A Clear Conscience

The people of the world have many peculiar “problems.” The most popular problem today is global warming. It used to be global cooling; before that, it was the population explosion. But the real problem of every sinner is his filthy conscience. We need to know how to get rid of guilt and have a clear conscience.

People have historically tried to cleanse their consciences in many ways. The ancient Ammonites used to throw their children into the fire in worship of their god Molech, while Hindus would throw their children into rivers to appease wrathful deities. In modern times, young people have strapped bomb belts around themselves and self-destructed, killing “infidels” in the process. Some people flagellate themselves in religious frenzy, while still others walk over fiery coals, or crucify themselves, or practice severe asceticism. Those with money give great sums to charitable causes. Yet none of these actions can truly cleanse a guilty conscience.

God instituted the Levitical priesthood with its bloody sacrifices to deal with the sins of his people. But even the God-instituted bloody sacrifices did not provide cleansing for filthy consciences. The blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer, utterly failed to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper (Heb. 9:9,13). These things, however, had a purpose: they pointed to a better sacrifice that would cleanse human filthy consciences. This better sacrifice, offered by a better priest once for all to God, was the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Thus, the author implied that it would be foolish for anyone to go back to the imperfect worship of Judaism, which was only a shadow of good things that came in Jesus Christ.

If you are burdened with a guilty conscience, I have good news for you. You can be delivered from the penalty and power of sin today, instantly and eternally. Why carry this crushing load when a way has been established for its eternal disposition?

The Earthly Tabernacle

The earthly sanctuary of which the author was speaking was not designed to give us a good conscience and usher us into the intimate presence of God. The tabernacle Moses was ordered to construct consisted of an outer room called the Holy Place and an inner room called the Holy of Holies. The author calls it an earthly sanctuary, contrasting it with the true heavenly sanctuary where Jesus ministers in the presence of God.

The Holy Place was furnished on the south side with a seven-branched lampstand made of about seventy-five pounds of gold. Solomon’s later temple had ten lampstands. On the north side was a table on which twelve loaves of bread were placed on each Sabbath in two rows of six, representing the twelve tribes of Israel. On the west side, in front of the second thick veil that barred people from the presence of God, there was the altar of incense. Our author places the altar of incense in the Holy of Holies because it was most associated with the ministry that occurred there, especially the high priest’s sprinkling of the blood of the sin offering upon and in front of the mercy seat above the ark (cf. 1 Kings 6:22). It may be that on the Day of Atonement the altar of incense was moved to the inner room of the Holy of Holies, but all other days it remained in the Holy Place.

The most important piece of furniture was the ark, placed in the Holy of Holies, in which were the golden jar of manna, the rod of Aaron that budded, and the two tablets of the covenant, which contained the Ten Commandments. This ark had a cover made of gold with two cherubim on each side. Their outstretched wings overshadowed this atonement cover, the hilasterion, or mercy seat. The ark disappeared when the temple was destroyed in 587 B.C. According to the historian Tacitus, it was still missing in 63 B.C., when Pompey forced his way into the second temple.

God’s presence was above this mercy seat, as we read in Psalm 80:1: “Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth!”

The mercy seat interposed between the law in the ark and the holy God above it. The idea is that the blood of the sin offerings sprinkled on the mercy seat came between the lawbreakers and the holy God, making God propitious and merciful toward them. Thus, God would forgive the sins of the worshipers on the basis of his own plan of salvation, which included the death of a substitute.

An Imperfect Ministry

This ministry of the priests and the high priest, however, was not designed to make the worshipers perfect or cleanse their consciences. The priests would enter the Holy Place daily for services, ensuring that the lamps were dressed, wicks trimmed, and oil poured. All seven lights were to be lit and shining day and night. In the book of Revelation, Jesus likens the lampstands to local churches, which are the light of the world.

The priests also made sure the altar of incense was burning with incense morning and evening. That is the duty Zechariah was doing when the angel Gabriel appeared to him (Luke 1:8-11). The priests also replenished the table of showbread with twelve fresh loaves in two rows of six on each Sabbath day, giving the old bread to the priests and their families to eat.

According to Leviticus 16, the high priest could go past the thick veil into the Holy of Holies only once a year. This was an extremely hazardous and dangerous duty. It could be that the two older sons of Aaron were consumed by the fire from the Holy of Holies because they dared to go in when they were not supposed to (Leviticus 10).

Once a year, on the tenth day of the seventh month (Tishri), a day known as Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies. Yet even his right to go in was not inherent. Being a sinner, he must first enter with the blood of a bull as a sin offering for himself and for his household. Then he could go in a second time with the blood of a goat for the sin of the whole people. He took a censer full of burning coals and two handfuls of incense to burn. A cloud of incense thus covered the mercy seat, lest the priest see it and die.

The work of the high priest was lonely; no one could assist him. It was also hard work to offer many sacrifices on the Day of Atonement. When the priest entered in the prescribed manner, he would sprinkle the blood of the sin offerings on top of the mercy seat and in front of it for the forgiveness of the sins of ignorance. This was all designed by God himself to be in force until Jesus Christ came: “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life” (Lev. 17:11).

This bloody sacrifice of animals did not cleanse anyone’s conscience or make anyone perfect; rather, it pointed to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ offered to God on the cross. It is the sacrifice of Christ alone, when trusted, that will cleanse our consciences instantly and eternally, for our eternal happiness. The author of Hebrews says that all the blood of all the animals, though ineffectual in making atonement for our sins, taught us about salvation through the sacrifice of another, even Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Therefore, the ministry of the Levitical priests in the earthly sanctuary did not result in the cleansing of anyone’s conscience, nor did it justify the worshipers so that they could appear before God in the Holy of Holies. The thick veil remained, and the people had to worship holy God at a distance because they were still sinners.

The system was incapable of perfecting the conscience of a worshiper. So we read in Hebrews 9:9, “This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.” Verse 8 tells us what this system was teaching: “The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.” The Levitical system was put in force by God only until the time of reformation, we are told in verse 10, when God would set everything straight by the sacrifice of his Son on the cross. In other words, it was set in force until the sacrifice of Jesus Christ our Messiah.

Yet there were some benefits through this system. The Levitical system cleansed the sinner outwardly, physically, and socially. As long as individuals observed the laws and participated in the sacrificial system of worship, they were not cut off from people and covenant community. Old Testament believers, however, were saved by their faith in the coming Messiah, which the sacrificial system foreshadowed. Jesus spoke of this, saying, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Abraham saw it by faith, as did Moses: “By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible” (Heb. 11:27). By faith these Old Testament believers saw that the sacrificial system was pointing to a Messiah to come and make that effectual and justifying sacrifice.

Hebrews 11 reveals the faith of these Old Testament saints: “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. . . . All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. . . . Instead, they were longing for a better country-a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them” (vv. 10,13,16). These people lived by faith in the sacrifice of the Messiah who come and die in their place. They looked forward to the justifying and conscience-cleansing sacrifice of the promised Messiah.

The author, then, says in Hebrews 9:9 that the Levitical sacrificial system was a parable, an illustration of the coming new covenant. It was a signpost, not reality itself. It pointed to the good things that came with Jesus Christ (v. 11), which includes a good conscience.

Only Christ Can Cleanse Our Conscience

Only the person and the work of Jesus Christ can cleanse our filthy, guilty conscience. The Levitical priesthood failed to accomplish this, as Philip E. Hughes says:

“The conscience is properly man’s inner knowledge of himself, especially in the sense of his answerabilityfor his motives and actions in view of the fact that he, as a creature made in the image of God, stands before and must give an account of himself to his Creator. As a sinner, who has failed to keep the loving standard of God’s law, he has an inner consciousness of his guilt and of his need for cleansing and restoration. The levitical ceremonial was incompetent to provide that perfection of reconciliation, that completeness of justification before God, which the sinner so radically needed” (Philip E. Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977], 324).

In Hebrews 9:14 we learn that the blood of Christ alone accomplishes this cleansing: “How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences.” The author of this letter himself experienced it: “Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way” (Heb. 13:18).

Our great problem is not global warming, but a filthy conscience, a consciousness of our own filth before God. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9). Jesus explains, “For from within, out of men’s hearts come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean'” (Mark 7:21-23).

We need a clean heart, a new heart, a heart of flesh that delights in God’s laws to do them. As we do them, we will discover true happiness. We need something better than the blood of bulls and goats to purge our filthy consciences. Thank God for his own plan of salvation through the bloodshedding and death of another. When God sees Christ’s blood shed on the mercy seat, he forgives us sinners who broke his holy law.

Paul describes Jesus Christ as the mercy seat upon which the blood is shed: “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice . . . so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25). God’s only Son is the sacrifice of atonement, thehilasterion, the mercy seat, upon which the blood of Jesus was sprinkled to atone for our sins.

The author of Hebrews tells us a multitude of benefits result from Christ’s sacrifice: “When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here” (Heb. 9:11). Jesus Christ has prepared for us a feast of good things. He entered the true tabernacle, the heavenly Most Holy Place of God’s presence, as our high priest after the order of Melchizedek, having obtained eternal redemption by his blood (v. 12). He paid the price we owed by his death on the cross. He shed his blood to redeem us from our slavery to sin and Satan and bring us into God’s kingdom: “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is, the devil-and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death” (Heb. 2:14-15).

By his bloody death in our place, his one sacrifice once-for-all offered, Christ set us free forever! Our consciences have been cleared and cleansed by the blood of Christ; nothing else could do it. (PGM) The author argues that if the blood of animals could cleanse the people externally, how much more will the blood of Christ cleanse our conscience from all the guilt of our sins (Heb. 9:13-14).

We are living in the day of fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation: “No matter now many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. So through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 1:20). The old system became obsolete when Christ sacrificed himself in our place on the cross (Heb. 8:13).

The Argument

The core of the author’s argument is found in verses 11 through 13. First, he says, “When Christ came.” This is speaking about the incarnation. The word Christosmeans Messiah, Anointed One: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me” (Is. 61:1; cf. Luke 4:18). Two thousand years ago the anointed Savior came to fulfill God’s promise of salvation.

Second, he says Christ came “as high priest,” not after the order of Aaron, but after a new order, the order of Melchizedek, on the basis of an indestructible life. Not only is he the perfect high priest, but he is also the perfect victim. He did not take the blood of another; he shed his own blood. The sacrifice he offered was unblemished and spotless (v. 14). The author speaks also about sinless Jesus as the sinless high priest and sinless victim (Hebrews 4:15; 5:8-9; and 7:26).

Then we are told this high priest offered himself, not an animal. On the cross he was actively obeying by offering himself as a sacrifice to God in our place: “He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself” (Heb. 7:27). No repetition is necessary; Christ’s one sacrifice is effectual forever.

Christ offered himself spotlessly, once-for-all, voluntarily and rationally, not for himself, but for us and in our place. “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25). Jesus himself said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:1).

Christ offered himself as a spotless, once-for-all sacrifice by the power of the eternal Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14). All three persons of the Godhead were involved in this great work of salvation. The text says in verse 14 that Christ’s sacrifice was offered to God. To propitiate God’s wrath against us, the sinless Son of God was interposed between God and sinners. The Father smote him in our place, and the Son submitted to this smiting. Christ died for our sins and suffered God’s wrath. The Holy Spirit sustained him in this suffering, just as the Messiah was sustained by the Spirit in all his ministry. Verse 12 says thereby he obtained eternal redemption for us.

Here, then, we see the infinite superiority and eternal worth of the person of Christ and his sacrifice. His work is finished, just as he said-finished forever to the satisfaction of God the Father. The eternal Son obtained for us everlasting redemption and freedom from all bondage. If the Son sets us free, we are truly free – free from sin, guilt, and hell.

The Efficacy of Christ’s Blood

The blood of Christ alone is God’s answer to an accusing conscience and an accusing devil. John writes, “They overcame [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev. 12:11). No other cleansing agent in the whole world can give us a good conscience. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ alone cleanses the filthy consciences of both Jews and Gentiles. By it alone we resist the devil.

The Levitical system was not able to make a human conscience clean, but the sacrifice of Christ can (Heb. 9:9, 14): “Therefore, [Christ] is able to save completely those who come to God through him.” (Heb. 7:25).

To cleanse our consciences means to clear them of guilt. It is a forensic, declarative act, says Geerhardus Vos (Geerhardus Vos, The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews, [Philadelphia: The Theological Seminary of the Reformed Episcopal Church, 1944], 57-58). God pronounces that we are clean on the basis of the alien righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is not something happening within, but it is a legal status: “He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21). God made Christ for us to be wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). The moment we trust in him, we are instantly and eternally saved, cleansed, and freed.

The shed blood of Christ alone clears the guilty. On the basis of the blood of Christ, God the Father declares us to be just. Christ’s blood removed the guilt of sin, which hindered us from coming to God and worshiping in his presence. The shed blood of Christ is the basis of our justification, sanctification, and glorification: “Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect those who are being sanctified” (Heb. 10:14). The sacrifice of Christ cleanses our conscience from dead works, the works we did while sinners, of which we must repent (Heb. 6:1; 9:14). Dead works are our sins that lead us into everlasting ruin and death because the soul that sins shall die (Eze. 18:20). But a believer in Christ’s sacrifice is justified and has a clear conscience.

Good Things in Christ

The author says Christ came “as high priest of the good things that are already here” (Heb. 9:11). Brothers and sisters, we have a great feast of good things in Jesus Christ. We have forgiveness of sins (Heb. 8:12), justification (Heb. 10:14), sanctification (Heb. 10:14), and fellowship with God. We are told repeatedly, “Draw near.” The thick veil that barred us from the presence of God has been torn and removed. As we trust in Christ and his sacrifice, we can now come with confidence into the very presence of God to find mercy and to receive grace in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

Let us rejoice because of this great understanding of the gospel. It is a feast of good things. Let us come to eat and drink, praise and rejoice in the presence of this God and Savior. He gives us good conscience (Heb. 9:14), knowledge of God (Heb. 8:11), guarantee of our salvation (Heb. 7:25), victory over Satan and our fear of death, giving us confidence that when our time comes, we can go into the presence of God (Heb. 2:14-15). And, finally, our high priest, Jesus Christ, is in the presence of God interceding for us effectually and continually (Heb. 7:25).

Cleansed to Serve God

What is the purpose of having a clear conscience? Why does God save us and bring us to his presence? Notice the last clause of verse 14: “to serve the living God.” Brothers and sisters, if you want a definition for happiness, it is this: to serve the living God all our lives. Now we are royal priests. The veil that barred us from God has been taken away by Christ, and we may now come with boldness of conscience to worship God and offer spiritual sacrifices.

We are royal priests with sacrifices to offer: “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship” (Rom. 12:1); “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. . . You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Pet. 2:5, 9); “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise-the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Heb. 13:15-16).

We serve God all our life: “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God,” and for our eternal happiness (1 Cor. 10:31). There is joy in serving Jesus.

Revelation 22 discloses the final fulfillment of our service: “No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him” (v. 3). That is what life is designed for-eternal service to God by his redeemed creatures. This is the definition of pure, unadulterated, everlasting happiness.

B. F. Westcott says, “Purity is not the end but the means of the new life. The [goal] of restored fellowship is energetic service to Him Who alone lives and gives life” (Brooke Foss Westcott, The Epistle to the Hebrews, [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1952], 263). The purpose of redemption is not autonomy, antinomianism, or the evil of independence. In light of our salvation and Christ’s resurrection from the dead, Paul writes, “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). John Calvin says, “We are not cleansed by Christ so we can immerse ourselves continually in fresh dirt, but in order that our purity may serve the glory of God” (quoted by Philip E. Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977], 362).

By nature, all have sinned, all have filthy consciences, and all are cut off from God. But, thank God, Christ came and died for our sins. We can now instantly and eternally cleansed of all guilt to serve God in utter happiness on the basis of this sacrifice.