The Divine Rights of Access…

“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:16 NASB)

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Readers,

It is quite interesting how the religious man attempts to rebuild what God has torn down. Old Testament Judaism with its temple sacrifices and mediatorial priesthood had served a purpose. That purpose ended with the cross. It was replaced by a much greater covenant, the covenant of Christ.

The covenant of Christ is about personal freedom and direct access to the throne of God. It is about our heavenly life in Christ. It is about the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The covenant of Christ is about a new creation where all the former things pass away.

In the new covenant, everything is new. The covenant of Christ is not the covenant of the Law, renovated, revived, reformed, refurbished, or ‘re’ anything. The covenant of Law was made for an earthy people. The covenant of Christ is for a heavenly people.

Listen to what the writer says in his letter to the Hebrews:

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22

For some background on this we need to reach back to the time of Adam.

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The Undefiled Conscience

When God created Adam, he was created with no sense of guilt, no consciousness of sin, or of worthlessness, or even of inferiority. Adam was adorned with glory. He was made in the very image and likeness of God. It never once entered Adam’s mind to question his right to the awesome presence of God.

Even the angels knew that Adam was different from them. Actually Adam is the only person in the Bible, aside from Jesus Christ, to ever be called ‘the son of God.’

We see this in Luke as he relates the genealogy of Jesus;

“… the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.” (Luk 3:38 NASB)

Of course we know the story. Adam rejected God’s Word and God’s will for himself. From that moment Adam became conscious of the nature of sin. And now the Adam race could only approach the Lord in measured ways.

Such a fall — From glory to earthliness. Adam and Eve lost their glory and found themselves in a culture of sin and death.

The apostle said it well enough;

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

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Where then is the victory

The judgment of condemnation was removed in Christ. Every person who comes to Jesus, enters the wonderment of a totally new covenant. In this new covenant there is an act of creation. Being born again means to be born from heaven. Believers are now heavenly citizens, actual sons and daughters of God. Yes, we are heavenly citizens in earthly bodies. That will change in due course.

Let’s look more closely at what Hebrews 10:19-22 has to say.

“We have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus.”

The covenant of Law provided limited access to God. Only priests were permitted to enter the holy place, and only the high priest could enter the holiest of holies once a year. Thus the priests became mediators between the people and God. In the new covenant there is only one mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lose this truth and you place yourself under the bondage of another man made religious system.

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The Veil of Separation

The veil in the tabernacle spoke of man’s separation from God. Yet behind the veil was another picture. The mercy seat had two cherubim gazing intently at the center of the lid of the ark of the covenant. This was a picture of the angels in wonderment over the work of the cross.

What happened when Jesus yielded up His spirit on the cross? It says,

“And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” (Mark 15:38)

This could only mean one thing. The Adam sin was accounted for. The veil of separation was removed by Jesus Christ.

Listen to Paul:

“So also it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living soul.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.” (1Co 15:45-47 NASB)

Condemnation has been removed. Our first estate is returned. We can now walk with God with no sense of guilt, of worthlessness, or of condemnation. We have divine rights to the very presence of our heavenly Father. The apostle said,

“There is therefore now no condemnation (katakrima means a sentence of judgment) for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom8:1,2)

The Romans 8:1 Scripture is emphatic in the Greek. The emphasis is clear; ‘There is not now, nor can there ever be a damnatory sentence against anyone who is in Christ Jesus.’ Why? Because of the law of the cross; ‘For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

Does this mean we have carte blanche to live sinful lives? Far from it. Sin always carries consequences. What it means is that sin is no longer our master.

In addition to our full and completed salvation in Jesus Christ, we are given spiritual expressions and attributes that help us to deal with issues of sin. (A teaching in itself.)

Full Assurance of Faith

Back to our Hebrew Scriptures. What did the writer say? Follow closely —

“Brethren, we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus.”

The word confidence is a strong word. Parresia speaks of unrestrained freedom to speak openly and directly and boldly with our God. Here we have a hint of Adam in the beginning. Adam could speak with confidence. He was not ashamed of who he was. He was God’s son.

How did we gain this direct access to God?

“By the blood of Jesus.”

How are we to approach God?

“In full assurance of faith.”

Under what conditions do we approach God? It says,

“Having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

This point is stressed throughout the letter of Hebrews. In quoting from the prophet Jeremiah, we hear,

“And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Heb8:11,12)

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How does this relate to our personal walk with the Lord.

God removed the haziness of religion to give man the full Light of His Son. People who keep reaching back into the Law of Moses are disinheriting themselves from the liberty and glory of being a very child of God.

Paul said to the Galatian believers,

“Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.” (Galatians 4:6,7)

Too many Christians remained stifled in their spiritual life because they know so little about their true life in Christ. Don’t think of other people as special mediators between you and God. This includes both priest, prophet, and pastor. You have one mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, we should love and respect those who teach us properly in the ways of the Lord. But never to the extent that they alone can hear from the Lord. God is your Father. You have a personal invitation to meet Him at the throne of grace any time you wish.

And so we hear this warning early on in the book of Hebrews:

“For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.” (Heb 2:1 NASB)

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