²⁵ Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

The need for intercession cannot be overstated; thus the emphasis on Jesus’ priesthood through this section of the book of Hebrews. It was so important throughout the Old Testament that if it was no longer operative in the new age of the church, then there must be a good reason. And there is. It has been eclipsed by something vastly superior. The need for intercession continues on, only with a better solution.

Why intercession? Because we humans have alienated ourselves from God, we have sinned, transgressed His requirements for us as His created beings. The gap created is too great for us to bridge. Simply put we cannot save ourselves from the eternal separation from our Creator created by our sin. A temporary bridge as provided by the Levitical priesthood is not sufficient, because our sin is continuous. We need an intercessor that is not regularly replaced but, as the previous verse asserts, one who is permanently a priest because He lives forever. Only a permanent priest can save us “forever.” And that is what Jesus Christ, the high priest according the order of Melchizedek, has done and is doing for us!

So in approaching God, we go “through Him.” This means He is our intercessor, like the priests of old who would take the worshippers’ sacrifices into the temple and perform the actual sacrifices, and the high priest would intercede once a year on the Day of Atonement for the people. Now, as believers in Christ, we draw near to God, not through the intercession of a time-limited, earthly priest, but through Jesus Christ, our High Priest!

Notice the timeless words: “forever” and “always lives.” The intercessory work of Christ is eternally active. He saves forever—this means salvation is a continual activity. We are saved as a completed act, to be sure. This is true completely outside of time, secure in the heavenly places, as it were (see Eph 1:3-14). But, we are continually being saved, because He “always lives to make intercession for them.” This salvation is operative throughout time; it is living and active, not static—we are being saved (see 1 Co 1:18, 2 Co 2:15).

Each day of our Christian life is like the day of salvation. So the Scripture tells us, “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Col 2:6). Let us continue to believe in Christ as though for the first time—for the faith we need today is the same faith we needed to be saved in the first place.

Lord Jesus, I do believe in You as my intercessor, the only path I have to God our Father. Thank You for providing the way and the means.