Perfected Once For All Time

A question was raised in tonight's CG session regarding the verse, "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." (Hebrews 10:14)

What does it mean to have been made perfect forever and being made holy? The following contextual references are significant in helping us understand the meaning of the above.

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins."

~Hebrews 10:1-2 (NIV)

From here, we know that the consequences or effects of being made perfect is being cleansed once for all, and no longer having guilt and/or feelings of guilt.

"And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

~ Hebrews 10:10 (NIV)

"But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

~ Hebrews 10:12-14 (NIV)

From here, we also can draw some parallel relation regarding "being made perfect", which is by one sacrifice, referring to the the priest (Jesus) offering for all time one sacrifice for sins.

So we can draw the distinction between "make perfect" and "make holy" from the above deductions. To put in other words, "make perfect" means to cleanse and to forgive once for all, completely, resolutely, such that nothing else is left to forgive and nothing else is needed to be done. "make holy", as is also commonly known as "sanctification", is the process of being set apart, the process of being made to become like Christ, the process of regeneration and renewing of our entire being towards Christlikeness.

There is a tendency to misinterpret the coherent meaning of these concepts when we put together verse 10 and verse 14.

Verse 10 says "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Verse 14 says "because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy."

There seems to be the potential of incoherence in meaning here. I find the following sermon excerpt helpful in my understanding of these 2 verses when put together.

"Verse 14 tells us plainly: "By one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." So notice, secondly, for whom Christ has done this perfecting work on the cross. You can put it provocatively like this: Christ has perfected once and for all those who are being perfected. Or you could say (and the writer does say as much in verse 10): Christ has fully sanctified those who are now being sanctified. Or Christ has fully accomplished and guaranteed the holiness of those who are now being made holy.

What this means is that you can know that you stand perfect in the eyes of your heavenly Father if you are moving away from your present imperfection toward more and more holiness by faith in his future grace. Let me say that again, because it is full of encouragement for imperfect sinners like us, and full of motivation for holiness. This verse means that you can have assurance that you stand perfected and completed in the eyes of your heavenly Father not because you are perfect now, but precisely because you are not perfect now but are "being sanctified", "being made holy", that, by faith in God's promises, you are moving away from your lingering imperfection toward more and more holiness. (See Hebrews 10:32-35; 11:24-26 etc. for examples of how faith in future grace sanctifies.)"

~ "Perfected For All Time By a Single Offering", February 16, 1997, John Piper

Verse 10, rather, is an affirmation of the final result of the perfection.