What standards do you set for yourself when it comes to how well you are living the Christian life? It is so easy to compare yourself to others, which is a very convenient comparison since we always judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves! Jesus tells us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt 5:48), and Paul prayed for the perfection of the saints (2 Cor 13:9). That set’s the bar pretty high doesn’t it!
Hebrews 10 reminds us that we have been made perfect in Christ, but we are also being made perfect in Christ. The first is what Jesus has done for us through His death and resurrection, the second is what is happens as we allow Him to work in us through His Spirit to help us receive what we have already been given. The two go together. If you have been made perfect (you have been saved by grace through faith), then you will show signs of being made perfect (growing in holiness and maturity). Hebrews 10 and other passages confront us with this truth – if there is no sign of being made perfect (a change in lifestyle that we can all see), then you have not been made perfect (a change in spiritual condition that only God sees).
This is not salvation by good works, it is salvation producing good works. Genuine salvation always produces transformation. The question is, how holy is holy enough? How many good works are enough? Is God being realistic when He commands us to aspire to perfection? We’ll explore that over the next few weeks!
Aim for Perfection pt 2
“…by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” – Hebrews 10:14
As we looked at last week, in Jesus we have already been made perfect through His death on the cross to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But we are also being made perfect as He continues His work of changing us so that we can live up to what we have already been given (Php 3:16).
The passage in Hebrews 10 continues…
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.”
17 Then he adds:
“Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
Verse 16 is a quote from Jeremiah 31 which prophesies that a time would come when God would indwell His people through His Spirit, so their relationship with Him would not be based on their obedience to the Law, rather our obedience to the Law would be based on our relationship with God. We can’t keep God’s laws by ourselves, we can only do it as we live by His Spirit (Rom 1 – 8). If we are to live the lives that honour God, build up His people and witness to others we must learn to live by His Spirit – to hear His gentle voice instructing, correcting, convicting, comforting, encouraging and so on. Notice that God’s laws then become applied both in our hearts – the desire to please God; and our minds – the knowledge of how to please God. We need both.
You can check your own life to see how well you are living by the Holy Spirit by looking at the descriptions found in Galatians 5:16-26. Next week we’ll look at what we need to do when we discover that we are falling short of that standard.
Aim for Perfection pt 3
Last week we looked at the promise quoted in Hebrews 10:16 -
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
God has done this through the Holy Spirit who lives inside all believers, convicting us of sin, instructing us in righteousness and replacing our sinful desires with godly motives. It is by receiving this ministry that we grow closer to perfection in Christ. But what happens when we fail to live by the Spirit and instead indulge our sinful natures? The passage continues:
17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.”18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
It’s important to recognise first of all that our failings as Christians cannot separate us from God. God has forgiven us once and for all – Christ’s sacrifice was enough to cover our sins past, present and future and God as the righteous Judge has already chosen to forgive us. Our eternal salvation is secure. This is not a license to sin, as the Bible describes that the desire to live a righteous life is evidence of genuine faith – it is impossible to have proclaimed Jesus as Lord if there is not an accompanying attitude of obedience. The sins of a genuine believer do not affect the fact that we have “been” saved, but they do affect how we are “being” saved. More on that next week!
Aim for Perfection pt 4
We established last week that the sins of a genuine believer cannot separate them from God, but they do affect the work of God within us and through us. It is impossible for a true Christian to be content to harbour sin in their life, since it goes against the very nature of the One whom we call Father in Heaven, the One who is Saviour and Lord and the One who lives within. A classic text that deals with this is 1 John 1:5-10…
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
When God through His Spirit convicts us of sin, our responsibility is to confess it – to own up to what God already knows. When we do that, God forgives us – not in the sense of restoring our salvation, we discovered last week that He doesn’t save then condemn us, it’s a once for all thing. He knows those who are His. This type of forgiveness is where the problem of sin in our relationship with God is dealt with and removed. Until we own up to it, it is a problem that creates a barrier in our relationship with God and produces evil effects in our lives. God must address it through discipline if we will not respond to the quiet voice of the Spirit or the ministry of the saints in bringing conviction.
However once we stop trying to hide our sin and bring it out into the open for God to deal with, He forgives us and purifies us. The victory that Jesus won over sin and death becomes applied to our lives – sin no longer has any control over us. More on this purifying work next week!
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