You think people in the OT were forgiven by God with no need for Jesus' death for their salvation. Your unanswered question is why did Jesus go through the suffering if it was not necessary for salvation? Jesus did ask God for any way to take this cup away.
Yes! Jesus asked if there be any other way, so He did not personally want to go to the cross, so would God out of empathy for Christ personally want Christ to go to the cross?
Are you presenting the problem as being God’s problem with forgiving people or was it man’s problem?
Humans have a huge problem with realizing: the huge debt sin creates, God’s unbelievable huge Love which allows Him to forgive, they have to humble accepting pure charity, their sins can and are forgiven, remembering what was done for them, correctly accepting Loving discipline and they have a way to be disciplined for their sins without being physically tortured to death. All these issues are resolved or at least helped to be resolved by the Christ going to the cross. So that is the reason God (out of an unbelievable Love for humans) needed Christ to go to the cross and Christ out of love was willing to go to the cross.
There was a reason why I highlighted in red in verse 12 FOR ALL TIME. Go ahead and ignore scripture. Understand that the method of salvation is the same for all people.
I am sorry I did not address this specifically for you, so: “for all time”.
Barnes breaks it up like this: Hebrews 10:12
But this man - The Lord Jesus. The word "man" is not in the original here. The Greek is literally "but this;" to wit, this priest. The apostle does not state here whether he was a man, or a being of a higher order. He merely mentions him as a priest in contradistinction from the Jewish priests.
After he had offered one sacrifice for sins - By dying on the cross. This he did but once; this could not be repeated; and need not be repeated, for it was sufficient for the sins of the world.
For ever sat down - That is, he sat down then to return no more for the purpose of offering sacrifice for sin. He will no more submit himself to scenes of suffering and death to expiate human guilt.
On the right hand of God - see the notes on Mark 16:19; compare the notes on Ephesians 1:20-22
The “forever” has to do with Christ setting down and not the sacrifice, and many scholars agree, but that is not the point I want to make but what “forever’ means. Scholar do disagree on if the forever applies to the sacrifice or the sitting down but do not disagree on the fact the Greek can mean either, so if in the Greek the “forever” can mean Christ’s sitting down it cannot mean he sat forever down since he did move around prior to going to heaven. The “forever” in the Greek means from that point forward.
Other issues with “forever” meaning from the beginning of time:
- If Christ’s sacrifice took care of all prior to the cross sins than what purpose did past sacrifices provide, since Christ makes them all null and void, and God/Christ are outside of time?
- Sacrifices in Lev. 5 were not just symbolic, so where is Christ needed?
- John 14: 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him; you know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. The indwelling portion of the Spirit only comes after the cross, but if what was available with the cross was always available what reason is there for the indwelling portion of the Spirit not coming earlier?
- Hebrews 11:39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
- Ro. 4: 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. This does not suggest all previous people who have died, since their fate is sealed.
- Ro.3:25 has a huge contrast given between before and after the cross, but if everything was available prior to the cross there is no contrast.
“Forever” means from now on.
Romans 4:23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Hebrews 11:39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
The context is this: Heb. 11:2 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith - They were all commended and approved on account of their confidence in God.
We have confidence in God and Christ.
Discipline in the OT or NT has the purpose of bringing errant believers back to godly ways. Your banishment or death in the OT was not discipline, but punishment, but that does not fit your doctrine since you say those in the OT were not punished or disciplined despite what scripture says.
The same word in both the Greek and Hebrew for “punishment” also can be translated “discipline”, so going through the “punishments” for Jews who transgressions in the OT were the ones that did not kill them disciplining? If “yes” than why say the others are punishment and not discipline, since the person could repent and seek God’s forgiveness prior to being executed?
God did have fair/just disciplining requirements in the OT, but the Jews could not implement these because they were too severe for them, so God past over the punishment/disciplining and just forgiave those who repented.
