Words for The Wise, Sufficiency of Salvation, Hebrews 10 Nasb

Hebrews 10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

One Sacrifice of Christ Is Sufficient

10 For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very ^[a]form of things, ^[b]can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. ² Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? ³ But in ^[c]those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. ⁴ For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.⁵ Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,

“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But a body You have prepared for Me;

⁶ In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.
⁷ “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come
(In the scroll of the book it is written of Me)
To do Your will, O God.’”

⁸ After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 

⁹ then He ^[d]said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ By ^[e]this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; ¹² but He, having offered one sacrifice for ^[f]sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³ waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. ¹⁴ For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are ^[g]sanctified. 

¹⁵ And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”

He then says,

¹⁷ “And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.”

¹⁸ Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A New and Living Way

¹⁹ Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a ^[h]sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; ²⁴ and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,²⁵ not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Christ or Judgment

²⁶ For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷ but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. ²⁸ Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ²⁹ How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? ³⁰ For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” ³¹ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³² But remember the former days, ^[i]when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, ³³ partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. ³⁴ For you showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one. ³⁵ Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. ³⁶ For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive ^[j]what was promised.

³⁷ For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
³⁸ But My righteous one shall live by faith;
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

³⁹ But ^[k]we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the ^[l]preserving of the soul.

Dictionary of Bible Themes

5904 maturity, spiritual

The development of Christlike character and behaviour in the Christian through a renewed mind and tested faith.

Christlikeness as the goal and model for spiritual maturity

Eph 4:13-15 See also Col 2:6-7; Heb 12:2

Marks of spiritual maturity

Spiritual understanding Col 2:2 See also Ro 15:14; 1Co 2:6; 1Co 14:20; Eph 1:17-18; Heb 5:12-6:1

Discernment of God’s will and changed behaviour Col 1:9-10 See also Ro 12:2; 1Co 3:1-3; Gal 5:22-23; Eph 4:22-23; Php 1:9-11; 2Th 1:3

Stability Col 4:12 See also Eph 4:14; 2Pe 3:17-18

Care for the weaker brother Ro 15:1 See also Gal 6:1-2

Maturity is to be the aim of the Christian

Php 3:13-15 See also Lk 8:14 a reason for spiritual immaturity; 2Co 7:1; 2Co 13:11; 1Ti 6:11

The process of maturity

God causes spiritual growth Php 1:6 See also Gal 3:3; Heb 10:14

Possessing gifts of ministry Eph 4:11-13 See also Ro 1:11

Being equipped by the word of God 2Ti 3:16-17 See also Ro 15:4; 1Pe 2:2; 1Jn 2:5

Persevering through trials Ro 5:3-5 See also Heb 2:10; Jas 1:3-4; 1Pe 5:10

The concern of the pastor is to help others to maturity

Col 1:28-29 See also 2Co 13:9-10; Gal 4:19

The Bible Panorama

Hebrews 10

V 1–4: REGULAR REMINDER The regular sacrifice and entry by the high priest was an annual reminder that sins had to be forsaken and forgiven. The need to repeat the sacrifice often shows that those sacrifices could never remove sin.

 V 5–10: BIBLICAL BASIS When God came to earth in a human body which would become a sacrifice for sins, prophecies of Scripture were fulfilled.

 V 11–18: SINGLE SACRIFICE The Old Testament priests made many sacrifices. But Jesus has made ‘one sacrifice for sins for ever and sat down at the right hand of God’. Thus ‘there is no longer an offering for sin’. Either a sinner is saved through Christ, or he is not saved at all. Evidence of salvation includes God’s laws being written in his heart.

 V 19–23: COME CONFIDENTLY Because of the ‘new and living way’ which Jesus has made for us through His flesh, into heaven, we can come with boldness, knowing that we are cleansed and accepted by our faithful God. Boldness is not the same as presumption!

V 24—25: ENCOURAGING EXHORTATIONS It is important to encourage one another to live for Christ, and to have regular fellowship and worship together. Time is short.

V 26–38: ENDURANCE EVIDENT Because ‘there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins’ other than the finished work of Christ on the cross, Jews or Gentiles will be lost if they trample that sacrifice underfoot. As in this passage, people can go to the very edge of conversion and even experience the influence of the Holy Spirit, without getting saved. One can experience all those overtures of God’s love and yet still trample on the shed blood of Christ, incurring God’s judgement. The test of conversion is endurance in Christ, which shows that a real work has been done. The ground of conversion is the death of Christ on the cross for us.

 V 39: SOULS SAVED Notwithstanding the solemn warning of the preceding verses, we can know that ‘we are not of those that draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul’. Blessed assurance!

Yours in His Grace

Blair Humphreys

Controversial American evangelist Morris Cerullo returns to Britain for one final 'crusade', Independent Newspaper

Audrey Reynolds suffered from epilepsy all her life. A congenital brain abnormality meant she would suffer seizures if she did not take three tablets a day. It proved a constant frustration that nothing could be done to cure her, but the devout Christian lived in hope that one day her condition would improve.

In the summer of 1992 a poster advertising the imminent arrival in London of American TV evangelist Morris Cerullo caught the 25-year-old’s eye. “Some will see miracles for the first time” it claimed.

Audrey was intrigued and joined 80,000 people who went to Cerullo’s eight-day "crusade" at the Earls Court exhibition centre. Having queued patiently for her chance to meet Cerullo, Audrey took the stage telling the preacher she believed his message of healing power had cured her. Six days later she had an epileptic fit and drowned in her bath.

The inquest into Audrey’s death heard that only 2.2mg per litre of the lifesaving drug she needed was found in her body - the dose should have been 7.2mg. Recording a verdict of accidental death, Southwark coroner Sir Montague Levine said: “It is a tragedy that she went to this meeting and thought she was cured of everything. Sadly, it led to her death.”

A spokesman for San Diego-based Morris Cerullo World Evangelism (MCWE) called it “a very sad situation” but two weeks later the preacher held a press conference raging at the “total injustice” of being blamed for having any role in Audrey’s death. Referring to Sir Montague’s comments, the televangelist said: “I think it was a mischaracterisation, a total injustice. I think conclusions were drawn too quickly. The coroner did not have evidence of the attitude of the person’s mind and he decided what he thought of the matter.”

Dr Cerullo said his crusade to London had been a success and that he had received 746 testimonies from people saying they had been cured of various ailments after attending the rally. Now the controversial preacher is about to return to England, aged 82, for the last time.

His final "Mission to London" posters advertise a six-day residency at Earls Court next week and again make promises of miracles. On promotional material he boasts: “I am expecting 1,000+ people to be saved every night for six nights during August 2014.”

Audrey’s mother, Belzie, is furious. “Cerullo is a dangerous man but I can’t stop him, much as I’d like to,” she told The Independent from her home in Clapham, south London. “His shows are all about money. I remember when my daughter went there all those years ago looking for hope, believing something might happen. I didn’t go. I watched it on TV and saw there were people with buckets collecting money throughout the event. They are all in it for the money.”

Audrey’s story is not the only tragic one associated with Cerullo’s trips to England. Great efforts have been made to remove video footage from the internet of him "healing" his audience, but some remain. Audrey can be seen in one clip face to face with Cerullo, declaring that she feels fine “because I can jump”. Cerullo asks to see her jump. Audrey obliges and Cerullo screams his delight at the audience at the "miracle".

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Saturdays Christian Classics. Divine Healing by Andrew Murray

CHAPTER I.PARDON AND HEALING

"But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins (then saith He to the sick of the palsy), Arise, take up thy bed and go unto thine house"(Matthew 9:6).

In man two natures are combined. He is at the same time spirit and matter, heaven and earth, soul and body. For this reason, on one side he is the son of God, and on the other he is doomed to destruction because of the Fall; sin in his soul and sickness in his body bear witness to the right which death has over him. It is the twofold nature which has been redeemed by divine grace. When the Psalmist calls upon all that is within him to bless the Lord for His benefits, he cries, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, Who... forgiveth all thine iniquities, Who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:2-3).

When Isaiah foretells the deliverance of his people, he adds, "The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick; the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity" (Isaiah 33:24).This prediction was accomplished beyond all anticipation when Jesus the Redeemer came down to this earth.

How numerous were the healings wrought by Him who was come to establish upon earth the kingdom of heaven! Whether by His own acts or whether afterwards by the commands which He left for His disciples, does He not show us clearly that the preaching of the Gospel and the healing of the sick went together in the salvation which He came to bring? Both are given as evident proof of His mission as the Messiah: "The blind receive their sight and the lame walk.., and the poor have the Gospel preached to them" (Matthew 11: 5).

Jesus, who took upon Him the soul and body of man, delivers both in equal measure from the consequences of sin.This truth is nowhere more evident or better demonstrated than in the history of the paralytic. The Lord Jesus begins by saying to him, "Thy sins be forgiven thee," [Matthew 9:5] after which He adds, "Arise, take up thy bed and go." The pardon of sin and the healing of sickness complete one the other, for in the eyes of God, who sees our entire nature, sin and sickness are as closely united as the body and the soul. In accordance with the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus has regarded sin and sickness in another light than we have.

With us sin belongs to the spiritual domain; we recognize that it is under God's just displeasure, justly condemned by Him, while sickness, on the contrary, seems only a part of the present condition of our nature, and to have nothing to do with God's condemnation and His righteousness. Some go so far as to say that sickness is a proof of the love and grace of God.

But neither the Scripture nor yet Jesus Christ Himself ever spoke of sickness in this light, nor do they ever present sickness as a blessing, as a proof of God's love which should be borne with patience. The Lord spoke to the disciples of divers sufferings which they should have to bear, but when He speaks of sickness, it is always as of an evil caused by sin and Satan, and from which we should be delivered. Very solemnly He declared that every disciple of His would have to bear his cross (Matthew 16:24), but He never taught one sick person to resign himself to be sick. Everywhere Jesus healed the sick, everywhere He dealt with healing as one of the graces belonging to the kingdom of heaven. Sin in the soul and sickness in the body both bear witness to the power of Satan, and "the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the Devil" (I John 3:8).

Jesus came to deliver men from sin and sickness that He might make known the love of the Father. In His actions, in His teaching of the disciples, in the work of the apostles, pardon and healing are always to be found together. Either the one or the other may doubtless appear more in relief, according to the development or the faith of those to whom they spoke. Sometimes it was healing which prepared the way for the acceptance of forgiveness, sometimes it was forgiveness which preceded the healing, which, coming afterwards, became a seal to it. In the early part of His ministry, Jesus cured many of the sick, finding them ready to believe in the possibility of their healing. In this way He sought to influence hearts to receive Himself as He who is able to pardon sin.

When He saw that the paralytic could receive pardon at once, He began by that which was of the greatest importance; after which came the healing which put a seal on the pardon which had been accorded to him.We see, by the accounts given in the Gospels, that it was more difficult for the Jews at that time to believe in the pardon of their sins than in divine healing.

Now it is just the contrary. The Christian Church has heard so much of the preaching of the forgiveness of sins that the thirsty soul easily receives this message of grace; but it is not the same with divine healing; that is rarely spoken of; the believers who have experienced it are not many. It is true that healing is not given in this day as in those times, to the multitudes whom Christ healed without any previous conversion. In order to receive it, it is necessary to begin by confession of sin and the purpose to live a holy life.

This is without doubt the reason why people find more difficulty to believe in healing than in forgiveness; and this is also why those who receive healing receive at the same time new spiritual blessing, feel more closely united to the Lord Jesus, and learn to love and serve Him better. Unbelief may attempt to separate these two gifts, but they are always united in Christ. He is always the same Savior both of the soul and of the body, equally ready to grant pardon and healing. The redeemed may always cry: "Bless the Lord, O my soul.., Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, Who healeth all thy diseases" (Psalm 103:2-3).

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The Teaching of Adversity, Oswald Chambers, My Utternost for His Highest, Daily Devotionals

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world —John 16:33

The typical view of the Christian life is that it means being delivered from all adversity. But it actually means being delivered in adversity, which is something very different. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. No evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling . . .” (Psalm 91:1,10)— the place where you are at one with God.

If you are a child of God, you will certainly encounter adversities, but Jesus says you should not be surprised when they come. “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” He is saying, “There is nothing for you to fear.” The same people who refused to talk about their adversities before they were saved often complain and worry after being born again because they have the wrong idea of what it means to live the life of a saint.

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Defiance of the pregnant gipsies: A judge has blocked the eviction of 150 gipsies from a playing field because three are expecting. SUE REID found them with swanky cars, flash TVs - and not a hint of shame Daily Mail

Wearing a tight white cotton top that shows every curve of her pregnancy, Jane Lee stands at the door of her caravan on a pretty Staffordshire town’s playing fields. 

It is a perfect summer evening and the 27-year-old is puffing relentlessly on a cigarette just a few days before having her fifth baby.

A tall blonde, she watches contentedly as her children (aged eight, six, four and two) play on the grass. Occasionally, one of them darts into the caravan to sit on the sofa and watch the cartoons blaring out from a big flatscreen TV inside.

They say they are sick of the pitch being besieged by gipsies, who they claim use the bushes for lavatories, drop litter and churn up the grass with the wheels of their caravans, lorries, quad bikes and large cars.

There is also the constant hum of generators feeding power into the caravans, with cables spread across the ground.

One woman with a house overlooking the pitch has made unproven claims of theft — which the gipsies indignantly denied to me. There is talk of house prices nosediving.

A football match scheduled during a previous visit by the travellers in March was abandoned, and a one-day children’s tournament later this month, involving 90 teams from all over the country, must be cancelled if the gipsies don’t move on. No wonder tempers are running high.

One of the tournament’s organisers, Roland Hulse, has criticised the local Newcastle Borough Council for failing to stop the gipsies getting on the land in the first place, then failing to kick them off once they had arrived a fortnight ago.

Yesterday he said angrily: ‘This is the biggest one-day football tournament of its kind but it’s in jeopardy if the gipsies don’t leave soon.

‘More than 400 kids will be without their football. If these were ordinary people on this land, they would be arrested for criminal damage and have their quad bikes confiscated. What makes them any different?’

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What Christians Get Wrong About Discipleship, Relevant Magazine by Ann Swindell

T

o those of us who follow Jesus, discipleship should be a central aspect of our faith. This is because Jesus commanded His followers—in what is commonly referred to as “The Great Commission”—to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20).

It’s not a suggestion that Jesus makes here. It’s a command, a charge.

What is discipleship? Put simply, discipleship means intentionally partnering with another Christian in order to help that person obey Jesus and grow in relationship with Him—so that he or she can then help others do the same. Jesus taught His disciples to follow Him and obey His commands so that they could lead others to do the same after His death, resurrection and ascension. The Apostle Paul continues the pattern with Timothy and encourages him to keep the cycle going: “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (1 Timothy 2:2).

Discipleship Isn’t Easy.

Salvation is free, but discipleship will cost us our lives. Jesus put it bluntly:

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9:23-25)

To be a disciple of Jesus means that we have given up our lives in order to follow Him wholeheartedly and unreservedly. It means that our lives are no longer our own—they are His.

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