Since We Have Confidence
Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
Jesus Christ is God, and he is the Son of God, the second person
of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was always God’s plan, from
before creation, that Jesus Christ would be the sacrificial offering for our
sins. So, at just the right time, God the Father sent his Son to die for us.
Jesus Christ was put to death on a cross by the people who
hated him. But it was God’s will that he should suffer and die for our sins so
that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, and
so we would be delivered from slavery to sin so that we would become slaves of God.
So, by God-given, God-ordained and God-persuaded faith, when
we believe in Jesus Christ to be our Lord and Savior, we die with Christ to
sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, created to
be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Let us Hold Fast
Hebrews 10:23-25 ESV
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
So, what is the confession of our hope? It isn’t just that
one day Jesus will return for us and that we will get to be with him forever.
It is that we are delivered from the control of sin and Satan over our lives so
that we can now walk in holiness and righteousness in the power of God.
And it is that we are now in relationship with God through
faith in Jesus Christ, and we are in intimate fellowship with him daily, and
that we can talk with him and him with us, and that we can know his will for
our lives, and that we can do his will in the power and strength of God’s
Spirit.
It is that our lives now have purpose and meaning and direction.
We are not wandering aimlessly anymore, going from this to that, living to
please ourselves. But now we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, doing
his will, going where he sends us, and saying what he gives us to say.
And it is that we are now making a difference in other
people’s lives for the kingdom of heaven, and that other followers of Christ
are being used of God in our lives to encourage us, and that God is using us to
encourage them. And it is that God has gifted us and assigned us each parts within
his body.
If We Go On Sinning
Hebrews 10:26-31 ESV
“For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
Our salvation is conditional, though, for faith in Jesus
Christ is not just some words we say. We show that we have faith by what we do
in the power of God. Jesus said we must deny self, die daily to sin, and follow
him in obedience. Paul said we must walk (in conduct) not according to the
flesh but according to the Spirit. Sin should no longer be what we practice.
So, if after we profess faith in Jesus Christ we go on living
in sin, making sin our practice, and righteousness is not what we practice,
then Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins does not apply to us. We will die in our
sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God, no matter what we have
professed with our lips.
This is not to say that we must live in sinless perfection
or that we will never sin against God (1 Jn 2:1-2) but that sin should no
longer have dominion over our lives. It should not be what we practice. It
should no longer be our “go to,” our habit, i.e., what we deliberately make a
point to do.
So many people today, though, are buying into a false gospel
which is deceiving them into believing that if they just pray a prayer, or if
they make a public confession of faith, or if they just accept what Jesus did
for them on the cross, that they are now saved, and heaven is guaranteed them.
Many are teaching them, in fact, that God’s grace to them
requires nothing of them other than some non-descript or obscure “faith” in
Christ that does not have to or that should not repent of sin or obey the Lord
or submit to him as Lord, for they call that works-based salvation.
And so many people are “believing” in Jesus with this
human-based faith which does not submit to the Lordship of Christ, so they are
continuing to live in sin, doing what they want to do, while claiming that
Jesus does it all for them and that nothing is required of them.
So, if this is where you are, please know that what awaits
you when you die is not heaven, but a fearful expectation of judgment, because
you trampled underfoot the Son of God, and you have profaned the blood of the
covenant, and you have outraged the Spirit of grace, for you refused to submit
to Christ as Lord, to obey him, and to leave your lives of sin behind you.
And please know that God will judge his people. If we sow to
please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to
please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life. If we walk
according to the Spirit, we will live, but if according to the flesh, we will
die in our sins.
So, surrender your life to Jesus Christ today. Submit to him
as Lord (owner-master) of your life. Forsake your former life of living for sin
and self and now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his will for your life.
Then you have the hope of salvation from sin and of eternal life with God in
heaven.
Praise the Lord
Lyrics by John Kempthorne (1775-1838),
Music by Lowell Mason (1841)
Based on Psalm 148:1-2
Praise the Lord! ye heav'ns adore him;
Praise him angels, in the height;
Sun and moon, rejoice before him;
Praise him, all ye stars of light.
Praise the Lord! for he has spoken;
Worlds his mighty voice obeyed;
Laws which never shall be broken
For their guidance he has made.
Praise the Lord! for he is glorious;
Never shall his promise fail;
God has made his saints victorious;
Sin and death shall not prevail.
Praise the God of our salvation!
Hosts on high his pow'r proclaim;
Heav'n, and earth, and all creation,
Laud and magnify his name.
Worship, honor, glory, blessing,
Lord, we offer unto thee;
Young and old, thy praise expressing,
In glad homage bend the knee.
All the saints in heav'n adore thee,
We would bow before thy throne;
As thine angels serve before thee,
So on earth thy will be done.
Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah!
Amen, Amen, Amen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu0LGJEcLRU
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