From the gospel of John we learn that from the cross, just before Jesus would finally die, He said “It is finished”. What was finished? The righteous demands of a Holy God had been fully met and the wrath of a Holy God against sin had been exhausted. The sin problem common to every human was eternally solved. “It is finished.”
“When He (Jesus) had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high..” (Hebrews 1:3) Having referenced several versions of the Bible, each of them agree on what this awesome verse says. First Jesus “purged” our sins. Some versions use the word “cleansed”, some ‘purified”, but each offers the same meaning. HE fixed our sin problem. And each of the versions I referred to correctly translated the tense of the verb to be the “past tense”. There is no process involved, it is a finished work. “Purged”, “cleansed”, or “purified” all happened in the past and are done.
The writer to the Hebrews again and again affirms this glorious truth.
- “Once for all when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:26,27)
- “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12)
- “Once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26)
- “So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28 )
- ” We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10)
- “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 10:12)
And if that were not enough to convince anyone who reads the text, the final, convincing truth is found in Hebrews 10:14. ” For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.
Jesus Himself by living a perfect life and presenting a perfect sacrifice to God on behalf of estranged sinners has “once for all” fixed the sin problem for everyone who puts their trust in Him. There is no righteous act, no penance, no sacrifice, no reform, no personal proof, no suffering, that can add to what Jesus has already accomplished on your behalf.
When God looks at one of those dear ones, who are together the bride of Christ, He sees that one perfect. Perfect until you mess up? No way! In simple terms your perfection is “eternal”. Thus Paul could say with confidence in Ephesians 1:4 “He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”
Take a deep breath and relax child of God, you have a lot of living to do! What you don’t have to sweat is your sins. They are gone! It is finished! Yes, of course we still sin, but our sins are not counted against us any longer. (Romans 4:7,8 ) It is because of this grace knowledge, this abundance of mercy, that we learn to say no to sin. We are no longer slaves to sin, we have been set free.
The penalty of sin is death. Jesus died in your place. God is satisfied.
The power of sin is the law. It was nailed to the cross.
The presence of sin will one day be only history not to be remembered again when Jesus comes for us.
This is the good news about Jesus. “It is finished!” Amen, and amen.
His peace,
Royce Ogle
Grace Digest 
Amen is right! Our strength, trust, and dependence is centered on Jesus alone.
Great to see you and Carol last night. Thanks for the many encouragements!
Finished it is. Thanks for the reminder.
You are so right brother. I really was uplifted by this post. Thank you for helping me start off the week so great! God bless you Royce.
“Once for all when He offered up Himself” (Hebrews 7:26,27)
“Once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26)
Take a deep breath and relax child of God, you have a lot of living to do! What you don’t have to sweat is your sins. They are gone! It is finished! Yes, of course we still sin, but our sins are not counted against us any longer.
Royce; does this mean all God’s children, or just the ones who choose to follow Jesus?
If it means all people, what is meant by he will separate the sheep from the goats.
Who are you talking about when you say “Take a deep breath and relax child of God,”?
Laymond,
“All God’s children”? I am not sure what you mean by this question. I believe most people would understand that I am referring to those who by faith in Christ have been adopted into the family of God. (Romans 8:15 & Ephesians 1:5)
His peace,
Royce
Laymond,
I did not read your comment as closely as I should have…
In regard to the sheep and goats. The two are not easily confused are they? A sheep is one animal and a goat quite another. They look different and behave differently.
Again and again from David to Jesus, God’s own are referred to in Scripture as “sheep”, never as goats. Since Jesus knows the heart and can see faith don’t you suppose that he can seperate Christians from non Christians as easily as you could tell a sheep from a goat?
Reading between the lines, may I say that a sheep is not a sheep because of what he does. He acts like a sheep because of what he is. Sheep and goats do not change species back and forth, they are what they are. In the context of Jesus’ teaching, a goat can become a sheep by the new birth only.
Jesus did die for the sins of the whole “world”. In my view, every person who rejects God’s revelation and thus His gracious offer of forgiveness and eternal life will go to hell with their sins paid for. Whan a sinner comes to Christ in faith he does not have to convince God to forgive him. His and everyone else sins have had the penalty paid in full. If I offered you a check for $1,000,000 and you refused the check you would still not be able to enjoy those riches. The check would have your name on it but it is only good if accepted and cashed. When you and I came to Christ we cashed the check.
Royce
Royce I must say I agree with your explanation of the post, I was just inquiring if you were preaching universal salvation, no one would be lost. one more question, if Jesus died for all sin even back to the garden, will all people who ever lived before his death, have a place in heaven?
I should have said , if all people who died before his death, because it is reasonable to say, they never sinned again after death.
Laymond,
You are a hoot! You have read many, many of my posts and comments on other posts, did you really ever think for even a moment that I would teach universal salvation? Hardly.
Jesus paid for the sins of the “world”, (obviously not the planet but its people) and all of those who turned their hearts to God based on whatever revelation of truth they had are saved by the blood of Jesus.
The blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, only the blood of the One perfect sacrifice could satisfy the Holy Father’s righteous requirements.
Paul in Romans 1 makes completely clear that without a word God reveals himself in such a complete way that those who choose to reject the light they are given are without excuse.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
A careful reading of that section of the Bible leads me to believe that even those who never hear the name “Jesus” are treated just as fair as those who have and those who come to the light given are saved and those who turn from it are lost.
Of course I could be wrong but that is my view. One thing is clear. No person can get his sin problem reconciled with the Father except on the basis of what Christ has already done, or in the case of those before Him, what He would do.
His peace,
Royce
Amen, it is finished.
http://www.matthewsblog.waynesborochurchofchrist.org
Royce – what a blessing it is to have found your blog…thank you for this powerful post.
I appreciate how you shared the following…
“Take a deep breath and relax child of God, you have a lot of living to do! What you don’t have to sweat is your sins.
Royce, great post as usual!!! Hey, Keith and I wish you were going too! Maybe one year you can join us.
Thanks for being such a wonderful mentor!
DU
Thanks David, you are too kind.
Maybe next year!
Royce
Amen! Great Post, wouldn’t it be nice to know the lost were reading! I pray the lost stumble upon your blog! Praise be that even a wretch like me can be saved, that I might know, love, fellowship, and enter the presence of God Almighty, because of My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Amen! Praise be to our great God!