Forever perfect

By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

                                    — Hebrews 10:14

When I first heard of Sara Lee cakes, the name-brand caught my attention because one of the most common Asian family names is “Lee.” Being a Chinese Lee myself, I wondered if Sara was Chinese or Korean.

Then I learned that Charlie Lubin, an American bakery entrepreneur, had named his cheesecakes after his daughter Sara Lee. Sara said her father wanted this product to be “perfect because he was naming it after me.”

Perfection is a standard that none of us could ever hope to attain. Yet we learn from Hebrews that Jesus, through His one supreme sacrifice for our sins, “has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (10:14).

The continual sacrifices made by the priests since the time of Moses could never change anyone’s sinful standing before God (Heb. 10:1-4). But the one-time sacrifice of Christ on the cross — the sinless One dying for the sinful  — perfected us forever in the eyes of God. Jesus’ once-for-all payment for our sins was sufficient. The writer to the Hebrews paraphrased Jeremiah 31:34, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Heb. 10:17).

We are perfected forever to stand before God because of the perfect work accomplished by Jesus on the cross. This is the assurance of our salvation.

                                           — Albert Lee

We’re far from perfection, yet perfect forever,

For Christ is our righteousness, Lord, and our Savior;

No justification for sin can we offer,Yet sanctified fully, we’re now His forever.

                                                             — Lee

READ:  Hebrews 10:8-18

God is the perfect Judge, and He can declare the guilty perfect.