Hebrews 7

Hebrews 7:22, 27 ESV

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.

A better covenant; so why is it that we constantly insist on going back to some form of law? Jesus "once for all ... offered up himself." The law has changed. We have a better system now. No longer is there a need for daily sacrifices. No longer is there a need for priests who are as sinful as the people they serve. We have a high priest that allows every believer direct access to God. We have a high priest who is faithful, sinless and eternal. We have a high priest who has fulfilled the law and offered us the gift of rest, and yet we so often continue to strive thinking that somehow we must earn God's favor, approval or blessing.

It seems to me that many believers today would fight for the gospel that says we do not earn God's favor. It is a gift from God based on the death and resurrection of Jesus. In that we are correct, but then we turn around and teach that it is through obedience that we fight our way to an acceptable lifestyle; it is through submission that we gain God's blessing on our life; it is through dedicated living according to some set standard (law) that we arrive at a level of holiness. We totally miss the truth that in Christ we are holy. In Christ we are blessed. In Christ we are acceptable to God. Holiness of life is not a matter of disciplined, painful obedience so that God will not only save us, but so that he will also like us. It is about rest in the indestructible high priest, Jesus Christ.

Father, thank you for the life you have given in Jesus. Thank you for the free access we have to you through him. Thank you for the acceptance and blessing in which we live. Today may we live in the rest you have freely given.

By His grace,
Rick Weinert