We can all look back at the many things we've learned (or unlearned) about God, His love, the message of Jesus and His redemptive work at the cross. And yet, there seems to be so much we don't know when it comes to eternal things. Theology becomes a tangled mess full of twists and turns. We change our perspectives sometimes, especially when God's Spirit helps us in reaching a greater knowledge of the truth, perhaps one small bite at a time. But as humans, some of what we believe about Bible doctrine and things related to it may also just be a matter of opinion or perspective based upon what we know, think, or have been taught.
This week's program is rather unique as we discuss individual perspectives about faith, believing, and questions that may be difficult to answer. In the end, God is not frustrated with our ignorance ... and sometimes it's okay to say, "I don't know for sure what the answer is to that."
When trapped within a religious maze, it gets confusing when the focus becomes about you and your dedication to God through your works and actions. Those from the "holy hierarchy" will be spouting grace and God's love one minute but in the next breath, they'll tell you to behave in a certain way to ensure you're right with God, justified, sanctified ... while on the journey to making faith perfect.
The way of the old unprofitable and expired covenant for the Jews before the cross was centered around their pursuit of righteousness and salvation based upon not just hearing the word (of law) – but actually doing it. As the Apostle Paul stated in his Romans letter, there never was nor has there ever been a successful doer in the works department. So where do we go from here? That's where the gospel comes in.
Reducing the occurrence of sinful actions in our lives will be beneficial for us in this life on planet earth. However, empty religion has mistakenly defined repentance as “turning from sin” which causes people to flip the gospel inside out ... leaving people in a place of self-effort, fear and often results in condemnation. Repenting isn’t about behavior modification—anyone can do this whether they are saved or not.
Authentic repentance brings a change of mind, causing us to realize we can’t do anything to merit eternal life or God’s righteousness, forgiveness, sanctification, acceptance, etc. The “turning” that is often referenced is meant to be a departure from our works and efforts … to belief or faith in the work of Jesus. We don’t “do” anything to receive this.
Christians are bombarded with repentance missiles from all kinds of Bible teaching which varies by definition from one pulpit to the next. And yet the writer of Hebrews admonished believers to avoid the constant practice of feeling obligated to repeatedly lay down the same foundation of repentance from dead works. Feeling the need to “get right with God again” because of poor choices is not how repentance is defined.
This mindset has left people wallowing in a works-based doctrine and in a state of sin consciousness which Jesus came to deliver people from. Believers are gifted with God’s righteousness, and Jesus doesn’t call the righteous to repent, but rather those identified as sinners who are still born in Adam with a sin condition they are trying to fix through their own efforts — instead of trusting in the work of Christ by faith.
The religious business has sold repentance as a behavioral change which results in sinning less. This places people into a sin consciousness which Jesus came to deliver people from.
It will lead towards a works-based religion, as well-meaning people vigorously strive to have their bad outweigh their good, thereby somehow making themselves more acceptable to God.
In the Greek language, this is not how repentance is defined, and it’s our discussion on this week’s program.
You may have heard sermons or Bible messages correctly explaining that salvation is a gift that is free and there is nothing that can be done on our part to earn it, but it is simply received by believing. Unfortunately, what will often follow is a type of legal addendum found in the fine print describing all of the things Christians must do in order to maintain acceptance, fellowship, blessings, and so on, and so forth. Although it varies depending on the denominational label, empty religion is often injected into Christianity by teaching that portions of the commands and statutes within the Mosaic law are still meant to be followed and kept within the New Covenant of Christ. They will declare that some of it came to an end and was discontinued, while other parts are meant to still apply. Exactly which of the 613 commands from the Old Covenant still apply and which were dropped? Therein lies the problem. The law was never meant to be changed or altered. In order to be able to say one was keeping it, one had to follow everything perfectly, without failure. This is why the good news should never be mixed with the bad.
Somewhere along the way, most of us have wondered where we stand with God. For some, this is an ongoing battle which can lead to fear and uncertainty. Are you stuck inside of a mindset that has caused you to feel compelled to ask God to cleanse you and purify you over and over again? If so, perhaps you haven’t heard the full story or understood the victory Jesus Christ won for us at the cross. It’s time to shift the (lack of) confidence from your ability to live the Christian life, to believing and trusting completely in the life of God that abides in you.
When the word "faith" is mentioned, it will likely bring a wide variety of different thoughts and viewpoints, depending on what people have been taught about the subject. There are some today who proclaim that faith and believing is no longer relevant and may suggest it's unnecessary. Others on the opposite end of the spectrum will turn faith into a work that leads to legalism. So how does faith and believing factor into our lives today in the New Covenant? That's our conversation on this week's Growing in Grace podcast.
The sin condition of the heart entered the world through one man (Adam). This form of the word for “sin” is a noun in the Greek and appears nearly four times more often than the verb in the New Testament. Death entered through this “sin condition” and it spread to all men, because the noun would lead to sinful actions, since all have sinned (verb). Jesus came to destroy and take away the sin of the world, the condition that resulted in everyone being identified as sinners, as inherited through Adam. Through one sacrifice at the cross, God dealt with and resolved the sin problem forever; both the sinful nature and the sinful actions. If this was not the case, Jesus would need to keep suffering repeatedly, and the cross would have to be considered inadequate. Fortunately for us, His one-time shedding of blood was more than enough, and now the issue is simply choosing to believe in order to receive the new nature of righteousness within our hearts.
As we talked about a couple of podcasts ago, the writer of Hebrews was telling his readers that the animal sacrifices through the law came to an end, so they were not to go down that path anymore for forgiveness of sins, but rather they were to believe in the one sacrifice of Jesus that was sufficient for all sins for all time. If they reject the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins. That’s really what Hebrews 10:26 is saying.
During a discussion on social media, a statement was made by someone that the sacrifice of Jesus "does NOT cover willful sinning." That is quite a breathtaking statement - and quite sad - and it misses the entire point of the book of Hebrews. So this week we dig a little more into this controversial passage in Hebrews. We also take a look at other scriptures about sin being taken away, that have no such added conditions regarding "willful" sin. Many scriptures plainly say that we are saved by grace, through faith (by believing), and they do not add any such caveat that this isn’t true if we sin willfully. In fact, many scriptures highlight the fact that we have the forgiveness, remission and removal of ALL sin through the blood of Jesus. The book of Hebrews was not written to scare believers, but rather to assure them of the sufficiency of the blood of Jesus. The warning about "willful sin" was not directed at people who sin, but rather at people who reject the sacrifice of Jesus as the only sacrifice that takes away all their sin.
God has a requirement for all of us: Be perfect as He is perfect. How do we go about this seemingly monumental task? It hardly sounds like a good news gospel if we're going to apply our own works and efforts, because we'll never meet that standard. However, there is another way for us to enter into a state of perfection - believe in the work of Jesus Christ. The Jewish people could not arrive at being perfect through trying to keep rules, commandments or offering repeated animal sacrifices; nor could they escape a sin consciousness that brought them more guilt. With one sacrifice of Himself, Jesus brought an eternal perfection… And it looks really good on you!
Although religion has encouraged people to keep seeking a renewed forgiveness from God, the gospel shows us a new and different way when it comes to forgiveness. Forgiveness is not offered unless blood is shed. Asking for repeatedly for God to forgive because we're sorry or we confess wrongdoing does not provide us with a newfound forgiveness. This was accomplished through one sacrifice of Christ, once for all. If we're only forgiven up to this moment, that would be bad news for everyone, because Christ isn't shedding any more blood... That's because it isn't needed. He has already completed what was needed, we receive it by simply believing it was enough.
