The Wednesday Word ~ 14 October, 2026 A.D.

Imperfect Faith and the Perfect Sacrifice

-by D G Miles McKee

 

In the Old Testament the sinner transferred his guilt to his substitute by laying his hands on the animal he was to sacrifice (see Leviticus ch. 4). This pointed towards how we are called to, as it were, lay our hand of faith upon on the Lord Jesus.

So with us, if we say we have no sin, we are unqualified for Christ’s saving power and grace (I John 1:8). Christ died for sinners and no others. In the Old Testament, the man who brought a sin offering before the Lord was saying, in effect, “I am a sinner and I must have my sin taken away for I am guilty in the sight of God.  So, I put my hand upon this animal, which is about to die, thereby confessing and transferring my sin to it as my substitute,” (see Leviticus 4:29).

Think about it, many a feeble and diseased hand was laid on the head of the animal, which was to be offered, but this neither altered the character of the sacrifice, nor made it less powerful. In addition, the priest would not turn the sinner away because he was weak and without strength nor would the sacrificial animal be refused because of some deficiency in the worshiper.

The burnt offering was still the burnt offering and even the weakest touch established the connection between the worshiper and his substitute (Romans 5:6). As for us, since God is righteous and just (Jeremiah 23:6) and we, by nature are not and should, therefore, be condemned (Psalm 109:7). But we have a substitute, the Lord Jesus, on Whom we can lay our hand. Often, however, our faith lacks strength but, in His justice, God has forgiven us not because of the perfection of our faith but because of the perfection of our sin offering, Jesus the Christ of God.

When, therefore, we come to God, we don’t come pretending to be something we are not; we don’t come to Him with our goodness or our supposed sanctification to recommend us. We don’t come to Him promising future self-improvement as a condition for mercy; nor do we present our repentance to induce Him to receive us. Instead, we come by faith alone in Christ alone. By faith we look away from our guilt to Christ’s shed blood, we look away from our disobedience to Christ’s perfect obedience, we look away from our unrighteousness to Christ’s righteousness and trust Him and Him alone!

As unrighteous, imperfect people with imperfect faith we come in Jesus’ name to the righteous yet gracious God. Our faith may be imperfect, but because of the perfection of Christ, our sin offering, we find that Christ is not only our Saviour, but He is Himself our salvation.

When Isaac Watts, the great hymn writer, lay dying he said: "I am just waiting to see what God will do with me. If God should raise me up again, and use me to save a soul, that will be worth living for. If He has no more service for me, I can say, through grace, I am ready; I could without alarm, if God please, lay back my head on my pillow and die this afternoon or night. My sins are all cleansed through the Blood of Christ." He then closed his eyes and died. Here are a few lines of one of his hymns:

 

“My faith would lay her hand

On that dear head of Thine,

While like a penitent I stand,

And there confess my sin

My soul looks back to see

The burdens Thou didst bear,

When hanging on the cursed tree,

And knows her guilt was there.

Believing we rejoice

To see the curse removed;

We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice,

And sing His bleeding love."

And that’s the Gospel Truth!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Be of Good Cheer, friends-in-Christ JESUS

"Return, return, O Shulamite, return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? As it were the company of two armies." -Song of Solomon 6:13 [KJV]   It is the church that is here called upon to return, and most likely by the daughters of Jerusalem. Some have thought the church is so called, as being of Salem, or Shulem, the shortened word for Jeru-salem. And some have thought that Salem is the same with Solomon, as the feminine of Solomon, the wife. And others have supposed, that as Jerusalem means peace, the church is called so, on account of her loveliness. And no doubt, in each sense, the church may well be called so, being married to Christ; being of the "Jerusalem that is above, which is the mother of us all;" and being beautiful, peaceful, and lovely in Jesus, as Jerusalem is the praise of the whole earth, Psalm 48:9 . But wherefore is the Shulamite called upon to return, to be looked upon, and with such earnestness...
Read more

Helpful Article re: BE NOT CONFORMED

"...be not conformed to this world." -Romans 12:2 [KJV] In proportion as we are conformed to the spirit of this world our understanding becomes dull in the things of God, our affections cold and torpid, and our consciences less tender and sensitive. There is an eternal opposition between God and the world lying in wickedness.  In order, then, that our spiritual experience of the truth of God should maintain its ground, it must not be dulled and deadened by conformity to the world. It is like the sabre that the soldier carries into battle; it must not trail unsheathed upon the ground lest point and edge be dulled; both must be kept keen and sharp, that execution may be done upon the foe. So it is with our enlightened understanding , with our tender conscience , and our heavenly affections . If we let them fall upon the world, it is like a soldier trailing his sabre upon the pavement; every step he takes dulls both edge and point. If we are conformed to this worl...
Read more

Jehovah Rophi ~ The LORD our Healer!

"He sent His Word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions." -Psalm 107:20 [KJV]   What an effect a word from God can produce! Be it in reading; in hearing; on the knees; or in secret meditation; when a word drops from the Lord's mouth with any divine power into the soul, what a change it produces! And nothing but this divine power can ever bring a poor sinner out of his miserable condition. When this comes, it does the work in a moment; it heals all the wounds which sin has made, and repairs all the breaches in the conscience that folly has produced. One word from God heals them all. The Lord does not come as it were with plasters to heal first one sore and then another. He heals now as in the days of His flesh.    When He healed then, He healed fully, at once, completely. The earthly doctor heals by degrees; he puts a plaster on one sore, and a liniment on another; and heals one by one. But when the Lord heals, it is all done in a momen...
Read more