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To summarize. The four steps towards perfection are:
First.--Sanctification.
Second.--Realization of the oneness existing between the risen Lord and His
people.
Third.--Consciousness that the one who had the strength of death can no longer
hold us in bondage.
Fourth.--That complete provision, both for sins on the one hand (Lev. 16: deals
with the sins of a people already redeemed and separated), and for
wilderness temptations on the other hand, has been made in Christ.
While some of the figures used may not fit the church of the One Body, the blessed
realities are for all saints in all times.
"If we walk in the light . . . . . the blood . . . . . cleanseth us from all sin . . . . . We have
an advocate . . . . . He is the propitiation" (I John 1:, 2:).
#22.
The Heavenly Calling and Profession (3: 1).
pp. 187 - 190
The first word of Heb. 3: is hothen, which properly means "from whence". The idea
intended by its use here may be expressed by saying, "Seeing that things are thus (as
indicated in Heb. 1:, 2:) then I ask you to consider the One who is both apostle and High
Priest of our profession." The title High Priest is one which most believers will associate
with Christ, but how few realize His equal glory as THE Apostle!
One of the special aspects of the Gospel according to John is to set before us Christ as
the Apostle and High Priest. John's Gospel is divided into two sections, the first being
the outer and public ministry (1:-12:, Apostle), the second the inner or private ministry
(13:-21:, High Priest). Both sections begin with a reference to "His own". "He came to
His own, and His own received Him not." "Having loved His own that were in the world,
He loved them unto the end." Here in this thirteenth chapter we see the Apostle and High
Priest.
"Jesus knowing . . . . . that He was COME FROM GOD"--The Apostle.
"And WENT TO GOD"--The High Priest.
This is repeated in the wonderful seventeenth chapter:--
"Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast SENT"--The Apostle.
"I am no more in the world . . . . . I COME TO Thee"--The High Priest.
The fact that Christ was the sent one is the burden of the Gospel. It is aionian life to
recognize Him as the sent one (17: 3). The disciples are marked by the knowledge that