"Being Made Perfect"

 "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;" (Hebrews 5:9 KJV)

  "Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfil Scripture he said, "I am thirsty." A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and released his spirit." (John 19:28-30 NLT) 

 Whatever you might think about the title of today's post, it is finished for Jesus, who was always made perfect! He came into this world perfect, being that He was God! Yes, regardless of what you might have been told, Jesus was made to take on the body of a man, but He was always still God! It might be hard for some people to understand, but the Bible tells us so, so we better believe it.

 With that, there is an indication made that this perfection is also made available to us; crazy as it might sound, we that have been born again, are being made perfect! It might not appear that we are, having to deal with sin and temptations day after day, but the blood of Jesus has washed all of that stuff away, even if you feel as though haven't reached perfection, He has already perfected you; and you will make it to the other side! 

 Hopefully that doesn't offend anyone that still thinks they need to do something in order to earn their salvation, because there is really nothing left for you to do, but to listen and obey! But you might say: "Isn't that the same as work?' No! It is about following Jesus! You cannot follow Him without obeying Him, as difficult as that might be, it is the least we can try to do.

 By the way, I heard this message yesterday from Pastor Jack, who was really excited about the chance to share his massage; so much so, he kept telling the congregation to keep looking up to him, as he spoke. He was sharing about hell and paradise, how that those in paradise, (before Jesus provided eternal salvation,) had been there from the very beginning, and they had been there for a very long time. Yet guess who showed up in paradise, only to stay for a very short time? The thief on the cross!

 Take about not having to work for salvation...

"So we are always confident, even though we know that as long as we live in these bodies we are not at home with the Lord. For we live by believing and not by seeing. Yes, we are fully confident, and we would rather be away from these earthly bodies, for then we will be at home with the Lord. So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body." (2 Corinthians 5:6-10 NLT)