Nuggets
- The Trinity works together to save us.
- Jesus was the only spotless
- Sacrifice that could have been offered that God would accept.
- We are described in the Scriptures as jars of clay.
The Perfection of the Church
The Design of the Temple
If the church is people adopted into God’s kingdom, this adoption occurred because they accepted salvation. That gift was made possible by the sacrifice Jesus. This devotion looks at how that makes Jesus the foundation of the church.
I found a really good sermon by Baker that we are going to as the foundation of this series. It will mostly provide headings and some verses.
Let's Put It into Context
Church, according to the Holman Bible Dictionary, is “the term used in the New Testament most frequently to describe a group of persons professing trust in Jesus Christ, meeting together to worship Him, and seeking to enlist others to become His followers.”
We’ve talked about Jesus as the cornerstone before. Everything is built on Jesus because He is the only way we get reconciled with God. Every time we move forward in our relationship with God, Satan tries harder to attack us. The Holy Spirit lives within us to accomplish the work of regeneration and sanctification.
The Work of the Trinity
“He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” (II Tim. 1: 9 CSB)
It takes all of the Trinity to save us. Let’s look how they work together.
The Father saved them designedly in Christ (2 Timothy 1:9)
The plan was God’s design. He didn’t want us to have broken relationships with Him.
So, before He even created us — before we even disobeyed — God designed the plan of salvation. He knew we would mess up and wrote Plan A accordingly.
God knew that there would need to be atonement for the sin. The only way that would happen is a blood sacrifice.
But it couldn’t be just any sacrifice. It had to be a perfect sacrifice.
The Son saved them positively in Himself (Hebrews 10:14)
“For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy” (Heb. 10: 14 NLT)
We normally think of the sacrifice as spotless and blameless — which Jesus was. I wonder, though, how often we truly hook that to the definition of perfect. Perfect means holy, sanctified, and righteous.
I think we get so caught up in what the Sacrifice wasn’t that we don’t focus on what He was. We focus on, “He wasn’t like us,” without focusing on, “We are called to be like Him.”
We may do this without really realizing it. But how many times do we cut ourselves down when we sin? We tell ourselves we can’t because we are full of sin and He wasn’t. We don’t look at it from the what-are-we-doing-right viewpoint.
The Spirit saves them apprehensively in Christ (Titus 3:5)
“he saved us — not by works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy — through the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Ti. 3: 5 CSB)
We’ve talked before about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Two things He works on is regeneration and renewal.
Regeneration is the change in us that God brings about when we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive. Unfortunately, God doesn’t zap us, and we get changed all at once. We have to work out our salvation (Phil. 2: 12). We do that through the help of the Holy Spirit.
Renewal is similar. It also represents making something new. We many times think about Paul’s talk about renewing our minds by seeking Him. We talked about this when we looked at our disciple’s job description.
Our initial confession renews our relationship with God. Then through the Holy Spirit, He renews us daily because we have to change our mindset.
On Christ the Solid Rock
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Ps. 18: 2 CSB)
Christ, then, is the foundation of the Church (Matthew 16:18)
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Mt. 16: 18 NKJV)
Jesus was the only spotless Sacrifice that could have been offered that God would accept. That was because He was rock solid in facing the temptations Satan threw at Him.
We talked about Jesus telling Peter He would build His church on him in How Is Jesus Our Cornerstone?
Because Peter gave the correct answer of “… You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16: 16 NKJV), he was blessed (Mt. 16: 17 NKJV).
Blessed doesn’t mean Peter was rewarded and made the foundation of the church. Blessed means that he had been perfected: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him” (Jer. 17: 7 NIV). Scroll back if you need refreshed about what perfected means.
Peter was given salvation because He made a clear profession of his faith in Jesus.
Jesus remained the cornerstone on which the church was built. He was building His church on those who professed faith in Him, not on one man.
He is the foundation of all covenant blessings (Ephesians 1:3).
“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ” (Eph. 1: 3 CSB)
We’ve talked about God being blessed. Blessings begin with God, the Father. Spiritual blessings are delivered by the Holy Spirit. The reason we can receive the blessings is because Jesus died for our sins.
How does God bless us? “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows” (Jas. 1: 17 NIV).
Of Faith, Hope, Peace, Joy, Comfort, and Glory
Baker listed what some of those blessings are.
- “I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus” (Ac. 20: 21 CSB)
- “For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory” (Col. 1: 27 CSB).
- “For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us” (Eph. 2: 14 NLT).
- “More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Rom. 5: 11 ESV).
- “comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word” (II Thess. 2: 17 ESV).
- “All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen” (Jude 1: 25 NLT).
Think of that. Our foundation is built on the blessings of faith, hope, peace, joy, comfort, and glory.
Remember, glory is the expression of the qualities of God resulting from the authority of God.
Jars of Clay
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (II Cor. 4: 7 ESV)
We are described in the Scriptures as jars of clay. The Holman Bible Dictionary gives an interesting description of clay.
The clay found in Israel had to be examined to extract foreign objects from it. It then had to be soaked to gain consistency. Finally, it was shaped by the potter into its intended form.
Oh, man. Did you see the correlations?
- Foreign objects — sin
- Soaked — regeneration and sanctification
- Intended form — perfected
Making the Connections
Baker connected Jesus as our Cornerstone to holding the family together.
- “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2: 14 NIV).
- “You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect” (Heb. 12: 23 NLT).
Unfortunately, not everyone accepts the gift of salvation and believes Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone” (Ps. 118: 22 NLT).
That doesn’t diminish the plan or the One Who fulfilled the plan. “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem, a firm and tested stone. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on. Whoever believes need never be shaken’” (Isa. 28: 16 NLT).
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
We have to make sure we firmly believe in the foundation. “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 3: 11 NIV). If we don’t, there is no need for self-discipline.
We’ve been asking these questions all along so we can prepare for when we are asked. Here is the worksheet again. What would you say about Jesus being the foundation and the only way to gain salvation?
- What does the Scriptures say?
- What do I believe?
- Why do I believe the same/differently than the Scriptures?
- What are the talking points when witnessing to a non-believer?
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
How Do We Apply This?
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Father, we thank You for the gift of salvation. We thank You that Jesus chose to be the Sacrifice on our behalf. We pray that we will live for You daily, striving to become holy and sanctified. Amen.
What do you think?
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