I. INTRODUCTION
A. Sometimes a simple phrase can capture a very deep and meaningful thought.
B. Regarding our Lord’s sacrifice, the phrase “once for all” has a powerful meaning that is worth our consideration.
II. CHRIST DIED ONCE FOR ALL
A. Let us first notice the emphasis on the theme of “once for all” regarding the Lord’s sacrifice for our sins in Hebrews 9:11-10:18.
1. “…not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Heb. 9:12)
2. “…nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” (Heb. 9:25-26)
3. “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (Heb. 9:27-28)
4. “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Heb. 10:10)
5. “…but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God…” (Heb. 10:12)
6. “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” (Heb. 10:14)
B. The lesson of this theme is that Christ’s one blood sacrifice is effective for the forgiveness of sins for all.
1. The shedding of blood has long been associated with atonement for sin because:
a. The penalty for committing sin is death (Rom. 6:23a; see Ezek. 18:4);
b. Death is caused by the shedding of blood, for the life is in the blood (Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:11, 14; Deut. 12:23).
2. Under the old covenant of Moses, God required the continuous shedding of animal blood as sacrifices, but those sacrifices never took away sins.
a. The Law of Moses required regular animal blood sacrifices for the burnt offering (Num. 28:1-8), the sin offering (Lev. 4:5-12), the guilt offering (Lev. 5:14-19), and the Passover (Ex. 12:7, 24-27). These were offered through the Aaronic priesthood.
b. Despite the copious volume of animal blood shed every year, none of it ever took away sins. Notice Hebrews 10:1-4.
i. “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (v. 4). The shedding of animal blood under the Law of Moses was only good for a ceremonial cleansing (see Heb. 9:13, 19-23). It did not satisfy God’s sense of justice regarding sin.
ii. The Law of Moses was “only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very form of things” (v. 1), so it could not take away sins or perfect worshipers.
iii. If the blood of bulls and goats had taken away sins, then the offerings would not have been necessary year after year (vv. 2-3). As it was, those offerings were made continuously throughout the history of Israel.
3. The blood of Christ only needed to be shed once to take away sins forever.
a. To understand this, we need to first understand what it means for Jesus to be our high priest.
i. Hebrews 5:1 explains the role of the high priest – “For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.”
ii. Consider the high priest under the Law of Moses
1. The high priest was chosen from the sons of Aaron, and he offered sacrifices for both the people and himself, since he too was sinful (Heb. 5:2-3).
2. The high priest entered the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle or temple once a year to offer ineffective animal blood for sins (Heb. 9:1-7).
iii. Now Jesus is our high priest who has no sin and who has entered heaven. Notice Hebrews 4:14-15 – “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
b. With this understanding, let us consider the reasons given in Hebrews for why our high priest’s one blood sacrifice was sufficient to take away sins forever.
i. One reason is because of the value of the sacrifice Jesus offered. He gave His own precious blood for us and not for Himself, for He was a sinless and unblemished man (Heb. 2:17-18; 9:11-14). His sacrifice satisfied God’s justice.
ii. Another reason is because Jesus entered heaven, the true holy place, to appear in the presence of God for us when He offered Himself for our sins (Heb. 9:24-26).
iii. Yet another reason is because Jesus abides forever as our high priest and “always lives to make intercession” for us (Heb. 7:23-27).
III. WHAT “ONCE FOR ALL” MEANS FOR US
A. “Once for all” means that when Jesus comes again, it will be for salvation and judgment, not for sacrifice.
1. Notice again Hebrews 9:27-28. The point is that when Jesus comes again, His purpose will not be to take away sins (He already did that), but it will be to save “those who eagerly await Him.”
2. Consequently, those who go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth cannot expect another sacrifice from Jesus for their sins, but instead they will receive judgment when He comes (Heb. 10:26-31).
B. “Once for all” means that when Jesus comes again, all those who are faithful will be saved.
1. Hebrews 9:15 says that “those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Those who are not called (by the gospel – 2Thess. 2:14) will receive no inheritance.
2. When Jesus comes again, He will save “those who eagerly await Him” (Heb. 9:28). Those who do not await Him will receive no salvation.
3. Jesus has “perfected those who are sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). Those who are not sanctified by His blood offering remain unperfected and blemished by sin.
C. “Once for all” means that we must live our lives for God and be dead to sin.
1. Consider Romans 6:8-11 – “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
2. Just as Christ died once to sin, so also we should die once to sin and never return to it again.
IV. CONCLUSION
A. At the “consummation of the ages” (Heb. 9:26), Jesus came to earth to facilitate the most important events in history. He died once for all.
B. Let us also remember that He was raised from the dead once for all and that He will come again once for all.
C. If you believe in the “faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), then make up your mind “once for all” and obey the Lord today.