Want the Perfect Scapegoat for Your Sin?

Salvation isn’t the ticket to the good life; it’s the ticket to eternal life. We are taken from a hopeless state of corruption to one acceptable before God by faith in Christ Jesus, “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood” (Romans 3:25).

Used two other times in the New Testament (I John 2:2 and 4:10), the word propitiation refers to Jesus’ blood appeasing God, satisfying the penalty our sins deserve, and atoning for our wrongdoing. The same Greek root is used in Hebrews 9:5, but in English it refers to the mercy seat, which is “the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement (this rite signifying that the life of the people, the loss of which they had merited by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of the victim, and that God by this ceremony was appeased and their sins expiated)” (www.blueletterbible.org, Strong’s G2435, hilastērion).

In order to meet with God this one day a year, the high priest had to follow God’s exact instructions. If he passed the veil into the Holy of Holies any other time or any other way, he would die. After a detailed process of purification, the high priest sprinkled the blood of his own sin offering before the mercy seat to atone for himself, his family, and the Holy Place “because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness” (Leviticus 16:16). He then repeated the process for the altar of sacrifice.

Next, he would he take from the Israelites two kids of goats as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. Casting lots for the goats, one would be sacrificed and the other would be “presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:10). He would “lay both hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness” (Leviticus 16:21-22).

Not only is Jesus the final sacrifice for our sin, doing away with the law, He is our scapegoat! Our sin was upon Him on the cross, and like the scapegoat, Jesus took it all away (I John 3:5). Not only that, but at the moment Jesus breathed His last, the veil of the temple was supernaturally “torn in two from top to bottom” (Mark 15:38). The most Holy Place is no longer a physical location accessible only to a high priest; through THE High Priest, Jesus, we have uninhibited access!

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

And the temple? It is now the place where Jesus dwells in us! First Corinthians 6:9 asks, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?” In fact, we “have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Thus, “what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord almighty’” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18).

We still breathe the same air, drive the same streets, live in the same country, abide by the same legal system, are affected by the same politics and markets, are vulnerable to the same natural, political and health disasters, but WE are no longer the same. We must now think, believe, hope, talk, and live different. And that requires sacrifice of the New Testament kind.

Lord, thank You that Jesus is now our High Priest and in Him we are Your most Holy Place. Open the eyes of our understanding and strengthen us for the sacrifices You require of us now in order to live more wholly Yours today.

Shauna Wallace

Holy His

Sorry Is Sorry When Only Forgiveness Will Do

Many years ago, many seasons past, bleary eyed and staggering through parenting three kids under the age of twelve, James and I heard a teaching that embedded itself in the fiber of our family: “I’m sorry”  should be reserved for careless but innocent mistakes, like accidentally bumping into or spilling something. But when we’ve done something to someone else because of sin in our hearts, nothing will do but, “Will you forgive me?”

Simple semantics? No. The difference isn’t in the language used. It’s in the attitude of the heart.  

Sorry simply blows it off. No brokenness required. No true sorrow over what’s been done. It appeases. To say, “Will you forgive me?” requires repentance. Humility. Others-mindedness that comes from genuine sorrow for one’s words or behavior. It’s the difference between offenses piling up like water behind a dam, pressurized and volatile, and hurts washing away like water under a bridge. “Will you forgive me?” reaches to the injuries of the heart and cleanses. Just like the blood of Jesus does for us.

Yet, when I’m guilty, it’s a whole lot easier to vent a casual sorry than it is to vulnerably confess my sin and seek forgiveness. There’s something about guilt that invites pride, welcome or not, and exposing ourselves is risky. I can’t tell you how many simple infractions have escalated to full-out explosions because of my unwillingness to come clean. Using deflection to make it about the other person and not me, when a simple, “Will you forgive me?” douses threatening embers before they swell to dangerous flames.

In the same way, may embers have been extinguished when any one of us simply stopped and asked for forgiveness.

I don’t even remember the topic of the fight. Stiff necked in the laundry room folding clothes from the dryer, the words, “Why are you being so rude today?” set my emotions in a tailspin and my defenses firmly in place. I was ready to make it all about him, and I was doing a pretty good job, in my opinion. But he wasn’t buying it. The more I tried, the more defenseless I truly was, and a relaxed evening at home hung in the balance. The Holy Spirit would not allow me a moment of peace as I finished the laundry. I slinked into my husband’s office, set aside any legitimate complaint I might have had against him, and simply asked him to forgive me for the way I was acting toward him. No excuses. No justification. Just forgive me.

Restoration was immediate.

Godly sorrow produced repentance that led to salvation. Deliverance, preservation, and safety, just as Paul says it will in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (KJV):

Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

The recipients of Paul’s letter experienced sadness, uneasiness, regret, and grief, but what made him exceedingly glad was that it produced repentance: a change of mind as it appears in one who heartily amends with abhorrence of one’s past sins (metanoia and its root, donemetanoeō, www.blueletterbible.com, 2 Corinthians 7:9). It’s the difference between sorrow because you were caught doing wrong versus sorrow for the sin itself. Not self-contrived sorrow, but the working of the Holy Spirit in us.

And when the Holy Spirit is behind the sorrow, pain, grief, annoyance, affliction, and mourning that leads us to a change of mind with regards to our sin, then comes salvation, sōtēria in the Greek, which encompasses “deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation from the molestation of enemies; in an ethical sense, that which concludes to the soul's safety or salvation; salvation as the present possession of all true Christians; future salvation, the sum of benefits and blessings which the Christians, redeemed from all earthly ills, will enjoy after the visible return of Christ from heaven in the consummated and eternal kingdom of God” (www.blueletterbible.com, 2 Corinthians 7:10).

Feeling bad about what we’ve done isn’t enough. All humanity is capable of sorrow, pain, and grief over wrong actions, including those who are hostile to the cause of Christ. But their sorrow only leads to death, thanatos in the Greek, “ the death of the body with the implied idea of future misery in hell; the miserable state of the wicked dead in hell; in the widest sense, death comprising all the miseries arising from sin, as well physical death as the loss of a life consecrated to God and blessed in him on earth, to be followed by wretchedness in hell”; from the word thnēskō, which refers to being spiritually dead (www.blueletterbible.com, 2 Corinthians 7:10).

In other words, sorry produces death. It piles on offenses and eventually kills relationships. It blows off that which needs balm, leaving the injured to lick their own wounds. “Will you forgive me?” leads to salvation. It’s seeking forgiveness as evidence of repentance. With Jesus. With each other. Husbands. Children. Parents. Friends. Co-workers.

As imperfect as my family is, we have lots of opportunities to use those four words. As wrapped up as I get in my own world, I have ample opportunity to plead the quartet outside the walls of my home. But that’s what makes our families and friendships indestructible: the work of the Holy Spirit in us to bring us to repentance that leads to salvation.

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. ‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:22-27).

Sorry is sorry. Don’t give place to the devil, my friend. Forgive and be forgiven as you become wholly His today.

Shauna Wallace

Holy His

My Wicked Tongue

As soon as I said it, conviction seized me. My daughter stood there, shell shocked, wounded by my words. Without saying a word, her expression spoke of the betrayal she felt. I hurt just remembering. Tears threaten. I don’t even remember why I was so frustrated with her, which shows you how important it must have been. I can guess it was probably over disobedience, or arguing, or negotiating, or complaining. Chances are I was neglecting my responsibility to hold my kids accountable to first-time obedience, or I was slacking in holding them to the Lord’s standards. And in frustration, I let what was in my heart escape my tongue, and my daughter was a casualty of the war that rages inside of me. I do remember exactly what I said. Even though I asked for forgiveness, the words can’t be taken back. How I wish they could! I pray she doesn’t remember so clearly. That the Lord in His great mercy and love takes an eraser to her memory and wipes clean the sinful words of her mother. The one who is supposed to lift her up and encourage her in the Lord. Oh, Father, forgive me! Not just for that instance, but for every time I’ve used my words as a weapon against my family and those I love.

The temptation of the tongue is great. It relentlessly lurks in idle time, uncomfortable silence, anger, hurt, revenge, pride, humor, frustration, confusion, uncertainty, ambition, competition, insecurity, bitterness, discontentment, and unforgiveness. It thrives when we allow a controlling, critical, or judgmental spirit to rule our hearts. When we succumb to the lure of a loose tongue, the consequences are deadly. Oh Lord, I need Your word! I need Your rescue. I need Your grace. My tongue betrays what’s in my heart, and my eyes witness the ugly truth. Out of the outflow of my heart my mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34).

Wrong words have found a comfortable place in my family. All kinds of wrong words. “Unwholesome talk,” as Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) calls it. “Rotten, putrefied, corrupted by one and no longer fit for use, worn out, of poor quality, bad, unfit for use, worthless” talk, if you look it up in the Greek (www.blueletterbible.com, Strong’s G4550). Other versions call it corrupt communication (KJV), corrupt word (NKJV), foul or abusive language (NLT), corrupting talk (ESV).

My default response is to address the words. “I’ll do better next time.” Or, “I just have to hold my tongue.” Or I’ll memorize a scripture and quote it to myself and my kids. Better yet, we’ll all memorize it and that will fix the problem. I’ll make the kids role play appropriate words. Yeah, that will do it! Not that there’s anything wrong with any of that. We should make an effort to discipline our tongues. We should memorize scripture that we might not sin against God (Ps. 119:11). We should teach and train our kids to say things in a God-honoring way. But the spoken symptoms simply signal a deeper problem. In me. In my family. A heart issue that requires a gospel solution. Only the blood of Jesus can satisfy the penalty our words deserve. Only a genuine love for Him, birthed out of gratitude for the magnitude of what He’s done for us, can compel us to submit to his scalpel. Only a desperate realization of our destitute state without Him. Remembering that Jesus died for all sin for all time. He died for all the things we’ve said and the things we will say. He satisfied the demands of a holy God. In Christ, covered by His blood, we have too.

Our salvation is secure. Our sanctification is ongoing.

We need the Great Physician to be our great heart surgeon, cutting out tumors and healing sickness and disease in that part of us that is “the centre and seat of spiritual life; the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors; of the understanding, the faculty and seat of the intelligence; of the will and character” (www.blueletterbible.com, Matt. 12:34, heart, Strong’s G2588).

Unless the Lord changes our hearts, our tongues will tattle. In all things, including the secrets of my inner life. When James asks me for help, and I ask him if he can’t see the piles on my desk that need my attention, is that a tongue problem or a heart problem? Both, yes. But the root of the issue is in my heart. If my heart was truly submitted to the Lord, to serving James and being his help mate, my words would reflect that. When I’m resisting James’ authority and he puts his foot down, only to have his wife salute him with the words, “Heil Hitler,” is that a tongue or a heart problem? When I critically comment on a person’s clothing or look, is that a tongue or a heart problem? When I rant and rave about how someone has offended me, is that a tongue or a heart problem? When a child needs my help at the most inopportune time, and I let out an exasperated sigh, is that a tongue or a heart problem? When I get frustrated with my family and my words fly like daggers, is that a tongue or a heart problem? When I don’t know what to do in a relationship, and I talk to other people about it, is that a tongue or a heart problem? (More on that Monday.)

Lord, exert Your holy influence on my heart! Please, Lord, give Your grace that turns me to Jesus, keeps me there, strengthens me, and increases my faith, knowledge, and love for You, and compels me to walk in Your ways.

When our hearts change, so will our words.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps. 139:23-24). No matter what You find, Lord, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). I beseech You, Lord, to strengthen me to obey Ephesians 4:29-32:

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

Heavenly Father, I do not despise Your discipline. I am not discouraged by your rebuke. For you discipline the ones You love. (Heb. 12:5-6). I welcome Your discipline, Lord.

May the Lord discipline each of us right where we need it in order to become wholly His today.

Shauna Wallace

Holy His

Trampled by the Truth

A stampede thunders above. Squawking penetrates the air as the fittest survives. If only I was actually in Africa! Instead, I’m settled in my office on a beautiful Saturday morning, visions of peace with the Lord and my morning cup of coffee chased like prey from my reality. The stampede? My children. The squawking? Cries for help as one or the other exerts their dominion over the upstairs bedrooms! The shuffle is on. Big brother moved out several weeks ago, and the girls are surveying their territory. With the wood floors complete and mom and dad back in their own abode, they can now migrate. The youngest, bloodthirsty for her own room, woke with a single mission: get the oldest sister to make her move down the hall, boot out her roommate, and victory! She can stake her claim to her very own room for the first time in her 10-year life. It’s a big day in the Wallace wilderness!

After tuning out enough chaos to complete my morning’s work on Hebrews 11, I open my journal and begin emptying me onto the page in order to be filled by Him and His will according to His pleasure for my day. More skirmishes. Higher pitched squeals. Angry words. Tattling. Are you kidding me? The words pour onto the page: “Lord, please give them your grace and turn their hearts genuinely to You. I don’t know what to do. I know only You can change their hearts. What do I do as their mom? What is it You need me to do in their training and discipline?” He answers. My lack is discipline. As my children have grown, and the rod, in my eyes, has become inappropriate, my discipline has slacked. We revoke privileges and invoke extra chores, but consistently? No. I’ve allowed their hearts to harden in rebellion. The words continue to fill the page. Who was it whose sons died because he failed to discipline? I search the word. It’s Eli, God’s priest.

Eli’s sons “were corrupt; they did not know the Lord” (I Sam. 2:12). When Eli “heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting” (1 Sam. 2:22), he confronts them, but he does not discipline them. So a man of God comes to Eli and says, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My alter, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’” (I Sam. 2:27-29; emphasis mine). The consequence was severe: “But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house. And you will see an enemy in My dwelling place, despite all the good which God does for Israel. And there shall not be an old man in your house forever. But any of your men whom I do not cut off from My altar shall consume your eyes and grieve your heart. And all the descendents of your house shall die in the flower of their age. Now this shall be a sign to you that will come upon your sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall both die, both of them’” (I Sam. 2:30-34; emphasis mine).

More honesty: “Lord, I don’t want to put my children in danger because I don’t want to discipline. Why don’t I? Because I don’t want to deal with the reactions. I don’t want to face the reality of my own and their depravity. That’s the bottom line, isn’t it Lord? When I discipline, it reveals the condition of all our hearts.” Then it got painful: “It’s not out of love for them that I fail to discipline. It’s out of love for self.” Ouch!

It IS only by His grace that our hearts will change. It IS only by His power that we will do what He desires. Just like Eli, we have been chosen to offer on His altar ourselves as a living sacrifice. How many ways that sacrifice is required! Which more important, though, than for the life and salvation of our children.

And I close with this prayer. If you struggle with consistent discipline, too, join me. If not, pray for those of us who do!

“Lord, give me Your grace to deny self, take up my cross, and follow You. By Your merciful kindness, move on my heart to love You in behavior, not just intentions. Always. Even when it’s hard. Even when it means seeing the truth about how fallen I am and how desperate we all need a Savior every moment of every day. Give me strength to discipline. Give me wisdom and knowledge to know when and how. By Your Holy Spirit, Lord, please give me the power to do it consistently for Your glory and for their good.”

The rumbles, shrieks, and scuffles continue. My youngest hollers from the stairs. She needs help, and her sisters aren’t coming to her aid. I’m tied up and can’t get to her right away. She struggles to carry something heavy down the stairs, crying out as she places herself in a precarious situation. “Elly, put that down and wait for someone to help you. Don’t just keep going and put yourself in danger!” I holler from where I am. Quietly, in my spirit, I hear: “Shauna, put down what you honor more than Me. Don’t just keep going and put your children in danger.”

I hear You, Lord. Thank you. Make me wholly Yours, today, for the sake of my children.

Grace to you.

Shauna Wallace

Holy His

His Face, His Good

Fumes waft thick in my nostrils. Every possession my husband and I could possibly pack into our master bedroom closet forms a teetering mountain on our dining room table. Whatever didn’t fall into the category of hanging clothes occupies every other available square inch under and around. As I strain to focus on writing with my fume-fogged mind, I see the mound of chaos out of the corner of my eye, and I can’t wait to restore order to my home! The glamour of replacing well-worn (a.k.a. embarrassingly soiled) carpet with wood floors alludes this “everything in its place” kind of gal. It’s driving me crazy! I dread the overwhelming prospect of actually putting everything back, but the light at the end of the tunnel begs me to hang on. It promises a perfect ending to the disorder. I just have to survive the meantime…the time of waiting for what I know will make everything better. My hope is in regaining a neat and orderly home. It’s silly, isn’t it? I’m glad to say, by God’s grace, disorder doesn’t steal my joy to the same degree it did in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t wait for things to be put back the way they were. But it’s not stealing my joy. Mind you, this is a simple thing. Silly and a bit trivial, really. Many times, though, we’re waiting for resolution for things that aren’t that simple. Maybe they’re even life altering or life threatening. What do we do then?

IRREVOCABLE TRUTH #7: Seek His face, not an outcome. When we face challenging times, it’s so easy to put our faith in our idea of what the answer must be. We get sick, and we set our eyes on being made well. Our husband loses his job, and we put our faith in the new job that just has to be right around the corner. We receive bad news, and we put our faith in what we determine will make it better. Naturally, we set our eyes on a particular conclusion, and when it doesn’t become a reality, we question God. Or maybe we expect nothing from God so we won’t be disappointed. Perhaps we chalk everything up to His sovereignty, and we passively resign ourselves to the position of door mat. What I’m saying might be ruffling some feathers, so hear me out. I’m not saying we shouldn’t ask for a particular outcome and have faith in His power to bring that about. I’m not saying we don’t claim His promises for ourselves, asking in faith and believing we will receive. I’m not saying that we deny the sovereignty of God, ever. What I am saying is that we set our focus on the only real answer, and that is God Himself. Not what He can do. Not what He can cause. Not what He can solve. He is more than able. But as Psalm 27:7-9 says, “Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, Lord, I will seek.” Do not hide Your face from me; do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation” (emphasis mine). He IS the answer. He IS our great reward. He IS our salvation. Him and Him alone. And if He never does another thing for us, that is enough.

When His face is all we seek, we will always have what we need. How many times do we fall into the trap of waiting for something to meet our expectations because then we’ll be happy? As soon as I’m a comfortable size 4 again, then I’ll be happy! When my face clears up and my skin looks like that of a porcelain doll, then I’ll be satisfied. When my husband knows exactly how to make me feel better without me saying a word, then everything will be okay. When my children do what I ask the first time every time, then life will be good. When there’s always more money in the checkbook than we need at the end of the month, then we will have arrived. Don’t we all have “when…then” scenarios? In the meantime, we wait discontentedly with our unmet expectations, and we miss out on God’s face and grace in the now. When we are seeking His face and His face only, we will be in a constant state of satisfaction, and many times, we’ll find ourselves amazed that the Lord is working everything else out better than we could have asked or imagined. It really is true what Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

IRREVOCABLE TRUTH #8: When He works all things together for good, His good is to conform us to the image of Christ. Romans 8:28 has to be one of the all-time most quoted scriptures. Why wouldn’t it be? It tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” For years, my understanding (which we now know is a dangerous thing!) of good was whatever I determined was a good solution to my dilemma. Challenged with a miserable marriage, I would imagine good as the perfect marriage. Facing financial problems, I would imagine good as the absence of money issues (namely, shortages!). Facing insecurity, I would imagine good as unshakable self-confidence. Facing unpleasant tasks, I would imagine good as the absence of burdensome responsibilities. Facing issues with my body image, I would imagine good as finally attaining the perfect figure without effort or restrictions to my diet. I think you get the picture. One day, God flipped on a light in my head and the scales fell from my eyes when I read Romans 8:29, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” God’s good isn’t necessarily going to line up with my idea of good. His good is always going to be that I be more like Jesus, and just as Jesus learned obedience through suffering, so do we.

When we call on His name, He answers. It may not be the answer we desire or expect, but it will be for our good and for the advancement of His purpose and His kingdom. Are we willing for things to go wrong in our lives in order for them to go right for God?

Psalm 17:15 says, “As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness.” Lord, let that be my measure of satisfaction today and always. I seek Your face, and Your face alone, trusting that You are working everything together to conform me to the image of Christ. And that is my source of satisfaction.

Seeking His face to become more wholly His today,

Shauna Wallace

Holy His