The Sacrifice of Christ

Hebrews 10 

Legacy Standard Bible

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 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. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says,

“Sacrifice and offering You have not desired,
But a body You have prepared for Me;
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come,
In the scroll of the book it is written of Me,
To do Your will, O God.’”

8 After saying above, “Sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have not desired, nor have You taken pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the Law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. 10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12 but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until His enemies are put as a footstool for His feet. 14 For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

16 “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,

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

18 Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.

A New and Living Way

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Warning Against Willful Sin

26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy by the mouth of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has regarded as defiled the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge His people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings, 33 partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and afflictions, and partly by becoming sharers with those who were so treated. 34 For you also showed sympathy to the prisoners and accepted with joy the seizure of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better and lasting possession. 35 Therefore, do not throw away that confidence of yours, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

37 For yet in a very little while,
He who is coming will come, and will not delay.
38 But My righteous one shall live by faith,
And if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him.

39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

Podcast Episode: Faith, Strength, And Mercy

Pip: Dan Danno Romann writes like someone who keeps a Bible in one hand and a very direct question in the other — and today's posts are no exception.

Mara: Rev. Dan Danno covers a lot of ground here — prayer, love and anger, the biggest book he's ever read, and what it actually means to put on spiritual armor. Let's start with prayer and what it promises.

Prayer And Divine Guidance

Mara: Jeremiah 33:3 is a short post, but the verse it centers is a direct invitation — call, and expect an answer.

Pip: The post frames it as a standing offer, not a one-time event.

Mara: Which means the stakes are practical: prayer isn't a formality here, it's the mechanism. The post treats the verse as a genuine promise worth taking seriously.

Pip: From there, the territory shifts — same conviction, different temperature.

Anger, Love, And Mercy

Pip: The question underneath this cluster is whether love is a feeling or a practice — and the posts take a clear side.

Mara: First John 3 lays it out directly: "Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words."

Pip: So sentiment doesn't count. The standard is what you actually do when another person is in need.

Mara: Fools Vent Their Anger approaches the same territory from the opposite direction — what unchecked anger costs. And Mercy Found a Way rounds it out by showing the exit ramp: mercy as the thing that breaks the cycle when anger and failure have done their damage.

Pip: Love as verb, anger as warning, mercy as the door out. That's a complete argument.

Mara: And it points straight toward the question of who's steering — which is where providence comes in.

Providence And Christian Reflection

Mara: Two posts here open with the same question: "What's the longest book you've ever read?" — and the answer shapes everything that follows.

Pip: That's either a great hook or a very committed bit. Probably both.

Mara: The post titled Providence answers it plainly: "The longest book I've ever read is Providence by John Piper." That's the anchor — a serious, sustained engagement with the idea that God's purposeful governance runs through everything.

Pip: Which makes it more than a reading log. It's a claim about how the world works.

Mara: Providence by John Piper frames the same territory from the book's own angle — Piper's argument that providence isn't passive background but active, specific, and personal. The Dan Danno Podcast is also linked here as a companion, a place where these ideas keep moving beyond the page.

Pip: A book that size demands that kind of follow-through. The armor passage fits right alongside it.

Spiritual Strength And Armor

Mara: Be Strong- opens in Ephesians 6 and doesn't ease into it: "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world forces of this darkness."

Pip: So the armor isn't metaphorical decoration — it's the appropriate gear for a real conflict.

Mara: The passage lists each piece: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the word of God — and ties it all to persistent, Spirit-led prayer. The point is that none of it works in isolation.

Pip: Full kit, fully worn. That's the standard.


Mara: Call and expect an answer. Love through action. Read the long books. Wear the full armor.

Pip: Consistent thread — none of it is decorative. More to come next time.

St John Chapter 3

John 3

Evangelical Heritage Version

Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.”

3 Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

5 Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God! 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above. 8 The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

10 “You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these things? 11 Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

14 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. 19 This is the basis for the judgment: The light has come into the world, yet people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. 20 In fact, everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, or else his deeds would be exposed. 21 But the one who does what is true comes toward the light, in order that his deeds may be seen as having been done in connection with God.”

Jesus and John the Baptist

22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside where he spent some time with them and was baptizing.

23 John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People kept coming and were being baptized, 24 for John had not been thrown into prison yet.

25 Then an argument broke out between John’s disciples and a certain Jew about purification. 26 His disciples came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him!”

27 John answered, “A man cannot receive a single thing, unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves are witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent ahead of him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and listens for him, is overjoyed when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

31 The one who comes from above is superior to everyone. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in a way that belongs to the earth. The one who comes from heaven is superior to everyone. 32 He testifies about what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 The one who has received his testimony has certified that God is true. 34 In fact, the one whom God has sent speaks God’s words, for God gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has put everything in his hands. 36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, God’s wrath remains on him

No One Righteous

Legacy Standard Bible

There Is None Righteous

Romans 3 

1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What then? If some did not believe, does their unbelief abolish the faithfulness of God? 4 May it never be! Rather, let God be true and every man a liar, as it is written,

“That You may be justified in Your words, And overcome when You are judged.”

5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is the God who inflicts wrath unrighteous? (I am speaking in human terms.) 6 May it never be! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie the truth of God abounded to His glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “Let us do evil that good may come”? Their condemnation is just.

9 What then? Are we better? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; 10 as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open tomb, With their tongues they keep deceiving,” “The poison of asps is under their lips”; 14 “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”; 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood, 16 Destruction and misery are in their paths, 17 And the path of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

19 Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are in the Law, so that every mouth may be shut and all the world may become accountable to God; 20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

The Righteousness of God through Faith

21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith, for a demonstration of His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that faith, is one.

31 Do we then abolish the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

The Fear of God

John Bunyan

When God giveth his presence to his people, that his presence causeth them to appear to themselves more what they are, than at other times, by all other light, they can see. “O my lord,” said Daniel, “by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me”; and why was that, but because by the glory of that vision, he saw his own vileness more than at other times. So again: “I was left alone,” says he, “and saw this great vision”; and what follows? Why, “and there remained no strength in me; for my comeliness was turned into corruption, and I retained no strength” (Dan 10:8,16). By the presence of God, when we have it indeed, even our best things, our comeliness, our sanctity and righteousness, all do immediately turn to corruption and polluted rags. The brightness of his glory dims them as the clear light of the shining sun puts out the glory of the fire or candle, and covers them with the shadow of death. See also the truth of this in that vision of the prophet Isaiah. “Wo is me,” said he, “for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” Why, what is the matter? how came the prophet by this sight? Why, says he, “mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isa 6:5). But do you think that this outcry was caused by unbelief? No; nor yet begotten by slavish fear. This was to him the vision of his Saviour, with whom also he had communion before (vv 2–5).

The Fear of God

John Bunyan

Humility

Daily Word

Philippians 2:1-11

Christ’s Example of Humility

[1] So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2] complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Transfiguration

Luke 9:28-36

The Transfiguration

[28] Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. [29] And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. [30] And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, [31] who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. [32] Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. [33] And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. [34] As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. [35] And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” [36] And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Do not be worried

““Do not be worried and upset,” Jesus told them. “Believe in God and believe also in me. There are many rooms in my Father’s house, and I am going to prepare a place for you. I would not tell you this if it were not so. And after I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to myself, so that you will be where I am.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭GNT‬‬

True Deliverance!

“And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh; and Satan was standing on his right to accuse him. But Yahweh said to Satan, “Yahweh rebukes you, O Satan! Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! Is this not a stick snatched from the fire?” And Joshua was clothed in filthy garments and was standing before the angel. And he answered and said to the ones standing before him, saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And he said to him, “See, I have taken away your guilt from you, and will clothe you with rich garments.” And I said, “Let them put a clean headband on his head.” And they put a clean headband on his head, and they clothed him with garments. And the angel of Yahweh was standing by.

And the angel of Yahweh assured Joshua, saying, “Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my requirements, then you will judge my house, and you will also guard my courtyards, and I will give to you passageways among these that are standing here. Listen, please, O Joshua the high priest, you and your companions that are sitting before you. For the men are a sign that, look, I am going to bring my servant the Branch. For consider, the stone that I set before Joshua, on one stone are seven eyes. Look, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘and I will remove the guilt of that land in a single day. On that day,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘you will invite one another under the vine and under the fig tree.’ ””
‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ ‭LEB‬‬

Set Your Mind On Christ

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
Colossians 3: 1-4

Romans 8: 1-17

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed, it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, then the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. So then, brothers and sisters, we are obligated, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs: heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if we in fact suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭17‬ ‭

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