Perfected in Christ: Assurance and Transformation

"By one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. Now let's just clarify right off theat three things number one the word offering now we go to verse 10 the one that I jumped the gun on here verse 10 says by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ so there's the explanation of what the offering is this is not just any ordinary offering this is Christ himself offering himself how beautiful how beautiful is the body of Christ." [00:02:06]

"The main point is the Old Testament law prescribed multiple repeated sacrifices and in doing that the law made clear right in the very prescription the inadequacy of the prescription because had those sacrifices been adequate to cover my sin and perfect me and cleanse me they'd stop but the fact that they got to do it again and again and again year by year day by day shows well yesterday's sacrifice is no good for today's sins and so we better do this whole thing all over again." [00:06:28]

"Every priest stands daily ministering and offering Time After Time the same sacrifices which can never take away sins see that in verse 11 but here's the great contrast he Christ having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time so he's contrasting one sacrifice with many and for all time with repeat repeated sacrifices sat down at the right hand of God now notice the contrast what a sat down contrast with in verse 11 tell me stands daily every priest stands daily Christ sat down now that's intentional." [00:10:52]

"When Christ died and bore the sins of his people he took those sins and he put them away so decisively that when God looks upon his people he does not impute to them any of their sins neither past nor present nor tomorrow or the next day or the millisecond before you die if you have a bad thought those are gone they are buried in the deep sea they are forgotten in this sense that he will never remember them as grounds of condemnation." [00:14:25]

"The evidence of whether you stand perfected before God this morning is not whether you are a good person now it's whether you hate your Badness and are on a trajectory of becoming good now here's a key phrase by faith in future Grace and the reason I stick it in as a parenthesis here even though it's not in the text is because I've read the rest of the book and in chapters 10 and 11 and 12 and 13 it's all about how you get Sanctified and it isn't Folks by works." [00:22:01]

"Sanctification is not oh good I have to get justified by faith but then I got to work hard to get Sanctified because it says the Sanctified are the ones who are going to be deemed perfect that's not it for example 11: 2 for by faith Moses did not count the treasures of Egypt something to be held on to but he looked to the reward and by faith embracing all that God was for him in the future he could say no to the fleeting pleasures of sin." [00:22:01]

"The means by which we become Sanctified is Faith being satisfied with the superior pleasures of God severing the root of the gnawing lurs of sin and little by little you're going to go home this afternoon and burn those books I won't ask you to raise your hand you're going to put a block in your EMA in your uh in your web you're not going to do that anymore because God showed up this morning and wrote the law on your heart." [00:22:01]

"Now who are they and the answer is given in the next phrase in the verse by one offering he has perfected for all time who those who are being Sanctified now let me put this real provocatively and paradoxically what it means is what it says is almost he has it is over he has perfected those who are being perfected that that's what it says or I'll take the words right out of verse 10 this time so that you can see the Paradox is not just mine it's there in verse 10 and 14." [00:17:04]

"He has Sanctified once in for all those who are being sanctified he has made you perfectly holy and guaranteed the complete consummation if you are now being made holy you remember how Paul said it in 1 Corinthians 5 he said to the church this crummy sinful Church of Corin cleanse out the old leaven because you are unleavened well which am I have I got some old leaven in me that needs to be cleansed out or am I an unleavened loaf pure before God and he says yes because of the mystery of the gospel and the power of Christ." [00:17:04]

"Here's the answer am I perfect you say yourself that question can I walk out of here this morning knowing what I did yesterday knowing the sexual junk of my teen years knowing my unfaithfulness to my wife knowing all the pornography I've got stashed away at home right now knowing I lied for five years in a row on my income tax can I walk out of here today and say without lie I am perfect and the answer to that question is yes but here's how you can know whether you can do that are you right now among the number who knows you're a sinner." [00:20:22]

"Because of the law being written maybe at this very moment for the first time because of the law being written on your heart you hate your sin and out of that hatred for it like Peter falling down on the ground before Jesus you find yourself hearing the word of the Lord fear not Peter from now on you will be fisher of men and you got this gracious hand of God lifting you up turning you away from that sin setting you on the process that is right here in this verse called being made holy." [00:20:22]

"Be among the number now as we close be among the number who hate sin and by faith turn from it and stumble along with the rest of us toward Heaven trusting this glorious statement that because of one offering you are perfect before god let's stand for prayer Lord God there are poems and there are songs and there is scripture and there are friends to minister to us this glorious truth that by a single offering we have been perfected and now the evidence of it is that we hate our sin and we trust this glorious provision and we're setting our faces aresh right now toward newness." [00:24:08]