Blessings from The Living Word,
As we approach the Day of Atonement, the Holy Spirit continues to lead us, with great rejoicing, through our time of effectual repentance. Our cleansing comes through faith in the sacrifice that was made by the Lord Jesus Christ on our behalf. We appropriate God’s provision for forgiveness and for the total removal of the sin nature.
I want to share the excerpt below from a message by John Robert Stevens titled, A Perfect Priest, Perfect Sacrifice, Perfect Victory, from This Week Volume VIII.
We wait on the Lord and trust in His Word for the Day of Atonement, and we do this together in the name of the Lord.
With love and faith,
Steve Seboldt
Excerpt from A Perfect Priest, Perfect Sacrifice, Perfect Victory
The fifth chapter of the Book of Hebrews reveals the spirit of the Day of Atonement. In looking back to Old Testament times, both the twenty-third and sixteenth chapters of Leviticus picture the Day of Atonement as having involved rituals that were to be followed. Today we are not interested in following the ritual; rather, we want to experience the reality of what the ritual foretold and symbolized.
The rituals of the Day of Atonement in the Old Testament reveal to us that there has to be a perfect Priest in order to accomplish a perfect, irrevocable ministry for us, so that we continually stand in perfection before the Lord. The Old Testament priesthood itself was not perfect; it only remained as a foreshadow. It portrayed the time that Christ would come as the perfect Priest to make the perfect sacrifice once and for all. For by one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Hebrews 10:14. And in the first Epistle of John, I John 1:9, says that: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Forgiveness is one thing, but cleansing the very nature of unrighteousness is another.
There has to be that seeking after total righteousness. But seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness. Matthew 6:33a. A person cannot do anything to merit atonement. The cleansing comes through faith in the sacrifice that was made. We can do nothing but believe that God’s provision for the total removal of our sin is effective. This is not an easy doctrine to believe. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I Thessalonians 5:23. You dare not say, “I believe it,” unless you expect to experience it. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. Hebrews 5:13. This is not new teaching; it is just not milk.
It is possible to come into such a walk with God that you will not be defeated. There may be one pitfall after another to discredit this truth; but it is still the truth. Is it possible that we could come into an experience of maturity? This is exactly what the Day of Atonement means for us in this day.
You will have to contend for it, in that you ask God to give it to you. Pray for it, knowing that you cannot do it by yourself. II Peter 1:4 tells us that God has given us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we might become partakers of the divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world.