Hebrews 10 — We Need Jesus

Big Idea: We need Jesus.

Question: Is He changing you?

Key Idea

Old-covenant sacrifices were only a shadow and could never make us perfect. Jesus offered
one sacrifice for sins and sat down at the right hand of God — perfecting for all time
those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). Because of Him, we draw near to God,
hold fast our hope, and stir one another up to love and good works as we wait for His return.

Message Overview

1) Shadow vs. Substance (Hebrews 10:1–14)

• The law and sacrifices were a shadow of the good things to come, not the true form.
• Priests stood daily offering repeated sacrifices that could never fully take away sins.
• Jesus offered a single sacrifice for sins and sat down at God’s right hand — His work is finished.
• “By a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (v.14).
• Identity: perfected in Christ. Process: being sanctified, becoming more like Jesus over time.

2) The “Salad Section”: Three “Let Us” (Hebrews 10:19–25)

Because of Jesus, we can draw near, hold fast, and consider one another.

Why we can:

• Jesus’ blood — He opened “a new and living way” through His sacrifice.
• Jesus’ priesthood — He is our great High Priest over the house of God.
• The torn curtain — the barrier to God’s presence has been removed.

How we can:

• Draw near in worship — privately (Bible, prayer, fasting, singing, obedience) and publicly (gathering weekly).
• Hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering — we never outgrow our need for Jesus.
• Consider one another — think intentionally about how to stir each other up to love and good works.
• Keep meeting — don’t neglect gathering, especially as we see the Day of Christ drawing near.

3) A Serious Warning (Hebrews 10:26–31)

• Hebrews warns against those who “go on sinning deliberately” after receiving knowledge of the truth.
• This is not struggling with sin (which is normal, and part of sanctification); it’s settling in sin with no repentance or desire to change.
• For the person who rejects Jesus, “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” — only “a fearful expectation of judgment.”
• One of the cruelest things Christians can do is tell people to ignore God’s clear warnings.

4) Remember and Endure (Hebrews 10:32–39)

• The original readers had endured suffering, public reproach, and the plundering of their property for Jesus.
• They helped imprisoned believers and stood with others who suffered for the faith.
• They accepted loss joyfully because they knew they had “a better possession and an abiding one.”
• “We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” (v.39)

How We Respond

• Draw near. Use the access Jesus purchased to worship God privately and publicly.
• Hold fast. Don’t let go of the hope you have in Christ. You never graduate beyond needing Him.
• Consider others. Think about how to encourage other believers toward love and good works.
• Struggle, don’t settle. Fight your sin by the Spirit; don’t make peace with it.
• Endure with hope. Remember what Christ has done and what He has promised; live like your best possession is still ahead.

Lifegroup Guide

Warm-Up

• Share a time you were tempted to “turn back” to something easier, more comfortable, or more familiar. What helped keep you moving forward?

Read Together

• Hebrews 10:1–14
• Hebrews 10:19–25
• Hebrews 10:26–39

Observation

• What does the author say about the law and Old Testament sacrifices in verses 1–4, 11–14?
• List the three “let us” statements in verses 19–25. What does each one call us to do?
• What stands out to you in the warning section (vv.26–31)? What repeated words or ideas do you notice?
• In vv.32–39, what past experiences of the believers does the author tell them to remember?

Interpretation

• What does it mean that Jesus has “perfected for all time those who are being sanctified”? How do those two truths fit together?
• In your own words, how would you explain the difference between struggling with sin and going on sinning deliberately?
• Why is it so important for Christians to “not neglect meeting together”? How does that connect to endurance and hope?
• What does Hebrews 10 teach us about God’s character — His holiness, justice, grace, and faithfulness?

Application

• Where do you most feel the pull to “shrink back” right now — compromise, comfort, fear of people, or something else?
• Which of the three “let us” commands (draw near, hold fast, consider one another) do you most need to lean into this week? What is one concrete step you can take?
• Are there any areas where you’ve stopped struggling and started settling with sin? What would repentance look like?
• How can this group help one another “stir up” love and good works in a real, practical way over the next month?

Prayer

• Thank Jesus for His once-for-all sacrifice and for perfecting His people by His blood.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to help you draw near, hold fast, and encourage others faithfully.
• Pray for endurance — that you would not shrink back, but live by faith and preserve your soul.

Memory Verse

Hebrews 10:14 — “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

Full Transcript

Hebrews 10 — We Need Jesus

Adam Pel: Well, good morning, and welcome to Lifepoint Church. We’re so glad you’re here to worship Jesus with us this morning. Whether it’s your first time or you’ve been here more times than you can count, we are genuinely thankful that you’re here. If we haven’t had a chance to meet yet, my name is Adam Pel and I get to serve as the lead pastor here.

I want to mention three quick announcements before we jump into Hebrews chapter 10. They all start with the letter B so they’re easy to remember: bookmarks, budget, and baptism.

Bookmarks: Hopefully you got one when you came in. Take one, or take twenty. We believe it’s incredibly valuable to memorize God’s Word, and these bookmarks are just a simple tool to help you internalize Scripture in your head and your heart.

Budget: It’s budget season. If you’d like a copy of our 2026 proposed budget summary, they’re available at the Info Center. Grab one, look it over, and if you have questions there’s an email address on the sheet. We would love to receive and answer your questions.

Baptism: Our next baptism service is the first Sunday of December. Some of you already know that’s your next step — you’re ready. Others might be curious about what baptism is or whether you should be baptized. Either way, we’d love to have that conversation with you about publicly identifying with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus through believers’ baptism.

Big Idea and Question

We’re continuing our study in Hebrews — today we’re in chapter 10. Some of you knew that because you read the weekly email and saw the upcoming schedule; some of you maybe didn’t even know there was a letter called Hebrews with ten chapters. Either way, chapter 10 is a longer chapter with a lot in it, including some of the most sobering verses in the Bible.

Big Idea: We need Jesus.

Question: Is He changing you?

No matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, you need Jesus. And the question is not just, “Did I pray a prayer once?” The question is: Is He changing you?

Justification and Sanctification

To help us think about this, I drew two stick figures. One represents someone who is not a Christian. The other represents a new Christian. The question is: How does someone go from being a non-Christian to a new Christian? And the Bible is very clear — it happens by faith.

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith that He died on the cross for our sins, rose on the third day, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Faith in Jesus is how we are justified and brought into God’s family.

Then there’s another word in our passage: sanctified, or “being sanctified.” That describes an ongoing process. God is making us more and more like Jesus — shaping our character, transforming our desires, growing our obedience. It’s not a straight line up and to the right; there are highs and lows. But over time, believers become more like Christ.

So we’re going to see both in Hebrews 10: that in Christ we are perfected, and at the same time we are being sanctified.

Prayer

Adam: Father in heaven, we praise You for the privilege of being together this morning to worship You. As we turn our attention to Your holy and perfect Word, we confess that we need Your help. We need Jesus. We need the Holy Spirit. We need You. What we want this morning is that every single one of us would trust Your Son Jesus, love Him, obey Him, and be changed by Him — that we would grow in holiness and in conformity to the image of Christ. We cannot do this unless You help us, so by Your Spirit would You give us the help that we need. We pray this in Jesus’ holy name, amen.

Hebrews 10:1–18 — Shadow and Substance

Hebrews 10 begins by saying that the law was only a shadow of the good things to come, not the true form of the realities themselves. The repeated sacrifices of the Old Testament could never make the worshipers perfect.

The author contrasts the old priests with Jesus. The priests stand daily in their service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. His work is finished.

Then we get this incredible verse:

“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” (Hebrews 10:14)

So in one sentence we have both realities: believers in Jesus have been perfected for all time, and yet we are also being sanctified. Identity and process. On/off and ongoing. All of it is a gift of grace through Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice.

The “Salad Section”: Let Us, Let Us, Let Us (Hebrews 10:19–25)

Beginning in verse 19, the author moves into application. This is what I jokingly call the “salad section” because three times he says, “Let us…”

Because of Jesus — because of His blood, His priesthood, and the new and living way He opened — we can respond in three ways:

1) Let us draw near

We now have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus. He opened the way through the curtain — through His flesh. We have a great High Priest over the house of God. That’s why we can draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

The text tells us why we can draw near — Jesus’ sacrifice and priesthood. But how do we actually do it?

We draw near to God through worship — privately and publicly.

• Privately: Opening our Bibles, praying, fasting, singing, obeying in the ordinary routines of life.
• Publicly: Gathering with the church on Sundays, singing together, sitting under the preaching of the Word, taking the Lord’s Supper.

All of that is drawing near.

2) Let us hold fast

The author also says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” We never graduate beyond our need for Jesus. There can be a temptation — especially if life is going fairly well — to think, “I needed Jesus back then, but now I’ve got things under control.” Hebrews 10 is saying, “No. Hold fast. Don’t let go. Your life depends on Him.”

3) Let us consider one another

Third, “Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together… but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We don’t just think about ourselves. We think about one another — other believers in our church family — and how to help each other follow Jesus. That includes actually showing up. Some of the people in the original audience had stopped gathering. The author says, “Don’t do that. You need each other more, not less, as the coming of Christ draws near.”

You’re doing that this morning by being here. And I want to encourage you to take a further step by connecting with a Lifegroup. Our fall semester is winding down, but our spring semester will start in January. If you’re going to make that a priority, you probably need to carve out time on your calendar now.

A Sobering Warning (Hebrews 10:26–31)

Then we come to one of the most sobering warnings in the New Testament:

“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment…”

This raises a big question: Who is he talking about? Is he talking about Christians who struggle with sin?

Many of us feel like, “I love Jesus, but I really struggle. There’s a sin (or three or ten) that I seem to battle every day. I confess it, I repent, I ask God for help, and I still stumble.” Is that who Hebrews 10 is addressing?

No. Struggling with sin is normal for believers. It’s part of the Christian life. We keep fighting by the power of the Spirit. We stumble, we get up, we repent, we keep going. If you are struggling, keep struggling. Don’t give up.

Hebrews 10 is warning a different kind of person — someone who goes on sinning deliberately. This person isn’t fighting; they’re settling. They see their sin and say, “I like this. I’m going to build a house here and stay.” There’s no repentance, no confession, no desire to change. It’s a deliberate, ongoing rejection of what God has said.

For that person, the author says, “There no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” Not because Jesus’ sacrifice is weak, but because they have rejected the only sacrifice that can save. All that remains is “a fearful expectation of judgment.”

He goes on to say it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

In our culture, this often collides with how we think about “my money” and “my body”. We say, “It’s my money — I can do what I want.” Or, “It’s my body — I can do what I want.” But for the Christian, it’s not my money or my body in that sense. It’s all His. We’ve been bought with a price.

There are also churches and leaders who encourage people to ignore warnings like this — to bless what Scripture clearly calls sin. And one of the cruelest things a Christian can do is to tell people, “You can go on sinning deliberately and it’s fine. God doesn’t mind.” Hebrews 10 will not let us say that.

Remember and Endure (Hebrews 10:32–39)

After this heavy warning, the author pivots to encouragement. He says, “But recall the former days…”

He reminds them of their earlier faithfulness:

• They had endured hard struggles with suffering.
• They had been publicly exposed to reproach and affliction.
• They had compassion on believers who were in prison.
• They joyfully accepted the plundering of their property, because they knew they had a better and lasting possession.

Those actions didn’t save them, but they were evidence of their genuine faith.

And then he says:

“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward… We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.” (Hebrews 10:35, 39)

Don’t forget who you are. In Christ, you are not someone who shrinks back and is destroyed. You are someone who has faith and preserves your soul.

Conclusion: We Need Jesus

So where does all of this leave us?

We need Jesus. Every one of us. We needed Him the day we first believed, and we need Him just as much today.

The question is: Is He changing you?

• Are you drawing near to God in worship?
• Are you holding fast to your hope in Christ?
• Are you considering how to stir up other believers to love and good works?
• Are you struggling against sin rather than settling into it?

By a single offering, Jesus has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Hold fast to Him. Don’t shrink back. Live by faith.

Closing Prayer

Adam: Father in heaven, we praise You that You know we need Jesus and that in Your love for the world You gave Your only Son, so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Help every single one of us to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, to receive new life, and to follow Him faithfully. Help us to draw near, to heed Your warnings, to hold fast our confession, and to stir one another up to love and good works. You are so good. We pray this in Jesus Christ’s holy name, amen.