“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy”
Shame on me—I am far too comfortable living in a divided church.
Why is it so hard for me to extend a hand of blessing and fellowship to other Jesus followers?
I remind myself again of the question of my exploration. I am wondering why the life and teachings of Jesus were sufficient for the first century church while the twenty-first century church divides over the New Testament Letters?
My thesis is that the gospels show the all sufficiency of Jesus for His Church while the letters are inspired writings to point first century Christians back to the Master.
I raise the caution—since the writer of each letter directed instruction at specific situations encountered by the church over 2000 years ago—I simply do not have the cultural tools to arrive at the exact intricacies of a text so easily understood by the first readers.
Therefore, as a modern day reader, I should tread lightly in drawing dogmatic doctrinal conclusions based only upon the 22 New Testament Letters.
Since complete unity exists between God, Jesus, and the Spirit, I can rest assured nothing written in the letters will contradict Jesus of the gospels.
Like first century readers, I read the letter to the Hebrews to point me back to Jesus. Jesus divides sinners from saved, not Christians from Christians.
In chapter 10, the writer reminds me that God makes all Christians holy by Jesus’ death on a cross. His sacrifice was a one-time act to take away sin as He arose to sit at the right hand of God.
The Hebrew writer tells me through Jesus’ death and resurrection, “He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”
Perfect forever?
How can he be speaking of me and my fellow Christ followers?
He tells me Jesus is sufficient. Jesus opens my way to God. No longer will He remember my sin. He gives me full assurance that I can drop the guilty conscience.
I remain guilt free by drawing near to God with a sincere heart, by pressing on with perseverance, and being careful not to throw away God’s gift.
If I live in this way, I don’t belong to those who turn back and find destruction, but to those who have faith and are saved.
Question—if all of God’s children are perfect forever, what are we fighting about?
How dare I participate in presenting before a lost world a divided church!
Shouldn’t I be shouting, “We are all perfect forever”?
Stay Tuned.
Gary J. Sorrells – Reflecting on Church united by Jesus cross.
God Reflection 
Yes we should! Because Christ really was lifted up from the earth as he prophesied (John 12:32), we can lift Him up in our lives for others to see Him as well. He uses whatever we have in the moment. If we have nothing more than a smile on our face because our hearts and minds are feeding on Christ, we can be conduits for unity. And in it all, when we bring Philippians 2:3 alive in our lives, our ears seem to work better. When our ears work better, so do our thinking processes and the words we put out. My goodness what a beautiful sight it is to see church family happy to be together, loving each other more than scratching that itch to fix and mold others into their own image for their own comfort. May God’s Kingdom continue to grow in the love and patience that the Lord is calling us to!
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