All Settled

“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Heb 10:14 AV)

Nothing deep today.  Just a reminder.  The reminder of the sufficiency of Calvary and the resultant eternal security that each believer enjoys.  When our LORD cried from the cross, “It is finished,” He meant just that!  There is no more sacrifice for sin.  No need to crucify Christ afresh.  No need for additional good works.  No need for extra offerings.  No need for an earthly priesthood that believes they are called to intercede for my soul.  No need of a church or church organization that stands on the falsehood of beings the gateway to heaven.  No need for ordinances of the church, extra prayers, or helping those who are down-trodden.  Although there are very good things to do, they cannot get me into heaven and erase all the bad that I have done.  Note in particular the two-word phrase, ‘…for ever…’!  There is nothing that can change what Christ has done for the lost soul!  It is eternally permanent!

 There is an oft uses phrase we here once in a while.  “Nothing is forever.”  Although it is not certain who the originator of this phrase was, a cursory search reveals that many famous people are known to quote it directly, or some variation thereof.  The intent of such a statement is varied.  It is used both optimistically and pessimistically.  It is used as a statement of hope or a statement of unavoidable reality.  But the statement is not true.  Sure, in our world there is nothing that is permanent.  It will all vanish with the using.  Physical life will end.  The world will end.  Natural law makes it inevitable.  Peter prophesied as such when he tells us the LORD will burn up all of creation.  But there is something that will last forever!  There is something that will never degrade.  There is something that sin cannot tarnish.  There is something that will not be taken away nor lost.  That something is eternal life in Christ.  I remember when this truth deeply changed my life. 

 For almost twenty years I lived with the uncertainty which life brings. By nature, I do not like the unpredictable.  Since I married my best friend, I have gotten a lot better at this, but still, the unpredictable can be frightening.  Change is ok.  As long as it is foreseen and planned.  Change is good.  Change means growth and life.  I like things to remain pretty much the same.  I don’t like things to go away once I get accustomed to it.  I don’t like late summer.  The later part of August means things will go away.  The warm days.  The full foliage.  Nothing lasts forever.  That is, except for eternal life.  When this truth hit me it completely changed my life.  When the word of God clearly revealed to me that Christ saved me once and completely, this changed my whole world.  Security is something I prize.  Not that a threat cannot be contained and conquered, it is just the unpredictability of it that bothers me.  Death will not be such a threat!  Nothing to guess about there.  When my heart beats its last beat, I will be in eternity because a bit over two thousand years ago, my Savior hung on a cross to satisfy the wrath of our God for my sin.  It was done once and forever.  GLORY!