"Living Sanctified Lives"

"The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down." (Psalms 145:14)

  Well, this is very interesting, to say the least; it is God's perfect timing and anointing, whether we are expecting it or not, He delivers to everyone that is searching for answers! Much as I am confident in my salvation, there is one Scripture that has bothered me over the years, just as Pastor Bryan might have been concerned over Philippians 3:13, I have been somewhat concerned with with Hebrews 6:4-6. A Scripture which has been used so many times to convict and destroy so many of our brothers and sisters; being taken and used a sword, instead of a testimony to the Power of God over sin! To put it mildly, there is really no difference in the sin of today and the sin of yesterday, because Jesus paid the price for all my sins, once and for all! Those that fall away, fall away from grace; they live convicted lives, where they are confused over the cleansing power of the blood of Christ; instead feeling as though it was not enough to cleanse their sins, because, somehow the life changing power did not work on them. Pure and utter foolishness! First and foremost, this is about a letter to Hebrews, which are those people who are accustom to living under the law of Moses and in giving sacrifices for sin. The common practice by which they were raised in and was pretty much the thing they knew, was to offer sacrifice for sin; you sin, you offer a dove; your sin big, you offer a lamb, and so on and on it goes. Jesus only needed to die once and for all, for every sin, for everyone, from Adam and on to the very end! Paul makes this case abundantly clear in Romans 5:19, saying, "For by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." That is where our faith comes into play, where we believe that Christ Jesus has made us righteous by His death on the cross; and because He was raised and sits at the right hand of the Father, He pleads our case when we ask, over and over, for forgiveness! It is all under the same sacrifice, once and for all! I say it is better to believe and receive the justification, which is also paid forward, from the cross, so that you can live out the sanctification, which is always paid backwards, towards the cross. Which ever the case, it is all based upon faith in what Christ has done, not upon anything that we can do...

"So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don't need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don't need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding. For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened - those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come - and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame." (Hebrews 6:1-6) NLT