NOTES for Heb 9:16-17

The apostle Paul's logic is striking; at first glance it even appears inappropriate. He compares the covenant with a testament by which God leaves us a certain inheritance. The issue is the cleansing sacrifice, the Blood of Christ, thanks to which human hearts are freed and become open to the Holy Spirit. It is fundamentally important that in this reasoning the apostle speaks of the covenant and redemption as an accomplished fact. Christ died on the Cross, and as a result His life in unity with the Heavenly Father became the possession of people. This happened, and nothing can now cancel it.

Precisely in this lies the astonishing power of Christ's faith. A grand inheritance, which cannot be deserved in any way, has been given, and can be received by those who come for it. The apostle emphasizes that the redemption of transgressions is accomplished by Christ's death and only by it, so that no one may boast, as he said in the letter to the Ephesians. And therefore the main thing in the life of the Church of the New Covenant, communion in the Body and Blood of Christ, is accomplished when we proclaim the Lord's death, as the apostle writes in the letter to the Corinthians. The Lord Himself tells the disciples that for this, "for this hour", He came into the world.