Hebrews 7:20-28. Part of our series through Hebrews. Preached at The Valley Remnant Church on October 18, 2026.
None of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, but he became a priest with an oath made by the one who said to him: The Lord has sworn, and he will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever.” Because of this oath, Jesus has also become the guarantee of a better covenant. Now many have become Levitical priests, since they are prevented by death from remaining in office. But because he remains forever, he holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, since he always lives to intercede for them. For this is the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He doesn’t need to offer sacrifices every day, as high priests do, first for their own sins, then for those of the people. He did this once for all time when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever. (Hebrews 7:20-28, CSB)
Football season is underway. Every player on that field started somewhere. They were trained from childhood, recruited, studied, scrutinized to see if they were the total package. And every one of them faces the same reality. The season ends. The career ends. Even the Hall of Famers hang up the jersey, and the team starts looking for the next one.
The Levitical priesthood was much the same. Men were born into the line, met the qualifications, and served. Some served well. But every one of them had to hang up the robe, and the next one took his place. Jesus is not like that. He is the high priest who met every qualification, never sinned, offered himself once for all, and never leaves office. He is the total package.
Brothers and sisters, you may doubt your walk with Christ. But you cannot doubt your Savior. He is complete in three ways.
He Is Complete Because He Is the Guarantee
The old priests were born into office under strict standards. Leviticus 21 shut out any descendant of Aaron with a physical defect. That priesthood was divinely appointed, but it was temporary, given to dying men for a season.
Christ’s priesthood rests on something stronger: an oath from the Father who does not change. The writer quotes Psalm 110:4, The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. Jesus came from Judah, so by the old rules he could not have been a priest at all. He is a priest of a different order, established by God’s sworn word.
Verse 22 calls him the guarantee of a better covenant. Think of a cosigner on a loan, someone who puts himself on the line for another person’s debt. Judah offered himself as surety for Benjamin. Paul told Philemon to charge Onesimus’s debts to his account. Jesus is our cosigner. He is God’s guarantee to us and our guarantee to God, and he is the mediator who stands between.
A cosigner is only as good as his ability to pay. The bank will not accept one who cannot cover the debt. Ours has already paid it in full. And this is not a warranty that runs out after so many years or miles. From beginning to end, you are Christ’s and Christ is yours.
He Is Complete Because He Intercedes
Every high priest Israel ever had needed a funeral. Death ended their service, and the line kept going because the priests kept dying. But our high priest was laid in a tomb and walked out alive. He holds his priesthood permanently. There is no successor and no gap.
He is seated at the Father’s right hand, the place of nearness, power, and authority, and he always lives to intercede for us (verse 25; Romans 8:34). Satan is the accuser of the brothers. When he points to your sins, Christ answers that those sins were laid on him and the penalty is paid. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One (1 John 2:1). In John 17 he prays for those the Father gave him. Isaiah 53:12 says he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.
So we do not need another intercessor between us and Christ. We do not need to go through a saint or through Mary because Jesus is too busy. He is not too busy. We pray in Jesus’ name because he gives us direct access to the Father.
Verse 25 says he saves completely. John Owen explained that this means the whole person, the whole work, for the whole time. Christ does not save part of you and leave the rest for you to finish. You might look back on this week and see your sin, your doubt, your anxiety, your failure. We are not yet fully sanctified, and that is exactly why he is praying for us. Your faith is not held together by your performance. It is held together by Christ.
He Is Complete Because He Has Been Perfected Forever
Verse 26 tells us exactly the kind of high priest we need: holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. We cannot design a better one. Yet so often what God has given does not seem like enough to us.
The old priests offered sacrifices every day, first for their own sins. Jesus had no sin of his own. They offered the blood of bulls and goats. He offered his own blood. Their work was never finished. On the cross he said, It is finished.
The law appointed weak men, weak because they sinned and died. The oath of Psalm 110 came after the law and appoints a Son perfected forever. Perfected here does not mean he was ever less than morally perfect. It means fully qualified. He was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, died on the cross, and rose on the third day. Having completed it all, he cannot be improved upon.
That truth must never make us careless. We are not to sin so that grace may abound. Christ is the power of our power, and in his strength we fight temptation. I pray for you, but I do not pray for you always, and often I do not know what to pray because you do not tell me. Our Savior knows exactly what you need. He knows your thoughts before you think them. He knows what you did last night. And he still speaks to the Father on your behalf.
So you may doubt your walk, but never doubt your Savior. He is complete, and in him, so are you.
Watch the full sermon on YouTube. If you are in the Belle Vernon area, we would love to have you with us. Sunday School begins at 10:15 AM and worship at 11:00 AM. You can plan your visit any time.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Phil Pagliari
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean that Jesus is the guarantee of a better covenant?
Hebrews 7:22 presents Jesus as the surety or cosigner of the new covenant. He stands responsible for a debt we could never pay, and he is both God’s guarantee to us and our guarantee before God.
How is Jesus able to save completely?
Because he remains a priest forever and always lives to intercede for those who come to God through him (Hebrews 7:25). He does not save part of us and leave the rest to our effort. He saves the whole person, for all time.
What does it mean that Jesus was perfected forever?
It does not mean he was ever sinful. It means he became fully qualified as our high priest by fulfilling every requirement: his virgin birth, sinless life, death on the cross, and resurrection. Having done all of it, his priesthood can never be improved or replaced.
