Hebrews 10:14, “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” [KJV]
Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” [NKJV]
In my opinion, the foremost single passage in scripture presenting overwhelming evidence that all of a believer’s future sins have been covered at the moment of their regeneration is found in Hebrews 10:14. Again, it’s necessary to make it clear that what I’m specifically addressing here is future sin as it relates to a believer’s justified standing before God.
The very moment a person places their trust solely in Christ’s substitutionary death for the forgiven of their sins, they have permanently been remitted. All of their sins, as it pertains to their justification, to their legal standing before God, is forever blotted out … past, present, and future. The demonic hordes do not want humanity to discover or embrace this most precious gospel truth. They desperately strive to blind the minds of the multitudes into believing this reality is spurious, that it is “too good to be true”, or that it is “too easy”… they whisper into the ears of the unsuspecting, “surely there is something that we need to do in addition to placing our trust in Christ’s cross work for the permanent forgiveness of our sins and the eternal life which accompanies it.”
What I ask those who mistakenly believe that this message is “too easy”, or a form a “easy-believism is this … “if it is so easy to believe, then why do so few actually believe it?” How many truly believe this gospel truth, the one which truly defines the efficacy of the atonement? … a thought to seriously ponder.
Christ has either done nothing for us, or He has done everything … every person born into this world must decide concerning the issue of their righteousness before God [and the doctrine of justification]. To depend upon even the smallest measure upon our own merit is the very essence of unbelief; we must trust Christ for nothing or we trust Him for all… such is the teaching of the entire book of Galatians.
If Christ saves us only part way, and leaves a gap to be filled by our own good works, then we can never be certain of our salvation … and that assurance of salvation is clearly taught throughout the scriptures. It would become altogether impossible to fully rest upon Christ’s atoning work for our future entrance into Heaven if that were the case.
Hebrews 10:14, “For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” [KJV].
Hebrews 10 :14 – Greek interlinear :
“By one [mia] for [gar] offering [prosphora] He has perfected [teteleiōken] for all time [eis to diēnekes] those [tous] being sanctified [hagiazomenous].”
“He has perfected” – root – Strong’s #5048. teleioó
teleioó: to bring to an end, to complete, perfect
Original Word: τελειόω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: teleioó
Phonetic Spelling: (tel-i-o’-o)
Definition: to bring to an end, to complete, perfect
Usage: (a) as a course, a race, or the like: I complete, finish (b) as of time or prediction: I accomplish, (c) I make perfect; pass: I am perfected.
“being sanctified” – root – Strong’s #37. hagiazó
hagiazó: to make holy, consecrate, sanctify
Original Word: ἁγιάζω
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: hagiazó
Phonetic Spelling: (hag-ee-ad’-zo)
Definition: to make holy, consecrate, sanctify
Usage: I make holy, treat as holy, set apart as holy, sanctify, hallow, purify.
Generally speaking, those of the LOS [Loss Of Salvation or “Loss of Justification”] camp emphasize the aspect of the singularity of Christ’s sacrifice [i.e. – it’s completeness and sufficiency for the forgiveness and redemption of humanity throughout all of history] … “For by one offering.” That is, Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins [forever abolishing the need of it’s repetition, as well as the Old Covenant sacrificial system]. It was Christ’s singular act of atonement that provided a perfect and acceptable sacrifice which alone could satisfy God’s holy righteousness and justice].
On the other hand, the opposing camp, the OJAS [“Once Justified, Always Justified”] or OASAAS [“Once Actually Saved, Always Actually Saved”] advocates by and large focus upon the resulting effect of Christ’s singular sacrifice upon those who have placed their faith in it’s efficacy and sufficiency to obtain their right-standing before God … “he hath perfected for ever [for all time] them that are sanctified [those being sanctified].” To state it in a slightly different manner for further clarity … “those being sanctified” – all those who, from age to age, through faith receive as their own that which has been procured for all men.
Although it is true that we do not have an “either/or”, but rather a “both/and” scenario in view here [each camp representing one-half of the dual truths declared in Hebrews 10:14], it appears to me that there is compelling evidence contained within Hebrews 10:14 which supports the OJAJ position.
A critical question that needs to be addressed here is the following : “Should we view the sanctification spoken of here [“those being sanctified”] in a positional or progressive sense?”
Although it certainly appears to me that positional sanctification is in view here, a person’s perspective on this issue actually matters little as it pertains to the question of the forgiveness of a regenerated person’s future sin [as I will attempt to demonstrate by the following truth claims].
(1) A person cannot be progressively sanctified unless he/she has already been positionally sanctified [or set apart by God and considered to be holy in His eyes].
post #124 – page 7 < Can a genuine, blood-bought, regenerated believer forfeit their salvation? >
(2) A person cannot be sanctified in either a positional or progressive sense without also experiencing a justified status before God. [1 Corinthians 6:11].
(3) All those who have been justified will also be glorified [in both it’s “already” and “not yet” dimensions]. Although glorification is viewed as including a present [continuous] sanctifying/transformational work of the Holy Spirit operating in the lives of believers, there is also a future aspect attached to it … the reception of a glorified body – a resurrection body in Heaven.
post #92 – page 5 < Can a genuine, blood-bought, regenerated believer forfeit their salvation? >
post #103 – page 6 < Can a genuine, blood-bought, regenerated believer forfeit their salvation? >
Therefore, positional and progressive sanctification, as well as the [ultimate] redemption of the body, are states that will be actualized in all of those [“from age to age”] who experience a justified status before God by way of the new birth … “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” – Romans 6:5 [English Standard Version].
Romans 3:25,”Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”
The above passage is perhaps the most misunderstood passage concerning this issue. Many make the assumption that this verse is stating that when a person applies the blood of Christ to their hearts by faith, it is only their past sins that have been blotted out. But is this actually the case? … not at all. I agree with the perspective that is provided in the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary :
verses 25, 26 – Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation—or “propitiatory sacrifice. “through faith in his blood—Some of the best interpreters, observing that “faith upon” is the usual phrase in Greek, not “faith in” Christ, would place a “comma” after “faith,” and understand the words as if written thus: “to be a propitiation, in His blood, through faith.” But “faith in Christ” is used in Galatians 3:26 and Ephesians 1:15; and “faith in His blood” is the natural and appropriate meaning here.
to declare his righteousness for the remission—rather, “pretermission” or “passing by.”
of sins—”the sins.”
that are past—not the sins committed by the believer before he embraces Christ, but the sins committed under the old economy, [the Old Testament] before Christ came to “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
through the forbearance of God—God not remitting but only forbearing to punish them, or passing them by, until an adequate atonement for them should be made. In thus not imputing them, God was righteous, but He was not seen to be so; there was no “manifestation of His righteousness” in doing so under the ancient economy. But now that God can “set forth” Christ as a “propitiation for sin through faith in His blood,” the righteousness of His procedure in passing by the sins of believers before, and in now remitting them, is “manifested,” declared, brought fully out to the view of the whole world. [Our translators have unfortunately missed this glorious truth, taking “the sins that are past” to mean the past sins of believers—committed before faith—and rendering, by the word “remission,” what means only a “passing by”; thus making it appear that “remission of sins” is “through the forbearance of God,” which it certainly is not].
Rapture Bound Outreach 