HEBREWS 9:14 DEAD WORKS NO LONGER SERVE THE LIVING GOD

Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

In this context, Paul is talking about Jesus Christ's tabernacle being great that the Old Testament tabernacle. A tabernacle in the Old Testament was a tent or cloth hut that was portable and was the dwelling place of Yahweh (God). Jesus's tabernacle is not made with hands, it is not a creation of man, but by His blood, He entered into the Most Holy Place once and for all. His sacrifice was so perfect it never needs to be repeated. So in verse 14, Christ's more perfect tabernacle involves the "eternal spirit" which is the Holy Spirit and the cleansing is of your conscience because when we sin the defilement is internal, not external. This is not to say that sin doesn't have an external cost in some cases. One of my former pastors called them "price tags". So if you strike someone in anger not only have you sinned against God, but you have also put yourself in a position to get knocked out or shot, or even put in jail. Christ's death and resurrection have the power to purify a person's mind and soul. 

When Paul talks about "dead works" here it has the idea of the rituals of the Mosaic Law that does not give life. In other words, we don't want to place our faith or confidence in something that has already severed its purpose. Instead, we can now turn ourselves to Christ's cleansing so that we are no longer serving dead works.

This is also another verse that shows us that God The Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ are one. Notice the "eternal spirit in this verse is the Holy Spirit and that the "eternal spirit" offered Himself to God (ie, God The Father). It's a bit complicated for some to grasp these things, but I have always thought our best example is our bodies, our minds, and our will. I will get into this a bit more in other studies I am sure, but even though the word "trinity" never appears in the Bible, the concept is seen all throughout scripture. 

This verse has references to Lev. 16:14,15 which reads He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. 15 Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. These verses are part of the Mosaic Law and also Num 19:2 This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come.

Notes: Often when you are talking to someone skeptical of scripture or a Christian life or who is pursuing one honestly, they will bring up the Old Testament and Mosiac Law. Christians are no longer under Mosiac Law because Christ fulfilled it. He met its requirements and now we have direct access to God through Jesus Christ. This does not mean that we can ignore the 10 Commandments. Those were handed down by God Himself and we still need to strive in our lives to obey them. Jesus did also issue a new command to "love one another". It is wise for us to not equate love with failure to rightly call out and stand against sin. 

God Bless everyone who takes the time to read this.