📖 The work is finished

I. You are not perfect “just the way you are.” Nobody is. Therefore, just because we desire or want something, that “thing” could certainly be wrong and not good.

In Titus 2:11-12, Paul writes:

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, instructing us to deny godlessness and worldly lusts and to live in a sensible, righteous, and godly way in the present age…”

God’s grace appeared in Christ Jesus, making salvation available to all who would trust in him. And in response to the love of God, believers are to live in such a way that demonstrates that Jesus is our Lord.

And so we deny godless desires and worldly lusts. We seek and desire to live righteously. Those who know Jesus as Lord do, that is.

Our default in life is to pursue pleasure over godliness, saying “yes” to what we want right now rather than saying “no” to what is most honoring to God and to others.

This is not at all to say that all of our desires are bad! Many of them may be decidedly good, but just because we have one doesn’t mean it’s automatically good.

It is wrong to say or think, “Jesus loves me, so I can do whatever I want.” Because Jesus has many harsh words for those who deny him by their works. We can claim the name of Jesus, while he can say, “Depart from me, for I never knew you.”

God loves us where we are, but he redeems us so that we don’t stay there. If we were perfect just the way we are, there would be no need to deny godlessness in our lives.

God loves you so much that he invites you into a better way of living.

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II. We have a high priest who has finished the work!

In the Old Testament Levitical priesthood system, priests would spend every day in the temple sacrificing animals for the forgiveness of sins. There were different types of animal sacrifices people would bring for different situations, but the work of the priest was constantly preparing and making sacrifices.

So when we read about Jesus being our final sacrifice, this was a massive concept for an ancient Jew. In Hebrews 8:1 we read:

“Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens…”

We have the kind of high priest in Jesus who is superior to all other priests. A priest who reigns forever (Hebrews 7:17 and 7:20). A priest who will never die and thus does not need to be replaced (Hebrews 7:23–24), and thus his priesthood is eternal.

He was and is also a perfect priest. So he does not need to offer sacrifices every day as the regular priests did, because he only needed to offer himself as the perfect sacrifice once for all time (Hebrews 7:26-27).

And while all the other priests never sat down because their work was never finished (Hebrews 10:11), it is not so with Jesus. Hebrews 10:12 tells us:

“But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.”

Jesus can sit down at the right hand of the Father because his work is finished, and anyone who trusts in him can also rest in his perfect, completed work.

Peter Leithart on how hidden sins don’t stay hidden:

“David sneaks Bathsheba into the palace for a night. He plots with Joab to kill Uriah.

David's son Amnon rapes Tamar, and Absalom sleeps with David's concubines in public.

Absalom plots against Amnon, but kills him directly by his own hand. What David does in secret, his sons do in the light. Hidden sins don't stay hidden.”

This week’s question: Should you cut off toxic family members?

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Spurgeon: A Life by Alex DiPrima

A biography of the 19th-century London preacher, Charles Spurgeon.

This is my first foray into the world of Charles Spurgeon, a powerful, impactful, and influential Baptist preacher.

This book is a short (certainly as far as Charles Spurgeon goes) and readable biography of Spurgeon (300 pages). The author notes in the introduction that, in an attempt to give a shorter and more concise overview of his life, undoubtedly things would have to be left out, and what was covered was certainly a more surface-level account.

While reading this book, it felt like watching a movie that is based on a book. The movie is never as good because it can only give highlights of the story and not all the necessary background needed to appreciate it, because it has a certain runtime it has to hit.

Reading this, you can see why there have been volumes written on Spurgeon and all that he was able to do by God’s grace.

As far as Spurgeon himself goes, clearly, he was a genius and an oratory master. But what was most moving to me is who he was as a husband and a father. Many great figures in church history were lacking or absent in one or both of those categories, yet this giant of a man was faithful to that which is most important.

Due to the book's succinctness, at times it felt more like reading an overview of his life rather than a chronological story, but I do not fault the author for that, given what he was trying to do with this book.

An enjoyable and encouraging read.

8/10

This week on Thinking Biblically, I discuss 5 Reasons There Are No Mature Christians Outside the Local Church. Following Jesus is a personal decision, but it is not a private one.

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P.S. I had no idea that was in the job description…