While I enjoy writing blog posts, errors spring up and I find myself questioning the context of how something sounds. A few weeks ago, I trimmed and edited the blog post “Art Museum” after some of you had already read it. The quote originally included was about loving God, loving your neighbor, and creating art, but I felt it was distracting. Art is wonderful, but it’s not the main point, so I didn’t want to focus on it as a gospel truth.
Instead, the gospel is something the Bible defines as the good news of Christ Jesus. But why is that good news?
Hebrews 10:14 refers to this good news and says, “For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy” (NLT version).
That “one offering” is Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross for our sins, and Christians talk about it lots, especially at Easter. But it’s a big deal. If we are “made perfect” by what Jesus did, that’s a game changer. We still make mistakes, we often still sin, but because of Christ’s work on the cross, we are counted as perfect because a perfect God traded places with us and took the punishment of sin for us.
What about the phrase, “made holy?” It sounds religious, but as Christ-followers, we are considered holy the moment we trust in what Jesus did on the cross for us. Then, over time, we become more like Jesus as we grow to know and love him. Friendship with him causes us to turn from our sin and ask for forgiveness when we are wrong. It makes us grateful and leaves us changed. Being wrong is embarrassing, but thanks to Christ Jesus we have a new status. And so, we don’t have to walk in shame or carry around guilt because God counts us as righteous, and Jesus is our friend.
Writing Prompt: Where have you considered yourself to be wrong recently? Write about it and thank Jesus that he included you when he made that “one offering.”
