S18 || Why Jesus as High Priest Changes Everything || Hebrews 7:23-28 || Session 18

Ever feel like you’re stuck on a spiritual treadmill—striving, second-guessing, and never sure you’ve done enough? Hebrews chapter 7 offers a doorway out. We unpack why Jesus, as High Priest in the order of Melchizedek, changes the terms of assurance from fragile to forever by holding a priesthood that never ends. Mortal priests came and went; Jesus lives and intercedes without interruption, which means your access to God isn’t fluctuating with your feelings or your week. It’s anchored in His unending life.

We walk through Hebrews 7:23–28 to explore what “once for all” really means. Instead of daily sacrifices and human representatives who must atone for their own sins, Christ—holy, innocent, undefiled, and exalted—offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice and now stands in the true Holy of Holies on our behalf. That’s practical relief. If He saves completely, your security doesn’t hinge on spiritual hot streaks or rituals that try to patch what only His cross can cure. The old system was endless and exhausting. His finished work ends the churn and invites you to rest.

We also clarify what ongoing intercession looks like: not a replay of the cross, but a living Advocate applying a decisive victory. When accusations rise, the Father sees the Son. That’s why Hebrews urges us to draw near to trust the One who holds us fast. If you’ve wrestled with doubt, fear of losing salvation, or the pressure to be “worthy enough,” this chapter will steady your heart and widen your view of grace. Listen, reflect, and share with someone who needs to hear that Jesus saves completely and keeps completely. If this helped you breathe a little easier, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it on.

Chapters

• 0:00 Jesus And The Order Of Melchizedek
• 1:08 Reading Hebrews 7:23–28
• 2:19 A Permanent Priesthood And Our Assurance
• 5:21 Saved Forever And Completely
• 8:05 Christ’s Ongoing Intercession Explained
• 11:10 Resting In His Sufficiency Not Ours
• 14:03 Attributes Of Christ Our High Priest
• 17:05 Once For All Versus Endless Sacrifice
• 20:25 No Human Go-Betweens Needed
• 24:42 Closing And Next Chapter Preview

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:19

Today on Reasoning Through the Bible, we're going to continue to study about Jesus as our high priest. If you were with us in previous sessions, we introduced Jesus as a priest according to a different order than the ones that were historical in Judaism. Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, this mysterious figure that appeared for just a few verses in the book of Genesis, but he's quite profound. The writer to Hebrews is bringing out the fact that Jesus is both king and high priest, as was Melchizedek. As the book of Hebrews goes on, it's going to be introducing and explaining much more about this idea of Jesus as our high priest. Open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, chapter 7. Steve, can you start at verse 23 and read down to the end of the chapter?

SPEAKER_00: 1:16

The former priests, on the one hand, existed in great numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing. But Jesus, on the other hand, because he continues forever, holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens, who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this he did once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints man as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a son made perfect forever.

SPEAKER_01: 2:19

In the first couple of verses we read, verse 23 and 24, it speaks of how there were many Levitical priests simply because they would die and have to be replaced. Because Jesus is resurrected and lives forever, then he is a priest forever. He is permanent. The first question, Steve, this provides something stable, something permanent for us. We have something in Jesus that is going to be there forever. The question is, do you find it reassuring knowing that there's something that's stable, permanent, will be there forever in Jesus? You know, everything in the world tends to move and change and blow with the wind. Is it reassuring that Jesus is permanent and stable?

SPEAKER_00: 3:07

It's like having a steady hand on a ship or a steady hand in situations where there might be chaotic or things that are going on. The person that is calm and is reassuring that everything is going to be okay. You can take confidence in that type of a person and you kind of settle down within yourself and you're reassured, okay, everything's going to be okay because the person in charge is nice and calm. That's kind of a simplified way of putting it, but I am reassured because Jesus has done it once and for all. I don't have to worry about it being done year after year on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. And I don't have to worry about it being done by another human being where they lack righteousness, just like I lack righteousness as a human being. They have to be purified, and I have to worry. Well, did they do the right things in order to be purified enough to be able to go behind the veil and do all of the things that they need to do in order to offer that sacrifice up to God? Yes, it's reassuring and knowing that Jesus has done it. It's all forever, it's once and for all, doesn't have to be done anymore. There's nothing else that needs to be done, and that now, through that, I have the assurance of him interceding on my behalf in front of God because of what he has done.

SPEAKER_01: 4:39

We live in a world that's crazy, it's spinning out of control, it gets confusing. Oftentimes it's quite painful, and the wind blows with different doctrines and different cultures and things, and nothing seems stable. We have something in Jesus Christ that is permanent. He's stable, he's fixed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can take reassurance in that because he's loving. He's told us to come to him and he'll rest us. That is something that we can be reassured in. He is in control, and regardless of how bad the world gets, we can take comfort and reassurance that he is forever. Then in verse 25, it gives us the results, or at least one of the results, of Jesus being a priest forever. So, Steve, what does it tell us is the result of him being a priest forever?

SPEAKER_00: 5:38

It says that he is our intercessor, and I referred to that in my answer just a while ago. It says in 25, he is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him, meaning Jesus the Messiah. He is a go-between. He is somebody that's in between God and us and intercedes for us. It's through his blood that he shed on the cross that he is able to do that. And we're going to see some references to that a little bit later in the verses that we'll go through here and chapters of Hebrews. We'll talk a little bit more of that in detail when we get to it. But he's our intercessor, he's there, and he's there forever. He's not going to die like it said earlier verses through the humans that die off, and there's other humans that have to come in. No, he's going to be there forever, he is there forever, he's always interceding for us.

SPEAKER_01: 6:34

Remember in the temple ceremony, the high priest would go in and go behind the veil as a representative of the people before God. The priest would go in to represent the people. Because of that, Jesus lives forever. He is a priest forever, then he is forever going in to represent us, to cover our sins. The high priest would cover our sins, but it was only temporary. Jesus lives forever. Therefore, he can save forever, it says in verse 25. He can save forever. He always lives to make intercession. So he's constantly able to intercede and constantly able to save us. He is not weak, he doesn't die, and we have to depend on someone else again. Because Jesus is a priest forever, he can cover the sin forever. This is reassuring. Also in verse 25, it says he's able to save forever. The question is really about Jesus as a person. Is he sufficient? Is he sufficiently able to save us, even us, as awful and as sinful as we are, is he truly able to save even us?

SPEAKER_00: 7:48

There's a footnote there in the word forever where we can substitute the word completely for forever. So the verse would go, therefore, he is able also to save completely those who draw near to God through him. So get this picture. They weren't completely fulfilled. They had to be done year after year after year. But because Jesus has able to do it forever or completely, it's done over, it is finished as he said on the cross. It is very calming and reassuring to know that he's there and that he does it, to know that he is sufficient in order for us to save us for what he is doing. He has able to save us completely and forever. I think that's just a great thing that of confidence that we have. Out there, there are people who just can't get it into their head that they have salvation through Jesus Christ. And they think that I have to do something else. I'm still not good enough, even though I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. There's still something else I have to do. Hebrews, I think, Glenn, is very strong here in saying that no, Jesus has done it completely. He is there forever. Once you have Jesus Christ and you're in Christ, as Paul puts it in his epistles, then you have that salvation and you can be assured in that.

SPEAKER_01: 9:28

Jesus is holy, he's innocent, he's undefiled, and he is exalted above the heavens. He is right now in the heavenly holy of holies, making intercession for us, representing us before the Father. He is sufficient, he is able to cover our sins and how wonderful that is. He is stable, he's permanent, and he will live forever for that purpose. We should take great comfort in that we can rest, as it speaks of here in the book of Hebrews. So therefore, on what does our salvation rest? Does it rest on our ability to keep our salvation or on his ability to keep us? Well, I think it's pretty clear the salvation rests on him. If it depended on my ability to be good enough, then I wouldn't last till the end of today. But because he is in there and all I have to do is trust him, then we can rest in that. Can we not, Steve?

SPEAKER_00: 10:32

Yeah, it's what I was referring to a while ago. If there's nothing that we do in order to have righteousness before God, that it's all dependent on Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah, then there's nothing we can do to get out of that situation. It really comes down to, again, as we've gone through Galatians and through Colossians, whether you're in Christ or you're not in Christ. If you're in Christ, then Jesus' work on the cross, the payment of our debt that we owed is sufficient. He's there and it's complete and it's forever. Therefore, we can take great peace and calmness and knowing that. And how I like to put it, we can live our Christian life here on earth, growing and becoming more mature and getting more in a relationship with Jesus Christ than having this worry hanging over our head that there's still something else that we have to do. It's just something that we can put to bed and put to rest and not really have to worry about it.

SPEAKER_01: 11:36

We need a savior with the power and the ability to save, but is also pure and holy and is capable of saving. We have that in Christ. Verse 25 also says he lives to make intercession. What is this intercession? What does that actually mean to intercede for us before the Father?

SPEAKER_00: 12:00

One of the best ways to put that, Glenn, would be that he is there and we're there because of him. We're with him. We have an entrance into the throne room and into the heaven because he's there. We're with him. In our youth, if we were going to a party somewhere or going to a venue somewhere with somebody else, and we didn't really have the right credentials to get in, but the person that we were with had the right credentials, then we were able to get into that venue or to be able to get into that party because we were with the other person. Now that's a simple illustration, but it's true in this case in that we are able to gain entrance into heaven because Jesus is there and he intercedes for us. He pleads our case whenever Satan comes and gives us some type of an accusation that we're not good enough or we're not righteous enough. No, God looks at Jesus Christ and the payment that he made on the cross, that's how we have entrance into heaven. Jesus is there to intercede for us to plead our case and virtually say, They're with me when God the Father is looking for righteousness. They're with me, and they believe in me, and they have trust and belief in me, and their righteousness is declared as true because of me and what I've done.

SPEAKER_01: 13:32

1 John 2:1 says, Jesus is our advocate with the Father, and he is there representing us. The devil accuses us, and Jesus reminds the Father that we are one of his and that our sins are already paid for. That's the picture here. He is our intercessor, he is our advocate, and he is sufficient because he paid for all of our sins. In the middle of verse 25, it gives us a clue as to who are the people that are saved in Christ. Well, it's those that are drawing near to him. All we have to do is draw near to him, and we are his. We have to trust him. We don't have to work hard enough to be good enough or work hard enough to keep our salvation. It says here, he is able to save forever. And we pointed out a while ago that word means completely, thoroughly. The Greek word here means both forever and completely. Do we therefore need to be concerned about whether I'm righteous enough to enter heaven, or whether I still need cleansing and purgatory after I die, or whether sin can cause me to lose my salvation? Well, no, to all of those. The only thing mentioned for us is to draw near to him. He is the one that's sufficient. We are thoroughly insufficient, and so therefore we trust him. As long as we are drawing near to him, trusting him, then he is our advocate. How wonderful that is. The next verse in verse 26 gives some attributes about Jesus. So, Steve, what are the attributes it says in verse 26 that are about Christ?

SPEAKER_00: 15:22

First thing is it says that he's the high priest. We talked about that, that the high priest was only one every year that could go into the Holy of Holies. Jesus is our high priest. He's holy, he's set apart from anything else or anyone else. He's innocent, meaning he was sinless. And through him being sinless, he could be the satisfactory sacrifice. He says, undefiled, that goes along with being sinless. He knew no sin. He was not defiled. There was nothing unclean about him. He kept all of the laws and did everything in the right way. He was undefiled. And he was separated from sinners. Same thing that goes with holy. He was separated, sinless person set apart by God. He's our high priest. Through all of those attributes that are named there, he was able to be our satisfactory sacrifice so that God could be both just and the justifier himself.

SPEAKER_01: 16:26

It calls Jesus holy, innocent, undefiled. And those things are the exact opposite of the world. The world is so full of ugliness and uncleanness and horribleness that we're so steeped in it that we really have a hard time even mentally picturing what it would mean to be truly holy and innocent and separated from sin. The difference there between the world and Christ is of infinite proportions. The world here is so messed up and he is so holy that we really have trouble grasping the distinction here. We view God as just a guy next door that's kind of sort of good. No, no. He is separated from sin. He is pure and holy and lifted up. Verse 25 also says that Jesus is living, he's alive. Do you realize that there's a difference between Christianity and other religions in that our Savior is alive? He is able to save completely, forever, for all time. When he saves us, is there anything left for us to do? Is there salvation partial that he got us there part of the way? And we have to do the rest, or is his work sufficient and complete?

SPEAKER_00: 17:49

No, it is complete. That's what the scripture says, and that's what we've been talking about. There is nothing else that we need to do. There was nothing that we needed to do in the first place. Now, let's not forget who the audience is. The audience are to Hebrew people. What are they under? They're under the law that where they have to do certain things, certain rituals in order to gain righteousness before God. The writer of Hebrews is encouraging them and telling them, Jesus Christ is the right way. He's the one that you've chosen, and he is the right sacrifice now. And since he is the forever sacrifice, since he is your forever high priest and is the one that's interceding for you. And since he was holy and innocent and undefiled as a sacrifice, and he's been exalted above the heavens as well, now you don't have to do anything else by being a believer in him. The work has been done and completed by him. And your faith in him and your belief in him and your trust in him will be reckoned as righteousness, just like the faith that Abraham had in God whenever the promises were made to him. Let's not forget the backdrop of everything that's going on here and who the writer of Hebrews is talking to. Jesus Christ has already done it and completed it on his own and that he is that final sacrifice. Now they just need to continue with their faith and trust in Jesus Christ because he's done it forever and he's done it completely.

SPEAKER_01: 19:45

And again, it's forever and it's complete. He does it all. It's not a partial salvation and that we have to live good enough in order to keep ourselves saved. No, no. He saves fully, and there's nothing that we can control. Tribute. That is just tremendous. And it really is hard for us to grasp. We think we have to do things in order to maintain our salvation. Hebrews says otherwise. The other thing I get out of this is that the Old Testament priests had to make these sacrifices every day. There was a morning sacrifice, there was an evening sacrifice. There were sacrifices that people would bring during the day that they had to do. Each of these would involve butchering an animal and doing it at exactly a certain procedure and placing the meat on the burned altar to have the sacrifice. This was a bloody, tiring, monotonous job. You did it today, you've did it yesterday, you're going to do it this evening, you're going to do it tomorrow. And the day after that, it was ongoing. There was never any end. Day after day, month after month, year after year, killing all of these animals over and over. It was a monotonous, tiring job. What it reminds me of here with this passage is that trying to live a righteous life on your own is tiring, monotonous, and ugly. There's no end to it. There's no rest. You're constantly worried about am I good enough? I've messed up again. I need to go do something to atone for that. Isn't it great that we have a savior that has done it forever, completely? He saved us once for all. And we don't have to work hard enough. We don't have to keep going to try to be good enough because all we have to do is draw near to him and his payment is sufficient. Jesus made a sacrifice once for all. So the sacrifices can come to an end. We can rest in Christ. That's the point that Hebrews is going to be making is that the sacrificial system after Jesus came is obsolete. It can come to an end. The priest had to first offer a sacrifice for their own sin before they could sacrifice for the people. But Jesus was so holy and pure, he didn't need a sacrifice for himself. This is just phenomenal. And I think that we don't realize this enough. If we did, we would be singing praises to him more than we do. The end of the chapter, verse 28, the law of Moses appointed weak men as priests. But God's oath, which came many years after the law of Moses, appointed Jesus as a perfect priest who can live forever. Steve, this is just a phenomenal chapter.

SPEAKER_00: 22:46

You mentioned in verse 27 where the high priest had to make sacrifices for his own sins before he could make sacrifices and present them for the sins of the people. People, Glenn, are really dependent on the high priest doing everything right and correct in order to have a right standing with God before he makes the offerings on behalf of the peoples. If he hasn't made everything right and correct, then the offerings that he's making for the people isn't going to be right and correct. I think we have that type of the same situation today where we have some people that go in and give their confessions to other human beings, and they're dependent on those human beings thinking that they're a representation to God, asking them and telling them what's going on in their life. Really, they have no idea whether or not that person that they're giving their confession to has a right standing before God. Hebrews cuts all of that out and says, you no longer have to have a human interceding on your behalf. And you don't have to worry about whether or not everything has been done right and whether or not that human is in good standing with God. We now have Jesus Christ that has done it completely and he's doing it forever, and he's set apart. Therefore, he is better than any type of human system that's out there. Hebrews just takes it to a point where we really just don't have to worry anymore about any of these human interactions with God. If we can just get it through our heads, our belief and trust in Jesus Christ is sufficient, and we don't have to worry about the human part or aspect of being right before God anymore, of other people representing us.

SPEAKER_01: 24:42

That brings us to the end of chapter seven. We'll get to chapter eight next time as we continue to reason through the book of Hebrews.

SPEAKER_00: 24:50

Thank you so much for watching and listening.