This is day 8 of a video series called 21 Days of Once Saved Always Saved Salvation Assurance. It’s January 2022 and, in honor of the new year, my church in Marietta GA has asked us to dedicate 21 days to the Lord to draw closer to Him.  Over these 21 days, I’m going through 1 passage of Scripture a day that proclaims our salvation assurance in Christ and shows how salvation can never be lost or forfeited but is held securely in place for us by our heavenly Father so we can have confidence that we are eternally saved.

Today’s passage is Hebrews 10:14:

“For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14 KJV)

Throughout the book of Hebrews, the author paints this picture of Christ being our perfect sacrifice. He’s greater than Moses, higher than any angel, our High Priest forever, the one and only Son of God.  The coming of Christ signified the setting aside of the old covenant of the Law and Temple worship in favor of the new covenant of Grace through faith in Christ. Unlike the old covenant of the Law, where animals were sacrificed year after year in an attempt to atone for sins, it says for by one offering, which was Himself, Christ has perfect forever them that are sanctified. If a saved believer has been perfected forever, then that person cannot lose their salvation. So, let’s break down this verse.

It starts by saying, “For by one offering He…”

The “He” in this verse refers to Christ and the “one offering” refers to the sacrifice of His body on the cross. So, the phrase means, “For by one offering (His body on the cross) He (referring to Christ)…

We see clearly that this is the meaning by looking at verse 10:

“…we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:10 KJV)

Second, it says by this offering of His body, Jesus “hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.”

The word “Perfected” = teleioō (Greek) = to make perfect, complete

The word for “ever” = diēnekēs (Greek) = continuous, without end

So, the passage reads, “For by one offering (His body on the cross) He (Christ) hath perfected (made perfect) for ever (for all eternity) them that are sanctified.”

If we’re made perfect for all eternity, we can’t lose our salvation. If we did, we wouldn’t be made perfect. Notice that the phrase “hath perfected” is in the past tense. It already happened the moment we placed our faith in Christ. We have been made perfect. We’re not waiting to be made perfect. It says, God has already perfected us forever. If He’s already perfected us and that perfection lasts forever, then we can’t lose it. If we could lose it, then it would not be perfect and it would not be forever. But God’s Word is very clear: He has made us perfect forever. It speaks of the finished work of Christ. When Jesus said, “It is finished” on the cross, He meant it. There’s nothing left undone in our salvation.

But Lordship Salvationists say, “No, you have to obey commandments and keep the faith or you can lose it.” That’s not what this verse says. It says, by His sacrifice on the cross, He has perfected forever them that are sanctified.

When we look at the phrase, “them that are sanctified,” this word “sanctified” is the Greek word, “hagiazō ,” which means “to set apart to God, to make holy.” 

So, the full reading of this verse is clear:

“For by one offering (His body on the cross) He (Christ) hath perfected (made perfect) for ever (for eternity) them that are sanctified (set apart, made holy).” (Hebrews 10:14 KJV)

Because we have been perfected forever, the author goes on to say:

“And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.” (Hebrews 10:17-18 KJV)

When we place our faith in Christ for salvation, all sins (past, present, future) are nailed to the cross and will be remembered no more. How do we know all of our sins are forgiven? Because it says right here that there is no more need for any offering for sin. Christ’s redemptive work is complete. It is finished.

Therefore, we can never, ever, ever lose our salvation. It is God Who perfected us forever. We don’t perfect ourselves through our own obedience. He has already perfected us through Christ. He sanctified us, set us apart, made us holy through the blood sacrifice of Christ and through faith. By believing in Christ, we are perfected forever, which means we can never lose our salvation.

Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on the controversial verses in this chapter. This chapter has been hotly debated for centuries. But like all verses of Scripture, the true meaning becomes clear when we look at the context. 

The controversial verses are these, first verses 26-27:

“For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” (Hebrews 10:26-27 KJV)

When we look at the context of why the book of Hebrews was written and to whom the author was speaking, the meaning becomes clear. The author was writing to a congregation of Jews who had come out of Temple worship and were now attending the church. Some were saved, but others were still on the fence, not yet saved. And some of those who were not saved were starting to leave the church and go back to Temple worship with its animal sacrifices. That’s why the book was written.

Also, unlike any other book in the New Testament, for the first 10 chapters, there’s only one sin that’s ever mentioned: the sin of rejecting Christ. You look at any other book in the New Testament and you will see lots of sins being discussed. But in Hebrews, there’s only one: the sin of unbelief, of rejecting Christ. That’s the topic of this verse. He’s speaking to the unbelievers in the church, people who had heard the Gospel, had witnessed the work of the Holy Spirit in the church, had understood the teaching of God’s Word, yet who still were deciding to reject it all and go back to Temple worship and its animal sacrifices. The author was warning them that if they leave, they won’t find an acceptable sacrifice anywhere else. They can only expect fiery indignation from God for rejecting Christ.

Through this verse and the next two verses, we can see this warning is being addressed, not to the saved believers in the church, but to the unbelievers in the church, warning them not to reject Christ. The next two verses describe these people as unbelievers:

“He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:28-29 KJV)

Now, the phrase that throws people in verse 29 is the phrase, “wherewith he was sanctified.” There are those who say this must mean this is referring to a saved believer because it says he was sanctified by the blood of the covenant. But this is incorrect, and I’ll show you why.

First, in Scripture there are three uses of the word, “sanctified.”

1. The Accomplished Work of God To Save Us – Set apart and made holy by being justified, saved, for all time through faith in Christ (born again)
   
   We see this in verses like 1 Corinthians 1:2:
   

   “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are (having been) sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…” (1 Corinthians 1:2 KJV)
   

2. The Ongoing Work of God to Transform Us To Be Like Christ – Being set apart and made holy day-by-day either for service or to be transformed to be like Christ (discipleship)
   
   We see this in verses like 1 Thessalonians 4:4:
   “That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;” (1 Thessalonians 4:4 KJV)
   
   But there’s a third use of the word, “sanctified,” that applies to unbelievers. 

3. The Temporary Work of God Setting Apart an Unbeliever – because of his or her association with saved believers.
   
   Can an unbeliever be sanctified? Yes. That doesn’t mean they are saved. We see this in 1 Corinthians 7:14:
   “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.” (1 Corinthians 7:14 KJV)

A Lordship Salvationist argued with me over this, saying that it only says the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, not by the blood of the covenant like in Hebrews 10. But a human being cannot sanctify another human being before God. As much as I might like someone, I cannot sanctify them before God. It is the blood of the covenant that sanctifies us. The believing wife is sanctified by the blood of the covenant. The unbelieving husband then comes under that sanctification by being married to the wife. That doesn’t mean he’s saved. It just means he has come under the sanctified blessings that God is extending to that family on account of the saved wife. God is setting that entire family apart or sanctifying them for special blessing on account of the believing wife.

In the same way, an unbeliever can start attending church and come under the sanctified blessings that God is extending to the church. He becomes sanctified, set apart, though he’s not saved. And what we’ll see from that is that the author is saying that this unbeliever now has a higher level of accountability before God.  

In the case of Hebrews 10, where it refers to the person using the phrase, “wherewith he was sanctified,” there are three possibilities:

1. It could be referring to a saved believer who loses salvation
2. It could be what I believe that this is referring to an unbeliever, which is set apart because they are now attending the church and have come under the sanctified blessing of the church
3. The “him” could refer to Christ, that Christ is the one sanctified by His blood. People like John McArthur teach this position. I won’t argue this position here. My main point is that it’s not option number one. It’s not a saved believer who loses salvation.

There are two important clues that lead me to this conclusion.

First, the descriptive text surrounding the phrase, “wherewith he was sanctified,” describes an unbeliever, not a saved believer. Saved believers are never described in this manner. The author compares this person to one “who despised Moses law and died in the desert.” Those people died in the desert because of their unbelief. They weren’t believers who turned away. The author goes on to describe this person as someone who has “trodden underfoot the Son of God,” who has “counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing,” and who has done all this in spite of witnessing the Spirit of Grace in the church. There were healings going on at that time and great miracles of the Spirit being performed. But in spite of that, the person turned away and rejected Christ. This is an unbeliever being described here.

But even more important than this descriptive language to show that this is an unbeliever and not a saved believer being described is the comparison to the topic verse for our study, Hebrews 10:14. If Hebrews 10:29 is referring to a saved believer who loses salvation, then Hebrews 10:14 cannot be true.

“For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14 KJV)

If Hebrews 10:26-29 is referring to a saved believer who will face fiery judgment from God and loses salvation because he turns away from the faith, then Hebrews 10:14 cannot possibly be true. He cannot be “perfected forever” if he can fall away and face eternal judgment. Thus, we would have an error in the Word of God. If Hebrews 10:29 is warning a saved believer not to fall away, then either that verse or Hebrews 10:14 must be false. They couldn’t both be true. But God’s Word is never in error. So, we have a problem if you contend that Hebrews 10:29 is speaking of a saved believer. 

The logical explanation is that Hebrews 10:29 is using the phrase “wherewith he was sanctified,” in this third sense of the word, that of a temporary setting apart of an unbeliever. When those unbelievers started attending the church, they became sanctified before God much like an unbelieving spouse is sanctified. Those unbelievers came under a limited blessing, a temporary sanctification, by attending the church. Unlike unbelievers who were not attending the church, these unbelievers heard the Gospel, witnessed the Holy Spirit at work in the church, may have even experienced healings (the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives), and they experienced some of the blessings and protection God extended to that church. 

Because they had received all of this and understood the message of the Gospel, but still rejected it, they would come under greater condemnation from God.

But don’t be confused over this. This warning to not fall away does not apply to a saved believer in Christ, for if it does, then Hebrews 10:14 cannot be true. Hebrews 10:14 makes it crystal clear that we are saved forever.

“For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14 KJV)

If we’ve been perfected forever, we can’t lose our salvation. 

Once saved, always saved.

The question is, have you received this gift of salvation? Do you know with certainty that you are saved? Salvation is a free gift that operates through faith in Christ. Specifically:

Salvation = God’s Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Nothing more. Nothing less. There are no other requirements to be saved than to believe in Jesus, that He is God’s Son Who died on the cross to pay for your sins, that He was buried and rose from the dead on the third day. Have you taken that step of faith? Are you 100% sure God will save you?

As we look at our prophetic timeline, it’s getting very late. The current Age of Grace where God is giving people time to turn to Him to be forgiven for their sins is almost over. God is just about ready to get all the next steps underway, which will include the rapture and a 7-year tribulation where God will judge this world for their unbelief and pour out His wrath. God is ready to start all this. The question is: Are you ready? Are you saved?

God’s judgment is coming. Those who are not saved will be separated from God for all eternity. Don’t take chances with God. Don’t play with Him. Take Him seriously.

If you are not 100% sure you are saved, don’t put it off any longer. You can know with certainty that you have eternal life today. Do it now before it’s too late.

Making Sure You Are Saved Is As Easy As ABC

Admit to God that you have sinned.

Believe that Jesus, God’s Son, died to pay for
your sins 100%, was buried and rose from the dead.

Call upon Jesus and ask Him to forgive you and save you.

If you make that decision to call upon Him, God gives you this assurance:

“For whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13 KJV)

If you are still not sure, I’ll include a link to a video I did called, “What is the Gospel (in 6 Words)?”

Thank you for watching.