UTTERMOST SALVATION
“He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them.”– Heb_7:25.

THE ATTRACTION of the Divine Nature. We draw near because we are drawn. As the sun is ever exerting a drawing power on each planet and each particle of stardust in the solar system, so God is ever attracting us to Himself. To all eternity we shall be ever drawing nearer to Him, though there will be ever an infinite distance to traverse. When Jesus was lifted up on the Cross He began to draw all men unto Himself, and that magnetic attraction has continued through the centuries.
There is no reason for us to be afraid of God. He is Love! He is a consuming fire to our sin, but His Nature is essentially lovely. Moses exceedingly feared when he ascended Sinai, amid the trembling of the mountain and the heavy clouds that enclosed the Divine Light. But, as we learn from the 12th chapter of this Epistle, when we approximate to God, we encounter three circles. The innumerable Hosts of Angels, including the Cherubim and Seraphim, with their burning love and purity! The Church of the First-born, the purest and noblest of elect spirits! The Spirits of the Just made perfect, inclusive of our own beloved ones that have passed over. Surely where these are, we may venture without fear. The God in whom they live and move and have their being cannot be other than infinitely beautiful to know and love. Lord, Thou hast been the dwelling-place of all generations, and Thy secret place shall be our home for ever. “Draw us, and we will run after Thee!”
Our fears are met by the Risen and Living Saviour. First, He will ever live to make intercession for us; but next He will go on sanctifying us lower down, even to the uttermost. To the depths of our nature, He will carry His gracious work. Salvation has three stages. It begins with deliverance from the penalty of the past. Our sins are blotted out. The penalty is remitted or turned to benediction. Then we are saved lower down. The process of purification goes deeper and deeper into our nature. Finally, our body is renewed through the resurrection-grace of Christ. And surely there is a sense in which the grace of Christ will ever sink deeper, giving us a profounder realisation and participation in the things that will open before us in the eternal progress. Here we see in a glass darkly, there face to face. Here we know in part, there we shall develop in the knowledge and love of God. Salvation to the uttermost!

PRAYER
I draw near to Thee, Almighty and Ever-living God, in the Name of Jesus Christ, my High Priest and Mediator, who hath passed into the heavens, where He ever liveth to make intercession for sinners. Forgive and accept me for His sake. AMEN.

The New and Living Way
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us. (Heb_10:19-20)
Here, life under the new covenant of grace is described as the “new and living way.” This could be contrasted with the “old and dying way” of attempting to live under the old covenant of law. The “newness” of grace is not really a matter of time sequence, because the grace of God actually precedes the law in man’s history with God. The “tree of life” in the garden of Eden was God’s provision of grace for Adam and Eve. The promises of God to Abraham, given hundreds of years before the law, depended upon the faithful grace of God, not the legal performance of Abraham.
The “newness” of grace is its every day freshness and vitality. Day by day, by the grace of God, fresh measures of life are abundantly available to those who look to the Lord as their supply. This makes life with God fresh and new every day.
Under the old covenant, only one person, the High Priest, could enter into the intimate presence of God, the Holy of Holies. Furthermore, this was only allowed one day a year. Such limited access would certainly “get old” in the hearts of all who hungered after the living God.
Now, under the new covenant of grace, every believer in Jesus, our great High Priest, can confidently approach the Lord personally any moment of every day. “Having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus.” Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which forgives all of our sins, we can speak to the Lord and enjoy His presence in our lives continually.
Jeremiah gave some early insight into this kind of fresh and vital relationship with God. “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The LORD is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘Therefore I hope in Him! ‘” (Lam_3:22-24).
The Apostle Paul wrote profoundly concerning such “newness.” “But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Rom_7:6). This the “new and living way.” This will never “get old.”
O Lord of Life, my heart yearns for this new and living way. O, how I long to dwell in Your presence day by day! Lord, I must confess that every attempt to base intimacy with You on my best performance has always become so old and dying, so stale and lifeless. My soul is stirred with hope in You that You have provided this better way. O Lord, teach me to walk by this new and living way, in the name of Jesus, my great High Priest, Amen.

The Promise of a New Covenant
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel . . . I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people . . . they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” says the LORD. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jer_31:31, Jer_31:33-34)
Long ago God promised a new covenant of grace for His people Israel. “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.” Some day the Israelites will turn to Messiah as a group and enter into this promised covenant of grace. “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins” (Rom_11:26-27). This will take place when the Lord Jesus returns to this earth. “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced; they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zec_12:10).
Meanwhile, the church of the Lord Jesus, comprised of all Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ, already has the new covenant instituted for her. “This cup is the new covenant in My blood” (Luk_22:20).
Note the astounding three-fold provisions this new covenant offers by faith to all believers today. First, there is the forgiveness of sins. “For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Second, there is the opportunity to have an intimate relationship with God. “They all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.” Third, there is the internal working of the Lord God Almighty enabling and changing people’s lives from the inner core of their being. “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.”
Almighty God, the provisions of Your new covenant of grace are staggering in their richness! Forgiveness of sins by You, intimacy with You, and inner transformation from You – - all of this is mine through faith in Your Son, my Savior. O Lord, what bountiful grace You make available to us in Christ! I fully and desperately need all three of these wondrous workings that You alone can provide. I praise You for the gift of forgiveness of sins. I seek You for increased intimacy with You. I look to You to be shaping my life according to Your will, from the inside out, all through the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

second death
Second death, Summary: “The second death” and the “lake of fire” are identical terms Revelation 20:14 and are used of the eternal state of the wicked. It is “second” relative to the preceding physical death of the wicked in unbelief and rejection of God; their eternal state is one of eternal “death” (i.e. separation from God) in sins John 8:21,24. That the second death is not annihilation is shown by a comparison of ; Revelation 19:20; 20:10. After one thousand years in the lake of fire the Beast and False Prophet are still there, undestroyed. The words “forever and forever” (“to the ages of the ages”) are used in Hebrews 1:8 for the duration of the throne of God, eternal in the sense of unending.

Breaking Out of the Pack
“God the Father has His eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus.” (1 Peter 1:2, The Message)
How good is this!? God Himself has His eye on each one of us. That is an extraordinary thing – especially when you consider just how many of us there are! Yet, each life and every detail is fully known by the Lord — in a caring manner. Simon Peter goes on to say, “He is always thinking about you, and watching everything that concerns you” (1Peter 5:7, Living Bible). Why, even the very hairs of our heads are numbered.
He sees, He knows, and He cares. Isn’t that good enough to make today worth living?
But there is more! Not only does He profoundly care for you, but He is also determined to do something of great benefit to you. And here it is: He will cause the Holy Spirit to work in your life in every way possible so as to keep you true, faithful, and unerring in your journey with Jesus.
Yes, the Holy Spirit of God is directed by God to fill your heart and life in such measure that you may follow Jesus fully and freely, without mixture of self-will, doubt, or fear. He is here not only to comfort you, but also to consecrate you – to mark you as one set apart for God.
In other words, God is going to see to it that you break out of the pack and live a life that is distinguished and purposeful – one that brings great honor to the Lord Jesus and great blessing to others.
Are you game?

The General Ability of the Law
Then the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the LORD had spoken . . . You have heard that it was said . . . But I say to you . . . . (Deu_9:10 and Mat_5:27-28)
Although the law of God is unable to justify or sanctify, it does have some strategic ability in God’s plan for man. These verses from the Torah and the Sermon on the Mount help us reflect upon this matter. These two profound sections of the Bible pertain to the law of God. Torah (Hebrew for law) refers to the books of Genesis through Deuteronomy. These books give an extensive explanation of the message of God’s law. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) includes Jesus’ clarification of man’s understanding of the law.
When these portions of the Bible are read, studied, or taught, the general ability of the law is at work. In these passages the very character and will of God are revealed. The message related to those “two tablets of stone” spoke of God’s character, “I the Lord, your God, am holy.” The summary of this message expressed God’s will for man, “be holy.” The details of the message indicated what holiness would be like in conduct toward God and in relationships with others. Jesus’ words would eventually extend this message of holiness even into attitudes of the heart.
The law of God is His standard for spiritual measurement. By His law, God measures holiness in people’s lives by revealing His will, which is based upon His holy character. This is why all of us “fall short of the glory of God” (Rom_3:23). We don’t measure up to God’s holy standard.
The measuring instruments of man are a helpful illustration of the law. When a tape measure is used to evaluate the height of people, it measures growth or reveals the absence of it. It does not produce human growth. So it is with the law of God. The law describes and measures what God wants lives to look like. It does not cause such spiritual growth to appear. Only God’s grace at work in our lives is the sufficient dynamic that produces spiritual growth.
O Lord, my Hope, I give You praise for Your holy character, revealed in Your holy law. I agree with Your will, desiring holiness in my life. I also agree with You that I fell far short of Your glorious standard. Thank You for cleansing me of all unrighteousness. Thank You for clothing me in the righteousness of Your dear Son. Now I place my hope in You for any and all progress in the path of righteousness. O Lord, have Your way in my life, working Your will, by Your grace, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.

The Inability of the Law to Justify
Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ . . . But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “The just shall live by faith.” (Gal_2:16 and Gal_3:11)
Our great initial need before God is to be justified, to have God Himself declare us not guilty, to have the Lord pronounce us righteous in His sight. At first glance this appears to be an impossible situation for man. God, our Judge, is holy. Man is innately unholy. “But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isa_64:6).
The consequences of such ungodliness are inevitably universal and appropriately severe. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom_3:23). “For the wages of sin is death.” (Rom_6:23). The just sentence for all of humanity, in light of their sins against a pure and holy God, is death, everlasting separation from God.
The law of God offers no help and provides no hope of remedying this dire situation. People are “not justified by the works of the law.” Trying one’s best to measure up to the law never produces a verdict of not guilty. In all the history of humanity, not one person could ever perform sufficiently before God’s law to achieve a declaration of being righteous. “No one is justified by the law in the sight of God.”
Vows and pledges of personal improvement offer no hope. Asking others how to strive more earnestly provides no assistance. Only faith supplies the necessary remedy. “A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ.” Trusting in our own best efforts leaves us guilty before God. Trusting in Christ’s perfect work on the cross leaves us justified before God. “The just shall live by faith.”
O Lord, my God, I praise You for Your glorious grace poured out upon me in justification. By Your grace alone You have declared me righteous in Your sight. I was totally guilty before Your holy law. I had no excuses and no hope of rescuing myself. Your law rightly condemned me, and I never could have reversed that verdict by my own performance. I trusted in Your Son, and You pronounced me just in Your sight. To You, my Lord, I give all honor, glory, adoration, and thanksgiving, through Christ Jesus, my Savior, Amen.

The Message of the Law: Be Perfect
Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Mat_5:48)
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provides a startling summary of the law of God: “be perfect.” Our Lord had just been teaching about God’s law. His instruction was offering a much deeper understanding of the law than the teachers of Jesus’ day had grasped. He was showing how the law goes far beyond external behavior alone.
The format Jesus used was “You have heard that it was said . . . But I say to you.” In Mat_5:27-28, He addressed the commandment on adultery in this fashion: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” When lustful imaginations are entertained in our thoughts, adultery has already been engaged in, as far as God is concerned.
In Mat_5:21-22 Jesus had used this same pattern of instruction to reveal God’s perspective on murder: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,’ and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” When vengeful anger floods our thoughts, that is harboring a murderous spirit within the heart. Actual murder and vindictive anger both deserve the same judgment. Clearly, the commandments of the law of God can be transgressed by the unseen attitudes of the heart, as well as by the visible actions of the body.
Again, Jesus summarized such teaching on the law be saying: “be perfect.” In the law, God is requiring a perfection that measures up to the perfect character of the Father Himself. The law is saying that we are to hold within our hearts and manifest through our actions a character that matches God’s. “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
Dear Heavenly Father, these words are so humbling and convicting. You are so perfect in every way. I am so imperfect in every area. Lord, even the actions that I thought were acceptable in Your sight were polluted by unacceptable attitudes that fall so far short of the standard of Your perfections. Thus, I cast myself upon Your mercy and grace, looking to You for the only remedies that will ever suffice, even Your forgiveness and Your transforming power, through Christ my Lord and Savior, Amen.

Under Grace, Not Law
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under law but under grace. (Rom_6:14)
Sin dominates every one’s life, unless they are learning of God’s remedy. Grace is our only hope that sin will no longer dominate our lives. Furthermore, grace is a sufficient hope that sin need not exercise a dominating influence over us.
Before we came to faith in Jesus Christ, we were fully under the dominion of sin. We were condemned before God because of our sin. Others may not have been aware of our truly sinful condition. Still, we were so controlled by sin that God called us “slaves of sin” (Rom_6:6).
The law brought us no hope of escape. In fact, the law condemned us (Rom_3:19). We could never have found freedom from sin’s condemnation by attempting to perform better under the law of God, for “by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Gal_2:16).
On the other hand, the grace of God is our fully effective hope. There is forgiveness of sins by His grace (Eph_1:7). There is justification through faith by the grace of God (Gal_2:16). There is growth in spiritual life by the grace of God (2Pe_3:18). None of these heavenly blessings become ours from attempting by our ability to live up to the law standards of Almighty God.
Our relationship with the Lord is based upon grace, not upon law. We began a walk with the Lord by His grace at work for us. We continue to walk with Him by His grace at work in our lives.
O Lord, my God, I rejoice greatly that I am under Your grace and not under Your law. Your holy law rightly condemned me for my trespasses against You. I thank You for forgiving my sins by Your glorious grace. I praise You for justifying me, declaring me not guilty in Your sight, by Your rich grace. I extol You for continuing to touch and shape my life by Your inexhaustible grace, in the name of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Amen

Grace upon Grace in Our Lives
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for (upon) grace. (Joh_1:14, Joh_1:16)
One of the titles of God, the Son, is the Word. When He, Jesus, became a man, He was God’s incarnate message, His Word to humanity. As the early disciples watched Jesus living His perfect life of godliness, they were looking at the glorious revelation of God’s uniquely begotten (that is, virgin-born) Son. His life was an overflowing demonstration of divine grace and truth.
Jesus showed us the kind of life that God’s grace could be developing in us — a life of truth, a life of godly reality. Jesus came as the One to offer that fullness of grace to all who would trust in Him.
Now, for those who are depending upon Him day by day, life is explained and developed “grace upon grace.” God’s grace received establishes first a layer of forgiveness and spiritual new birth. Then, layers of growth, transformation, fruitfulness, victory, maturing, service, etc., are added as His grace is appropriated by faith. Yes, the Christian life is to be “grace upon grace” — upon grace, upon grace, upon grace — until we stand face to face someday with our Lord of grace!
Wherever we are in our spiritual pilgrimage, our progress has come from receiving by faith from His fullness of grace. Whatever remains to be accomplished must transpire in the same manner, receiving more fully of His fullness. Oh, what fullness is yet available to us in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming to dwell among humanity. We worship you for the fullness of grace available in You. We appreciate so much the layers of Your grace that You have built into our lives. We reach out to You with expectation for the grace that is yet needed for the days ahead. This we ask in Your holy name, Amen