"By the Blood Ye Are Sanctified"

Hebrews 10:1-18; As he now concludes this portion of his presentation, Pauls' summarizes his teachings on the law of sacrifice in this way:

Hebrews 10:1-18; 1. Salvation is in Christ, and comes through the shedding of his blood; men are sanctified through his blood and in no other way.

Hebrews 10:1-18; 2. The sacrifices of the Mosaic law were types and shadows of our Lord's atoning sacrifice and were to point Israel's attention forward to that transcendent event.

Hebrews 10:1-18; 3. Animal sacrifices, standing alone of themselves without more, were imperfect and neither remitted sins nor brought salvation; rather, they had efficacy and virtue only because of Christ's sacrifice.

Hebrews 10:1-18; 4. Sacrifices are now done away in Christ.

Hebrews 10:1-18; 5. And thus is fulfilled the Lord's promise through Jeremiah that in a day subsequent to the law of Moses, God would give a new covenant which would abolish the sins and iniquities of the people.

Hebrews 10:1-3; 1-3. See Hebrews 9:15-28.

Hebrews 10:4; 4. "It is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice. Now there is not any man that can sacrifice his own blood which will atone for the sins of another." (Alma 34:10-11.) See Hebrews 8:1-5.

Hebrews 10:5-9; 5-9. Paul quotes Psalm 40:6-8, as found in the Septuagint rather than the King James Version, which Messianic prophecy proclaims, in thought content, that when the Lord comes into mortality to dwell in the body prepared for him, sacrifices and burnt offerings will be done away. This was affirmed, in plain words, to the Nephites by the risen Lord: "Ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings. And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit." (3 Nephi 9:19-20.)

Hebrews 10:5; 5. A body hast thou prepared me] This phrase is not found in the prophecy as it is recorded in the King James Version, but is found in the same prophecy in the Septuagint. Paul's use of it certifies to its verity, and it is certainly an expressive and clear pronouncement relative to our Lord's birth into mortality.

Hebrews 10:9; 9. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second] The law of sacrifice is done away in Christ; he took away the rites required in the Mosaic system that he might establish the pre-eminence of his own atoning sacrifice.

Hebrews 10:10; 10. We are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ] The atonement of Christ is the rock foundation upon which all things rest which pertain to salvation and eternal life. Hence the Lord said to Adam: "By the blood ye are sanctified" (Moses 6:60), although the usual scriptural pronouncement is that men are "sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost." (3 Nephi 27:20.) The meaning is that although men are sanctified by the power of the Holy Ghost, such sanctifying process is effective and operative because of the shedding of the blood of Christ. Thus Moroni says that the faithful saints are "sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission" of their sins, that they become holy and without spot. (Moroni 10:33.)

Hebrews 10:10; Sanctification] See 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.

Hebrews 10:11-14; 11-14. "It is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; and then shall there be, or it is expedient there should be, a stop to the shedding of blood; then shall the law of Moses be fulfilled; yea, it shall be all fulfilled; every jot and tittle, and none shall have passed away. And behold, this is the whole meaning of the law, every whit pointing to that great and last sacrifice; and that great and last sacrifice will be the Son of God, yea, infinite and eternal. And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they may have faith unto repentance." (Alma 34:13-15.)

Hebrews 10:11; 11. Sacrifices, which can never take away sins] Of themselves they cannot; the law of Moses alone is not enough; forgiveness comes through the atonement of Christ; but the faithful compliance of ancient Israel with the laws of the Lord, did sanctify them before him, because of the atonement which was to be.

Hebrews 10:15-18; 15-18. This argument is persuasive: Since the new covenant, coming after the law of Moses, was to free men from sin, why then continue the old covenant to do what is now accomplished by the new?