Ask the average professing Christian, “What did Jesus Christ do that saves you?” I dare say 99% of those so queried would reply, “He died on the cross in my place.” And, while that answer is true, it is only half the truth! Your Bible says that there is MUCH MORE to salvation following one’s acceptance of Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Turn to Romans 5, verses 8 through 10. There you will read these words: “But God commends (demonstrates) His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. MUCH MORE (yes, there is much more after Calvary) being NOW justified by His blood (by Christ’s death on the cross), WE SHALL BE SAVED from (God’s) wrath through Him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, MUCH MORE, being reconciled, WE SHALL BE SAVED BY HIS LIFE!” (Note: All words in parentheses are those of the author).
NO ONE is finally and completely saved by Christ’s death alone. If Jesus Christ had simply died for your sins and no more, you would still be in your sins – without a Savior! Notice these words in I Corinthians, the 15th chapter: “And if Christ be not raised (resurrected and now living), your faith is vain, you are yet in your sins!” (verse 17).
It takes a LIVING Savior to save you. Look once more at that text in Romans 5. Notice in verses 9 and 10 the apostle Paul says that believers SHALL BE SAVED (future progressive tense) and that we are saved BY CHRIST’S LIFE!!! That’s the chief doctrine of the Book of Hebrews. Jesus Christ is “bringing many sons unto glory” (Hebrews 2:10) through the lifelong process of sanctification, serving as our great High Priest in order to accomplish this gargantuan task (See Hebrews 2:11-18), “for we are made partakers of Christ, IF we hold the beginning of our confidence (in Jesus Christ to save us) stedfast unto the end” (See Hebrews 3:14).
So little is said by the ministry in Christian circles about Jesus’ role as God’s High Priest, you would think mention of His fulfilling this office is probably mentioned only a time or two in the New Testament. But Jesus is called “High Priest” TWELVE TIMES in the New Testament, each and every instance found in the Book of Hebrews! The first such mention is in the 17th verse of chapter 2: “Therefore, in all things He (Jesus) had to be made like His brethren (just like other humans), that He might be a merciful and faithful HIGH PRIEST in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation (or, reconciliation) for the sins of the people.”
The Bible clearly states that Jesus Christ is not only God’s High Priest, but that He is going to continue in that office and function FOREVER?!! Twelve times in the Book of Hebrews Jesus Christ is called “High Priest,” those twelve instances running from chapter two through chapter ten. And in verse 20 of chapter 6, we are told that Jesus has been “made an High Priest FOREVER!” Again, in the 28th verse of chapter 7, we are told that the Son (Jesus Christ) is consecrated as God’s High Priest FOR EVERMORE! Verse 1 of chapter 8, states “we have such an High Priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty (God the Father) in the heavens.” And in verse 11 of chapter 9, we are told that Christ is “being come an High Priest of good things to come.”
During His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ sent seventy of His followers before Him as heralds to every city and place He had yet to go. They returned rejoicing that even evil spirits were subject to them in every place they visited. He told them “rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (See Luke 10:1-20). “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, ‘I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes (those newly converted themselves): even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Luke 10:21).
And now pay close attention to what you now read: “All things are delivered to me of my Father, and no man knows who the Son is, but the Father, and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him” (verse 22, Luke 10) Few Christians comprehend the fact that Jesus Christ is God’s High Priest FOREVER and that Jesus clearly stated, “my Father is greater than I.” (See John 14:28). When Jesus encountered Mary outside the empty tomb, He said to her, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, AND TO MY GOD, and your God” (See John 20:17). To be continued….
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Christ’s Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley