"Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God." Hebrews 12:2

 Maintaining the right balance in Christ is sometimes hard to do. As the beloved redeemed of the Lord we should readily accept that we are clothed in the righteousness of the Lord and boldly enter into His presence without fear, -"Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus. . .let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith." (Heb.10)

We could never come boldly to God clothed in a righteousness of our own making - but the Father has clothed us with the righteousness of Jesus in order to draw us near, therefore let us never shrink back in fear.

 Our text says that Jesus perfected our faith - let us fix our eyes on Him. This is not to say that we are not to examine ourselves from time to time, but we are to "fix" our eyes on Jesus, not on ourselves. If we honestly fix our eyes on ourselves we will see only our woeful condition, when it is our position in Christ that matters most. God is working on our condition but He accepts us according to our position - as very members of Christ’s Body - not in the distant future, but right now, -"See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are." (1 Jo.3)

 God would no sooner cut off a member of Christ’s Body than you would cut off a member of your own body. You might remove a dead member which no longer has life, but not a living member. Likewise, the only members of Christ’s Body that are cut off or fall away, are those members who allow themselves to become Spiritually dead. The life is in the blood of the natural body, and the life is in the Spirit in Christ’s Body.

 Jesus endured the cross and despised the shame. It was not His own shame that Jesus despised - He took our sins, our guilt and our shame.

Many receive the Savior because they come to see the gravity of their sins and understand the penalty of hell. Many receive forgiveness for their past sins but struggle with accepting forgiveness for the sins they commit daily. They hate sin and don’t want to sin, but still find themselves falling short everyday, and as a result are shackled with the chains of guilt and shame. Some begin to practice penance rather than repentance. They do good works, not because we are called to good works, or do good works to glorify God, but in a feeble effort to make up for their shortcomings. This is practicing a salvation by works and is rejecting the true salvation of the Lord which is free to all who will receive and follow Him.

 The Lamb of God was sacrificed to set us free from sin and it’s penalty. But Jesus not only bore our sins and our penalty, He also bore our guilt and our shame. When we come to Christ we must let Him take our sins upon Him and our guilt and shame as well. Since He endured our guilt and despised our shame to set us free, let us not hold onto it ourselves but release it to Him.

We are justified by His blood. To be justified is to be thoroughly examined, tried and found completely innocent. My friend, in Christ you are not a "pardoned criminal" but a "justified saint" who has no record of any sin ever committed in the book of your life. Release the shame and rejoice in Jesus!