The Inner Canaanites

A Sip

Bonjour blogworms! I hope this blog finds you in the receipt of the Lord’s Grace and peace. The topic for this particular blog is, once again, one of those ones that have lain stagnant in my mind for months now. However, as usual, I recently saw something which reminded me of this often perceivably despondent topic and stirred me to write about it. This topic is something which I’m sure every Christian reading this will identify with. It is something which brings much pain and despair to many and thus, I pray God will bring comfort and hope to you through this blog. It is also something which is very healthy and, as I hope to show, has a purpose. So, with this in mind, on with the blog!

Spring Time!

The stimulus that prompted me to write this blog was a film I watched last night on the life of the famous German Christian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor, lived in Germany during World War II. As a respected man of God, he was often tormented and challenged with how to justly respond to the threat, corruption and horrendous evil of the Nazi regime, and yet still do what is pleasing to God. Bonhoeffer eventually gave in to his growing revulsion for the Nazi brutality and participated in the planning of an assassination attempt on Hitler’s life. Needless to say, the assassination plot failed and Bonheoffer was subsequently arrested, detained and finally executed, sadly, a few months before the end of the War.

But it was these scenes of Bonhoeffer’s inner struggle between murder and justice; between sin and what is good; between the flesh and the Spirit that spurred me to write this blog. For it was in these scenes that I could empathise with Bonhoeffer with my own periods of struggling with sin as a Christian. It is something that we all, as Christians, can identify with. This struggle is a source of much anguish for believers because throughout the New Testament, it is proclaimed that once we are in Christ, our sinfulness has been conquered and we are new creations. For example, in Romans 6:6-14, the Apostle Paul makes one of his typical declarations about our new lives in Christ, explaining that “our old man was crucified with Him [Christ], that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin…For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.” Yet whilst this victory over sin is announced and trusted upon by believers, the reality of sin is still very much present in our lives. This seeming inconsistency and contradiction between what is ‘factual’ and what is ‘actual’ has been frustrating believers ever since Christ died, rose and ascended 2000 years ago.

1) THE PROBLEM – SINNER OR SAINT?

Like Bonhoeffer, we can all as Christians cry out in frustration with the Apostle Paul in Romans 7:14-25:

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God – through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

O how we can relate to this struggle! But believe it or not, some theologians would argue that Paul is here not talking as a Christian, but as a pre-converted Jew. Though I do not agree with this position, I will not go into the arguments as to why this is because John Piper does a great job doing exactly that in his six part sermon series called, “Who is This Divided Man?” If you have the time and are unsatisfied with what I have written here, I would highly recommend either listening to the series or reading it here: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByScripture/10/57_Who_is_This_Divided_Man_Part_1/

Nevertheless, this passage is repeated and paralleled by Paul in his letter to the Galatians in 5:17 when he says, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit lusts against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.” For arguably the greatest Christian to ever live, this battle against sin was an ever-present reality. Whilst God changes our God-hating and rebellious wills to God-loving and obedient wills through Regeneration by His Spirit, we still sin. Though we may not sin anywhere near as much or as severely as we used to before coming to Christ, we still sin nonetheless. And so there is this inner battle between what we want to do (please God) and what we often actually do (disobey God).

This is also shown by another Apostle – Peter. If any of the Apostles knew what it was like to struggle with sin, it was impetuous Peter. I mean, who else can claim to have chopped off someone’s ear (besides Chopper Reed that is), managed to walk on water and still nearly drown, and disowned the Incarnate and earthly Jesus three times? That said, though we may not have had the privilege of being alive when Christ walked the Earth, I’m sure we are all guilty of having been foolishly impulsive, doubtful and faithless, and embarrassed of Christ at times of weakness (and ‘strength!’). But for those who would rebut that these incidents happened before Christ’s resurrection and the Day of Pentecost, and hence, when the fullness and strength of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit had not yet become manifest, Paul gives us another example of Peter’s remaining ‘old man’ coming out in Galatians 2:11-13:

Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.

Though many years had passed since Jesus had first selected him to be a Disciple, and hence experiencing many years of the sanctifying work of the indwelt Spirit, Peter still struggled with that same fear and hypocrisy that he had shown all those years earlier when he first came face to face with his Messiah. You see, no matter how far we progress in our walk with Jesus here on Earth, sin will always be at war in our flesh. Its frequency and severity may be slowly diminished by the ongoing work of the Spirit over time, but this residual sin still rears its ugly head when we least expect or want it.

Although the Apostles Peter and Paul were such great proponents of Christ’s victory over sin, they also knew through their own personal experience that we are not yet glorified and are being sanctified progressively. Though we are positionally declared righteous by God’s Grace through faith in Christ alone, we still have what Paul calls in Romans 7 ‘indwelling sin’, thus being simultaneously both sinner and saint. Though our old sinful self is dead and has been defeated by Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, God chooses to leave a remnant of this ‘old man’ in us until He returns to resurrect the dead and complete the good work He started in us (Phil 1:6).

2) THE REASON – WHY HAS GOD LEFT INDWELLING SIN IN CHRISTIANS?

So, this then begs the question – why has God chosen to leave this remnant of our sinful nature in us? If God could, by His very Word and decree, permanently eradicate sin forever at this very moment in time from all His people, why hasn’t He? For what purpose has He left this sin in us? Well, there is an element of God’s Hidden Will in activity here, and as such, we must respond with what Martin Luther explains as awe, reverence and fear for this sovereign and majestic will (see my earlier blog, “Un-Free Willy [Part 1]”). As Luther says, reiterating Paul in Romans 9:20, as finite and foolish humans, we should not question God’s will but adore it. Nonetheless, after much careful and prayerful contemplation, I have come up with at least three reasons from Scripture that may be reasons God has left this residual sin in us.

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2Co 12:7-10)

The first possible reason I picked up from Paul in this passage. Now, I know that Paul is not exactly clear as to what this ‘thorn in the flesh’ is and there has subsequently been much debate as to its identity, some saying eyesight problems, some saying a certain person, others saying it was a particular sin. Nonetheless, I maintain that the basic principle conveyed by this passage can be applied to the topic of indwelling sin regardless of whether Paul’s ‘thorn’ was actually sin or not. As the reassuring message is universal in its application to anything that causes distress and struggle, indwelt sin certainly falls into this category.

So that said, the first reason that I think God has chosen to leave sin in us is that, like Paul says, it humbles us. Rather than thinking we can do everything on our own and being puffed with pride, indwelt sin prevents us from exalting ourselves and turns us from autonomy, revealing our utter dependence on Christ’s Grace and strength. Further, as it makes us weak, it provides an opportunity for God’s strength and power to be displayed. In this, it also moves and entices us to turn to Christ whose “yoke is easy and…burden is light” (Mt 11:30).

As John Piper says in Part 4 of his series, the reality of indwelling sin conveyed by Romans 7 is purposed “so that you will know your real condition as a Christian and will walk the precarious line between cocky presumption that you are above sin, and hopeless despair because you never live up to the demand for perfection in this life. My goal is to push you away from pride toward humility, and away from despair toward hope. The biblical realism of Romans 7 is meant to save you from moral pride on one side and immoral hopelessness on the other side. Romans 7 is a great help in balancing on this tightrope.”

Now these are the nations which the Lord left, that He might test Israel by them, that is, all who had not known any of the wars in Canaan (this was only so that the generations of the children of Israel might be taught to know war, at least those who had not formerly known it), namely, …all the Canaanites…And they were left, that He might test Israel by them, to know whether they would [keep the ways of the Lord, to walk in them as their fathers kept them – Jdg 2:22]…Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites…And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons; and they served their gods. (Jdg 3:1-6)

The final two reasons come from linking this analogy in the Old Testament to the current topic. Generally speaking, whereas much of the Old Testament is concerned with natural and physical matters, the New Testament is more concerned with the spiritual. So whereas this passage is concerned with a physical war over a physical place with physical enemies, I think it is fair to use it (albeit, rather loosely) as an analogy for the Christian’s inner spiritual war. Instead of the land of Canaan, our land is our soul; instead of a physical war with the hostile and evil enemy Canaanites over possession of this land, we war spiritually with the hostile and evil enemy Sin over control of our body (in case you were wondering, this is where I got the idea for the title of this blog from).

So with these correlative parallels distinguished, the first reason gauged from this passage as to why God leaves sin to dwell in us is to test us. Just like when God left a remnant of Canaanites to dwell in Canaan to test the faith of the Israelites, so God leaves a remnant of our sin to dwell in us so “that the genuineness of [our] faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love” (1Pe 1:7-8). The second reason extracted from this Biblical analogy is that by leaving a hostile sin in us, this teaches us through practice how to fight and war against it, inciting us to ardent spiritual warfare. Rather than leaving us to a potential spiritual lethargy, by letting a portion of our sin remain in us this stirs and provokes us into a spiritual fervor and zeal for God, hoping for, praying for and depending on His victory.

3) THE SOLUTION – HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND TO THIS INDWELLING SIN?

Therefore, with these two questions answered comes the most important and practical based question – what do we, as Christians, do when we are struggling with our indwelt sin? What do we do when our ‘old man’ crops up again?

So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord…Therefore…the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, [and] the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them. (Jdg 3:7-9)

The first and most important thing, like the Israelites here did when they had sinned against God through idolatry, is to cry out to God and turn to Him. God has promised to deliver us from our sin and we must trust in this promise. However, unlike the Israelites who had a human deliverer, we have the greater fulfillment of this promise in the divine person of Jesus Christ our Lord. He is our great Deliverer, Redeemer and Saviour and we must turn to Him in times of spiritual struggle!

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1Jn 1:5-2:2)

The second thing we should do after turning to God is to, like John says here, confess all our sins before God. Rather than ignore them, we must repent of any indwelling sin and take full responsibility for it. As John says, we all have sin and if we deny this basic yet crucial truth, we make Jesus to be a liar and I put to you, possibly worse than this, we make him to be obsolete. For if we have no sin as Christians, what does Christ save us from and thus what use is His death? Coming to Jesus is not a one-off vaccination shot against sin, but a lifelong journey and relationship of repentance.

We should also not let this indwelt sin cast dangerous doubts on of our salvation. It’s not whether we sin, but how we respond to that sin which characterises a Christian. As Piper says in Part 3 of his series on what indwelt sin means to our salvation, “This does not mean we are not Christian. The test is, Do we love the law? Do we hate our failure? Do we cry out in dismay over our sinful condition? Do we look to Christ and his righteousness? Do we fly to the cross? Do we confess and repent and renounce Satan and set our faces to go forward with Jesus on the Calvary road? Do that! Let us pray for each other that we do that.”

“The point of this text [Romans 7] is not that we should make peace with sin, but that we should make war on sin in our own lives and know how to understand ourselves and how to respond when we suffer tactical defeats in the war. Chapter six makes clear that we will win the war against sin (see Ro 6:14). Chapter seven makes clear that this will not be without tactical defeats that will make us love our Saviour all the more. It’s the earnestness of the war and the response to defeat that show your Christianity, not perfection.” (John Piper from “Who Is This Divided Man? - Part 3”)

Finally, we as Christians should not be content with indwelt sin once we become convicted of it. Rather than ignore or this sin, we should instead wage war against it, taking up “the whole armour of God, that [we] may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Eph 6:13). The war has already been won; we are merely living and playing it out to its rightful conclusion in time. So with this in mind, let us advance in confidence and faith in the victory of Christ.

To finish, Piper sums this all up in Part 4 of his series:

“I am not saying that Christians live only in defeat. But I am saying that no Christian lives only in perfect victory over sin. And in those times when we fail to triumph over sin, Romans 7:14-25 shows us the normal way a healthy Christian should respond. We should say:

i) I love the law of God (verse 22);
ii) I hate what I just did (verse 15);
iii) Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death (verse 24)?;
iv) Thanks be to God! The victory will come through Jesus Christ my Lord (verse 25)

…No Christian settles to live this way. But if we do live this way for a time, we shouldn’t lie about it. No hypocrisy. No posing. No boasted perfectionism. No churchy, pasted smiles or chipper superficiality. God save us from blindness to our own failures and the consequent quickness to judge others. God help us to feel worse about our own shortfalls than the failure of others. God give us the honesty and candor and humility of the apostle Paul in this text!”

As one of my favourite Christian bands, Casting Crowns, says in their song “East to West”:

“I start the day, the war begins, endless reminding of my sin.
Time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I’m in.
Today I feel like I’m just one mistake from you leaving me this way

…I know You’ve washed me white, turned my darkness into light.
I need Your peace to get me through…this night.
I can’t live by what I feel, but by the truth Your word reveals.
I’m not holding on to You, but You’re holding on to me. You’re holding on to me.

Jesus, You know just how far the east is from the west.
I don’t have to see the man I’ve been come rising up in me again.
In the arms of Your mercy I find rest.
‘Cause You know just how far the east is from the west, from one scarred hand to the other.”

Waves

Well, there you have it. I pray that this has spurred you on to not be either self-righteous and proud, nor desperate and hopeless, but full of hope and humility; that you will “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Ro 13:14). But if your indwelt sin does rear its ugly head (and I’m betting it does), don’t run away in fear, but turn unto the Lord and fight it by the strength of Christ so that you can one day say with the Apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2Ti 4:7). As John Piper said in Part 4 of his series, “There is a difference between the divided man of Romans 7 and a sellout. Don’t sell out. Trust Christ and fight sin.” So until next time, put that in your cloud and rain it (Jude 12).

Christus Regnat,

MAXi

The Lord Is Cross

A Sip

Greetings blogworms! I pray this blog finds you well in the Lord. This blog falls into the category of one of those blogs which I have been thinking about for some time but hadn’t the time to write – actually, I have quite a few of those kinds of blogs in my head. It’s something that has been annoying me for a while now and I think it’s important that the Church not only rediscovers this particular topic, but preaches it from the pulpit, as it is not only highly relevant, but pivotal and crucial to our Faith. In fact, it is what the whole Gospel hinges upon and I fear that we are raising up a generation of believers who are either ignorant or apathetic towards this particular topic, and in turn, having a poor understanding of who God is. Anyway, without further ado, on with the blog! (And I’ll try and keep it short this time).

Spring Time!

Like I’ve already stated, this particular topic has been stewing in my mind for quite some time now but it wasn’t until today, after reading something which bothered me, that it was brought to the forefront of my mind again. You see, I am reading a brilliant book at the moment by Westminster Seminary professor Michael Horton called, “Christless Christianity.” In this book, Horton astutely describes, analyses and critiques the sorry state that Christianity is in here in the West, targeting its primary captors; Pelagianism, ‘moral therapeutic deism’ and the prosperity gospel. One of the sections that I‘m up to reading, which deals especially with the latter of the three, is on ‘smooth talkers’. And who else should Horton use to typify and analyse this heretical phenomenon but everyone’s favourite smiling pastor, Mr Joel Osteen.

Osteen, being a bestselling author and pastor of the Houston mega-church, “Lakewood Church”, personifies the sort of Bible-twisting, narcissistic, motivational self-help drivel that Horton critiques. So much so, that Horton spends quite a large section of his book quoting Osteen and exposing the underlying heterodoxy and vanity in his words. It is one such quote of Osteen’s that rekindled this blog topic and my grievance. In the quote, taken from his bestselling book, “Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day”, Osteen said, “I know my heart is right. To the best of my ability, I’m doing what pleases Him [God]…Frankly, it’s not because of what you have or haven’t done; God loves you because of who you are and because of who he is. God is love” (p.89).

Whilst it would be real easy to point the finger of blame solely at Osteen, I think Osteen’s views are tragically a reflection of the views of the majority of both the Christian and Secular worlds. This commonly held and preached view, which omits, ignores or misinterprets the Cross of Christ, is something which at first glance is sweet, attractive and instinctively Biblically correct; ‘God is a loving god and He loves you just the way you are.’ However, even if its proponents in both evangelical and liberal camps are well meaning, dig a little deeper and what this watered-down and “nice” seeker-sensitive message actually does is either make Christ’s death on the Cross obsolete, or it makes God out to be a benign and simple grandfather figure in the sky. Both of these, as I will show below, are detrimental to our knowledge of God, Christ, Salvation, us and the Gospel.

1) THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CROSS

The tendency we have as Christians when seeing the Cross, is to focus on the love; we only see the love of God. Now, don’t get me wrong, the Cross is a wonderful and glorious sign of God’s love, but, to the detriment of the true meaning of the Cross, we tend to overlook the other side; the darker and uglier side of the Cross. This side is key to understanding the necessity of Jesus’ crucifixion. This darker side is God’s wrath.

You see, it is true that God is a God of love, but He is not ONLY a God of love. He has other characteristics such as His Holiness, His justice, His mercy and His Righteousness to name a few. And these other characteristics, particularly His justice in the case of the Cross, must be satisfied and adhered to in conjunction with His loving nature. Those, like Osteen, who make God out to be only a God of love with no mention of His wrath or His justice make Him out to be an easy going old man in the sky who benignly pardons us with seemingly no cost to us or Him. As Horton rightly notes:

“Osteen’s God is uncomplicated. Characterized by only one attribute (love), God’s forgiveness is cheap. His love does not require consistency with his justice, holiness, and righteousness. Therefore, it is not merciful love – that is, compassion toward those who deserve judgment. By contrast, the God of the Bible is far more interesting and majestic. Finding a way to love sinners that does not violate his holy character, God gave his Son to fulfill the law and bear our judgment in our place. The biblical plot of the redemptive drama is rich, while Osteen’s story is thin – with me rather than God at the center.” (p.89)

2) GOD’S WRATH

So what has the Cross got to do with God’s wrath? Everything! Those who either ignore the Cross or reduce it to merely a sign of God’s love also reduce its power and, inevitably, its significance and meaning to our Faith, Salvation, and ultimately our relationship with God Himself. You cannot understand the Good News until you understand the bad news; you cannot understand God’s love until you understand His wrath. So what is God’s wrath?

For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God…for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (Eph 5:5-6)

The wrath of God is the divine punishment, distributed by a God who is a “consuming fire” (Heb 12:29), to those who are guilty of “all ungodliness and unrighteousness” (Ro 1:18), disobediently transgressing His Holy laws and sinning against Him. And unfortunately, the bad news is that includes ALL of us (Ro 3:10-12, 23). For all of us by our human nature can be neither pure nor righteous before God (Job 15:14). Man is “abominable and filthy”, ‘drinking iniquity like water’ (Job 15:16). It is for this reason that God’s wrath remains on all of us by default unless we have faith in Christ’s work on the Cross (Jn 3:36).

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. (Ps 5:4-6)

So why does sin so much invoke God’s wrath then? It is because sin in its purest form is being in opposition to God’s nature which is that of the Spirit (Ro 8:5-11). And God, being a Holy and Righteous God, cannot be in the presence of such filth of the flesh (Jn 3:5-6). Like two opposite magnetic charges that repel one another, so is sin and God’s Holiness; sin brings separation from God and thus the wrath of God (Isa 59:2-3). As David says in the above Psalm, God detests sin and, whilst longsuffering sin in us temporally in forbearance of our later justification, sanctification and glorification (Ro 3:25), He cannot eternally tolerate it. As such, all those whose sins are not forgiven through Faith in Christ must be Eternally Destroyed.

Thus, those who ignore this bad news and only focus on the Good News, or God’s love and forgiveness, render the Cross obsolete, and likewise, reduce the Church’s understanding and gratitude for the Lord’s work on the Cross. Rather than realise their utter helplessness, that man cannot save himself, they assume that they could have saved themselves but God let them off the hook. They fail to realise that no matter how hard we try and no matter how good we think we are, God looks at our hearts and sees the sinful pride and motivations with which these so called ‘good works’ were done (Pr 16:2) and thus justly condemns us. As Horton again astutely says:

“Grab all the glory now. No cross, no wrath, no judgment. Just be all you can be. We are constantly bombarded in our culture by appeals to our native narcissism…The biblical message is far deeper and richer, however, both in its bad news and its good news. The bad news is far worse than making mistakes or failing to live up to the legalistic standards of fundamentalism. It is that the best efforts of the best Christians, on the best days, in the best frame of heart and mind, with the best motives fall short of that true righteousness and holiness that God requires. Our best efforts cannot satisfy God’s justice. Yet the good news is that God has satisfied his own justice and reconciled us to himself through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son. God’s holy law can no longer condemn us because we are in Christ.” (p.91)

Instead of appreciating the enormity of their sinful condition, the enormous price God has paid to redeem us and thus, understanding how much we have been forgiven of, they view their sin as merely mistakes and failures which God has lovingly pardoned. And because the gravity of their sin is diminished and reduced, so is their appreciation for God’s saving work and His love in doing so. God’s forgiveness is cheapened and as such, they respond with cheap love for their Saviour. As Jesus said, “to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little” (Lk 7:47). Of course, with me using the words ‘they’ and ‘their’ I must not get carried away and forget that I can sometimes be just as guilty myself in not appreciating what my Saviour has done on the Cross.

3) WHAT DOES THE CROSS MEAN?

So if the bad news is that we are all sinners and we are born with God’s wrath upon us (Jn 3:18), then the consequence of this wrath is that in order for it to be satisfied, blood must be shed (Heb 9:22). As one of my favourite Christian musicians Keith Green puts it in his song, “Altar Call”, “Most people don’t find out, ‘til it’s too late, that someone has to pay the price. You can pay it yourself (ha!), or let someone else. But who would be that nice, to pay a debt that isn’t His? Well I know someone like that, and He’s your best friend, He really is, He really loves you.” In other words, something or someone must die for our sins. This is explained by Paul in Romans 6:23 when he says, “For the wages of sin is death.”

Before Christ’s death on the Cross, the Israelites had shed the blood of animals to atone for their sins, but this was just a temporary band-aid solution “for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins” (Heb 10:4). Since these animal sacrifices were required regularly and often, they aimed at revealing to the Jews the inadequacy of such sacrifices and, hence, reveal their need for a better one. They were purposed, like much of the law, to point towards Christ. But alas, most of them missed the arrow.

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all…For the transgressions of My people He was stricken…Yet it pleased the Lord to…make His soul an offering for sin…By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities…And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors. (Isa 53:4-12)

This prophecy, written hundreds of years before Christ’s Incarnation, shows that God had premeditated and preordained that He would send His Son to die on the Cross. This was not something which was unforeseen or spontaneously decided on as a solution; this was something which God had planned since before the creation of the world and any of us in it. You see, before creation, God loved His Church (Eph 1:4-5). However, He was faced with a serious dilemma. Knowing full well that man would become sinful and thus could never save himself, God (as a loving God) wanted to be with His people, but at the same time (as a just and holy God), He also had to punish this sinfulness. The solution that God conceived is the most glorious climax of all world history; God condescended in the form of His Son to take the penalty of our sins on Himself. As opposed to some “theologians” like Brian McLaren who accuse God of “cosmic child abuse” in doing this, Jesus tells us Himself that He was not forced to die for His sheep, but rather He laid down His life willingly out of love (Jn 10:18). Christ loved us so much that He gave “Himself for us [as] an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Eph 5:2).

For He Himself is our peace, who has…broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances…thus making peace, and that He might reconcile [us] to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity…For through Him we…have access by one Spirit to the Father. (Eph 2:14-18)

In taking the penalty of the sinful Church’s sins on Himself, Christ has successfully satisfied God’s wrath and as such, has reconciled the two parties so that now the Church can dwell with God forever in His Kingdom. God has reconciled all those who have faith in Jesus by forgiving them in both a merciful and just way (Ro 3:26), freely justifying them “by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood” (Ro 3:24-25). This word ‘propitiation’ is not commonly used anymore, but it is a beautiful word which basically means a ‘sacrifice of atonement’.

But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. (Heb 9:26-28)

This fundamental doctrine is popularly called ‘Substitutionary Atonement’ in theological circles. Basically, it means that Christ suffered the punishment we justly deserve for our sinfulness as a substitute, taking our spot on the Cross and dying in our place. The Cross is not simply Jesus showing us what is morally ideal or just pointlessly showing us how much He loves us. No, in order that our sins might be justly forgiven and God’s wrath lovingly satisfied, someone’s blood had to be shed and that person’s blood was God’s Himself in the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ bore the penalty of our sins and thus took on Himself much more pain than simply the nails in His wrists and feet. Oh no, Christ bore the full wrath of God. Christ, out of the love He has for His sheep, suffered the wrath and separation from His Father that sin brings as a definitive sacrifice, once and for all.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Co 5:21)

Christ lived a completely sinless and Holy life, yet as the Lamb of God, our sins were imputed to Him so that He became the symbol of all the Church’s sin and hence, He suffered separation from the Father for them. This is most clearly expressed by Christ Himself when He agonisingly exclaimed on the Cross in Matthew 27:46, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” In a fallen world with much suffering, everyone (even Atheists, terrorists and serial killers) still experience the blessings that God’s common grace and presence bring. Can you imagine if He took all of that away and you experienced what it would be like to be separated from the goodness of God? Well, that was what Christ experienced on the Cross for your sins, suffering the torment of separation from a Holy God that you rightfully deserved.

Furthermore, when Christ finally and climactically says, “It is finished!” (Jn 19:30) before giving up His Spirit and dying, this reveals to us the nature of the work that Christ had completed on the Cross. You see, the Greek word that is used here for ‘finished’ is ‘teleo’ and is a legal term. It basically means to pay, execute or discharge a debt. What this shows us is that the Cross is not merely Jesus exemplarily taking a bullet for some of His friends, but it is an official legal transaction in God’s eyes. God did not simply forget the debt, but paid it Himself. Christ paid this debt we owed to God that we could never pay. And He did this out of His extravagant love by suffering and paying with His life!

4) WHY DID GOD REDEEM US ON THE CROSS?

So why did God do all of this? Some people like Osteen might answer this question with something along the lines of, “Because He loves you for who you are.” What nonsense that is! This only pacifies Christ’s work on the Cross and diminishes God’s love. As I already discussed above, we are sinners and God’s Holy nature is such that He cannot tolerate sin.

For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. (Ro 6:5-8)

As this verse tells us, Christ died on the Cross to eliminate and conquer sin in us; to free us from the captivity that our sinfulness had on us. Christ died so that we in our sinfulness would also die with Him, and thus, we would be a new creature, being “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb 10:10). What this means is that God sent His Son to die on a cross so that not only will your sins be forgiven, but that you will be sanctified and transformed into the likeness of Christ. You see, God does not love you for who you are, He loves you DESPITE who you are!

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Ro 5:6-11)

How much more glorious is this love that the Father lavishes on us if we do not deserve it as filthy sinners. For if He loves us for who we are, then there is an element of worthiness and value in that love; that there is something about us that merits God’s affection. But if we realise that we are totally undeserving of the Father’s love; that He died for us not because we were righteous and deserved it, but because we were totally sinful and undeserving; how much more glorious and unfathomable is this love, and thus, how much more appreciative we will be for what He did on the Cross.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins…For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight. (Col 1:13-23)

Christ died on the Cross not because God was happy with the way we are, but because He DETESTED the way we are, so much so, that it required a radical solution – the Cross. Yet though He detests the way we are, He still loves us! – “Who is so great a God as our God?” (Ps 77:13). Christ’s death on the Cross not only reconciles us ungodly and wicked rebels to God, but it also is designed through the working of His Spirit to change us from who we are as sinful dead reprobates, into the perfect image of His Son. For just as our sin was imputed to Him, so is His perfect obedience and Righteousness imputed to us. This is the mysterious miracle of Justification; that though I am an unworthy sinner undeserving of God’s Grace, I can stand before Him clothed in the Righteousness that is not mine, but that of Christ that comes through Faith in Him (Eph 4:24; Phil 3:9).

“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.” (Ro 8:29)

The word ‘foreknew’ used here means much more than mere factual knowledge, it is used in the same sense as when Adam knew Eve; it means to intimately know someone – to love them. God loved us so much before we were even created, that He wanted to transform us from our sinful state into the fullness of life in His Son. How amazing and incomprehensible is this promise of God; that we will one day be like Jesus Himself, free from sin and death, sharing in His Glory!

Waves

So, with that said, I pray that I have been enabled by the Spirit to demonstrate to you as best as possible the richness of the love of Christ on the Cross. Jesus’s death was not a trivial epitome of loving moral behavior for us to imitate or the simple pardoning of sin, but the amazing saving grace of a God who dealt with our radical problem of sin with a radical solution of self-sacrifice, our forgiveness coming at an expensive cost; the death of His Son; and that you will respond to this with the thanksgiving, praise and worship that is due to Him.

I hope that the Spirit will make you better understand the depth of love shown on the Cross; that you can only do so by first understanding the wrath of God as divine punishment for our sin and your own contemptibility before a Holy God; that He loves you not because of who you are, but despite who you are; that you will cherish the Cross as a sign of God paying the death penalty you deserve Himself and reconciling you to Him out of a totally undeserved and unmerited love. So powerful is this symbol of God’s gracious love, that I pray that you will say with the Apostle Paul, “I [am] determined not to know anything…except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Co 2:2).

And now, having reconciled us, I finally pray that you accept “the ministry of reconciliation” that God has bestowed upon us to preach; “that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them” (2Co 5:18-19). So until next time, put that in your cloud and rain it (Jude 12).

Christus Regnat,

MAXi