God will bring to completion the good work He began in you.
Hebrews 10:11-14(NIV)
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 21: The Atonement
We believe
that Jesus Christ is a high priest forever
according to the order of Melchizedek—
made such by an oath—
and that he presented himself
in our name
before his Father,
to appease his wrath
with full satisfaction
by offering himself
on the tree of the cross
and pouring out his precious blood
for the cleansing of our sins,
as the prophets had predicted.
So he paid back
what he had not stolen,
and he suffered—
the “just for the unjust,”
in both his body and his soul—
in such a way that
when he senses the horrible punishment
required by our sins
his sweat became like “big drops of blood
falling on the ground.”
He cried, “My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me?”
And he endured all this for the forgiveness of our sins.
Therefore we rightly say with Paul that
we “know nothing but Jesus and him crucified”;
we consider all things as “dung
for the excellence of the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We find all comforts in his wounds
and have no need to seek or invent any other means
to reconcile ourselves with God
than this one and only sacrifice,
once made,
which renders believers perfect
forever.
This is also why
the angel of God called him Jesus—
that is, “Savior”—
because he would save his people
from their sins.
Summary
Yesterday we explored Christ’s one and only sacrifice, learning that we have no need to invent any other means of reconciliation since Christ has "offered for all time one sacrifice for sins." This is summarized in our Confession where it says that “We… have no need to seek or invent any other means to reconcile ourselves with God than this one and only sacrifice, once made, which renders believers perfect forever.”
One of the amazing things about the Greek language is what its various tenses can convey. Whereas English only has past, present and future tense verbs, Greek has an extra tense used to indicate an action that has been done in the past, but has ongoing significance. So, because of Christ’s sacrifice, an action completed once-for-all in the past, “he has perfected [past tense] for all time those who are being sanctified [ongoing significance.”
I love how Richard Philips addresses how both can be true in his commentary on Hebrews: “In the eyes of God you have been made perfect because you are in Christ; you are a beneficiary of his perfection. Of course, there is a process that is not yet complete, but a Christian’s sanctification is so certain of achievement that it is now viewed as accomplished: ‘You have been made perfect.’”
Dig Deeper
As believers, we wrestle and struggle against sin throughout our lives. We are continually being made to be more and more like our Lord and Savior through the working of the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes we fail, we sin, and we can become discouraged. Thanks be to God for His amazing grace that we can repent for those times we sin and that our God is faithful and just to forgive when we turn and repent.
This particular benefit reminds us of those beautiful truths in Jude 24-25:
“Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen,”
and Philippians 1:6
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
You are still shedding what is of the old self, and so when you do mess up, repent, rest in God’s grace, and remember that “he who began a good work” in you “will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who accepted the once for all sacrifice for sin made for us by Jesus Christ;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray for patience, perseverance, and a desire to more and more resemble your Savior;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Luke 2
