The Veil (3)

“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.” (Hebrews 10:1).

In Hebrews 9:9 we see that the Law cannot “make the worshipper perfect in conscience.” In 10:1 we see that the Law cannot make the worshipper perfect, holistically perfect, healthy and mature.

The imperfect work of the Law is contrasted with the perfect work of Christ (Hebrews 10:8 - 17):

“After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

“Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,

“This is the covenant that I will make with them
After those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws upon their heart,
And on their mind I will write them,”

“He then says,

“And their sins and their lawless deeds
I will remember no more.””

This is a glorious message, the message of Christ’s perfect and complete work on the Cross, the rending of the veil, conscience cleansed, sins and lawless deeds forgiven and remembered no more. While we may not understand all of this, the Trinity calls us to live in its reality, to live in Christ and to know that Christ lives in His people.

Can we not see the stark contrast presented by the Holy Spirit through the author of Hebrews? Can we see this same contrast in Paul, for example in 2 Corinthians Chapter 3, where the Law of Moses is termed “the ministry of condemnation”, where we are told that the letter of the Law “kills, but the Spirit gives life”?

If we see the perfection of Christ and His perfect work, then why do we so often insist on reintroducing a consciousness of sin into our congregations and thinking? Why do we often insist that we focus on who we were rather than who we are in Jesus Christ? Why must we sew up the veil that Christ has rent in two? Why can we not confess Christ as He is portrayed in Scripture and confess how His work is portrayed, and trust the Holy Spirit to convict us and mature us as God transforms us into the image of His Son (Romans 8:29)?

If we can confess the perfect work of Christ, while not seeing the perfection of that work fully manifested; why can we not confess His perfect work within us - while not having seen the full expression of that perfection? Why live outside the veil when we are called to live within the veil - with the veil being removed from our vision - for it is gone. Why have some of us allowed ourselves to be imprisoned in thoughts and language that are less than Biblical? Can we not trust the Word of God as it is written?

If I preach to people under the Law then I will employ the language of the Law, if I preach to people under grace then I will use the language of grace. But since I live under grace I shall preach grace, and when I encounter those still living under the Law I will also preach grace; I will proclaim Christ and Christ alone and will tell them of Christ’s cosmic Emancipation Proclamation - “It is finished”. That which is perfect has come, the Law with its continual reminder of sin and imperfection has been replaced by Christ, and the veil has been torn by Christ from top to bottom and the Way is open for us into the very Presence of God.

We are to “stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free” (Galatians 5:1), we “have been called to freedom” (Galatians 5:13) - how can we seek to rebuild those things which we destroyed (Galatians 2:18)? Again I ask, how can we sew up the veil?

This quote is from Bonhoeffer’s Discipleship, it’s from the chapter titled Saints, “Their [Christians] breach with the past is an accomplished fact. Their “former” manner of life has come to an end (Eph. 4:22). “You were darkness, but now are light in the Lord” (Eph. 5:8). Whereas they had once performed shameful and “unfruitful works of the flesh,” the Spirit now produces in them the fruit of sanctification [holiness].

“This is why Christians are no longer to be called sinners, in the sense of men who are still living under the dominion of sin...On the contrary, they were once sinners, ungodly, enemies (Rom. 5:8, 19; Gal. 2:15, 17), but now through Christ they are holy. As saints they are reminded and exhorted to be what they are. But this is not an impossible ideal, it is not sinners who are required to become holy, or that would mean a return to justification by works and would be blasphemy against Christ. No, it is saints who are required to be holy, saints who have been sanctified in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.”

Are we living within the veil, in the Presence of God? Are we preaching and teaching this? Do we really believe the Gospel in all of God’s glory in Jesus Christ?