What Kind of Rest?

So the Lord desires for us to enter into His rest by faith...what kind of rest is this?

Of course this rest refers to the rest that comes through Christ and His finished work on the cross. It is that rest from the penalty of sin. When we become keenly aware of our shortcomings, and we realize that we really have nothing to offer to God, we come to the end of ourselves. It truly is the death that the law administers. We are guilty, to be sure, and we know it all too well. It is at this point that rest and assurance come from our great High Priest Himself, as He says, "It is finished." In effect, He says, 'I took it all. It has been paid in full. Rest...rest, My child.'

It is also that rest from the authority of sin in our lives. Too often we as Christians put our eternities in the hands of the living God, trusting fully that He has delivered us from death and hell, but we don't trust Him for our "day to day." It is a little known (or little believed) promise of the New Covenant of grace that not only are we delivered from the penalty of sin, which is death, but we are also delivered from the authority of sin in our day to day lives.

Surely the death of Christ has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness...did you get that? He has given us everything for life and godliness. I am, by no means, making the claim that we can escape sin completely (that is, the attainment of what is commonly referred to as "sinless perfection"), as we are still in these bodies descended from Adam, but we can begin to see a consistent pattern of victory over sin. To those who would think that a certain vice will always have dominion over them I would pose this: just how comprehensive is the salvation of Christ? Is there anything too hard for the Lord? I would say no.

Let us therefore be diligent to enter into this rest that the Lord has provided for us: the rest from knowing that we are no longer condemned--not only being condemned to death, but living a life condemned to wallowing in sin. He can deliver us, completely and fully--will we believe?