AND THE HOLY SPIRIT ALSO BEARS WITNESS TO US FOR AFTER SAYING: Marturei (3SPAI) de hemin kai to pneuma to hagion meta gar to eirekenai (RAN): (He 2:3,4; 3:7; 9:8; 2Samuel 23:2; Nehemiah 9:30; John 15:26; Acts 28:25; 1Peter 1:11,12; 2Peter 1:21; Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22; 19:10)

THE HOLY SPIRIT
TESTIFIES

In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit spoke...

2Samuel 23:2 (The last words of David - 2Sa 23:1) “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.

Nehemiah 9:30 “However, You bore with them for many years, and admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Acts 28:25 And when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,

1Peter 1:10-note As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, 11 seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them (reflects the fact that in the OT, the Spirit took up temporary residence in some men in order to accomplish a specific purpose for God - He has the same "job" today in believers, except of course He dwells in us forever and ever, Amen!) was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.  12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit (referring of course to the Spirit's activity in the NT saints) sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

This verse shows that the Holy Spirit is our Teacher, the One Jesus promised declaring that...

When the Helper comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me (Jn 15:26)

The Spirit reveals God the Father and God the Son by inspiring the writing of Scripture. The Spirit has revealed in the past

The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing (He 9:8-note)

He reveals in the present as in this verse (bears witness = present tense = ongoing activity - also first word in He 10:15 for emphasis!)...

Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, "TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE (He 3:7-note)

The Spirit who first led people to write the Scriptures Peter recording that

no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men (cp Neh 9:30 above) moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2Pe 1:21-note)

The Holy Spirit continues to guide God's people to understand them, as Hebrews shows. The Spirit is the Inspirer and Teacher of Scriptures and the One Who enables us to understand and to live (Php 2:13-note) according to the Scriptures.

Bears witness (3140) (martureo from mártus = witness, one who has information or knowledge of something & hence can bring to light or confirm something; English ~ martyr) ) means to be a witness, to testify, to give evidence, to give testimony, to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something. To be well reported. It means to provide information about a person or an event concerning which the speaker has direct knowledge. Martureo in some context is used in the sense of making an important and solemn declaration. It can be used in the sense of confirmation or approval and so to affirm n a supportive manner.

Martureo - 76x in 72v - Matt 23:31; Luke 4:22; John 1:7f, 15, 32, 34; 2:25; 3:11, 26, 28, 32; 4:39, 44; 5:31ff, 36f, 39; 7:7; 8:13f, 18; 10:25; 12:17; 13:21; 15:26f; 18:23, 37; 19:35; 21:24; Acts 6:3; 10:22, 43; 13:22; 14:3; 15:8; 16:2; 22:5, 12; 23:11; 26:5; Rom 3:21; 10:2; 1 Cor 15:15; 2 Cor 8:3; Gal 4:15; Col 4:13; 1 Tim 5:10; 6:13; Heb 7:8, 17; 10:15; 11:2, 4, 5, 39; 1 John 1:2; 4:14; 5:6f, 9f; 3 John 1:3, 6, 12; Rev 1:2; 22:16, 18, 20. NAS = add...testimony(1), attested(1), bear...witness(1), bear witness(1), continued to testify(1), gained approval(2), given(1), gives(1), good reputation(1), having a reputation(1), obtained the testimony(1), obtained the witness(1), received a good testimony(1), speaking well(1), testified(17), testifies(7), testify(25), testifying(5), testimony(5), well spoken(3), witness(1), witnessed(2), witnesses(1).

Martureo is another key word in Hebrews, with 7/81 (almost 10% of the NT uses)

Hebrews 7:8 (note) - In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, of whom it is witnessed that he lives on.

Hebrews 7:17 (note) - For it is attested of Him, "YOU AREA PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK ."

Hebrews 10:15 (note) - And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

Hebrews 11:2 (note) - For by it the men of old gained approval.

Hebrews 11:4 (note) - By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.

Hebrews 11:5 (note) - By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.

Hebrews 11:39 (note) - And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised

THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS SAYS THE LORD: aute e diatheke en diathesomai (1SFMI) pros autous meta tas hemeras ekeinas, legei (3SPAI) kurios: (Heb 8:8, 9, 10, 11, 12; Jeremiah 31:33,34; Romans 11:27)

The writer again quotes Jeremiah (quoting from the Greek, the Septuagint -Lxx, not quite but almost verbatim)...

Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel (He 10:16 = "with them") after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

This is the same promise Paul records in Romans 9-11 which deals with the "Jewish Question" (What will God do with the Jews?) writing...

Romans 11:27-note “This is My covenant (referring to the New Covenant) with them (the Jews - Je 31:31), when I take away their sins.”

Covenant (1242) (diatheke [word study] from dia = two + tithemi = to place pictures that which is placed between two Thus, a covenant is something placed between two, an arrangement between two parties.) was a commonly used in the Greco-Roman world to define a legal transaction in settling an inheritance.  Diatheke denotes an irrevocable decision, which cannot be cancelled by anyone. A prerequisite of its effectiveness before the law is the death of the disposer and thus diatheke was like a "final will and testament".  In reference to the divine covenants, such as the Abrahamic covenant, diatheke is not a covenant in the sense that God came to agreement or compromise with fallen man as if signing a contract. Rather, it involves declaration of God’s unconditional promise to make Abraham and his seed the recipients of certain blessings.

Them = Jews (cp the intended audience of the announcement of the New Covenant in Jer 31:31, 32) yet this covenant is now available to anyone who believes that Christ's blood is satisfactory and sufficient to save them from the penalty of their sins -- eternal destruction & separation.

The ultimate fulfillment of some of God's promises to Israel in Jer 31:38-40 await complete fulfillment in the millennial age

I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART AND UPON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM: didous (PAPMSN) nomous mou epi kardias auton kai epi ten dianoian auton epigrapso (1SFAI) autous:

Upon (epi) means to place upon. It is interesting that the Greek of the Hebrew (Septuagint - LXX) of this passage from Jer 31:33 has the preposition eis, which means "into" and has the primary meaning of motion or direction toward (their hearts).

God supernaturally deals with the deadly otherwise undefeatable power of Sin (notes on Sin in Romans 6) by writing His perfect law on our hearts so that by virtue of our new nature (2Co 5:17) we now supernaturally hate sin (something we "naturally" love!) from the inside out (so to speak) and love God's will and walk in His ways (we are not puppets, but still must daily, moment by moment make the conscious choice for God's will - cp Php 2:12-note), not by external laws constraint (but by His holy law and His Holy Spirit - see Php 2:13-note, see Ezekiel 36 below). That's the new covenant = a New Heart 

Ezekiel records God's promises concerning the New Covenant...

(This passage also includes God's promise of the "power source" to enable us to obey His Law) Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God. (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

Thomas Vincent writes...

Labor for a thorough understanding of the covenant, both the covenant which God made with Christ on behalf of man—and the covenant which God has made with man through Christ. Acquaint yourselves with the covenant God made with Christ on behalf of man. Whatever worth and value there was in the righteousness of Christ, yet God might have required a personal righteousness and satisfaction, and Christ's righteousness might have stood us in no stead. But God eternally covenanted and agreed with Christ that if He would take human nature, and work out a righteousness for fallen man, it would be accepted; that if He would take to Himself the body of a man that God would prepare for Him, and make His soul an offering for sin, that is, suffer what His justice required for the sins of man—He would see His seed and justify many (Isaiah 53:10, 11). It is through this covenant with Christ that Christ's righteousness is accepted on behalf of sinners, God having agreed before that it should so be. Acquaint yourselves with the covenant which God has made with man through Christ, where upon the account of Christ God has promised remission of sins and eternal life. (The Only Deliverer from the Wrath to Come)

Related Resources: Study of Covenant in the Scripture

AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE: kai ton hamartion auton kai ton anomion auton ou me mnesthesomai (1SFPI) eti:

Here the writer quotes in part from Jeremiah 31:34...

They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Compare Jehovah's great promise in Isaiah 43:25

"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins."

Remember (3403) (mnaomai through the idea of fixture in mind or of mental grasp) means to recall information from memory, but without necessarily implication persons have actually forgotten.

Clearly the omniscient God knows everything, but here we see on the basis of His infinite, transcendent grace, mercy and love, He covenants to deal with us by putting our sins behind His back (Is 38:17), casting them into the sea (Mic 7:19), wiping them out (Is 44:22), placing them as far as the East is from the West (Ps 103:12 - Why didn't He say "north" and "south"? Clue: Where is the "east pole"?) And all God's people respond "Glory! Hallelujah! Thank you LORD!"

If you have put your faith in Jesus and asked Him to forgive you, the past is truly forgotten. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12).

No more - This phrase is actually a great double negative (ou me) which gives the strongest negation to this "negative promise"! Again cause for God's people to begin "shouting"!

Puritan Thomas Brooks wrote that...

Caesar was painted with his finger upon his scar, his wart. God puts His fingers upon all His people's scars and warts—upon all their weaknesses and infirmities, that nothing can be seen but what is fair and lovely. "You are so beautiful, My beloved; there is no flaw in you!" Song 4:7. The meaning is, "I will fully forgive their sins; I will never more mention them; I will never more take notice of them; they shall never more hear of them from Me!"

Though God has an iron memory to remember the sins of the wicked—yet He has no memory to remember the sins of the godly! "I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." Hebrews 8:12

Brooks records...

That which Cicero said flatteringly of Caesar, is truly affirmed of God, "He forgets nothing but the wrongs which daily are done him by his people."

Spurgeon in Faith's Checkbook has the following devotional entitled...

Absolutely No Remembrance: According to this gracious covenant the Lord treats His people as if they had never sinned. Practically, He forgets all their trespasses. Sins of all kinds He treats as if they had never been, as if they were quite erased from His memory. O miracle of grace! God here doth that which in certain aspects is impossible to Him. His mercy worketh miracles which far transcend all other miracles.
      
Our God ignores our sin now that the sacrifice of Jesus has ratified the covenant. We may rejoice in Him without fear that He will be provoked to anger against us because of our iniquities. See! He puts us among the children; He accepts us as righteous; He takes delight in us as if we were perfectly holy. He even puts us into places of trust; makes us guardians of His honor, trustees of the crown jewels, stewards of the gospel. He counts us worthy and gives us a ministry; this is the highest and most special proof that He does not remember our sins. Even when we forgive an enemy, we are very slow to trust him; we judge it to be imprudent so to do. But the Lord forgets our sins and treats us as if we had never erred. O my soul, what a promise is this! Believe it and be happy.

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A Past Long Gone - According to the English novelist Aldous Huxley,

"There are no back moves on the chessboard of life."

Yet we remain aware of things we have done and things we have left undone. Our sins worry us. They motivate us to wish fervently that somehow we could undo the past.

That's why those who put their faith in Jesus can be thankful for God's message in both the Old and New Testaments. When Paul preached in Antioch, he said, "By [Jesus], everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:39). The law condemned us (Ro 7:10, 11), but Jesus offers deliverance and new life (Ro 8:1).

Are you worried about what you've done in the past? Rejoice! God has "cast all our sins into the depths of the sea" (Micah 7:19, cp Is 38:17). Are you still concerned about your sins? Rejoice! "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more" (Hebrews 10:17). And "I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions" (Isaiah 44:22).

If you have put your faith in Jesus and asked Him to forgive you, the past is truly forgotten. "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12). Trust and rejoice!—Vernon C Grounds (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

NOW WHERE THERE IS FORGIVENESS OF THESE THINGS THERE IS NO LONGER ANY OFFERING FOR SIN: hopou de aphesis touton ouketi prosphora peri hamartias:: Mt 26:28, He 10:2,14

Forgiveness (859) (aphesis from aphiemi = action which causes separation and is in turn derived from apo = from + hiemi = put in motion, send) literally means to send away or to put apart.  The root meaning of forgiveness is to put away an offense. In secular Greek literature, the related word aphiemi was used to indicate the sending away of an object or a person and came to include the release of someone from the obligation of marriage, or debt, or even a religious vow. In its final form this word group came to embrace the principle of release from punishment for some wrongdoing.

No longer any offering - In other words when God forgives sins on the basis of the atoning work of His Son, the forgiveness is perfect and complete and no longer needs sacrificial offerings. When the real Lamb has come there is no longer need for the "symbolic" lambs, which were but shadows of the Lamb of God.

Horatius Bonar gives us some history on this offering writing that...

All through Scripture we find traces of the blood. 'You shall bruise His heel' was the first reference to it (Ge 3:15). The bruised heel of the woman's seed was to be the foundation stone of our deliverance. It was to be deliverance by blood. The bruised heel was to tread upon the serpent's head (Ro 16:20-note) In connection with this announcement as to the bruised heel, sacrifice was ordained; and thus the truth began to be developed; victory for the sinner through the blood of One who was to be slain.

'The blood is the life' (Dt 12:23). Not that blood and life are actually the same thing—the one is material, the other immaterial. But the blood is the 'life made visible'—the liquid link between body and soul, which, once broken, brings death. The blood poured out is the life drained away from the body—the departure of the soul from its material dwelling. Thus the blood and the life are identified. God identifies them; law identifies them. Blood 'shed' is the symbol or visible exhibition of 'death'.

Death was the penalty of man's guilt. The wages of sin is death (Ro 6:23). The soul that sins—it shall die (Ezek 18:4). If, then, another life is to be taken for our life, and another death is to be substituted for ours, the true expression of this is the drawing the blood from the victim, and putting that blood on us. This is the symbolic declaration of the great substitution, the great transference—one life for another, one death for another (cp Ge 9:4,5). Death, with all its consequences, lies on the transgressor until another death comes (in the symbolic form of blood), and washes it away. When the sinner receives God's testimony to 'the blood of the Lamb' (Re 7:14-note, Re 12:11-note), then the transference is at once completed—death passes away....

The blood of the Lamb contains the pardon. (Hebrews 9:22-note) 'Without shedding of blood is no remission.' By the shedding of blood then, there is remission of sins. The many blood sheddings have ceased (Hebrews 10:18); and the one blood shedding, which in its value, and efficacy, and suitableness is everlasting and infinite, remains. Taking it as the payment of the penalty, substituted by God for our non-payment of it, we are forgiven. He who receives the divine testimony to the blood is in so doing forgiven. That blood, by covering his sins, brings pardon—pardon to anyone who is willing to take pardon in this way from God. (See The Blood Of The Covenant)