salvation doesn't stop at the cross

The Word for today:
Exodus 33


The best way to avoid biblical misunderstanding is to understand the elements of the tabernacle.

That's why we are taking our sweet time as we make our way through.

Today we move past the altar of burnt offering (representative of the cross) to the laver.

The laver was just a big basin of water. It represents our ongoing need for cleansing from sin.

Q. But I thought our sins were forgiven at the altar of burnt offering/cross.
A. They were, totally and forever.
Q. Then what do we need a big basin of water for?
A. Cleansing from sin.
Q. I don't get it.
A. Neither did I--until I saw the pictures of our salvation, in their proper order, in the Tabernacle:

Salvation is a big, all-encompassing word.
It includes justification--which happened at the altar of burnt offering/cross.
It includes sanctification--which happens all the way from the laver to the ark of the covenant.
It includes glorification--which will happen when we are in the presence of God (represented by the ark.)

At the altar/cross, we were justified. There, the penalty of sin was removed.

But the power of sin and the presence of sin remain. That's why saved people still experience sin. Sometimes, in fact, the newly saved can be overwhelmed by the power of sin!

Bother, bother.
This happens because the saved are suddenly more sensitive to sin, bothered by things that didn't much bother them before.
This also happens because until they were saved, they didn't bother the satanic forces! But the saved are a threat to the dominion of darkness and so they are under attack.  The onslaught begins immediately upon conversion and intermittently thereafter.

At the laver, we begin the process of sanctification, during which the power of sin gradually diminishes as the saved believer becomes in experience more and more like Christ.

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This table shows the contrast between justification and sanctification:

Justification                                                  Sanctification
took place the moment you trusted Christ…    is God’s lifelong process in you.
is an act of God…………………………...     is a work of God.
is for us……………………………………     is in us.
declares the sinner righteous………………    makes the sinner righteous.
removes the guilt and penalty of sin……...     removes the growth and power of sin.

The sanctifying, cleansing agents represented by the laver filled with water are--

1. The Word of God:
“Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you.”  (John 15:3).\
"Sanctify them by your truth: your word is truth.”  (John 17:17)

2. The Holy Spirit,
who administers the washing of water by the word.  (Ephesians 5:25-26)

3. Confession of sin:
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (1 John 1:9)

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The Tabernacle teaches us that salvation doesn't stop at the burnt altar/cross. We are born again at the cross, but there is still a lot of growing up to do!

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