Garry preached from Hebrews 10:14 this morning: “by one sacrifice He has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy.”
There is a difference between the once-and-for-all sacrifice of Christ (a completed action in the past) and the ongoing work of sanctification by which we are made holy (in the present continuous.)
Christ’s sacrifice was necessary because there was absolutely nothing we could do to rescue ourselves or redeem ourselves from sin. His sacrifice put an end to the sacrificial system (which was a shadow of His perfect sacrifice) and now God sees us as being perfect; when He looks at us, He sees us wearing ‘the righteousness of Christ.’ There is nothing we can do to add to this work of God – it’s like the bridge which has the keystone in it and which is firmly secure as a result of this.
God works in partnership with us, however, in making us holy (separate from what is profane, cleansed, purified, consecrated to God.) This is an ongoing work of cleansing: we are the workmanship of God and yet we are also team players with God in sanctification. God wants to work with us to purify us (Eph 4:11-16), providing teachers and others to help us to grow, carrying on this great work until the day of completion (see Phil 1:6, 1 John 3:1).
We need, therefore, to rest in what Christ has done for us whilst at the same time being vigorously involved with Him as He works to make us like Christ. We must both rest in the completed sacrifice of Christ and labour towards our sanctification, the goal of which is ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Col 1:27)