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Today's Little Lift

    by Jim Bullington

He Did Once For All (Hebrews 7:27/09)
Date Posted: July 27, 2020

“Therefore He [Jesus Christ] is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.” (Hebrews 7.25-27).

There are a few things from an earthly perspective that are done “once for all.” However, most of them are not really what the name implies. Permanents, even those done by the most skillful of beauticians, are only temporary. Permanent teeth frequently come to a soon demise. Permanent addresses are changed with relative frequency. Permanent financing is usually for a stated number of years. Then of course there is the thing called Permanent Life Insurance; it ends when the insured dies! Today’s devotional looks at four (4) key phrases which contain the biblical reality of once for all things!

Jesus died to sin once for all. “For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.” (Romans 6.10). His death to sin was not like the believer’s death to sin. As penitents, we die to the love and practice of sin whereas Jesus died with a view toward our sins. He died not as a sinner but in place of sinners.

Jesus entered the Most Holy Place with His own blood once for all. The Hebrews writer affirmed that He entered, “…Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9.12). This is only one of many reasons why the Priesthood of Christ is greater than the Levitical priesthood. The price of eternal redemption under the Gospel was infinitely higher than the price of temporarily “rolling forward” the sins of the people under the Law of Moses. The difference in value between these two is greater than night and day! Jesus' sacrifice was once for all!

Again citing the Hebrews writer, the effect of the once for all death of Jesus was the once for all sanctification of believers. “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10.10). Once again the benefits of eternal redemption and sanctification are compared to the temporary results achieved through the Law of Moses.

As a final passage, we come to one of tremendous import when it comes to the Bible. Jude put it this way: “Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1.3). The faith as used in this text refers to the body of doctrine that was delivered to and kept by the faithful believers of the first century AD. Originally Jude’s priority was to write concerning more pleasant matters but he was compelled to change his focus; rather than writing about the “common salvation” he found it necessary to exhort his fellow believers to “contend earnestly for the faith.” “Which faith,” one might ask. Jude responds by stating that it was the once for all delivered faith! The Bible is the accurate and Divinely prepared record of God’s dealing with man; it is the once for all faith which is yet available for all to read and search out even today!

Some things are truly permanent, once for all things. However, they are not products of this earth. God is the only One who can guarantee a product for eternity and then stand by His guarantee!

Questions:

1. What is a “once for all” thing? What/Who is the origin of all such things?

2. Name some reasons why Jesus died “to sin”?

3. What was the difference between the blood with which the Levites entered into the Holy Place and the blood with which Jesus entered?

4. If the faith was once for all delivered to the saints in the first century, can that faith still be identified today? If yes, how? If not, why not?

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Biography Information:
Jim Bullington - A Christian writer whose insight into the scriptures is reflected in practical application lessons in every article. The reader will find that the Bible speaks directly to him/her through these articles. God is always exalted and His word is treated with the utmost respect in this column.
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