Tuesday 23rd
Hebrews 7
NIV (v25) – ‘Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.’
ESV (v25) – ‘Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.’
I remember hearing someone preaching from this verse and saying, ‘He is able to save to the uttermost, he is able to save form the ‘guttermost’. That is that the power of the Cross, the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to save the whosoever, no matter how far into the gutter of sin they may have fallen. And this is good news. Some of us may feel that before we came to Christ that we were reasonably good living people in comparison to those we may have known or heard of that had committed the most heinous of crimes, but the verdict that God placed upon everyone of us is very clear in Scripture, that there was none that was righteous, not even one, and that we had all sinned and fallen short of his glory. (Romans 3:9-10, 23) We were all in the gutter, we were all dead in trespasses and sin, we were all cut off, alienated from God and we were all heading for the same destination, but thank God that he was rich in mercy and abounding in grace and he put forward a plan to redeem and reconcile, which he put into place in his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:16 reminds us. ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ Notice the words, ‘that whoever believes’ that is from the ‘guttermost’ the vilest and most wretched of sinners can be saved if they come in repentance to the Cross. That is the wonder of Calvary love.
Our Hebrew writer is reminding us of this fact, Jesus can and will save to the uttermost. The one that today seems the most furthest away from God can be brought near to him through the blood of the Cross, the one who may today be languishing in a prison cell suffering the punishment for deeds he will have committed can be brought near to God through the blood of the Cross, the one who is filling their day with all sorts of good works can be brought near to God through the blood of the Cross, the one who would fit the bill as the person who never seems to do anything wrong can be brought near to God through the blood of the Cross, any man, any woman, any boy or any girl who puts their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ can be brought near to God by the blood of the Cross, for because of what Christ has done, the whosoever can come. And the writer continues that in coming we are saved to the uttermost, that is we are saved into eternity, as the NIV says, we are saved completely. This is in comparison to the Old Testament sacrifices, where the priest would enter into the holy place and make a sacrifice, but it was only temporal, it would need to be repeated, but Christ having offered himself as a sacrifice was a once only sacrifice which has effect for all of eternity. The Old Testament sacrifices were like a sticky plaster, a temporary cover, but In Christ the sin is not covered it is taken away, a permanent cleansing that saves us to the uttermost, that saves us into eternity.
Jesus has died and has risen again,
Pardon and peace to bestow;
Fully I trust him, from sins guilty stain
Jesus saves me now.
Sin’s condemnation is over and gone,
Jesus alone knoweth how;
Life and salvation my soul hath put on;
Jesus saves me now.
Jesus is stronger than Satan and sin,
Satan to Jesus must bow,
Therefore I triumph without and within;
Jesus saves me now.
Sorrow and pain may beset me about,
Nothing can darken my brow;
Battling in faith I can joyfully shout,
Jesus saves me now.
Jesus saves me now!
Jesus saves me now!
Yes, Jesus saves me all the time,
Jesus saves me now.
And he is saving me to the uttermost!