“Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.” [1]
For the entirety of service before the Risen Saviour, the Apostle to the Gentiles was cognizant of the person he had been when Christ found him. Knowing the person he had been, Paul ever after marvelled at the grace he had received from the God who redeemed him. Perhaps you can relate to Paul. Perhaps you were an individual who had a decidedly unrighteous life when Jesus found you. And even if you imagine you were not such a bad person, you know that sin had sullied your life, making the death of God’s own Son mandatory if you were to be redeemed.
It is a sordid fact that remarkable pedigrees sometimes mask a sordid character. That was certainly the case for the Apostle to the Gentiles. He could produce a curriculum vitae that was the envy of Jewish zealots everywhere. When the documentation was examined, however, his pedigree revealed him to have been a bigot; Saul was a bitter and pernicious individual despite a superficial and pious religiosity. Despite whatever accolades he might have received from his peers, Paul knew there was nothing commendable in his background.
Writing a young theologue who pastored in Ephesus, Paul would write of his experience, “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” [1 TIMOTHY 1:12-17]. Amen, indeed!
REASONS FOR CONFIDENCE IN THE FLESH — Paul ticked all the right boxes to advance within Judaism. He testified, “If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless” [PHILIPPIANS 3:4b-6].
Few of us are prepared to practise being candid when it comes to revealing certain aspects of our lives. Our natural tendency is to emphasize the portions of our life that we believe will garner praise, or we at least believe the revelation of that facet of life won’t embarrass us. Those individuals who do emphasize the negative facets from their past are often guilty of attempting to make the event or the proclivity into something positive rather than seeing the past as the sordid mess it actually is. Far too many of the testimonies of those who converted to Christ after a period in which they were guilty of gross lese majesté against the Lord God will give a testimony that sounds suspiciously like glorification of the violence, the filth, the degradation that once marked their lives. Their “testimony” is more about what they did than it is about what Christ accomplished in them. It is as though the wrong-doing generated excitement that should be praised!
Jesus warned the Pharisees, and thus, He warns us, if we will listen to His words, “God knows your hearts. For what is highly prized among men is utterly detestable in God’s sight” [LUKE 16:15 NET BIBLE]. Isn’t it interesting to witness the testimony of some people? Listen to what is said, paying particular attention to how they describe themselves. What is exalted in their testimony speaks of what is especially prized in their life. And what they prize is often of no worth in the sight of the Living God.
Let me speak pointedly and plainly to this matter. When you give your testimony of grace—and I trust you do testify to the grace of our Saviour, don’t ever forget that you are to exalt Christ as Master over life. You are not called to exalt what you were or the evil in which you once reveled. If there is any exaltation to be delivered, let it be the exaltation of Christ as merciful. Glorify the Name of the Son of God. In a best case scenario, whatever resides in your past that seems worthy of your boasting, see it for what it actually is.
Have you accomplish something noteworthy in the physical realm? Who gave you the strength to accomplish what was done? Wasn’t it the Lord Who gave you strength and kept you from harm so that you could perform as you did? Does your achievement actually equip you to speak with authority on the things of God?
Did you master some skill so that you are able to render a valuable service to others? Are your hands trained to perform some delicate work that is admired by others or that is able to produce some particular work that earns you esteem from others? That skill, that ability to produce items which are so prized by others in the world was given by the Lord your God, wasn’t it? Had you been crippled at birth, or had you been horribly injured at some point before this day, you might well have been kept from the brilliance of your work. Doesn’t God’s grace and mercy count for allowing you to achieve the level of competence you now enjoy?
Have you achieved some notable position by reason of a keen mind and the ability to think analytically? Who gave you that brilliant mind? Who enabled you to obtain the training that permitted you to advance as you did? Isn’t it God who gave you the mind you have? And aren’t you responsible to use that brilliance to glorify Him?
Have you been successful in gaining a position in the world of commerce or in accumulating a measure of this world’s goods? Who gave you the ability to amass what you hold? Who positioned you at this precise time and in this particular location so that you could succeed? Don’t you owe God the credit for permitting you to come to this time and in this place? Shouldn’t He receive the glory when you tell others of how He has worked for your benefit?
Paul was able to lay claim to possessing some qualities that many of his peers would have agreed gave him bragging rights. He was a genuine Hebrew—he was the real thing! Among the Jews, Saul of Tarsus would stand out as someone who had every right to boast. His parents fulfilled the law from his earliest days, ensuring that he was circumcised on the eighth day as required under the law and ensuring that he was raised in the Faith. All the rituals were maintained and the prescribed observances were meticulously observed. He could trace his pedigree—a true Israelite, a member of the tribe of Benjamin—indeed, Saul could lay claim to being at the very top of Hebrew hierarchy. He was a Pharisee, admitted to the strictest sect of the Jewish faith and having studied under Gamaliel [see ACTS 22:3].
Saul, the scholar from Tarsus, proved his zeal for the Jewish Law by persecuting those who dared claim that Jesus of Nazareth was the Anointed One of God. This man Saul had perfectly fulfilled the tenets of the Law as understood by the most meticulous Jewish zealot—not a single ritual had been omitted; not a single requirement was forgotten. Every act was meticulously and scrupulously fulfilled so that no one could point to a misstep or an error in the performance of all that the Law required. Surely, when it came to boasting of his credentials, even the most critical pundit could agree that Saul of Tarsus had every right to brag. And it would be impossible to refute what he claimed as his right!
There are people who imagine that they deserve to be seen as leaders among the faithful because they have all the right credentials. Denominations advance individuals to lead on the basis of who they know and where they went to school. Thus, among the churches, the denomination controls who pastors the churches rather than the churches controlling their own leadership. The drive to control the people of God is stronger than many of us could ever imagine. And there seem always to be a plethora of individuals who believe they are called to rule, making the congregation fulfil the will of the one controlling what happens.
I recall a young man, well-educated, having been trained in one of the premier seminaries of the world tell me, “I just want to stand in the shadows and make things happen.” When he said that, I challenged him, “The only thing standing in the shadows are cockroaches and worms. Which are you?”
God’s Word is clear that people should advance among the faithful on the basis of character and calling. This is in contradistinction to the prevailing view of the world. Dear people, it will either be character and calling, or it will be credentials and connections. Listen to the qualifications for serving as an overseer and ask what credentials or what connections are elevated as important.
Recall what the Apostle wrote to Timothy. Paul instructed the young preacher, “The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil” [1 TIMOTHY 3:1-7].
Scripture reveals fifteen character traits that are listed for those who are to serve as elders within the assembly. Churches routinely depend upon recommendations provided by those from outside the congregation to assess suitability of those who will receive appointment to eldership. Scriptural qualifications for those serving as deacons are seldom considered as a congregation votes. Often, those voted in as deacons are chosen by dint of popularity of perceived power within the congregation.
Nevertheless, it must be recognized that it is impossible for the congregation to assess the qualification of anyone for leadership within the church from a letter sent by someone removed from the assembly. To properly assess suitability for anyone who will be appointed to the position of leadership, it is necessary that the congregation be assured that the individual actually possesses any of the required character traits. In order to give such assurance it is necessary that the assembly actually know the individual. They will need to have watched the response of the individual to life challenges, assuring themselves that the Spirit of God has been at work to develop these traits. We have a similar list of qualifications for eldership provided elsewhere. This list complements what was written in Paul’s First Letter to Timothy.
The Apostle instructed Titus, and thus instructed all believers who are seeking out those who are to function as elders for the assembly. In his Letter to Titus, Paul wrote, “This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it” [TITUS 1:5-9].
And the qualifications for deacons likewise looks at the character of the potential deacons rather than superficial aspects associated with this world. Therefore, we read, “Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. They must hold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. And let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. Their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. Let deacons each be the husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” [1 TIMOTHY 3:8-13].
“Deacons likewise…” Looking back to what was just written concerning elders, Paul is informing us that character and evident commissioning by the Saviour are as important in qualifications to serve as deacon as they are in seeking out the elders. Service among the people of God is grounded in character and calling. To serve as one who provides leadership among the saints of the Most High God, character and calling are paramount, because leadership is through serving the saints. Jesus has taught us, “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves” [LUKE 22:26-27]. Leadership is revealed through service! What a novel concept!
Connections and credentials are secondary at best when a congregation is engaged in appointing those whom God has raised up to serve to lead within the assembly. It is not that an assessment provided by a teacher or a denominational leader is unimportant, but such assessment lacks the capacity to inspire confidence such as the confidence that would be provided through interaction on the frontlines of the Faith. Those who witness the character of individuals have confidence in those who are providing leadership because the people are witnessing the leadership. For this reason, a congregation is well advised to be cautious in seeking to advance someone to the position of elder or to serve as a deacon despite having only a casual acquaintance with the individual. Know those whom are advanced as capable of providing leadership within the congregation. Don’t settle for second-hand intelligence.
I well recall an individual who began attending one of the congregations which I pastored; though he had only introduced himself, he was informing me that he was an elder. He eagerly asserted that his former church in a distant community had “elected” him to be an elder. He was the second individual in less than a year in that congregation who informed me that he was an elder. This particular man soon found another church to attend where his skills and prior election would be appreciated, though to my knowledge he never actually served as an elder.
The other man whom I mentioned as pointedly speaking of his election to serve as an elder, precipitously dropped out of church only to resurface as an “elder” in another congregation within the same community. Neither of these men understood anything about service. For them, the position of elder was all about exercising power. They were willing to “serve,” so long as their service cost nothing. The attitude displayed was “Give me the glory; let Jesus have the slander and the slurs.” For these men, the evidence presented by their lives is that they understood eldership to be all about personal power and person aggrandizement. Service does not appear to have entered into the equation for either of these men. To my knowledge, neither man ever spoke to anyone concerning the Faith. Neither of these men lived a life that would stand up to scrutiny when the congregation looked for evidence of a holy life.
Congregations must not permit themselves to become lazy and shift responsibility for advancing anyone to leadership on the basis of denominational assessment alone. Congregations are well advised to take their time and get to know the individual before even considering them for appointment to the position of pastor of the congregation. Fellowships are even better advised, if at all possible, to appoint someone from within the assembly since the people will have had opportunity to appraise the individual, observing their character and the evidence of their call to serve the Saviour as an elder.
I remember a pulpit committee from a church in the community in which I pastored phoning me to ask if I would give them some advice concerning an individual whom they were considering as a pastor for their congregation. This man had appeared at the border and promptly arranged to candidate as pastor at the church situated in the Point Grey section of Vancouver. The congregation was greatly impressed by the sermon they heard, and the man had a glowing resume which he gladly shared. However, one of the members of the pastoral search committee was somewhat uneasy, though he couldn’t really say why. Nevertheless, that man phoned me to ask if I knew anything about this individual since I had previously been affiliated with the Southern Baptists in Texas.
I explained to the man that there were over five thousand Southern Baptist churches in Texas at that time, so it was impossible that I would know even a percentage of those pastoring in that state. However, I explained the organizational structure of the denomination and recommended that the committee might begin by communicating with the Director of Missions for the Baptist Association in which the man was claiming to have pastored.
I provided that member of the pulpit committee with the name of the Director of Missions from the handbook which I had retained; and he immediately communicated with that denominational servant. To the astonishment of the pulpit committee of that Point Grey assembly, they were informed that the prospective pastor had deserted his wife and fled the state with the pianist from his former church. He had made it as far as the border where he set up residence with this pianist to whom he was not married.
Since this man had made no application for immigration to Canada, he was not permitted to just cross into the country and seek a pastorate. However, he had no hesitation to enter as a tourist and begin to scope out any vacant churches in which he might “serve.” My point in this excursus is to point out how the system as currently practised can readily to disaster. Every preacher has a “sugar-stick” sermon available to preach on short notice. He can pull out that sermon and preach it, assuring that he will sound quite good to those with nothing more than his rhetoric with which to assess his suitability for service. Throw in graduation from the right school and a couple of recommendations from people who sound professional, and voilà—you have your pastor!
MUGGED BY REALITY — You will no doubt recall the Apostle’s testimony of how his life was turned upside down when the Risen Lord decided enough was enough. “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day. I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brothers, and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.
“As I was on my way and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’ Now those who were with me saw the light but did not understand the voice of the one who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Rise, and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all that is appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me, and came into Damascus.
“And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing by me said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight.’ And at that very hour I received my sight and saw him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard. And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’
“When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, ‘Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’ And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’ And he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles’” [ACTS 22:3-21].
God intervened in Saul’s life; and God is intervening in your life because you are hearing the call of Christ in this message. You cannot say that you are unaware of Christ or of His righteous claim on your life if you are hearing this message. The sinner does not simply turn from God except she ignores the pleas of a God who loves His creation. If you should stumble into hell, it will be over the prayers of a mother who loved you, over the multiplied pleas of a dad who was concerned for your eternal welfare. The lost do not stand poised on the precipice of eternal damnation without stepping over the repeated petitions of the people of God who ask for mercy and over the admonitions of followers of the Risen Saviour who repeatedly warn of the consequences of turning from Him and from His love.
There are young men and young women in this community who attended Sunday School, who sat in the auditorium of churches in this city week-by-week. Their parents sent them to Sunday School and church where they heard the stories of God’s love and learned about the righteous demands of Christ the Holy One of the Father. They made a choice that they would live their lives without thinking of what pleases the Lord—they would live in order to fulfil their own desires.
However, we must never forget that if they now have conscious life, there is hope. There is hope that God will yet arrest them in their mad rush away from righteousness and in their wild plunge into the self-life. If they still have the breath of life within, there is hope that God will remind them of His love and that they will respond to His call to life. It happened for Saul, and it can happen for your child.
There are men and women within the circle of our friendship who will respond if we will obey the call of the Saviour. Christ appoints His people to tell the lost of His love. The manner in which you live out your life will serve to strengthen the pleas you make for others to look to Christ.
There is not an individual who hears my voice who does not fall into one of two categories—lost or saved. Those who are lost have never placed faith in the Risen Son of God. These poor souls are under divine condemnation just as the Word declares. “Whoever believes in [God’s Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” [JOHN 3:18]. Again, the Word of God reveals the danger in which lost people now stand. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” [JOHN 3:36].
What of the saved? If one is saved, that one was at one time far from God and under divine sentence. However, just as was true for the Apostle Paul, that redeemed individual was confronted by the Spirit of Christ. And when confronted by God’s Spirit, the saved person believed on Jesus as Master over life. Their sin was forgiven and they were immediately adopted into the Family of God. They were given the Spirit of God to live within their life and ever since they have had access to the throne of the Living God.
The distinction between the saved and the lost depends upon whether the individual has received Jesus Christ as Master over life. You hear me deliver the call of God in almost every sermon—“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” [ROMANS 10:9-10]. I deliver this call as the promise given by the Living God. Our God has pledged that He will receive all who turn from their own way to receive the Risen Saviour as Lord of life. Anyone can receive the life our Lord offers when they turn from pursuing their own way to receive the reign of the Risen Christ as Master over their life.
I have spoken at other times of my own conversion to the Faith of Christ the Lord. I had turned from the Faith which my granddad had proclaimed as a pioneering preacher in Kansas and the Faith which guided my dad who served as a deacon in his church. I was determined that I would not be bound by what I saw as a meaningless, outdated belief in a god no one had seen. Of course, we are so created that no void can remain in our heart; if we do not fill our life with Christ, we fill our life with some “fool-osophy” that must die with us. And I acted just that foolishly.
During a move from New York City, all our furnishings were destroyed in a trailer crash on the Washington Beltway. I sat on the side of the highway with a shotgun waving looters away from my few belongings until I was able to gather what I could. My wife and I eventually made it to Morgan City, Louisiana where we hoped to find work on an offshore drilling rig. That didn’t work out, so we prepared to move to Houston where I was promised a job in construction.
During the trip to be reunited with our daughter, I was arrested and threatened unjustly with jail. My wife posted bail with the last of our money, and we were left broke and destitute. At last, we arrived in Houston where I did begin working. An uncle who was helping us invited us to a revival meeting in Pasadena, Texas. Willing to please him, we did attend a service. God met us at that service that evening. The evangelist was not memorable, and his message was not especially meaningful to me. However, God saved my wife that evening, and I was compelled to admit that the presence of the Lord did transform her life. Thus, I began to read the Bible.
Thinking of myself as somewhat intellectual, I wanted to read what stimulated my imagination. So, I began reading the Book of Ecclesiastes. While reading that book, I met the Son of God. Like Saul of Tarsus on the Road to Damascus, I met the Risen Lord of Glory, and He saved me when I believed Him. Then, He appointed me to His service. When you are flat on your back, there is only one way to look—and that is up.
MERCY EVEN FOR THE FOREMOST SINNER — “I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” [1 TIMOTHY 1:12-17].
Perhaps you question Paul’s assertion that he was the foremost of sinners. I suppose I can readily think of any number of individuals, some of whom I know personally, who would arguably be greater sinners than Paul was. We are prone to rank sins and sinners, and clearly we can imagine sinners who are especially sinful. That is not the point, however. Paul’s argument speaks of his perception of his own sinful condition, and he saw himself as “sinful beyond measure” [see ROMANS 7:13].
Long years past, a Texas Baptist divine wrote, “It is greatly to be feared that much of the preaching of modem times has lost its depth and power. The plough does not run deep enough. There is no deep conviction of sin. There is no mourning for sin such as we find set forth in Zechariah 13. We find our way to a modern profession of religion, dry-eyed. There is no weeping in it. And hence, feeling ourselves to be but little sinners, we need only a little Saviour.” Those words were originally written at the dawn of the Twentieth Century. Writing at that distant date, the writer saw evidence of incomplete conversion, of a growing emphasis on membership in the assembly rather than conversion, of accepting statements affirming faith while refusing to hold the membership of the congregation accountable for their actions. In the context of the message this day, it exposes us for our failure to see ourselves as sinful. We are only somewhat sinful, and therefore, we need only a Saviour to get us past the immediate deficit. We’ll take over from that point.
When I came to Christ, I realised that I was an awful sinner. I cannot depreciate the wickedness of my heart; it was so great that only an infinite sacrifice could suffice to make atonement for my sin. The wonderful truth is that the sacrifice of Christ the Lord was infinite, ensuring that the salvation He purchased was sufficient even for me. I love reading the promises included by that writer of the Letter to Hebrew Christians. Again and again we see the promise that the sacrifice of the Christ is enough; no more is required.
That writer, inspired by the Spirit of the Living God, has written, “Just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” [HEBREWS 9:27-28]. The writer continues, “Since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
‘Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
in burnt offerings and sin offerings
you have taken no pleasure.
Then I said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God,
as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.”’
“When he said above, ‘You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings’ (these are offered according to the law), then he added, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will.’ He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
“And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts,
and write them on their minds,’
then he adds,
‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’
“Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin” [HEBREWS 10:1-18].
Perhaps I speak to someone today who says, “I’m an awful sinner.” Perhaps someone says, “I don’t know that I’m the worst sinner there ever was, but I know I am a sinner.” Your ranking among the sins that might mark one as sinful is of no consequence since ultimately all sin is against the Holy God of all. Because our sin is against the Infinite God, it takes on a significance far beyond any ranking we may attempt to assign to that sin. Our sin is heinous especially because it offends the Living God. And because our sin is against the Infinite God, we need a sacrifice that is infinite. And that is what God has provided through giving His Son.
Jesus, the perfect Son of God, was born so that He could give His life as a sacrifice for all mankind. He surrendered His life to provide an atonement for our sin. He was certified as dead and buried. The sacrifice Christ has provided is sufficient for your sin. You need never pay for your sinful condition because God Himself has already provided a sacrifice in your place.
Here is the Good News! Jesus, the Son of God, didn’t simply die—He conquered death, rising from the dead. He is alive! He broke the bonds of the grave. He walked among those to whom He chose to reveal Himself after He had conquered death. Then, He ascended into Heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. And now, Jesus the Risen Lord invites all who will receive the offer to come to Him for forgiveness of sin. He promises, if you agree with God that Jesus is Master over your life, believing that God raised Him from the dead, you will be set free. Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] B. H. Carroll, An Interpretation of the English Bible: James, Thessalonians, Corinthians, Volume 13 (Ages Software, ©2002) 42
