The Steps and the One Who Redeems

There is a power in the essence of the Triune God that surpasses any form of legalism. It is a power that can be followed to the inner most life of God and it separates the Christian form of faith from any other. The Trinity is unique to the Christian Scriptures and through your faith in the God who inspired these Scriptures his power is appropriated to your life. God overcomes what you cannot, simply because of his nature as God.  

 This opening post of 2026 continues on from where we left off in November (review here).  

 Christ (the second person of the Trinity) is the mediator and the Holy Spirit is the perfector of our salvation—the Trinity delivers the saving grace we so much need—Christ is the One between creation and the “second room.” Remember—the Holy of Holies—Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant (Heb.9:15).  

 The enactment of this covenant requires blood: 

Hebrews 9:16–17 (CSB)  

16Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in effect while the one who made it is living.  

Moses used blood, 

Hebrews 9:19–21 (CSB)  

19For when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people, 20saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you. 21In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood.  

Because blood is required for purification, 

Hebrews 9:22 (CSB)  

22According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.  

Christ offered a superior sacrifice (Heb. 9:23) than animals could provide and He entered heaven itself, not a man-made sanctuary (v. 24) to appear before the Father on our behalf, in his full humanity—once for all time. He did this as God incarnate, not by human hands, for our salvation and redemption. 

Hebrews 9:25–26 (CSB)  

25He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another. 26Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.  

The message the author of Hebrews robustly affirms in our study continues. Living your life in a way that looks like Jesus does not save you. It is not a bad way to live your life, but it does not save you. Because recovery is grounded in “working the steps” be careful of those who teach a legalism in disguise. Give credit to the One—the Triune One—who is the author and perfector of your salvation and recovery. The Steps are something we do, the Trinity is the one who redeems. 

 See you again on Monday. New Steps Step studies begin soon.