| From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase |
Part four of a series. Read part three.
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Editor's Note: Continuing in chapter three of Profiting From the Word, Arthur Pink brings us to a much-neglected truth in our day: the vital imperative of understanding Christ's perfections. In far too many churches today, Jesus is viewed as nothing more than a man of a somewhat higher order, perhaps "divine" in some sense - but not the Christ of the Bible, the God-man of infinite perfections. In fact, reliable surveys report that the majority of self-described evangelicals do not even believe that Jesus led an absolutely sinless life while on this earth. If that is true, He is unqualified to be our Redeemer, and we are lost in our sins.
But Christ's perfections shout from the pages of Scripture. In Hebrews 7:26, Jesus is spoken of as "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners." The writer of Hebrews under divine inspiration piles one adjective upon another to emphasize not merely Christ's experiential sinlessness, but His impeccability - His inability to sin. The original Greek of this verse is very specific. Jesus is "holy" - hosios, religiously right and holy, as opposed to that which is unrighteous or polluted. Jesus is "harmless" - akakos, void of evil. Jesus is "undefiled" - amiantos, free from contamination. Jesus is "separate from sinners" - kechoorismenos apo toon hamartooloon, literally, divided asunder from those who miss the mark.
Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ trust in a perfect Savior! Let us strive to grow ever deeper in our understanding of His perfections. - Dr. Paul Elliott
An individual is profited from the Scriptures when he becomes more engrossed with Christ's perfections. It is a sense of need which first drives the soul to Christ, but it is the realization of His excellency which draws us to run after Him. The more real Christ becomes to us, the more are we attracted by His perfections. At the beginning He is viewed only as a Savior, but as the Spirit continues to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us we discover that upon His head are "many Crowns" (Revelation 19:12).
Of old it was said, "His name shall be called Wonderful" (Isaiah 9:6); His name signifies all that He is as made known in Scripture. "Wonderful" are His offices, in their number, variety, sufficiency. He is the Friend that sticks closer than a brother, to help in every time of need. He is the great High Priest, who is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He is the Advocate with the Father, who pleads our cause when Satan accuses us.
Our great need is to be occupied with Christ, to sit at His feet as Mary did, and receive out of His fullness. Our chief delight should be to "consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession" (Hebrews 3:1): to contemplate the various relations which He sustains to us, to meditate upon the many promises He has given, to dwell upon His wondrous and changeless love for us. As we do this, we shall so delight ourselves in the Lord that the siren voices of this world will lose all their charm for us.
Ah, my reader, do you know anything about this in your own actual experience? Is Christ the chief among ten thousand to your soul? Has He won your heart? Is it your chief joy to get alone and be occupied with Him? If not, your Bible reading and study have profited you little indeed.
Next: The Spiritual Profit of Understanding the Preciousness of Christ
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