---------------------------------
Heb 9:7
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
---------------------------------
The High Priest of the Mosaic ritual of sacrifice in the Old Testament was able to enter into the Holiest of Holies, where God’s presence manifested, partly due to the fact he carried BLOOD in with him.
The holiest of holies was that place in the temple into which none could enter, for God’s very presence was manifested in that room. It was the HEART of the Temple. It was separated from the rest of the building by a thick and heavy veil through which one could not look. Once a year, on the day of Atonement, the High Priest experienced much ritual and preparation in order to carry the blood of the sacrificial lamb of atonement into that Holiest room.
The blood of Jesus Christ is tantamount to our progress in God, too. But do we carry it? Yes, we do, but not in a literal sense. We carry the blood of Jesus with us that we might enter God’s unseen presence when we fully believe that what man needed to have accomplished for him to be able to see God was supplied in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Our exertion of faith in this work is akin to the literal act of the High Priest carrying blood into the Holiest of Holies. We do not enter an actual and literal room, but, no matter where we physically are located, when we pray in faith depending upon the work of God on the cross, we in effect carry the blood into the Holiest.
The blood is similar to a “ticket” to glory! Without it, we cannot enter.
Jesus flesh was said to be THE VEIL.
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
When the High priest entered the Holiest of Holies, he had to pass the veil, which acted as a door to that room. And since Christ’s flesh is the veil, we can say that we carry the blood of Jesus, by faith, and are positioned beyond the flesh of Christ, causing us to be then situated IN CHRIST. And the phrase “in Christ” is repeated throughout the New Testament scriptures! It refers to the BODY of Christ, which is actually the Church. The CHURCH is not a building nor is it a denomination. It is the Body of believers who have entered CHRIST through faith in His blood for their salvation.
We require faith in Jesus’ blood in order to see God. That faith gives us HIS HOLINESS and righteousness.
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
The above verses refer to Jesus’ sacrifice where His blood was spilled. To speak of faith in the blood is to figuratively refer to faith in the death of Jesus Christ for our salvation and reconciliation to God.
Without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:13).
We dare not enter God’s presence without the blood!
As we enter the Body of Christ we leave the world of sin. There is no sin “in” Him. We must have faith in order to enter Christ, for it is faith in Jesus’ blood and in His death for us that saves a person.
We are in Him! We are IN LIFE, for He said He was the way, the truth and the LIFE. Since we have entered Christ we can also say, according to Scripture, that we are BAPTIZED INTO HIM. We are immersed into His body when we enter. Thus the Lord has PASSED over us. As waters engulf a person who is immersed into that substance, and it passes over them, the Lord passes over us as we are baptized into Him.
The waters of baptism are not literally the Lord Jesus, Himself. However, baptism in water helps us understand how we are immersed into Jesus Christ. In fact, when we are baptized in water we must believe that we are entering Christ’s body in a real and spiritual manner.
Once we are inside LIFE, death cannot claim us. The Lord need not run to our doors and guard us from death any longer, as He did in Egypt. We are in Him continually so long as we maintain RELIANCE upon His death on the cross for our salvation. We must NEVER leave Him.
Whatever is not of faith is sin. Standing outside of the realm of this faith is standing outside of Jesus’ body, or outside of the Holiest of Holies. It places us outside of the Church and outside of life when we lose our reliance upon His death for our salvation. Death can touch us in an outside position.
Many believers have stopped believing and have doubted whether they were saved or not as they passed through the many trials they have experienced. Such people have actually stepped outside of Christ when they began to question their salvation. They have been lured to look at their own goodness or their activity, when they, for example, have a mistake and have sinned. And thinking wrongly, as they relied upon living lives of good works in order to stay saved, they have taken their reliance off the death of Christ. And we cannot approach God by any other reliance than that upon the blood. Good works cannot save us!
We must get it clear in our heads that our good works are not what is going to take us to glory one day after this life is over. Therefore, when we focus our eyes upon any other source of salvation besides FAITH IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS, we are removed from within Christ. Only with the blood can we enter.
We are outside of Christ when we lose our life of faith. To constantly live by faith is to constantly believe we are in touch with God only because we have believed that Jesus died for our sins. We are LIVING BY FAITH so long as we continue to believe in this manner.
BLOOD ON THE DOOR
In Egypt, the Israelites splattered blood on their doorways in obedience to God’s Word. That act would prevent death from entering those homes to claim the lives of the firstborn of the families of Israelites. You have applied the blood to your doorway when you first believed that God gave you the ticket to heaven due to your reliance upon Jesus’ spilled blood for your salvation. At that moment of your faith, God gave you HIS OWN righteousness. And God put you into Christ.
Water baptism in Jesus’ name is your indication that you have believed that fact. Death cannot touch you now that you are in Christ.
LIVING ABOVE SIN
Most people do not actually believe Paul’s words when he described we can have life above sin.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
People have told me that the only victory we can have today is the opportunity to repent after we have sinned, and repent again should we sin again. They do not believe we can live a life without sinning! The fact is that Paul was teaching that we CAN live a life without sinning in the chapters 6 through 8 of the Book of Romans.
This is basically what Paul taught:
We are to live DAILY, knowing of the potential we have within us to sin, in reliance upon Christ’s blood to KEEP US IN CHRIST where there is no sin. There is not even the possibility of sinning if we remain in Christ. The problem is that most believers do not fully understand how to rely upon the blood each day to live above sin for they do not even know a believer has that kind of benefit from God. They remain ignorant of Paul’s teachings in Romans. Such ignorance is not uncommon, for even Peter commented how some of Paul’s letters regarding righteousness are hard to be understood.
2 Pet 3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
2 Pet 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
2 Pet 3:15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2 Pet 3:16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
Peter referred to the writings of Paul which spoke about God finding us IN PEACE, without spot and blameless. Such writings are found in Romans 5 through 8.
Outside the life of faith is a life that is asking for trouble and sin. In such faith, however, one believes upon Jesus’ death to the extent of relying upon it EVERYDAY in order to be able to live above sin.
If you will call upon God to strengthen you due to your reliance upon the work of Calvary, God will answer your prayers and cause you to live above sin during that whole day. Throughout the day, as temptation approaches you, you must call upon God and again rely upon the blood of Jesus in order to experience the reception of wings as of eagles from God that you can rise above sinning. It WORKS!
Give God your bodily members as gifts to be used as His instruments of righteousness! Actually ASK God to use your hands, feet, mouth and tongue and to accomplish GOOD THINGS through them.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
The counterpart today for having blood on the doorways as protection from death is the FAITH that Jesus’ death for you is your ticket to glory and your means of obtaining God’s strength to live above sin. All believers know that His blood was shed for salvation, but not very many know that it is there for us to continually rely upon as our means of receiving God’s strength to live above sin.
Understand that God gave you His righteousness when you believed Jesus’ death was your only means of salvation. And God put you into Christ.
When sin approaches us, as we rely upon Christ, we are tempted, but GOD COVERS US!
Exo 12:23 For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.
I am actually praying for His shielding when I rely upon His blood that was shed for my salvation AND for my victory over sin!!
Too many do not rely upon unseen power when they face temptation.
DULL OF HEARING
Heb 5:11 Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness:
The word translated as HEARING actually means comprehending . The readers of Hebrews, to whom the letter was originally written, could not comprehend much that was taught in the church. They were in need of becoming more keen in their perception to understand spiritual truths.
Living by faith above sin is one of the truths that many people are not spiritually sensitive enough to be able to comprehend. It is a hard saying to many believers, and hard to be understood .
There is a faith we can exert, that will be honoured by God, to LIVE ABOVE SIN. We must not allow any man to spoil or steal us away from this HOLIEST realm of faith living. It is being IN CHRIST!!
Notice the term in as you read the following verses. And think of the aspect of ENTERING the holiest of Holies just as the High Priest did.
Col 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Col 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Col 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Do not allow someone e to steal you out from within Christ! This is actually telling us to not allow anybody to get us to rely upon something OTHER than Jesus’ death on the cross for our salvation. Some tried to tell early believers that various WORKS are responsible for our salvation. And to rely upon such things would actually REMOVE a believer from being IN CHRIST.
Therefore, it can be said that being IN CHRIST is only attained when we SOLELY rely upon His death for our salvation, and we then live according to that faith. Such faith will move us to become involved in a body of Christians who likewise believe this truth, and we will act differently in the world, but these actions do not save us but rather occur BECAUSE we are saved.
People can rob us from such living by faith through philosophy and odd traditions which contradict this teaching. It is as though they convince us to walk out from within the houses that have blood on their doorways when they get us to rely upon something other than Christ’ blood for victory.
Paul said that we were saved by faith IN HIM, and now we must WALK IN HIM, or rather, continue that reliance upon His death for us that we may NOW live above sin. Colossians 2:6 is a proof text that teaches us to exert faith in the blood for LIFE ABOVE SIN as we have likewise already exerted faith in it for initial salvation.
In effect, the blood is not only power to save us from sin, but also contains power to keep us ABOVE SIN after we are saved!! Most only know the first part of the story.
Tradition will try to tell you to take up the observance of perhaps an Old Testament ritualistic ceremony in order to be truly fit to see God one day. Lies! No Sabbath day-keeping or rite of circumcision will make you fit to see God. ONLY reliance upon Jesus’ death for you will save you. If you have reverted to believing that SOMETHING else besides that is a necessary for your entrance into heaven, then you have been ROBBED from being within Christ!
God spoiled the devil when He took you out of darkness (Col. 2:15), but Paul warned us that the devil can in turn spoil us out from within Christ!!
We are COMPLETE IN HIM. We need nothing else!! ALL we require to meet God is to simply BE IN CHRIST ALONE. Let nobody tell you anything different! We must be so strong in this understanding that we, as it were, are ROOTED and BUILT UP IN HIM. You cannot easily remove a well-rooted tree from the ground!!
Jude was inspired to keep people in the faith. He said, as an example to us, that God saved Israel out of Egypt. Later, though, God destroyed them that believed not.
Jude 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jude 1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
We keep ourselves in the love of God by building ourselves up in the faith and praying in the Holy Ghost. We can always expect to receive the mercy of our Lord that leads to eternal life if we keep ourselves IN the love of God.
God can keep us from falling!! This is it!! This is the point we are looking at right now. God can strengthen us to live above sin.
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
This is accomplished by our reliance upon the blood! It keeps us IN the FAITH. And this faith is referring to reliance upon Christ’s death as a means of receiving God’s strength when we ask for it. But unless we ask for it we will not receive it. And some have never known that they COULD ask for such a thing!
Ask and ye shall receive!!
WHERE TO FIND MERCY
Trust in Him in this manner each day. The only place in the temple to receive mercy was in the Holiest of Holies where the MERCY seat was located. And Jude said:
Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the MERCY of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
He is speaking about being IN CHRIST, the true Holiest of Holies, beyond the veil of His flesh (He. 10:20). We enter there not without blood and we remain in there by continually relying upon that blood.
The veil is the only door that leads to the Holiest. Christ’s flesh, which spilled His blood, is THAT VEIL. Therefore, we, as the high priest, carry blood past the veil into the holiest when we believe Jesus’ death is our only ticket to see God.
Where is God?
John 14:10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
John 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.
The Father is in Christ.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
Col 1:20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
Paul said that God will reconcile all things IN CHRIST to HIMSELF. In other words, God is in the “room” which is CHRIST, and we meet God by likewise entering into Christ! And we can’t get into without blood. His flesh is the veil that we breach and enter when we rely upon His blood. And we are then reconciled to God! No more are we His enemies!
We must enter into Him and LIVE OUR LIVES IN HIM. WALK IN HIM (Col. 2:6). Stay there. This tells us that it is a lifestyle kind of faith. It’s our OXYGEN, as it were.
BLOOD THROUGH JORDAN
Israel carried the blood which was upon the ark of the covenant when they passed through Jordan. The river actually opened up for them to pass through. And it opened because the BLOOD is the only means of ENTERING any promise of God - be it atonement for sin found in the holiest, or the promised land.
Any promise of God you wish to claim, INCLUDING victory to live above sin, can be claimed by your faith in Jesus’ blood!!
Heb 10:19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
Heb 10:21 And having an high priest over the house of God;
Heb 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
-----------------(000000000)-------------------
