Romans 6:8-10 presents Paul’s argument of how God has liberated and rescued the believers from the grave and death in Jesus, namely Jesus’ resurrection. Paul says,

8 If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will live with him. 9 We know that Christ was raised from the dead, never to die again. Death no longer has mastery over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. And the life he lives, he lives to God (author’s translation).

Not only have believers died with Jesus, they also participate in his resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection has broken the “mastery” (κυριεύει) of death over humanity. Now that he has gone through the resurrection he is no longer subject to death and therefore cannot die anymore. He cannot go to the grave and death can no longer claim him. Thus his death has for all time ended sin’s claim on those who are in Jesus because his death broke its power, his death is “once for all time” (ἐφάπαξ). He was raised up as the firstborn and king of God’s kingdom, the new heavens and new earth (Romans 1:3-4; Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28).

The picture that Paul has here is the Passover and the Exodus. The passover lamb broke the power of the final plague over the firstborn because the firstborn had already died. Jesus breaks the power of sin, namely death, because he died. Sin can no longer enslave those who are in Jesus. And as the Pharaoh was defeated in the Exodus from Egypt via crossing the Red Sea, so death was destroyed in Jesus being raised from the grave. We cross through death in Jesus’ death and into life in Jesus’ resurrection.

Therefore, as Paul concludes in Romans 6:11, “So also consider (λογίζεσθε) yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ.” Through our union with Jesus we are considered, reckoned, to be dead through his death and alive to God through his resurrection. Thus sin and death are no longer our masters, so why do we obey sin and live in sin and death if we now live to God and “are slaves to righteousness” (Romans 6:18)?

There is a saying in hermeneutics, “A text without a context is a pretext for a proof-text.” The point of the saying is that one must take any passage that is being read, whether Scripture or not, must be read in light of the larger literary unit in which it stands. Think if the Senate hearing in Iron Man 2 and Rhodey having his report on the Iron Man. The senator leading the hearing wanted Rhodey to read certain portions of his report. The lines in question seem to indicate a negative attitude towards the Iron Man. But the larger report says otherwise.

So what is the context of our passage under examination? What prompts Paul’s dialogue partner to raise the question, “What will we say then, ‘We will continue in sin so that grace may increase even more’?” Romans 5:18-21 Paul concludes his argument of the work of Jesus in terms of a new humanity and the Adam-Christ typology. In Romans 5:18-19 Paul says that because of the the one man’s sin death came to all men. Because of Jesus’ one righteous act and obedience on the cross, all men are given the justification of life, namely God will raise those up who are part of Christ’s new humanity through participation in him. In 5:20 the law came to increase the trespass and thus when the sin increased grace increased even more. Hence, as in 5:21, just as sin reigned in death so also grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life in Jesus Messiah.

And it’s the statement that the law increases sin which increases grace even more that prompts the dialogue partner to voice Romans 6:1. Romans 6:2-4 is the answer to the dialogue partner. Paul’s answer is that because we have died to sin we cannot live in it any longer. The union with Jesus that is created by faith and demonstrated by baptism is a union with Jesus’ own death on the cross? Thus if one has been buried with Jesus and has died with him, that person will also walk in new life as Jesus walks in new life.

In other words, we have been united to both Jesus’ death and resurrection. Both events in Jesus’ work count as ours and declare something to be ours. And that is that we have died to sin on the cross and have been given new life in Jesus’ resurrection. Therefore in some way the believer must renounce sin because of his or her dying in Jesus. In regards to sin that person has died. And just as Christ is living a new life, so too the believer walks a new life that is untainted by sin.

What does Paul mean by this answer to the question is for the next two posts. First comes union with Jesus’ death and then union with Jesus resurrection.

One of the things I have been looking for while I have been reading the story of David is how do I fit into the story of God. Keep in mind that as a Christian, I look at David as a type who anticipates Jesus Messiah. So where do I fit into that narrative? There is one point of David’s story that really grabbed my attention as a possible way into God’s story.

It comes in 2 Samuel 8-10. There we see the king expanding Israel’s territory by conquering the neighboring territories and peoples. In doing so he has begun to bring the Gentile nations under the rule of God’s messiah, his anointed. We begin to see a picture of what it is that Jesus, as God’s messiah and heir to David’s throne, is to do. Jesus, having established a new Israel through his death and resurrection, will begin to expand his kingdom outward through Israel and into the Gentile nations, bringing the world under his rule.

But where the kingdom of God seen in the reign of David differs from the kingdom of God seen in the reign of Jesus is how the spread of the kingdom occurs. Under David’s kingdom, God’s reign is spread through human-made weapons of war. Under Jesus’ Kingdom, God’s reign is spread through believing that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, God’s anointed king, the Lord. That message is demonstrated in Jesus’ death and resurrection and taken into Israel and the Gentile nations through men and women, who having accepted the message and believed it, proclaiming the message like ancient messengers proclaimed a message to a city or nation.

Looking at Acts through this lens provides a unique insight to what the Apostles and primitive Christians were doing. They were expanding the kingdom’s boundaries in both Israel and then in invading the Gentile world. In doing so, Judean kings were struck down and pagan philosophers confounded. Cultures were agitated. Israel and the Gentiles could sense the invasion and stirred up trouble, bringing their governments into combat against the Christians. And like David and his army, the Christians believed that God would not abandon their cause and pressed on with the invasion. Acts ended with Paul in the heart of the Roman Empire, boldly challenging Caesar while under house arrest with the message, “Christos kyrios,” that is, “Christ is Lord.” I am reminded of how Paul recalls his own call and conversion in Acts 26:17-18 where he says that he is to confront and call the Gentiles out of Satan’s dominion and darkness and into God’s reign and the light.

But Luke, like Mark in his own gospel, provides no true conclusion to his book. The reader is left without any clue as to what happens to Paul in his own contention before Caesar. This is where we see where we pick up the narrative. We must, like Paul, continue to bring the message that Jesus is the Messiah, Jesus is Lord, to the nations and bring them under the saving rule and reign of the resurrected Jesus. In doing so that darkness that so characterizes the pagan world in the Old Testament will be defeated by the light of God’s messiah. We march on as part of the Messianic army, proclaiming the message of the Messiah, “Repent and believe that he is Lord or remain under his judgment!”

Just my thoughts after reading 1-2 Samuel and the story of David’s rise to power and his reign over Israel as God’s King and Messiah.

Now linguistically, James is not quoting Psalm 24:4. He uses similar terms as the Psalmist (LXX of course) but he does not quote him. So I wanted to see what impact this Psalm might have upon understanding what James is talking about in James 4.

Psalm 24 opens with a declaration of Yahweh’s creational-sovereignty. He created the world and everything in it and therefore it all belongs to him (Psalm 24:1-2). Now a question is asked in Psalm 24:3, “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place?” Who shall dwell with Yahweh in his sanctuary and home? Who is worthy to stand before Yahweh? The answer is found in Psalm 24:4-6. The person who cleanses his hands (deeds) and purifies his heart (inner disposition and thoughts), who seeks the face of the God of Jacob. The person who does not swear deceitfully and lifts his soul to what is false. This person will receive blessing from Yahweh, he will be justified (It is interesting here to see that righteousness (and blessing) is not so much a status but being allowed to dwell in Yahweh’s presence, salvation is dwelling in Yahweh’s “holy place” and on his “holy hill”). So a concluding question, “Who is this King of Glory?” The Psalmist commands the city to welcome in the “King of Glory,” but who is he? It is Yahweh, the mighty and strong Warrior. The Creator-Ruler is the King of Glory and the Psalmist commands the doors to welcome him and the gates to open to him. Thus the point of the Psalm is that for a person to dwell with Yahweh, the Creator and King of glory, that person must be pure in heart and deed, not lifting the soul to false things and deceiving neighbors.

Now in James 4, James is addressing a people that are fighting amongst themselves out of covetousness and envy. James describes them as waging “war” against each other, murdering and stealing. They are not seeking God for their wants and desires. When they do seek God, it is in a wrong manner, from a disposition that seeks to please themselves and not honor God. This activity is not friendship with God, according to James, but enmity with God and friendship with the world. They are not reconcilable. A person is either a friend of God or his enemy (James 4:1-6).

So James commands his audience,

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

It is here that one can see why James is alluding to Psalm 24. James is writing to a people who is acting as an enemy to God, who is their Creator and ruler. They are not seeking God out of pure motives and clean hands. They seek him, if they do, from a purely selfish motive. They are succumbing to the devil’s schemes. They are lifting themselves to that which is false, the devil and their own pride. They are deceiving each other and trying to deceive God. So James commands them to submit to God and draw near to him. But who can dwell on his holy hill? Who can be in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart. The one who seeks the face of the God of Jacob. They will be granted the right to dwell in the presence of God. James wants them to open their gates and doors to the King of Glory. They must humble themselves and God will grace and exalt them with his presence.

If they persist in their enmity with God and war with each other, they will come under the judgment of the King of Glory. Who is the King of Glory? He is Yahweh, “strong and mighty, mighty in battle” (Psalm 24:8). They will fall under certain judgment of the King who will defeat them. Their enmity will be futile.

So the question I have to ask myself, am I cleansing my hands and purifying my heart and seeking the face of the God of Jacob? I have to confess that I don’t. But I thank God for Christ, in whom I have received every spiritual blessing from heaven. In him I have access to the Father and to a High Priest who understands my short comings and has secured my place among the people of God in the new creation. Have you come face-to-face with the Creator and King of Glory? Have you trusted in the work he performed to secure you a place among God’s people at the Day of Judgment?

I am still unclear if one knows or consciously realizes that he or she is predestined for salvation? I am Nazarene and Armenianism is the world/theological view presented here. So I am just learning about Calvinism and have always been curious as to how one knows whether he is saved or has been predestined by God. In our belief we say that “we know that we know we are indeed saved” when we have repented of our sins and asked Jesus Christ into our hearts. So does the Calvinist know he or she is truly saved or called by God?

I was going to respond in a comment but I thought this would be better answered in a separate post. First, my initial thoughts when reading this comment seem like there are actually two questions being asked, and I’m not sure if both are tintended. The first question, which is the first sentence in the comment, seems to deal with an unconverted person. The second question, the last sentence in the comment, seems to talk about a converted person. In other words it seems like question 1 is asking if an unconverted person knows if he or she is predestined to be saved. Question 2 is asking if the saved person can have an assurance of their salvation. I will answer both questions but if it is one or the other is intended and not both, then at least know I’m trying to answer what it is that is being asked and am sorry if I’m about to speak too long on something not in view.

1. Does the unconverted person know if he or she has been predetermined for salvation. The answer is a resoundeing “No.” Here’s why. In Calvinist theology, man is totally depraved. As Paul says in Romans 3 they do not seek after God and rather walk after Satan and the world (Ephesians 2:1-3). In 1 Corinthians 2:14 the unregenerate does not understand the things of God and the Spirit because he is blind to them (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:4-6). As Jesus says so clearly in John 3:3-5 no can even see the kingdom of God, let alone enter it, unless that person is born again by the Spirit.

I think of Paul and his conversion. In his hatred of Christ, he could not see God. The scales that are said to fall from his eyes when he is prayed over in Acts 9 are indicative of that fact. But when God revealed to Paul the gospel on the Damascus road and when he was prayed over by Ananias, Paul could clearly see Christ and the gospel. He understood that God had marked him out from before the world began to know Christ. He was a child who had reached the appointed time according to the Father’s will. Before his converstion experience, he hated Christ and tried to remove him from the earth through stamping out the Christians. He believed it to be zeal for God but rather it was zeal for Satan and the kingdom of darkness.

The same I believe is true for the unregenerate. He or she does not know what salvation and the gospel is. They may be trying to live a righteous life, doing good deeds and such, but they are not saved. Why? Because they have not come to meet Jesus in all of his radiance and glory in the gospel. They have not been brought to see Christ as their Righteous One. They have not been made to see their wickedness and depravity, and thus God’s wrath against such persons. I must ask, how could a person know he or she is prdestined to believe the gospel and seek to be like Christ if they can’t understand the gospel and Christ?

2. Does the Calvinist have an assurance of their salvation? Yes. In Calvinist theology, God’s call to the believer is an effectual call, it produces saving, perservering, and enduring faith. The death and resurrection are effective and not hypothetical. Most Arminians that I know believe that Christ’s death doesn’t actually save a person, it only makes the person saveable. They must believe. Calvinists believe that a person is really saved by the cross. The application of the salvation comes when the Spirit applies it at salvation. Sin has been totally atoned for and forgiven, and the righteousness secured by Christ fully satisfies the Faher’s demands. All who the Father has given to Jesus are raised up on the last day (John 6:35-45). Jesus’ intercession does not fail.

Furthermore, predestination and election isn’t merely to conversion. Romans 8:29 says a person is predestined to be conformed to Christ’s image. Ephesisans 1:4 says a person is chosen to be holy and blamesless before God in love. Regeneration and conversion, when a person initially believes in a saving way in Christ, only begin this process. At that point, when a person is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and the heart is changed from dead stone to a living, maleable heart, that person begins to live and walk in the Spirit being conformed to Christ’s image and begins to live holy and blamelessly in love. To posess the Holy Spirit as Christians do, and when they do at conversion, means there is to be fruit. There are to be deeds and visible evidences that characterize a person who has been effectually called and justified. Saving faith not only endures and perseveres but also works itself out in love. By examining oneself next to the Scriptures one can see whether or not there is evidence of true salvation.

And one last thought on that note. The fact that a person is looking for these fruits as evidence of their saving faith, and not as the basis upon which they are to be saved on the last day, shows that this person is saved. Why else look?

I hope this answers your questions. Thanks PADavis.

One of the things that I struggle with as a Christian is how others view me. To a large extent that is not such a bad struggle. Desiring others to see the inward reality of the new birth and indwelling of the Holy Spirit is a good thing. When I stumble and others see it, I feel horrible. The correct thing to do with that horror is to confront it with the truth of God’s word. But for me, I don’t just become sick with my stumbling and others seeing it and then move past it, I become paralyzed and let it become something worse. Those who know me well understand what I’m talking about.

Recently something like this happened. I had stumbled and my pastor, whom I look up to a great deal (Jesus has gifted my pastor with the gift of proclamation like I have never personally encountered), saw it and was effected by it. Instead of coming to him and getting past it, the embarrassment took such a hold of me that I couldn’t just talk to my pastor about it. This, in turn, took a really not so bad situation and made it much worse.

A friend of mine came and talked to me about my embarrassment in my pastor’s eyes–which was all perceived in my own mind–and the need to just talk to him about it. He didn’t take me to the “love of God” and tell me that God loves me and wants me to get back on the same page with my pastor again. He didn’t tell me that Pastor Tim really wasn’t that upset and just needed to talk to me and get on the same page, just needed a ten minute conversation, and that any apology would be accepted immediately–which it was by the way. He didn’t take that and move into the forgiveness of God or the mercy of God or the grace of God. He took me to a very specific doctrine, justification and imputation.

Let me say that there was a freeing effect in being reminded that God has declared me righteous, not guilty, because by faith Christ’s perfect obedience has been credited to me and my sin credited to Christ upon the cross (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:28; 4:4-8). My standing is that of “righteous.” That fear, that embarrassment that came from my itty-bitty little sin, was gone. The chains were loosed and the burden lifted. I was able to do the thing that I needed to do to get back on track with my church. That little doctrine that scholars debate so vigorously and church-goers really don’t give much care to, even in Reformed circles (too bad a lot of Reformed folk don’t see a lot of the good the NPP has done because of our belief in the imputation of righteousness from Christ to the sinner).

This incident reminds me of how important doctrine, correct doctrine, really is. There is more at stake than just reading a two thousand year old book correctly. A person’s ability to combat sin is at the heart of debating doctrine and theology. People who say debating doctrine is wrong just don’t understand the pastoral role that doctrine should be playing in the sanctification of a believer.

Furthermore, I see just what Piper was saying in his 2007 ETS address on justification, expounded upon from Philippians 2:6-8 and Philippians 3:6-9, 12. After laying out his exegesis of the fore-mentioned texts, another reason he says that denying the positive side of imputation (Christ’s righteousness to the sinner to be the basis of them being declared righteous) is because there are besetting sins that only this positive side of imputation can break. I get exactly what he was saying. I see it. I experienced it. If this part of imputation is done away with, I don’t know what I would have done–I’m sure God could have done something else though!

Now let me say that I believe in this imputation because of exegesis, not because I was freed from a fear in my personal experience that had paralyzed me. No doctrine should ever be judged as biblical simply because it conforms to our view of the world and realty or because of a subjective allegiance to it. Rather what I am saying is that biblical truth goes beyond the intellectual realm. It breaks into the real world, into our experience, and shapes it. It destroys strongholds that the enemy has erected. It brings freedom to the oppressed and healing to the sick and wounded. Experience is shaped by the doctrine, impacted by it.

Let me conclude this by saying first that having reread Philippians3:6-9 several times recently, as well as returning to that ETS address by Piper, I am going to post a slightly different take on justification that really helps me get it better. I really like it.

Finally, think upon this question as you go about your day: What doctrine makes your heart sing?

Here’s the backstory to this amazing narrative. Steve Rogers is Captain America, a WWII soldier who was given peak human strength and speed and fitness by an experimental super soldier serum. His mortal enemy is the Red Skull, a former Nazi mastermind working for Hitler. The Red Skull is about to make his move to destroy not just Steve Rogers, but America. His first move is to kill Steve Rogers (Cap #25). Then he infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D. (think a global CIA) and brainwashes several agents (one example is Sharon Carter, a.k.a. Agent 13, was brainwashed into killing Steve Rogers). Next, after maneuvering a Russian company called Kronas into a position of immense power and leverage, he unleashes an economic attack upon this country through overt terrorist attacks or through the Kronas Corporation raising prices on goods such as oil and foreclosing on mortages and thus brings this country to its economic knees. The ensuing chaos forces the government to negotiate for better prices with Kronas–making it the “owner” almost of the US–and also to hire a security firm owned by the Red Skull to secure its metropolises. The final blow is to install a puppet president who through the US Constitution establishes a police state envisions by Hitler and the Red Skull in WWII and destroying our beloved Republic. Skull was stopped short of installing his president by a New Captain America, James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes. He is the former WWII partner of Rogers and former Soviet assassin known as the Winter Soldier. At the request of Tony Stark (aka Iron Man and Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and a letter written by Rogers to be read in his death, Bucky dons the shield and cowl of Captain America to defeat the Red Skull.

In this particular story, Bucky is a bitter man bent on vengeance for what Soviet Russia did to him, namely turning him into the most elite assassin this world has ever seen, and for what Red Skull’s parter Aleksander Lukin did through him, namely destroying an entire city. He cannot face his friend and brother Steve Rogers out of shame. When the Skull kills Rogers, Bucky now is not only seeking revenge for himself but now for killing his only friend in this world. There is one scene right after Rogers is killed in Cap #26. Bucky is in a bar and someone calls Rogers a traitor for his role in the Civil War (cf. Marvel’s 2006 event Civil War). The reader sees that Bucky knows how he should handle this situation. He knows what he should say because it is what Rogers would say. But Bucky’s anger gets the better of him. He loses control and beats up everyone in the bar (he is an elite assassin after all). When Bucky meets up with Iron Man (trying to kill him as Bucky blames Stark for the death of Rogers) he is shown a letter from Rogers to Stark. Both men agree that Barnes should become Captain America and track down the Red Skull (Cap #33). Over the next several issues, Bucky struggles with being Captain America because he doesn’t want to let down Rogers. Then in the final issue, Cap #42, he no longer views the mantle of Rogers as a weight but as a responsibility. He sees it as Rogers saw it. He is no longer trying to impress Rogers but is being what he is, Rogers’ heir and friend and the New Captain America.

At first, Bucky is trying to do the right thing. He wants to do what it right but his anger clouds his mind and actions. He knows the right but chooses the wrong. Then Iron Man declares him to be Captain America. Now Bucky has to do the right thing because that is what Captain America is, the guy who always does the right thing. He is now living in Rogers’ shoes and Rogers’ memory will live on or die with Bucky and how he does as Cap. Through his mission to stop the Red Skull, he finally understands what it means to be Cap and is no longer trying to impress Rogers. He is being Rogers in his own way and style. He is living out the Captain America story.

This is the same with Christians. We know the right thing to do in our hearts, after all Paul says the law was written upon it. But sin has so enslaved our wills that we cannot obey it as it is supposed to be obeyed. The obedience that is there is sinful and self-seeking. Then we meet Christ, or rather Christ invades our lives. Through our union with Christ, by becoming one with Christ and a new creation, we become one with Christ’s righteousness. It is imputed to us by virtue of our union with him. Now we have the status of righteous. Now we must live out what it means to be righteous. We have the Spirit to enable and the Scriptures to teach us what that means, just as Bucky had Rogers and his other friends to guide him to living out what it means to be Captain America. But after walking in the Spirit at the foot of the cross we will learn that we aren’t to impress Christ with our walk but rather to understand what it means to be Christ and righteous so that it becomes not a weight upon us or something like that but rather a responsibility and a delight.

The image isn’t perfect because Brubaker wasn’t trying to illustrate this. But when I read this eighteen-issue story, I couldn’t help but see this Christian ethic in there. Go read it and see if you agree.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.‘”–Romans 1:16-17.

“[We] are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.“–Romans 3:24-28

“To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.‘”–Romans 4:5-8

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.“–Romans 5:1

“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.“–Romans 5:18-19

“We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”–Galatians 2:16

“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’ Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ But the law is not of faith, rather ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.“–Galatians 3:10-14 (cf. Galatians 3:6-9 for the meaning of “the blessing of Abraham” being righteousness).

“Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.“–Philippians 3:7-9

“And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.“–Hebrews 10:11-14