Key truth: Jesus’ intercession saves his people to the uttermost and provides us with assurance of our salvation.

Jesus’ intercession saves his people to the uttermost

What is Jesus' intercession?

Intercession vs. Intervention

Christ’s intercession “. . . [is] the steadfast gracious will of Christ to lead all his people to the blessedness of heaven on the basis of his sacrifice. Thus Christ is our only priest, who . . . remains forever, continually covers our sins with his sacrifice, pleads our cause against all the accusations of Satan, the world, and our own heart, makes our prayers and thanksgivings pleasing to the Father, consistently assures us of free and confident access to the throne of grace, and out of his fullness sends to us all the blessings of grace.”

-- Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. III (emphasis added)

Jesus’ intercession gives us assurance of our salvation

Can Christ lose your salvation?

“Thus the ‘High Priest who has sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens’ it . . . is a comprehensive description of the present reality available for the faithful: the one who is seated in the place of all authority as the only effective High Priest is the eternal Son who achieved his position by offering his obedient, incarnate life up in death as an effective sacrifice for the sins of humanity. The pastor’s burden is for his hearers to realize that this is the High Priest ‘we have’ (4:14-16; 10:19-25) and to appropriate his benefits. Thus the pastor is guilty of no exaggeration when he says that this High Priest is the ‘main point’ of his message.”

-- Gareth Lee Cockerill, The Epistle to the Hebrews (emphasis added)

Hebrews 7:23-8:2 teaches us:

 - Jesus’ intercession means that we are free to struggle in our Christian walk.

 - Jesus’ intercession means that we are free to contemplate him in joy and not drown ourselves in fearful introspection.

 - Jesus’ intercession means that we are set free to be who we are in Christ and not just live like we feel in ourselves.