Today’s devotion comes from Leviticus 22:17-32. Here is a link to this Scripture – http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+22&version=NASB
I quote the following verses.
“17 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or of the aliens in Israel who presents his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they present to the Lord for a burnt offering— 19 for you to be accepted—it must be a male without defect from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. 20 Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. 21 When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. …
31 So you shall keep My commandments, and do them; I am the Lord.
32 “You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the sons of Israel; I am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out from the land of Egypt, to be your God; I am the Lord.” Leviticus Chapter 22: Verses 17-21 and 31-33.
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“Then you will know that I am the Lord when I have dealt with you for My name’s sake, not according to your evil ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.’” Ezekiel 20:39-44.
Our deeds were corrupt. Even our will was corrupt. We were so extensively corrupted by sin such that we were dead in sin. “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.” Ephesians 2:1-2.
Thus, we could not trust either our votive offerings dedicated to fulfill a special vow or even our spontaneous freewill offerings. We needed a perfect offering.
But, there is hope!
“And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,” Hebrews 5:9.
“But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:11-14.
So, who are we going to trust?
Are we going to trust our corrupted works or corrupted will?
Or, are we going to trust the perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ?
“Thus says the LORD, ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD. For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD.’ ” Jeremiah 17:5-7.
Although most people will not trust their works to earn them salvation, they really trust their free-will choice of Christ to earn them salvation. They think that they deserve some credit, maybe only 1% – but some credit, because of their own free-will choice of Christ. They think that Christ died for everyone and everyone received the blood of Christ, but what distinguishes them as receiving salvation is that they chose Christ through their own free-will.
Reformed Doctrine will not allow any of that false heresy to stand. See Canons of Dordt – http://www.prca.org/cd_index.html
Reformed Doctrine pounds the table on “Total Depravity”, the “T” of “TULIP”, the Five Points of Calvinism, the Reformed Doctrine of Salvation. Our only chance for salvation is “Unconditional Election” by God, and that for those elect, God did everything for their salvation from “Limited Atonement” through “Irresistible Grace” through “Preservation of the Saints”.
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:4-9.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD.” In other words, blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust does not comes from their own free-will but whose trust comes as a gift from the LORD.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 