Bible Truth #90 - Hebrews 9:11-12

Hebrews 9:11-12

11  When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.

12  He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

When Christ entered into the Holy of Holies He did so by His own Blood. When He did this we are told that He had OBTAINED Eternal Redemption. This is not a statement of theory but a statement of fact. Christ did not enter in the Holy of Holies to attempt to gain redemption for His people, He entered in having already accomplished that. So what is He doing in there? Is His work of intercession another work alongside His sacrificial death? No. Christ’s intercession is not a second work, rather Christ is presenting before the Father His perfect and complete sacrifice. He is our High Priest and the sacrifice He offers in our place (substitutionary atonement) is the sacrifice of Himself. Christ’s atoning death is clearly connected to His advocacy before the Father, therefore we can see the following truths:

1 - It is impossible the Son would not intercede for EVERYONE for whom He died. If Christ dies as their substitute, how could He not present His sacrifice in their stead before the Father? Can we really believe that Christ would die for someone that He did not intend to save?

2 - It is impossible that anyone for whom the Son did NOT die could receive Christ’s intercession. If Christ did NOT die on behalf of a certain individual, how could Christ intercede for that individual since He would have no grounds upon which to seek the Father’s mercy.

3 - It is impossible that anyone for whom the Son intercedes could be lost.

Now here is the real issue. Can we imagine the Son pleading before the Father, presenting His perfect atonement on behalf of an individual that He wishes to save and the Father rejecting the Son’s intercession? The Father ALWAYS hears the Son (John 11:42), would He not hear the Son’s pleas on behalf of ALL those the Son desires to save?

Furthermore if we believe that Christ can intercede for someone that the Father will not save then we must believe that either 1) there is dissension in the Godhead (the Father desiring one thing and the Son desiring something else) or 2) the Father is incapable of doing what the Son desires Him to do. Both positions are utterly impossible.

I believe God can (and does) save ANYONE He wants to.

That Christ does not act as High Priest for every soul who ever lived or will live is clearly seen in His High Priestly prayer in John 17. The Lord clearly distinguishes between the world and those who are His throughout the prayer. And John 17:9 makes the point very strongly: I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, … Jesus clearly distinguished between the two. … FOR THEY ARE YOURS. The Father, in love, gives a people to His Son. And John 6:37 makes it clear that those the Father has given to the Son WILL go to Him.

As you can see with the reference from Hebrews this whole idea about salvation is so much bigger than man. The idea that the creature can say “no” to a Sovereign God is laughable. If he could, then God wouldn’t be sovereign. The idea that the creature could “get in on salvation” if he wasn’t chosen is just as ludicrous.

A lot of the above information was from a debate between a Calvinist (Dr. James White) and a non-Calvinist Southern Baptist Pastor (Rev. James Barker). Great informative debate!!