Is It ‘Finished’? It Has To Be.

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
John 19:30

“And by God’s will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all… For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Hebrews 10:10,14

When Jesus said, “It is finished”, He meant it. He didn’t mean it was 80% complete. He didn’t mean it was mostly finished. He didn’t mean we still had some work to do on our own. It’s the reason why the author of Hebrews claimed we’d been sanctified. Once. All of us.

It has to be finished.

It’s the only way to love God and love others as we love ourselves.

Because if it isn’t finished, I still owe God something for my sins. I’ll become angry, resentful and frustrated about owing a debt I can’t pay. Which makes it impossible to love Him.

If it isn’t finished I’m going to hate myself and be ashamed as a sinner. Which makes it impossible to love myself.

And if it isn’t finished, and if I can’t love myself, then I’m not going to love anybody else because nobody else is ever going to be good enough to deserve my love, either.

So you see, the only way we can love God is if God’s work was finished on the cross. And the only way we can love others as we love ourselves is if we’ve all been saved through Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice.

It is finished. Stop living in fear, wondering if God’s work was enough for you. And stop worrying about everyone else, whether God’s work was enough for them. Once-for-all means exactly what it sounds like.

Once. For all.