// LET \\

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Who would ever have conceived such an incredible notion that doing away with the Old Way meant that now everyone could have equal access into the holiest by the shed blood and through the broken body of Jesus. The writer is so bold in breaking down the holy exclusivity of  the access to God being limited to just the Levites, and then only the family line of Aaron, and then only once yearly. Yet now God Himself has determined that not only those of Israel, but the entire world can enter into fellowship with the Father. A passage in Hebrews enlightens us as to how we draw near to the Father now that the way is made clear;

Hebrews 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

‘Let’ – the beautiful New Testament word describing the posture of gentle action, neither slothful nor pushing with force of self, but that happy flow of restful work, of gracious effort, working with empowerment ‘without sweat (human effort)’. ‘Drawing near’ leans on the word ‘let’, too. To draw near is to find access with ease, not forced entry. The term we sometimes hear – ‘storming the gates of heaven’, implies we are attempting to break through the unwelcoming portals of God’s home. It says we are resisted from above, and if we exercise enough force we can break in. This idea really is not supported from Scripture. We simply draw near on the power of Christ’s blood and crucified flesh, the supreme sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
The criteria for nearness to the Lord, a true heart, is being real with ourselves and God. We must be authentic, honest and without hypocrisy before the Lord. The conscience can be good or evil, working with God or the devil, working for us or against us. We must develop the mental strength to accept forgiveness and reject the accusations of a conscience that demands punishments and consequences, when all that God’s justice required has been satisfied through the blood of Jesus.
Our bodies have been baptised in water cleansing us from the world. It is our bodies that place us in contact with all that defiles, through eyes, ears, hands, feet etc. Being separated to God enables us to enter the consecrated pathway into the Holiest drawing near to God Himself fulfilling the ultimate intention of God, fellowship with His people.

To read more about what the Cross has done for you, pick up a copy of ‘Dead For Nothing?’ here.

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DEAD FOR NOTHING?

2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This breathtaking verse brings us to the great exchange of Easter’s Good Friday crucifixion. Jesus became sin, however, not by his own actions. He Himself never committed one sin. He was spotless, flawless, the completely innocent Lamb of God.

No, it was God His Father who made him sin. He ‘laid’ on Him the sins of all humanity. He imputed all our sins to Jesus as though it was He who had committed them. Him, who ‘knew’ no sin, became sin. He may have been tempted, but He never yielded to taste the pleasures of sin and then it’s inevitable dark consequences. No, it was our sins that were imputed to Him, in exactly the same way that His righteousness is imputed to us.

This is the transaction God had planned from the beginning of the world. The righteousness we receive which we have never been capable of rising to, is not just an ordinary human goodness. This the righteousness of God Himself, given as a free gift to those who believe. This exchange takes place in those two small words at the end of Paul’s sentence, ‘in Him’. In Christ He takes our sin and we take His righteousness. This is our salvation complete.

To read more about what the Cross has done for you, visit us at philpringle.com

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