So that we may serve the living God!
Hebrews 9:14 - Our New Covenant relationship with God empowers us as believers to live out our faith obediently and actively.
This image was created using DALL·E, OpenAI’s legacy image generation model.
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”
Hebrews 9:14 NIV
The Epistle to the Hebrews was written in about 63 AD, and there has been a controversy for the past two millennia about who actually wrote this New Testament document. Many of those named in the New Testament — Paul, Barnabas, Silas, and Apollos — have been considered as possible authors of this document, but there are some biblical scholars who believe that Priscilla (mentioned in Acts, 1 Timothy, Romans, and 1 Corinthians along with her husband Aquila) wrote the document.
The writing style is quite different than Paul’s, and since there was no name directly written on the earliest copies of the document, it’s believed that Priscilla’s name was deliberately omitted in order to conceal its female authorship. That’s a pity; it is a well-written document that sought to bolster the Christian faith of early Hebrew believers.
GotQuestions.org has a wonderful and quite humorous explanation of why the document was written:
The late Dr. Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute and writer of the best-selling book Kingdom of the Cults, quipped in his usual tongue-in-cheek manner that the Book of Hebrews was written by a Hebrew to other Hebrews telling the Hebrews to stop acting like Hebrews. In truth, many of the early Jewish believers were slipping back into the rites and rituals of Judaism in order to escape the mounting persecution. This letter, then, is an exhortation for those persecuted believers to continue in the grace of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 9 of Hebrews contrasts the Old (Mosaic) Covenant with the New Covenant, culminating in the theme of the epistle that Christ is the fulfillment and perfection of the law. It begins with a description of the tabernacle (Hebrews 9:1-5), outlines priestly service in the tabernacle under the Old Covenant (Hebrews 9:6-7), and then describes how the Holy Spirit provides understanding of the priestly service (the rituals and symbolism - Hebrews 9:8-10).
The priestly service in the tabernacle of the Old Covenant. This image was created using DALL·E, OpenAI’s legacy image generation model.
With the explanation of the Old Covenant completed, the epistle goes on to describe the New Covenant beginning with the superior sanctuary (the throne room of God - Hebrews 9:11), and the much superior sacrifice of the New Covenant — Jesus (Hebrews 9:12-15).
Today’s verse makes a lot more sense when you read the preceding verse as well:
“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.”
Hebrews 9:13 NIV
This describes the purpose of the sacrifices of “goats, bulls, and heifers” under the Old Covenant — to sanctify those who are ceremonially unclean so that they are outwardly clean.
Hebrews 9:14 begins by contrasting the blood of animals used in the sacrificial system of the Mosaic Law with the blood of Christ, which is (to quote BibleHub) “infinitely more effective in purifying and redeeming humanity”. It then goes on to explain the role of the Holy Spirit in the sacrifice of Jesus. The “eternal Spirit” references the divine nature (as part of the Trinity) and eternal existence of the Holy Spirit, who empowered and sustained Jesus in His earthly ministry and sacrificial death.
The next phrase “offered himself unblemished to God” is somewhat of a parallel comparison to the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant. In those sacrifices, the animals offered up had to be free from physical defects. Christ was both morally and spiritually unblemished — the perfect sacrifice (“but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” - 1 Peter 1:19)
The blood of His sacrifice has one purpose: “to cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death.” Cleansing our consciences means lifting the weight of guilt and sin from our lives, and this was something that no Old Testament sacrifice could ever achieve. Those “acts that lead to death” were sins and works of the Mosaic law that could not bring life or salvation to any person. Cleansing the conscience is what enables the uniquely Christian transformation that should result in righteous living.
At last we come to the purpose of Christ’s sacrifice and our transformation, which is to “serve the living God”. The Hebrews who were the target audience of this epistle were used to “serving” God through endless rituals under the Old Covenant, but would now live a life of service dedicated to God’s will and purposes.
Our New Covenant relationship with God empowers us as believers to live out our faith obediently and actively.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Today’s prayer comes from Knowing Jesus:
Heavenly Father, what an incredible sacrifice, that through the blood of Christ, my salvation has been made secure. Thank You for sending Jesus to be the sin-sacrifice for me and for the rest of the world. Thank You that through the eternal Spirit, He offered Himself without blemish to You.. so that by faith, my conscience is cleansed from dead works, and I have been given the sufficient grace to love and serve You in newness of life and in purity of spirit. May I do so to my life's end to Your praise and glory. This I ask in Jesus' name, AMEN.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica US, Inc.®. Used by permission.
BibleHub was accessed on May 7, 2025 for commentary on Hebrews 9:14