SANCTIFICATION

"For by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified" (Heb10:14)

Devotion 9 of 16

SANCTIFIED BY CHRIST'S OFFERING

"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb 10:10). The "will" of which he speaks is nothing less than the "new covenant." It is called "will" here because it is an expression of the purpose and desire of God--His "will." Our participation in the new covenant sanctifies us, just as Israel's participation in the first covenant sanctified them. They were not the "people of God" because of their achievement, but because of their covenant relationship. God did not use them because they excelled, but because they were His.

This is not to be viewed as condoning loose living among those in Christ. Anyone daring to justify his sin in any way, and especially on the basis of the New Covenant, will have to give an account to God. There is no acceptable excuse for sin, and God in no way provides a way to a way to remain enslaved to it.

A principle is seen in our covenantal sanctification that is necessary for our confidence. We trace our acceptance, and qualification to be used, by God to Christ's offering. It was an effective offering, allowing God to expend His wrath on sin, while also enabling Him to justify and receive those formerly dominated by sin.

"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified" (Heb 10:14). Here we have the source, or cause, of our sanctification. It is traced back to the vicarious, or substitutionary, sacrifice of Christ--His "offering." Peter alludes to this offering in his first epistle. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Pet 2:24).

Your faith must take hold of the extent of Christ's sacrifice! Not only did it purge the past, it dedicated the future! Accepted, the death of Christ makes you suitable for divine employment. The thought of being "sanctified forever" is staggering! Some are afraid to take this into their hearts, for fear it cannot be true. But it is true, praise the Lord!

The child of God does not need to spend time imagining whether or not he can "hold out." As long as our relationship with Christ is maintained through faith, our sanctification remains in tact. Only when that association is ruptured by unbelief do we lose our utility to God.

Our usefulness to God begins when we are washed from our sins (Rev 1:5-6). It continues as long as we maintain that purity by walking in the light. As it is written, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). It will continue after we leave this world, throughout the "ages to come" (Eph 2:7).

PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Your Son, I ask for grace to live with more of an awareness of the effectiveness of Christ's sacrifice than of my own shortcomings. I know such an awareness will have a powerful effect upon me.

-- TOMORROW: THE COMPELLING NATURE OF THE GOSPEL --