Category: Discipleship Foundations

18: Christ’s Finished Work – Redemption from Performance-Based Living

Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. 2  Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. 3  How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? 4  Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? Galatians 3:1-4 (NLT)  

Legalism or performance-based living is one of the greatest evils propagated by well-meaning people in cooperation with the devil. Paul likened it to being under the power of witchcraft. Legalism mesmerizes those under its sway. It is fueled by our pride and reinforced by rules that are used to measure people’s righteousness before God.

Performance-based living cannot give us the peace we desire because it is based on the lie that it is possible to gain and maintain a right relationship with God through our own effort.

Because of the effects of sin, most of us realize that something is missing in our relationship with God. Religion is man’s attempt to connect with God, but the Bible makes it clear that any restoration of that relationship must be initiated by God himself. We are quite incapable of pulling it off.

Just as the people of Israel thought they could fight against the Canaanites on their own, we are under the delusion that through trying hard we can please God without his help. The Israelites who followed Moses, illustrated this principle.

So Moses returned from the mountain and called together the elders of the people and told them everything the LORD had commanded him. 8  And all the people responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has commanded.” So Moses brought the people’s answer back to the LORD. Exodus 19:7-8 (NLT)

They thought they had the capacity to obey. All they needed was to know what to do. The truth of the matter was that they were fatally flawed at the core of their being because of the devastating effects of sin. Even though they professed to want to obey God, they had no ability to follow through on their promise. God knew this, but they did not – yet. The same is often true for us. We imagine that if we just try a little harder, we can pull this off. But we cannot.

Most Christians understand that before being born again we desperately needed Christ. When we realize that we are unable to save ourselves, the gospel becomes most welcome news. Jesus died to take our punishment for all the sins we ever committed! God is willing to “let bygones be bygones” and erase or forgive all the marks against us on the great blackboard of life.

Those who do not fully understand the gospel tend to stop here with forgiveness, thinking that once we get a fresh clean slate, now it is our responsibility to make the most of it. After all, “God helps those who help themselves.” (This is probably the most quoted non-scripture ever!) This way of looking at things misses the point. We could not save ourselves before we turned to Christ, and we cannot do it after.

The good news is much more than simple forgiveness. God gives those who trust in Jesus his Spirit to live the Christ life in and through us!

This means that we need God’s grace to operate in every aspect of our lives from the beginning to the end.

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2  Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. Romans 5:1-2 (NLT)

Under legalism, we get into the kingdom by grace, but we remain in God’s favor through our obedience. In other words, we earn it. Grace thinking is quite different. We enter the kingdom by grace, and become obedient through grace. The result is the same, but how we get there is very different. Legalism requires self-effort.

Grace requires faith that Christ has already provided us with a permanent right standing with God. Our obedience stems from our love for such an amazing Savior and a desire to please and bring him glory.

For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4  For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. Romans 10:3-4 (NLT)

Legalistic thinking in earlier times led some to postpone water baptism until their deathbed. That way they would have the cleanest slate possible when they approached the judgment seat of Christ. The early Jewish believers in Christ often added a slightly different twist: people get into the kingdom by faith alone, but if you wanted to be a true follower of Christ, you then had to keep the law and be circumcised.

The key idea in legalism is that salvation comes through faith in Christ plus something else. The true gospel is that salvation comes through faith in Christ alone.

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. 2  Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3  I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. 4  For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace. Galatians 5:1-4 (NLT)

Every God-fearing person who has tried to keep the Law knows what it is like to feel the desperation of condemnation. Before faith in Christ, all of us were under condemnation and wrath because all have sinned.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24  Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. Romans 3:22-24 (NLT)

No one has ever escaped this judgment, because no one apart from Christ has been without sin. Condemnation comes because of the Law.

The Law is God’s righteous standard of holiness that points out and defines sin in our lives. Its job is to place us under condemnation so that we will understand our desperate need for a Savior. It is our servant to lead us to Christ.

For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. Romans 3:20 (NLT)

Once a person places his or her faith in Christ, this condemnatory role of the Law in our lives is finished forever.

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers--and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. 1 Timothy 1:8-11 (NIV)

Christ took upon Himself all the condemnation that the Law placed upon us. He bore our sin and the penalty for our sin. When we placed our faith in Christ, we were justified by the Father, which means we received Christ’s perfect righteousness as a gift. This means in God’s eyes we already have the righteousness that comes from perfect obedience unto death over a lifetime. That is why we are no longer subject to condemnation.

Freedom from condemnation is a big key to victorious living by faith.

The strength of sin is the Law’s power to condemn. (1Cor.15:56) If we allow ourselves to be condemned because of our sins and failings after becoming a Christian, we are giving power to sin to rule us, even though it has no right to do so.

Until we decide to focus instead on Christ’s righteousness given to us instead of on our own sinfulness and weakness, we will struggle with a condemnation-induced power of sin in our lives.

Therefore, it is just as important to understand and believe that we are free from condemnation through dying to the law in Christ as it is to believe we are free from the power of indwelling sin through our identification with Christ’s death to sin and resurrection in life.

The Law will never go away. Its righteous standards are eternal. We had to “go away” by dying so that we could be married to someone else whose name is Jesus Christ. Just as our union with the Law brought forth evil fruit due to our corrupt sin nature, even so, our union with Christ produces good fruit out of our new nature in Christ.

The new nature cannot be joined to the Law because the two are incompatible. We must jettison old performance-based thinking and accept the new way of the Spirit.

But now we have been released from the law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way, by the Spirit. Romans 7:6 (NLT)

The only way this will work is if the power of grace and the indwelling Spirit is strong enough to overcome temptation and the desires of the sin nature, which still reside in us in diminished strength. According to Romans 8, this is indeed the case.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4 (NLT)

If this sounds too good to be true, it is because we have never understood the true gospel of grace. Instead, we have been living to some degree or another under a form of legalism or performance-based Christianity. Yes, it is vitally important to obey God, but we don’t do it to gain a right standing or acceptance from Him. We do it because we already have those things. Love and appreciation are far more powerful motivators than fear and condemnation. If we have any doubts about this, consider the story of the woman caught in adultery in John Chapter 8. She expected to be killed by stoning for her sin as required by the Law, but…

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” 11  “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” John 8:10-11 (NLT)

She was able to walk in victory over sin because God forgave her and released her from condemnation. If we have only known serving God out of fear of judgment, we really should give this new way of living condemnation free in the Spirit a try. We will never go back!

Click here to see the other articles in this series.

 

Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • How did God deliver us from the power of condemnation?
  • Why is condemnation so antithetical to living by grace?
  • Why is it just as important to understand and believe that we are dead to the law’s power to condemn as it is to know that we are dead to indwelling sin’s power to rule us?
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17: Christ’s Finished Work – Redemption from the Power of Sin

The blood of Jesus provided for our overall redemption. It is the price that was paid to secure our freedom from every form of bondage.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NIV)

The blood of our Lord provides us with forgiveness of sins. This aspect of redemption can be equated with salvation in general.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace Ephesians 1:7 (NIV)

Here we have an overlapping of propitiation and redemption. In this mediation, we will focus on how Jesus redeemed or set us free from the power of sin.

Our identification with Christ in his death and resurrection is the divine mechanism that sets us free from sin’s enslaving power.

The following scripture verse clearly shows this.

Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. Romans 6:6 (NLT)

Many, if not most, Christians do not understand or even know about the importance of the principle of identification. Instead, they are usually only familiar with the idea of substitution.

Most believers know and believe that Jesus died FOR their sins, in their place, but they do not grasp that the believer died WITH Christ and lives IN Christ so that the sin nature or “old man” might lose its power to rule our lives.

Not only are we identified WITH Christ, but the Bible says that we are IN Christ. We are in him, and he is in us.

If you love me, obey my commandments. 16  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18  No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19  Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20  When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. John 14:15-20 (NLT)

The principle that we are “in Christ” is found throughout the New Testament. In fact, we are united with Christ in the Spirit. (1 Cor. 6:17) Here are a few verses for us to consider.

being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; Romans 3:24 (NASB) 

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:11 (NASB)  

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NASB)

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 (NASB)  

nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:39 (NASB)  
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, 1 Corinthians 1:4 (NASB)  

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, Ephesians 1:3 (NASB)

There are literally dozens of verses containing this small and often overlooked prepositional phrase “in Christ” which contains one of the most important concepts in the Bible.

God ingeniously inextricably linked our salvation to a Person. All we have from God is in His Son. By being in Him and his being in us, we have everything.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:12 (NIV)

Therefore everything that is true of Christ, is true for us believers, aside from His divinity and unique role as the only begotten Son of God. He shares his life, his power, his holiness, his authority, and his freedom from sin’s power with us.

Because Jesus is free from sin, so are we.

For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Romans 6:10-11 (NASB)

For this freedom to be fully experienced and enjoyed, we must understand and believe it. Satan seeks to rob God’s children of our freedom and authority through ignorance and deception. He wants us to rely on our own experience and feelings to determine if we are indeed free from sin, instead of believing what God’s Word says.

Since the Bible teaches that Christ has indeed set us free from the power of sin, we are responsible to believe it and ask the Holy Spirit to make it our experience.

Click here to see the other articles in this series.

 

Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • Explain in your own words what it means to be “in Christ”. (Hint: 1 Cor. 6:17)
  • Why is being in Christ fundamental to our freedom?
  • Is it right for us to claim that we are “dead to sin” even if we still commit sins? (Hint: Our true identity is who we are “in Christ.”)
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16: Christ’s Finished Work – Redemption

He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:12 (NIV)

Redemption encompasses the entire work of Christ at times, but it also has a very specific meaning. Jesus our Redeemer purchased us from slavery and set us free. He liberated us from the dominion of a tyrant, the devil. He delivered us from our enemies. This is all part of what it means to be redeemed.

In its basic sense, “redemption” means to buy back from slavery with the intent to set free. It is the power of the gospel to liberate us.

Redemption extends to everything that formerly held us in bondage – sin, death, Satan and his demons, the Law, men’s traditions, deception, sickness, disease, and various enslaving addictions. Redemption extends to all areas of bondage.

As much as most people don’t want to hear this, everyone is a slave to something or someone. Slavery is usually associated with being captured, mistreated, stripped of all rights, and forced to work without pay. Most slavery over the centuries has been just that. However, there is a type of slavery mentioned in the Bible that was more like what was once a common practice – indentured servanthood. In fact, my mother’s seventh great grandfather, Pieter Claesen Wyckoff , who was born on 26 JAN 1625 in Boda, the Netherlands, and died on 30 JUN 1694 in what is now Brooklyn, New York, came to the new world, New Amsterdam to be exact, as an indentured servant as a young boy. After fulfilling his term of seven years of service, he married and settled in the Brooklyn area. His home still stands and is a museum. His many thousands of descendants are scattered all over the United States. For him, indentured servanthood was a temporary “slavery” of sorts that served to liberate him from poverty in his motherland and give him new opportunities to thrive in a new world. He or his parents made the choice to enter this contract. I suspect it was a choice to either be a voluntary slave for seven years followed by freedom or be enslaved permanently by poverty in the Netherlands. 

In the Old Testament, if a person sold himself into this kind of slavery to a master for economic reasons, he might discover during his time of service that his life was far better than before. In this case, he could choose to make the enslavement permanent. His master would drive an awl through the ear lobe of the servant, marking him for life as a voluntary slave.

But the slave may declare, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children. I don’t want to go free.’ 6  If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door or doorpost and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will serve his master for life. Exodus 21:5-6 (NLT) 

The Bible describes the Christian as a doulos or slave to Christ. Paul makes it clear that we only have two options in life - to be a slave to sin or a slave to God.

There is no third way of doing our own thing. That option, by definition, is serving self, which equates to serving Satan, the king of self.

Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? Romans 6:16 (NASB)

Jesus taught that all who sin are slaves of sin. (John 8:34) Satan does a good job of deceiving us into thinking that, when we sin, we are simply doing what we want. The fact of the matter is that when we choose to sin, we become willing slaves of Satan in the matter of sin, taken captive by him to do his will.

Then they will come to their senses and escape from the Devil's trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants. 2 Timothy 2:26 (NLT)

Sin opens the door to all sorts of bondage. We became subject to slavery to death and the fear of death through our sin. Jesus died to set us free from that.

Because God's children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—Jesus also became flesh and blood by being born in human form. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the Devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he deliver those who have lived all their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. Hebrews 2:14-15 (NLT)

Jesus also set us free from demonic and satanic oppression through His death and resurrection.

In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ. Colossians 2:15 (NLT)

Likewise Jesus redeemed us from sickness and disease; although, we still live in bodies that will one day suffer physical death. The full manifestation of our redemption from sickness and death will take place at the resurrection of the body.

He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds! 1 Peter 2:24 (NLT)

Another aspect of redemption is deliverance from the performance-based system of attempting to find and maintain favor with God.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." Galatians 3:13 (NIV)

One of the most wonderful areas of redemption is deliverance from our bondage to deception. Jesus is the Truth, and as we continue in the revealed truth of His Word, we are made free.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." John 8:31-32 (NASB)

Slavery to sin and the devil always produces death, destruction, sorrow, regret, and loss. In contrast to this, voluntary submission to God produces life, peace, righteousness, joy, and abundance.

Whereas the devil enslaves us to impoverish us and strip us from everything that brings joy and fulfillment in life, God “enslaves” us to set us free.

Submission to God fulfills and enhances our life. In fact, God has elevated us from simple slave status to sonship. We take our cue from the only begotten Son, who was subservient to His Father’s will. His obedience unto death elevated him to being Lord of all.

Before becoming a man, the Son of God enjoyed the privileges and status of being part of the Godhead. After his incarnation, death, and resurrection, he has all the rights and privileges of divine sonship, but as the God-man and Lord he has reclaimed the authority Adam gave away. This has enormous consequences for us who believe in him.

Through being identified with Christ, God has conferred upon us who serve Him all the wonderful privileges and status associated with being a child of God.

Far from being a miserable slave, our obedience to God elevates us to the highest status available, God’s own child.  This will be the subject of another aspect of Christ’s finished work on our behalf.

Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:34-36 (NASB)

Now let’s review a bit. Use the following chart to clarify and deepen your understanding of what we have covered thus far regarding what Christ accomplished on our behalf on the cross and by his resurrection and ascension.

 

Work of Christ

Propitiation

Forgiveness

Justification

Redemption

Definition

God’s wrath against our sin has been appeased.

Our debt toward God has been erased.

Our guilt has been removed and we have been given Christ’s right standing with God.

We have been bought back from slavery and set free.

Result

We can now enjoy God’s love without fear.

We can now forgive others as God forgave us.

We can now come boldly into God’s presence without condemnation or shame.

We are now free to serve God and others.
Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • From what has Christ set you free that is the most meaningful to you?
  • How does redemption differ from propitiation, forgiveness, and justification?
  • How do they overlap?

Click here to see the other articles in this series.

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15: Christ’s Finished Work – Justification

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 5:1 (NASB)

It is one thing to be forgiven for an offense and quite another to be completely exonerated in court and declared not guilty! When we are forgiven, it means we admit that we have done something wrong to another person, concerning which we have incurred some sort of debt to them.

Forgiveness does not erase the wrong; it simply releases us from the debt. Justification, however, erases the record of the wrong altogether, as if it never happened.

Justification is the formal declaration of our righteous standing with God in the court of heaven. What Jesus did on the cross delivered us from guilt and condemnation through his becoming our substitute. God’s justice demanded that we pay back our debt incurred by our sin by dying a criminal’s death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NLT)

Jesus, who never sinned, agreed to die in our place as our substitute, taking upon himself our sin, our guilt, and our debt. Because he substituted for us and paid off our debt, we were forgiven. In other words, toward God we became debt free, but the record of our offense still existed. Forgiveness leaves us being wrongdoers for whom someone else has paid the debt.

Justification, however, removes the record of our wrongdoing. Perhaps the closest parallel in our legal system is expungement, the process by which a record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed from state or federal record.

An expungement order directs the court to treat the criminal conviction as if it had never occurred, essentially removing it from a defendant’s criminal record as well as, ideally, the public record.

When Jesus rose again, Father God declared that his atoning death was enough to erase the guilt and condemnation associated with our sin.

The reason this could be done without violating Father God’s own righteousness and justice is because we are now identified with our Lord Jesus. Instead of being defined as a “sinner”, we are now the righteousness of God because we are “in” Christ, and he is “in” us. This means that we are now partakers of who Christ is and all the benefits of what he accomplished through his death and resurrection.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NASB)

We are now partakers of God’s own righteousness, a perfect righteousness without fault or blemish!

It is God who has made you part of Christ Jesus. And Christ has become for us wisdom from God. He is the reason we are right with God and pure enough to be in his presence. Christ is the one who set us free from sin. 1 Corinthians 1:30 (ETRV)

Some have said that to be justified is to be “just as if I’d” never sinned. This is a memorable way to define justification, but it is inadequate. Such a definition of justification returns us to a state of moral innocence, the condition that Adam and Eve enjoyed initially in the garden. Justification goes much further by giving us the complete and perfect righteousness of the Son of God, who was obedient to his Father unto death.

When we are justified, we receive Christ’s righteousness deposited into our spiritual bank account.

It is as if we had already lived a perfect life, died as a martyr, and already stand before the Father completely vindicated and faultless! In fact, that is our actual condition positionally in Christ.

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Ephesians 1:4 (NLT)

The only way anyone of us can be without fault is because we are one with the Righteous One. There is no righteousness available outside of Christ’s. God is not dispensing little bags of righteousness based on our performance.

We either become righteous because we are in Christ, or we are outside of his righteousness altogether.

A thinking person will realize at this point that justification is an overwhelmingly amazing gift from God.

Imagine that while we are running in a race, it is announced that we have already finished our race and won. What kind of encouragement would that be? I imagine we would gain a new spring in our step! This is what has happened to us believers! We who are still on planet earth are in a race (Hebrews 12:1), and we have won through Christ!

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:37 (NLT)

In God’s eyes the race is already finished.

and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. Romans 8:30 (NASB)

All of the verbs in the above verse are in the aorist past tense, which means the action has been completed once for all, never to be repeated. This means God regards us as having been justified and even glorified in His sight. He sees the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:10) He knows the outcome since He is sovereign and all-knowing.

Father knows you have already finished the race in Christ and have been declared a winner because Christ already won!

Even though we have already won our race, we must keep running. This is where our faith comes into view. Faith includes the following attributes – trust, allegiance, and steadfastness. The Bible says it is a gift from God, like everything else necessary for our existence. The idea is that the God who saved us by dying on the cross when we were still his enemies, will continue to “keep” us by and through faith now that we are his friends.

And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10  For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11  So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:9-11 (NLT)

As we, with God’s help, steadfastly continue in a trust and allegiance relationship with Christ (faith), God’s grace will keep us.

Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. 23  But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it. Colossians 1:22-23 (NLT)

This is what it means to be justified. We have been given another person’s, Christ’s, righteous standing before God – a perfect standing resulting from a completed life of absolute faithfulness to God. We are no longer under the Law or any performance-based system in which we must earn or maintain our standing before God. Our righteousness is no longer in question now that we have placed our confidence in Christ.

Everyone who believes in him is freed from all guilt and declared right with God—something the Jewish law could never do. Acts 13:39 (NLT)

So, if we have put our faith and allegiance in Christ, we have passed from death to life (John 5:24). The next time we are tempted to get down on ourselves because of a recent sin or failure, we must remember that we stand before God clothed in Christ’s perfect righteousness. Therefore, we can come boldly before our Father’s glorious throne to receive mercy and grace to help us in our time of need. If we confess our faults and sins to our loving Father, he will let us experience the blessing of His mercy and forgiveness once again. We should never doubt our right standing with Him.

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)

Click here to see the other articles in this series.

Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • Explain how justification is different from forgiveness.
  • Why did Jesus have to pay the penalty for our sin?
  • How did Jesus’ resurrection prove his vindication (righteousness) before God?
  • Can you explain the difference between moral innocence and justification.
  • Does it make sense to you that we are in a race that we have already won?
  • Why can we always boldly come into Father’s presence to receive grace and mercy, even when we have recently failed?
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14: Christ’s Finished Work – Forgiveness

This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Matthew 26:28 (NIV)

Forgiveness is another side of propitiation. Once the just wrath of God against sin has been appeased, forgiveness may be offered.

Forgiveness is never required. It is an offer to release someone from a debt that is justly owed. It is always an act of mercy.

In this case, our debt was one we had no means of ever paying – the debt of sin. The only acceptable payment that could release us from this debt was the death of a perfectly righteous God-Man offered in obedience on the cross. Only the Lamb of God could pay that price. Thank God He did!

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (NIV)

Jesus’ parable of the unrighteous servant (Matthew 18:23-35) teaches us that we are forgiven only because of the mercy of God. The unrighteous servant never understood and thought he could or should pay back his master over time for a debt that had already been removed. As a result, he failed to properly receive the gift offered to him or to show the same sort of mercy to others. Since he thought he must still earn his forgiveness; he demanded that others earn theirs, too, by repaying their debts to him. This kind of spiritual blindness and pride produces legalism in which we try to earn our acceptance and standing with God through our performance. Only One Person had the ability to pay the necessary price, and he has already done it.

Jesus offered himself, not because he was required to do so because of a personal debt he owed, but because he chose to extend mercy to us by paying our debt.

He purchased our forgiveness with His blood.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace Ephesians 1:7 (NASB)

Redemption is a theological word which simply means to buy back from slavery and set free. We will look more at the depth of meaning of this word in future meditations. For now, we will concentrate on this one aspect of redemption – the forgiveness of sins.

Once a debt has been paid, it can never be legally demanded again.

Until the debt is paid, the debtor is in bondage to the lender. Being in a state of unforgiveness is a kind of prison, a debtor’s prison. We do not have this form of debt collection anymore, but in earlier times a person could go to prison for unpaid debts. On a personal level, we can hold people in a psychological or spiritual prison of our own making through refusing to forgive. It is impossible to relate in any sort of a close way when we hold an offense against another person or that person holds an offense against us.

Forgiveness means we release the other person from owing us anything at all. We let go of our demands for personal satisfaction or vengeance, knowing that God will handle any justice that needs to be administered.

When Jesus died for us and paid the price of His blood for our redemption, God’s wrath was completely satisfied, and He released us from our impossible debt. God forgave us completely and released us from the prison of our sins. We were still guilty of committing them, but we were released from the debt incurred. This is an important point.

Forgiveness does not remove guilt: only the debt.

If someone commits a murder, the family of the murdered person may offer forgiveness to the killer, but that will not remove the murderer’s guilt or bring the dead person back to life. He still did the act and must answer for it in a court of law. The consequences of the murder remain. If the governor should pardon him, he also would be released from the state’s demand for vengeance or pay back. In that case, he would be completely forgiven and set free. Nevertheless, he would still be guilty of killing a man, and that family would still have to suffer the consequences of losing a loved one. Forgiveness does not erase the guilt for what we did; only the debt we had to pay.

There is another aspect of salvation called justification that takes care of the guilt problem. We will look at that next time. For now, why not spend some time thanking God for releasing us from the impossible debt we owed Him because of our sins? And we should also make sure we are not failing to release anyone else from a debt owed to us.

Holding an offense against another person is one sure way to sabotage our own mercy.

God forgives us as we forgive others. God requires us to extend mercy to others. (Matthew 6:12 & Mark 11:25) If we have been holding on to an offense, we must let it go, just as God did for us. It’s not just the best way: it’s the only way.

You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 (NLT)
 
Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • How does it affect us when someone refuses to forgive us?
  • How does it affect us when we refuse to forgive another person?
  • How does our refusal to forgive others reveal that we have never yet understood our own need for mercy?
  • Would you agree that when we refuse to forgive someone, it shows that we have elevated ourselves to be their judge on a par with God?
  • Are you aware of anyone that you still need to forgive?
  • What do we do when we know we should forgive someone, but our heart is not in it?
  • What do we do when we choose to forgive someone, but when we get around them the old feelings of bitterness resurface?
  • When we forgive someone, does that require us to act as if they never did anything to us?
  • When we forgive someone, does that mean we should trust them in the future?
  • How specific should we be when we forgive someone? (Example: I forgive you vs I forgive you for betraying me.)
  • What is the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation?

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13: Christ’s Finished Work – Propitiation

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 John 4:10 (NASB)

The work of salvation accomplished by the Lamb of God is so broad, deep, and high that it might be compared to viewing a mountain range. Mountains will look different depending on our vantage point. It is the same with the finished work of Christ. We will look at it from different perspectives to gain a better understanding of the whole. Some of the views will overlap, as when we blend many shots together to make a panorama.

As I begin breaking down the magnificent and multi-faceted work of our great Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I will be using theological terms that may or may not be familiar to you. Some of these concepts are overlapping and have more than one way of being understood. The word that I believe encompasses the entire work of salvation is the “atonement,” which is an invented word to describe what Christ did. Jesus died and rose again to restore us to a place of “at-one-ment” with God. I have chosen to break down the atonement into various aspects that I believe are distinctive and enlightening. It is important to see how each part contributes to the whole. Let’s begin with “propitiation”, a word rarely used today.

Propitiation is accomplished by offering a blood sacrifice to appease God’s just wrath against sin.

If we are in deep trouble with a very powerful and angry person because of a major offense we committed, the first thing we need to do is somehow defuse the situation. Otherwise, no progress will be made in the relationship. If we have betrayed someone to whom we owe loyalty, our treason demands justice.

Beginning with Adam and Eve, we humans have rejected our Creator in favor of going our own way and trying to be our own god. Instead of being grateful creatures, we have arrogantly refused to acknowledge, praise, and serve the One to whom we owe everything.

In our fallen condition, things have only gotten worse. We have committed numerous crimes against other people and the creation as well. This is a violation of God’s justice and has justly stirred up his holy wrath.

Our greatest primary need regarding God is to somehow satisfy or appease His just wrath against our rebellion and sin.

Jonathan Edwards was a brilliant theologian in New England many generations ago during the First Great Awakening in this country. In his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” he put into words the condition of every person without Christ.

So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.

Obviously, this was written for the purpose of awakening each of his listeners to the imminent danger of dying while being in an unforgiven and unreconciled state and to stimulate us to reach out to God for mercy. It is recorded that many in his congregation grasped the truth of his words and groaned in agony until they had a breakthrough of knowing in their hearts they were forgiven. Only the sacrifice of Jesus the Messiah, the innocent Lamb of God, could satisfy or propitiate God’s fiery wrath against our sin..

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (NLT)

Only Jesus could take the full fury of God’s wrath upon Himself, thereby leaving us unscathed and unthreatened. And that is just what He did!

Because Jesus took God’s wrath as our substitute, we now have been delivered from that wrath and any threat of ever encountering it.

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NASB)

We can compare Paul’s words to those of our Lord regarding our deliverance from wrath and condemnation.

I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. John 5:24 (NLT)

Jesus substituted for us by taking our punishment. We are identified with him because the Word of God says that when he died, we died, and when he rose, we rose. Our sin fell upon him, and his righteousness was given to us who believe. Substitution and identification are two very important concepts we need to understand and believe.

The reason we are not destined for wrath is because Jesus took our condemnation and punishment upon himself, leaving us “justified” or “not guilty” before God. We have passed from death to life because Jesus died for us and rose again. When he died, we died. When he rose, we rose.

Some appointments are pleasant, such as one to see an old friend. Others are not pleasant at all, such as an appointment to have a root canal. The most feared of all appointments is an appearance before the judgment seat of God for one who has no propitiation for his or her sins. This is an appointment to wrath. Every believer in Christ has been delivered from this appointment. It is not in our future. Praise the Lord!

This does not mean we will never encounter God’s discipline or reap the consequences of our sin. We will reap what we sow, but we will never have to endure God’s wrath.

For example, King David committed two deadly sins for which death was the just punishment. He committed adultery with his faithful friend’s wife and had his friend put to death to hide the fact. God, showing David New Covenant mercy, did not require David to be put to death. He was forgiven when he repented, but God warned him through the prophet that he, his family, and the entire nation would suffer bad consequences for his sins. We can be forgiven yet still have to reap what we sow. King David was a person who ushered in countless blessings to his family and the nation, but he also brought to them some negative reaping. The same is true for us. We all reap what we sow; so, we should ask God’s help to bring blessings upon those we love and serve and ask for a crop failure when we sow evil.

But those of us who put our faith and allegiance in Christ will never reap the wrath of God. That bit of reaping has already been taken by Jesus when he became sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Cor.5:21)

And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God's Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NLT)

The next time we think about what God has done for us in Christ, let us try to remember what it was like to fear the certainty of spending an eternity in hell suffering the torments of God’s wrath. Let us lift our hands to heaven in thanksgiving that He sent a Savior Who endured that wrath on our behalf so that we will never have to face it.

Instead of being sinners in the hands of an angry God, we are beloved children sitting in the lap of a loving Father.

Only Jesus could effect that change. What a Savior!

We have all benefited from the rich blessings he brought to us—one gracious blessing after another. 17 For the law was given through Moses; God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. But his only Son, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart; he has told us about him. John 1:16-18 (NLT)

 

Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • Why didn’t God simply forgive us, instead of requiring Jesus to appease His wrath?
  • Why can we be confident we will never encounter God’s wrath if we put our faith and allegiance in our Lord Jesus Christ?
  • Animistic religions also recognize the need to appease the wrath of demon “gods.” If you were preaching the gospel to a group of people who regularly offered animal sacrifices to gain the blessing and protection of a demon spirit ruling the area, how would you go about it?

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12: Christ’s Finished Work – A Mystery

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:30 (NASB)

What exactly did Jesus mean by these last words upon the cross? How we interpret them will somewhat depend on our view of Scripture and life. For the pessimist, maybe they were the last words of a defeated man who died tragically for nothing. For the more positive minded, perhaps Jesus was simply relieved that he had made it through the worst and finally would find escape in death. But what about the believer? What truth do we find in Jesus’ last words upon the cross? I believe he gave us the clue we need in a previous discourse.

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. 4 "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was. John 17:1-5 (NASB)

Even before his crucifixion, Jesus could confidently say that He had accomplished the work his Abba Father had given Him to do. How much more could he claim that upon the cross as his last breath was exhaled as an act of total obedience to His Father’s will.

For us to understand what is meant by the finished work of Christ, we must go back to the “once for all” aspect of salvation.

The Bible makes it clear that Jesus died once and will never need to do that again, having purchased our salvation through His ultimate sacrifice.

He does not need to offer sacrifices every day like the other high priests. They did this for their own sins first and then for the sins of the people. But Jesus did this once for all when he sacrificed himself on the cross. Hebrews 7:27 (NLT)

As we consider the nature of what Jesus did on the cross, we must engage our minds to think quite deeply. This was not a simple or superficial thing. C.S. Lewis, in his Chronicles of Narnia, which is an allegory about Christ, calls it “deep magic”. Of course, there was nothing magical about it, but it was “deep”. Paul calls it God’s “secret wisdom”.

Yet when I am among mature Christians, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world, and not the kind that appeals to the rulers of this world, who are being brought to nothing. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the secret wisdom of God, which was hidden in former times, though he made it for our benefit before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would never have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." 10 But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets. 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 (NLT)

In the Bible a “mystery” is something hidden until it is revealed by God.

What Christ accomplished on the cross and through His resurrection is just such a mystery.

God's secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. 10 And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. 12 God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. 13 And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God. Ephesians 1:9-14 (NLT)

The mystery is that God’s salvation was accomplished in and through Christ via the cross and resurrection.

God’s eternal plan to conform us to His glorious image has been carried out to perfection through His Son’s ultimate sacrifice and his indwelling life (“Christ in you, the hope of glory” – Col.1:27). This plan was conceived in the mind of Abba Father before the world was created. (Ephesians 1:4)

The Holy Spirit applied Christ’s finished work to our lives when the gospel intersected our timeline.

Here is another passage that clarifies the plan.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30  and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified. Romans 8:29-30 (NASB)

Every key verb in the above passage is in the Greek aorist past tense, which means it is a once for all completed action, a “done deal”.

Our faith is not in something shifting or uncertain.

We have been given a strong anchor that is hooked into Christ’s finished work.

So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can take new courage, for we can hold on to his promise with confidence. 19 This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the line of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:18-20 (NLT)

As we continue to trust in what God has already done for us in Christ, we have the stability to navigate through the uncertainties of our “fragile” earthly existence in these mortal bodies.

Despite having to do battle with renegade desires coming from the “flesh,” we have bold confidence that ultimately our salvation is complete and does not depend on our performance but on Christ’s perfect work.

God sees the end from the beginning. The Holy Spirit Who indwells us is God’s guarantee that what He has begun, He will finish. In fact, it is finished!

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (NASB) 

God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:5 (NLT)
 
Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • What difference does it make for us to know that Christ already completed the work of salvation?
  • How does our understanding of “spirit-soul-body” help us to grasp the difference between the “once-for-all” eternal salvation of the spirit and the “in process” daily salvation of the soul?
  • What part does each Person of the Godhead play in our salvation?
  • Does Christ’s death on the cross also cover all of our present and future sins or just those in our past?
  • If Jesus already paid for our forgiveness, what place does repentance have in the process?

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11: I Reckon

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:11 (NKJV)

If you come from Texas or the deep South, you might use the word “reckon” in your normal conversation, such as, “I reckon you’re right.” This use of the word is about the same as “suppose”. The King James version of the Bible also uses the word “reckon”, but in a much different way. In the above verse, “reckon” is the equivalent of “consider it true or done”. This type of reckoning is very important if we are to grow as a Christian.

Faith is the God-given ability to take God at His word.

Faith is not something we generate from within ourselves or something innate in everyone. When Adam sinned, we all died spiritually, and the human heart lost its connection to God. We died to spiritual things. God had to revive us on the inside for us to be able to live again. Paul put it very clearly in his letter to the Ephesians.

God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Ephesians 2:8 (NLT)

Jesus is called the Author and Finisher or initiator and completer of our faith.

...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 (NASB)

Faith is a work of grace from start to finish. The indwelling Holy Spirit is God’s Agent of grace. He is the One who develops faith inside us. He is called the “Spirit of faith”. (1 Cor.12:9; 2 Cor.4:13) He is the One Who lives out the Christ life from inside us. When we trust in God, it is the Spirit trusting in and through us. When we worship the Father, we do so in cooperation with the Spirit.

Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" Galatians 4:6 (NASB)

Because we have been joined or united to the Holy Spirit through the new birth, it is next to impossible for us to differentiate between God’s Spirit and ours in these matters.

But the person who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. 1 Corinthians 6:17 (NLT) 

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ 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 up for me. Galatians 2:20 (NASB)

Faith is the ability to accept God’s promises as being true just because God said. Faith enables us to consider that his promises are a done deal even before we see or receive what was promised.

Faith reckons that what God has said is true.

What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)

Now why is this so important? Remember that salvation begins in the spirit, on the inside, and over time works its way into our thoughts, motives, and behavior, as yeast works its way through a lump of dough. (Matthew 13:33)

If we think that our spiritual growth depends on how hard we work at it, we will always be unsettled. But if we trust completely in what the Bible says, that our new life is a gift of grace from start to finish, we will be steadfast in our faith.

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6 (NLT)

By God’s grace, our thinking and behavior will sooner or later catch up to God’s promises that we believe. This is a crucial principle for spiritual growth.

Here is an example of how this works, going back to our opening scripture verse. The Bible says we are “dead to sin”. How many of us “feel” dead to sin? I would venture to say that none of us do. Are we dead to sin or not? If we only consider that we are dead to sin when we feel like it, we will never agree with what God says is true. We will not be operating in faith. If, however, we take God at His word and reckon that we are indeed dead to sin, despite what we feel or how we have recently acted, we will be living by faith. Not only that, what we believe will be the truth.

What difference does this make? Practically speaking, it makes a lot of difference. After sinning, which we all do, we will either be cast down and discouraged because we failed again or relatively upbeat and encouraged because we realize a temporary set back is just that. Which way of thinking will lead to which outcome? Now I am not suggesting that we be careless when it comes to sin, but if we get discouraged because we sin, we will be discouraged a great deal of the time. If we can stay encouraged even at our worst, trusting that no matter how we have behaved, we are indeed dead to sin and it shall not be able to dominate us, we will avoid one of the greatest deceptions of the enemy – the power of condemnation.

Condemnation robs us of our joy and peace. It puts us into “Judas Mode”. After betraying Jesus, he felt so hopeless and worthless that he committed suicide. Peter, on the other hand, also betrayed the Lord, but he had hope that he would be forgiven and kept on going. He eventually was fully restored. Unless we conquer lying condemnation, we are likely to despair of there being any hope for us and give up. We might even wonder if we are really God’s children at all. Jesus took our condemnation upon Himself on the cross. When we were made right with God through faith, God the Father declared that we are “Not Guilty” in the court of heaven. We were once for all delivered from the power of the Law to condemn.

"I assure you, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. John 5:24 (NLT)

God justifies us, and Christ died and intercedes for us. No one of any rank is left to condemn us.

Condemnation is usually the result of a lack of understanding of what Christ has accomplished, and it is a killer of faith.

Paul lists it as the number one enemy to conquer before a person can learn to “walk in the Spirit”.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. Romans 8:1-2 (NLT)

Now the question we must ask ourselves is this: is what I have just read true? I reckon it is, and so should we all.

Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • Why is it crucial for us to consider that we are dead to sin, even if we are not yet acting as if we are?
  • What makes condemnation such a powerful enemy, and why must we gain victory over it before we can walk in the Spirit?

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10: The Hope of the Resurrection

And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 Now that we are saved, we eagerly look forward to this freedom. For if you already have something, you don't need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don't have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently. Romans 8:23-25 (NLT)

Sometimes when we are attempting to share the gospel with someone, we might ask them if they are saved. A typical response might be, “I hope so!” At that point we have a perfect lead in to tell them about the meaning of biblical hope.

Instead of hope being something we wish for, but is unlikely to happen, biblical hope is a confident expectation that God’s promises will be fulfilled.

Biblical hope enables us to patiently wait for the promise, no matter how long it may take for it to come to pass. Some have described hope as “stretched out” faith. Faith is the basis or ground of hope. Like faith, hope originates in God, who is our source. Paul wrote:

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NLT)

 We expectantly wait (hope) for what we believe (know) to be true.

Faith immediately receives the answer to prayer, knowing that God has already “done” what He promised, even though we do not yet see it. Hope hangs on to that promise for as long as it may take until we see and experience the actual fulfillment.

The resurrection is our hope. We know it’s coming, but we don’t know how long it will be before it arrives.

The future salvation of the body is called glorification, and this is what will happen when believers rise from the dead. We will be instantly transformed into Christ’s image, and our resurrection bodies will radiate His glory.

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same mighty power that he will use to conquer everything, everywhere. Philippians 3:20-21 (NLT)

The resurrection is the final installment of God’s great salvation.

The first installment is the new birth, whereby we are given a right standing with God, liberation from all that would enslave us, forgiveness of sins, life eternal, the indwelling Holy Spirit, reconciliation to the Father, and the privileges and rights of sonship. The second installment is called sanctification or transformation, which is the day-by-day walking out in our souls of what was given to us through the new birth. This requires our participation in daily grace, faith, and obedience. This is the process of working out our salvation and becoming more and more like Jesus in our thoughts, motives, and behavior. This process will continue until the day of our death. At that point, we will be ready to receive the last installment, the resurrection of the body. The first installment is a past grace. It was accomplished at Calvary. The second installment is a present or daily grace. The last installment, the resurrection, is in the future. Though it will certainly come, we cannot have it now and must patiently wait for it. When the resurrection becomes our experienced reality, salvation will be complete.

But let me tell you a wonderful secret God has revealed to us. Not all of us will die, but we will all be transformed. 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, the Christians who have died will be raised with transformed bodies. And then we who are living will be transformed so that we will never die. 53 For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die. 54 When this happens—when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die—then at last the Scriptures will come true: "Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" 1 Corinthians 15:51-55 (NLT)

The transformation of our souls will be instantly completed when our bodies are transformed, too. Jesus wants us to live today in the tension between looking back to what He has already completed through His death and resurrection and what will be ours in the resurrection. In other words, we must learn to live in past grace, present grace, and future grace.

We must learn to reckon as true what is already done and confidently wait for what yet remains to be done.

This will give us the faith and strength to walk with God today, day after day after day.

What do we hope for? Jesus wants us to live our lives in the hope of receiving a reward at the resurrection. This means we should invest in God’s kingdom by making sacrifices now so that we can have a more glorious resurrection later.

It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25  He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26  He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. Hebrews 11:24-26 (NLT)

Having a future hope in the resurrection gives us a reason to live today.

Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3  And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:2-3 (NLT)

Hope in the resurrection is one of our most powerful motivations toward godly living. We should ask God to give us transforming hope.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NLT)
 
Questions for Further Study and Discussion
  • In your own words, give a working definition of hope.
  • Explain why it is important for our life in the present to both look back to what Christ has already accomplished for us through His death and resurrection and to look forward to what will be given to us in the resurrection.
  • What practical difference will it make for me today, if I live in the hope of the resurrection?

Click here to see the other articles in this series.

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9: More about Repentance

The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)

Repentance is integral to the entire process of our salvation. Without it, there is no salvation. Prior to repentance our condition is one of denying our need or willingness to submit to God’s rule. After repentance we recognize the greatness and glory of our Creator–Redeemer–Sustainer and our utter dependence upon him, and we willingly serve him out of love and appreciation for who he is and what he has done.

The “deeper” our repentance from independence and rebellion against God, the greater will be our enjoyment of his benevolent rule and the more effective we will be as his servants.

The basic meaning of repentance is “to change the mind”. How does this happen and what does it look like? Everyone is born with a mind that is clouded or deformed by sin. By default, we are prone to distrust the truth and believe lies. Thanks to the presence of evil in the world, deception is ubiquitous and relentless. Over the course of a lifetime, without continual repentance, all sorts of wrong thinking can begin to accumulate. Sometimes seemingly impregnable fortresses of deception are erected in our lives as a result of painful experiences and wrong interpretations or reactions to those experiences. The net result is a mind that resists God and rejects truth. Paul describes it in Romans as a deliberate suppression of truth.

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. Romans 1:18 (NLT)

This is every person’s condition before God gives us the desire and ability to repent.

Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, 2 Timothy 2:25 (NIV)

It is important to realize that, before the Holy Spirit begins to work inside us, we are quite incapable of understanding how far from God and His truth we are.

Self-deception is deadly because the person who is gripped by it has no idea of his or her condition or peril.

Using God’s Word as the catalyst, the Holy Spirit does an inner work of revelation and conviction. He brings us to the point where we begin to see that we are guilty of wrong thinking and sin, and that we need a Savior.

And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment. John 16:8 (NLT)

When this happens, God asks us to humble ourselves before Him and sometimes other people, admit we are wrong, ask for his help, and surrender to his lordship.

Repentance, then, is the process whereby we transition from sinful defiance of God and His ways to humble reliance and obedience. It opens the way for us to receive God’s blessings and forgiveness.

The process includes aligning with how God thinks. Confession of sin means we agree with what God says about our sin and rebellion. 

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NASB)

To confess in Greek means “to speak the same things as” God.

True repentance always agrees that God is right instead of justifying our own actions.

King David did this in Psalm 51.

Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just. Psalms 51:4 (NLT)

Ultimately repentance will result in a change of behavior, which is the fruit of repentance.

Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father,' for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. Luke 3:8 (NASB)

You can tell when we are truly repentant because we will no longer argue in an attempt to defend our innocence or justify our actions. Instead, we will humbly admit to our wrongdoing, along with having a heartfelt sorrow for our sin and a desire to make things right. Here is how Paul describes it in his second letter to the church at Corinth.

For God can use sorrow in our lives to help us turn away from sin and seek salvation. We will never regret that kind of sorrow. But sorrow without repentance is the kind that results in death. 11 Just see what this godly sorrow produced in you! Such earnestness, such concern to clear yourselves, such indignation, such alarm, such longing to see me, such zeal, and such a readiness to punish the wrongdoer. You showed that you have done everything you could to make things right. 2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NLT)

In summary, repentance is an inner work of the Holy Spirit that begins with a change of thinking and will ultimately result in a change of behavior. Repentance opens the door to faith and the blessings of God. It is something we must do for all our lives. No one ever outgrows our need for it.

Questions for Further Study and Discussion

  • Why does our thinking have to change before our behavior does?
  • Why it is important for us to agree with God regarding our sin.
  • What would you say to someone who says that he has repented of a specific sin but who still struggles in that area?
  • Why are godly emotions usually a part of true repentance?
  • Would you characterize repentance as more of a gift from God or a choice that we make?

Click here to see the other articles in this series.

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