Beyond The Resurrection

"This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the trespass offering, the consecrations, and the sacrifice of the peace offering" -Leviticus 7:37

Reading Leviticus gives you an idea of what the sacrificial system was like for the nation of Israel. Seemingly impossible for anyone to not "slip up" and miss something which would make them unclean and unacceptable to God.

It is easy to understand why people would think that it was works that made you right before a holy God. The question would be - "What must I do to be saved?"  Jesus told Nicodemus it is spiritual not physical ....

"Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit." - John 3:5-8

To be right before God we needed a perfect sacrifice - one sacrifice - made once for eternity. 

"By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin." - Hebrews 10:10-18

Jesus, as our high priest, makes intercession for us for eternity. He is the only reason that we have access to the Father. The only reason that we could be and have been adopted as sons and daughters of the Creator God.

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." - Ephesians 2:4-9

Jesus' death and resurrection did not account for all sins that had been committed to that point - but all sin. But the salvation through Jesus must be appropriated by faith in Jesus. His sacrifice makes it possible - our faith makes it a reality. I was talking to a young man just the other day. He saw a plaque in our home that is a quote from Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else guard your heart". He said that was his favorite verse and then said - "I have been thinking I need to go to church - I am a Catholic". I told him Martie and I were married in a Catholic church. Martie and her family were raised catholic as was my mom and her whole family. I assumed our obvious devotion to God made him a bit uncomfortable - and he was looking to talk about something "religious" - Making anyone uncomfortable is never our intent but honoring God particularly in our home is. Bringing people under spiritual conviction (which manifests itself in a feeling of being uncomfortable) is the Holy Spirit's domain. And it is my hope is that the Spirit of God is at work in that young man's heart - It was five years after we were married before Martie and I yielded our hearts to God by faith - finally understanding what Jesus had told Nicodemus. It was not faith in a denomination - it was faith in Jesus and His resurrection. 

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Confess it - Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone