In
humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.
But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.
James 1:21-22
They searched the Scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so. Acts 17:11
Is Christ Our Substitute?
By Jesse Flowers
I
would like to begin this lesson by discussing some things we talked
about last
week together by way of review. We began with a statement made in Mt.
27:46
when Jesus was hanging on the cross and uttered the words; “My
God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”
And we talked about what was the meaning of that? Because people have
come at
that in different ways. Some looking at that as; “Well God had to
forsake Jesus
during that period of time He was on the cross because
all the sins of mankind were placed on Him,
and in a sense He became darkness and since in God there is no darkness
at all
He had to turn His face and back away the Son. There was a separation
there
between God the Father and the Son because of that.”
Well we presented evidence
from the Bible to show that was
not the case,
but rather Jesus was calling attention to those there at that day and
to us
this day of the words in Psalms 22, that’s where those words come from,
Psalms
22, prophesy, and that’s the opening words of Psalms 22. And then of
course
many of the verses in that chapter speak of the
events which took place and transpired
when Jess was crucified at Calvary. Some of the very words that were
uttered by
His crucifiers are found in Psalms 22. Some of actions,
such as casting lots for His garments, we read
about in (Vs.
18); and Jesus having His hands and feet pierced in (Vs. 16). --- In
fact that
Psalm had its origin based on when David was being chased out of
Jerusalem by
his son, Absalom we read about in 2 Samuel. Insults and stones were
hurled at
David. And so there’s a twofold meaning or prophesy here. Some things
apply to
David and some apply to Christ. --- So just as it appears that David
was
forsaken by his God, and we know he was not; --- it likewise might
appear that
Jesus was forsaken by His Father while on the cross, but He absolutely
was not,
for Jesus declared in John 10:30; --- “I
and the Father are one.”
And thus, the Father never left Him alone. Ps. 22:19-20 reads; “But
Thou, O Lord, be not far off; O Thou my help, hasten
to my assistance. --- Deliver my soul from the sword.”
So
you’ve got to think hard as to the logical consequence of what some
believe
actually means when Jesus said; ‘My
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
” Was Jesus literally forsaken by the
Father? --- If so, then the Godhead was fractured and it would take
away from
the very nature of God. Who would believe this? There must be a reason
for
separation, and the only reason God separates Himself from anyone is
because of
sin; either sin committed or sin attributed to Jesus, but friends, that
doesn’t
fit in with what the Bible teaches. Nevertheless, unfortunately there
are many
Christians who have this miss-conception. And many came up to me later
and said
they had been under that mistaken impression, and thanked me for
clearing that
up.
And because of
so many who
had
spoke to me about that, I want to delve into the subject of the lesson
we have
before us today. So please open your Bibles with me to what the apostle
Paul
had to say in his letter to the Lord’s church in Rome. In Rom. 5:6-11 we read; --- “For
when we were still without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For
scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps
for a good
man someone would even dare to die. 8 But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still
sinners,
Christ died for us. 9 Much more
then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath
through Him. 10 For if when we
were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son,
much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11
And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
--- And thus we notice in the lesson title: Is Christ Our Substitute?
The Bible plainly teaches
that Jesus Christ died for us.
So it is of the
utmost importance that our lesson should be centered on the sacrificial
death
of our beloved Savior. Paul thought it to be of first importance. In 1
Cor.
15:3, he wrote; --- “For
I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that
Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”
--- But when we speak of Christ dying for us, just exactly what should
this
mean to us? --- Did Christ take the place of sinful man when He died on
the
cross? --- Did He die as a substitute for us?
This concept is often
repeated and stated in several of
our well loved
hymns. Hymns such as we find on page 158; “Nailed to the Cross”, verse
one
begins; ---“There was One who was willing to die in my stead,
that a
soul so unworthy might live.” Also on page161; “Hallelujah! What A
Savior”,
Verse two reads; --- “Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place
condemned He stood.” And, on page585; “He bore It All”, the chorus line
reads;
--- “I stood condemned to die but Jesus took my place.
The idea that Jesus took our
place and died in our stead
is a very
popular concept, but is it a Biblical idea? Is it taught in the word of
God?
You know, there are many popular ideas that may sound good on the
surface, but
we need to examine the Scriptures in order to establish the truth
concerning
these things. We need to be like those noble-minded Bereans we read
about in
Acts 17:11; --- “Now
these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they
received the
word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily, to see whether
these things were so.”
Lesson
1.
Now let’s take a closer look at this
substitution theory which goes something like this: ---
A.
“All of man’s sins, and man’s punishment and penalty for sins were
transferred
to Jesus so that Jesus took on the guilt of our sins and our sins were
imputed
to Him.” And it’s on this basis it is said;
B.
“When Jesus suffered and died on the cross He was suffering in our
place
because He took on the guilt of our sin and suffered the punishment for
our
sins”.
C.
The conclusion: --- “Man can receive forgiveness of sins because
Jesus
already substituted Himself for us and took the punishment for our sins
in our
stead so that we don’t have to be punished.”
D.
This doctrine suggests that, on the cross, Jesus literally took on all
human
sin as His own, as our substitute
or
replacement.
2.
The idea goes like thus:
On
the one side you have;
and the other side
Guilty
man
Innocent Jesus
Guilt of sin ????? Substitute ????? Guilt of sin
Deserves punishment
for sin ??????? Deserves
punishment for sin
3.
There are certain phrases and expressions
that are used to put across the idea that Jesus is our substitute.
Please
notice with me some of the following; ---
Expressions:
A.
Jesus died in our place or in our
stead.
B. Jesus suffered a vicarious death
for
us.
C. Jesus died the death we all deserve and
suffered the hell we deserve. (You’ve all heard that and maybe uttered
that yourselves).
D. Jesus literally took our sins
upon Himself
on the cross.
E. Our guilt
was
literally transferred to Jesus.
F. The Father had to withdraw His presence
from Him in order for Jesus to suffer the punishment for sinners.
G. Jesus died
spiritually. --- Do these theories come from the Bible, or man’s
thinking?
4.
In the expression “F” above; --- This
comes from the Calvinistic idea that just in the ninth hour of Christ’s
suffering, because of the terrible sin of man He was taking on; --- “Jesus
cried out with a loud voice, saying,
‘Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why hast Thou
forsaken
Me?
” (Mt. 27:46). --- Some would say; while
Jesus was taking upon Himself all the sins of mankind, in a sense,
Christ
became darkness, and since in the Father there is no darkness at all,
He had to
turn His face away or turn His back on His own Son. And by this we can
see
there is a separation there (i.e. spiritual death).
5.
This substitution
theory
is rooted in the protestant restoration movement of the sixteenth
century. The
following is an excerpt from William Clark’s “An Outline Of Christian
Theology”
Page 319 --- “At the reformation, this doctrine was modified by the
introduction
of the analogies of criminal law. In this view, the satisfaction that
was due
to God consisted in punishment. It was now held that Christ actually
took the
place of sinners in the sight of God, and as their substitute suffered
the
punishment that was due to them, including as many of the reformers
taught, the
suffering of hell. Upon Him fell all the punishment of all the sins of
all the
men for whom He died; against them, therefore, penal justice could have
no
further claim.”
Now I’m sure all of you have
heard of Martin Luther, one
of the top
protestant reformers during that period; and in his commentary on
Galatians,
Pg. 213-215, he said; --- “And this, no doubt all the prophets did
foresee in
spirit, --- That Christ should become the greatest transgressor,
murderer,
adultery, thief, rebel, blasphemer, that ever was or could be in the
world. For
He, being made a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, is not now
an
innocent person and without sins; is not now the Son of God, born of
the virgin
Mary; --- But a sinner. --- If thou wilt deny Him to be a sinner and
accursed,
deny also that He was crucified and was dead. --- But if it be not
absurd to
confess and believe that Christ was crucified between two thieves, then
it is
not absurd to say He was accursed, and of all sinners the greatest God,
our
most merciful Father, sent His only Son into the world and laid upon
Him all
the sins of all men, saying, ‘Be thou Peter the denier; Paul, the
persecutor,
blasphemer, and cruel oppressor; David, that adulterer; that sinner
which did
eat the apple in Paradise; (of course we cannot say it was an apple,
but rather
the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; Gen. 2:17).
--- that
thief which hanged upon the cross; and briefly, be Thou the person
which
committed all the sins of all men. See, therefore, that Thou pay and
satisfy
for them.’ “ --- Now this gets to the heart and soul of the
substitution
theory, that originated during the protestant movement by such men as
Martin
Luther.
One of the most well
known reformers though, was John
Calvin. And his
system or doctrine known as “Calvinism” is the foundation of many of
the
popular denominational doctrines which exists to this day. ---
Calvinism; which
can be defined by the TULIP acronym; {Total Depravity or
original sin; Unconditional
Election; Limited Atonement; Irresistible Grace; and Perseverance
of the saints or once saved always saved.} --- And one of the
cornerstones of
Calvinism is this idea presented by W.A. Criswell, former President of
the
Southern Baptist Convention said this; --- “Why I Preach The Bible As
Literally
True”, and says on page 113; --- “The
Lord was assuming in His own Spirit and in His own body the penalty and
judgment
for the mountains of sin of the whole human race. --- It is this
bearing of our
sins that explains our Lord’s being forsaken as He hung on the cross.”
---
Well, Calvinism is what that is.
And then we have P.E.
Hughes’s commentary on Paul’s second
epistle to
the Corinthians, where he says; --- “God made Him sin; that is to say
that God
the Father made His innocent incarnate Son the object of His wrath and
judgment, for our sakes, with the result that in Christ on the cross
the sin of
the world is judged and taken away. --- Our sin is transferred to Him
and His
righteousness is transferred to us.” --- Modern denominational
preaching and
teaching is filled with this substitution doctrine.
Now, what does the Bible
teach on this subject? That’s
what we need to
be interested in, right? I can assure you that this doctrine of the
substitution theory did not originate in the Scriptures. The Bible
never refers
to Christ as man’s substitute. --- The Bible never refers to the death
of
Christ, as a vicarious death. --- The Bible never says that Christ
(quote/unquote) took our place, or died in our stead. --- The Bible
never
states that Christ died spiritually on the cross. The fact that none of
these
statements are found in the Bible, should give us cause to pause and
question
whether or not the contents of these statements are found in the Bible.
Let’s look at some passages
that are used to support this
substitution
theory. Passages that may read a little confusing to some, but would
make us
stop and think; is that what these passages are saying? --- Well, 1
Pet. 2:21,
beginning; --- “For
to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving
us an
example, that you should follow His steps: 22 "Who
committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His
mouth"; 23 who, when He
was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not
threaten,
but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; (Then
notice verse 24); ---
who
Himself bore our sins in His own body on the
tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness -- by
whose
stripes you were healed.”
--- Now the passage states that Christ
“bore” our sins in His own body on the tree, in reference to His death
on the
cross. It is assumed though, that what this means is, that Jesus
literally took
on our sins when He died. But this assumption comes from a
misunderstanding of
the term “bore” that is used here. This
word comes from the Greek word anaphero
which according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary, means to “carry” or
“offer up”.
The meaning of that was that He “carried” our sins away, or took our
sins away
after the suffering He endured on the cross. --- It’s the same as what
is said
in Jn. 1:29, where John the Baptist said; --- “Behold,
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world.” ---
Now in comparison, let’s look at Isa. 53:4 where the Bible says; --- “Surely
He has borne our griefs And carried
our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.”
Again, let’s compare that to Mt. 8:16-17; --- “When
evening had come, they brought to Him many who were
demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed
all who were
sick, 17 that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the
prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore
[our] sicknesses.”
Now what was involved in
Jesus bearing the griefs and
sorrows of others?
--- For example, did Jesus get a fever when He cured Peter’s
mother-in-law
which we read about in Mt. 8:14-15? --- When Jesus cured Peter’s
mother-in-law,
He took on a fever; is that how He bore it, by taking it on Himself?
Does that
make sense? --- Did demons possess Jesus when He cast them out of
others? (Mt.
9:32-33) --- And then in Mt. 4:23, leading up to the sermon on the
mount. Did
Jesus get sick as a result of healing all those who came to him with
their
diseases? Well of course not. --- Jesus bore our sins in the same way
He bore
the sicknesses of those whom He healed. In other words, He took them
away. He
took them away, you see.
Now, here’s a big one, and I
say that because of the way
it reads. And
it’s given me trouble in the past. But notice what it says in 2 Cor.
5:21; --- “For
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for
us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Do you see the way that reads? Does that cause you to pause and
question that a
little bit? --- Well the passage states that God made Jesus (quote) “be
sin for
us” (Vs 21). It’s assumed again that Jesus literally took the guilt
of
our sins. But notice that the Scripture says that He became sin for us,
not took
the guilt of sin. What is sin? According to 1 Jn. 3:4, sin is the
violation of
God’s law. Sin is lawlessness, or transgressing God’s commandments. Now
think
about this; --- Did Jesus who knew no sin, become the literal violation
of
God’s Holy commandments? Is that what happened? Does that make sense?
It should
be obvious here, that sin is used in a symbolic sense. --- So when Paul
says
that Jesus was made to be sin for us, he is using the symbolism of the
Old
Testament sacrifices for sin. In the Old testament the animal
sacrifices were
referred to as offerings for sin, or sacrifices for sin. --- For
example, in
Lev. 6:25 we read where the Lord spoke to Moses, saying; --- “Speak
to Aaron and to his sons, saying,
'This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the
burnt
offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the
LORD. It
is most holy.
Now notice it says “sin offering” in this
passage, as it does in Lev. 4:24& 25; and in
Heb. 10:8 you have the same idea. But the
word “offering” in these passages have been added by the
translators.
Just to clarify; in Leviticus alone, over 50 times the word “offering”
is not
found in the original text. In other words, if we went back and took
out the
word “offering” in Lev. 6:25 it would literally read; --- “Speak
to Aaron and to his sons, saying,
'This is the law of the sin: In the place where the burnt
offering is
killed, the sin shall be killed before the LORD. It is most
holy.”
And so the translators put in the intended phrase that would help to
explain
the sin offering, what was being offered for sin. So Jesus was made to
be our
sin offering. Or what was being offered for sin.
So
when you look at 2 Cor. 5:21 again, and look at it in that way
(symbolic) of
how we read and understand it in the Old Testament; --- “For
He made Him who knew no sin to a ”sin
offering” for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him.”
--- In Isa. 53:10, notice how that
reads; ---
“Yet
it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He
has put Him to grief. When you make His soul an offering
for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of
the Lord
shall prosper in His hands.”
Now that’s the proper understanding of that
text which can sometimes be a little confusing.
Another Scripture that is
used to uphold and support the
substitution
theory is found in Heb. 9:26-28, where we read; --- “He
then would have had to suffer often
since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the
ages, He
has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to
die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so
Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To
those who
eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for
salvation.”
Now since the passage states that Jesus
will come a second time, notice again (Vs. 28), apart from sin, then it
is
said, the first time He did have sin. --- Again the idea of
substitution was
that our sins were literally transferred to Jesus, or at least a
punishment for
our sins was placed upon Jesus. But what the passage is really teaching
as you
look back in verse 26, is that Jesus is not going to offer Himself
again as a
sacrifice for sin. ONE TIME, “as
it is appointed for men to die once.”
--- So Christ was offered once to bear the
sins of many. That’s where the emphasis is placed on in the context of
this
Scripture.
Did
Jesus take our place?
--- Jesus did not take our place on the cross. The Bible does not teach
that
Jesus took our place or die in our stead in His death on the cross. He
didn’t
by the way take our place in physical death. --- Just stop and
think
about for a moment; it’s common logical sense. If Jesus took our place
in
physical death, then no Christian should have to die physically anymore
since
Christ already suffered death in our place. Okay, so we can rule that
out.
Jesus did not take our place
in spiritual death.
What is
spiritual death? Spiritual death is separation from God because of sin.
---
Jesus made it very clear though that He would never be
separated from
God the Father. Notice two Scriptures with me if you will. In Jn.
8:28-29 we
read where there is No
separation from the Father:
--- “Then
Jesus said to them, ‘When you lift up
the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing
of
Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. --- And He who sent Me is with Me.
The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things
that
please Him.”
--- Oh yes, everyone else abandoned Jesus,
even His own disciples but the Father didn’t. Why? Because Jesus said, “I
always do those things that please Him.”
And what was the primary thing that Jesus came to do, to please the
Father? Die
on the cross; and Jesus said this was the very purpose He came into the
world.
Did the Father leave Him alone? Of course not. --- Jesus said in Jn. 16:32, just prior to His arrest and
crucifixion; --- “Indeed
the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each
to his
own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the
Father is with Me.”
--- And so did Jesus take our place in
spiritual death, spiritual death being the separation from Go? No He
did not.
Nor did He undergo physical death in order to take our place in
spiritual death,
that sort of idea may sound good to a Calvinists, but it doesn’t make
any sense
at all. Physical death just doesn’t match up with spiritual death.
And Jesus did not take our
place as a substitutive
sacrifice for sins.
Some say that Jesus took our place and suffered the punishment we all
deserve.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Again, I would like for us to
stop and
think about this logically. --- If you and I were appointed by God to
be
arrested, to be falsely accused, to be scourged, mocked with a crown of
thorns
and then nailed to a cross as punishment for our sins; then it may make
sense
to say that Christ took our place in all of that. But that is not the
punishment that sinful man deserves. The wages of sin is spiritual
death. Rom.
6:23; --- “For
the wages of sin is death,--“
--- That is separation from God for all
eternity in the lake of fire. In Rev. 21:18 we read; --- “But
the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable,
murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall
have
their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which
is the
second death.”
--- Do these Scriptures read lie Christ
suffered the penalty for our sins? NO! If
He did, we wouldn’t have such passages as these in our
New Testament,
would we? --- Christ suffered physical death on the cross; He did not
suffer
spiritual death for eternity in hell, as some propose. You know, that
by itself
should be enough to help us understand that Jesus did not take our
place in
what He suffered on the cross. He did not die to suffer the punishment
we deserve
because what He suffered was not the punishment that you and I deserve.
The Bible teaches that He
died for us and that He died for
our benefit.
He died for the benefit of the ungodly, even though we did not deserve
it as we
learn from Rom. 5:8; --- “But
God demonstrates His own love toward
us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
We didn’t deserve it, but He did. --- Remember Jn. 1:29 says He is
what? John
says; --- “Behold!
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
--- It doesn’t read, “Behold! the Lamb of
God who {takes the place} of sinners of the world!”, does it? No,
that’s
not what it says, but rather He takes away the sins of the
world.
And
so then, what exactly did the death of Christ accomplish? Well, mankind
deserves
the wrath of God because of our sins against Him. Bottom line,
that’s what
we deserve. And all who are capable of sin have committed sin. Rom.
3:23 says;
--- “--- for
all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God.”
And as we have already stated in 1 Jn.
3:4, that sin is transgression of God’s law. --- Secondly, we do
deserve
spiritual death because of our sins, Rom. 6:23; --- “For
the wages of sin is death,--“
And
those who continue in sin, refusing to repent, they store up the wrath
of God.
Notice what it says in Rom. 2:5-6; --- “But
in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent
heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath
and
revelation of the righteous judgment of God, --- who ‘will render to each
one according to his deeds.”
--- Mankind deserves the wrath of God
because of our sins; and will face the wrath of God if we do not turn
to Him in
repentance and obedience.
What
did the death of Christ accomplish?
---
Christ died in order to make it possible to turn God’s wrath away
from us. He is the propitiation (that’s one of those big words
which
simply means; to win somebody’s favor, or
to appease or reconcile). In other words, it means that through His
suffering, Jesus made the provision for God to have mercy on us. --- What was it the apostle John said in 1 Jn.
2:1-2; --- “My
little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin.
And if
anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous.
2 And He Himself is the propitiation
for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
Remember
that God is holy, just and perfectly
righteous, He will not excuse sin, even though He loves us, none of us
could
appease the wrath of God. We could face the wrath of God but by
ourselves, we
would be in big trouble. We would have no way of turning His wrath away
from
us; it required Jesus and His atonement, the propitiation that He
brought.
A
perfect offering was needed:
--- To appease the wrath of God. Think about it; God has always
required blood
as a sacrifice because life is in the blood. Look in Lev. 17:11; --- “'For
the life of the flesh is in the blood,
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for
your souls;
for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.'
So God has connected the idea of the
shedding
of blood with the forgiveness of sins. Let’s look at Heb 9:22 and see
how this
reads; --- “And
according to the law almost all things are purified with blood,
and without
shedding of blood there is no remission.”
(no forgiveness!) Only the blood of
Jesus was actually powerful enough to bring about the forgiveness of
our sins.
--- In that same chapter (Heb. 9:11-12), we read; --- “But
Christ came as High Priest of the good
things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made
with
hands, that is, not of this creation. --- Not
with the blood of goats and calves, (Why?
Because that wasn’t sufficient, it wasn’t possible for them to take
away sins),
but with His own blood He entered the Most
Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
--- By the sacrifice of Himself, Christ has made it possible for sinful
man to
be at peace with God by His blood that was shed on the cross as we read
in Col.
1:19-20; --- “For
it pleased [the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, --- and
by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on
earth or
things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
--- Because of the powerful sacrifice of Christ, we can be saved from
the wrath
of God.
The
sacrifice of Christ makes forgiveness available:
--- Let’s go back and look again at our opening text in Rom. 5:9; --- “Much
more then, having now been justified
by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath
through Him.”
But we had to have that perfect offering; the precious blood of Christ
to
appease the wrath of God. --- You know, the sacrifice of Christ has
made
available eternal salvation to everyone. Please notice with me what
Paul had to
say in 1 Cor. 5: Now we’re not going to spend time dealing with the
major
contents of this chapter concerning the man who was guilty of sexual
morality;
but a statement made by Paul is what we want to highlight to you at
this time.
In Vs. 7; near the end, notice what it says; --- “For
indeed Christ, our Passover, was
sacrificed for us.”
---Here’s what I want to emphasize; (Christ
as our Passover). Think back to the
original Passover when Israel was about to depart Egypt in bondage.
What did
they have to do? What were they required to do as we turn our attention
to Ex.
12. What instructions did God give to Moses to pass on to all the
children of
Israel, or all the families of Israel? Well, when they killed the
Passover lamb
they had to have the blood applied to their door posts in order to be
identified as those who should be spared from the wrath of God, because
God’s
wrath was going out that night and it affected every single family of
the
Egyptians, from Pharaoh losing his first born son, to a host of his
servants.
But it didn’t affect the Israelites because they were faithful to God’s
commandment had applied the blood over their door posts as God
commanded.
Notice how it reads in Ex.
12:5-7, and then we’ll go on to
Vs. 13 of
this same chapter where the Lord spoke to Moses saying; --- “'Your
lamb shall be without blemish, a male
of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. --- 'Now you shall keep it until the
fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the
congregation
of Israel shall kill it at twilight. --- 'And
they shall take some of the blood
and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where
they eat
it.”
And then Vs. 13; --- “'Now
the blood shall be a sign for you on
the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over
you; and
the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of
Egypt.” ---
Now please notice; it wasn’t enough
for the sacrifice to be killed, the blood also had to be applied
in
order for there to be any benefit for them you see.
In the same way, as we come
over to the
New Testament and the law of Christ and what is required under that new
covenant. The death of Christ will not benefit us in any way if His
blood is
not applied to each one of us, will it? --- And so for the sinner the
blood is
applied as we understand and study in the New Testament when he obeys
the
gospel message. Look at Rom. 6:3-6; --- “Or
do you not know that as many of us as were baptized
into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? (what
happened at His death? He shed His
blood. His blood must be applied; and in that final step of baptism,
the blood
is applied.) ---Therefore we were buried with Him through
baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory
of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. --- For if we have been united together
in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the
likeness of His
resurrection, --- knowing this, that our old man was crucified with
Him, that
the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be
slaves of
sin.”
--- That’s precisely when the blood is
applied; when the sinner obeys the gospel of Christ in baptism. ---
They heard;
“faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the
word of God.”
(Rom. 10:17) --- They believed in
Christ as the Son of the living God. (Jn. 3:16), that would not die in
their
sins. (Jn. 8:24); They repented of their sins. (Acts
2:38, Lk. 13:3) --- They confessed
with their mouths, because with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. (Rom.
10:9-10) --- And then they must be baptized into His death in
order for
the blood of Christ and the saving benefits of that blood to be
applied. --- Just
like Israel of old, with the blood of the lamb was applied, and then
when the
Lord passed over when He saw the blood. Yes, the sacrifice was made;
just like
Christ, the sacrifice was made; but how was the blood to be applied?
--- Was it
a matter of substitution where all our sins are immediately transferred
over to
Him and His righteousness transferred over to us? NO!
Every sinner must come to a
knowledge of the truth in
order to be saved.
(1 Tim. 2:4) --- 2 Pet. 3:9; --- “The
Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some
count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any
should
perish but that all should come to repentance.”
Why would men need to repent if our sins and the guilt of those sins
were
transferred over to Christ and His righteousness were transferred over
to us?
You see, that won’t work. So many Scriptures, so many would make no
sense at
all, with this kind of Calvinistic understanding. For the Christian
though who
commits sin; when is the blood applied? When you and I who have obeyed
the
gospel of Jesus Christ and have been baptized into His death, how is
the blood
applied after our conversion? Well, when we repent of our sins and
sincerely
ask God to forgive us of our sins. The godly sorrow which produces
repentance
leading to salvation. Such as we find in Acts 8:22 where you remember
Simon the
sorcerer who had obeyed the gospel that Phillip preached there in
Samaria. But
some time after that he sinned when he tried to purchase the gift of
the Holy
Spirit with some money; so we read in Acts 8:22 where Peter told him;
--- “Repent
therefore of this your wickedness, and
pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.”
He didn’t tell Simon that he needed to be baptized again in order for
Christ’
blood to be applied again. No, he’s already done that. And so we read
in 1 Jn.
1:9, John writing to Christians and says; --- “If
we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.”
What cleanses us? The same thing that cleansed us the day we obeyed the
gospel.
Christ’s blood will be applied when we meet His terms of pardon.
Ladies and gentlemen, Christ
died to benefit everyone in
the world but,
let me ask you; have you personally benefitted from His death? We know
that
Christ has already done the hard part, the difficult part in order to
make it
possible for you and me to have forgiveness of our sins. A Savior who
loved us
so much that He willingly as the Bible teaches left heaven, became a
bond
servant, came in the flesh in order to suffer and die on the cross for
our
sins. He did the hard part. Will you do your part in meeting His terms
of
forgiveness? After all, let us not forget, He died for you. He died for
YOU and
we hope you will respond in loving obedience to the gospel of Jesus
Christ, so
that His precious blood may be applied to you and that your sins may be
washed
away. As we sometimes sing, “There’s Power in the Blood”, and indeed
there is.
And you can come in contact with that cleansing power of the blood of
Jesus
Christ if you will obey the gospel by believing in Him, repenting of
your sins,
confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus and be baptized into His
death for
the forgiveness of sins. You’ll be raised to walk in newness of life.
You will
have been born again, now a Christian. Not a hyphenated Christian (do
you know
what I mean by that?) --- not some kind of denominational Christian as
we read
of no denominations in the Bible, but just the Lord’s church that He
established. The Lord will add you to His body of saved believers as we
read
about in Acts 2:47. And then we would encourage you to find a group of
Christians that are simply following the New Testament pattern to whom
you can
join yourself with to do the Lord’s work and to share the good news
which
you’ve obeyed with others. --- If you are a child of God but there’s
sin in
your life; as we just talked about, you know how to be cleansed of
those sins.
You need to repent and come back to Him.
Humbly
and
prayerfully edited and submitted,
Earl
Wilburn
