With a Subtitle: Hebrews 7:23-28 reveals Christ as the only High Priest who forgives sin.

A brief Excerpt: Hebrews 7:23-28 dismantles the claim that Catholic priests can absolve sin. Only Christ — sinless, eternal, and offered once for all — holds that authority.

The Author is: Jeff Hilles

Christ Alone Is Our Eternal High Priest

The book of Hebrews settles a debate the world keeps trying to reopen: who has the authority to forgive sin? The author of Hebrews answers with precision in Hebrews 7:23-28, declaring that Jesus Christ is the only High Priest whose office never ends and whose sacrifice never needs repeating. That single passage of Scripture dismantles the Roman Catholic teaching that ordained priests stand between God and man with the power to absolve sin.

The Failure of Mortal Priests

Hebrews 7:23 states, “The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office.” Death disqualified every Levitical priest. Their service ended at the grave, and a successor had to be ordained. This pattern of replacement proved the limitation of their office. No mortal man can hold a permanent priesthood, because no mortal man escapes death. Roman Catholic priests share this same mortality. They die, they are replaced, and their service ends — exactly as the old priesthood did. They have no claim to permanence, and therefore no claim to ultimate spiritual authority.

Why No Earthly Priest Can Stand Between You and God

Christ’s Permanent Priesthood

In contrast, Hebrews 7:24 says of Jesus, “he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.” Christ does not need a successor. He never dies again, never resigns, and never delegates His mediating work to another human being. Verse 25 then declares that He “is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” The intercession belongs to Christ alone. Scripture leaves no opening for a priest in a confessional booth to step into that role.

One Mediator, Not Many

This principle is reinforced throughout the New Testament. 1 Timothy 2:5 states plainly, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” There is no priest, no pope, no saint, and no Mary positioned between the believer and the Savior. To insert any human into that space is to deny the sufficiency of Christ Himself.

The Finished Sacrifice Versus the Endless Mass

Old Testament Sacrifices Could Not Last

Hebrews 7:27 explains that the old high priests had to “offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people.” Those animal sacrifices were continual because they were insufficient. They covered sin temporarily but never removed it. Their repetition was proof of their weakness.

Christ Offered Himself Once for All

The same verse continues, “since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.” The phrase “once for all” is decisive. The cross was complete. The atonement was final. Hebrews 10:14 echoes this: “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” When the Roman Catholic Mass claims to represent the sacrifice of Christ, and when a priest assigns penance as part of obtaining forgiveness, both practices contradict the finished work of Calvary. The forgiveness Christ purchased cannot be added to by ritual, recited prayer, or works of contrition.

What Hebrews 7:28 Settles Forever

The chapter closes with the verdict: “For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.” Weak men cannot grant absolution. A perfected Son already has. Forgiveness is not dispensed through ordained men or sacramental ritual. It is received by faith in Jesus Christ, who lives forever to intercede for those who come to God through Him alone.