CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS

If we are to faithfully deliver the message that Christ died for our sins (1 Cor 15:3), we must be able to explain exactly what that short statement means. We must be able to 1) properly define ‘our sin’ and 2) explain what Christ’s death means with respect to ‘our sin’.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins…” – 1 Cor 15:3

SIN is the issue and the SIN is OURS!

If you were to conduct a man-on-the-street interview outside of just about any church in America on any given Sunday and asked the question: “How did the sin of Adam effect the human race?”, you would probably hear, as the overwhelming answer: “Sin separates us from God.” If the answer is further defined, you might hear sin described as a great gulf or cloud between us and God. You would also hear sin defined as ‘wrong actions’ on our part. But while it is eminently true that sin separates us from God, and we ‘do’ sin, Scripture tells us that the sin problem is more than just an ‘impersonal’ gulf/cloud/wall of separation or wrong action. Listen carefully to ‘the rest of the story’.

Because of the sin of Adam, the following is true about all of us unless, and until, we are found in Christ by the gracious work of God in our salvation,through the shed blood of His Son:

“For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” – Romans 5:10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience–among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. – Ephesians 2:1-3

Not only were we God’s enemies, dead in trespasses and sin, and by nature objects of His wrath; we were headed for Hell:

“Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” John 3:18

Is there anyone who, prior to their believing in Christ, isn’t in a ‘not believing’ state of existence?  If that isn’t enough about the state of anyone apart from Christ, we have this:

“As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” – Romans 3:10-12

“How did the sin of Adam effect the human race?” Sin turned us into God’s enemies, dead in trespasses and sin, by nature objects of His wrath, headed for Hell, and completely unwilling to seek Him on our own! That’s quite a different picture of sin than the one painted by postmodern evangelicalism.

What then does Christ’s death mean with respect to OUR SIN?

Hear the words of Jesus to His disciples just before they departed the room where ate their last meal together:

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” – John 14:30-31

What did God do for sinners? He sent His own Sin to die! Christ’s death for our sin was God’s plan. And the Son went obediently to the Cross to show the world how much He loved His Father.

“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” – Romans 3:22b-25

“What, then, does the phrase “a propitiation. . .by his blood” express? It expresses, in the context of Paul’s argument, precisely this thought: that by his sacrificial death for our sins Christ pacified the wrath of God.” . . . “The doctrine of the propitiation is precisely this: That God so loved the objects of his wrath so much that He gave His own Son to the end that He by His blood should make provision for the removal of His wrath.” J.I. Packer – Knowing God

“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” – Romans 5:9

Not only did Christ die for our sin, He died IN OUR PLACE. Christ’s death for our sins means that when we deserved the full weight of God’s just wrath against sin, ‘our sin’, He drank the cup of His own Father’s wrath in our stead! There is no greater expression of love in all of human history!

We mortals probably cannot even comprehend the gospel message in it’s entirety. Whatever message we communicate, with whatever words we use, the truth that Christ died for our sins MUST be part of our message. The more we can explain about what that really means, Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf, the better messengers we will be.

We’ve been discussing evangelism here at the The Battle Cry – on another post where it was not exactly on point for that post. Therefore, due to the significance of the topic, I felt it wise to devote some space specifically to the topic. After all, it’s why we who profess Christ are still on planet Earth instead of having been translated (ala Star Trek?) to the presence of the Lord immediately after the moment we truly believed the Gospel and received God’s totally unmerited and most merciful gift of salvation by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9).

There is far too much to discuss in a single post, so I’ve decided to divide the discussion into three general areas represented by, and easily remembered by…you guessed it – three ‘M’s.  I’m not a great fan of inventing cute little memory aids, but these are already common concepts and it didn’t require any excessive use of valuable brain cells to to discover. It wouldn’t surprise me if you haven’t already realized what they represent. In case you haven’t figured them out yet (and I’m sure some of you have), we’ll use the topics of the Message, the Means, and the Method of evangelism. Further, we will discuss them in the order presented for very specific reasons:

The Message is the highest priority topic of the three. If we are to share the gospel we have to get the message right or we might as well stay home. If we have it wrong, we will do tremendous damage to the Kingdom of our Savior, not to mention trample on the honor and glory due His Name.

The Means of delivering the Message refers to the ‘mechanism’ by which the right message is transmitted to those who need to hear it, believe it, and receive the free gift of salvation for themselves, to the glory of God and to their eternal benefit.

It is important to note that both the message and the means of proper evangelism are articulated quite clearly in Scripture. We need only to have understood and believed the message and be available to transmit the message using the God appointed means.

The Method (how we deliver the message) is not as clearly defined in Scripture, however the New Testament is filled with evangelistic encounters from which we can learn and receive valuable guidance. In addition to biblical examples of Jesus, His disciples and those who followed them as the early church grew, we have the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us as we carry the only Message that contains the power to save to the lost and dying all around us.

Why do I think it’s important to approach the discussion in this fashion? Well, to a large extent across the landscape of postmodern Protestant evangelicalism, the Message has been lost in the deadly swamp of secular humanism, relegating the appointed Means to the dust bin of irrelevancy and the discussions about Methods a whole lot of wasted effort unless our gums are in need of exercise.

With that said, on to the Message!

Rom 1:16  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” – The Apostle Paul

This is a continuation of the series that started here and continued here (Part 2) and here (Part 3).

THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL SOUNDS A CLEAR NOTE OF REPENTANCE.

Thirdly, the Biblical Gospel sounds a clear note of repentance. Summarizing 3 years of ministry in Ephesus, Paul stated that he had preached “repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Summarizing his whole life, he stated that he had preached that men should “repent and turn to God, and do works” answering to that repentance (Acts 26:20). Nowhere in the Bible did any apostle or evangelist preach that, “all you need to do is accept that Jesus died and rose again, ask Him to be your Saviour and you will go to heaven.” Why? Because the Lord Jesus had commissioned them to preach three things: firstly, Christ died; secondly, He rose again; and, thirdly, repentance for the remissible of sins (Luke 24:45). Would we be happy with a cross-less gospel or a resurrection-less gospel? How then can we be content to preach a repentance-less gospel?

Contrary to contemporary thinking, salvation is not just mental assent or a mere nodding of the head to the death and resurrection of Christ. There is no saving faith without repentance. If you are a stranger to conviction, you are a stranger to repentance and therefore a stranger to salvation, for no one ever truly believed without repenting and vice versa. The first sentence the Lord Jesus uttered in His public ministry was, “Repent and believe the gospel ” (Mark 1:15); and He continued to repeatedly warn that unless sinners repent they will perish. Jesus said “believe or perish” (John 3:16) and “repent or perish” (Luke 13:3. See also 2 Pet 3:9). All that will matter a million years from today is, did I repent and believe the gospel?

Only one sentence in the Bible states that God loves the world (John 3:16). A handful of other verses speak of God’s love for undeserving sinners. Yet this precious and sublime truth is cheapened today, by its overemphasis at the expense of repentance, a subject which is mentioned 58 times in the New Testament alone. That is the reason why there is little or no true convicting power and blessing in the preaching of the gospel today. The Holy Spirit will not endue with power a message He has not authorized. A gospel without a clear note of repentance is another (false) gospel that brings God’s curse on those who preach it (Gal 1:6-10). Why would God curse a ‘preacher of the gospel’ (one who adds or takes away from the essence of the true message)? Because his repentance-less message is damning souls, corrupting local churches and hindering revival.

But what is repentance? It is not penance or restitution (Judas paid the money back – he regretted, but never repented, Matt 27:3). It is not merely tears, fear of judgment (Felix trembled) or sorrow for sin (godly sorrow may lead to repentance, but is not the same as repentance, 2 Cor 7:10). It is not mere confession or admission of sin. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia (from meta, ‘after’, and nous, ‘mind’). It means a complete change of mind – involving turning from sin to God, which resuIts in a change of life. It is illustrated by David in Psalm 51 and the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. It is defined in the following text: “Let the wicked for-sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him” (Isaiah 55:7). Let us be sure to sound a clear note of repentance every time we preach the gospel.

NEXT – THE CONCLUSION: THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL PRESENTS A WHOLE CHRIST FOR THE WHOLE MAN.

This is a continuation of the series that began here.

THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL BEGINS AND ENDS WITH GOD.

Firstly, the Biblical gospel begins and ends with God, whereas the contemporary gospel begins and ends with man. Here, in abbreviated form, is how it runs. “People today are suffering from feelings of emptiness, loneliness and low self-esteem. However, the aching ‘God shaped vacuum’ within you can be filled, when you say sorry for your sins and commit your life to Jesus. God has a wonderful plan for your life and wants you to be personally fulfilled and have a real feeling of happiness and satisfaction. You matter to God – that’s why Jesus paid for your sins on the cross. He loves you and wants you to ask Him into your life today You cannot save yourself, that’s why you really need God in your life. You have tried everything else – so why not give Jesus a try too? All you have to do is ask Jesus to be your personal Saviour and you will be saved. Why not pray this prayer after me…

Writers like George Barna, Bill Hybels, Lee Strobel and Rick Warren, tell us that our churches will only be ‘seeker-friendly’ when we start addressing the needs of ’21st century unchurched Harry and Mary’ (the ‘me’ generation). Thus the contemporary message has moved away from the New Testament God-centred pattern, and tailored itself to appeal to the self-centred generation of secular relativists who dominate our society. By contrast, the Biblical gospel begins and ends with God. When Paul preached to the Gentiles in Lystra, he opened by saying, “We…preach unto you that you should turn from these vanities unto the living God, who made heaven… earth… sea and all things that are in them” (Acts 14:15). He began by laying a foundation of a ‘creator God’ who is sovereign, good and patient. Again, when preaching to the Gentile philosophers in Athens he stated, “…God, who made the world and everything in it.. since He is Lord of heaven and earth.. now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.” (Acts 17:22-31). This was always Paul’s approach when preaching to pagans. His message to Felix was the same. He told him about God’s righteousness, his own lack of self-control and judgment to come (Acts 24:25).

Since repentance is a change of mind towards God, how can a sinner repent until he has a true concept of God? Many 21st Century Westerners imagine that there are two Gods; the God of the Old Testament – harsh and unmerciful – and the God of the New Testament – loving and forgiving. Such is their fatal misconception. Or again, the average Westerner thinks that God, if He exists at all, is a most unfair God. He argues; “If there’s a God why is there all the suffering in the world?” How foolish are his thoughts. Until he truly understands the good and holy nature of the God against whom he has grievously rebelled, he will never be saved. Thus, unless the ‘true God’ is clearly preached, all that will be produced is a multitude of false converts, who have never so much as caught one glimpse of the holiness, goodness and sovereignty of their almighty creator, “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” (Rom 11:36).

NEXT: THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL MAKES A PROPER USE OF THE LAW OF GOD.

This excerpt is the introduction to an interesting and relevant article by Michael J. Penfold I found at Banner of Truth.

Is the contemporary Gospel “Another Gospel”?

Central to every genuine spiritual revival, has been the public preaching of the gospel. Directly through this means (Titus 1:3) the Holy Spirit has awakened multitudes to a proper sense of the dreadfulness of their sin against heaven. They have been stripped of all self-righteousness, broken in repentance and have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who satisfied God’s demands against their sin at Calvary. Sadly, in the evangelical scene today, such true and lasting manifestations of the convicting and converting power of the Holy Spirit are now rarely seen. So where did it all go wrong?

During the 20th century, there were two major developments in relation to gospel preaching. Up until World War 2, practically all evangelical churches held two preaching services every Sunday; one aimed at edifying the church; the other at converting sinners. The first move was to jettison the gospel service (with its accompanying prayer meeting), in favour of another study teaching session for Christians. The indoor evangelistic service was not replaced with a ‘street meeting’. It was simply dropped. Secondly, there was a fundamental change in the content (not just the style) of the gospel message itself. Several major features of the historically tried and tested gospel sermon were abandoned. Thus, if you compare the sermons preached by Peter and Paul in the book of Acts, along with those preached during genuine revivals since that time (by men like Nettleton, Edwards, Wesley, Whitefield, McCheyne, North, Spurgeon, Torrey, Moody, Rea, Marshall, Laidlaw and Frank Knox) with the contemporary gospel, you will find a world of difference.

All of this has serious consequences, because the contemporary gospel produces altogether different results to the historic Biblical gospel. For example, in 1991, a major ‘evangelical’ denomination in the USA – consisting of 11,000 churches – launched a huge push in evangelism. After securing 294,000 ‘decisions for Christ’ in 12 months (26.73 per church), only 14,000 new members came ‘into fellowship’ (1.27 per church). Are we really to believe that within 12 months of being saved, under the sound preaching of the Holy Spirit empowered Biblical gospel, 95.2% of the ‘converts’ (over a quarter of a million people) had become ‘backsliders’? And what of the general membership of contemporary ‘evangelical’ churches? Where have all the serious Bible students gone? Where is the clear line of demarcation between today’s Christians and the secular world – in language, entertainment, music, dress, associations, ambition, interest and outlook? These are symptoms of a root problem, namely the abandonment of public gospel preaching and the alteration of the content of the Biblical gospel message. But what is the true gospel? Let us examine four essential elements which are missing from most of today’s evangelical sermons, gospel tracts and ‘introduction to Christianity’ courses.

Follow-on posts will present the following elements of the Biblical Gospel that the author proposes are largely missing from the contemporary gospel:

1. THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL BEGINS AND ENDS WITH GOD.

2. THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL MAKES A PROPER USE OF THE LAW OF GOD.

3. THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL SOUNDS A CLEAR NOTE OF REPENTANCE.

4. THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL PRESENTS A WHOLE CHRIST FOR THE WHOLE MAN.