ONCE FOR ALL
By Suzanne Benner

My kids often ask me why they have to make their beds when they are just going to sleep in them again that night. Sometimes I feel that drudgery too. I wonder, why wash the floor when it's almost guaranteed that as soon as I do, juice will be spilled? Why clean the bathroom or the dishes or even the clothes for that matter, when they are just going to get dirty again?

Thus it is with joy that the words of Hebrews liberate me. "[Jesus] sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself" (Hebrews 7:27). Not once a week or once a month or once a year, but once for all!

That means I don't need to doubt my salvation or ask God to save me again and again.

You and I are holy because of what Christ completed on the cross. Hebrews 10:10 says, "And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." There is nothing more for us to add.

The author of Hebrews keeps repeating the phrase "one sacrifice" or "once for all" to make sure we get it (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 9:26, 9:27, 10:10, 10:12, 10:14). And Peter confirms it. "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God" (1 Peter 3:18).

Though we are unrighteous, we have a relationship with Almighty God because Jesus is righteous and He died for us ONCE FOR ALL.

~ We praise you, O God, for this amazing truth. Thank You that You have washed away my sin. I am overwhelmed that You consider me holy. Help me to be confident in the knowledge that Jesus' sacrifice is enough, that I don't have to, and can't, add anything to it.

Related Links

Beauty from Ashes
http://www.christianwomentoday.com/growth/kathleenp.html

About the Author

Suzanne Benner lives in Calgary with her husband and three school-aged children. She leads a small group Bible study in her local church and is passionate about Scripture memorization.