Hebrews 10:10-12 and 14, “By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. We have received eternal, not momentary, redemption (Heb. 9:12). One sacrifice was made for all sin forever, and we have been perfected forever. How can we read these scriptures and come to any other conclusion than that every sin—past, present, and future—was forgiven and our redemption is eternal? If you have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus for your sins by faith, then your spirit is perfect (Heb. 12:23)! Your spirit has been born again. A million years from now, your spirit will be identical to what it is right now, and it is identical to Jesus (1 Cor. 6:17 and 1 John 4:17). One-third of your redemption is complete. So, am I making light of sin or saying sin doesn’t matter? No! Sin is a terrible thing, and it’s an inroad for Satan into your life (Rom. 6:16). we should value the blood and the atonement of Jesus above sin, His sacrifice was infinitely greater than all the past, present, and future transgressions of the entire human race. Jesus overpaid the debt we owed. You might say, “What about 1 John 1:9?” I’m glad you brought that up. First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We don’t have to confess sin in order to be saved, to retain, or to maintain our salvation. If I believed that was so, I would kill every person who came forward for salvation. I might go to hell, but that’s the only way they would ever get to heaven. We need to confess it, not for the purpose of becoming born again, but because our flesh gets defiled. That gives Satan a legal right to function in our flesh (Rom. 6:16). Confessing we have sinned means we are coming back into agreement with God and out of agreement with the devil. That stops Satan from dominating us through that sin and draws the forgiveness and purity, which is already in our born-again spirits, out into our flesh. Our born-again spirits are already eternally redeemed (Heb. 9:12). The other two-thirds, your soul and body, have also been purchased by His blood, but their redemption has not yet taken place. However, God has made provision for this as well. Romans 8:23 reads, “And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.” Ephesians 1:14 says, “Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” When redemption is complete in spirit, soul, and body, we will know Him as we are known (1 Cor. 13:12). But until then, we can experience a renewed mind through His Word. And although we are waiting for the redemption of our bodies, we can receive healing while we live in our mortal bodies. God has made provision for both the soul and the body even though their redemption has not yet been made manifest. Unfortunately, most Christians are not taking advantage of these provisions. They have not renewed their minds, and they still don’t understand that we are also redeemed from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13). The average New Testament believer is still trying to get God to respond to them based on their performance. Why? Because they don’t know that the performance covenant of the Old Testament Law is over. We are now under the New Testament ministry of grace and faith (2 Cor. 3:7-8). The Law was given to convict people of their self-righteousness so they could see their need for a savior. Praise God, we are now no longer under the Law. First Timothy 1:9 says that the Law is not made for a righteous man. And who is righteous? Any person who is born again (2 Cor. 5:21). Hebrews 7:12 and 18 says, “For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof.” What a radical statement! A disannulling! The word disannulling literally means cancellation, to make null and void. The Old Testament Law has been nullified, canceled, done away with. The Law was weak and unprofitable. It was only a stop-gap measure until Jesus (Gal. 3:23-25). Ephesians 1:3-5 says, “[He] hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings…hath chosen us…Having predestined us unto the adoption of children. In the Greek, “hath” is an aortas tense, which means it is a done deal—it’s an accomplished fact. So how blessed is all spiritual blessings? Verse 6 says that we have been accepted in the beloved. Really, that is a super understatement. The Greek word that is used for “accepted” is only used twice in the New Testament. The other place is in Luke 1 where the the Angel Gabriel appeared unto Mary. Gabriel said, “Hail thou that are highly favoured, the Lord is with thee” (verse 28). The Greek word for “highly favoured” is the only other time that this word was used. When it says that we are accepted in the beloved, it is saying He has made us highly favored. Mary hasn’t got anything on a born-again believer. Every one of us is accepted, chosen, and highly favored. It’s all part of redemption. Understanding redemption, the complete forgiveness of your sins, is foundational to understanding the New Covenant and how God deals with you today. If you’re born again and still asking questions like these: “Can I lose my salvation?” “If I die with unconfessed sin, will I go to heaven?” or “Does God answer the prayers of someone who still sins?” then you do not understand redemption. Redemption is very practical, and your understanding of it will determine what you are able to receive from God, not just in eternity, but here and now.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:48:49 +0000
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