Month: July 2019

340. Sanctified

Hebrews 10:10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Christ’s once for all offering of His body sanctified us according to the will of God. “This is the will of God, your sanctification.  [1 Thessalonians 4:3]” It is God’s will that you be made holy. The Son of God carried out the will of God for us through His life, suffering, death and resurrection. The context of this verse is that you abstain from sexual immorality. Abstaining is a part of sanctification. The strong God-given sexual drive in each person is meant to be kept under the control of marital commitment and faithfulness, which leads to a good and beneficial life for stable families. By extension, the keeping of all the Commandments is designed by the Creator to maintain a good life for all people. This is sanctification.

God promises sanctification. Sanctification embraces two parts, the narrower and wider senses. The narrow sense is the one time sanctification that happens when the individual receives the gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. This reception happens once in a lifetime and recurs again and again when faith in the Gospel is renewed weekly and daily. Sanctify = make holy. Jesus is our sanctification. When we believe in Him we have the holiness He earned for us, and grants to us. By faith we are declared holy and righteous because of Christ. This declaration of sanctification is something that cannot be challenged, though it can be rejected. God leaves us free to say, “I don’t want to be holy; I don’t want God.” But even though we don’t act very holy, God says we are. We take His word for it.

The wider sense of sanctification is different: it is a process, not a one-time event. It is a lifelong process and it will not be completed until death. In this sanctification process we continue to grow, by fits and starts, into the holiness, which we were given by grace. This is the daily experience of our lives, what we can expect to live with every day: we are always being sanctified. We grow to become more and more like what we have already been declared to be. “Become what you are.” The actual living of life does not match up with the declaration, but God is not finished with me yet. 

We do not try to live a better, holier, life to become sanctified, but we live a holier life because we have already been sanctified. We have the promise of sanctification to make us believe who we are, and to help us believe that the Lord is continuing to work in us to bring our behavior more and more in line with His will. For instance, the motivation to abstain from sexual immorality is to remember that I am not that person; no, I am sanctified. So we take hold of this promise in two ways: I remember and thank God that I am sanctified; and I am motivated to come closer to the holiness that I have been given. Be bold to declare: “I am sanctified!”

339. Appear unto Salvation

Hebrews 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Once in the past Christ bore the sins of the world. This sacrifice happened one time in human history, and the effect lasts for all time and forever. The first appearance of the Son of God was to offer Himself up for our sins, to bear them away. The infinite God died for our infinite sin. This once for all offering for sin invades our present day living with the forgiveness of all sins and the free gift of eternal life. This has happened; it is already done.

Those who look for him, the believers in Christ, are looking for Him to appear the second time. The second time Christ appears He will not come in humility, suffering and death, but He will appear in glory, power and life. The second glorious appearing depends upon His first humble appearing. The first appearing earned for us forgiveness, life and salvation, for He took upon Himself the sins of the world and our own sin. The second time He appears it will be without sin, because sin, death and the devil have already been dealt utter defeat. He will come again without sin unto salvation. He will not come to bear our sin again, but to bring eternal salvation. The Judge of the universe will consign all evil enemies to the lake of fire; and sin, death and the devil will never again be allowed to emerge and destroy life. Christ will finish the salvation already begun. Sin, death and the devil are presently allowed to try to continue their work of tempting and deceiving, stealing and destroying. We eagerly look for the second appearing to end the stresses and hassles and dangers forever. Christ will appear “unto salvation.”

Because of Christ’s first appearing we can walk by faith: we have the promise in actuality even though we do not see it. When the second appearance comes we will no longer walk by faith, but we will see salvation. That’s a promise we can live with.

338. Put Away Sin

Hebrews 9:26 For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Jesus appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. When the Son of God appeared in the world for the first time it was as a human being born of the Virgin Mary. He appeared as a man to sacrifice Himself once in the end of the world. This time is described as “the end of the world.” The whole period of time since Jesus’ first appearing until now is considered to be the end of world. It has been a long time since according to our short lifetime of reckoning, but from God’s viewpoint the whole time since His first appearing is the end of the world. That we are living in the “End Times” gives us pause to consider the meaning of the times in which we live. It is the end of the world because the actual end may come at any time. When it does come, Jesus will appear in all His glory to Judge the world along with all the people and spirits living on the earth. We are in the end times also because all the signs of Christ’s Second Coming are in place, and He may appear at any time.

What Jesus did the first time he appeared was to sacrifice Himself in order to put away sin. Sin is forgiven; Sin’s deserved penalty has been paid; the blood sacrifice has been accomplished, and it is once for all. Jesus put sin away, and we who believe in Him have sins put away with all of its just punishments. However, sin still remains in us and among us, continually leading us into pain and misery, but Sin will not have the last word; it is put away from us.

When Jesus gloriously appears the second time He will put away from us the presence of sin forever. Sin, Death, Hell, the Devil, the Beast (the world), and the False Prophet (false religions) will be confined to the Lake of Fire for all time. Sin and all of its painful effects will be absolutely gone from our presence. This is the promise we take hold of: the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of the body. For now, in this “end of the world” time, sin has been put away by faith. We renew our faith and eternal life on a daily basis, holding on to the promises of God through Jesus Christ. Whenever we are reminded of our sins and our sinful nature we turn immediately to the Gospel and we are reminded again that Jesus put away sin.

337. Appear before God for us

Hebrews 9:24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Christ entered into the true holy place, into the very presence of the invisible God in heaven. The physical Holy Place on earth is a mere pattern or copy of the real thing in heaven. Into that holy place Jesus entered. When He arrived in heaven in the presence of God He was carrying His shed blood with Him and presenting it before God. The Almighty God accepted the blood sacrifice for our sins, and on account of Jesus God accepted us forever. 

Even greater than Christ Himself entering into the presence of God is the fact that He invites us to come in with Christ: we may enter into the Holy Place where God dwells. This is awesome to think about: we sinful human being are actually invited before the presence of God. The very God, the Judge of Creation, who may take His awesome power and justly consume us in anger over our Sin and Rebellion, will in actual fact welcome us with open arms of Love and Forgiveness. God, for Christ’s sake, declares us righteous. He does not destroy, but saves; He does not kill, but makes alive.

We are invited to appear any time in the very presence of God. We do so by repentance and faith and prayer in Jesus’ name after hearing Law and Gospel in the Word of God. We have full access to the heart of God; we have open access to His ears to hear our pleas. We may not avail ourselves of this privilege and opportunity as often as we should, but still, the presence of God is always nearby and He is ready to hear any time. This promise means for us that we do not need to worry about our problems, or dwell on them, or even hang on to them. The Lord is ready and willing and loving enough to take our worries, cares, problems, and frustrations upon Him. We may enter in with Christ with confidence and expectation. “Come unto me, ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

336. Purged with Blood

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

Blood purges. And there is no remission without shedding of blood. This is how it worked under the OT Mosaic Covenant. Sacrifices were made, blood was shed, and the blood was sprinkled on the Tabernacle, its furnishings, the utensils used in worship, and even on the priests and people. The blood purged these things so that only holy things, things and people purged of sin and corruption, could be used in the worship of a Holy God. Exactly why sacrificed blood should have such power is not rationally explained, except that God said so. This is what you do; forgiveness of sins and making holy cannot happen unless there is shedding of blood.

The only reason we know of for why this principle of shed blood is used in connection with our relationship with God is this: it foreshadows and symbolizes the death of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins. The blood of Christ purges us from all sin. This is why it works: Jesus shed His blood as the once-for-all sacrifice for all sin forever. The animal sacrifice, the shedding and draining of the blood, and the sprinkling of the blood vivifies by sight and smell both the serious and evil nature of sin and evil and also the amazing grace and love of the Son of God. This same visible power of the shed blood comes at us in the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. Appealing to the senses it penetrates the soul and reveals the invisible to the heart.

The outcome of the shedding of blood is “purging.” This is the promise: our sin is purged, cleansed thoroughly, and no vestige or remnant of sin lurks in the shadows of the soul. The remission is complete. And with no sin within us we have become the holy creature we were designed to be. It is beyond comprehension that we should be counted as righteous; it blows the mind that we are considered as saints, holy people. We may confidently boast, “I am holier than thou.” I am holier than I was without the shedding of the blood of Jesus. It is not my holiness, but it is an alien righteousness granted me from the outside. We make our boast in the cross: “I am holy.” I have been purged with blood.

335. Promise of Eternal Inheritance

Hebrews 9:15 And for this cause he is he mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

Those who are called receive the promise of eternal inheritance. “Those who are called” are the believers in Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit calls us through the Gospel and He Himself causes the response of faith. Faith receives the promise when the individual is called. The believer receives the promise.

The promise of eternal inheritance was created and given to people in the Garden of Eden. Paradise was our inheritance. We lost it through sin. Then God promised to defeat the Stealer through the Seed of the woman. Then God further developed that promise of Paradise Restored with the promise of Land, Offspring and Blessing to Abraham. The promise of eternal inheritance works out through Moses and Joshua and the Land Flowing with Milk and Honey. Then the Promised Land becomes a Kingdom through David and Solomon, through whom the Seed would come, who would be the King of the Eternal Kingdom. The Garden, the Land, the Kingdom is the Inheritance earned for us by Jesus Christ and granted to us through the Gospel. All the promises of eternal inheritance emerge in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the inheritance and He gives the eternal inheritance to us.

The Story began in a Garden and it ends in a City; it begins and ends in Paradise. This Paradise was created to be eternal and it will be eternal for us. God created us for this eternal inheritance and He will see it through. No one can say they don’t know where we came from and we don’t know where we are going. We do know the origin and the destiny; it is all according to God’s purpose. It is done. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the All in All. And we have received Him. Being an heir of all the riches of God makes me pretty special.

334. Purge Conscience

Hebrews 9:14 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The blood of Christ purges the conscience from dead works to serve the living God. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from every sin. A purging is even more complete than a cleansing; purging implies a deeper and more complete cleansing. The Sin is not only washed away, it is also scrubbed and dug out leaving no vestige whatever. Any invisible bacteria left over in any wound can grow to become a horrible infection. 

If any small bit of sin is left over in the soul it may receive an inordinate amount of focus and attention. The devil will use that to keep us in guilt, shame and even despair. And it doesn’t take much leaven to leaven the whole lump. Therefore, purging is critical to spiritual health.

For vital spiritual health and an abundant life it is the conscience that must be purged. The conscience is an impartial judge (though it may be flawed) and an unrelenting accuser. The conscience has a long memory and it does not forget. Conscience is a gift of God that the Lord uses to control coarse outbursts of violent sin and general rampage. The conscience is able to deter and hinder humans from doing something they would regret later. Conscience does not normally encourage good behavior; it usually prevents bad behavior. Conscience will condemn us when we act against it. Thus, following the conscience is the safer way. The good news in the promise of purging the conscience is that the conscience can no longer rightly condemn the heart because the sin has been forever forgiven. Accusations of guilt do not ever have to be received by the believer in Jesus. The conscience is purged. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

The conscience is purged from “dead works.” All humans try dead works to try to appease an accusing conscience, but it doesn’t work. Works cannot cover sins or quiet the conscience; however, the blood of Christ does. Dead works are like doing penance; penance does not pay for the sin, only Christ does that. Humans are deceived into thinking that they can make up for mistakes by doing good works, but they are only “dead works.” Jesus purged the dead works by His Good Work.

333. Eternal Redemption

Hebrews 9:11-12 But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Eternal redemption has been earned for us by our High Priest, Jesus Christ. By His own blood He entered into the Holy Place of the greater and more perfect tabernacle in heaven. This heavenly tabernacle is the very presence of God in the spiritual world where God dwells and rules. Jesus, as the Son of God, was able to bring His own blood into the Presence, and God was pleased with that sacrifice forever. Now no one, neither the devil nor anyone else in the invisible realm, will ever be able to deny our eternal redemption.

Redemption is completely paid for, final and finished, and it is eternal. We can say with great joy and victory: “We are redeemed!” That exclamation and proclamation rings throughout the entire visible and invisible universe. Heaven, earth, and hell hear it.

All other animal sacrifices are temporary and cover a limited number of sins. The sacrificial blood of Jesus is permanent and covers all sins of all people forever. Even the creation itself is eagerly awaiting the redemption of human beings. Jesus’ blood-bought redemption changes everything for all time. His redeeming sacrifice changes us for eternity. And it changes us on this day when I rehear the Gospel. The Gospel speaks with absolute authority from the spiritual and invisible world into the physical and visible world in which we live. The Gospel speaks with eternal authority from infinite eternity into the finite time in which we live. The Gospel reaches into our time and space from outside of time and space. The Gospel invaded our mortal existence and lifts us into heaven and eternity. We have truly obtained an eternal redemption. Faith knows that we are presently living in eternity. We are living a life that will never end. We are loved with a love that will not stop.

332. Remember Sins no more

Hebrews 8:12b …and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

Hebrews 10:17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

God promises to forget. He will not remember our sins any more, but He will remember mercy; He will remember us but not our sins. And if God does not remember our sins, why should we? And if God does not remember the sins of others, why should we? And if God forgets, why can’t we? We need to hold this promise dearly and closely, for even strong Christians have a tendency to remember the wrong things and forget the right things.

The Thief on the Cross said it right: “Remember me.” And the Lord did so, and the Lord forgot his sins, even the sins for which he was being punished. The Lord hears when we cry: “Have mercy on me,” or, “Remember me,” or just, “Help me, Jesus!” God remembers us when He does not remember our sins and iniquities any more. God, because of Christ, does at least four things with our sin: 1) He casts them behind Him, 2) He throws them into the midst of the sea, 3) He removes them as far as the east is from the west, and 4) He remembers them no more.

Thank God that He has a selective memory. And God’s forgetfulness is forever. The “no more” is final, total, lifelong, infinite, and eternal. It is our weakness, along with Satan’s prompting, that recalls our sins and brings them to memory again and again. Ask for the faith to believe the promise just as God gives it. We do need to repent of sins, yes, but we do not need to dwell on them. We do need to restore what has been taken through apology and restitution, yes, but we cannot try to outweigh the bad by being really good. By the teaching of the Spirit we can distinguish between Law and Gospel. Generally, remember the “remember no more” promise.

331. Merciful to the Unrighteous

Hebrews 8:12a For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness….

Thank God for the promise of mercy. The mercy of God is through Jesus Christ unto the unrighteousness of us sinful men. There is no need of mercy for the righteous, actually the self-righteous, for no one is righteous, no, not one. However, some Pharisaical types (and the Pharisee in us) think they are righteous, and they do not go to their home justified. Mercy is for the sinners, that is, for those who know and admit that they are. “While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for the ungodly.” 

We know we are unrighteous, and we know we are in great need of mercy. And the promise is that God will be merciful to our unrighteousness. The truth is, we would not be alive without mercy; if it were not for the mercy of God we would be dead, since that is what we are, dead in sin. Mercy, and life, is not available for the already righteous, for there is no such thing. Jesus did not come to call the righteous, but the sinners, to repentance. Repentance is vital, but it not so simple and easy, and it is not something that the sinful flesh can just do by itself. Honest repentance requires the work of the Spirit through the Law of God’s Word. When the Spirit works repentance through the Word then it is genuine; and then the Gospel is ministered.

Mercy gets rid of the unrighteousness in us; and not only so, but mercy also replaces our unrighteousness with the righteousness of God. And that is a good deal. Now in Christ, we are declared righteous, even though we have not earned it; but Jesus Christ earned it for us and gives it to us. This is mercy: receiving forgiveness, life and righteousness, which we did not deserve. It is an “alien” righteousness, but that a good thing, as we can be confident it avails before God. Faith knows we have obtained it, for we believe that Jesus died and rose to give it to us for free.

So go ahead, “sin boldly.” That does not mean sin intentionally; but it means be brave, and be honest to God: admit bravely and boldly that you are chief of sinners (for we can count more of our own sins than we can count the sins of others). We can be bold about our own sins and confess them boldly because we are assured of this promise: God will be merciful to our unrighteousness.