Full, Finished, Forever, and Free

This morning, my desire is to declare to you the gospel in a way that all can understand the simplicity that's found in knowing and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. I've said this many times from this pulpit and other pulpits that the gospel is a simple message. It's not a hard message to understand, but it is a message that is impossible to believe apart from God divinely intervening and revealing it to us. But the message is not a hard message.

Most of the verses of Scripture are easy words, just two and three syllable words. And I hope to do this this morning from Hebrews 10 verses 10 through 14, if you would go ahead and turn with me there. Hebrews 10 verses 10 through 14. Over and over again in the Scripture, is presented the question to sinners on how can a sinner be just or justified with God?

Justified simply means to be made acceptable. As human beings, you and I are prone to settle for less. You know, how many times have we said, oh, that's good enough. That's good enough, that'll work. But how good does one have to be to be accepted by God? Go ahead and say it. How good you gotta be? Perfect. Perfect. Perfect to be accepted. God is perfectly holy. Man is totally sinful. How can sinful flesh be reconciled to God? That's the question of all questions. We've got to know that in order to be saved, in order to be reconciled to God. And no sinful man, no sinful woman can see God and live.

Not in and of themselves. That's what the Lord had told Moses in Exodus chapter 33. Moses said, Lord, let me see your glory. And he said, Oh, Moses, you can't see my glory and live. I'm gonna have to put you in the cleft of the rock. I'm gonna have to put my hand over you. I'm gonna have to show you my hinder part.

And that's a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way we can see God is in a substitute and in a mediator, and there's only one. There's only one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. So there are only two possibilities. Either you will bear the penalty of your sin or Christ must bear it. Only way you can be safe. Somebody's gotta bear your sin.

And what are the wages of sin? Well, you know that, death. Death is sin's wages. Not just physical death, but eternal death. And listen, throwing me in hell forever. would never pay the penalty for the first sin, much more the multitude of sins that I've committed. So there's no salvation in me bearing the penalty of my sin because it would never be paid. Throughout eternity, still unpaid, unpaid, unpaid.

We can't ignore our sin because God will not. So what hope do any of us have if God give me the grace? I'm going to tell you plainly and simply and confidently once again in just a few verses here in Hebrews chapter 10, the Holy Spirit sweeps away any hope of self-righteousness. If you're here this morning and you think that In any way, something that you yourself have done that would cause God to be mindful of you, these verses sweep it away. And every hope of self-righteousness and every fear that Christ's work might somehow be insufficient should flee, if God enable us to believe, if God give us eyes to see.

And I've titled this message for that reason, Full, Finished, forever and free. Full, finished, forever and free. Salvation is not partial, it's full. Forgiveness is not ongoing, it's finished. Redemption is not temporary, it is forever. Reconciliation with God is not purchased, it's not earned, or it's not merited, it's free. full, finished, forever and free. Sin is not easily put away and such is our condition that we cannot not sin. You try not to sin. I've told you that as a young boy, I'd say a bad word and I'd say, oh, I should have said that. I'm not going to ever say that again. And I'd say it again. And then I would make God another promise that I couldn't keep and only to break it.

We cannot not sin. And I'm not talking about mistakes that we make. And I'm not talking about weaknesses or failures that we have. I'm talking about the evil that is within us before a holy God. You know, the scripture talks about being depraved, totally depraved, and folks get offended by that. Listen, that's not harsh enough. The heart is deceitful above all things. There's nothing more deceitful than our own heart. It's desperately wicked. It's not just wicked, it's desperately so.

We live in a world that's just overflowing with religion and religion just offers answers to the means of eternal life. And most of the time, they're things like try harder. or do better or offer more. And these are none of these things we can do. What hope of salvation is there in having me do things that I can't do? But the gospel, the gospel, the good news, the according to the word of God is not about what man must do for God.

Aren't you glad? The Gospel gloriously proclaims what God has already done for His people in Christ. It's not incomplete, waiting on us to complete it. It's full. It's complete. It's totally sufficient. It's not temporary, waiting on us to maintain it. It's finished. It's accomplished. It's accepted by God.

And it's certainly not uncertain. waiting on us to secure it. How are we going to secure anything? It costs us nothing, though it costs Christ everything. The Lord Jesus alone has done absolutely everything necessary for the salvation of His people. Nothing is left undone. It's full, it's finished. That's good news to those who can do nothing. A dead man or a dead woman can't try harder. A dead man or a dead woman can't do better. They can't offer more.

And listen, I say this all the time, but I heard it again just recently. I heard somebody say, tell another one, I accepted Jesus. We don't accept Jesus. Salvation is not something for us to accept. Has any dead person ever accepted a gift? we don't have a problem with believing that we say of course not and yet that's what men preach and people just that's right i gotta accept jesus i gotta give him my heart i gotta let go and let god So I can only conclude that most men and women really don't think that they're dead in trespasses and sin.

And why do I conclude that? Because they still think that they can do something themselves to be saved. And listen, no one anywhere at any time has experienced or seen someone dead do anything to make themselves alive. And by accepting Jesus, what most mean is that they made a decision, that they walked an aisle, that they prayed a prayer, that they got in the water, that they joined the church, that they started giving tithes, and all of a sudden they're trusting in all those things instead of the one thing needful. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But the enlightened believer, is that you? Has God shown you? The enlightened believer knows that they have been brought by the power of God in grace.

God didn't have to bring me. God didn't have to save me. God didn't have to cross my path with a preacher. God didn't have to open my heart. God didn't have to give me eyes to see and ears to hear. but they know and they're thankful that God has enabled them to believe on Christ as their only means of righteousness. You have to be perfect to be accepted. That goes for righteousness. You've got to have a perfect righteousness for God to accept. That goes for redemption and acceptance with God.

And listen, I am very passionate and zealous about this error. Many of my family and many of my friends have gone out to meet a thrice holy God trusting in a work of righteousness that they themselves have done and the problem is is that they have been lied to about this righteousness and made to think that something they can provide is acceptable righteousness.

It's not and I wish, I honestly wish that I could convey to sinners the urgency of this. We're not playing church here. We're not just meeting twice a week to check some boxes and say, hey, you know, you know, I go to church, you know, I'm a Christian. No, this is life and death. This is serious, serious business. Christ's redemption is full. Nothing's missing. Look at verse 10, Hebrews 10.

By the witch will we are sanctified. That's made holy is what that word means. Set apart and made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stand at daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices. That's what they did in the Old Testament, offered the same sacrifices.

And the writer here in Hebrews says, which can never take away sins. You know, many today, you think about this, many today are still standing and they're still offering the same sacrifices, the same sacrifices that can never take away sin. They offer a righteousness that God will not accept. They offer a goodness that they don't possess. They offer repentance without a broken heart. Their hope of acceptance is in what they themselves do. God won't accept it. It's not perfect. He won't accept anything less. Mankind, that means all of us, has no ability to offer God anything.

The words of the living Christ to dead sinners is, without me you can do nothing. Nothing means nothing. Christ is the life-giving thine, we are the branches. He that abides in Christ brings forth fruit. He that abides not in Christ can do nothing. The word without in that verse, without me.

The word means severed. You know what severed means, cut off. When a branch is severed from Christ the vine, it brings forth no fruit because it has no life. The life-giving source to the branch has been severed. And what happens to that branch? The Lord said it withers, it dries up. You've seen branches that have been cut from trees. We set them out in front of our house and before they ever come pick them up, they've gone from green to brown, just like that. No life in them. They're gathered and they're cast into the fire.

Why do men naturally understand that life cannot come from a withered or severed branch, and yet refuse to believe that apart from Christ, there's no spiritual life. You know, you don't have to convince a man that if you cut off a branch, it's going to turn brown and dry up and die, and you're going to burn it. But you try to convince them that same principle, as far as branches in Christ the vine, one severed from Him, will do the same thing. And they'll say, oh no, I can graft myself back onto the vine. That's basically what they're saying.

Fallen man is just naturally opposed to God's verdict concerning himself. Fallen man has no life. No life. No strength. No ability. Nothing apart from Christ. Now I'm going to tell you in one word why men and women insist that they must contribute something to be saved. Just one word. I can name that in one note. Remember that show? Pride. Pride. That's all it is.

True God-given faith bows to God's Word which tells us implicitly that a sinner severed from Christ the Divine can produce nothing that is acceptable to God or brings forth life. That's why Paul wrote in Romans 8 verses 7 and 8 that the carnal mind is enmity against God. That's what your mind is apart from God, being severed from Christ. It's hostile toward God. That's what the word enmity means.

It's not subject to God's law. I'm not going to have this man rule over me. Neither indeed can it be unless God make it new. Listen, unless God renews our mind and gives us a new heart, we'll never believe it. Why? Because we're dead. So then, Paul adds, that they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

So, you keep working, and you keep trying harder, and you keep trying to do better, and let me tell you, it won't avail you a thing. Nothing. Nothing. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14, Paul added, the natural man, The man that's been severed from Christ receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God." And then he says, neither can he know them.

The Lord Jesus plainly said, men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds are evil. Because they've been severed from the life-giving vine, John 3.19. And outside of Christ, every sinner is dead. in trespasses and sin. You've heard these things before. Have we really heard them? Oh God, enable us to really hear them. Can a dead branch become fruitful by trying harder?

No, it's got to be united to the vine. Christ is the vine. Life comes only by union with Him. This is not a hard doctrine. I don't believe there's anything that I've said yet that could not be understood. But here's the thing, we've got to take us out of it. You've got to take you out of it. I've got to take me out of it.

To refuse to do so is nothing but pride. Christ does not merely improve dead branches. Life and fruit come only by union with Him. The Old Testament sacrifices could never ever remove sin. They had to be repeated over and over and over again. They were never sufficient. The blood of bulls and goats only covered sin ceremonially. They could never cleanse the conscience of a guilty sinner.

But when Christ came, He did what all the sacrifices pointed to. He offered Himself. There's the difference. A perfect sacrifice. One that God could accept. God the Son took upon Himself our flesh. He lived the perfect life that we could not live. He obeyed the law that we continuously break. And He bore the judgment that we deserved. Christ didn't make salvation possible if sinners could just finish the work. He accomplished redemption completely and fully, revealing that we couldn't. And Paul wrote, and you, speaking to believers, the elect of God, he said, you are complete in Him.

How are we complete? Two words, in Him. That's the only way. This completeness is not found in anything we do. How many times in Scripture do we read, in Him, by Him, through Him, in Him, by Him, through Him, in Him, over and over and over again. And this fullness is found in Christ. For it pleased the Father that in Him, in Him, should all fullness dwell. All fullness. Jesus Christ is salvation. For in Him, all the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells. And listen, if all fullness dwells in Him, then there's no one else that has any. Right?

They've got to be empty. And you've got to be empty before you can be filled. You've got to be dead before you can be made alive. This is God's way. In Him. Not a system. Not a church. Not by a preacher. Not by ceremony. In Him. Not in experience. Not in human wisdom. In Him. That being the person of Christ. Salvation is in a person. What does that mean? I think about Simeon. He's an old man. He served in the temple all of his life probably.

And he's there one day and Mary walks in with a baby. And he takes that little baby in his arms. And he said, mine eyes have seen that salvation. As he holds that baby in his arms. My eyes have seen your salvation. Not I've seen the One who will bring salvation. Salvation was in the person that Simeon held. God has chosen us to eternal life.

And this life is where? In His Son. In Him dwelleth. It permanently resides. It doesn't say in Him dwelt, but now it's gone. In Him dwelleth. It continually and eternally abides in Christ. In Him dwelleth all the fullness. All of it. Nothing is lacking. Every divine perfection, every divine attribute, every glory of God is found fully in Christ. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. And this refers to the very essence and nature of God. Not simply divine qualities, but true deity itself.

Jesus Christ is God. How horrific is our sin? So horrific that God Himself had to shed His blood. Had to be made a man and shed His blood in order to put it away. In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Means that this fullness dwells in the incarnate Christ. The one that hung on the cross, took on real flesh without ceasing to be fully God. Christ is fully God. He's not part of God. He's not like God. Not simply a representative of God. He is God. He's God. And God put your sin away by the shedding of His blood.

He's God manifested in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3.16. Everything God has to give is found in Christ. That's what we looked at in the first hour. God's love, God's grace, God's mercy, God's forgiveness, God's righteousness, God's wisdom, God's holiness. God's power and God's life, all are embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. What do you think of Christ? Is He everything to you? Christ is sufficient for salvation. Why? Because all the fullness of God dwells in Him. Everything God requires of you is found in Him. I got to have Him. No other way for me to be saved.

That's not hard, is it? That's not hard. thing to understand, but you've got to get yourself out of the way. And you've got to take sides with God against yourself. And you've got to say, yeah, Lord, I'm a sinner. I'm the sinner. I'm the worst of the worst. I'm the chief of sinners.

Secondly, Christ's redemption is finished. Nothing remains to be done. Boy, that is just such a blessed revelation when you finally see that there's nothing left for you to do. Look at verse 12. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. I think about those Old Testament priests.

They stood because their work was never finished. There was no chairs in the tabernacle. There wasn't no place to sit down. There wasn't no time to sit down. It was a constant, constant thing. They stood every morning, every evening. They stood day after day, week after week, month after month. But the Lord Jesus, after offering Himself once, sat down. And you know why He said that?

His work was finished. It's finished. It's finished. His work was complete. His offering was enough. And we looked at that a couple of weeks ago. The Lord from the cross said it's finished. He didn't say I've started it. He didn't say I've made a way for you to finish it. He said it's finished. Are we going to believe Him? Well, we better because it's finished.

And nothing you and I can do, nothing we can do to add to it. As a matter of fact, if we try to add anything to it, we just disannul it. We just mess it up. Like I said before, as Brother Darvin once said, Going up to the Mona Lisa and taking out a crayon and trying to fill the colors in a little better, you know, like, well, this is, this needs to be touched up a little bit. Don't you do it. Death, though, you're in jail for doing it. Oh, my. And there's nothing for us to do. I love the thought of that.

Payment for sin was made and it was paid in full. The justice of God was satisfied completely. The righteousness required by the law is fulfilled. And men today preach the gospel as though it's a ladder that sinners have got to climb to reach God, when the truth of the matter is the gospel is God coming down in Christ to rescue sinners who can never reach Him. Thirdly, Christ's redemption is forever. Nothing can undo it. Look at verse 14. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Forever, forever. Look closely at those words. Perfected forever. Not temporarily. Not partially. Not possibly. Perfected forever.

I've said this and I'll say it again. It's not my grip on Christ that keeps me. No. A child of God is kept by the power of God. Kept by the power of God. It means caused to continue. That's what the word kept means. Caused, enabled to continue. I don't think I can go on any longer. I don't think I can do this anymore. kept, caused to continue. How? By the power of God, preserved by the power of God. Can you continue? Yes, by the power of God. None can stay His hand. No man can pluck me from His hand.

God the Son who began the work is the same Christ that finished the work. And of this we can be confident. Being confident of this very thing, that He that hath begun a good work in you WILL PERFORM IT! Until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1 and 6. He that started it will finish it. You can be confident of that. Are you confident of it? I believe. Lord, help thou my unbelief. But I'm confident, as confident as I can be still in this flesh. Oh, Lord, help me to believe. Help thou my unbelief. And then the greatest, the greatest thing about Christ's full, finished and forever work. You remember what the fourth thing was?

It's free. What gospel news that is to one that doesn't have anything to pay. A man's hungry and got a dime. There's a big smorgasbord laid out and he's starving to death and he walks up there and he's looking for a sign that says how much it is. It really doesn't matter because he don't have anything. And then he sees a big sign that says free. You're going to eat. If he's hungry, you're going to eat, isn't it? And it's free. It's full. It's finished. It's forever. And it's free. How were they sanctified? Through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. What did you and I have to do with any of it? Absolutely nothing.

Look at verse 16, this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days. Sayeth the Lord, I'll put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them. And here again, we see that Christ does Himself what we can never do. God says, I will make, I will put, I will write. God does not say, if you will, God does not say if you make, God does not say if you put, if you do, the gospel is not what we bring to God.

Have I told you that? It's what God's given to us in Christ. Given, freely given. And it'd be an insult to try to pay for it. We talked about that last study. God puts His laws into our hearts. God writes His laws into our minds. The sinner receives a new heart and a new nature. He didn't earn it. He didn't purchase it. He didn't merit it. He sure doesn't deserve it. He receives it as a free gift. Free!

In order, the order of these things is important. Christ offered Himself. Christ perfected His people forever. Christ established the new covenant. Then God writes His law within His people. And listen, that inward work does not earn acceptance with God. It's simply the evidence of those that have been redeemed by Christ.

Just like good works are. We looked at that not long ago. Good works are the result of the work that God did. We're not saved by works. Good works follow being saved. It's the result, it's the proof that God has done a work in us. And here's the best news. You and I have ever heard verse 17.

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. And that's the results of Christ's finished work. Their sins. Their sins. He had none. Their iniquities. He had none. He remembers no more. And it's our sins that must be paid for and we're the ones who cannot pay for them.

And God's Word declares in Psalm 103.12, as far as the east is from the west. You know how far that is? Infinite. Go as far east as you can and far west as you can, but two to never meet. That's how far God has removed our transgressions from us.

Isaiah said it this way, or God said it this way through Isaiah, I, even I am he that blotteth out thy transgressions. for mine own sake." God did it for His own sake, for His own glory, and will not remember thy sins. Now listen, our forgiveness of sin rests entirely on the one sacrifice that Christ offered, according to verse 12, and the work's finished. And He sat down and the work was finished by that one offering that He perfected forever for His people, verse 14.

The sin debt's been paid. In full, the payment has been accepted. You know, I paid a loan off not long ago, and I sent a check, and three or four days later, I got online, and it still showed a balance, and I said, hey, I paid this off. They said the check hadn't cleared yet. Well, it eventually cleared, and then it was paid off. But our payment for sin has been accepted. God's already stamped it in the red of Christ's blood and said, paid in full.

We ain't waiting for no check to clear here. It's finished. It's accepted. There's no remaining charge for the believer. God says, I will remember no more. No one can overturn God's verdict. And listen, God's not forgetful. He does not remember what's not there. I love that. God did not like me, he's not getting seen out. I can't remember anything anymore. But he can't remember because it's not there.

Our sin's gone, it's put away, not there to remember. Sin's been removed from those who are in Christ. And then that leads to verse 18. Now where remission of these is, no more offering for sin. Now think about that for a second. Why is there no more offering for sin remains? Nothing left to be paid or offerings required. Nothing remains to be paid. Christ's work is full. It's finished. It's forever. And it's free.

And because of that and that alone, verse 19 tells us, having therefore brethren boldness, to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. The believer is now being given boldness. Now that's not cockiness. You know, that's not like how we think of boldness. The word means competence. The word means freedom of speech. You may freely speak in the presence of God. It means fearless access. How do we obtain the boldness to enter into the holiest, that being God's own presence? We enter into God's own presence.

Listen, in the Old Testament, the people stayed outside. Only the priests entered into the holy place. Only the high priests entered into the most holy place, and that was once a year with blood. And under the law, the veil declared, keep out. That veil was put up in the temple to say, don't you enter.

This is the presence of God. You can't enter. But through Christ, that veil has been ripped in two. And now it says, come in. Come in. God says, come in. Enter in, thou good and faithful servant. Come in, the barrier of sin's been removed. How? By the blood of Jesus Christ. Perfect blood, effectual blood. Blood that God accepts. How's the chosen sinner's salvation accomplished?

Verse 20, by a new and living way which He hath consecrated. That word means made new for us. And again, we see that all this Christ consecrated for us. That word consecrated means inaugurated to mark the beginning of eternal life. It means opened, allowing access to a place once sealed. It means dedicated, made devoted and single-minded. This is what Christ consecrated for us.

Who did the work? He, Christ, hath consecrated. What did we do? Received it. He had to give us life to do that. You ever seen a dead man hold his hand out? No, no, no, no. He didn't merely point us toward God. He opened the way Himself. We don't make a way to God. Christ made the way for us. And that's why the Gospel of Christ is full. Christ supplied everything necessary to bring us to God.

That's why it's finished. The veil's been torn. Nothing remains to be added. That's why it's forever. We have life eternal because our Savior lives forever. And friends, that's why it's free. Because every believer may now enter God's presence by Christ alone without price, without merit, without works. Come without money and without price. That's a store I'd like to go to. Everything in here. How do I pay for it? Well, it's already paid for. Don't you take credit card? Nope. Don't you take cash? Nope. It's without money, without price. It's free.

Oh, what better news is that? Huh? Is there any better news than that? The urgency of the moment, friends, is not, do you understand the gospel? It's not hard to understand. The urgency of the moment is do you believe it? Can you take you out of it? Can you see that it didn't have anything to do with you? It has everything to do with the One who loved you and gave Himself for you. And if we can get ourselves out of the way and concentrate on Him that loved us and did that, man, it'll set us free. May God make it so. for Christ's sake.

Full, Finished, Forever, and Free

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Full, Finished, Forever, and Free

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