Get the Table of The Lord elements ready and open your Bible to Hebrews 10.
Hebrews 10:14, “For by one offering [Christ] he hath perfected…” [perfected is okay for a translation here but it is also meant to include completed] “…for ever them that are sanctified [holy].”
How do you become sanctified? It is a setting apart. How do you become sanctified or set apart? Well, you must have trust and confidence in what Jesus Christ did to provide you salvation. Once you start trusting in your daily life what Christ did and you have that change of mind experience (you come to your senses and you put your faith and trust in Christ), you are sanctified because you are now set apart. You are in this world, but you are not of this world.
In Romans 3, Paul explains how no one will be declared righteous by the keeping of the Law, because the purpose of the Law (if you tried to keep the Law, which no one could completely do) was to make them aware of their sinfulness. That was the Law’s purpose. In trying to uncomplicate all that, Paul writes in verse 20, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” So, no one could be declared righteous by keeping the Law. It just gave one the knowledge to be made conscious of their sinfulness. That’s it. Verse 21, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe[pisteuo; have trust and confidence]: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
Even supposed Law keepers comes short of the glory of God. “Well, I don’t sin.” There are still Christians today who say, “I don’t sin.” Really? Verse 24, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” See, God made known a righteousness from Him apart from the Law that comes, according to Scriptures here, through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (put their trust and confidence in), being justified freely by His grace.
II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:” [Not because you kept the Law.] “old things are passed away;” [including the Law] “behold, all things are become new.” If you are a new creature in Christ, you are nothing less than a new creation in Christ. Period. That old is gone. See ya! The old is gone, the new is here. It has come. This is not something that Paul is saying will happen someday in the future, nor something that must come about because we do something to change our behavior. From God’s perspective, the way He sees things because of what His son did, it has already happened and not only that, it is irreversible. It happened to us because we are in Christ, or, we are born again, born from above, as I preached previously. All of this is made possible because of Jesus Christ. All of this is made possible because the son of God was without sin. He became sin for us. Therefore, God was able to make us as righteous as He. What do I mean by that? Go to verse 21 in the same chapter, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
So, through God’s perspective—and here is one of those wonderful promises I’ve been preaching on—from His perspective, if you really think about it, we’ve become perfect and completed forever because of His Son; one sacrifice for sin, that is all that was required, and it applies for all time. That means covering your whole entire life as a believer. That is back to Hebrews 10, the verses we looked at, Verse 12, “But this man [Jesus], after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected [and completed] for ever them that are sanctified [holy; set apart].”
So, from God’s perspective, we’ve become perfect. I can imagine the reaction some may be having, “I don’t feel perfect.” Well, that is because we are still dealing with the old man. But God sees us is as the new man—if we put our trust and confidence in His Son and His redeeming work, He did to remove sin. God sees us differently. He sees us as perfect individuals. That is how much He honors His son and what He did to bring his creation back to Him. They did so much, if you really think about it, yet ask so little.
When Jesus went to the cross, (you all know this), He forgave us of all our sins because He took the blow that we deserved. And for those who had already died, and we have covered this before, He would go and deliver those that were in Paradise who were waiting for His atoning sacrifice. Those in Paradise had their sins forgiven retroactively. Now the other believers that were alive at the time of his death received the benefits of what He provided immediately. Now, we were not born for almost another 2000 years. This means all our sin, which would be in the distant future, was also covered and removed. Our sins would be forgiven as soon as we heard the Good News and put our trust and confidence on what we heard, having had a change of mind that brought us to our senses. Even though He provided it 2000 years ago, we still get the benefit of it now and no matter how far into the future we live. If you really think about it, what He did had to apply for the things I just said, for all time—past, present, and future. And it must apply for the whole time of the believer’s life. So, it is a lifetime promise for each of the believers who put their trust and confidence in Him. If it wasn’t true, then that phrase He forgave all of us our sins would be a lie. But we know it is true, He did forgive all our sins. God can now see us as if we’ve always been and always will be perfect. That is why when we go to the table of the Lord. Jesus says, “Do this in remembrance of me.” I believe most Christians who read those words or even hear those words don’t understand the full benefits that they were given because of what He provided as that free gift for us. As a result of already paying the penalty in full for all the sins, He can regard us as being righteous, which makes us right with God, as if we’d never sinned in the first place. That is mind boggling.
So, how does God perceive us? From His perspective, we are innocent. That is the Good News. The bad news: you are a sinner. The Good News: you are a sinner saved by grace. Nothing of your own doing can save you. No Law keeping. No change of behavior. I’m not saying you are not going to change some of those things. God goes to work on you as I have said many times, but you are His problem, not someone else’s problem, who are trying to fix you to fit the Christian mold and what they think you should be like. You are God’s problem. He’s the potter, we’re the clay. He does the molding. He molds us into the vessel that He wants us to be, the container that He wants us to be for the cause of Christ. And, because he loves and cares for you, Christ is our mediator. Nothing gets to God unless it goes through Him. And whatever goes through Him, God doesn’t see it from the point of view that you think He sees it from. That is what I am trying to get across to you in these messages. He sees you as a perfected being that His son paid the price for and views you from that perspective. If His son didn’t do it, God would have no part of us.
So that is what we thank Jesus for, for what he has done for us, that one-time sacrifice. The only sacrifice that was necessary from that point on to cover all past, present, and future sins and transgressions. No other religions, no other belief system provides that restoration process the way it is described in the Scriptures. Do a religious comparison study. Each will tell you (in their own philosophical way) what you must do to reach heaven or nirvana, or whatever their religion proclaims. The Christian message of the Good News is the only message that says you don’t have to do anything, except put your trust and confidence in what His son already did. Once you do that, God’s Spirit, the true baptism that you should be seeking, enters your life and He goes to work. This ministry’s mission, my mission is to get the Good New rightly divided out there without the confusion, fear, and chaos that too many preachers bring to the message because of all the add-ons that they put in that requires your salvation to be validated in their eyes. That’s bad news, we will concentrate on the good news, the good news of Jesus Christ and remembering what Christ did for us.
There are many things we can thank Christ for, the list is never ending, but right now let’s remember and rejoice and proclaim our thanksgiving that He has made us perfect in God’s eyes. With that, thank you, Lord Jesus. We take these elements remembering what you have done for us. I pray this message and all the messages in the Change of Mind series doesn’t slip from your memory banks and you remember who provided you the free gift of grace, that which brings peace. For that we are thankful and rejoiceful; we know who to keep our focus on and that is Jesus, the Son of God. Thank you, Jesus for making us perfect in our Father’s eyes. Take the elements.
Copyright 2019 Faith Cometh By Hearing
Please email us at email@teachingfaith.com if this has encouraged and strengthened your faith.
In 2 Corinthians 9:7 it reads, “God loveth a cheerful giver.” The Greek word for cheerful is Hilaros which means when someone is prompt to do something, they are ready in mind, with a joyful heart. In the Septuagint it also means to cause to shine. Today I am looking for Hilaros Givers who are ready and full of joy for the opportunity to cause others to shine by hearing, learning, and growing in God’s Word. Join with us today and participate as a Hilaros Giver. If you wish to participate use the following link:http://www.teachingfaith.com/
Write us at
Faith Cometh By Hearing
539 W. Commerce St., #577
Dallas, TX 75208