“The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” ( Hebrews 13:11-14 )

Jesus was the lamb of God’s appointment ( I Peter 1:19-20, Revelation 13:8 ). He was sent as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the entire world ( I John 2:2 ). He came to His own people, His own kind and was rejected and despised by them ( John 1:11, Acts 4:11, I Peter 2:6-8 ). However, His blood was given just the same. It was given to make peace and bring us back into fellowship with God.

While all of this was taking place in the heavenly realm ( Hebrews 9:11-12 ), Jesus’ body was carried outside of the Levitical sacrificial system, taken to calvary and crucified; fulfilling scripture saying that it must be done this way ( Leviticus 16:27 ). He bore the shame and disgrace reserved for criminals, murderers and thieves.

This shows that Jesus was the true fulfillment of everything the sacrificial system pointed to ( Hebrews 10:1-5 ). Because of this, we should constantly consider Jesus, and disregard anything that keeps us from Him ( Hebrews 3:1, 12:2 ). Just as He did, we should go outside of the norm, willing to accept abuse, shame and ridicule by others because of our associating with Jesus. Why? Because this is not our home, we are looking forward to a city and a permanent home that is to come. 

The previous verses give instruction on how to stay steadfast, “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat” ( Hebrews 13:9-10 ). 

Through His grace we have received so much more that those who serve according to the illustration of Christ and not the real thing. So, if we continue, steadfast and strengthened in grace, reminding ourselves over and over what Jesus did for us. Then we will not be carried away by other things. This grace will also produce a passion and desire for us to follow wholeheartedly after Christ Jesus even in the midst of persecution and disgrace.

"Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods, which are of no value to those who eat them. We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat” ( Hebrews 13:9-10 )

A few years ago a couple came to our church, started getting involved and after a while started sharing with others that Christians were supposed to live like Jesus lived, a mixture of grace and Jewish rituals and customs. They started teaching that since Jesus lived that way, we too were supposed to. Needless to say, this teaching caused problems as it confused people and caused conflict within the church body.

This couple avoided the leadership team every Sunday and when they were finally confronted to address the situation, they left quickly and never returned. This same thing has happened over and over throughout the centuries. In fact this is the exact teaching that bewitched the church at Galatia shortly after Paul had moved on from the church ( Galatians 3 ).

This is why we are to remain strengthened and steadfast in grace, because understanding grace combats strange doctrine such as this. John said, “From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” ( John 1:16-17 ). Jesus came with the message of grace, God’s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing heaped on us through Him. The grace message says that what we cannot do, God did through Jesus. He has reconciled us back to the Father so that we may know and experience Him. In fact, there is not one thing that we can add to what Jesus did, so why try?

When we are established in grace then this truth combats anything contrary to it. If someone tells us we must live holy by keeping the law, then the grace of God shows us that He has already made us holy as we are fashioned after Him in righteousness and holiness ( Ephesians 4:24 ). If someone tells us that we must adhere to Jewish dietary laws, then the grace of God shows us that the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, joy and peace ( Romans 14:17 ). If someone tells us that we must keep the Sabbath then the grace of God shows us that the true Sabbath Rest for the people of God is Jesus Christ ( Colossians 2:16-17, Hebrews 4:9-11 ). Grace is able to keep us in the truth.

In the final exhortations from Hebrews we see this amazing truth; grace is what strengthens and encourages us throughout this life. We begin by grace and we end in grace, it is a constant that will never change. Amazingly, this grace received by faith gives us privileges that those under the Old Covenant never had right to. Just as these verses say, “We have an altar from which those who minister at the tabernacle have no right to eat” ( Hebrews 13:10 ).