What does Hebrews 10:10 mean?

Prior verses indicated that God's plan was always to use Old Testament sacrifices as a temporary measure, pointing towards the eventual ministry of the Messiah. Psalm 40:6–8 was quoted to show how God's intent for His will involves a physical body, not offerings. The writer has been careful to point out that animal sacrifices could never fully cleanse man from sin, nor could they change us from the inside (Hebrews 9:8–10). The new covenant which God promised was to be in each person's heart and mind (Hebrews 8:7–13). Animal blood was only able to atone for ceremonial issues, not to solve our deepest problems of sin. Jesus' sacrifice, on the other hand, obtains what animal blood never could. Instead of being offered over and over, Jesus was sacrificed "once for all." If animal sacrifices could have obtained that salvation, there would have been no need to repeat them (Hebrews 10:1–2). The very fact that priests offered the same sacrifices over and over was proof that God never intended them to fully pay for sin. Our "sanctification" comes only by the blood of Christ, not the sacrifice of animals.


The term "sanctification" here is from the Greek word hēgiasmenoi, which is also translated as "made holy." The context here is important. While the Bible often speaks of a lifelong, progressive growth in holiness—often referred to as "sanctification"—the topic at hand here is salvation. The writer of Hebrews is currently speaking of the difference between temporary, repeated animal sacrifices, and the single, perfect sacrifice of Jesus. The context, then, indicates that this reference to "sanctification" is a reference to our salvation from eternal judgment, not our progressive growth in Christ.