The Key to Salvation

“Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a High Priest, Who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and Who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.”

Hebrews 8:1, 2.

The book of Hebrews is going to be the basis of this study. Reading this book with a new and stirring understanding of the “everlasting covenant” made by God the Father and Jesus “from the foundation of the world,” the book has taken on intense new life, as if rather than seeing through a mirror darkly, I am seeing and understanding the message, “face to face” (Hebrews 13:20; The Desire of Ages, 637; I Corinthians 13:12). The historical background to the book of Hebrews is very interesting. This book was written by Saul of Tarsus, a Greek Jew, a very Jew of Jews, by his own admission and statement, and blameless when it came to Pharisaical laws. Saul was young. He was a brilliant student. He was thoroughly educated in the Old Testament scripture and had a strict upbringing in the Jewish Pharisaical traditions of the day. He was also a fierce persecutor of the followers of Jesus … until …

In union with the rest of the Jewish leaders, (Saul) “Paul had vainly looked for a Messiah to deliver the nation from the bondage of foreign kings.” Sketches from the Life of Paul, 257.

“In common with his nation, Saul had cherished the hope of a Messiah who should reign as a temporal prince, to break from the neck of Israel the Roman yoke, and exalt her to the throne of universal empire. He had no personal knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth or of His mission, but he readily imbibed the scorn and hatred of the rabbis toward one who was so far from fulfilling their ambitious hopes; and after the death of Christ, he eagerly joined with priests and rulers in the persecution of His followers as a proscribed and hated sect.” Ibid., 10.

But then came a day, a momentous, earth-shattering day in Saul’s life. He met Jesus, the Jesus he had been persecuting in the form of His followers. And in that moment Paul learned the lesson of a lifetime.

For 4,000 years, ever since the entrance of sin into this world, people had lived with a promise of hope, a promise of reconciliation with God. This promise, this plan, was given many different names, including the covenant and the plan of redemption.

From the fall of Adam when mankind was given “the first intimation of redemption … in the sentence pronounced upon Satan in the garden” (Patriarchs and Prophets, 371), God sought to communicate this plan, this covenant, with His beloved creation. The angels taught Adam and Eve, and the patriarchs and prophets of this plan. God illustrated the covenant through the sacrificial system of the patriarchs, and then later through the earthly sanctuary. Those early men and women who understood this plan accepted it, as Hebrews 9 says, by faith. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” Hebrews 11:1, 2.

In order for this plan, this covenant, to be fulfilled, to be effective, to work for these ancients, the one true sacrifice must be made. Until the moment that it was made, the covenant was not secure. The ancients understood this situation. Yet, by faith, they believed.

If we take the Bible at its word as the infallible word of God as they did, Jesus could have failed in His mission. If He had failed in the smallest particular, then where would this covenant, this plan of redemption, be? These men of old understood this situation, and by faith, accepted the promise of a Redeemer. For 4,000 years, the patriarchal sacrifices, and later the earthly sanctuary, pointed to this one great event in history, not only in our world but in the entire universe. For 4,000 years men of faith looked forward to the securing of this great covenant, through the offering of the One true sacrifice. These great men of old understood the covenant. They understood that Jesus had to leave the heavenly courts. They knew that He had to live and die as a man and as God. Until He did, this promised remedy to the grim problem of sin, this covenant, was not secure. It would take nothing less than Jesus’ death to ratify it and make it forever unfailing.

When Paul met Jesus of Nazareth on that momentous day, he, in those moments, was taught of God, and through tracing down the history of the Jewish prophecies realized that the moment of final, total, irrevocable victory, the securing of the promised covenant, came when Jesus cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The promise of redemption was now irrevocable. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, Paul now recognizes the fulfillment of the hopes, the faith, the anticipation of the prophets of old. In this revelation, Paul is electrified. The promise, the covenant, the plan of redemption is secure.

No longer is it to be accepted by faith as something in the future. The True Sacrifice has been made. The covenant is secure. Paul cannot contain himself. The book of Hebrews is a pouring out of joyous celebration, and a powerful exhortation to the Jews that the man they condemned and crucified as a criminal was indeed the “Lamb of God,” verily “God in the flesh” (The Desire of Ages, 385, 311), the Messiah to which they had looked with eager anticipation, and even further, their only hope of salvation and eternal life.

Paul iterates and reiterates throughout the book that now Jesus is in the true sanctuary in heaven. No longer need they look to the future through the symbols of the sacrificial services. No longer need they go through the earthly priest as mediator for their sins. The one true mediator has made the ultimate sacrifice and is now, in person, in reality in the heavenly sanctuary, pleading their case before the Father in heaven.

I think it is difficult for us to realize the import of what Paul experienced, and the intensity of interest that he has in gaining the understanding of his countrymen, his friends and colleagues of this vital truth. Over and over he speaks of Jesus, the true High Priest, the true mediator, the One “sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” (Hebrews 1:3). This theme recurs throughout the book.

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1–3.

“For this reason He had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful High Priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.” Hebrews 2:17, 18. Just a note here, it says “that He might make atonement.” It was not done at the cross; it was still future.

“Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:14–16. “Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain [into the Most Holy Place], where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a High Priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:16–20.

“Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—One who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when He offered Himself.” Hebrews 7:23–27.

“Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a High Priest, Who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and Who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being. Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this One also to have something to offer. If He were on earth, He would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. … But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is Mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.” Hebrews 8:1–6. And there are so many more.

But from these few, you can understand the fervency and intensity of Paul’s words. Paul “got it”; like the quote shared at the beginning, he knew that, “The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God.” Education, 125. And Paul wants his friends to understand. Over and over he presents Jesus as the way to salvation, the One and only true High Priest, the One true sacrifice. Over and over he states that no longer need people offer earthly sacrifices for their sins. Jesus is in heaven and now they can go directly to Him. Now, says Paul, is the reality. Now everything that has been promised for 4,000 years is certain, is secure. The true sacrifice has been made, and the covenant has been ratified. It is secure. Can you imagine the import of that message to Paul and to the Jews of his time?

At one time Paul exhorts his fellow believers saying, “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” Hebrews 5:11, 12. We do not want that message to be true also of us.

We need to grasp the depth of this message. Oh, how I believe if we grasped how truly profound this message really is, if we lived it, breathed it, believed it as Paul did, this message would, as Acts 17:6 KJV, says, turn “the world upside down.” For as surely as the Bible says it, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 KJV.

“The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. From the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, ‘They shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads’ (Revelation 22:4), the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme—man’s uplifting—the power of God, ‘which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ I Corinthians 15:57.

“He who grasps this thought has before him an infinite field for study. He has the key that will unlock to him the whole treasure house of God’s word.” Education, 125, 126.

I entreat you today to learn this message and to share it with this sin-sick world that is steeped in misery and woe without the knowledge of a Saviour. Because indeed, “We do have such a High Priest, Who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and Who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.”

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New International Version.)

Brenda Douay is a staff member of Steps to Life. She may be contacted by email at: brendadouay@stepstolife.org.