Heb 10:29 “How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of Grace?”
We, according to this verse, are sanctified. Not "being sanctified" as is being taught by most churches nowadays just to provide a clear definition of "sanctification vs. forgiveness". Yet, there still remains growth, steadfastness, fruits to bear, light to live within, presence and service to work out, and salvation to be convinced of. There is a disparaging difference between the two things, and it's not so clear-cut what the word "sanctification" means besides having some similarities with the words 'holy', 'set-apart', and 'perfect'. We are being taught continually that the 'perfectionizing' is a process, and so we just have to come to the conclusion that the author of Hebrews has gone crazy and is talking nonsense, or they were right. I would personally vouch for that latter, but I have reasons for that besides just saying "because the Bible is the inspired word of the Living God, and every verse therein can be used for correction and discipline."
Consider this: The blood of Jesus Christ, Son of the Highest, Living God. Fully God, sheds His throne, His authority, and His omnipotence to come down to earth and live among us, falling from the highest heights and taking His place in the lowest lows. Consider the value of blood today. ~$237 for a liter to restore about a fifth of your livelihood should you lose a liter of blood, and or need a transfusion of about a liter. It's hard to measure value until you take into consideration how much you could be restored to, let's say you die if you lose anything more than a liter of blood, think about the loss of connection that you suffer from your family, and the loss of connection that your family suffers from you dying. Think about the hours spent in front of a TV, reading, enjoying your spouse or friends that are suddenly lost. Pretty deep.
Some of the things that we take for granted are often the most valuable things that we have available to us. How much more valuable do you think blood is than $237/L now? Well, I haven't finished if you suddenly see that that, in retrospect, is pretty cheap for a liter of blood.
How valuable do you think it is to be sanctified before the righteous Judge of the universe? To be whole, complete, and perfect? Considering how much holiness He demands of His creation, I would say very high, the Most High really. But I'm only talking about that on an individual level, and the only power that HAS sanctified completely is the blood of Jesus. How much more valuable do you think it would make it considering that Jesus has sanctified ALL who are in His fold, by ONE sacrifice of His blood? A bit more valuable than the blood of a normal lamb, don't you think?
So then, seeing the value of which Jesus has given to us, to be freely sanctified totally before His Father, how much more grave do you think it is that we look at that in complete fear when He says "How much worse punishment"? Often the sentence for stealing from hospitals would be close to two-ten years depending on the value of the thing being stolen. It's easily measurable when things are stolen to measure a punishment, it's not so easily measurable when we consider what else is considered sin and defilement, or even a trampling in God's eyes.
And so we conclude by talking about communion, and the wine that Jesus shared in accordance with the Law, with community, and with His beloved. The thing that He invites us into by His blood, and the one act that we do without Him to remember His sacrifice until the day of his return, and at the same time using His blood as a seal of the better covenant that He Himself mediates. What happens when we take this holy meal in spite? With sin in our hearts, or our spirits, or our flesh? How much worse do you think the discipline will be when we do this? How badly do we trample the blood? How much worse the punishment when we've accepted His offering and not realized how sanctified we really are, whilst still allowing us to practice iniquity or defilement? How could you?
No comments:
Post a Comment