Apostle and High Priest of our confession:

Hebrews 3:1

1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;

            An apostle is one who is sent to do a task such as establish a new church. A high priest is one who intercedes on behalf of someone else.

            We are called with a Heavenly calling. We partake of that calling when we confess Jesus as Lord. We activate it with our confession. In a sense we “send” Jesus to establish us as a new “tabernacle” for God. He also becomes our High Priest to plead our case before the Father.

            There is also a “lesser” sense in which we confess our faith in the Word that we have something that the Word promises us. This confession “sends” Jesus to establish the fulfilling of the Word we believed in. He also acts as our Intermediary to the Father for the fulfillment of that Word.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "You do not have to worry that you have no representation before the throne of God. You have My Son, who is your High Priest before Me. You do not have to go to some tabernacle or temple in some far off place to receive ministry by your High Priest. He is within you and before Me. He is always making intercession for you before Me. He will always come to your aid. Do not trust in others to come before Me on your behalf. He is the only way to come before Me; and He does so on a continuous basis.”

            37. I have Jesus as the Apostle and High Priest of my confession. I can be sure that I have whatever I have asked for that is in accordance with the Word of God.

He is in you, unless you fail the test:

2 Corinthians 13:5

5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?

Colossians 1:27

27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

            Do you pass the test? Do you know for certain that Christ is in you? If not, then you can know for certain by asking Him to come in and take control of your life.

            This book of course assumes that He is in you and that you don’t fail the test. No student wants to fail the test, and this is one test you want to make sure you pass. Assuming that He is in you, what can we say? That He is your hope of glory. This is not an “I hope I make it to Heaven”. It is a confident expectation that your destination is Heaven.

            It was a mystery to the men and women of old. How could God Himself live inside you? But God said He would put His Spirit within us. The great people of old had the Spirit with them, but we have Him in us. John was told that He upon whom the Spirit came and remained upon that was to be the Christ. They knew about the Spirit coming upon people. He even came upon King Saul after He had strayed, and King Saul prophesied. However, the Spirit didn’t remain with Saul. He stays within us forever.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I am not some God who is far off, but One who is near; even in your heart. Do not look up trying to find Me, but look inward and there you will find Me if you seek Me with all your heart. You are Mine, if I am within you. You have My stamp upon you. My Holy Spirit is the seal of approval upon your heart. You are Mine forever as long as you will have Me.”

            36. Christ is within me. Therefore, I pass the test and have Him as my hope of glory.

What He Became to Us:

            Head of every man:

1 Corinthians 11:3

3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

            What is our relationship to Jesus? He is the head of every man (or woman in this sense). Since He is the Head, we should be listening to the Head and doing what He says. He it is who will direct the body, His church of which we are a part.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "Would you argue with one of your rulers if he were in front of you? Then why do you argue with Me? I am your true leader. I am your true head. There is no one over Me. I am the end of all discussions. There is no way getting around it. I am that I am. You are Mine, and I am your Head.”

            35. Christ is my Head, and as such, I will follow His every request.

Baptism saves you through the resurrection of Jesus:

1 Peter 3:21

21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

            Some Christians believe that you must be water baptized in order to be saved. (Remember that we’re assuming that whatever is needed to get to Heaven has or will be done by you.) This verse and the Great Commission that says “whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved” seem to say that you must be water baptized to get to Heaven. But is it talking about the “born again experience”? After all there are three aspects to salvation: spirit, soul, and body. This verse says that baptism saves you … through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the death of Jesus that saves us spiritually. It is His resurrection that ensures we can live the Christian life (He was delivered up because of our transgressions. He was raised up because of our justification.) Let’s leave it there for now.

            When we are born again, all of our sins are forgiven. Our new man didn’t do them. It was our old man. Therefore, our conscience is clear. We wash away the sins of our old man through baptism as it says in Acts. They no longer have a hold on us. The devil can’t come after us condemning us for something we did before we became a Christian. They are forgiven and washed away.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "I have washed you, My children. I have set you free from your past. There is nothing that you have done that is too great for what I accomplished at Calvary. There is nothing that cannot be forgiven you when you turn to Me. You are Mine. You are washed in My blood and cleansed as no cleansing agent on earth can accomplish. Trust in Me. Do not listen to Satan as he tries to bring up things of the past. They cannot affect you in My love. You are Mine, and you are washed clean.”

            34. My conscience is clear. Everything my old man did wrong has been forgiven and washed away.

Died for sins to bring us to God:

1 Peter 3:18

18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

             

            Thank God that Jesus does not have to die every time we sin. Nor did He have to die for each of us separately. He died one time for all people for all sins. Jesus didn’t deserve to die. We deserved to die (“in the day that you eat of the fruit of the tree, you shall die.”) We have all eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We did it through our “father” Adam, and we fulfilled it ourselves by doing “our own thing”.

            Because He was willing to die in His fleshly body for our sins, He was made alive in the Spirit. We too, when we accept His work on the cross on our behalf, are made alive in the spirit. We are spirit-beings walking around in fleshly “earth-suits”.

If you could hear God speak to you, I believe this is what He would say:

            "There was nothing that you could ever do to bring yourself into My presence. It was for Me to bring you into My presence. You could never become good enough nor do enough good things to make you worthy of My Kingdom. It was His sacrifice that brought you near to Me. You can never repay His sacrifice nor would He want you to.”

            33. Jesus died for me that He might bring me to God and make me alive in the spirit.