Hebrews 9:15-22
15 “For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where there is a covenant, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.17 For a covenant is valid only when people are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.’ 21 And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. 22 And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”
The writer of Hebrews is speaking about the necessity of a death taking place in order to receive an inheritance. This allows him to make the point that the New Covenant began at Christ’s death. Christ died and we inherit the blessings of the New Covenant as a result. The death of Jesus, therefore, is the moment in time when the Old Covenant ended, and the New Covenant began. This means that Jesus lived and ministered under the law (Galatians 3:3). We see this in His Sermon on the Mount where Jesus teaches an impossibly high moral standard in order to demonstrate the futility of trying to gain salvation under the law. In contrast to the Old Covenant, the New Covenant offers salvation as a totally free gift.
He took the blood: Moses began the Old Covenant with blood. Likewise, the New Covenant was begun by Jesus’ blood. But in the New Covenant, the focus is on God’s promise to Himself to save all who believe in Jesus. In the Old Covenant it was focused on our behavior.
Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness: God has a blood economy. In order for forgiveness to occur, there must be the shedding of blood. This is established by the Old Covenant law. This is why Christ’s blood brings our perfect forgiveness. Hebrews, therefore, leaves no room for a confession-based economy for forgiveness. God does not require ongoing confession for ongoing forgiveness. He looks at the blood of Jesus and remembers our sins no more.
