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| PentecostalTheology.com
DRAW NEAR WITH A PURE HEART – Ray E Horton
There is a sanctification process with our souls (mind, will and emotions) that is life long as we renew our minds to the truth of who we are in Christ. But that is dependent on the key sanctification that instantly and at once transforms our spirits (our actual identity) forever, which is discussed in the Book of Hebrews, Chapter 10. It is from this that we gain the confidence to approach and commune with God without guilt or shame.
“By this [God’s] will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Vs. 10). We “have been” sanctified – past tense. “For by one offering He has forever perfected those who are sanctified” (Vs. 14). We have been once and forever perfected. “Perfected?” The Greek word is “teleioō,” meaning “completed, consummated, perfected.”
Spirit Perfected, the Rest in Progress
Does that mean we are perfect now in mind and body? Of course not, it is our spirits, that part of us that is united with the Holy Spirit, of which we are temples.
There is nothing for us to do but receive by faith, and there is no more that God needs to do. Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient
“Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin” (Vs. 18). It’s a done deal, once and for all. No further offering is possible or necessary for the forgiveness of our sins. There is nothing for us to do but receive by faith, and there is no more that God needs to do. Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient.
“Therefore, brothers, we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” (Vs. 19). “Therefore,” because of that one sacrifice, what Jesus did for us, we can have “confidence” to freely approach and have relationship with God. The Old Testament priest had to bring an animal sacrifice annually to cover he sins of the people, a type of the Lamb of God, Jesus, the perfect God-Man, who represented us and shed His blood once and for all. Our confidence is in Him, not ourselves.
Our confidence is in Him, not ourselves
Therefore, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse them from an evil conscience…” (Vs.22). We have been cleansed from “an evil conscience,” so let us no longer fall back into the pride of false guilt. It is pride to think that we could do it ourselves. He did it for us and promises: “Their sins and lawless deeds will I remember no more” (Vs. 17, quoting Jer. 31:34).
What is a “true” heart? According to Young’s Analytical Concordance of the Bible, the Greek word “alēthinos” means “true, real, sincere.” The writer of Hebrews also uses this word in Heb. 8:2 and 9:24, where, in context, it means the real thing, versus a type of figure. So how do we draw near to God? With our real Born Again hearts, “in full assurance of faith,” because of our perfected spirits, and not by the old fleshly way.
