December 21, 2018
To read full passage click: Hebrews 10:7-10 …“And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” vs. 10
There aren’t many people who even care that much about the arguments put forward by the writer of Hebrews. From their perspective, all this talk about sanctification and sacrifice is speculative and boring and has little to do with life in the 21st century. And they have a point! The only people who show much interest in atonement theories are theologians and a few pastors still caught up in ‘seminary-speak.’ Yet, at one time, these conversations were crucial. We probably wouldn’t even know about Jesus if folks hadn’t hammered out these ideas in the first century. They knew about the resurrection but they struggled to put it into words. After a time, they began to understand what had happened in Jesus as a turning point in history, and came up with some important teachings. In their estimation, sanctification was the best news ever. It means we don’t have to purify ourselves and we don’t have to try to be perfect. In fact, it’s impossible to be righteous! But God keeps on loving and makes it possible for us to live as holy people! This is an important truth, one worth hanging on to, and even if we don’t follow the philosophical arguments very well, it does feel good to know that God’s grace is never conditional or dependent on our own worthiness. In Christ, our salvation is secure!
Thought for the Day: What does holiness feel like?
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