Heart Meditations on Arthur Pinck's Seven Sayings of the Savior on the Cross. The Word of Victory. It is finished. John chapter 19, verse 30. One word in the Greek, three in English, but infinite in meaning.

It is finished. Not a cry of despair, but a shout of triumph. Not the sigh of one overcome, but the proclamation of a conqueror. As the Savior bowed His thorn-crowned head, He declared that the work He had come to do was fully accomplished. No loose ends remain. Nothing is lacking. Nothing is left for man to add. Christ did not say, I have done my part, now you do yours. He said, it is finished.

Here lies the ground of the believer's peace, not in our feelings, not in our performance, but in the finished work of Christ. It is not our grip on him, but his grip on us. that secures salvation. All whom the Father gave to the Son were loved, redeemed, and secured by this one glorious act. By one sacrifice, He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Are you weary from striving to earn God's favor? Lay down your burden at the foot of the cross. Do not insult the sufficiency of Christ's sin-atoning sacrifice by trying to supplement it. There is no purgatory to endure, no penance to perform, nothing to merit or earn. The bloody death of Jesus has done it all.

Let this word of victory fill your heart with holy joy and reverent awe. If it is finished, then you are free, free to serve God, free to love God, free to worship God, not to gain salvation, but because salvation has been secured forever. Christ did not only begin the work. He completed it. Let every saint cling to this truth and let every lost sinner run to the cross where sin was fully atoned for.

It is finished. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.