Hebrews 9:11-15

¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 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? ¹⁵ And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Commentary

Vs. 11-12 ¹¹ But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. ¹² Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

When the Old Covenant high priests entered the Holiest of All in the earthly Tabernacle once a year on the Day of Atonement to make atonement for his own sins and the sins of the people committed in ignorance this ritual could not make their consciences perfect, that is the blood of the sacrificial animals was not enough to take away their guilt by providing the everlasting atonement for their sins and transgressions that was required, and thus open the way once and for all for them all to enter the Holiest of All. And so that sense of guilt and incompleteness always remained with them no matter how many times they performed the ritual; a principal which runs true today with every religious service and ritual that seeks to draw near to God outside of faith in the Finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross for us all. Therefore God's Presence on that most intimate level was off limits to them, they had to remain outside, even the high priest did not have unrestricted access to God (Lev. 16:1-2). And so the insufficiency of his service and sacrifice is here being contrasted with the all surpassing Sufficiency of Christs who came as High Priest of the good things to come. Some of which is not only providing everlasting atonement and life through His own Finished Work on the Cross for us all who believe in Him but also His making the way for us to have the Personal Presence of God indwelling our persons, through His Holy Spirit indwelling, regenerating, and sanctifying us all who believe in Him making us God's redeemed and holy people, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God (1 Peter 2:10). Therefore when the Lord Jesus Christ came as High Priest He did not come to serve in the earthly sanctuary; which sons of men built and served in as a foreshadow of the good things to come. Rather He came to serve as God's High Priest in the perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, but rather in the Heavenly Sanctuary (Heb 8:1-2, 9:11) where having entered the Holiest of All (not by the blood of calves and bulls) but with His own blood, He has obtained eternal redemption for us all who believe in Him (vs. 12). 

Vs. 13-14 ¹³ For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 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?

Under the Old Covenant the blood of bulls and goats without blemish was a part of the required sin offerings (Lev. 4:1-34), especially on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16:14-15). Similarly the blood of a bull was also used to purify Aaron and his sons for their duties in the priesthood (Ex. 29:1-37; Lev. 8:13-17). While the ashes of a heifer was part of the purification ritual that was required to purify anyone who became ceremonially defiled (see Num. 19:1-22). Now these Old Covenant commanded ordinances only purified the flesh in the sight of God, allowing those people who adhered to them to remain in the Covenant community of God (Lev. 7:20; 17:1-7; Num. 19:13 etc.). And so these rituals only purified the flesh (and thus their souls) were not reconciled back to God through their observing these. Nonetheless the point is if observing these then gave the worshipers a sense of being right with God for having observed them, 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? For it is the Lord Jesus Christ alone who is sinless (without spot), who through the eternal Spirit, the Holy Spirit, offered Himself up to God on the Cross to pay the penalty for all our sins and transgressions, thereby opening the door of eternal salvation to us all the moment we believe in Him (John 6:47; 10:9); saving us then not only from the wrath to come, but also cleansing our consciences from dead works; that is from all manner of dead "religious works" that sanctify or save no one, but only hold people in bondage of trying to earn and attain for themselves what only Jesus Christ Himself could do (Eph 2:8-9). Therefore having been born again and brought to life by the Spirit of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we can now serve God in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of letter (Rom. 7:6; also see 2 Cor 3:5-9, 12-17). Something which God commands all people to do, to repent and believe in Gospel, and thus by His Son's finished work on the Cross be reconciled to Himself so that you will have remission of all your sins and everlasting life  the moment you believe and thus having been saved and set free from sin and death you can now freely and faithfully follow Him in discipleship. For the Day of Salvation from sin, Satan, and death is right now, freely available to you no matter what you have done, for God loves you and has provided through His Son all that is needed for you to be reconciled to Himself, to have new and everlasting life, therefore today begin a new and everlasting course of life for yourself, receive the gift of God's salvation and mercies and life for yourself by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ today (Rev. 3:20). 

Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.