Focal Point

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Do you need to be more like Christ? You still got sin problems in your life? So do I. Does that mean the work of Christ is not finished? No, Christ has done everything. He hit it out of the park, and now the Holy Spirit in our life is trying to work out the process of sanctification. The things that are wrong in our lives, we will continue to see victory in these areas, and we will become more like Christ. That's called sanctification.

Dave Druby: And welcome to Focal Point with Pastor Mike Fabarez. I'm Dave Druby. The message of Jesus Christ is surprisingly simple. Even children can understand the Gospel. Yet in almost every generation, there are people who have looked at God's Word and said, "Oh, there must be more."

Either through addition or subtraction, people are constantly trying to amend God's message of redemption. So, should we be expecting a Newer Testament? Keep that question in mind as Pastor Mike continues our series called "Christ Changed Everything."

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Consider, if you would, historically names like Joseph Smith, Mary Baker Eddy, Charles Taze Russell, Ellen G. White—you know some of these names—Muhammad, Sun Myung Moon. All these people, including a whole host of characters on cable TV these days, are in some way discontent with the message of the New Testament. They see, in some way, the insufficiency of what we know of Christ as presented in the Bible.

They don't care for that. They want something a little new, Jesus 2.0, truth of the New Covenant, an upgraded version. They are happy to proffer and hand out and peddle a new kind of Christ, and unfortunately, there are lots of people lined up to buy it, feeling like they must be missing something. They sense there's got to be more to this than what we read in the New Testament, and people are quick to offer whatever else it is.

They might suggest that Christ provided all you need to get to heaven, but really there's more that you've got to know if you want to live right before God. Pick the plethora of cult groups, particularly those that started in the 19th century in America, where people said, "Listen, what you need is more. You need more information. Maybe God can save you based on the merits of Christ, but you need more information if you're going to live in a way that's holy and pleasing to Him."

People were out there peddling all their extra and new revelations to people, saying, "Come and line up and listen to me, and I'll tell you what you need because what you have in your lap is not everything you need. You need more." Jot this down; this is important. The Bible is very clear that the church is now being built upon two things: the foundation and the cornerstone.

The cornerstone is Christ. The foundation was the ministry of the apostles and the prophets. That's the ministry that God founds the church on, and then he says you Ephesians are being built on top of that. You're being built on top of what? The foundation of the apostles and prophets. Their ministry provides us the inspired, great, and precious promises of God, and from that, we build the church.

Now, here's the thing. I've never seen the pictures in the Orange County Register in the church section where Apostle Danny is giving his new word from God up in Santa Ana, but I'm assuming if they're really an apostle of Christ, that picture, I really want to see it because their body's going to be old and wrinkled. I mean, they're going to be really old.

According to the Scriptures, and you remember in the beginning of the book of Acts, the only way you would ever be deemed an apostle is to have been a part of the first-century ministry of Christ, observing the miracles, teaching, death, and resurrection of Christ. That's the only way. Therefore, you'd have to be 2,000 years old to be a valid biblical prophet or apostle in this age.

Everything is done in the first century, and upon that is built the church. You and I are building our lives, redemption, escaping the corruption of the world, and my sanctification is all being done because of my reliance on the work of the apostles and prophets. It's no mistake—one more passage, end of the book.

It's no mistake that the last book of God's revealed book, the revelation of God both chronologically and canonically, is written by the oldest surviving apostle, the disciple John, who walked and lived and saw the resurrected Christ. He says something that is true not only about the book of Revelation, though that's specifically in view. Take a look at this, Revelation chapter 22, if you're not already there.

He says, "I warn everyone," verse 18, "who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life, in the holy city, which are described in this book."

What's the book in view? Obviously, the book of Revelation. I think it's good advice for us to recognize, as Jesus warned in Matthew 24:24, that there would be many false prophets and false Christs that go into the world claiming a new thing, saying, "Hey, over here, look over here, Christ over here." Here was Jesus's very terse and simple admonition: do not believe them.

Don't believe them. He says people are going to try to deceive you, even people claiming miraculous signs and wonders. And he says this: do not believe them, and have I not warned you ahead of time? The last days of the last days, the last period of the last days, Jesus said, is going to be known for people trying to say, "Hey, I got something new."

It was no mistake that in this last generation, the last two or three generations here, especially in affluent America, we've got people popping up left and right, going, "Hey, we got a new word from God over here. We got a new word from God." Even in the evangelical church, it seems epidemic now that people want to say, "I got a new word from God." Be assured the New Testament provides a complete and perfect salvation. The New Covenant documents themselves, the New Covenant Christ has provided all that we need.

Turn back to Hebrews chapter 10, if you would. You can hear all that and say, "Well, that's interesting. If this is perfect and complete, I'm looking around and I'm thinking it's not having a perfect and complete effect because the church is messed up, and Christians are messed up, and the world's messed up. Wow, if God's done with His redemptive work and Christ has done all the atoning work that there is to do, it's not looking real good."

That sense of discontent right there is the whole reason that people have cashed in their old Jesus Christ of the New Covenant and looked for a new one. It's like my kid sitting there with his GameCube going, "I can't get this game. I can't figure it out. It's too hard. I want a PS3." What? You know, the problem isn't with the box you got. The problem's with the player.

The issue of the New Covenant and people all the time trying to look for a new thing is based on a discontent about what's going wrong here and now. Well, Jesus addresses this for us in this text through the writer of Hebrews. He says in verse number 12, just to get some context, 12 through 14, he says when the priest had offered this priest, a Melchizedekian priest, Christ himself had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

Since that time—circle these two words—he waits. What's he waiting for? His enemies to be made his footstool. Now, invert that logically in your mind. That means right now he is waiting and there are things that are not under his footstool, so to speak. I know that's all imagery, but think about it. He's got enemies, and those enemies out there are not all brought into some kind of practical subjection to Christ and all of his redemptive work.

Because, verse 14, by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. So whatever it is and the juxtaposition of those two phrases is interesting: he's done something complete, but there's something left undone. He's done something complete, but it hasn't worked itself out completely. He's done something that is perfect, but it hasn't perfectly had all of its effects yet.

The best way I can illustrate that, and I know I've done it before, forgive me for repeating myself, is when the baseball player knocks one over center field and it's out and it's gone and everybody stands up and cheers. Why? Because there's no doubt about the scoreboard. And yet, even with the bases loaded, the score doesn't go on because there's one little thing you got to do first: you got to jog around and touch all the bags.

All those guys have to be brought home. Now, I know it's taken 2,000 years to round the bases. I get it. It's a long run around the bases, but God is running the bases. He handed the baton off from Christ to the Spirit, and Jesus leaves and sends His Spirit, and the Spirit is going to work out and apply all the redemptive work of Christ until all of the things that are not right are brought into subjection under His feet.

That takes place in three ways. Let's put number two down. Be assured of this: the New Testament—we don't need new revelation, we don't need something brand new, we don't need a new version of Christ—everything in the New Covenant has provided for us the solution for the world's problems. Everything in the world, everything that is wrong with the world, including your life and mine, has been provided for and paid for by the atonement. It's been taken care of.

Now, follow me now in three areas. The first one, let's just start personally with you and me. Most of us here, repentant people, ask God to forgive our sins, we put our trust in Christ, we're Christians now. Back up to verse 14. I just read that one for you; look at it again. "Because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever." Are you made perfect forever? Well, according to this verse, I am.

How do I know I've been made perfect forever? Because I'm one of those who are being made holy. Do you see two things going on here? If you were with us when I was teaching through Romans about a year ago, we looked at this verse and it was super important for us as we understood the distinction in Romans between justification and sanctification. Remember that distinction?

Something's going on here. I've been made perfect forever. What does that mean? That even if I, the moment I repented of my sins and put my trust in Christ, responded to the finished work of Christ, I have been made perfect, like the thief on the cross. I completely have all the credentials to live with a holy God forever. How do I know I'm judicially and legally made right before God?

Well, you should be able to look at my life and then begin to see a process of practically being made holy. My life should be changing. And if my life is changing from sinfulness to less sinfulness to more Christ-likeness, then that is evidence that I am made right judicially. That's the distinction between justification, being made right before God in heaven, and sanctification, a process of moving me from where I am to be more like Christ.

That distinction's important. Now, in this text, it says this: that Christ has done whatever it takes for me not only to be made right before God, justification, but He's already in the process of making me holy. That is the process of sanctification, and guess what? That's all been provided for too. Has it all been applied? Has the Holy Spirit rounded all the bases in my own life? No, He's working on some things in my life. How about yours, Mr. Perfect, right?

You're not there yet either. Do you need to be more like Christ? You still got sin problems in your life? So do I. You know what that means? We need more sanctification. Does that mean the work of Christ is not finished? No. Does that mean we need a new version of the Bible? No. Does that mean we need some kind of new Christ 2.0? No. Christ has done everything. He hit it out of the park, and now the Holy Spirit in our life is trying to work out the process of sanctification.

The things that are wrong in our lives, if we have time on this earth to continue to walk with Christ, we will continue to see victory in these areas and we will become more like Christ. That's called sanctification, and whatever is needed for that process has been provided by the life, death, and resurrection of Christ because He's already at work in it.

I don't want to get too far afield here, but jot this down at least. 1 Corinthians 15. Now think about this. We've got bodies that are diseased and riddled with all kinds of imperfections and eventually the biological unit is dying and eventually it will die. That doesn't seem to match the work of Christ in redemption. If Christ has taken away the wages of sin, which is death, then I should see the death problem reversed.

Death is an enemy of God according to 1 Corinthians 15, and Paul utilizes the verbiage of talking about the enemies being put under Christ's feet, and he says one enemy that has yet to be put under His feet in practical terms is your biological death. He's got to fix that problem, and He will through the resurrection. But to show He's already paid for it, He brought forth the first fruits from the grave, and who was the first fruits from the grave?

Christ. Because sin was taken care of, He accelerated this whole resurrection thing and He popped Christ out of the grave in three days to prove that He was in there long enough to be sure that everybody knew He was dead, and now He's coming out to show He's got victory over death. I have victory over death, you have victory over death, but that enemy has to be put under Christ's feet in practical, real-time terms by me being resurrected.

That hasn't happened yet, and it hasn't happened for any Christian loved one that you know that's been laid in a grave, but it will. The Holy Spirit is working out His plan, and one of the things with an exercise of His power that He will do is pop all of our biological units out of a grave, recondition them, refurbish them according to the manufacturer's specs, and He's going to put us in a new place called the New Jerusalem.

That's going to happen, and it's going to happen because Christ has to make another payment yet, because He's got a few installments to make on the payments till that works, right? No, it's already been paid for. He just hasn't exercised that right yet. Another great phrase—and I don't want to confuse too many passages here—but in Revelation chapter 11, there's a great statement in verse 17, and it's all about the eschatological events as it relates particularly to the relief of the church who's being persecuted by the world.

And here's what he says: the angels and the saints cheer on God as the end-time events unfold in this picture in the book of Revelation, and they say this: they say, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the one who is, the one who was and is to come, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign." He didn't just get his power; he's had his power, but now he's going to utilize that power to bring more of his enemies and things that aren't right in the universe under subjection.

Keep your finger in Hebrews 10 and turn back to Hebrews 2, please. I should have read this earlier for you, but it'll tie it all together; it's the same comment, same statement. Hebrews chapter 2. Look at verse 8; it says He's going to put everything under His feet. There's the whole Psalm 110 quotation. Now look in the middle of verse 8. This is Hebrews 2:8. "In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him."

Yet—now read the rest of it—"At present we do not see everything subject to him." How's that? Well, it's not that he hasn't earned the right; it's that he hasn't exercised the right. It's not that he hasn't made the payment; it's that he hasn't actually walked through and made it happen. He hasn't put it physically in real time under his feet. And that's exactly the issue for us.

He made us holy judicially in heaven, but He's working out the process of holiness in our life. That's letter A. In your life and mine, there's a lot of things that are wrong, and you know what? He's done all that it takes to fix those problems. It's called sanctification; He's working on it in your life. Secondly, the world. Now I'm going, "Okay, He's fixed the problems for me. What about the world? The world's a mess."

People are out there doing all kinds of things. They have no interest in following Christ or following His Word. They're doing their rebellious thing every day; it makes it on the 11 o'clock news every night. What's wrong with this world? It's messed up. Now, according to the Bible, He's done everything that's needed to fix all the problems of the world. His redemptive work and lordship has been paid for; it's complete, it's done.

Then why isn't He really the Lord in people's lives? Side note: He will be, by the way. Even before He tosses some people into outer darkness, they will all, according to Philippians 2, bow before him; every knee will bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of the glory of God the Father. You know what precedes that verse? That God has exalted him to the highest place. He has already been exalted to the highest place, and he is the boss, he's the king.

The problem is he hasn't exercised that bossness, that lordship in everybody's life in a practical sense, but he's already earned the right to be there. How do we deal with that in this world? What is our response? What is our commitment as it relates to that? One simple thing; jot this word down, and we'll show this to you in Scripture: it's the word evangelism.

The bottom line is God has provided a way for me to confront the world with what's wrong, and it's the cross of Jesus Christ. And that does one of two things. Go to John chapter 6 with me. And again, this is a passage I know that may tweak your mind theoretically on a finer point of soteriology, the salvation of people, but look past the knotty concern of philosophically figuring out predestination and just look at this verse.

To give you a sense that as it relates to God saving lost people, He's got it under control, and our responsibility is simply to present the world with Christ. Look at John 6. Are you there? Verse 37. "All that the Father gives me," this is Christ speaking, "will come to me." Now, apparently, there's some transaction here in eternity past where these future people here, God is the Father is giving them as gifts to the Son.

And the text says, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I've come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of them that he has given to me, but I'll raise them up on the last day."

And that reeks of that whole statement in Romans 8: that if He's predestined us, you can look through all those big words to the last one: He's glorified us. Now, that's what we call a prophetic perfect. I'm not glorified yet. I haven't gotten to that place. As a matter of fact, there's a lot of Christians that are being drawn to Christ that aren't even justified yet, let alone glorified in the New Jerusalem.

Well, that hasn't happened, but it's such a certain thing because of God's redemptive plan that was completely paid for on the cross that He can state it as though it's already happened. In Hebrew, it's an idiom that filtered into Greek, and we call it a prophetic perfect. It's stated in the past because it's so certain God's going to get it done. Those He's—you know how it is—those He's predestined He's called, if He's called He's justified, if He's justified He's glorified them.

Well, that hadn't happened for any of us yet, but it's as though it's already happened because God's plan of reaching out to those that He's called, He is not going to lose one of them. He's going to bring them all to Himself. What stands between that and where they are now? Well, people like you and me presenting them with Christ. That's why evangelism is so important. We go out and tell the world, "Hey, Christ is the answer to the problem of you not making it before a holy God when you die."

And as you do that, God says He's going to draw those people to Himself. Or, like you've already experienced, not. Or you're going to present Christ to those people and they're going to go, "Ick, yuck, stupid, get away from me." As a matter of fact, Paul put it this way: to some we're a fragrance of life, and to others we're a stench of death.

See, the same message, the same Gospel, the same appeal to get right with a holy God, and some go, "Yes, you're right, I need that," and Christ draws them. And others say, "I don't want anything to do with that." And in their rebellion, they put their hand up and they stiff-arm you and they say, "I'm not interested in hearing that stuff." It's a stumbling block to them.

Turn ahead. That's part of the Holy Spirit running the bases, by the way. Turn ahead to chapter 16 if you're still in John. We're in John 6; go to John 16. Jesus said that's part of the handoff of the baton from Christ hitting it over the fence to the pinch runner, if you will, coming in, the Holy Spirit, and running the bases. As He runs the bases, part of what He's doing is collecting a team for Himself.

The other part of what He's doing is proclaiming His lordship to people who are going to stiff-arm Him and reject Him. Take a look at it. Look at verse 7. "I tell you the truth." He talks to his disciples, Jesus, and he says, "It's good that I'm going away." And that didn't compute for them. He says, "Unless I go away, the Counselor, the Paracletos, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, he won't come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you."

See, there's the pinch runner. "When he comes," here's what he's going to do, "He's going to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgment. In regard to sin because men do not believe me," and they will be convicted of that. "In regard to righteousness because I'm going to the Father where you can see me no longer," and they'll have no lived-out standard of righteousness, so the Holy Spirit's going to work in concert with their conscience and show a standard of righteousness, and they'll be convicted.

"And in regard to judgment because not only them but the prince of the world now stands condemned." The ministry of Christ won that battle for the universe. But the Spirit, as He runs the bases, so to speak, even though the work has been done, is going to not only collect for Himself redeemed people—which is why we exist as a church on this earth; in heaven we can go to heaven and worship Him and learn all about Christ, but now we're here to reach lost people for Him—He's also going to, as He presents the lordship of Christ and the message of the Gospel, people are going to go, "No thanks. I am not interested."

He already exists and has been exalted to the highest place, the redemptive work or the right hand of the majesty in heaven. Part of the job now for us practically speaking is to present him to a lost world, and God will fix it. He'll either present them with the accountability of the Gospel and judgment, or he will draw them to himself and bring them into the family.

Dave Druby: The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago. It doesn't need a revision; it needs to be received. You're listening to Focal Point and a message from Pastor Mike Fabarez called "Should We Be Expecting a Newer Testament?" Stay with us over the coming weeks as we continue this study in Hebrews. Follow along by subscribing to the free daily podcast or picking up the Focal Point app for your smartphone. Just head to focalpointradio.org for more details.

And while you're there, take a look at this month's featured resource. Pastor Mike is highly recommending *The Pursuit of God* by A.W. Tozer, a book that has been stirring believers toward a deeper, more honest walk with God for decades. Tozer doesn't settle for surface-level religion; he pushes the reader toward the kind of relentless, firsthand knowledge of God that changes the way you live. It's a brief read, but it tends to stay with you.

Request *The Pursuit of God* when you support Focal Point with a gift today. Call 888-320-5885 or donate online at focalpointradio.org. Now let's join Pastor Mike for a quick announcement.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Thanks, Dave. I'd like to invite you to join me September 19th through the 26th, 2026, on a Christian cruise through New England and Canada. We'll sail Holland America's Zaandam, known for its elegance and exceptional hospitality, to historic cities like Boston, Halifax, and Quebec City.

We'll gather for devotional times in God's Word, followed by thought-provoking Bible teaching throughout our journey. Keith and Kristyn Getty will lead us in worship. You'll enjoy the stunning autumn landscapes as we explore charming coastal villages, all while building friendships with like-minded believers. It's a unique opportunity to deepen your faith and see some of the most beautiful scenery on the Eastern Seaboard. Space is limited, so don't wait to sign up. Secure your cabin today at focalpointradio.org. That's focalpointradio.org.

Dave Druby: I'm Dave Druby. Tomorrow, Pastor Mike wraps up the question "Should We Be Expecting a Newer Testament?" That's Wednesday on Focal Point.

Pastor Mike Fabarez: Pastor Mike here. You know we live in a culture where every point of view demands affirmation. It'd be easy to tell people what they want to hear, but we must teach the Bible accurately, unapologetically, and without compromise, and without editing it. God's Word is truth. If you want to send me a question, I encourage you to get in touch with us at focalpointradio.org.

Dave Druby: Today's program was produced and sponsored by Focal Point Ministries.