JUSTIFICATION (Romans 3:21-26)
"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith." (Romans 3:23-25)
William Heyns wrote:
“By participating in [Christ’s] righteousness [the Christian] has been made righteous, all [her] sin and impurity has been covered….Now it is ‘as if [she] had never had, nor committed any sin; yea, as if [she] had fully accomplished all that obedience that Christ accomplished for [her].’ He is now truly just, in his entire being, externally and internally, satisfying all the demands of the Law of God, and on this ground he is justified by God.” (Manual of Reformed Doctrine, 286)
If I believe in Jesus Christ, if I trust him and follow him…if the Holy Spirit lives within me, then I have been saved. I have been united with Christ, have shared in his death so that the penalty for my sin is paid and justice has been satisfied. I have been imputed with his righteousness…his obedience to the divine law…so that I may no longer be accused of any sinful act. I have been justified through my faith in Christ. I have been saved.
From the moment you first believe, whether you are seven or seventy, the cross of Christ becomes your cross.
From the moment you first believe, the righteousness of Christ becomes your righteousness.
From the moment I first believed, I have been saved.
Justification, for those who believe, is a past event. We were justified before God the moment we first believed, when the Holy Spirit united us with Christ, when we died in Christ, and when the righteousness of Christ that earns salvation in glory was imputed to us. Having been justified through Christ, no charge can stand against us.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
SATISFACTION (Hebrews 2:14-18)
"Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people." (Heb. 2:17)
Bruce Milne wrote:
“The Bible teaches that the heart of Christ’s work consists in his having on our behalf and in our place borne the punishment due to us on account of our sin and brought us pardon and reconciliation with God in righteousness. This is often referred to as ‘penal substitution’ and has been the centre of evangelical teaching and preaching on the atonement since the Reformation.” (Know the Truth, 155)
Jesus satisfied the demands of justice against us because, in his humanity, he died, and because in his sinless divinity, he didn’t need to. And so God’s great work of salvation could be accomplished. Justice would be done. Humanity would pay for its sins in the person of Jesus, who himself was without sin, so that all those who would be united with Christ, could be declared righteous in him and, therefore, be saved from the death we deserve.
You know, some people when we talk about sin and death and how the whole human race was corrupted by the sin of the one man…Adam, sometimes people are prone to ask the question, “Why should I have to pay for someone else’s sin?” because they sense some injustice in the idea that they should die because of Adam’s sin. But I think the real question should be, “Why should someone else have to pay for my sin?” because that’s the more amazing thought, and that’s just what Jesus has done. In his humanity, Jesus suffered the penalty of sin. In his divinity, Jesus has made possible for you and I to receive the benefit of his suffering. Jesus has paid for my sin and yours. Jesus has satisfied the justice of God so that you and I could be saved.
Brothers and sisters, human beings are sinners, one and all…“for all have sinned” (Romans 5:12), and sin’s just penalty is death, but the justice of God is satisfied in Jesus Christ. The penalty has been paid in full for all those who are in Christ Jesus.
Jesus became sin so that we would become righteous.
Jesus died so that we would live.
Jesus satisfied the justice of God so that we would be saved.
"Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people." (Heb. 2:17)
Bruce Milne wrote:
“The Bible teaches that the heart of Christ’s work consists in his having on our behalf and in our place borne the punishment due to us on account of our sin and brought us pardon and reconciliation with God in righteousness. This is often referred to as ‘penal substitution’ and has been the centre of evangelical teaching and preaching on the atonement since the Reformation.” (Know the Truth, 155)
Jesus satisfied the demands of justice against us because, in his humanity, he died, and because in his sinless divinity, he didn’t need to. And so God’s great work of salvation could be accomplished. Justice would be done. Humanity would pay for its sins in the person of Jesus, who himself was without sin, so that all those who would be united with Christ, could be declared righteous in him and, therefore, be saved from the death we deserve.
You know, some people when we talk about sin and death and how the whole human race was corrupted by the sin of the one man…Adam, sometimes people are prone to ask the question, “Why should I have to pay for someone else’s sin?” because they sense some injustice in the idea that they should die because of Adam’s sin. But I think the real question should be, “Why should someone else have to pay for my sin?” because that’s the more amazing thought, and that’s just what Jesus has done. In his humanity, Jesus suffered the penalty of sin. In his divinity, Jesus has made possible for you and I to receive the benefit of his suffering. Jesus has paid for my sin and yours. Jesus has satisfied the justice of God so that you and I could be saved.
Brothers and sisters, human beings are sinners, one and all…“for all have sinned” (Romans 5:12), and sin’s just penalty is death, but the justice of God is satisfied in Jesus Christ. The penalty has been paid in full for all those who are in Christ Jesus.
Jesus became sin so that we would become righteous.
Jesus died so that we would live.
Jesus satisfied the justice of God so that we would be saved.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
CORRUPTION (Romans 5:12-14)
“Sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned,” (Rom. 5:12)
Maxie Dunnam wrote:
“Adam’s story is our story….God’s vision of peace and harmony in creation has been disfigured. The image of God within each of us has been distorted. We all know a deep sense of separation from God….We call it sin. However we look at it and name it, the result is a condition that is universally human, a dramatic alteration of our created relationship with God.” (This Is Christianity, 286)
Brothers and sisters, understanding sin…human sinfulness…is vital to understanding what is at the heart of the doctrine of salvation…the heart of who Jesus is and what he is about. We cannot understand the doctrine of salvation well if we don’t understand sin well…its influence and its consequences…because if I don’t understand sin and the death it brings, then I don’t understand why I need to be saved in the first place.
Sin is a universal human condition. Every single human being ever conceived, save Jesus, from the time of their conception onward, has been subject to the power and dominion and influence of sin. Every single human being that ever has been or will be is subject to the effects and consequences of sin. We are corrupt versions of what human beings should be…what we were created to be. We are dead in sin. Sin kills and separates us from God and from the life God wants us to have.
The justice of God demands that I pay for my sinfulness. The promise of God to Adam comes true over and over again with every human being: “Do not disobey and sin against me, for in the day you do you shall die.” And we all do…and we all have.
“Sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned,” (Rom. 5:12)
Maxie Dunnam wrote:
“Adam’s story is our story….God’s vision of peace and harmony in creation has been disfigured. The image of God within each of us has been distorted. We all know a deep sense of separation from God….We call it sin. However we look at it and name it, the result is a condition that is universally human, a dramatic alteration of our created relationship with God.” (This Is Christianity, 286)
Brothers and sisters, understanding sin…human sinfulness…is vital to understanding what is at the heart of the doctrine of salvation…the heart of who Jesus is and what he is about. We cannot understand the doctrine of salvation well if we don’t understand sin well…its influence and its consequences…because if I don’t understand sin and the death it brings, then I don’t understand why I need to be saved in the first place.
Sin is a universal human condition. Every single human being ever conceived, save Jesus, from the time of their conception onward, has been subject to the power and dominion and influence of sin. Every single human being that ever has been or will be is subject to the effects and consequences of sin. We are corrupt versions of what human beings should be…what we were created to be. We are dead in sin. Sin kills and separates us from God and from the life God wants us to have.
The justice of God demands that I pay for my sinfulness. The promise of God to Adam comes true over and over again with every human being: “Do not disobey and sin against me, for in the day you do you shall die.” And we all do…and we all have.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
SALVATION (Eph. 2:1-9)
“For by grace [we] have been saved through faith, and this is not [our] own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:9)
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (Nov. 5, 1851 - Feb. 16, 1921) wrote:
“In this reiterated phrase [‘by grace you have been saved’] we have in effect the heart of [Paul’s] gospel, to know which is our prime necessity if we are to know what that gospel is. The whole gospel turns as upon its hinge on this fact, that salvation is of pure grace.” (“Election,” Selected Shorter Writings, 286)
Brothers and sisters, the doctrine of salvation is probably the most significant aspect of Christian faith and theology and it benefits us all to understand it well because salvation lies at the heart of God’s will and purposes, salvation is the why Jesus came to earth and why he died on the cross, and salvation is our one truly vital need.
As we continue our study of the doctrine of salvation, keep this in your hearts and minds. Let it sink deeply into your body and soul: God’s grace is the foundation of the doctrine of salvation.
Grace is God’s power, freely wielded…not out of constraint, obligation, or duty…not because we deserve it or have earned it…but because God loves us. And salvation is God’s grace raising us from the dead.
“For by grace [we] have been saved through faith, and this is not [our] own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:9)
Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield (Nov. 5, 1851 - Feb. 16, 1921) wrote:
“In this reiterated phrase [‘by grace you have been saved’] we have in effect the heart of [Paul’s] gospel, to know which is our prime necessity if we are to know what that gospel is. The whole gospel turns as upon its hinge on this fact, that salvation is of pure grace.” (“Election,” Selected Shorter Writings, 286)
Brothers and sisters, the doctrine of salvation is probably the most significant aspect of Christian faith and theology and it benefits us all to understand it well because salvation lies at the heart of God’s will and purposes, salvation is the why Jesus came to earth and why he died on the cross, and salvation is our one truly vital need.
As we continue our study of the doctrine of salvation, keep this in your hearts and minds. Let it sink deeply into your body and soul: God’s grace is the foundation of the doctrine of salvation.
Grace is God’s power, freely wielded…not out of constraint, obligation, or duty…not because we deserve it or have earned it…but because God loves us. And salvation is God’s grace raising us from the dead.
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