Before you begin your Bible study, as a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ, be sure you have named your sins privately to God the
Father.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
(Known, Unknown and Forgotten sins) (1Jn 1:9)
You will then be in fellowship with God, Filled with the
Holy Spirit and ready to learn Truth from the Word of God.
"God is spirit, and those who worship Him
must worship in Spirit and Truth," (Joh 4:24)
Slave Market
of Sin
The Godhead
IN OUR STUDY
OF THE TRINITY we learned that God has both essence and Personality. By essence
we mean the characteristics or makeup of Deity. Many passages of Scripture
describe God in the plural, or as having separate Personalities. Other passages
describe Him as being One. Whenever He is described as being One God, it is
always a reference to His
essence or character.
In addition,
God exists in three separate and distinct Personalities. The First Person is
called the Father; the Second Person, the Son; and the Third Person, the Holy
Spirit. Each member of the Godhead possesses all of the characteristics named
in the essence box. So we say that God is One in
essence and Three in Personality. (Eph 4:4-6)
The conference in eternity past
In eternity
past the three members of the Godhead held a conference. It was then that the
Divine decrees were established. (Act 2:23;
Eph 1:4; Eph
1:11; Eph 3:11; 1Pe 1:2) In Their omniscience, the Members of
the Godhead looked down the corridors of time and saw man in a sinful
condition: They saw him Spiritually dead and subject to eternal condemnation. Because of the character of God, a plan was developed so
that man could choose between eternal
condemnation and eternal life.
The plan
All three
Members of the Godhead are involved in the plan. God the Father is the author
and designer of the plan; God the Son is the executor of the plan; and God the
Holy Spirit reveals the plan to man. This plan of grace includes three phases.
Phase One is Salvation and was provided by God the Son, Jesus Christ. Born of a
virgin, He was true God and perfect humanity; He lived a sinless life which
reached its peak at the cross and was consummated by resurrection and
ascension.
Phase One was executed by Jesus
Christ, and for all who accept His work on their behalf, there is no
eternal condemnation, but eternal life. (Rom 8:1)
Phase Two of the plan of God is designed for the
believer in time, and begins at the moment of Salvation and continues
throughout his earthly life. This provision is a
supernatural way of life in which God the Holy
Spirit indwells and fills the believer for
the purpose of function and service. (Zec 4:6)
Phase Three is eternity and is executed by God the Father. It begins when the believer’s
earthly life terminates, and will be wonderful beyond description! (Rev 21:1-27)
Because the
members of the Godhead are gracious, every provision was made for man long
before he existed. Man was created without sin or the sin nature, and for an
indefinite period of time man and woman enjoyed fellowship with Christ in the
Garden. What caused them to become alienated from God? (2Co 11:3) Their sin of
disobedience to God’s expressed will! (Gen
2:17; Gen 3:6) Their negative volition toward God’s Command produced Spiritual
death, (Gen 2:17) and they received Satan's sin nature; (Joh 8:44) and the
inability to have fellowship with God in time. Adam and Eve attempted to
hide in the Garden first of all, behind a barrier of
self-righteousness, (The first sin nature
satanic thought: if we are right with each other; we will be right with God)
represented by the aprons of fig leaves; (Gen 3:7) and next, behind a barrier of trees.
Yet they need not have hidden at all, for an even greater barrier now existed
between them and God; the barrier of sin!
The barrier
God is on one
side of this barrier and man on the other. You must understand that no one has
ever removed this barrier by his own works or efforts. No
matter what his abilities, talents, ethics, conduct, assets, or any other
factor, man is helpless. (Psa 39:5)
The removal of the barrier is solely the work of God, and apart from Divine
intervention, man would face eternal condemnation.
As a teaching
aid, let us say that the barrier is composed of the following six bricks.
1. Sin: “For
all have sinned and fall short [Missed the mark] of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23)
2. The Penalty of Sin: “For the wages of sin is death . . .” (Rom
6:23)
3. Physical Birth: Man is born physically
alive, but at the same time he is Spiritually dead, that is, without fellowship
with God. (Rom 5:12; Jas 2:26)
4. The
Character of God, or His Divine essence: Man simply cannot measure up to the
Divine characteristics of perfect God. Remember that men are not created equal;
some men are inherently more intelligent or more able than others. But no man is as good as God; even Christ in His perfect
human nature! (Mar 10:18; Luk 18:19; Php 2:6-8)
5. Man’s Relative Righteousness: No matter how
good man may be, his human righteousness is still lacking, so we call it -R.
6. Man’s Position in Adam: His short physical
life span versus eternal life — “In Adam
all die...” (1Co 15:22) The fact
that this barrier exists is very bad news. By an act of sin, man erected the
barrier; but because the members of the Godhead loved man even before his
existence, provision was made for the removal of the barrier. (1Co 1:30) This is the Gospel very good news
Grace found a way
Jesus therefore was saying to those
Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My Word,
then you are truly disciples of Mine.” and you will know the Truth, [The Thinking of Christ] and the Truth will make
you free." [From the control of the old sin nature] (Joh
8:31-32)
Jesus was making this remark to believers when a
group of bystanders began kibitzing. These observers were — the religious
members of the Sanhedrin. These Pharisees and Scribes were always dogging the
footsteps of our Lord, seizing every opportunity to criticize and malign Him. They were like many of the religious organizations in our
country today who are critical of the Truth, constantly discrediting the Bible
as the literal Word of God.
Once a person has received Christ as Savior, he must
continuously study the Word of God if he is to discover and utilize the Divine
operating assets available to him. Jesus was emphasizing this point when
He said, “If you abide in My Word.”
Based on the technical structure of the Koine, (Common) Greek language, every
time you find the word “if” in the New Testament, it means one of four things:
1.
First-class condition: “If” and it’s true.
2.
Second-class condition: “If” and it’s not true.
3.
Third-class condition: “If,” maybe yes or maybe no.
4.
Fourth-class condition: “If,” I wish it were true but it’s not.
To
illustrate: In the great temptation of, (Mat
4:1-11) Satan said to Jesus, “If You are the Son of God” —
first-class condition — and You are! In, (1Jn 1:9)
we find another example: “If we confess our sins” — this is potential, the
third-class condition — maybe yes, maybe no! Each class of these conditional
phrases is important because it affects the meaning and translation of every
“if” passage.
The “if” in,
(Joh 8:31) is a third-class condition;
this is the expression of volition and it should read literally, “If you
continue in My Word — maybe you will, and maybe you won’t.” Generally speaking,
this is the picture of all believers; it is a matter of their free will. Some choose to continue in the Word; they learn Divine
operating assets and apply them with the result that they have a life of peace
and power, strength and stability. Other
Christians are saved and have eternal life, but
they have negative volition toward the Word of God and never “get with Thinking
Truth.” They live by their emotions and rationalizations. The most miserable people in the world are Christians
— those who make the decision not to continue in the
Word. On the other hand, the happiest people
in the world are also Christians; those who
make many positive decisions to learn and Think with the Mind of Christ. (1Co 2:16)
And you shall know
the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free. (Form the control of Satan's system and the old sin nature) (Joh 8:32)
I remember
that where I went to college, the liberal arts building had this phrase over
the entrance. I learned many things in that college; none of which ever
liberated me from anything! Of course, this Scripture is not referring to
academic knowledge or philosophy. “Truth” is a
reference to the Word of God. As Jesus used it
here, it applied to the Doctrine of Divine Thinking, connected with Phase Two
of the Divine plan --- the operating assets
for the believer in time. Knowledge of these Thoughts provides liberty and
freedom to serve the Lord and grow to Spiritual maturity! However, “know the Truth” also has another
application: the Truth is the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Jesus said to him, “I Am the way, and
the Truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.” (Joh 14:6) Jesus was
saying in effect, “When you know Me, I liberate you. You shall be made free.” Jesus continues His
discourse with the Scribes and Pharisees as they arrogantly attack His Words.
The four enslavements
They answered
Him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and
have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You shall
become free’?” (Joh 8:33)
At this point
the religious kibitzers answered Him in pride, in egocentricity: “We are Abraham’s offspring.” Remember that religion is the devil’s ace trump; and when a
religious man opens his mouth, what he says is often wrong. You can
visualize the Pharisees as they swelled with pride and boasted of their
lineage. They were very proud of their Jewish heritage and the fact that they
were descended from one of the greatest men of all time. They were counting
heavily on their human relationship with Abraham. Heaven would be wide open to
them, since the “pearly gates” would surely never shut on any of Abraham’s
offspring. They go on to make a statement that is typical of anyone who has
lost touch with reality and is distorted in his perspective: “We ...have never yet been enslaved to
anyone.”
It is
interesting to note that at the time this phrase was uttered they were under
four different systems of slavery:
1. They were
in slavery to their own distortions of the Mosaic Law. The Law was never given
as a way of Salvation, but as a means of proving that man is a sinner and needs
a Savior. Yet these religious Jews were trying to be saved by keeping the Law,
and, consequently, had become enslaved in a system of legalism — Salvation by
works.
2. They were
in bondage to their religious system. Palestine had evolved into a union of
Church and State under the domination of religion and politics which was
destroying their national entity.
3. They were
in bondage to the Roman Empire: Jerusalem stood in the shadow of the Roman
eagle.
4. And
finally, they were in bondage to sin! What a tremendous temptation to the Lord
Jesus Christ! The religionists' had just uttered the most ridiculous statement,
and how simple it would have been to prove them wrong! “What about the four
hundred years of slavery in Egypt? What about the seventy years of captivity in
Babylon? If you’ve never been in bondage to anyone, what about these Roman
standards flying over your cities? Never been in bondage? What about your
Sabbath prohibitions? Under these legalistic restrictions, you cannot plug a
barrel that is leaking, even if it is your best wine. If someone is stabbed on
the Sabbath, you cannot even bind his wound. You must stand there and watch him
bleed to death! Not in bondage to religion? You cannot engage in any activity
on the Sabbath!”
The taboos
found in the Talmud and the Mishnah are fantastic, and in many cases ludicrous!
For example, on the Sabbath you were prohibited from cooking an egg by wrapping
it with hot sand. Apparently someone had really tried to get around the Sabbath
laws! If you were packing your mules from one town to another on Friday and
arrived at your destination just as the sun went down, you could loosen the
girth of your mule, but that’s all. If the pack fell to the ground it was all
right, but you couldn’t remove the pack.
The point is
that these Jews were in bondage to the Law; they were in bondage to their
religious leaders; they were in bondage to the Roman Empire! Jesus, however, did not mention any of these conditions,
and here is the opportunity for believers to learn a tremendous lesson. Stay with the main issue — the
Gospel! The word “gospel” means “good news,” even though the preliminary
to the Gospel is, (Rom 3:23) “For all have sinned and fall short [Missed
the mark] of the glory [Perfect righteousness] of God.” Don’t make an issue
of the individual’s personal sins. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ and desire that others find Christ as Savior, don’t talk about their bad
habits, their shortcomings, their failures; you have some too! Don’t go around
with the pseudo-sanctified “holier-than-thou” attitude assumed by so many
self-righteous believers: “I’m a plaster
saint; I haven’t made any mistakes, but if I make one it is purely accidental.”
The only issue in Salvation is the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins. (2Co 5:21)
Jesus Christ
Himself proved this point when He dealt with the religious unbelievers. He did
not talk to them about their bondage to the Roman Empire, their religious
leaders, or the Mosaic Law! He could have elaborated extensively on each of
these, but instead He talked about the basic fundamental bondage of the entire
human race sin!
The big three — what is sin?
What exactly is
sin? When used in the Scriptures as a singular noun, the word sin refers to the
sin nature, as in, (Rom 7:14) and (1Jn 1:8). The presence of a sin nature in all
members of the human race makes it impossible for anyone to measure up to the
perfect righteousness of God. Personal sins which flow out from the sin nature
are always directed against God, even though they may involve wrongs toward
oneself or others. (Psa 51:4) The Bible
defines personal sin by means of several synonyms:
1. Fall
short — born Spiritually dead (Rom 3:23)
2. Transgressions
— rebellion against and or stepping out of fellowship. (Psa 51:1)
3. Act
unfaithfully — self-will over God’s will. (Jos
22:20)
4. Trespasses
and sins [Unknown and known sins] — (Eph 2:1)
5. Lawless — living by the sin nature as and
unbeliever and as a believer being out of fellowship. (1Ti 1:9)
6. Unbelief
— the only unpardonable sin. (Joh 8:24;
Joh 16:9)
Man is born
into this world with three strikes against him: he
inherits Adam’s original sin; he possesses the sin nature; and eventually he
commits personal sins. The sin of Adam was passed on to the human race,
and we call this imputed sin. Through physical birth, we inherit an old sin
nature. That’s what David meant when he said, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, [As a sinner] And in sin
[With a sin nature]my mother conceived me.” (Psa
51:5) Not that there was anything wrong with his parentage, but it
simply means that by being born through natural procreation, he inherited an
old sin nature which made him a sinner.
In contrast,
by means of the virgin pregnancy and birth, Jesus Christ came into the world
without imputed sin and without an old sin nature. (Mat
1:18; Luk 1:35) In addition.
He lived a life free from personal sins in order to be qualified to redeem
mankind. (Heb 4:15; 1Pe 1:19)
Inside the slave market
The rectangle
in the diagram represents the slave market of sin. With the exception of Jesus
Christ, every member of the human race is born inside this slave market. This
includes such notable individuals as Mohammed, Gautama Buddha, Madame
Blavatsky, and Mary Baker Eddy, as well as all the lesser known Charlie Browns
and John Smiths. No matter how important someone may be in the eyes of the
world, he still was born inside the slave market of sin!
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to
you, every one who commits sin is the slave of sin.” (Joh 8:34)
“Commits” is
a present linear aktionsart in the Greek. The dramatic present emphasizes the
fact that Jesus shocked these proud, self-righteous do-gooders: “You say you
have never been in bondage to anyone? But I say that if you have committed sin,
(First-class condition — and you have) you are a slave to sin. He then went on
to make another very significant statement:
“And the slave does not remain in the house
forever; [Earth --- the chance to be saved] the Son [Christ and believers in
Christ] does remain forever.” (Joh 8:35)
We cannot be in the house if we are in the
slave market. Since we have three strikes against us, we cannot help having
been born in the slave market any more than we can help being born male or
female. A slave has no rights or privileges, no assets or capital; he is
helpless to free himself. If he is ever emancipated, someone who is free must
liberate him.
“If [First-class condition — and He does]
therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.” (Joh 8:36)
The point
here is very simple: in order to purchase the freedom of someone in the slave
market, one must be a free man! Since the only person ever born into this world
outside the slave market was the humanity of Jesus Christ, He is the one free
man who can redeem us forever. Any purchase, however, always carries a price.
Redemption
pays the price
The Lord redeems the soul of His servants;
and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. (Psa 34:22)
The word
“redeem” means “to buy, to purchase.” In the case of a slave it means “to
purchase his freedom from a slave market.” One of the words for “redemption”
means not only to purchase the freedom of a slave, but to free him after you
purchase his freedom. This is the word used here. Notice the fact that the
Lord, no one else, does the redeeming. Since it is the soul that sinned, (Eze 18:4) it is the soul that must be freed. (Psa 16:10 ; Rom 2:9;
1Co 15:45; Heb
10:39) Jesus Christ paid for the soul’s redemption and set it free.
(Psa 49:7-9) From now on when you read
the Bible, every time you see the verb “to redeem” or its cognate “redemption,”
you should understand these words refer to “purchasing
the freedom of a slave.”
(Rev 1:5; Heb
9:11-14) and many other passages deal with the fact that Christ has
already redeemed us. Job said, “I know
that my Redeemer lives...” (Job 19:25-26)
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the
Law.” (Gal 3:13) The “curse of the
Law” refers to the Ten Commandments which simply proves that we are sinners.
“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our
trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” (Eph
1:7)
Money won’t buy it
Some of the
mechanics of our redemption are clarified in first Peter;
Knowing
that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your
futile, [Empty --- carnal] way of life inherited from your forefathers. (1Pe 1:18)
Knowing should become your motto since knowledge of Truth
is the most important single factor in the Christian life. God has made
provision for every believer to know and understand every Truth in the Word of
God. (Col 2:2-3; Heb 5:12-14) You can
neither orient to the grace of God nor advance to Spiritual maturity apart from
knowing the Word of Truth!
We are now
Commanded to know the Doctrine related to redemption. First, a negative: we
were not redeemed with perishable things — commodities that are subject to
decay or destruction. These are defined more specifically here as “silver or
gold”; but in the Greek it is actually “silver and gold coins” — money, in other words. Money will buy some things, and
there are many things people will do for money.
However, money will not buy happiness, love, or friends; and above all, money
will not buy Salvation. Money will not liberate
anyone from the slave market of sin, nor will materialistic possessions free us
from a worthless, carnal and futile life!
The Jews had
inherited a legalistic tradition of Salvation and Spirituality by works that
was in total conflict with both the Word of God and the grace Principle of His
plan. They had a glorious heritage of grace provided from their Scriptures, but
religion and legalism had destroyed it.
Second, a
positive: Peter clearly states the ransom price for the purchase of our
freedom.
But with precious blood, as of a lamb
unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (1Pe
1:19)
Ritual reveals
God's Reality
The Jews who
received this Epistle understood perfectly the analogy between Christ and the
unblemished and spotless sacrificial lamb used in the Levitical offerings. This
lamb had done nothing wrong; furthermore, it did not deserve to die. Perhaps it
bleated once or twice and the Jerusalem Society for the Prevention of Animal
Cruelty --- complained that surely there could be no reason to kill poor lambs.
Yet, according to Old Testament ritual, die it must!
And he [The offerer] shall lay his
hand on the head [Identification] of his offering and slay it at the doorway of
the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood
around on the altar. (Lev
3:2)
By placing
his hand on the head of the lamb, the one who brought the sacrifice
symbolically transferred his sins to the lamb. As the offerer killed the
sacrifice and the priest collected and sprinkled the blood, people observed and
learned the Doctrine of redemption. From this we discover an important
Principle: Jesus Christ has always been clearly revealed to the human race in
every age. (Col 2:16-17)
Few people of
that day were able to read, so this was a significant ceremony or ritual. Since
the Messiah had not come yet, the lamb represented the Savior. The Jews
understood that just as the innocent lamb bore their sins SYMOLICALLY, so the
Lamb of God would one day LITERALLY be judged for ALL sins while in the state
of Spiritual death. (Isa 53:10-11) The
purchase price was not His literal blood, nor even His physical death, for all
of His blood was not shed, and He finished the work of Salvation before He died
physically. (Joh 19:30) His physical
death was essential to the Principle of the resurrection. (Rom 4:25)
The sins
having been acknowledged, were symbolically transferred to the lamb. So the
lamb bore the sins, and “the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb” is a
technical term used in the New Testament which refers to the sacrifice of
Christ. The lamb had to be perfect because it represented Jesus Christ who was
sinless.
Jesus Christ
has redeemed or purchased the freedom of the slaves from sin; however, the
slaves are still inside the slave market. The problem is a question of
volition. A slave must move out; and this is accomplished when the slave takes
“refuge in Him.” (Psa 34:22) Salvation is free; redemption is free. The reason
it is free is because Someone else paid for it. Someone always has to pay!
After a ball
game, the coach or one of the fathers often treats all the little boys on the
team to sodas. All they have to do is to enjoy what is offered, because someone
else pays for the treat. Some father shells out at the concession stand so the
soda is free to the little boys who take it. Jesus
Christ picked up our tab and paid the bill at the cross, and Salvation is free
to those who receive it! (Joh 1:12)
The open door
At some time
in his life, everyone has used faith. You say, “Not me. I’m an intellectual.
I’m well-trained academically. I’m a rationalist. I’m an empiricist.” You
didn’t start out that way! You started out using faith as your basic system of
perception. Someone told you, “The sky is blue . . . the grass is green.” You
identified a “dog” as a “dog” and a “cat” as a “cat” because someone told you
what they were! You accepted those facts on faith. A teacher said, “There’s a
place called England.” But you hadn’t been there and seen the country. You
didn’t learn about England by empiricism; someone said it existed and you
believed it. This is the way everyone begins the learning process, since faith is
the basic system of perception.
Since Christ
purchased our freedom from the slave market of sin, the door is now open, the
shackles of sin have been broken, and we are free. Suppose a man walks in and
finds a group of people in a slave market whose shackles have all been removed.
He says to them, “You’re free. Go!” They answer, “Shackle us up again. We just
don’t want to go. We won’t go!” So, they sit there with negative volition, just
as MUCH of the human race has done.
Even though
Christ has opened the door, you may sit in the slave market from now till
doomsday if you desire. Walking away from the broken shackles takes an act of
positive volition on your part: You must get up and move out under your own
decision. That is why the Scripture says, “Believe.”
Salvation is free for the taking, but it must be received by faith!
But as many as received Him, to them He gave
the right [Power and ability] to become children of God, even to those who
believe in His name. (Joh 1:12)
“I Am the door; if anyone enters through Me,
he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” (Joh 10:9)
Jesus Christ
is the door! Once you see that open door, all you have to do is walk through
it. There is frequently some confusion at this point. Perhaps someone stands up
and gives a glowing, marvelous testimony about how he found Christ as Savior.
He may have trusted Christ during the war when as a pilot he was shot down and
had to bail out of his plane. As he pulled the ripcord he remembered a verse of
Scripture his mother had often quoted, and he said, “Oh, God, I’m trusting in
Christ.” As he floated toward earth, he knew he was saved and would make it
safely because he experienced such great peace of
mind. “I felt so wonderful!”
Someone who
is listening to this glorious experience says, “Now wait just a minute. I
trusted Christ, too, but I wasn’t flat on my back at 30,000 feet and I didn’t
go through all that. I didn’t feel wonderful at all. As I recall, I had a
migraine headache at the time and still had it afterwards. I guess I’m really
not saved because I didn’t feel what he felt.” Maybe you too are thinking,
“When I believed in Christ I never had a rosy glow either; I didn’t have an
exciting experience. I was just sitting in a seat in the auditorium of a church.
Perhaps I’m not really saved at all!”
Where does
the Bible say that you must have a rosy glow to be saved, or that you must be
on “Cloud 9,” or have a sensational experience? One person may go through the
door walking on his hands; another backwards. The point is not how you get
through the door; the point is that you go through
the door! It’s all right to have a thrilling experience or to feel
elated, but that is inconsequential. It is what
Christ did that counts! You cannot even “tip the waiter.” Christ not only
picked up the tab at the cross, He even paid the tip! There is nothing left for
you to do but accept His provision.
There is only
one door, only one way to God. (Joh 14:6)
How we arrive at the door may differ, but we must all go through the door! We
enter through faith and faith alone. How you feel afterward may depend on your
health, your personality, your economic status, or many other factors.
Salvation, however, depends only on one factor:
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be
saved.” (Act 16:31)
If we had to
feel a certain way to be saved, everyone would need to crank up his emotions.
But to depend on a certain feeling is your doing something. You can see
immediately that if a person were to receive eternal life by being ecstatic,
then Salvation would be limited to only those who could work up an emotional
moment. However, if Salvation is “unlimited,” and it is, then the means for
accepting it must be on an equal basis for all. Faith is something that every
member of the human race possesses and is all --- that one needs to go through
the door.
One for all
There is
another way of looking at the payment for sin called “unlimited atonement.”
This simply means that Christ died for the sins of every person who ever lived.
For the love of Christ controls us,
having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died
for all, that they who live should no longer live
for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. (2Co 5:14-15)
Twice we read
that Christ died for all! In a moment of time the sins of every person who ever
lived, (About three hundred million billion quadrillion, ad infinitum, number
of sins) were borne by Jesus Christ: He carried them in His own body. Unlimited
atonement simply means that the sins of everyone in the world were borne by
Christ on the cross. Let’s not worry about Adam’s and Eve’s sins, or Cain’s and
Abel’s sins — just think about your sins for a minute.
What sins
have you committed in the past? How many are you committing right now? Are
there any lined up for the future? Can you remember your first sin? (Don’t say
yes because this might make you a liar and add one more to your list) Everyone
has committed hundreds and thousands of sins. You may say, “I haven’t committed
that many.” Perhaps you don’t recognize all of the sins there are, but there
are a lot of them. As a fellow said to me one day, “A whole passel of them.”
The point is that every sin you will ever commit was borne by Christ as He hung
on the cross.
In, (Heb 12:2) we read: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, Who for
the joy set before Him endured the cross...” Now, you are the joy that was
set before Christ. He could look down the corridors of time and see you
personally, and He did the same thing for every other member of the human race!
(2Pe 2:1) teaches us that Christ even died for
the false teachers. Our Savior left no one out; the payment was complete.
That’s unlimited atonement!
And He Himself is the propitiation for our
sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. (1Jn 2:2)
The last judgment
Sin as a
barrier between God and man has been removed; now all man has to do is step
over the line. As we study the biblical account of the Last Judgment, I want
you to keep something in mind: the word “sin” in our diagram has been blotted
out. While man was responsible for erecting this barrier, God, in His grace,
has provided for its removal. His invitation to the entire human race is: “Come
on over.” How? By simply believing in Christ who picked up the tab; He paid the
penalty by bearing your sins; Christ was your substitute; therefore, you simply
depend on His work. Ultimately, every member of the human race faces this
issue: Will you depend on the work of Christ
— redemption and unlimited atonement — or will you depend upon your own human works, your good
deeds?
Many people
have been led to believe that good deeds are the basis of Salvation. This
Satan-inspired lie has been peddled by all manner of people and religious
organizations, including fundamentalists! You may have even heard an evangelist
preach about the Last Judgment and dramatically condemn a few choice sins. “You
remember those sins that you’ve committed? God’s going to call you to account!”
There is shocked silence among the listeners and everyone thinks, “Oh boy, I’ve
had it!”
I hate to spoil
evangelistic sermons or ruin sensational presentations of sin, but I have some
good news for you: God will not mention anyone’s sins at the Last Judgment!
This is the application of the law of double jeopardy — you cannot be tried
twice for the same crime. Since every sin has already been judged at the cross,
and since Christ will be the judge at the Last Judgment, (Joh 5:22) He cannot mention that which has
already been judged.
And I saw a great white throne and Him who
sat upon it, from Whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was
found for them. (Rev 20:11)
In the
Scripture white represents righteousness. In His first advent Christ was judged
for us, but at the Great White Throne He is the righteous judge. The people who
are trying to escape from this judgment are the unbelievers — people who did
not receive Christ as Savior during their lifetime. They will be resurrected to
stand before Him.
And I saw the dead, the great and the
small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another [Of a
different kind] book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were
judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their
deeds. (Rev
20:12)
There will be
two sets of books present at the judgment scene: one is the Book of Life, which
includes the name of every person who has believed in Christ. The interesting
fact about the Book of Life is that originally all members of the human race
were listed. However, when anyone dies without accepting Christ as Savior, his
name is blotted out. (Psa 69:28; Php 4:3; Rev 20:15)
There is a second set of books, the Books of Works, volumes and volumes listing
the good deeds of the unbelieving members of the human race.
Notice that
the unbelievers who have been resurrected called the “dead” in our passage are
Judged according to their deeds, not according to their sins. No one will ever
be judged for sin; Christ was judged for ALL sins once; and for all! (Heb 7:27; Heb 9:12)
That is the true meaning of the Gospel — the good news that Christ died for all sins! While
both believers and unbelievers are accountable for sin during their lifetime,
sin is never the basis for indictment at the Last Judgment. This condemnation
is based solely on works — thoughts and deeds — because sin is no longer an
issue! When you reject the work of Christ on the cross, you must accept your
own works as a substitute. To make this point clear, let’s hear the case of
Charlie Brown.
Are You Charlie Brown?
“Brown, C.”
is standing before the court in heaven. The angelic clerk turns to the B’s in
the Book of Life and finds that Charlie’s name has been blotted out because he
died without accepting Christ as Savior. However, there are quite a number of
impressive pages on record for Charlie in the Book of Deeds.
Charlie Brown
had been regarded as a very successful businessman. Through shrewd management
and hard work he accumulated great wealth; however, in the process of accruing
his vast fortune, he had stepped on a few toes and his reputation had been
somewhat tainted. He decided to take up the slack and make amends for his lack
of scruples; so he spent the last years of his life involved in performing good
deeds.
Charlie was
very sincere about projecting his new image. He joined a church and gave large
donations, including a stained glass window with his name on it! Charlie became
one of the outstanding leaders of his community and succeeded in many
philanthropic endeavors that, (From satanic and human
viewpoint) were wonderful. He was good-hearted and very generous, giving
large sums of money to numerous charities, as well as helping many other worthy
causes in various ways. His list of good deeds was quite impressive!
The Divine
adding machine now goes into action: Charlie’s ledger totaled one million, two
hundred and seventy-five thousand, three hundred and twenty-four, point five,
(One questionable) good deeds. That is about as enviable a record as anyone
could have. (Php 3:4-8) Charlie had
really gotten with it! He had been a phenomenal do-gooder. With this tremendous
record, surely the “pearly gates” would open wide and Charlie would be received
with ruffles and flourishes!
But wait a
minute! There is more calculating being done 1,275,324.5 good deeds and they
all add up to -R. (Man’s
relative sin nature righteousness) His works had not canceled his debt
with God; they fall short of God’s +R. (Perfect righteousness) “If you are going to qualify
to spend eternity with God, Charlie, you need +R; and
+R comes ONLY through accepting Christ as Savior. (Rom 3:21-23) It’s too late after death; this
transaction should have been handled during our lifetime!”
This is the
way Charlie’s balance sheet in the Book of Deeds would have looked, compared to
that of Joe Brown, a believer.
Name: Brown, C. In the debit column
Charlie’s sins are numbered; however, since Christ died for those sins, they
have been canceled out. He also has all his good deeds listed in the debit
column, but they still add up to -R. He needs +R, which is the righteousness of
Christ, in the credit column to balance his ledger! However, the only way +R is
obtained is by faith in Christ, and Charlie had rejected Him. Charlie’s ledger
is in the red! He has been condemned on the basis of his own good deeds and
thoughts. (Rom 2:15-16)
Joe Brown, the believer, will have his -R, his old sin
nature's satanic and human thinking and power destroyed at the Judgment Seat of
Christ; and will be saved based on the credit of +R at Salvation. And he will be rewarded based on the quality and quantity
of the Temple construction, (Spiritual life
--- Divine Thinking) in
the soul! (Pro 3:13-22; 1Co 3:11-20)
If
evangelists and preachers were accurate, they would have to say, “And every
good deed that you have ever done will be brought up at the Last Judgment to
prove that, as good as they may have been, they are not good enough! The only good deed that opens the door of heaven is the
work of Jesus Christ on the cross ---redemption and unlimited atonement!”
The unpardonable sin
There is just
one sin for which Christ could not die — one unpardonable sin. It is not
suicide; it is not calling your brother a fool — it is
rejection of Jesus Christ! He is the Salvation “package,” and if you
reject Him, there is no other way, (Apart from dying incompetent mentally to
believe; 2Sa 12:18-23). You see, Christ
could not die for the rejection of Himself.
And there is Salvation in no one else;
for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which
we must be saved. (Act
4:12)
He who believes in Him is not judged;
he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God.
(Joh 3:18)
He who believes in the Son has eternal life;
but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abides on him. (Joh 3:36)
Charlie Brown
had committed the unpardonable sin, and the next step on the agenda was his
final disposition.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in
it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were
judged, [Notice again for the second time] every one of them according to their
deeds. And death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the
second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in
the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Rev 20:13-15)
For anyone
who has rejected Christ as Savior, his name has been blotted out of the Book of
Life and he will be cast into the lake of fire “where their worm does not die, and the fire is
not quenched.” (Mar 9:44) “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Mat 25:46) The Principle to be learned from a
study of the Last Judgment is a very simple one: As you read this passage over
and over again, you will never find that a person is judged for his sins!
The penalty of sin
One brick —
sin — has been removed. The second brick in the barrier is the penalty of sin —
death! (Rom 6:23)
“Therefore, just as through one man sin
entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men,
because all sinned.” (Rom 5:12)
“There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Pro 14:12)
When I say
“death,” immediately you think of physical death; however, that is not the
penalty of sin.
But from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall
surely die. [Literally, “dying you shall die"] (Gen 2:17)
If the
penalty of sin had been physical death, then Adam and Eve, at the moment they
ate of the fruit, (Whatever it was) would have died physically. We know from
Scripture, (Gen 3:6-8; Gen 5:5) that they lived many years after they
sinned, so this was not physical death but Spiritual death. They were no longer
capable of having fellowship with the Lord; so when Christ came walking in the
Garden, they ran and hid themselves. God in His grace broke the silence and
called to Adam, “...Where are you?” (Gen 3:9) Because of omniscience, God knew
exactly where they were. He meant, “Why are you where you are?” Adam piped
right up and in typical fashion, as only man can do, said, “Well, God, it’s all Your fault. You gave me the woman
and she gave me the fruit; therefore, it’s Your fault and her fault.” Passing
the buck! Then the Lord turned to the woman who said,
“It really isn’t my fault; it’s this little pet, You gave me the
serpent.” As you can see. Operation Patsy is not a twentieth-century
innovation!
The point is
that Adam and Eve were Spiritually dead because of sin; as a result, they would
eventually die physically.
(Psa 22:1-31) will
help us understand how Christ paid the penalty of sin and removed the issue of
man’s Spiritual death.
The pressures of payment
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. (Psa 22:1)
Jesus Christ
uttered these words on the cross. Christ is God; He is also man. He quoted this
Scripture from His humanity addressing God the Father. Christ knew perfectly
well why the Father was forsaking Him. This was the purpose for which Jesus had
been born into this world. The Father was forsaking the humanity of Christ as
part of judging Him for the sins of mankind. The sins of mankind were being
imputed to Him, and He was taking the punishment due to every human being who
would ever live. So horrible was this judgment to His
sinless humanity, that He expressed His agony and His concentration by
repeating again and again from (Psa 22:1) The Hebrew word for “groaning” meant that our Lord was
screaming from the pain of Divine judgment. So
all may read psalm 22 and UNDERSTAND; GOD KNOWS ALL THINGS! And still loves us!
You must
realize just why Jesus Christ was screaming, and you must have some picture of
what had happened to our Lord prior to that time. Jesus had just endured six
trials. During this time, men had lied about Him, (No one enjoys being
maligned) and yet Jesus Christ kept quiet. He did not answer or fight back. (Psa 22:1-8; Mat
27:37-46; Mar 15:29-34) When
the court finished taking His Testimony, they could not draw an indictment
because the false witnesses did not agree. Men began to step up and have a
little fun at His expense. They took turns slugging, cursing, and spitting on
Him. Jesus Christ was hit dozens and dozens of times. As the Bible says, “beat Him with their fists,” which is
simply the Greek word for “slugged.” (Mat 26:67;
Mar 14:65)
(Isa 52:14)Tells us that He was so badly beaten
that the features of His face were completely destroyed, and yet He stood up
and took it all and lived.
In between
all of this punching, other men came up and said, “So you are a prophet? Then
prophesy who hit You!” Boom! They slapped Him; they hit Him. (Mat 26:68) At one point during these trials He
was stripped to the waist. His hands tied above His head, and then He was
scourged. (Literally “skinned alive with a whip”) The Romans used a “mastix,” a
very brutal type of whip, to which they attached sharp bits of bone, metal, and
splinters anything that would cut! Then the strongest man in the battalion
would beat the victim.
Usually by
this time any member of the human race would have been reduced to screaming,
incoherent hysteria, “...Like a sheep
that is silent before its shearers. So He did not open His mouth.” (Isa 53:7; cf. Act
8:32) He never cried out to anyone; He did not raise His voice to
scream in pain. Then after the beating was over, as was the Roman custom, they
rubbed salt into what was left of the raw back to cauterize the wound. They
mocked Him; they scourged Him; they took Him to the cross.
As He hung upon the
cross, it was excruciatingly painful. His bones pulled apart from the weight of
His body, slowly, miserably. (Psa 22:14)
The torture was unbelievable! Yet not once did He cry out — not until midday
when the sun was overhead. Suddenly the hill was blotted out in darkness. Then,
in that darkness, (Mat 27:45) something
happened that made Jesus scream. All of the punching, slapping, lying,
maligning, torture, and pain had not caused Him to cry out; yet now, something
terrible made Him scream!
In a moment
of time, your sins, my sins --- past, present, and future sins of the whole
world were poured out on Him. It was then that in His greatest agony He
screamed. God the Father judged Him. Why? Because “YOU ARE HOLY...” (Psa 22:3)
Holiness is a combination of righteousness and justice. In absolute righteousness God the Father directed His
perfect justice against Christ, imputing all human sins to Him and judging Him
as the substitute for mankind. In that moment of time.
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our
behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2Co 5:21)
So, if you
want to know what made Christ scream, it was the only thing that could — your
sins, my sins, and the sins of every person who has ever lived.
In, (Psa 22:6) Christ says, “But I am a worm.” There
are many different Hebrew words for worms; this was a special type of worm
whose blood was gathered and used in making the crimson dye of the ancient
world. This most valuable dye was used for the robes of kings. (Psa 22:6) pictures Jesus Christ as the worm,
crushed on the cross by our sins; and as a result of His being crushed, we now wear the robes of kings!
(Psa 22:1-6) actually constitute a picture of
expiation. Christ was separated from and forsaken by the Father that you and I
might never be separated from God again! Another passage on expiation is found
in the New Testament:
Having cancelled out the certificate
of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He
has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had
disarmed the rulers and authorities, [Satan and the demons] He made a public
display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. (Col 2:14-15)
One of the
most significant metaphors in the Bible is “having cancelled out the
certificate of debt.” In the Greek, it is a gambler’s term for the cancellation
of an IOU. Now, what do I owe God as a member of the human race? I owe Him
perfect righteousness, absolute righteousness, +R. The big question is: Can I pay
it? Every member of the human race has this IOU of perfect righteousness out
against him. When we check our assets, we find that we may be in the same boat
with Charlie Brown one million plus! But one million plus good deeds will never
be enough. They add up to -R, and this will not pay off the debt. Someone must
pay; expiation must take place. (Col 2:14-15)
says, literally, “Having once and for all canceled the IOU.” “Once; and for all!” Since this aorist tense in the
Greek is a point of time, divorced from time and perpetuated forever. That was
the historic event of the cross!
“Has taken”
is the perfect tense. Christ took sin out of the way in the past with the
result that God’s IOU against us has been taken away forever. Where once there
was a barrier, there is now nothing between you and God except the person of
Jesus Christ. He canceled the debt by nailing it to His cross.
Once again,
man is on one side of the barrier and God is on the other. The issue of sin has
been removed by redemption and unlimited atonement. The penalty of sin —
Spiritual death — has been removed by expiation. In another book, The Barrier,
we will take up the other bricks that separate the unbeliever from God. But let
me summarize by saying right now that all of the bricks are removed by the work
of Christ on the cross. This emphasizes once again that your attitude toward
Christ determines your eternal future.
Is “Chicken” you game?
In my early
Air Force days, when I had a lot of youth but not much judgment, my friends and
I would engage in the flying version of “chicken” over the Arizona desert. The
front and rear cockpit pilots took turns putting the plane into a spin,
removing their hands from the controls, and letting the plane do what it would.
The point was to see who lost his nerve first within, of course, reasonable
limits.
A friend and
I were playing this “game” one afternoon. Since we had had a friendly grudge
battle going from college days, I was determined he would not outdo me, and he
was determined I would not get the best of him. So, we both folded our hands
and “let her spin.” All of a sudden we both realized that we were wound up
tight, and if we didn’t do something quickly we would never do anything again.
We were stuck in the center of gravity spinning violently to the right. The
only thing we could do was to kick that full left rudder pedal. Without
realizing it, both of us did exactly the same thing at the same time: we
neutralized the rudder pedals, pushed the stick forward, and worked the
throttle. We came out level right over the top of a cactus. Needless to say, we
were relieved to be alive; and happy to discontinue the game of chicken!
If you are in
a spin in a plane and the spin continues, you’re dead! The human race is in the
spin of sin, wound up tight. Anyone who continues on this flight has had it! He
won’t walk away from that one! Why play such a foolish and dangerous game? The
alternative is very simple: The rudder/stick combination which will pull you
out of the spin of sin; is Jesus Christ. Accept His provision!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:8)
End
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