Hebrews 10 and the Finished Work of Christ
Why This Chapter Frees the Soul, Strengthens the Spirit, and Ends Our Fear-Based Reading of Scripture
Before anything else, let me tell you why I’m releasing a study on Hebrews 10 on Thanksgiving Day.
We talk a lot about gratitude today. We list blessings, we share memories, we enjoy good food, and we thank God for what He has done. But real gratitude only grows when we’re confident about the One we’re thanking. If your view of God is uncertain, your gratitude will be uncertain. If you’re not sure where you stand with Him, it’s hard to give thanks with a settled heart.
That is why I wanted to start this day by pointing to something deeper than tradition or family gatherings. The greatest reason we have to give thanks is not a moment or a meal, but the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 10 reminds us that:
God does not leave His work half-done.
The covenant Jesus secured is stronger than our emotions.
Salvation does not fall apart when we have a bad week.
Christ perfected something in us that our failures cannot undo.
On a day when we intentionally slow down to remember God’s goodness, I wanted to anchor our gratitude in the greatest gift we have: a Savior whose work is complete, a covenant that holds, and a righteousness we did not earn but fully receive.
That is something worth giving thanks for… not just today, but every day.
Hebrews 10 is one of the most misunderstood chapters in the New Testament.
Some treat it like a warning label.
Some wield it like a weapon.
Most read it like a threat.
But it was written for something far better.
The author wasn’t trying to make Christians doubt their salvation. He was pulling them out of covenantal confusion, the kind of inner conflict where the spirit knows what Christ has finished while the soul keeps trying to live as if the law is still in charge.
And tucked inside this chapter is one of the clearest teachings on spirit, soul, and body you will ever find.
You don’t overcome by trying harder. You overcome by understanding how God actually wired you, and why Christ’s finished work is stronger than the war you feel inside.
Most believers I know have a complicated relationship with Hebrews 10.
On one side, you have some of the clearest grace language in the New Testament:
“By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
(Hebrews 10:10 NET)“For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.”
(Hebrews 10:14 NET)
On the other side, you have one of the most feared warning passages:
“For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us.”
(Hebrews 10:26 NET)
Put those together without context and you get a generation of believers who say “It is finished” with their mouth and “It might not be” with their heart.
Hebrews 10 is usually preached as a threat to nervous Christians in a Western church context. But the letter was written to Hebrews, people steeped in the Mosaic covenant who were tempted to step away from Christ and go back to the law.
Once you see that, something else opens up. Hebrews 10 is not just about covenants. It is also one of the clearest windows into how spirit, soul, and body actually work in the life of a believer.
If you do not understand that three-part reality, you will read this chapter as if your entire salvation hangs by a thread every time you sin. If you see how God has arranged your spirit, soul, and body, the whole chapter shifts from panic to clarity.
Shadow vs. Substance: Why the Law Could Never Finish the Job
The author starts here:
“For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.”
(Hebrews 10:1 NET)
The law was a shadow. Real, important, God-given, but still a shadow.
If a shadow only hints at something greater, why give your affection to the shadow instead of the One casting it?
Under the old covenant, the sacrificial system pointed forward to something better. It exposed sin, but it never removed it. If those sacrifices had actually perfected anyone, they would have stopped. Instead, they continued year after year.
“But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year.”
(Hebrews 10:3 NET)
The law never failed. It revealed the reality of sin and showed that righteousness could not come through commands alone. It functioned as a shadow, and a shadow can never accomplish what only the substance can do.
One Offering, Two Kinds of Sanctification
This is where Hebrews 10 intersects directly with spirit, soul, and body. The chapter makes two statements that sound like they contradict:
“By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
(Hebrews 10:10 NET)“For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.”
(Hebrews 10:14 NET)
Which is it?
Are we already sanctified, perfected, and finished?
Or are we in a process of being sanctified?
The answer is both, because Scripture speaks differently about your spirit, your soul, and your body.
Spirit, Soul, and Body in Plain Language
Scripture shows that you are not one flat thing.
You are spirit, soul, and body.
— Your Spirit
Your spirit is who you are at the deepest level, the part God made alive when you were born again.
Sealed for the day of redemption (Eph 1:13, 4:30)
United with Christ: “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” (1 Cor 6:17)
Called “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Heb 12:23)
Your spirit is not in process. It is not halfway clean. It has been sanctified and perfected forever in Christ.
Sin cannot touch it.
— Your Flesh
Your flesh is not just your skin. It is the leftover corruption of the old life, the sin patterns and appetites lodged in your mortal body.
“In my flesh nothing good dwells.” (Rom 7:18)
“The flesh wars against the Spirit.” (Gal 5:17)
Your flesh is not being perfected. It will not be renewed until resurrection.
You are promised the redemption of your body (Rom 8:23) …. Future
— Your Soul
Your soul is your mind, will, and emotions. This is where the war happens.
“As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Prov 23:7)
“To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” (Rom 8:5–6)
This is why Paul gives one main command for transformation:
“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
(Rom 12:2)
Your spirit does not need renewing, it is sealed.
Your body will not be renewed until resurrection.
Your soul is where the war is won or lost now.
Hold that in mind as you return to Hebrews 10.
Verse 10 describes what God did in your spirit.
Verse 14 describes what God is doing in your soul.
Your spirit is perfected forever.
Your soul is catching up.
From Sin-Conscious to Christ-Conscious
Hebrews 10:2 says something shocking:
“…the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin.”
(Hebrews 10:2 NET)
Under the old system, sacrifices kept people sin-conscious. They lived with their failures on repeat. The blood of animals could not change them. It could only remind them how far they fell short.
Under the new covenant, God is not trying to make you obsessed with sin.
Whatever you stare at, you move toward.
If you are more conscious of sin than of Christ’s finished work, you will live as if your flesh is still in charge.
The Spirit does not make you ignore sin.
He shifts your attention from sin to the Savior.
Conviction is not the Spirit shouting, “Look at how awful you are.”
That voice is condemnation, and it never comes from the Spirit. Condemnation comes from:
the flesh
the accuser
the unrenewed parts of the soul that still believe lies about your identity
Conviction is entirely different:
“This does not match who you are now. Your spirit is perfected. Your inheritance is secure. Come higher.”
That is why conviction feels heavy and hopeful at the same time.
The War Over Your Soul
Here is how the war plays out daily:
The Spirit influences your soul through:
Scripture
Truth
Renewal
Hearing the word of Christ (Rom 10:17; Col 3:16)
The flesh influences your soul through:
Old patterns
Desires
Worldly thinking (Rom 12:2; Gal 6:8)
Your intake shapes your thoughts.
Your thoughts shape your choices.
Your choices shape your life.
The spirit is already victorious.
The flesh is already condemned.
The soul decides which one you agree with.
That is the whole war.
“Willful Sin” and Going Back to the Wrong Covenant
Now read the “scariest” part of Hebrews 10 in context:
“For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us.”
(Hebrews 10:26 NET)
Read alone, it sounds like any deliberate sin removes you from grace.
If that were true, no one would be saved.
The author keeps talking:
Rejecting Moses’ law (10:28)
Trampling the Son of God (10:29)
Treating Christ’s blood as common (10:29)
Insulting the Spirit of grace (10:29)
The context is Jewish believers tempted to abandon Christ and return to the law.
The “willful sin” is not a Christian struggling with sin and seeking help.
The “willful sin” is rejecting Christ as the only sacrifice and replacing Him with the law.
Plainly:
“His blood is not enough. I will finish this with my own obedience.”
For that person, nothing remains, because there is no other sacrifice that removes sin. The law cannot save you.
“Falling Into the Hands of the Living God”
“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
(Hebrews 10:31 NET)
This is not aimed at Christians in Christ.
It is aimed at those rejecting Christ.
Under the old covenant, falling into God’s hands without a mediator meant judgment.
If you reject Christ and stand on the law instead, the law can only condemn you.
For believers:
God’s hands are not a threat.
They are your safety.
No one can snatch you from them.
The judgment you deserved already fell on Christ.
The real danger isn’t being in God’s hands through Christ. The danger is rejecting Christ and standing before God on your own.
Confidence, Endurance, and the Saving of the Soul
Hebrews 10 ends like this:
“So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward. For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. For just a little longer and he who is coming will arrive and not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him. But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls.” (Hebrews 10:35–39 NET)
Key points:
The just live by faith, not by law.
“Shrinking back” means returning to the old covenant.
“Saving of the soul” isn’t a second salvation. It’s the process of your mind, will, and emotions coming under the reality of what Christ already secured in your spirit.
In summary:
Your spirit has been sanctified.
Your soul is being sanctified.
Your body will be redeemed at resurrection.
Endurance means refusing to return to what Christ has already fulfilled.
What This Means for You Right Now
1. Stop using the law as your mirror.
The law can show you sin, and the Old Testament can show you Christ in shadow, but the law cannot show you who you are now. The mirror you need is Christ and His finished work. Look into the Word until you see Him, not just yourself.
2. Treat conviction as a pull upward, not rejection.
When the Spirit convicts you, it is not because God is about to leave. It is because He refuses to let you live beneath your true identity. Your perfected spirit and your renewed mind are meant to agree. Conviction is an invitation for your soul to catch up.
3. Guard the intake of your soul.
Your spirit is sealed. Your flesh will always want what it wants. Your soul is the one that chooses which voice to follow. That is why your habits, your thought life, your media, your relationships, all matter. You are not earning salvation. You are choosing agreement.
4. Refuse covenantal chaos.
You cannot live with one foot in law and one foot in grace. The law is a fulfilled chapter. Christ is the new and better covenant. God isn’t asking you to maintain what Jesus already completed. He is inviting you to live as if “It is finished” actually finished something.
A Final Word: Let Your Soul Catch Up
Hebrews 10 was never meant to make you question whether a single failure could undo Christ’s work.
Its purpose is to reveal the fullness of what He finished and to free you from systems that could never regenerate or perfect your spirit.
If you are in Christ, you are:
Perfected forever in your spirit
Being sanctified in your soul
Waiting for the redemption of your body
The battle is not about whether God has done enough.
He has.
The battle is whether your soul will agree with the Spirit or side with the flesh.
Ask yourself:
Am I relating to God through grace or through performance?
Where is my soul resisting what my spirit knows is true?
Do I treat conviction as condemnation or invitation?
What does my thought life reveal about which voice I follow: Spirit or flesh?
Am I feeding my soul the truth of Christ’s finished work or the fear of never being enough?
Let Hebrews 10 do what God designed it to do.
Not to shake your confidence, but to settle it.
Not to make you question grace, but to make you sure of it, until your soul finally stands where your spirit already lives.
A Closing Word
I’ve walked through Hebrews 10 with the finished work of Christ at the center, because I believe every passage ultimately finds its meaning in Him. I’ve done my best to handle the text honestly, to show its depth, and to bring forward the perspectives of other faithful students of Scripture who have wrestled with these same questions.
But none of this is meant to be the last word.
It isn’t meant to replace your own study.
And it certainly isn’t meant to stand above Scripture itself.
Use this work as a starting point, not a conclusion.
Test everything by the Word of God.
Read the passages in their full context.
Compare interpretations with patience and discernment.
And most importantly, seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who alone leads us into truth and anchors us in Christ.
My hope is simple.
I hope this study stirs a deeper hunger to know Jesus.
I hope it strengthens your confidence in what He already finished.
And I hope it encourages you to pursue understanding with humility, clarity, and dependence on the Spirit who renews the soul and reveals the Son.
May your spirit rest in what Christ has completed,
may your soul keep rising into agreement with that truth,
and may your life reflect the One who has perfected you forever.
Church Service & Sermon From My Pastor Teaching on Hebrews 10
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Hey, great read as always! Realy insightful take on gratitude. How do you maintain that deep certainty?