Reflection on Hebrews 9:28—How to Escape Sin and Get Purified

Today’s Verse

So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin to salvation.

– Hebrews 9:28

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

Many believers think, “When the Lord Jesus comes back, He will directly rapture us into the heavenly kingdom, so He won’t continue doing the work of salvation.” Is this really the case? This verse clearly states that when the Lord comes back, He will do the work of salvation to free people from sin. What’s going on here?

2,000 years ago, in order to redeem mankind, the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified and served as the sin offering for mankind, completing the work of redemption. Through this work, He released man from the bondage of the law, so people were forgiven of sin and were no longer condemned and punished by the law; they were able to come before God in prayer, commune with Him, and enjoy the peace, joy, and rich blessings bestowed by the Lord. Clearly, the Lord Jesus’ work of redemption has been a great blessing for mankind, allowing us to continue to survive and thrive until today.

So then, since the Lord Jesus completed His work of redemption, does that mean God’s work of salvation is complete? The answer is obviously “No.” The Scriptures say, “And to them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin to salvation.” We can see that when the Lord returns, He will do another stage of salvation work to completely free man from sin. Perhaps some people will ask: Why will the Lord continue doing the work of salvation upon His return? It’s because although we are forgiven of sin by accepting the Lord Jesus’ redemptive work, our sinful nature and corrupt disposition still exist within us. We’re driven by our sinful nature, so we can’t help but lie and sin all the time. We all live in a cycle of sinning, confessing, and sinning again and are unable to escape the bonds and strictures of our sinful nature. This is something many believers in the Lord have deeply experienced. It is written in the Scriptures, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). God is righteous and holy, so how could a person unable to escape sin be qualified to directly enter the kingdom of heaven? However, nobody can resolve their sinful nature by themselves, because not a single person can do the work of saving mankind. Only God—the Creator can free mankind from sin and completely save them from Satan’s influence. That’s why the Lord Jesus prophesied several times that He would come again in the last days after He’d completed His redemption work. After He returns, He would express all the truth that can purify and save mankind, and perform the work of judgment beginning from God’s house. His return is to fully resolve man’s sinful nature and corrupt disposition and to save us from sin so we can become holy and enter God’s kingdom. Just as it is prophesied in the Bible, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:12–13). “Sanctify them through Your truth: Your word is truth” (John 17:17). “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and to them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin to salvation” (Hebrews 9:28). “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17).

A paragraph says, “Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering; He did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to become the sin offering and bear the sins of man, but it also required God to do even greater work to rid man completely of his satanically corrupted disposition. And so, now that man has been forgiven of his sins, God has returned to the flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment. This work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and they shall gain the truth, the way, and the life.” “By means of this work of judgment and chastisement, man will fully come to know the filthy and corrupt essence within his own self, and he will be able to change completely and become clean. Only in this way can man become worthy to return before the throne of God.”

From this, we can see that the Lord Jesus’ redemptive work only forgave man’s sin, but didn’t resolve his sinful nature or completely save man from sin. The Lord Jesus’ redemption work just paved the way for God’s judgment work of the last days. The returned Lord’s judgment work by expressing the truth in the last days is the work of the thorough purification and salvation of mankind; it is the final stage of God’s management plan, and also the most critical stage. Only if we accept and obey this work can we escape the bondage of sin, get purified, gain salvation, and enter the heavenly kingdom.