Monthly Archives: March 2021

THE SLAIN LAMB

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THE SLAIN LAMB

“David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven,                                                                     whose sins are covered.                                                                                                                     Blessed is the one                                                                                                                             whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” Romans 4:6-8.

Now we have another problem. If God can only forgive sin on the basis of the death of His Son, how could David experience the blessedness of knowing that his sins had been forgiven when he lived long before Jesus?

The writer to the Hebrews made it clear that animal blood can never remove sin. It is only a picture of the greater sacrifice – that of God’s perfect Lamb.

“The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.” Hebrews 10:1-3

“But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God…for by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:12, 14.

Did David somehow understand that his sin was forgiven on the basis of a sacrifice that was perfect and acceptable to God for all time? On what basis did the children of Israel escape the angel of death when he passed over Egypt and struck down the firstborn of the Egyptians? By obeying God’s instruction to paint the blood of a lamb on the door frames of their houses, they were placing their faith in God’s promise and in the blood of a lamb.

Jesus was often in trouble with the religious leaders for forgiving sin. They accused Him of blasphemy because only God can forgive sin. On what basis did Jesus have the right to forgive sin? Was it because He was God? But God, according to His own decree, declared  that the only basis upon which sin can be forgiven was the death of a human being who had no sin of his own.

Now let’s look at God’s response.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.” 1 Peter 1:20.

“Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders …The Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the earth…” Revelation 5:6; 13:8.

Since God exists outside of time, He views the effects of what Jesus did on the cross, although it happened at a time in history, as spanning all time, not just time after Jesus died.

The sacrificial system incorporated in the Mosaic Law was intended, not to be the basis for the forgiveness of sin, but a visual aid to help His people understand the nature of, and remedy for sin. When they trusted in the shed blood of a sacrificial lamb for the forgiveness of their sin, they were actually acknowledging God’s provision of a perfect Lamb that would deal with sin once and for all, and trusting in His promise of forgiveness.

The Israelites learned slowly, through a process; one lamb for a family when the angel of death passed over them on one occasion, memorialised by their annual celebration of Passover; one goat for a nation to forgive their sins for one year and, finally, one Lamb, God’s Son, for the world, once for all.

“He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:18.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

FAITH IS THE KEY

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FAITH IS THE KEY 

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about – but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” Romans 4:1-5.

Having laid out his case for the guilt of the whole world, and the impossibility of satisfying God’s righteous and holy standards by trying to keep the law, Paul moved on to build his case for God’s way of declaring people “not guilty” and making them acceptable to Him.

God could not sweep sin under the carpet. In the beginning, He made it clear to Adam that the penalty for disobedience would be death. He was obliged to honour His own word. When the first pair disobeyed Him, they were alienated from Him and brought the judgment of death upon themselves, the human race and the cosmos itself. There was nothing they could do to undo what they had done.

There was only one way to satisfy God’s justice and, at the same time, justify the guilty – if a human being, who had no sin of his own, would take on himself the penalty for sin on behalf of the sinful human race, then God could forgive sin and reinstate the sinner. God came in person, became a human being, subject to the same law that condemned all other humans, and passed the test. He was put to death as a lawbreaker but rose from the dead to prove both His innocence and His fulfilment of God’s requirement.

But how does what Jesus did become ours? Paul used accounting terms to explain how it happens. Each of us has an account with God. In the debit column is the record of our debt of sin. It begins with a nature that is bent on rebellion. Then, to our sin nature is added the mounting debt of sin that we owe day by day through thoughts, motives, attitudes and actions. All our efforts to add to our credit balance to try to cancel out our debt are futile because everything we do is tainted by sin.

“All of us have become as one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” Isaiah 64:6. 

However, Jesus’ death paid our debt in full. Not only that but He also cancelled the very law that accuses us.

“He forgave all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us, nailing it to the cross…” Colossians 2:13b, 14.

“But,” you argue, “How can God remove the standard by which He judges us? Does that mean that it does not matter what we do? Is there no longer any law by which God measures our behaviour?” God’s standards do not change. But He satisfied His own demands through the perfect life of His Son. He cancelled every debt in our debit column, writing across our debt “PAID IN FULL” and wrote in our credit column the name of Jesus which includes His perfect obedience.

No, God did not remove His standard. He put the Spirit of His Son in us to uphold and fulfil all His holy requirements and…He gave us His own nature to desire His ways in place of our own.

There is one more step needed to complete the transaction. It has to be personally received or else it remains ineffective. The basis of Adam’s sin (and confirmed by ours) was the rejection of God’s authority and a declaration of independence. To receive God’s gift of forgiveness is only part of the deal. The other part is to submit once again to His authority and return to His way of doing life.

God appointed His Son, Jesus, to be the ruler of His kingdom. He said to the rebel kings who tried to throw off His rule, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” Psalm 2:6.

Because of His perfect obedience, even to death, “God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:10, 11.

Faith in the finished work of Jesus, then, deletes our entire debit column, with an emphatic, “PAID IN FULL” writes in bold letters in our credit column, “JESUS’ RIGHTEOUSNESS”, closes the book and declares, “IT IS FINISHED”, and, in response to faith and, with open arms, welcomes the reconciled son back home to Father’s house.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

JEW AND GENTILE – JUSTIFIED!

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JEW AND GENTILE – JUSTIFIED!

“Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not also the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. Do we, then nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” Romans 3:27-31.

Paul was having an imaginary debate with his readers, but what on earth was this debate all about? We must put ourselves into the minds of these Roman believers to understand his argument.

The church in Rome was made up of both Jews and Gentiles. Zealous Jewish believers from other areas were going around insisting that Gentiles first adopt the Jewish law before they could become Christians. Since Jesus was a Jewish Messiah and His message was the fulfilment of God’s promise to the Jews, they believed that His way belonged to them.

Paul began his letter by taking pains to show his readers that Jews and Gentiles stood on level ground as far as their guilt was concerned. The law was of no benefit to the Jews because, although they were privileged to have received it from God as the terms of His covenant with them, they were unable to obey it perfectly. All the law could do was show them God’s holy standards and pronounce them guilty because they had fallen short of what He required.

What was the point of having God’s law if it only revealed the extent of their failure to keep it? Boasting about the law was fruitless because it did nothing for them except show how guilty they were. They were no better than the Gentiles as far as God was concerned, law or no law, especially since the Gentiles also had God’s moral law written on their conscience. Whether it was written on stone or on their hearts, the standard was the same and they were equally guilty of falling short.

For Jew and Gentile, there was only one solution to their predicament – God Himself. Knowing that there was nothing they could do to satisfy His holy standards, He stepped in and provided the answer that both paid the penalty for the broken law and released the sinner from his guilt.

How did this happen? God came in person – the second Person of the Trinity became a human being, conceived in the womb of a woman by the power of the Holy Spirit, born into the world as a human baby, grew up in a human family, and was eventually executed as a law breaker although He lived a perfect life under the law. He became the atoning sacrifice for all people, Jew and Gentile; His offering was acceptable to God and confirmed by His resurrection from the dead.

There is nothing left to do but to accept His offering in our place by faith and to return to God to live under His authority as His sons and daughters. The law no longer stands over us as our accuser because Jesus fulfilled it and abolished it as the standard by which we are judged.

“Hey, wait a minute! You can’t say that!” But that’s what the Bible says.

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13, 14.

Jesus introduced a new law, not to replace but to fulfil the law which could not change their hearts.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8.

Whatever was impossible under the law becomes possible under God’s grace because He has given us His Holy Spirit to enable us to do what we could not do by ourselves.

“And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” Romans 5:5.

The Law, given through Moses at Sinai, was a detailed explanation of how to love their fellow men, but it fell on deaf ears because their hearts were bent towards satisfying their own lusts. Only by removing their guilt could God restore the Holy Spirit to live within their spirits and provide the power to turn towards Him again.

And that is exactly what He has done through His Son!

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

HELPLESS – BUT GOD!

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HELPLESS – BUT GOD!

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world be held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

But now, apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify.” Romans 3:19-21.

Doomed! We are all doomed. Paul’s conclusion is both terrifyingly condemning…

Everyone is guilty before God. There is no one privileged enough to escape His judgment and no one righteous enough to evade His scrutiny. No one on the planet, past, present or future, can perfectly measure up to His requirements. God’s holy nature is revealed in His Law. It is inflexible. It is objective. That’s what He demands and anything less is punishable by death.

…and gloriously liberating! So what can we do? The answer is, “Nothing!” We can do nothing and we need to do nothing. Why? God has already done everything; everything necessary to give us hope.

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22-24.

No one can stand before God in his naked state. Sin has stained and polluted every person, regardless of what he has tried to do to gain acceptance with God. His spirit is dead and that is as final as physical death – unless God intervenes…and He has. Sin killed us, not only because we have all sinned but also because we all have a natural bent towards sin which cannot be cured by trying to obey rules. The law sets the standard but it cannot enable us to keep it. All it can do is reveal our guilt.

Why do people who know God’s law, be it in written form or in their conscience, still think that they can do something to satisfy God’s righteousness by trying to obey rules? Even some of those who claim to be believers in Jesus still try to satisfy God’s holy standards by working hard to please Him. How much better to admit defeat and accept God’s solution!

Imagine your small son, whom you have instructed not to help himself to cookies from the cookie jar, standing in front of you with a cookie in each hand. He has been caught red-handed. He is guilty and he cannot escape. You warned him that he would be spanked and sent to his room for the whole day if he disobeyed you. Now you must keep your word, even if he is sorry and promises never to do it again.

His older brother steps in. He adores his little brother and feels sorry for him. “I’ll take his punishment,” he tells you. Because he has never been guilty of transgressing your rule, you accept his offer. Little brother goes free while older brother receives the spanking and spends the day in isolation in his bedroom.

You have been perfectly just in punishing disobedience and at the same time merciful to the little boy who transgressed your law, because of his older brother’s compassion. That is exactly what God has done, but on a much higher level.

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because, in His forbearance He has left sins unpunished – He did this to demonstrate Hs righteousness as the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:25, 26.

All we have to do is to accept His gift by believing what He says. It’s as simple as that. Was Jesus without sin? Most definitely yes! Did He die as a law breaker? Again, yes! He was executed as a blasphemer and as one who committed treason against Rome. Was He guilty as accused? Yes and no! What He said was true. He is the Son of God and King of the Jews…but not as He was judged to be. He said emphatically, “My kingdom is not of this world.” His kingdom transcended Rome and transcends all the kingdoms of this world.

How do we know He was telling the truth? God raised Him from the dead. Death is the punishment for sin, but death could not hold Him in its grip. After three days He walked out of the tomb. He is alive; and He sent His Spirit to live in the heart of every believer so that we are enabled to live the life He wants us to live. All this happens when we put our confidence in Him!

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NO FEAR OF GOD

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NO FEAR OF GOD

As it is written,                                                                                                                                      “There is no one righteous, not even one;                                                                                            there is no one who understands;                                                                                                        there is no one who seeks God.                                                                                                          All have turned away,                                                                                                         they have together become worthless;                                                                                          there is no one who does good, not even one.’  (Psalm 14:1-3)                                                          ‘Their throats are open graves;                                                                                                          their tongues practise deceit.’ (Psalm 5:9)                                                                                          ‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’ (Psalm 140:3)                                                                     ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’ (Psalm 10:7)                                                            ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood;                                                                                                     ruin and misery mark their ways,                                                                                                       and the way of peace they do not know.’ (Isaiah 59:7. 8)                                                                  ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’” (Psalm 36:1)                                                                  Romans 3:10-18.

Wow, Paul! These are strong words against humanity! But Paul didn’t write them; he only quoted them from the words that others had written. This was God’s diagnosis of the state of the people of the world.

Paul sandwiched the description of the human race between two statements which summed up what the world was like then and what it is still like now:

“There is no one who seeks God…There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

It all comes back to the problem of the human heart which Paul stated at the beginning of his discourse. When people want to live their sinful lives, they conveniently forget that God exists; that there are consequences for everything they do and that they are accountable to Him for their actions. Refusal to acknowledge God does not make Him go away, nor does it make Him ignore them.

Paul’s conclusion is that those who insist on doing things their way have no fear of God. What does it mean to fear God? Are we supposed to be terrified of Him because of what He can do to us?

The fear of the Lord is a big subject, too big to discuss here, but it would do us good to grasp a few of the elements of godly fear if we want to live our lives in peace.

To fear God is to honour and revere Him because He is holy and because He knows everything about us. We cannot escape His scrutiny or His judgement. It is to live transparently before Him, in submission and obedience to His ways because it is the right thing to do. Righteous living honours Him and benefits us, bringing His blessing and favour on our lives.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10.

“Beginning” here is the foundation or building blocks of wisdom – like the alphabet is to learning. Wisdom, in very simple terms, is doing what works.

“To fear the Lord is to hate evil.” Proverbs 8:13.

Since God is holy, completely separate from everything imperfect, and He made us to have fellowship with Him, He requires that we also separate ourselves from everything that offends His holiness.

“Come out from among them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you.” 2 Corinthians 6:17.

Jesus is a perfect example of one who feared the Lord. It was prophesied of Him in Isaiah 11:2, 3 – “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him…the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord – and He will delight in the fear of the Lord.” 

Compare His life with the lives of those who ride roughshod over God’s commandments and pollute everyone and everything they touch. People who ignore God leave misery and suffering in their wake, while Jesus and those who follow Him bring blessing and hope to unhappy people.

God created us to be one with Him. We cannot live in harmony with Him and with the world around us unless we honour Him and do what He requires of us, remembering that He is the inescapable God. Whether we face Him in honour or in judgment, we will face Him and receive from Him the reward for our deeds.

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”2 Corinthians 5:10.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.