your) future sins, but the Holy Spirit works to perfect us in spite of our sinful natures. His laws are written in our hearts and minds, not on stone tablets.
Hebrews 10 talks about God’s will, the work of Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit. This part of the chapter also begins a transition into exhortation and away from doctrine.
This passage quotes from Jeremiah 31:
““But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.””
Jeremiah 31:33-34 NASB1995
What better way to add to this than to call on Charles Spurgeon for his commentary on this passage. This is from Spurgeon’s expository writings on Hebrews captured in Enduring Word:
Christ stands no longer to minister as a sacrificing priest, he is sitting down on the right hand of God. That is the posture of one whose work is done, and who is taking his rest: “He sat down on the right hand of God;
He would not have sat down if his work had not been done. He would not have ceased from his priestly service of presenting sacrifice if his one offering had not been sufficient. This Man’s offering once, once, once, has done all that God demanded, and all that man required.
It was done, wholly done, and done for ever; nothing was to be added to it, and, therefore, Jesus “sat down” in the place of honor and power “on the right hand of God”; —
We are expecting something better than we have yet seen. “We were saved in hope,” We are expecting that which is yet to be revealed; and our covenant Head is expecting, too. This is the age of expectancy. We have not yet come to the fullness of the blessing that is ours in Christ Jesus. The mercy of God is at present; only in the bud; the fully-developed flower has yet to be seen. Christ is expecting; his saints are expecting; the whole creation is expecting.
Or, “set apart.” He has fully saved all those for whom he died. His one sacrifice was so effectual that, by it, he has for ever put away the sin of the whole multitude of those that believe in him.
Sin itself being no longer imputed to any believer in Christ, there is neither the occasion nor the need for the offering of another sacrifice for sin. Christ’s one sacrifice has for ever put away the sins of all who believe in him.
This glorious message is for you, beloved, if you believe in Christ. By his one sacrifice he has done all that you need; he has perfected you for ever.
And what more veritable witness can we have? That to which the Holy Ghost bears testimony must never be questioned by us.
Treasure up these golden words: “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
Oh, what a blessed covenant this is! Christ’s death has established a covenant of grace in which there is no flaw, and no possibility of failure, for the one Condition of the covenant has been fulfilled by Christ, and now it stands as a covenant of “shalls” and “wills” on God’s part from which he will never run back. It is not, “If they do this, and if they do that, I will do the other;” but it is all “I will.” “I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
What a wonderful covenant that is; — not that he will bless you if you keep the law, but that you shall be enabled to keep it, and that he will lead you to do so by putting his law, not on tables of stone, where your eye can see it, but on the fleshy tablets of your heart, where your soul shall feel its force and power, so that you shall be obedient to it. Meditate on those glorious words: “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”
The offering for sin is in order that sin may be put away; and if it be put away, so that God himself will remember it no more, what more is wanted? What more could be desired? Wherefore, let us rest in the one great finished work of Christ, and be perfectly happy. Sin is gone, wrath is over, for those for whom Christ died; they are perfected for ever through his one great sacrifice.
No more offering for sin is needed, for the work of atonement is fully done, and done for ever. As the sin of all who believe in Jesus is put away, what heed is there of any further sacrifice on account of it? The atonement is complete; let us therefore rejoice in it, and praise God for it.
If the sins themselves have gone, and God will remember them no more, no further sacrifice is required for them. What need have ye of cleansing if ye are so clean that God himself sees no sin in you? O glorious purgation by the atoning sacrifice of Christ! Rejoice in it, and praise the Lord for it for ever and ever.
I really can’t add to these words, because they say it all in a much better way than I ever could.
I found one more commentary that I liked reading at the commentary in Enduring Word for Hebrews 10:14. I have a brain that likes lists and spreadsheets and patterns in language and numbers (reasons why I became an engineer), so this commentary, from Paul Tan, resonated with me:
Christian’s Riches: A To Z - Paul Tan - Encyclopedia of 15000 illustrations: Sign of the times
The Believer’s Riches in Christ from A to Z are—
A-ccepted in the beloved—Ephes. 1:6
B-orn of God—1 John 5:1
C-crucified with Christ—Galatians 2:20
D-elivered from the power of darkness—Col. 1:13
E-nriched in everything in Him—1 Cor. 1:5
F-orgiven for Christ’s sake—Ephes. 4:32
G-rounded in love—Ephes. 3:17
H-id with Christ in God—Col. 3:3
I-nstructed in the way of the Lord—Acts 18:25
J-ustified by His grace—Titus 3:7
K-ept by the power of God—1 Peter 1:5
L-ed by the Spirit of God—Romans 8:14
M-ade nigh by the blood of Christ—Ephes. 2:13
N-ourished in the Words of faith—1 Tim. 4:6
O-rdained to eternal life—Acts 13:48
P-erfected forever—Hebrews 10:14
Q-uickened together with Christ—Ephes. 2:5
R-edeemed from the curse of the law—Galatians 3:13
S-ealed with the Holy Spirit of promise—Ephes. 1:13
T-ranslated into the kingdom of His Son—Col. 1:13
U-nreprovable in His sight—Col. 1:22
V-ictorious through our Lord Jesus Christ—1 Cor. 15:57
W-ashed from our sins in His own blood—Rev. 1:5
X-alted from among the people—1 Kings 14:7
Y-earned over by the Holy Spirit—James 4:5
Z-ealous of good works—Titus 2:14
What earthly riches could compare to these abundant blessings and gifts from our Lord and Savior? Hebrews 10:14 is referenced for the letter P (perfected forever). What a great list to pray when worshipping and thanking God! I’m going to put it in our intercessory prayers!
My next devotional examines Hebrews 10:19-21 - Draw near with a sincere heart.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Help me to know that my sins have been forgotten and Your words have been written on my heart and in my mind. I am so grateful for my perfection through the Holy Spirit! Amen.
Credits and Citations:
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.Lockman.org.
Precept Austin was accessed on 01/10/2026 to review commentary for Hebrews 10:11-18 and to review the Charles Spurgeon expositions for Hebrews.
Commentary from Enduring Word is used with written permission and without any alteration. ©1996-present The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik – enduringword.com. Within the Enduring Word commentary:
Trapp, John A Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, Volume Five(Eureka, California: Tanski Publications, 1997)
Spurgeon, Charles Haddon The New Park Street Pulpit, Volumes 1-6and The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Volumes 7-63 (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications, 1990)
No reference in the Bibliography for Thomas.
The contrast betwen the standing priests and Christ's seated posture is such a powerful detail that most people gloss over. The Levitical system created perpetual spiritual insecurity becuase the sacrifices never ended, which meant the sin problem was never actually solved. That cycle kept people in a state of religious anxiety rather than rest. The AtoZ list at the end is incredibly helpful for someone like me who needs structured frameworks to process theology. My grandfather was a pastor and always said the hardest part of preaching grace was getting people to actually beleive their sins are forgotten, not just forgiven but literally erased from divine memory.