Hebrews is a mysterious book to many Christians because it deals with a topic that is obscure to them: the Old Testament sacrificial system. Hebrews sums up for us the spiritual essence of the Old Testament. It is a key to understanding the Pentateuch in particular and the Old Testament in general.
The key to understanding the book of Hebrews is found in the word "perfect" or "make perfect". Another word that is related to the word "perfect" in Hebrews is the word "holy" or "make holy" (often translated as "sanctify") in its various forms. In the scope of this article, we will only consider the word "perfect".
What does the word "perfect" mean in the book of Hebrews? We need to understand what the word "perfect" means in scriptural usage. We need to understand what the writer himself means by "perfect" and this can be established by how he himself uses the word "perfect". This is made easier as the word is used in its various forms about 14 times in the book of Hebrews.
The Old Testament sacrifices did not make anyone perfect
Hebrews is concerned with the Old Testament sacrificial system and the Priestly system associated with it. So, in Hebrews, "perfect" is used in the context of the law, the sacrifices, and the priesthood. Let's start with Hebrews chapter 10. In chapter 10 "perfect" occurs twice in the first 14 verses. Verse 1 says:
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. (Hebrews 10:1, NIV)
The sacrificial system made no one perfect, not even those who sincerely tried to draw near to God. The sacrifices that a man offered, even if done regularly and frequently, could not make him perfect. The sacrifices had to do with atonement for sin. Since the sacrifices could not “make perfect those who draw near to worship,” those who drew near were unable to enter into communion with God. Only through the sacrifice of the Messiah do we have access to God, and as a result enter boldly into the Holiest Place to draw near to Him. The Old Testament sacrifices; though they were many and a very complex system could not perfect the worshippers, whereas “by a single offering Jesus the Messiah has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (v.14).
Perfect: Free from sin
The meaning of perfect emerges when we survey Hebrews 10. Verse 1 says: Moses' Teachings with their yearly cycle of sacrifices are only a shadow of the good things in the future. They aren't an exact likeness of those things. They can never make those who worship perfect. Hebrews 10:1 (GWT). Note the strong word “never”. The sacrifices, which are central to the Law (Moses teachings) and the Old Testament way of life, were not able to perfect anyone no matter how often or faithfully they were offered. Nor were they designed for that purpose, being only a “shadow” pointing to the “good things” (10:1) that God has in store for those who have faith in Him.
In God’s plan of salvation, the Law (Moses teachings) served an important didactic purpose: It was “our tutor to lead us to the Messiah Jesus” (Galatians 3:24).
But once the Law had fulfilled that crucial role and achieved its God-given purpose of leading us to the Messiah, its task was completed. Because we have come to the Messiah and are justified - declared "not guilty" by faith in him, having learned from this “tutor” (the Law) the necessity of his death - sin offering sacrifice for our salvation, we remain deeply thankful for the tutor even if its services as “schoolmaster” are required no more (Galatians 3:25).
As a shadow of the good things, the sacrifices pointed forward to the true and effectual sin-offering sacrifice that was to be made for us in the Messiah Jesus. The sacrifices were therefore promissory in character so that those who offered them could be “saved in hope” just as we are (Romans 8:24). The fact that the sacrifices could never perfect anyone, even when repeated, should have made its promissory character evident to the spiritually discerning. Perfecting the sinner had never been God’s purpose for these sacrifices; hence they could never bring anyone to perfection.
If the sacrifices could perfect sinners, “If these sacrifices could have made the worshipers perfect, the sacrifices would have stopped long ago” (Hebrews 10:2a). Obviously, if the sacrifices could perfect you, you wouldn’t have to offer them again. In this hypothetical situation, “Those who worship would have been cleansed once and for all. Their consciences would have been free from sin..” (Hebrews 10:2b).
To be made “perfect” (10:1) means to be “cleansed” from sin (10:2); if we have been cleansed; perfected; we wouldn’t have to offer the sacrifices again. But because they could not cleanse, the people had to keep on offering the sacrifices under the Old Testament.
Hebrews 10: 3 says, “Instead, this yearly cycle of sacrifices reminded people of their sins.” Far from cleansing the people from sin, the sacrifices reminded them of sin. The continual consciousness of sin and guilt arises from the inability of the sacrifices to cleanse the sinner.
Hebrews 10:4 says: (The blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins.). The sacrifices were made repeatedly precisely because it was “impossible” for them to remove sins. So far we have seen three parallel concepts: perfect means cleansed, which in turn means the removal of sin. Hence perfection has to do with the removal of sin. But sanctified - set apart- made holy; also means to be cleansed from sin.
“Jesus suffered outside the gates of Jerusalem. He suffered to make the people holy with his own blood. ” (Hebrews 13:12). “We have been sanctified - set apart - made holy because Jesus the Messiah did what God wanted him to do by sacrificing his body once and for all” (Hebrews10:10). “For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified - set apart - made holy” (Hebrews 10:14). Here we see the intrinsic link between “perfected” and “sanctified - set apart - made holy.
When we are sanctified - set apart - made holy, we can draw near to God and commune with Him. Having been sanctified - set apart - made holy, every Christian is a saint (Romans 1:7; 1Corinthians 1:2; etc.). The Greek words for saint and sanctify (hagios, ἅγιος, and hagiazō, ἁγιάζω) share a common root. A saint is simply one who has been sanctified - set apart - made holy, cleansed from sin; perfected. When sin has been removed, one is no longer oppressively conscious of sin or burdened with a sense of guilt.
It is now clear that in the book of Hebrews, perfection means freedom from sin.
Jesus was made perfect through suffering
Interestingly, the definition of perfection given in Hebrews, namely, freedom from sin, applies in a specific sense even to the lord Jesus himself. How is this possible in view of the fact that Jesus has never sinned? The answer is found in Hebrews chapter 2.
In this chapter, it is said that Jesus was made “perfect … through suffering” Hebrews 2:10: "God is the one from whom and through whom everything exists. Therefore, while God was bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was the right time to bring Jesus, the source of their salvation, to the end of his work through suffering." This included the suffering of temptation: “He himself was tempted in that which he has suffered” (v.18). Because he shared our nature of “flesh and blood” (v.14), he was subjected to the same temptations and pressures of sin as we are, yet he triumphed consistently over sin and remained free from sin. He established his freedom from sin through his costly yet decisive victory over it.
A comparison with Adam can help us understand this point more clearly. Adam began life in the Garden without sin, but when faced with the temptation to disobey God, rather than being willing to endure whatever suffering was needed to remain faithful to God and not succumb to the temptation, he yielded to temptation, disobeyed God, and lost his freedom from sin.
If he had obeyed God in the face of temptation, he would have been “made perfect” through obedience and would have remained free from sin. He was initially perfect in the general sense of being free from sin by virtue of not having sinned yet, but he would have been “made perfect” in the deeper sense (the true meaning of Biblical perfection) if he had triumphed over sin. Jesus was victorious where Adam failed.
Having won that victory, Jesus can set us free from sin. A slave of sin cannot overcome sin because a slave has no authority over his master. But when Jesus sets us free from the bondage to sin, we can triumph over sin as he did. He was tempted in every way, yet he never sinned (Hebrews Hebrews 4:15: "We have a chief priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He was tempted in every way that we are, but he didn't sin." He triumphed against the fiercest assaults which sin and the powers of darkness could launch against him.
Freedom from sin
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free” (John 8:36). This refers specifically to freedom from sin because just two verses earlier Jesus said, “Everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin”. There is no true freedom apart from the freedom from sin.
Only “if the Son sets you free, then you will be absolutely free.” Freedom from sin is the only true freedom. Jesus goes on to say, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). The truth in the Messiah Jesus sets us free. When Scripture speaks of freedom, it does not refer to political or financial freedom but to spiritual freedom; freedom from sin: without which no other freedom has any substantive meaning.
If God didn’t take a serious view of sin, would it have been necessary for the Messiah Jesus to die for our sins? "God didn't spare His own Son but handed him over [to death] for all of us. So he will also give us everything along with him.” (Romans8:32). Paul teaches the serious view of sin: “If God didn't spare the natural branches [the unbelieving Jews who persisted in disobeying God], neither will He spare you” (Rom.11:21). God is gracious and kind, but also holy and just. “Continue in His kindness otherwise you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22).
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