It is Finished: God's Will, Part 3

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Old Testament sacrificial system was a picture, a shadow of the one who would truly atone for our sins. Jesus came to do what the sacrifice of bulls and goats could never accomplish. On the cross, He fulfills the Father's will, offering His body as the only true sacrifice that could, according to Hebrews 10, take away sins and make perfect those who draw near. Today, Pastor Rich talks about the heart of grace God has for us, the powerful work of Jesus, and what it means that we who are in Christ are made perfect.

Let's listen in. This is part three of a message from Hebrews 10, one through 10. It's titled, It is Finished, God's Will. It was first preached on September 16th, 2012. So, regarding telea-o, the purpose of God making us perfect, Jesus said, what did He say on the cross?

Tetelestai, paid in full. It is finished. This is exactly what He meant. Now, God can make people holy. He's gone beyond just dealing with the guilt. Now, He makes people holy so that people can freely desire Him and fully delight in Him without a hint of distraction. That is God's will.

It's very interesting, as we look at verse 10, look at the tense of the action in verse 10. By that will, we have been sanctified. Have been sanctified.

What does that mean? We're already there. God sees the masterpiece, and it's already in place. We are seated with Christ at the right hand of the majesty on high.

We have been sanctified. In God's mind, we're already there, and that is the biblical doctrine of predestination. The way God sees me, I am already in Christ at His side, seated next to the throne. And that's His opinion of me, and that doesn't change. My performance doesn't change that.

My behavior doesn't change that. We see that in Romans 8, 29 to 30. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, these He also called, whom He called, these He also justified, whom He justified, these He also glorified. Past tense. In God's mind, I am already glorified.

Why? Because I am in Christ. I have been made holy.

I am one who, at the core of my being, I freely desire God, and I fully delight in Him, in all that is good, in His character and purpose, without a hint of distraction. You see, as a new creation in Christ, your essential being is such that now, instead of being consumed by His holiness, you can now draw near to God and enjoy Him and delight in Him. It's so important that the writer of Hebrews is quoting the 40th Psalm, because what does it say in Psalm chapter 40 verse 8, right after he quotes it here? Psalm 40 verse 8 says, I delight to do Your will, O my God, Your law is within my heart.

What is that? That is a direct promise of the new covenant, that He would put His law in our hearts. That means that within me exists the principle of fully desiring and freely delighting in God without distraction.

That's the perfect person. That's holiness. So the idea that we are made holy, that we are perfected means, and this is true, this is what is true of the believer. If you are in Christ here this morning, this is true of you. You can say this, at the core of my being, I freely desire and fully delight in God's perfect character and purpose without distraction.

That's what's true of me, at the core of my being. This, I believe, is emphasized in 1 John chapter 3 and verse 9. It says, whoever has been born of God does not sin, and that is the most accurate translation of that.

It is an absolute negative. He has been, whoever has been born of God does not sin, for his seed remains in him and he cannot sin because he has been born of God. You and I in Christ have been perfected. We have been made holy and God sees us that way as we are seated at His right hand in Christ.

Rich, are you teaching sinless perfection for the believer today? At the core of your being, yes, that's what 1 John 3.9 says. But you are still encapsulated in this corruptible tent of the flesh that is habituated in sin, and we still have to battle the flesh.

We still have to battle the residual effects of the old man who has been erratic, who has been pushed to the sidelines. But at the core of my being, in God's view, I am holy because I am in Christ. Therefore, my very nature is such that I freely desire God and fully delight in His perfect character and purpose without distraction.

In God's mind, I am perfected already. Some people ask as we read through Hebrews, and there's so much of the Old Testament, and you read through the Old Testament, you know the book of Leviticus is probably not on the top ten list of your reading list. There's a lot in there.

It's like, oh man, what is that? The Old Testament law. They're rigid rituals, but God established them. But what do they tell us?

What do they tell us? You cannot atone for yourself. You cannot acquire your own redemption, whatever that might look like.

Redemption is something that we hear often today in the context of performers, athletes. I remember Adam Scott at the British Open. He was leading by several strokes, and in the last two holes of the British Open, he botched it. Bogey upon bogey upon bogey. If you know golf, you know what I'm talking about.

If you don't, then just forget it, okay? It means he messed up. It was his to lose, and what did he do? He lost it royally. And all the commentators were saying the next time he showed up on the golf course, he's really got to do something to redeem himself. Katie Couric launched a new show, a new talk show, yet another talk show. No, I wasn't watching it at two o'clock, but I did read some reviews, and some of them were very disappointed.

Anderson, oh man, what is this? And they're thinking, Katie says, well, we're hoping for better days. In other words, that one wasn't so good. It was her first one, so what does she need to do?

She needs a better show to redeem her show. You see, in the arena of performance, there is so much about redemption, about performing, so that there will be a better opinion of me. What do people do? What is our natural way of thinking according to the flesh that I need to redeem myself? Well, you know, I've messed up. You know, I probably need to get back to church. I should probably be going to church more regularly. That means I'll redeem myself. Or, you know, it's been kind of mean.

I've been messing up. I'm going to start being a little more kind and redeem myself. Or I'm going to show this compassion, and maybe that will redeem me. I'm going to give this money, and that way the church and God will be pleased with me.

It's a large amount of money, and maybe that will redeem me. There's this list of rules. It's a big list of rules. I need to start keeping that list. That might redeem me. I need to just clean up my act, you know. I've been kind of rotten.

I need to clean up my act a bit. And we think about these things as if they are going to redeem us, and what the Old Testament teaches us is that you cannot redeem yourself. You cannot atone for yourself. It is utterly impossible because you have an infinite debt, but Jesus paid that debt he didn't owe.

He paid the debt you couldn't pay. And because of that, we've made perfect. You see, this is the contrast between man-made religion. We have it right here in front of us in Hebrews chapter 10. In man-made religion, one must perform in order to attain. To attain what? Completeness, acceptance, a sense of holiness, a sense of a favorable opinion, whether it's a favorable opinion of the divine or of his fellow man. One must perform in order to attain that completeness and that acceptance. That's man-made religion, whether that religion is athletics or Hollywood or church. Man-made religion says one must perform in order to attain.

The gospel of grace, on the other hand, Jesus Christ says that in me, you are teleo. You are perfected. You are complete. I have reached my purpose. I have reached my goal in you.

You are complete. God makes you holy in the gospel of grace. God makes you holy and complete so that you then can perform in the outflow of that holiness. Folks, therein is the gospel of grace. And you might say, how do I attain that holiness? It's what we call faith, trusting God. You attain that holiness, that favorable opinion of God by surrendering your performance-based ambitions to attain his favor.

By that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, 7 Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's Word the very purpose for which you were designed. 7 Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace, weekdays at 10am.